The Friendship Variable by Marie Soleil

 

Summary (from the publisher): He's in love with his best friend.

The only problem? She's engaged to someone else.

Claire Beaumont has always done everything by the book—the math book, that is. Straight A’s? Check. Earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in math? Check. Land a job teaching community college, just like Mom and Dad? Check.

Her parents are also thrilled she’s dating the son of their best friends, even if he still lives in his parents’ basement at the age of twenty-seven. So when he proposes in front of both families and an audience of fifty thousand baseball fans, she can’t say no—even though her first instinct tells her to run. Thankfully, Claire has her best friend and coworker, Ryan, to lean on. He’s the one person who always has her back.

Ryan Matthews, Coastal Vista Community College’s resident surfer/math professor, has been head-over-heels for Claire since the day they met. But when he found out she had a boyfriend, he decided to settle for being her friend—and her sounding board for all her boyfriend complaints. He was sure they were on the verge of a breakup, but now, they’re engaged.

Resolved to move on, Ryan throws himself into dating again. But when he and Claire are paired to lead a high-profile campus project, keeping his feelings under wraps proves harder than solving a four-variable system of equations.

Review: Claire Beaumont has always done everything right to please her parents. She teaches math at the same community college where her parents used to work, and her parents are thrilled she's dating the son of their best friends (even if he does still live in their basement). So, when he proposes, Claire ignores her gut instinct that the engagement isn't right. Meanwhile, Claire's best friend and fellow math professor, Ryan Matthews, is absolutely crushed to find out she is engaged, since he had long thought there wasn't a lot of depth to Claire's relationship with Zach. Acknowledging that he has feelings for her and can no longer be her friend anymore, Ryan decides to move on. 

Y'all this was SO cute! I loved that they were math professors and got very close through working together and having similar interests. Despite her having a boyfriend, there is no cheating in this, and they are just friends, so their relationship feels very sweet and genuine with real connection at its root. They both just seem like genuinely good people, so it was easy to root for them! Ryan is just so thoughtful and considerate of Claire and supportive of her dreams (like secretly writing a novel). And he makes one of my favorite micro tropes happen: he takes care of her when she gets sick :)

I'm just going to say it - Claire's boyfriend Zach is THE WORST. He lives at home, very intentionally doesn't work, and even admits he proposes so he can live off her hard work! I understand that Claire has been with him for years and gives into that historical momentum and her parents' wishes but WOW. I really thought a lot less of her parents for even wanting this relationship for her! How can they honestly think this is a good potential partner for her? Claire's dad redeems himself in the end but her mom - with her disregard for Claire's preferences at every turn - was a big thumb's down for me. Her influence is how Claire ends up with this loser boyfriend to begin with. Claire deserves to be with someone who supports and appreciates her and also shows up for her. Zach does none of this. However, I did appreciate the resolution with Zach and how respectful and thoughtful they are to each other. 

This was cute on audio with dual narration (with the exception of the male narrator's voice he used for female dialogue which I did not care for). This is kisses only and would make a great introduction to love stories for a young reader because it is very PG with no inappropriate content whatsoever but yet is such a great story! A rare find!

Stars: 4