The Friend Zone (The Friend Zone #1) by Abby Jimenez
Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen—especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.
The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.
Review: Kristen Petersen, content with running her business and her long-distance boyfriend, is thrown for a loop when she meets the best man for her best friend's wedding. Josh is sexy, confident, and even has carpentry skills she needs to help her business. As the two get to know each other, Kristen feels drawn to him, except for one thing: Josh is open about his desires to one day have a big family. And what Josh doesn't know is that Kristen has suffered for years from complicated medical issues and accompanying infertility.
Josh was a top tier male lead. He is supportive and understanding. He isn't afraid of Kristen's medical issues and doesn't shy away from her when she's on her never-ending period. He's respectful of her relationship but makes it clear he is interested. However, I did not like Kristen nearly as well. I found her abrasive and frequently rude to Josh. She pushes him away the entire book and is very dismissive of him. I didn't fully understand why he was so passionately devoted to her given her behavior towards him. I love that Kristen shines some light on women suffering from endometriosis and infertility, and I appreciated that she was mindful of Josh's long-term goal to have a family, but women with endometriosis deserved a better representative.
I want to avoid spoilers but there is a traumatic loss experienced over the course of this book. Very soon afterwards, Josh and Kristen finally resolve some of the issues that have kept them apart. Although this is life - happiness amid pain - something about it felt a bit insensitive? Something about the pacing of it just felt off or wrong for them to just head into loving bliss in the face of such immense tragedy, but maybe that was just me.
This book was excellent on audio. The chapters alternate between Josh and Kristen's perspectives and the audiobook had male and female narrators for the accompanying chapters, which adds so much to the performance. Abby Jimenez writes amazing romantic comedies with lots of banter and great chemistry between the characters and this one was no different.
Stars: 4
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