So happy to see Tracey get her happy ever after! I really enjoyed this book and the entire series. It was also so good catching up with the other ladies.

I listened to the audiobook and Adenrele Ojo did amazing as always. I highly recommend you check it out.

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the Frenemies with Benefits ARC!

First and foremost as always thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. Although this book is part of a series, it was an awesome stand alone! And the enemies to lovers? Beautiful! This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! Definitely worth the read!

Tracy runs a bed & breakfast in a small town and is just finalizing a nasty divorce, complete with a pregnant mistress who was her former employee. Brian owns the local plant nursery and has been divorced for a few years, but while his cheating ex is re-married, she's trying to reinsert herself into his life. To prove a point, Tracy decides to look for a hook up and reawaken her sexuality, but Brian offers a no-strings attached deal with himself instead. Even if he is definitely becoming attached.
I truly enjoyed listening to this book and the storyline!

This book is narrated by one of my narrators, Adenrele Ojo. Ms. Ojo's narration brought Tracey to life. Plus, this featured antics by both partners' exes, and the narration of these scenes was chef's kiss. I highly encourage consuming this on audio.

While this is the 3rd book in the Peachtree Cove romance series, I have not read any of the previous novels or short stories in this series. I enjoyed the town and the characters so much that I've added the first novel in this series to my to be read list. I had no trouble keeping up with the story, so I feel like this is fine to read as a stand-alone novel on its own.

This is a cozy, slow-build style romance story. Featuring a 'friends-with-benefits' style love story more than a frenemy to lovers tale. This focused on healing from past relationships, especially dealing with infidelity and learning to trust in love again. With a slight touch of a Hallmark channel-esque small town full of cozy characters.

Tracey felt relatable in her journey to change her life after her troubled marriage. Brian felt like a safe, sexy and healing companion for Tracey's journey. This had a few standard romance tropes that I found grating. Overall, the relationship felt organic and had a nice bite of spice. This is a perfect, feel-good Valentines Day novel.

Thank you to Synithia Williams, Harlequin Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

Frenemies with benefits is a small town, southern contemporary romance that does many things well.

Disclaimer: I read this book as a audiobook read. Thank you so much to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the free arc and audiobook copies of this book.

This book follows Tracy as she is trying to rebuild her life after a messy and inevitable divorce. She's trying to stand on her own 2 feet and rediscover who she is as a person. This is part of the book that I really enjoyed. Tracy was strong, even through times of doubt and uncertainty. She always rose up and learned to believe in herself as she has a strong support system around her. She was a good business woman and made smart and sound decisions even during times of insecurity. I related to Tracy on the Avenue of her family. Her parents are kind of a mess and I grew up in a household where my parents were also kind of a mess so I really felt drawn to Tracy from that aspect.

For the male counterpart, we have Brian, who is also recovering from a messy marriage and divorce. He is further along in his recovery process, but his ex will not seem to disappear from his life the way he wants her to. Brian was sweet, gentle and exuded all of the positive green flags you'd want any partner. I really appreciated how he was forthcoming with communication and that avoided the dreaded communication trope that usually plays on way too long.

This book does contain cheating trope, but it's done in a way that I absolutely love. It is the recovery from cheating and the learning from the cheating versus the actual act breaking up the family during the book. I'm not a fan of the cheating trope normally, but this I could rock with.

The reason I could only give this book a 3.5 stars is because it didn't do anything to set itself apart from other contemporary romances. I didn't feel anything overly different happened to set it apart in my mind from other books that I've read. While I really enjoyed this book during the consumption, I think it'll be a book that doesn't stick with me long-term. It is a really good time during the read. Lots of female empowerment, lots of finding and discovering yourself both as you are as a person and sexually, which is super important, but overall pretty standard contemporary romance with nothing that really gives it an outlier feeling.

I love sassy southern woman. It is a specific niche that is so under represented in romance. So far Synthia Williams serves it so well and not two stories are alike in this series.

I love the fierceness of the FMC in this book. Through down falls, she rises up with more sass and wit that had me hollering and cheering.
I love the standing up to your toxic family.
And I love the romance development in this book. Very real life with the dashing of romance magic only romance books can do.

This audio is so well done! I was completely immersed in this story and felt like I was listening to different people speaking for each voice the narrator used. that accent was beautifully done, and transported me to the location of the novel . The narrator is truly talent and I will be on the look out for more of their work.

This friends to lovers story had me blushing and smiling at the pages. In this story, we meet Brian and Tracey, who were childhood friends, and are now business associates, back in their home town. They both have awful exes, and are initially unenthused about the idea of putting their hearts back out into the dating world. Thankfully, they are able to work through the toxic experiences of their lives and consider pursuing a crush they've both unknowingly had on each other since childhood. I loved the connection between Brian and Tracey from the beginning to end of this novel. The evolution of their relationship was very beautiful to watch. Even though this was the first book I read in the series, I didn't feel like I was lost or missing anything. The characters were well thought out and alive on each page. The side characters were also entertaining and felt developed. I loved the way Brian cared for Tracey and had her back regardless of who he had to stand up too. I loved his patience, care, and reassurances to her. Even though they had been friends for a long time, Tracey was able to fully bloom within their new relationship while still having space to reassert her own identity. I loved that Tracey reclaimed herself, and didn't allow the naysayers to keep her trapped in a horrible situation. She chose herself and I loved that for her. I especially enjoyed that Brian and Tracey handled their conversations with so much maturity, and there was no ridiculous third act breakup. I was fortunate to enjoy an immersive reading experience by listening to the audio narration along with the e-book, and I must say that Adenrele Ojo did a fantastic job. The accent and voice interpretations were very well done and really suited the characters of the story being told. I will definitely read more of this authors work.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing and arc of this novel.

This might be my favorite book in this series! Adenrele Ojo is back and killing it as usual with the narration. In this one we follow Tracey who we've seen glimpses of in the other books and in the short story. In this book we're following Tracey after he divorce has been finalized with her no good cheating husband. After years of putting her ex's pleasure before her own Tracey is finally trying to live life and get hers. She's taking a course at the local college to help expand her business, she's switching up her hair, and she's entering a friends with benefits situationship with the very sexy Brian. Brian is fresh out of his own bad marriage also filled with cheating and lies. Though his ex and her drama seems to linger despite the number of times he's tried to shake her off.

This had everything I love in a Synithia Williams book. It has messy family dynamics, Southern small town goodness, and grown folks romance. It's a slow burn romance with plenty of drama but some wonderful moments in between and plenty of growth.

This book is part of a series but can be read as a standalone and does not take away from the story. I loved the duet narration of this book and I feel like it adds to the book extremely well. This very much reminds of the show, The Sweet Magnolias. Tracey has very hard to build her successful bed and breakfast - only for her husband to have a very public affair. Tracey must learn what her new normal is after her divorce while living in small town, Peachtree Cove. This includes exploring the single life with Brian. There is SO much drama because it's a small town and both Tracey and Brian have pretty ugly exes. It has that friends to lovers with meddling small town people. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted ALC. All opinions are my own.

Instagram post will be live 11Feb25

This was my first trip to Peachtree Cove, Georgia and what a great trip! This was not your usual friends to enemies story, it was so much more with an added spicy twist. We meet Tracy who is a new owner of a bed and breakfast inn, her ride or die girlfriends, a soon to be ex-husband and Brian. Peachtree Cove has many different people you will all meet. Tracy is woman who is coming into her own being, while dealing with family generational traumas, marriage issues, and self worth issues. Ultimately, we see Tracy coming into her own while getting a little spice on the side! Great fun romance! I will be reading Synithia Williams other two books that take place in Peachtree Cove and meet some other people in the town.
The writing quality was excellent and the story flowed well.
I listened to the audiobook and I was not a fan of the narrator. Perhaps, the somewhat exaggerated southern drawls of the characters is normal in the South, but, I found it somewhat of a distraction. The storyline was so good that I finished the audiobook. So, I encouraging others who may also encounter not caring for the narration to stick with the audiobook and enjoy the story!

A small town friends with benefits romance between a recently divorced Black woman and the man who's had a crush for years. This was spicy, emotional and full of small town Southern Charm. Perfect for fans of authors like Talia Hibbert or Preslaysa Williams. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

The female narrator did an excellent job, 10/10

3.5⭐️ | 1🌶️

This was such a sweet romance!

I really enjoyed the story—it was fast-paced, engaging, and had a surprisingly compelling small-town setting. The subplot about the community coming together to build up their mall businesses was something I didn’t expect to love as much as I did.

Tracy and Ryan had great chemistry, and Ryan was an absolute gem. He was a fantastic communicator, the king of acts of service, and completely smitten with Tracy from the start. It was refreshing to see such a genuinely good guy as the love interest.

I also have to give credit where it’s due—this was the first third-act “breakup” I’ve read that made complete sense and felt entirely justified.

That said, I struggled with the narration style. Third-person POV isn’t my favorite, and I found it kept pulling me out of the story at times.

Overall, a charming romance with a lovable hero and a unique small-town backdrop!

Thank you to NetGalley, The Hive, and the author for the ARC.

3.75 Stars rounded up

This book was honestly a lot of fun. It was somewhat heavy and very realistic. Tracey has just finalized her divorce from the man who knocked up her business partner while they were married. She is ready to move on from all of the rumors in this small town, and what better way to do that then to get involved in a physical relationship with a man you've known for a long time that also happens to be a vendor that you work with frequently.

This was a story of growth and finding yourself while moving on after bad relationships. I wish this book would have had a little bit more angst. With a name like "Frenemies with benefits" I wanted a bit more tension and banter, but Tracey and Brian were more friends than frenemies.

I wish I would have read the other two books in this series before jumping into this book because I feel like I missed out on some of this couples' back story, but this book can be read as a standalone. If you're thinking of picking this up, I do suggest reading the other 2 books in the Peachtree cove series first. I do plan on going back and reading them. I loved all of the friend groups in this book so I am excited to go back and get some of their stories.

I was provided with both an audiobook and an e-book arc. The audiobook was really well done and I feel like the narrators did a wonderful job with these characters.

I have mixed feelings about this. I thought the storytelling promise and set up as well as the narration were excellent, but overall I was left kind of bored. I struggle to classify this as romance because the romantic relationship felt like an aside to the personal development Tracey and Brian went through. Romantically, I was wanting more. I also think these two cannot be considered "frenemies" if Brian has be noticeably pining after Tracey for a decade.

Ultimately, while this was a bit of a miss for me, I am glad I listened to it vs. reading with my eyeballs, because I think that helped me finish the book and end up enjoying it.

This was a fun time, I'm really in my small town era and I'm loving it, I didn't necessarily see Tracey and Brian as enemies like the title suggested but the benefits part? Yesssss.

This wasn't too heavy on the drama although there were several characters that had me rolling my eyes and wondering where they got the audacity.

Frenemies with Benefits held my attention the whole time, funny, smart, entertaining with the perfect amount spice.

I listened to the book via audio. I didn't enjoy the narrator because the southern accent/Georgian accent wasn't good. The narrator is from Philly and I believe they created the disconnect.

Now to the story, it was an easy read. I enjoyed listening the the MC grow more into herself. I would t describe the romance as slow burn but it took a bit for it to develop. Would recommend this to my home girls to read.

This was such a fun book to listen to! The narrator did a great job bringing the story and characters to life!
Read if you like:
🥧 friends with benefits
🥧small town vibes
🥧dual POV
🥧second chance romance

Great characters! Great story! This is an enemies to friends storyline done right. I like the author and her storytelling method. I love the narrator, even though it would have been good to have more than one voice.

Overall: 3.5
Spice: 2
Narrator: 3

We are back in Peachtree Cove and this time we how Tracy is doing the drama in the previous book. This books the FMC decides to come into her own and start living for herself instead of living for everyone else. It's powerful to see her become the strong and sexy woman she has always been.

A good love story. They were both frenemies but they did support each other through messy past relationship partners dipping in and out of their lives.
The story was medium paced and a good attention getter.