I love a friends to lovers moment and I found myself racing to find out what happened with these two long time best friends. I didn't love the conflict between the two and how they handled things.

Evie Bloom dreams of being a foley artist. She is accepted into a foley artist fellowship that should be a dream come true, but she is ready to turn it down because the pay is low and there are no health benefits, an essential for some with a chronic illness like Evie. On top of that, Evie is about to lose the home she has lived in for years.

Enter Theo, Evie's best friend since childhood and former dance partner. Theo is a teacher with great healthcare who is also about to lose his home when his roommates suddenly move out of the apartment they share and he doesn't meet the minimum income requirement.

The obvious solution? Evie and Theo enter into a marriage of convenience. What could possibly go wrong?

I have to admit it, I'm a fan of the marriage of convenience trope. I like putting characters into situations they may not have entered into otherwise. For instance, a legally binding relationship with the person you've secretly been in love with for years. I'm less a fan of the friends to lovers trope, but I obviously knew what I was getting into here.

I loved that Evie was a a foley artist. It's a career that we don't really hear talked about and I definitely think they deserve more credit. It was fun hearing about her job.

I liked learning about the characters' history bit by bit and seeing them grow together as the story went on. The author did a good job of showing how people can perceive the same situation differently.

I liked these characters together than their relationship really did feel inevitable. I was less enchanted by Evie's insistence on never getting married and the back and forth conflict in the end. I've noticed a trend lately of the third act conflict in a book actually being the exact same conflict that's happened two times in the book already. I don't want to keep seeing the same issue.

This was another book with a bisexual female lead, where her sexuality wasn't turned into an issue (Love this! Keep them coming!) Also appreciated seeing Jewish leads and chronic illness rep.

A fun read overall, but a little dramatic for my taste. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for the ARC!

4 Stars

So frustratingly good. This book is proof that characters can be lovable and adorable, while also being the biggest pain-in-the-asses to exist.

I was almost tired of their antics by the end of it, but one thing(s) I will always relate to is the complexity that comes with trauma, chronic pain, and misunderstandings. Because even if you can’t understand the first two, everyone suffers from the latter. It causes real pain.

So whilst misunderstanding tropes may be frustrating, they are so close to reality — particularly the way it was executed in this book. Romance isn’t perfect, and perhaps romance books shouldn’t be either. Fairytales are nice, but it’s also great to see yourself in a complicated character & get reinvested in love based on a HEA that’s not a complete fantasy.

Just when the world has pried almost every reason to be happy from your grasp, love slips in to give you some semblance of control.

Thank you #NetGalley for this digital ARC.

This was a nice romance with chronic illness and coping with loss.
We get flashbacks to see how much pain Evie was in as a teenager and how so many doctors missed her Chron's disease.
Theo lost his mother to cancer as an early twenty something and is still struggling with that loss.
I love how supportive Theo was. His character had such a kind nature it was very easy to love him!

When I started this book, I knew it would be friends to lovers, but OMG, I did NOT expect to be screaming the entire time! The chemistry is everything you hope for. The story and unfolding drama are absolutely relatable. You truly root for them to figure it out the entire time because it seems nothing outside of perfect. If you love a good romcom and love a friend to lovers trope, then this book is for you!

Best friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this is no exception. Theo and Evie have been friends for so many years and they’ve been in love for so long. Felt like a slow burn but it was worth the wait to see Theo and Evie together. Thank you Netgalley for an arc of this book, I really appreciate it!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC. I adored the characters in Friend with Benefits. Evelyn and Theo are childhood friends. She meets Theo when she is young at her first dance class and remain the best of friends into adulthood. Evelyn is still learning the limitations of living with the autoimmune condition Crohn's and figuring out the hard way that if you listen to your body when it whispers you won't have to hear it scream. This is very relatable to anyone who has an autoimmune condition that can impact your every day life. Any chance at a professional dancing career shatters when she suffers a devastating ankle injury at a competition which Theo will never forgive himself for. Theo loses his mom to cancer which is a devastating loss. As adults, Theo and Evelyn are sorting through their feelings for each other not wanting to jeopardize what they have. I enjoyed the flow of this story though I know other readers may have not been a fan. I enjoyed how you didn't know as much as the characters when a situation was occurring then later found out more of the backstory. Everything moves in a continuous flow. When strong emotions start coming to ahead, Evelyn and Theo are quickly realizing they both don't know everything about each other. headed towards going apart or closer. More intimate. Evelyn wants to shutdown and run scared afraid of being rejected again. Theo is afraid to screw things up by both saying nothing and everything about how he feels. They both have to sort out the past in order to move forward to build the lives they want, including if that means being more than just friends.

Thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone who knows me, knows #friendstolovers is my favorite trope. I just LOVE it!

Stefan and Caroline happen to be one of my favorite examples of this, after #mondler (Monica and Chandler) in #Friends.

Well, move over, Steroline and Mondler! Because we've got Thevelyn or...Eveo!

Point is, this book had me ALL IN MY FEELS, FOR REAL. And if Theo were real, whew! He was *the* love interest.

Theo and Evelyn (Evie, pronounced Eh-vee) have been best friends since childhood, facing dual crises in their lives.

Theo's roommates announce their moving out, and because of certain rent stipulations, he is ineligible to stay in the apartment solo.

Evelyn is a Foley artist (the magicians behind the sounds in movies and TV shows), who is presented with an opportunity to do a prestigious fellowship and finally get some legit experience and possible recognition for her passion. However, Evie, has Crohn's disease, and needs health insurance to literally live and function.

Does she stick with her current full-time job with bennies, continue to feel drained, under-appreciated, and stuck?

Well, after Evie is suddenly faced with her own housing crisis, the besties realize that two heads are better than one- marriage-style.

Theo and Evie get married to solve their problems--- score the apartment, pursue the fellowship, while not losing benefits since being married to Theo, she's on in his insurance.

Easy-peasy, right?

NOPE.

Turns out, good health insurance is not the only benefit.

This book has EVERYTHING:
*witty banter
*chronic illness rep
*gut-wrenching romance
*great supporting characters
*a great premise, with great execution
*an HEA

5-star rating, for sure. I absolutely fell in love with Eveo and their journey. How deep their friendship was, how solid the foundation they built, their support of each other, how in sync they were. JUST AMAZING! Go get it!

3.5 / 5 Stars

Oh, boy, oh boy. This was a real emotional rollercoaster of a ride for me. In “Friends with Benefits,” we meet best friends, Evie and Theo. Evie and Theo have been friends since they were in elementary school having met in dance class. Now, Evie is an aspiring Foley artist with Crohn's Disease who needs good health insurance and Theo, an elementary school teacher, needs to be married to stay within a certain income threshold to keep his rent-controlled apartment. And so here is the convenience part of their marriage of convenience. What is not so convenient is that Evie and Theo have each had feelings for each other for a long time. These feelings spring up and they each push those feelings deep, deep down. Many years of miscommunications, missed opportunities, misunderstandings, trauma-responses, push, pull, all of it. So what happens now that they are married?

I think this book was incredibly well written. Marisa Kanter has an amazing ability to not only thoroughly and meticulously paint a scene (like Theo’s classroom and his students, a Foley studio, an apartment, an old gas station turned ice cream shop), but she thoroughly and meticulously writes, analyzes, and digests characters’ emotions. The psychology major in me LOOOOOVED it. I want to understand how abandonment issues present themselves in every part of a character’s life. I want to understand how that intersects with having a chronic illness. I wanted it all and I got it all. It was so clear that the author understood and thought about every aspect of her characters (major and minor) and because of that I felt really well taken care of. I understood every one of their actions, of their relationships with others, of their internal thoughts, and there were no missing pieces.

And yet, I still wanted to shake both of the main characters out of frustration sometimes. I understood their actions and why they wouldn’t act differently and wanted them to act differently so badly. For me, when I read about the characters struggling and refusing their feelings for too much of the book, my heart just craves to see them happy and I wanted a tad bit more happy. The intellectual part of my brain was scratched in such a satisfying way that I wanted that for my heart as well. That is such a personal preference and I know there are people out there that will love the angst and yearning, but I highly recommend this book if you want to really understand the human psyche in a really powerful and meaningful way.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for providing this eARC! All opinions are my own.

This book doesn’t quite work for me. The writing style feels a little chaotic. Things happen very fast at the beginning without the sufficient context. It feels like we are only told about something so that it can be immediately used to cause an issue or move the plot forward. This leads to things feeling a little surface level for me.
I also found the many specific references to brands very off putting. It immediately took me out of the reading experience to hear about the Talenti ice cream for example.
I do appreciate getting two atypical main characters - one dealing with a chronic, hidden illness and one more beta romantic interest.
But ultimately, this just isn’t quite right for me.

I just couldn't get into this one. Now, this may just be a me issue, but I find it really hard to get connected and stay connected to the characters when it's written in the third person POV. I ended up having to back track and see who I was reading about quite a bit.

If you're okay with a third person POV, I would still say give this one a go because the plot line itself has potential but I just couldn't enjoy it like I wish I could have.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Caladon Books for the ARC of Friends with Benefits!

Marisa Kanter delivers an utterly charming and heartfelt take on the marriage of convenience trope with Friends with Benefits. Packed with sharp banter, deep emotional stakes, and an achingly tender love story, this book is perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Katherine Center.

Evie Bloom has spent her whole life perfecting the little details—whether in her relationships or her career as an aspiring Foley artist. But when she lands a dream fellowship that doesn’t come with health insurance, she’s forced to rethink everything—especially as someone managing a chronic illness. Meanwhile, her lifelong best friend, Theo Cohen, is facing eviction from his rent-controlled LA apartment. The solution? A perfectly logical, entirely practical marriage. Theo gets to stay in his home, Evie gets health coverage, and nothing has to change between them… right?

Except Theo has always been a little bit in love with Evie. And no matter how much they pretend this is just about convenience, the lines between friendship and something more begin to blur in ways neither of them can ignore.

Kanter’s writing shines with deeply relatable characters, razor-sharp dialogue, and a slow-burn romance filled with tension and longing. Evie and Theo’s dynamic is rich and layered, capturing the beauty of best-friendship and the terrifying vulnerability of falling in love with the person who knows you best. Their chemistry is electric, their emotional journey is poignant, and watching them navigate their feelings is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching in the best possible way.

Friends with Benefits is a funny, deeply romantic, and emotionally resonant story that proves sometimes, the best love stories are the ones that have been there all along. A must-read for fans of heartfelt, character-driven romance!

I really enjoyed this friends to lovers/marriage of convenience romcom. Getting married because of a healthcare issue was very realistic so I knew we’d get off on a strong foot! There were cute flashback moments that added another layer to the story, and lots of representation for LGBTQ (Evie is bi), chronic invisible illness, mental health and more.
The reason this wasn’t a 5-star read for me was due to the amount miscommunication between these supposed best friends, especially ones that are nearly 30 years old.
Overall it was a cute free fall into watching two clueless friends fall in love.

3.5 threading to a close 4 stars

This book had some very beloved tropes, such as childhood friends to lovers and marriage of convenience. Along with some other topics that may not be typical for romance. Yet, it made the story feel more real.

Evie and Theo— childhood friends. They’ve been through a lot together, Evie has Crohn’s and Theo lost his mother. Different situations, but they were still there for each other. Now, Evie is a foley artist and Theo an elementary school teacher, they both fall into a sort of housing issue which leads them to find a loophole so Theo can keep his current apartment. That loophole? Marriage.

Okay I feel slightly conflicted, I loved the story and the rep for topics such as mental health, lgbt, and invisible illness. Theo was such a sweetheart, so genuine and caring, and the flashbacks definitely added more. Yet, I felt like something was missing, at some point a lot of the story just seemed to blur for me. Perhaps it was the amount of miscommunication, but it’s understandable as to why the characters may not have been able to communicate so easily.

Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter was a fun, easy read. This is the first book I've read by this author and it was great. I love a good best friend turned lovers book, and this one was just what I was looking for. The banter between Evie and Theo was great and the love these two had for each other was just heart warming. The only complaint I have is that Evie got in her way too much and I just wanted to shake her! Overall, this book was short, sweet and witty. Definitely going to keep an eye out for this author in the future. Thanks #netgalley for allowing me to read and review this great book!

Rating: 2.5

I feel exactly middle of the road about this book, I was pretty invested in Theo and Evie’s journey throughout but something about the last 30% of the book felt a little clunky (which soured my experience a bit). I thought the flashbacks were initially well placed but eventually felt a little jarring despite being well-utilized for context and as much as I enjoyed their relationship, I wasn’t like entirely convinced of their dynamic towards the last half with Evie being hung up on the marriage of it all (and then kind of…just changing her mind so It was like okay girl then why did we-)

I did enjoy Theo being a Teacher (for as long as it lasted) + their friendship and bond over Survivor but even that felt a little repetitive at times. Evie also definitely grew a little frustrating towards the end (and so did Theo, both in a way that felt uncharacteristically 3rd-act-breakup-ey)

That being said, it was still a decent book and it’s possible I’m just not as strongly into “friends to lovers” plots as I once was so there’s absolutely someone out there who might love it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the eARC to review!

I had a really difficult time getting into this book. The third person point of view was not working for me. It wasn't until 20-30% into the it that I started enjoying it. This is probably my least favourite friends to lovers books I've read.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for this ARC

Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC!
Love a marriage-of-convenience, friends-to-lovers trope! The realities of U.S. healthcare, struggles with grief, and family challenges added depth to the storyline, which I thought were incorporated with care. Third person POV isn't my favorite, but solid writing can redeem that for me, which this did! Loved the exploration of the characters' relationship, but there were times I struggled with the FMC and her seemingly immature or selfish actions. Overall, a great read!

This book is the perfect mix of heart, humor, and that slow, achy kind of love. The banter is sharp, the emotions hit hard, and the way their relationship shifts is so natural, so inevitable, that you’ll be rooting for them long before they figure it out themselves. I absolutely loved reading it.

This was fun and cute. Not a favorite but I still had a good time reading it. It’s very silly and the characters are a bit annoying , but it’s a quick easy read.