This is such a cute take on a Beauty and the beast retelling. The author did a fabulous job with the characters and the story.

This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling that flashed me back to 1991 when the Disney movie was released. I was in college and a friend and I would see the Disney releases in the theater. There are scenes in this book that perfectly capture the feel of the movie- it brought back fun memories and put a smile on my face.

Bellamy and Oliver's story captured the feel of Beauty and the Beast. While nothing is exactly the same, the differences make their story unique. I loved the side characters and the AI that was part of the story. Bellamy is a restoration specialist of historic buildings and I enjoyed learning more about that field. I also liked watching them learn to trust each other and take chance on a relationship. If you're a fan of Disney retellings, consider checking this one out.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thanks to the publisher for sharing a copy with me. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Barely Even Friends in exchange for my honest opinion.

I think this book is exactly what people want when they say they want a Beauty and the Beast retelling. The references to BatB were definitley not subtle at times, which I found a bit cheesy, but that's just me. I don't like too much cheese in my contemporary romance, but once I got past the fact that there was going to be some corniness, I really enjoyed the book.

I'd give this a 3.5 pepper rating for spice as there were many open-door scenes, but it wasn't all spice. I appreciated that the main characters were emotionally supportive of each other.

My criticism is that I absolutely could not stand the nickname he gave her. It was too much. Another name related critique, at the very beginning, the AI home helper Bl8z3, mentioned that it was referred to as "Blaze" but then throughout the book the number and letter combo was used instead of "Blaze." My brain, for some reason, never allowed me to read "Bl8z3" as Blaze, I think it would have been better to just use the word "Blaze."

Overall, I'll definitely recommend this book, it was a fun romance!

This is a fun retelling of Beauty and the Beast, It is a perfect debut with a grumpy/sunshine trope. It has enough parts of a retelling, but has been made to be its own story.

I wish I had loved this book! I started it with such high hopes and the story was so interesting at first that I was completely invested and immersed!

It lost me at around 40%!

I felt like the female lead had such great personality. She was quirky and funny and hard working. I felt like all of this was overshadowed by her feelings towards the male lead and this saddened me!

I don’t mind spice in books but this was just too much when it didn’t really needed it!

I enjoyed how they brought out the best parts of each other but, again, it was overshadowed by the spicy scenes.

While I loved the side characters, I felt like some actions should’ve not been played by them. In a specific scene, it would’ve been a great opportunity for the two main characters to figure out the situation on their own instead by the third party!

Last thing that I had a hard time with was how the ending felt rushed.

Overall I think this was a book with a lot of potential but it fell flat in certain areas for me!

Thanks to Alcove Press for an eARC of the book.

What a great debut from Mae Bennet! I love a retelling/adaptation of a well-loved story an Mae did a fantastic job with this book, inspired by Beauty and the Beast. I really liked the way she was able to update it to be a contemporary setting without losing familiar aspects of the original, such as the library (duh), the household staff who adore their employer, and Mae found an incredibly creative way to have a 'sentient' house, reminiscent of the furniture and accessories in the original story of the staff who were also cursed.

I really liked how the FMC, Bellamy has a close relationship with her father, is skilled and smart, and holds her ground while working in a career (house restoration) that is typically male-dominated. The MMC, Oliver, recognizes Bellamy for her skills and smarts and admires what she is able to do, while he attempts to try out different restoration tasks without much success.
With Oliver as the 'beast' of this retelling, Mae did a great job of not relying on physical appearance, which only feeds into awful stereotypes of disabled people being bitter and evil, but instead focuses on the the complexity of Oliver's character, that he is surly, but not mean, he's grumpy, but protective of those he loves.

I enjoyed how Bellamy and Oliver grow their relationship from antagonists into love, how they support each other, protect and challenge one another.

Will happily read more from Mae Bennett!

This book was so silly and sweet and sexy! She’s just here to restore a house and somehow restores the grumpy recluse living in it as well? And also he’s so bad at restoration projects. I love a good beauty and the beast retelling!

This is one of the best Beauty and the Beast retelling I've read. Plus some spice thrown in makes it even better as well. I tore through this quick because I couldntbput it down!! Loved every word of this!! 5 star read!!

This Beauty and the Beast retelling was done so well. Bellamy and Oliver were perfect enemies turned lovers - there was tension, heavy family dynamics, and great chemistry. I loved them and especially all the side characters. This had humor and heart and heat.

steamy and just what I needed to read. a fun modern twist on the classic Beauty and the Beast (with some nods to the Disney animated version of having a cute kid hanging around etc) where both leads are in need of each other, even if they don't see it. absolutely adorable and worth reading.

Thank you Alcove, Netgalley and the author for sending me review copies. This is Bennett’s debut, and I love that she chose one of my favorite Disney movies and gave it a contemporary, feminist spin. Bellamy is an independent, powerful woman who doesn’t need anyone to help her renovate and restore historical homes. When she encounters Oliver “The Beast” Killington when hired to restore his family’s estate, she is challenged by the idea that everything she previously knew about this rich yet mysterious family is not what it seems. Learning about Oliver’s emotional history and cracking beyond his gruff exterior was one of my favorite parts of this story. Although there’s a lot to love about the characters and the storyline, I struggled for some reason to connect with the writing and it took me a while to finish this book. The spice was spicin’, the nods to the Disney classic were fantastic, and Taylor Swift references galore – I think it was perhaps more of a “me” issue as I was reading this during a time of chaos and my focus was lacking. With that in mind, I look forward to reading more by Mae and seeing her creativity and personality shine through future writing!

amazing, showstopping I just love it! and I can't wait to have this book in my hand! this book was just so cute and Ioved it. both main charters were so amazing and the plot and everything god fairytale like and I just need all them to be happy it was really good modern re-telling

This book wasn't too bad, I did enjoy reading it. There wasn't a lot of Gaston mentioned, I could tell who was who for the most part. It feels like a light read. I was hoping we would see a bit more of Gaston, than what was in the book.

Barely Even Friends is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but without the trademark "beast" aspect. Oliver is our beast and desperately needs therapy and an SSRI. Bellamy is fantastic and the secondary cast and crew of this book bring it home.

A fun new Beauty and the Beast retelling! Though I did think some of the references felt a little forced and on-the-nose at the start of the book, this is a fun modern adaptation of the classic fairy tale. Bellamy is a bright sunshine character, while Oliver was a delightful surprise - not quite a grump, but certainly withdrawn, his character blooms throughout the story. The details we get of the side characters, such as Ambrose and Sebastian are fun as well. I was wishing for a bit more on the renovation story and Oliver’s inheritance, just to flesh out the story beyond the retelling bits as I think it would have helped bring the characters further to life apart from their inspiration. Overall cute!

This book was so silly and sweet and sexy! She’s just here to restore a house and somehow restores the grumpy recluse living in it as well? And also he’s so bad at restoration projects. I love a good beauty and the beast retelling and this book fits perfectly on my shelf.

This was absolutely adorable. I’ve never heard about this book or author before, but I was going to Disney and so the beauty and the beast retelling aspect really pulled me in. It was so much fun. The characters were adorable. I loved the romance. I definitely will be checking out more from this author in the future.

The romance was so good. Bellamy and Oliver have big opposite personalities, though in Oliver’s case, it was merely a big armor he wore after all the trauma he went through in the past. Once he started trusting and loving Bellamy, he got rid of the grumpiness and became the biggest softie for her. It was so perfect. The secondary characters made the book extra fun and lovely, I’d love to stay in this mansion forever!

This is Mae Bennett's debut and as with many debuts, this was a bit of a hit-and-miss situation. I loved the first 30% which included the set up to the characters but also a lot of Beauty and the Beast references which were incredibly creative. However, after that point it felt like the book was playing tug-of-war between being a retelling and a HGTV-esque reno story. I really wanted it to stay more in the the retelling lane but felt like that magic from the first 30% was sort of lost in the rest of the book. I did absolutely adore all the characters, especially the staff who work at the Estate. I think the chemistry between Bellamy and Oliver was good, but I think it could have been a little bit more developed and I found some of the secondary plot points got in the way of the romance. All in all, I enjoyed this and I would read more from Bennett in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC. Publication date was June 4, 2024.

Thanks so much to the author and publisher for my copy!

I love the classic movie, Beauty and the Beast, and am always intrigued by retellings of the story. So I was super excited to be able to support a debut author and enjoy a retelling.

I found the story to be a little choppy in places and I thought the progression of enemies to lovers should have been more noticeable. They were barely able to tolerate each other and then all of a sudden his hand is on her thigh in the car. It just seemed a little off. I did enjoy the AI aspect of the story and thought it was creative. I think by the time the characters got together a lot of the story relied on the spice to carry it and so I was hoping for a bit more meat in the story. I didn't love the 3rd act breakup but I'm glad the story ended the way it did.
I didn't hate the story but I wasn't over the moon about it either. However, I am interested in what else this author will write