This was such a fun spin on Beauty and the Beast! I loved Bellamy and her determination to knock the renovation project out of the park, and Oliver was such a great grumpy hero. There were so many cute moments in this book and a really entertaining cast of side characters (including a meddling AI assistant, which made me laugh a bunch of times). Can't wait to read more from Mae!

Barely Even Friends is a fun, sweet, swoony, and spicy retelling of Beauty And The Beast.
I liked the contemporary take and the way the author turned the magic elements of the Disney's classic into something realistic.
This is the ultimate grumpy × sunshine romance. I liked the banter, the tension, the chemistry, the swoon-worthy moments, and the spice between Bellamy and Oliver.
If you are looking for a romance with fairytale vibes and all the spice, this is the right book for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

The horniest retelling of Beauty and the Beast that we all deserved. Thank you Mae.

I pre-ordered this.

Arc received from the author; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A clever, cute, and swoony debut romantic comedy! I love beauty and the beast and was excited to see a different take on it in this original retelling. Bennett writes an engaging story with fun prose and banter, and characters you will love to root for. This is pretty steamy so people who enjoy spice will also love those scenes.

Grumpy meets Bratty.

A cute new contemporary romance that will really appeal to fans of Olivia Dade and Tessa Bailey.

I am a sucker for Beauty and the Beast so this new retelling was a must read for me.

Although, I will say the AI house guest was an odd addition.

I think the contemporary spin on the fairy tale retelling of one of my favorite stories is spot on. A renovator redesigning a crumbling old-money mansion? With AI as the whimsical non-human servant? Brilliant. I struggled through this book though, because of the execution. It needs a thorough round of edits. I would begin by providing a longer backstory in the first chapter to build up to arriving to the mansion. The led-up with the first chapter was short and rushed, making it hard to get into the story investing in the characters. With that, I recommend nixing the Bib storyline. Working at a museum, especially one as large as this is made out to be, requires years of museum experience and a PhD. Bellamy wanting to work there, without putting any dedicated training in the field beyond her work in renovation is very out of touch with the professional realty, and it really pulled me away from the story. The only thing that makes it realistic is the fact that it's a nepo hire since Oliver had an in. I think the story would be much more satisfying if she wanted to take over her father's business or start her own. My last comment is to rework the section when Bellamy introduces her friends to the reader during her phone conversation with them. Introducing them by their kinks was incredibly awkward, and I would rather get to know them by the personalities, friendship with Bellamy, etc before discussing their sexual life. I've never known anyone to introduce their close friends that way.

We stan a grumpy hero, who fall first and doesn’t think he deserves the FMC!! This was a fun and unexpected retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The slow burn in this really worked and I enjoyed the character growth. A modern spin on a beloved classic is hard to do but Mae accomplishes it!

This was a really fun retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Very steamy, and I loved the look into the whole building restoration process!

DNF @ 58%
I tried with this book. I really did. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt because so many of the reviews I read were so positive. It wasn't that the writing was bad or that I didn't like the characters. It was just that Barely Even Friends gave me déjà vu. It didn't feel like the lose retellings I have read in the past. It felt like the author took the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast and just switched out parts to make her characters and their story fit into it. I also felt like there were parts of the story that were missing. I would be expecting a scene, and it would jump past it making the next one feel out of place. It came to the point where I was kind of bored and annoyed with it all, so I decided to give up. The writing had potential, so I would be willing to try a book by this author again if it wasn't a retelling.

A cute reimagining of Beauty and the Beast as a contemporary romance! If you loved the original Disney version as a kid, you'll love all the clever nods to it here.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Thank you netgalley alcove press and mae for the e-arc. This was the most perfect modern beauty and the beast retelling. Mae is an incredible author that freaehed thia in the best possible way. I am so excited to add this trophy to my forever shelf amd will be preordering it

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

I’m a sucker for retellings, so this one grabbed my attention. While I did enjoy most of this book; I didn’t really get “beauty and the beast” vibes.

The plot was fun, the characters were likable, and the spice was decent. I just wish it would’ve had more of retelling feel to it.

3 stars.

I had no idea going into this book that it was going to be a retelling (sort of, kind of, maybe) of my favorite Disney movie; "Beauty and the Beast!" I guess I should have remembered from when I requested it, but nope.

This book was SO much fun to read and see come to life in my mind. While Bl8z3 was new, most of the other characters fell into place. Ambrose, Rue, Nick were just wonderful to read about. Finn and Sebastian made me laugh and even cry a little, they were such good friends to Bell ... oh my, goodness, I literally just caught that connection as I was writing this.

Bellamy restores old homes and maybe a heart or two along the way. Oliver, in all his loneliness is just waiting to open his heart. Luckily, Bellamy comes along and makes his house a home. To more than just them. It's a big family.

If you like romcoms and retellings, I think you'll like this book!!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this earc

Sadly, this one wasn’t my favorite. I liked the idea of this book. But the writing wasn’t great and the scene through the whole book just felt incomplete.

It took about 30 into this book to be like “ Yup. This is Beauty and the Beast retelling”. But even the side characters, who are supposed to become the found family rarely appeared on the page. We didn’t get to know their stories at all which made it hard to care about them.

Oliver and his family. Again so much potential but even his reunion with his sister fell flat.

The main romance could have been amazing. But the jumps in times between the scene took away from the tension building. One of page they are looking at the each other and then suddenly they are making out.

Even small things were followed up on. Like the mural inspired by Oliver’s mom sketch - we never saw Oliver’s reaction to it. At all.

The story didn’t feel smooth and writing could use lots of help.

This book is described as a Beauty and the Beast retelling. For me, it wasn't that at all - I shared that not as a criticism, but a persona l reframe of the tale. What this story IS about is a woman finding her way as a contractor. Bellamy and her father restore old homes, and Bellamy is given the project of the Killington Estate. An estate that's also home to Oliver who's been reclusive since the tragic death of his parents. Bellamy is determined to prove herself, and Oliver is not excited at all to have her on this project. And as you can infer, the grumpy/sunshine story goes from there. I found the story was enhanced by the staff at the estate (I think this was a B&B nod, but again, they had their own vibes that I liked), as well as the exploration of some very complex emotions and experiences, particularly with Oliver's family dynamics. I found myself rooting for Bellamy as she navigated all the things and people along the way. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this June 2024 release!

Barely Even Friends was a fun read. I loved the whole redoing a mansion arc and falling in love with the owner. Also, the enemies to lovers was fun and I liked the side characters, they were funny and charming. The story is fun and entertaining.

"Beauty and the beast" meets romcom. I absolutely adored this book. The most perfect retelling, I've read so far.

In this Beauty and the Beast retelling, we meet home restorer Bellamy as she's set to take on her biggest project yet: the career-making renovation of the infamous Killington estate. But when she arrives, the reclusive heir, Oliver Killington, wants nothing to do with her and attempts to throw her out. Determined to see the project through, and with the help of a small but friendly manor staff and hilarious AI, Bellamy sets out to renovate the mansion into something even the biggest grump can appreciate.

This book was so much fun! I've read a few fairytale retellings, and I think this one did the perfect job of threading the needle of remaining true to the source material but being totally new. Bellamy was--thank goodness--not captive in the home, for starters. But I loved the nods to Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere, and Wadsworth in the form of the staff and AI--they may have been my favorite part of the book. Oliver is totally swoon-worthy and the spicy moments are sizzling! A running joke in the book is that Oliver isn't good at anything, and I kind of wish we had given him something (other than his big... heart, people! I was going to say heart!) to be proud of. I also could have done without the standard third-act break-up, but probably just because I loved seeing these two together so much I couldn't bear for them to be apart!

Thanks to Alcove Press for my eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Barely Even Friends follows Bellamy Price as she takes on her first solo restoration project at the mansion of Oliver Killington, the reclusive son and heir of the Killington family fortune.

Both Bellamy and Oliver grew on me as characters, but the pace of the story was all over the place. Between Bellamy arriving at the manor and presenting to Adrian Killington, the patriarch of the family, for approval on her plans, there is next to nothing that happens regarding the manor. At no point in the story does the reader have any understanding on what stage of the remodel the book is at beyond the vague "blank days until deadline" headings. Fast forward to when Oliver kisses Bellamy for the first time, and it is again, completely out of nowhere. Up to that point, there was barely a hint of anything between the characters beyond thinly veiled disdain.

This theme of out-of-nowhere happenings kept popping up throughout the story. I honestly felt like chapters were left out. By the time Bellamy realizes she's in love, I have no idea how she came to that conclusion given next to none of their bonding is shown on page. Then after all of that, there is a third act (can it even be called third act given it's basically almost the last chapter) breakup that makes ZERO sense.

Overall, I liked the idea of the story and characters more than the execution of the story itself. Three stars.

This was a good beauty and the beast retelling
But i did not finish it Because i was hooked on the story i did not want to dnf sins i got this book as an arc copy