Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review.

I love a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and this one is decently different enough for it to feel fresh and fun! HGTV meets fairty tales! What could go wrong?

Bellamy Price has just been offered the job of a lifetime: lead contractor on the restoration of the mysterious and sprawling Killington Estate. If she meets the owner’s ridiculous timeline, she’ll finally make a name for herself in this male-dominated industry. But when she rolls up her sleeves, slips on her suspenders, and shows up at the crumbling mansion, Bellamy finds the estate very much occupied.
After a traumatic car accident that left his parents dead and himself injured, Oliver Killington, heir to the Killington empire, took up residence as the grumpy caretaker of his grandfather’s mansion. None too pleased by the presence of the hammer-wielding woman who’s moved into his house, Oliver tries to block her at every turn.
But when Bellamy discovers Oliver’s facing his own ultimatum from his grandfather, the two form a cautious truce, which leads to flying sparks that are definitely not from faulty wiring. As Bellamy restores the gleam to the Killington Estate, she’ll have to decide if the walls she’s built around herself are worth knocking down to make space for someone else.

4⭐️ Thank you to Alcove Press and Negalley for the ARC!

This was a really cute retelling of beauty and the beast! I am always a sucker a grumpy and brooding mmc! Def want to read more by this author in the future! The spice was great and all the side characters were awesome too!

This was such a cute book, a Beauty and The Beast retelling with a spicy 🌶️ twist. This was my favorite movie as a kid, so I was excited to read this!

Bellamy is a restoration contractor, she lands a job working at The Killington Estate. She knows this is a job that could launch her career, proving everyone wrong. There’s just one person making it a little difficult…

Oliver is as grumpy as they come, his parents passed away in a car accident years ago and he has since become a recluse. When Bellamy shows up, he wants nothing to do with the restoration project. As time goes on, Bellamy breaks down Oliver’s walls and he starts to open up to her. They start to form a friendship, maybe even more than a friendship. Oliver’s nickname for Bellamy is “petal”, it’s the cutest 🥹

This was a slow burn, but the banter was 🤌🏻 I also loved all the Taylor Swift references 🫶🏻 I loved that Bellamy was a plus size FMC, I LOVE books with this! She was so quirky with her suspenders, which Oliver ends up loving 😉 such a fun read with great character growth!

"I lived in too much silence. I needed you filling up every available space with your words, your laughter."

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC

I would have loved the chance to review this but apparently the publisher archives books 2 months before pub date which is incredibly strange. I'm absolutely still going to read the book because it sounds like something I will absolutely love, but since NG won't let me download it anymore, I guess I will not be able to read and review it prior to pub date. I'm typically 1-2 months ahead of schedule with my NGs so this is a real disappointment.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me. It's creative and has endearing side characters. But the dialogue was too stilted and the romance didn't feel natural. It felt like it was trying too hard to fit into the beauty and the beast retelling. The pacing could've used more fine-tuning, and it would've benefited from adding more build-up to the romance.

3.75/5 stars ⭐️

If you’re a fan of corny love stories, and Hallmark romance movies then this will be right up your ally. It was the perfect mix of predictability and corniness that I personally needed in the moment.

It’s an effortless read, when you just need something to pass the time. For me this is a “train ride” book, something that you can pick up, and put down, and not feel like you’ve lost the plot.

I love a “grumpy/sunshine” trope, and I thought the “beauty and the beast” tie ins were silly, but they made me chuckle. Some of the scenarios that threw the main characters together were so outlandish, but if you’re able to suspend reality for a moment, and let the author take you on a ride, you’ll be ok!

I think my biggest issue was that sometimes I felt like the inclusivity seemed a little forced, I’m all for a plus sized woman at the centre of a romance novel, but it did feel a little half baked at times. Because I personally was not looking for something deep (a little escapism anyone?!), I wasn’t too upset by the topical approach to a curvy woman as the romantic lead. For other plus sized women however, this may be a sore spot.

Overall if you’re a fan of cheesy contemporary romance novels, love a grumpy MMC, and an independent woman who he ends up head over heels for, then you will love this!

This was such a cute frenemies rom com, retelling of beauty and the beast with a reclusive billionaire. Loved the grumpy sunshine vibes and how ti develops. Super fun read

DNF. I was looking forward to reading this when I learned it was a retelling of beauty and the beast. Sadly, the dialogue felt repetitive and the plot fell flat. It didn’t help that the main characters have no chemistry. If this wasn’t a retelling it would have been more enjoyable.

Unfortunately this book didn’t work for me. I couldn’t get invested in the characters or plot so I’m going to have to DNF the book.

If you are looking for romantic retelling of Beauty and the Beast look no further because Mae Bennett's debut has it covered for you!

Read this for:
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced proximity
- Grumpy/sunshine
- Plus size rep
- Roommates
- Workplace

Bellamy Price is forced to take lead on a huge job that could mean big things for her and her Dad. She moves into the Killington Estate to take on restorations and immediately has issues with the recluse of a grandson Oliver Killington.

Bellamy and Oliver do not see eye to eye and the tension between the two at first is more along enemy territory. As Bellamy keeps moving forward on her project, Oliver and her are forced into situations that make them be together. They start to get to know one another and Bellamy begins to realize that there is so much more to Oliver than a big brooding grumpy man. He has a traumatic past that he starts to open up to her about.

The two navigate the challenges of the restoration and are forced to be roommates because of these challenges throwing them together even more. There are also some fun side characters from the butler, to the chef, to a sassy teenager who all work at the house. And you can't forget about the intrusive AI program Bl8z3 who provided some funny character moments.

The chemistry between Bellamy and Oliver continues to build as does their relationship. Bellamy finds herself opening up to Oliver and letting him into her heart more than anyone else before. The problem is that the job is temporary and each of their paths diverge away from one another.

I enjoyed the grumpy/sunshine dynamic because it was so fun. Oliver ended up being a true softy and I really loved seeing him work through his trauma. Bellamy also was able to move through her past issues and find the love she deserved.

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

I really wanted to like this but sadly it was just all over the place. No magic or chemistry among the main characters. Very progressive writing but it just didn’t click. The best friends and AI were the best part!

There are better Beauty and the Beast retellings out there.

For a story that has been retold a great number of times, existing as a mediocre addition to the pile is fine. There’s no requirement that every retelling be amazing or fantastic. And, to be fair, I think there’s some worth to the story—if you’re a Beauty and the Beast fan and you’re really searching for a story that’s going to be more relatable to you, this book can definitely achieve that for a lot of people. Is it a great literary work? Nah, not so much. Is it engaging and entertaining? Sure.

I think the biggest issue I had with <i>Barely Even Friends</i> was that it feels like one of those knock off brand movies that you kind of enjoyed but you’d never watch again. It’s a doofy rom com with silly and recognizable tropes that many of us readers are eager and ready to be here for. It’s fun, it’s escapism. And it’s perfectly alright for a book to be that. I watch terrible romance films every December for a reason.

But that’s really all it is. Character development, while there, is minimal. Some of the tropes are incredibly silly and cheesy. It’s great to love that for what it is, but in this case it just didn’t bring out the emotions that I need in order to be able to praise what does genuinely kind of fall into terrible rom com territory.

Ultimately, the only thing you’re here for or really going to get out of this story is <i>the romance</i>. The side characters are very one-dimensional, and while good things might happen to a few of them, there’s really no growth to be seen there. The majority of these characters aren’t even present for vast chunks of the novel, flitting in and out as they may. It’s a story about two characters falling in love. It’s a story about a lot of miscommunication, which can be annoying at times, but is okay if you really get that emotional character attachment.

I enjoyed the book. I didn’t love it. And that’s alright—I’m know there are those who will.

It starts as a pretty straightforward retelling of the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast (if you're of a certain age, you probably started humming the tune as soon as you see the title!), but definitely has more emotional depth, dealing with some tough family dynamics. Grumpy Oliver and cheerful Bellamy make a good match, slowly giving each other reason to breach their emotional walls. The curious, quirky assortment of side characters deserve more backstory than Bennett gives them; the contemporary family dynamics are really the only modern twist.

Full disclosure: I was excited to read this book— something about a historical home restoration girlie butting heads and eventually falling in love with the grumpy owner of the estate in question sounded so fun. I love the tropes that Barely Even Friends promised and couldn’t wait to dive in. I genuinely feel bad about how much I disliked and was disappointed by this book.

The best way that I could describe this book is that it’s almost exactly what it says on the box. She’s sunshiney, he’s grumpy and sad, those are almost the full extent of their personalities, and also it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling. The things that aren’t advertised are exactly how literally the Beauty and the Beast story is told (without any magic, as this is a contemporary romance) and how suspiciously closely many of the characters align with a certain Star Wars reboot.

The constant frustration that I felt over the fact that the main conflict of this book is that Bell is a woman cannot be overstated. While it was a good jumping off point that she had jumped in to take her father’s place on the job and it was unexpected by everyone involved when she showed up, it felt like we were just going in circles over and over again. Bell’s struggles to be seen as a professional absolutely baffled me. She assumes that her blossoming romance with the owner’s grandson will cause conflict in her career and with the rest of her team, as if no one has been watching this all happen? Like girliepop just assumes that everyone will assume that she’s sleeping her way to a successful project when that literally would never happen on a job site (in a firm, this absolutely happens, but not on an in-person job like this). I completely empathize as a woman in the industry, but her energy was really being spent on the wrong worry, rather than on the even more frustrating fact that her employer demanded that she be supervised and reported on by his grandson.

The dialogue is absolutely garbage (the main love interest ends almost every conversation with “I’m cursed”), to the point where many of the exchanges felt like video game dialog, wherein they were just repeating previous conversations until some other plot point is accomplished.

Unfortunately, almost every character fell incredibly flat, beyond the two main characters. The full cast includes a gay best friend with a wild sex life that only serves as comic relief, a weird AI butler who would disappear for long stretches and only appear randomly, meddling staff who literally serve no purpose in the plot aside from trying to push the two main characters together at points that felt weird in the story.

There were also multiple instances where I had to backtrack because characters would be in one location and then suddenly appear in another with no mention (he’s sleeping on the couch! Wait! Now they’re in bed together, just in the middle of the conversation, as if he’s been there the whole time!). I feel like I could excuse this happening once, but it happened enough that I just started to ignore it.

Overall, this book really felt like it was trying to be too many things and wasn’t creative in its approach. What seemed to be an exciting concept that was really different from other contemporary books that I’ve read recently ending up being just a disappointing read that I felt secondhand embarrassed the entire time.

i’m a huge fan of beauty and the beast so I was excited for a retelling. I appreciated the concept and as someone that’s currently renovating a home, I enjoyed those details. I’m excited to see what Mae writes next.

It's my fault. I requested without realizing this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Themed retellings, I can do, but actual retellings where names and situations are the same just pull me out of the story. It's well written and cute, but not for me.

From the first page I fell in love with this book and its leading lady. As a HUGE beauty and the beast fan, this book checked all the boxes. It wasn’t too close to the original BUT it took a really fun modern twist. I look forward to reading more books by Mae Bennett.

I am all for a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I really struggled with this book. The premise just felt way too over the top. I was fine with Bellamy renovating a historical house like the Killington Estate, but Oliver Killington's talking AI was too reminiscent of Jarvis. I wanted to focus on the relationship between grumpy Oliver and Bellamy, but I was getting too distracted by all of the side characters. The whole book just felt too cliche, and I couldn't finish reading it.

This is what dreams are made of!! Barely Even Friends is one of the most well written and authentic Beauty and the Beast retellings I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

I also loved getting to read Mae's writing and her characters. I couldn’t get enough of this book and tried to go as slow as possible in order to stay with Bellamy and Oliver more!

Bellamy shows up to the Killington estate ready to tackle her biggest renovation project yet, all on her own. She has been working under her father for years, but with his recent health issues it’s time for Bellamy to take the reins. Unfortunately, Olivier the grumpy caretaker and heir to the Killington fortune is not pleased to see her. But Bellamy is determined she has been hired to do a job and her bottom line and reputation is on the line. Over time Bellamy softens Oliver and they grow close during this modern retelling of beauty and the beast.

This wasn’t really my cup of tea - but if you love beauty and the beast and grumpy/sunshine this book is right up your alley. The prose was good but the story didn’t quite suck me in. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.