Friends With Benefits by Marisa Kanter is a sweet romance novel about best friends who marry for each other’s benefits and fall in love.
Friend With Benefits by Marisa Kanter is a great romance novel to check out when you want a sweet friends-to-lovers and marriage of convenience book. This book is realistic in the sense that the two main characters are struggling financially. It’s a very cute book with real people who have real issues, but work together to better themselves.
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Friends With Benefits Overview
Title: Friends With Benefits
Author: Marisa Kanter
Pages: 381 Pages
Publish Date: May 6th, 2025
Genre: Romance
My Star Rating: 4/5 stars! (I loved this book and would recommend it to most people.)
Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/3YVOFFr
Synopsis from Amazon
Evie Bloom pays attention to the details. Her very job depends on it―as an aspiring Foley artist, she’s responsible for every crisp footstep, smacking kiss, and distinct sound in film and television. So when she’s selected for a fellowship opportunity that would make all her career dreams come true, she’s quick to spot the catch: there are no health benefits, and for someone with a chronic illness, that’s a non-starter.
Theo Cohen is an elementary school teacher who can’t afford to live on his own in LA, and is facing eviction after his roommates couple up and move out of their rent-controlled apartment. But there is one loophole in his lease: each tenant must meet an income threshold, unless the tenants are married.
For Theo, the answer is obvious. Marry Evie, his best friend since forever. It’s not as if they don’t spend all their free time together anyways. Not only will Theo be able to keep his apartment, but Evie can be added to his insurance plan so she can accept her dream fellowship. It’s such a logical, practical solution. Never mind that Evie doesn’t really want to be married―not to Theo, not to anyone―ever. Or the small, complicating fact that Theo has always been a little bit in love with Evie.
But it doesn’t have to be a big deal. Marriage. It will just give them space to breathe, and much-needed relief from the daily financial stress. It won’t change anything.
It’s . . . going to change everything.
My Review of Friends With Benefits
First, thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Marisa Kanter for this Advanced Reading Copy of Friends with Benefits in exchange for my honest review.
Friend With Benefits tells the story of Evelyn and Theo, best friends who need to get married due to financial and health insurance issues. The premise makes a lot of sense and doesn’t seem forced. They both have issues with parents who have left them damaged in different ways. It was very interesting to see how Theo and Evelyn grow and try to mature throughout this book.
I was a HUGE fan of Theo and loved his character. He’s a teacher who’s just trying to make the education system better for the children he teaches. I would describe him as a golden retriever main male character.
Evelyn was an ok character, but I really struggled to love her once I saw a major flaw in her character (it gets addressed and they talk about how toxic it is). She also has a lot on her plate because she suffers from a chronic illness, Crohn’s Disease. Lastly, I really enjoyed learning about her job, Foley sound, and her past as a dancer.
The side characters were diverse and (mostly) supportive of their decisions. Evelyn’s mother will make you want to punch her, but that’s the point of a toxic parent. Evelyn’s sister and grandparents will keep you laughing throughout the book. I loved reading when they were all together.
Lastly, I think this book is great for anyone who wants to read a sweet romance of best friends forever who FINALLY admit their feelings and trust each other enough to say they love each other.
Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/3YVOFFr
Who Would Enjoy This Book
This book is perfect for anyone who loves friends-to-lovers, marriage of convenience, third-act breakup, and slow-burn romance tropes. Also, if you are into a little bit of spice and not so much smut, you will enjoy this book.
I think this book is perfect for anyone who loves when flawed people FINALLY communicate and realize their true feelings for each other. It’s a great book for anyone who loves romance books.
Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/3YVOFFr
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Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this book review, and if you check out this book, let me know what you think. If you have any questions about Friends With Benefits, let me know in the comments below. I love hearing from all of you.
Lastly, don’t forget to share this post on your social media. I appreciate all the love and support.
Thanks for reading,
Kel