Best Man with Benefits by Sophie Pembroke, is a friends to Lovers Romance. After a traumatic childhood with a narcissistic mother and adventurous father, Nell craves stability and security, playing it safe; even if it makes her boring. Nell's twin sister and Alex's best friend are finally getting married. The four all work at an event company that was Polly’s great plan for after college: Alex is their lawyer and Nell is the accountant. As best man and maid of honor, not only will they both need dates for their friends' destination wedding, they are determined not to attend together; despite the fact they've been dancing around each other for years. Back in college, Alex and Nell almost had something, but assumptions and miscommunication made them think the other wasn’t interested. Nell was just recently dumped for being boring. After numerous attempts to find a date for this destination wedding, Alex and Nell find themselves reconnecting, becoming friends, and decided the chemistry between them was stronger than either could resist; keeping their fling a secret, until it isn’t. There was lots of humor in this story with the wedding shenanigans being the most fun part of the book. I highly recommend Best Man with Benefits to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

This is a Friends to Lovers Romance. The beginning of this book was boring, and I found it hard to get into the story. After, the character grew on me I got into the story more. This book is not one that will stay with me for awhile, but overall it was a good book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Harlequin Romance) or author (Sophie Pembroke) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Having loved the first book of Pembroke's I read, I had really high hopes for this book. Basically, Nell's twin sister and Alex's best friend are getting married. The four all work at this event company that was the brain child of Polly (I think is her name) from college and Alex came on as the lawyer and Nell came on as the accountant. Honestly, not sure what the fiancé does, but that's not really that relevant, I guess. Anyway, at the start of the book, Nell thinks she's about to be proposed to, but instead her boyfriend of quite a while dumps her (Paul was his name). Then she goes into work on Monday and hasn't told Polly, but Polly has her big announcement anyway. She's engaged and they're going to be married in like four months and she wants to pull all the stops. Additionally, Polly is adamant that this wedding will be couples themed, but people can't bring someone they haven't been dating for at least three months. Um... What? So anyway, this means that Nell and Alex are going to be forced together if they don't find someone right quick, but the two don't actually like each other. Or... do they?

So... It's a perfectly fine, albeit over the top set up, which is fine. I mean, this isn't a shock when it's a Harlequin because most are about rich people doing weird rich people things. But where the plot of the first Pembroke I read really sucked me in and I was deeply invested in the characters, this time around, the plot kept taking me out even when I was interested in the characters. I do think Pembroke has a really thorough grasp on characterization and manages to build her main love interests really well, but honestly, I'd like to see her work in a longer page count and with a less ridiculous plot. My tl;dr is read this if you're in for a silly goofy time, but otherwise, pick up Their Icelandic Marriage Reunion instead.

He likes adventure, she likes boring and safe....

Nell had a taumatic childhood that made her crave stability and security. When her twin, Polly is getting married, she has to work closely with Alex and they make a terrible dating pact. Alex and Nell almost had something in college, but he pulled away. Nell just got dumped for being boring and decides to keep her fling with Alex a secret. Alex is finally growing up a little. Can they be brave together? I liked that Sophie Pembroke dug into their psyche's to understand their motivations.

Bridesmaid Nell and best man Alex both need dates for their friends' destination wedding. They're determined not to attend together—even though they've been dancing around each other for years. Will they finally give in to the chemistry between them?

Overall, I enjoyed this story. I understood why Nell was damaged by her narcissistic mother, but her unwillingness to take a chance on Alex over a period of *years* wasn't particularly compelling to me. If she'd had an honest conversation with him in the beginning, and explained that she was attracted to him but not interested in a relationship, the story would have been more meaningful to me. The wedding shenanigans were the most fun part of the book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Be3t Man with Benefits is a well written romance. I throughly enjoyed the plot and character dynamics. I recommend this book. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.

This was just not good. The wedding plot was ridiculous. I’m all about suspending my disbelief, but a wedding only for couple? Chartered plane for the wedding? Just too freaking much. I didn’t like the main characters enough to care about them. I would not have finished this book if it weren’t a NetGalley book.