Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I greatly appreciate it. I did dnf this book about half way through but while I didn't love the forced feel of the romance and absolutely loved the characters individually. Evelyn (Evie) is an inspiring foley artist whose health issues and lack of insurance put a damper on following hers dreams. Her best friend Theo is an elementary teacher who loves what he does but can't get approval for apartments on his own. Together following Theo's plan they marry for the benefits.

three point five out of five. Well-written emotional roller coaster that would make a great movie. It could have been a five but I feel like the same thing happened a few to many times for me, causing the story to become a might but frustrating.

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon books for the ARC of this book! Evie and Theo were such likable characters, though Evie’s plight was harder to empathize with. Though I thoroughly enjoyed it, the back and forth of “will they?” And “won’t they” got monotonous about a third of the way through the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advance copy.

———— All thoughts are my own.

3.25 ⭐️
ARC / Releases May 6, 2025

When the benefits are medical and housing. This story is a slow-burn love that starts with friendship. It’s also a bit sad and filled with missed opportunities. There are a lot of unspoken feelings and the fear of losing the best friend you’ve ever had, and the hurt that comes with trying to take a risk to be more.

The blurb had me hooked, and when I started it, I still was. Evie, our lovely but frustrating main character, aspires to be a Foley Artist, creating the sounds that bring movies to life. It’s an incredibly cool career, and I’m so glad you shared that with us. Evie has the opportunity to advance her Foley career, but it doesn’t include health insurance, which is a necessity. Enter Theo, her lovable best friend, who is so in love with her. He’s an elementary school teacher, and when his roommate situation changes, he is in need of another to cover the rent.

The health insurance is a big part of the story, and it might not be everyone’s cup of tea if they’re looking for more fluff in their romances.

I have love/hate feelings with this friendship; it’s a little bit toxic.

Evie is so self-sabotaging that you might want to shake sense into her for 85% of the book, and she does make it hard to see them together romantically at times. My heart breaks for Theo throughout too, because he is so down bad for this woman, and she is just so set in her beliefs.

I'm kind of 50/50 with this book. I think you'll either like it or you won't.

Evie and Theo are childhood best friends who each find themselves in a housing crisis. The solution they land on is to get married so that Theo can keep his rent controlled LA apartment and so that Evie can have good healthcare benefits to keep her condition under control. They are also both secretly in love with each other (to no one’s surprise 🤣). Oh and one other thing, Evie doesn’t believe in marriage.

Friends with Benefits follows these two as they chase their dreams while navigating their new fake marriage, their hidden feelings for each other, and their past traumas.

This was a cute little rom com. It was interesting reading about the behind the scenes work of Foley artists and I couldn’t help but become attached to all of the side characters like Pep and Mo, Imogen, and Theo’s class. I liked the awareness the story brought to healthcare and benefit hurdles that many of us face. My critique is that it went on just a little too long but would still recommend for a mostly lighthearted read.

Thank you to Net Galley, Celadon Books, and Marisa Kanter for an ARC of this book in exchange for honest review. Friends with Benefits will be available on May 6th!

I really enjoyed this childhood friends to lovers, marriage of convenience for health benefits romance that has bisexual dancer Evie and Jewish teacher Theo agreeing to get married so Evie can benefit from Theo's health insurance.

Treating Evie's Crohn's is expensive and on a dancer's wages she often struggles to pay. When Theo offers to marry Evie things start to heat up as they spend more and more time together. I loved the flashbacks to their past, the diversity and disability rep (Evie's Crohn's and chronic pain) and the excellent grief and mental health rep (Theo lost his mother to cancer and has anxiety).

This was also great on audio narrated by Gail Shalan and GM Hakim. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review! This is perfect for fans of other marriage for health benefits/insurance books like Would you rather by Allison Ashley, In your eyes by Molly McCarthy, Before us by Jewel E. Ann or Our ride to forever by Julie Olivia.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I enjoyed the dialogue, the chronic illness representation, and the multiple timelines of Evie and Theo’s relationship. The book did feel a bit bloated, but I also get anxious with tropes involving miscommunication/secret-decisions-that-come-out-unexpectedly, so maybe that’s why. Overall, an enjoyable read!

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. Theo is facing an eviction and can't live on his own. Evie is an aspiring Foley artist and wants to take a fellowship opportunity, but has chronic illness and need health insurance. This is a marriage of convenience story done right.

Be advised that this book starts off slowly, but it's worth it if you persevere through it. The struggles and character development were skillfully written. The story is adorable, and I particularly liked the flashbacks. The plot moves along at a good clip, striking a balance between romance and conflict and personal development. Deeper themes are expertly woven in by the author. The descriptive language brings the emotions and places to life, and the dialogue flows well.

What a sweet story. The friends to lovers trope hits hard here!!! I enjoyed seeing the development of Evie and Theo into who they were always supposed to be! Truly the author put such a delicate hand towards human emotions.— grief, humor, illness, longing, angst, and loving.

I had to put this on pause at about 25% in however, I am HOPING to come back to it. I was really, really enjoying this - Evie and the chronic illness rep is immaculate. "her normal (always normal) lab results" is so freakin real as a chronically ill person.

However, the reason I need to pause this is because of the mentions of cancer - this topic is really triggering for me! I am once again begging authors to *please* put a cw for cancer in the beginnings of their books.

2.5⭐️
A friends-to-lovers, marriage of convenience romance! Evie and Theo get married so that a) Evie can use Theo's health insurance and b) they qualify for rent in Theo's building. I had high hopes for this, because all of these things sounded right up my alley- but this really did not work for me. I kept pushing myself to finish it, hoping it would get better and it really just got worse

To start us off: the romance. Did not work. The author did a really good job setting up Evie and Theo as friends- they've known each other since they were children. Went to school together, danced together, are close with each other's families. But they were such platonic friends that I didn't believe it when they started to (internally) admit their feelings? I just didn't buy that they've been in love with each other for years, let alone five minutes

So I think the author also pushed too hard to try and make this like, hip? And sex-positive? Like Evie is very open about her sexuality and casual partners, which is great! But the author really kept pushing, to the point of a) making Evie awful and b) just making things weird. Evie brings Theo across the country to NYC as her date to a family bat mitzvah- where she tries to ditch him for the day to go hook up with an old FWB. If a friend EVER did this to me, I would seriously reconsider our friendship. Like again, great! Evie is capable and unashamed of having casual sex. But bailing on her best friend? Not cool. ALSO. Her grandparents send her and Theo a box of sex toys to celebrate their marriage?... Her grandma also took her to a sex shop on her 18th birthday to help pick out her first vibrator. I'm sorry, I don't care what anyone thinks- this is weird.

Then we get to Evie. Honestly I wanted this book to end with Theo running as far as he could in the opposite direction of Evie. She's in therapy and acts like this makes her well-adjusted, but is the most toxic person in this book. On the relationship side, I truly don't believe she loved Theo. She flies to NYC in a flashback to confess her feelings and is devastated when he's with another woman- so she sleeps with his roommate? This is not the behaviour of someone in love. At one point she says she can't be rejected by Theo for a third time- you know what the first two times were?! Prom when they were like 16 and she threw him a casual 'hey want to go together' but he already had a date. And the second time he "rejected" her? AT HIS MOTHER'S FUNERAL. Dear god. They were both drinking and end up making out and Theo stops things because again- it's his mother's funeral and they were both grieving. When he points out that that was CLEARLY not the time for them to get together or talk about their relationship, Evie basically implies that she should have been the priority in that moment.
She just kept continually getting more awful. When she gets made she throws a really low-blow at Theo purposefully to hurt him (to get him to leave her in LA and go to NYC I think? I don't even know) but is absolutely flabbergasted when he throws a low-blow right back at him. Like Evie CONTINUALLY pushed him away, was awful to him on purpose, and for some reason Theo kept coming back for more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am not a huge fan of slow-burns or the friends-to-lovers trope, but this book was super cute!

“Friends with Benefits” by Marisa Kanter is a charming and heartwarming journey that blends romance with deep personal growth. The story follows best friends Evie and Theo, who embark on an unexpected marriage of convenience to overcome their personal struggles. I loved how the author masterfully explores themes like chronic illness, friendship, and mental health, while still delivering plenty of humor and chemistry.

Evie and Theo’s dynamic is incredibly engaging, and I was rooting for them the entire time. The "friends to lovers" trope is executed beautifully, with both characters navigating the complexities of their changing relationship. Their banter and emotional growth felt real and relatable, making their story all the more compelling.

Marisa Kanter’s writing is witty and heartfelt, and she brings depth to the romance without ever losing sight of the importance of self-empowerment and finding strength in vulnerability. The pacing was mostly solid, though there were a few moments that felt a bit drawn out, but overall, the emotional payoff was absolutely worth it.

If you're a fan of sweet, slow-burn romance with strong, relatable characters, this book is a must-read. I couldn’t put it down and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a feel-good romance with real-world stakes.

This book has a very slow start so be warned, but also stick with it because it's worth it. The character growth and conflicts were well written. It is a very cute story and I enjoyed the flashbacks the most.

I appreciate the chance to read this as an ARC. However, this book wasn’t for me. It was a bit slow at the start, and I just could not get into it. Unfortunately I DNF this book.

It has potential to be a really good book, just wasn’t for me.

I LOVE this book!!❤️❤️

That being said, it did start a little slow for me and I was almost 30% in before I truly became invested in the story. I live these characters and their relationship. The flashbacks are wonderful and truly provide understanding to their feelings for each other. I absolutely recommend this book. ❤️

The plot is well-paced, balancing romance with moments of personal growth and conflict. The author does an excellent job of weaving in deeper themes. The dialogue feels natural, and the descriptive writing makes the emotions and settings come alive.

This was an enjoyable slow burn romance with friends to lovers and marriage for convenience tropes.

Evie and Theo are best friends who just learned they both need to figure out new living situations. Evie is an aspiring Foley artist who suffers from Chron’s disease and her grandparents just sold the home she’s been occupying. Theo is an elementary school teacher struggling to afford a place of his own after his roommates decided to move out of their rent controlled apartment. What they thought would be an easy fix turned into much more.

The beginning was a very slow start however I wanted to see it though and I’m so glad I did. The characters dealt with multiple adversities such as family trauma, death and chronic illness. These multiple layers coupled with the storyline made this a solid read for me.

It was a cute story. I felt it was a little long for a rom com though I did like the flashbacks to their teenage years.

This author is new to me, but I will be keeping an eye out for anything else they publish. I loved the story and the characters. The pacing of the story was great and the characters were relatable.