Name: The Friend Zone
ISBN: 9781538715628

Abby Jimenez

Fall in love with this hilarious and heartwarming USA Today bestselling romantic comedy that LJ Shen calls "an absolute treat." Kristen Peterson doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children. 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. "Your next favorite romantic comedy...The Friend Zone is that rare beach read with tons of heart that will make you laugh and cry in equal parts." ---PopSugar "Your next rom-com to obsess and cry over." ---Cosmopolitan Goodreads Choice Awards nominee - Best Romance, Best Debut O, The Oprah Magazine Best Romance Novels of the year Audie Award Finalist USA Today bestseller Bookish Best Books of the year SheReads Best Romances of the year Women's Health Best Romance Novels of the year Good Housekeeping Best New Books for Summer PopSugar Best Books of Summer Publishers Weekly Starred Review Booklist Starred Review Booklist Top 10 Romance Debuts of 2019

The Friend Zone

meghan healy

ing fodder for my fantasies, Josh bore the distinction of being one of the few people who didn't annoy me. I liked spending time with him,

this. Sa ck inot sakę ofe "Comfortable silences. When Mia Wallace says, "Thats when you know you've found somebody really special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably share si- lence. )»

Oh my God?? Is this Sloan from HEAP?? And is Brandon the Brandon????

Keira 💫

Sloan and I were the only takers this morning. 

“How are you liking the new fire station?” she asked.

         She must have seen the answer on my face.

         “Really? It’s shitty?” She seemed surprised.

         I shook my head. “I don’t know. It’s all right.”

         I twisted my lips. “It’s just at my old station, we didn’t get shit medical calls. I mean, we only got, like, three a day—”

         “Twelve? Fifteen? It’s a busy station. But the calls are bullshit. Drunk homeless guys. Crap that should be a trip to a walk-in clinic. I went on a call yesterday for a stubbed toe.”

         “Well, most people are pretty fucking stupid.” She ate a fry.

         “My granddad used to always say, ‘Even duct tape can’t fix stupid,’” I said, putting my straw in my mouth.

         “Hmm. No. But it can muffle the sound.”

         I burst into laughter and almost choked on my soda. I liked her wit so much more when I wasn’t the brunt of it.

Oh that’s painful ☹️☹️ Kristen, I’m sorry love. 

“A lot of reasons. The biggest one being that she didn’t want to have kids. I did. It wasn’t negotiable.”

         She nodded again. “That’s a big one,” she mumbled.

“We’re going. I’m not leaving you here while I run home.”

“Oh. Uh, sorry to interrupt. Josh is here. Is it cool if he stays for dinner?”

         Josh came up behind Brandon, holding Stuntman. My dog was licking his cheek. “Hey, Sloan. Kristen.” His smile fell the second he saw my face.

         I swiped at my tears, fled to the bathroom, and closed the door.

“You know what I think the trick to dealing with family is? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.”

         “What?” I said, spreading strawberry jam on my toast.

         “Marrying your best friend.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “You marry your best friend, and at family gatherings you deal with your shitty relatives together. You laugh about it and have each other’s backs. Share looks and text each other from across the room when everyone else is being an asshole. And nobody else really matters because you have your own universe.”

         He held my eyes for a moment. “That’s what I want. I want someone to be my universe.”

         He’d have no problem finding that. No problem at all. Josh could have any woman he wanted. After all, he was the sun. Warm and vital. He would be the center of a big family one day, just like he wanted, and they’d all adore him.

         And I was just some passing comet. Momentarily distracting. Useless and unimportant. I was nice to look at, fun to observe, but I’d never give life or be the center of anything.

         I’d streak through and be gone, and Josh would forget me before we knew it.

I reached under the bed and pulled out my laptop. “Can I follow you too?”

         “You can follow me anywhere.”

         He was flirty when he was drunk. It was cute. He didn’t usually say things like this to me. I shut it down immediately when he did. But Drunk Josh wasn’t really Josh.

         “How come Sober Josh doesn’t have all this swagger, huh?” I teased.

         He snorted. “He does. He’s just trying to follow your many rules. Drunk Josh doesn’t live by rules. Drunk Josh does what Drunk Josh wants,” he said, stumbling over the words.

         “And what does Drunk Josh want?” I smiled, tapping his name into the search bar on Instagram.

         I arched an eyebrow. “You’re lucky you’re not here. I’d take advantage of you. You sound too weak to fight me off.”

         I sent him a follow request, laughing at his comment. A second later I got his and approved it.

         We got quiet as we looked at each other’s pictures.

         “Get Sloan and drive down here tomorrow. Let’s get married. Come on.”

         I smiled gently. “I can’t marry you.”

         Spitting. “Why? I would be a good husband to you. I would take care of you. I’d be a good dad.”

         I moved the phone away from my mouth as a sudden wrenching urge to sob bolted into my throat. I pressed my lips together and forced it back down. “I know you would,” I whispered. “That’s why I can’t.”

         Then he spoke into my darkness. “I love you.”

         My tears spilled down my cheeks and the lump in my throat threatened to suffocate me. “I love you too.”

“Do you mind if I wear this?” I asked, pulling it on before he had the chance to answer. I tucked my nose into the neck and breathed in, closing my eyes.

         He climbed back in bed, handing me a glass of water. “You can keep it if you want.” He grinned at me.

         “Really?” God, I would never wash it. I would wear it like a warm hug. “Are you sure? That’s a slippery slope, Joshua. Hoodies are gateway clothes. Soon I’ll be stealing your shirts and your jackets.” I took a sip and then set the water down next to the bed and looked back at him.

         He leaned in and kissed me, his smile enormous. “I’m sure,” he whispered against my lips. “Take whatever you want.”

         I gave him a raised eyebrow. “Why are you so happy about me stealing your clothes?”

         “I’m just happy because I like it when you call me Joshua,” he said, smiling. His fingers brushed the hair at the top of my forehead and he kissed me gently.

“You know, it’s Tarantino Trivia at Malone’s tonight. You wanna go? I’m getting kind of hungry.” Josh had nothing in his fridge, and we’d eaten the burgers I brought hours ago. I looked at my Fitbit. “But we’d have to leave in, like, ten minutes.”

         “Sure,” he said, his hands on my thighs. “Do we invite Brandon and Sloan?”

         I shook my head. “They’re going to Luigi’s for dinner. It’ll just be us.”

         He gave me a soft peck on the lips, his eyes warm. “It’s a date—let’s go.”

         It wasn’t a date, but I didn’t correct him. He’d just roll his eyes and say it was just an expression and he wasn’t trying to slip a date past me, the way he always did. I didn’t need the reminder.

He caressed my cheek. “You know you’re the best thing to ever happen to me, right?” His eyes blazed with emotion. “I love you, Kristen. You are the one great love of my life.”

His words gripped my heart. “I love you too, Joshua. Forever.”

WHAT DO YOU MEAN!??!????! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT HAPPENED?!?!?!

Tiana holt

i’m not sure if this book was for me! i liked the premise, and i thought josh and kristen had great chemistry. i just thought the back and forth of hot and cold behavior re: dating without communicating what the actual issues were got a little old after a while. loved how well they ended up getting to know each other, and the inside jokes were great, but the list of things they knew / liked abt each other at the end largely happened off screen (tho this didn’t bother me as much as it has for other books, so i can’t take too many points away for this). i actually liked tyler and liked his existence bc i think life rly is complicated like that w introducing ppl into your life — there’s never really a perfect time, and sometimes there’s rly no good reason you don’t get along w someone except that you feel better chemistry w someone else. felt like brandon did not need to d!e lol and there did not need to be a miracle baby at the end but alas. i’m not the author! was relatively surprised by this bc based on how abby jimenez’s books are received, i thought this would be… different… maybe less military industrial complex haha welp! idk if i will read another of her books!

lucia

i have to add my review in the comments cause it’s too long to add here lol 

Jordan Leatherdale

emily  amata

"Love is for better or worse. It’s always and no matter what."

This one hurts, oh how I wanted to love this book - I never thought I would ever give a Abby Jimenez book less than 4 stars and I am so disappointed. As someone with endometriosis I thought I was about to get a relatable and deeply touching story that explored the difficulties of fertility, pain and medical decisions but instead this was just not it. I admit that maybe the issue is that I started with the Part of Your World series first, which are written later in Jimenez' career, when her writing has been developed and cultivated into the beautiful masterpieces she writes now. 

 does appear to be her first published novel as far as I can tell, and we all have to start somewhere. This story had all of the parts to make it a five star read too, so many quotes made me feel so seen and validated and so much of the banter was absolutely adorable, but in the end this just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

For starters, Kristen pissed me off. And for a large part, so did Josh. The miscommunication trope, cheating and the "not like other girls" trope are some of my least favourite tropes ever to exist, and they were such prominent features of this story. For a small part I understood why Kristen didn't just tell Josh the truth, I've been in the same position where it's embarrassing to admit what's going on, especially when periods can be such a taboo subject for some people - but Josh had already shown he was comfortable with periods multiple times in the first 30% of the book, so her embarrassment started to get more and more ridiculous. If she'd just given him the chance to make up his own mind about her then he would've avoided putting his foot in his mouth so often regarding having kids. The way she ran hot and cold and lead Josh on so often was also pretty uncomfortable, I felt so bad for Josh. But the way Josh spoke about Kristen was annoying too, the quote 

"She was like a unicorn. A mythical creature. An honest, no-drama woman who didn’t bullshit and drank beer and cussed and didn’t care about what people thought of her."

 made me cringe so much I almost put the book down. And while Kristen didn't 

 cheat on Tyler, she was definitely having an emotional affair, and avoiding his calls to hang out with Josh was pretty dodgy. Tyler and Josh definitely deserved better.

There were points in the book that almost redeemed themselves just by how relatable Kristen's struggles were to my own. I'm lucky that I don't personally want kids, so my fertility issues have been more of a blessing for me, but the parts where she was talking about having an ulcer from taking too much ibuprofen (something I ended up in hospital for as well) and enjoying working from home because the pain of cramps and bleeding made sitting in an office or lecture difficult, really resounded with me. But everything else around this just didn't hit the mark for me. Plus the double whammy emotional plot twists at the end of the book just didn't sit right either. SPOILER>>> Using Brandon's death as a plot device to prove a point to Kristen about loving someone despite their health conditions felt really cheap to me. I was semi spoiled already because I knew book two was about Sloan and a guy whose name was not Brandon, but even still, I just didn't like this element. And then having Kristen have a miracle baby, especially when her condition was described as so severe, just felt gratuitous and basically undid everything that the story had built up to. Of course, in real life, if that happened I would be overjoyed for the couple, but in a book where it should give healthy representation - it just felt like a punch in the gut <<<END SPOILER

Overall, I enjoyed aspects of this book and think it had all of the right elements to be just as masterfully handled as Jimenez' later works, but in the end it just let me down, unfortunately. It was a really fantastic idea, just not executed with the care I have come to know and love from this author. If you want to read this, definitely check your trigger warnings for infertility, vehicle accidents and drunk driving. I'm incredibly sad that this book wasn't for me, when it felt like it should be the one that I connected with the most given my own health conditions. Of course, I will continue with the rest of this series, but I am already a bit wary for the second book considering the spoilers above, but we'll see how we go!

Genevieve 

"Love is for better or worse. It’s always and no matter what."

3.5 ⭐

This one hurts, oh how I wanted to love this book - I never thought I would ever give a Abby Jimenez book less than 4 stars and I am so disappointed. As someone with endometriosis I thought I was about to get a relatable and deeply touching story that explored the difficulties of fertility, pain and medical decisions but instead this was just not it. I admit that maybe the issue is that I started with the Part of Your World series first, which are written later in Jimenez' career, when her writing has been developed and cultivated into the beautiful masterpieces she writes now. The Friend Zone does appear to be her first published novel as far as I can tell, and we all have to start somewhere. This story had all of the parts to make it a five star read too, so many quotes made me feel so seen and validated and so much of the banter was absolutely adorable, but in the end this just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

For starters, Kristen pissed me off. And for a large part, so did Josh. The miscommunication trope, cheating and the "not like other girls" trope are some of my least favourite tropes ever to exist, and they were such prominent features of this story. For a small part I understood why Kristen didn't just tell Josh the truth, I've been in the same position where it's embarrassing to admit what's going on, especially when periods can be such a taboo subject for some people - but Josh had already shown he was comfortable with periods multiple times in the first 30% of the book, so her embarrassment started to get more and more ridiculous. If she'd just given him the chance to make up his own mind about her then he would've avoided putting his foot in his mouth so often regarding having kids. The way she ran hot and cold and lead Josh on so often was also pretty uncomfortable, I felt so bad for Josh. But the way Josh spoke about Kristen was annoying too, the quote "She was like a unicorn. A mythical creature. An honest, no-drama woman who didn’t bullshit and drank beer and cussed and didn’t care about what people thought of her." made me cringe so much I almost put the book down. And while Kristen didn't technically cheat on Tyler, she was definitely having an emotional affair, and avoiding his calls to hang out with Josh was pretty dodgy. Tyler and Josh definitely deserved better.

There were points in the book that almost redeemed themselves just by how relatable Kristen's struggles were to my own. I'm lucky that I don't personally want kids, so my fertility issues have been more of a blessing for me, but the parts where she was talking about having an ulcer from taking too much ibuprofen (something I ended up in hospital for as well) and enjoying working from home because the pain of cramps and bleeding made sitting in an office or lecture difficult, really resounded with me. But everything else around this just didn't hit the mark for me. Plus the double whammy emotional plot twists at the end of the book just didn't sit right either. SPOILER>>> Using Brandon's death as a plot device to prove a point to Kristen about loving someone despite their health conditions felt really cheap to me. I was semi spoiled already because I knew book two was about Sloan and a guy whose name was not Brandon, but even still, I just didn't like this element. And then having Kristen have a miracle baby, especially when her condition was described as so severe, just felt gratuitous and basically undid everything that the story had built up to. Of course, in real life, if that happened I would be overjoyed for the couple, but in a book where it should give healthy representation - it just felt like a punch in the gut <<<END SPOILER

Overall, I enjoyed aspects of this book and think it had all of the right elements to be just as masterfully handled as Jimenez' later works, but in the end it just let me down, unfortunately. It was a really fantastic idea, just not executed with the care I have come to know and love from this author. If you want to read this, definitely check your trigger warnings for infertility, vehicle accidents and drunk driving. I'm incredibly sad that this book wasn't for me, when it felt like it should be the one that I connected with the most given my own health conditions. Of course, I will continue with the rest of this series, but I am already a bit wary for the second book considering the spoilers above, but we'll see how we go!

A quick read & love the way this quick witty romance books make me feel. 

Edna Aviles

big ab

did i really enjoy this book? of course.
she treated this man like absolute garbage this entire book. 
but im on my hands and knees begging this man to watch the “cool girl” monologue from gone girl. he wouldn’t understand it, but it would make me feel better to know that someone tried to explain his obsession with the “cool girl”. 
the best friend is a real one. loved her.

Jennifer Gosnell

** spoiler alert **
           Oh goodness. Where to start. The “not like other girls” trope mixed with the “magically able to have a baby now” twist. Awful. Sorry, it’s an absolute miss.

Ok I enjoyed the empowered woman MC and the honesty of the fibroids plotline … but this was just too aggressively hetero for me

Amelia Hruby

y’alllll, this book was so bad it was good??? I’ve read abby’s other series and I loved them so I had to pick up her other series and I think I only got through this because I was forewarned at how painful this one would be.

I enjoyed this book until I didn’t, because kristen was likable until she wasn’t. she drove me BONKERS at the end when she kept denying josh. like girl shut the fuck up and stop making his decisions for him! he’s a big boy and can do what he wants. jesus christ that drove me nuts. and I understood that josh needed to win her over with logic but oh my god, so unrealistic how all of a sudden he provides logic and she’s like “ya ok let’s date!”

the plot gave me enough to stay hooked. I’ll give abby that with this one. brandon’s death also hurt me. that one was painful.

Tara Bounkeovisane

y’alllll, this book was so bad it was good??? I’ve read abby’s other series and I loved them so I had to pick up her other series and I think I only got through this because I was forewarned at how painful this one would be.

I enjoyed this book until I didn’t, because kristen was likable until she wasn’t. she drove me BONKERS at the end when she kept denying josh. like girl shut the fuck up and stop making his decisions for him! he’s a big boy and can do what he wants. jesus christ that drove me nuts. and I understood that josh needed to win her over with logic but oh my god, so unrealistic how all of a sudden he provides logic and she’s like “ya ok let’s date!”

the plot gave me enough to stay hooked. I’ll give abby that with this one. brandon’s death also hurt me. that one was painful.

Forgot I finished it but still thinking about it months later 

Syrina

i hate the military too much to finish this sorry abby jimenez

jackie

i want to feel embarrassed that i finished this in 3 hours but sometimes you have to see how it ends and… WHAT? 

Janet Akisanmi

…..what

i want to feel embarrassed that i finished this in 3 hours but sometimes you have to see how it ends and… WHAT? 

abi a

the first time i read this, i rated this 3 stars cz i enjoyed it, all those dramas and the slow burn. but as i was reading it for the second time, i realized how problematic this was written and its implications about infertility etc. other than that, was i the only one who found it weird how josh implied his sisters volunteered to be his and kristen's surrogate??

Honestly this wasn’t my favorite book by this author at first. I still really cared about the characters and everything, but the MMC felt weirdly misogynistic in random lines throughout the book, and it did feel like a “glorifying girls that aren’t like other girls” thing. But it won me over as it went on. I didn’t expect a certain thing to happen and I did cry a bunch, but I did accurately predict the ending! I am incredibly emotionally invested in Sloan and did not wear makeup today so that I can fly through the second book.

Kendra Leigh 

FMC is “not like other girls” and literally described as a “cool girl” by the main love interest. Trigger warning: infertility journey ending in pregnancy

Savannah Lowe

Yasmin Dunnewind

almost cried in the train while reading this book today, do with that what you will

Hannah Elrick

Such a cute story! I appreciated the realness of struggles with infertility and that being the main story line - pleasantly surprised!

Enna Burton

Petaco

The blurb is wrong. Kristen Peterson ONLY DOES DRAMA. I hated this book. I hated Kristen. I did not find her likable at all. She was totally mean and selfish. If the roles were switched, and it was Josh that put the restrictions on the "relationship" then I believe more people would have called foul. She was literally the worst.  I felt like she treated Tyler terribly. Yes, he was (view spoiler)[ wrong about letting her know through a voicemail. She could not even take the time to call him or confront him. She wasted no time hooking up with another guy. But prior to that, she was already having an emotional affair with Josh! That is not cool. I personally read books as an escape. I like GOOD serious books, I like the occasional sad book. I do not enjoy books where main characters die. If I wanted to read books like that, I would read the news. Because of that, I hated the book even more.  (hide spoiler)]

Fall in love with this hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy that USA Today bestselling author LJ Shen calls "an absolute treat." Instant USA Today bestseller! Kristen Peterson doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children. 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. "Your next favorite romantic comedy...The Friend Zone is that rare beach read with tons of heart that will make you laugh and cry in equal parts." ---PopSugar Good Housekeeping Best New Books for Summer 2019PopSugar Best Books of Summer 2019Women's Health Best Romance Novels of 2019Bookish Must Read Romance Summer 2019SheReads Most Anticipated Romance Books of 2019Women.com Most Highly Anticipated Books for Summer Bookstr Ultimate Summer 2019 Reading GuidePublishers Weekly Starred ReviewBooklist Starred Review

Kelci

julie reads

this book had me in shambles and i instantly bought the rest of the series bc she’s such a good writer and just amazing

Loved every single second of this book!!! 

There are plenty of TW’s needed for this book - but they are all worth it! Cannot wait to read more of this series ❤️

Brittany Peterson

Loved every single second of this book!!! 

There are plenty of TW’s needed for this book - but they are all worth it! Cannot wait to read more of this series ❤️