You might have heard the term, ‘complicated relationship’ and it’s used when two people are confused about their relationship. There are a lot of instances where they are either unsure of their feelings towards others or can’t express them openly. So today, I have come with a new novel titled, ‘The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez’.
Sometimes it just feels like trying something different, so I started exploring and happened to see this book, and the blurb caught my attention. And with zeal, I began to follow Abby, curious to know that this was the book to match my mood or something else. It was a perfect mix of sweet and sassy. It’s just the kind of fun romance with many themes and covers as you will have both crying and laughing moments in it with emotional drama.
The story of this book revolves around two people planning their best friend’s wedding and are unknown to each other. Soon they develop feelings for each other as the chemistry between them is undeniable. Being the best man and maid of honor at their friend’s wedding they meet each other regularly and ignoring the feelings get harder. However, life has different plans for them as the decisions made later are harder and heartbreaking.
This novel is not a rom-com as it might seem so far but it has much more for you to learn. Let’s dive directly into the synopsis and see what more it has to offer.
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez | Book Review
About The Author | Abby Jimenez
Abby Jimenez is a bestselling author of USA Today of contemporary romance novels and is also a Motivational speaker. She is originally from the Philippines and lives in Minnesota. In 2013, she won the cupcakes wars on Food Network.
Jimenez worked as a retail manager in 2007 before starting Nadia Cakes the following year. She now owns three cake shops in Maple Grove, Woodbury and Palmdale, California. Since then, Abby has turned her talents toward writing novels, including The Friend Zone (2019) and The Happy Ever After Playlist (2020). Both of them have become USA Today’s bestsellers.
Book Overview | The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez is one of my most anticipated books of 2019. It was awarded the Best Seller Award for Literature, USA Today Bestseller, Audie Award finalist and also Featured on NPR.
Various publications gave the novel many titles, and it was named the Best New Books for Summer 2019. She Reads Most Anticipated Romance Books of 2019, Good Housekeeping, PopSugar Best Books of Summer 2019, Women’s HealthBest Romance Novels of 2019, Women.com named this book as Most Highly Anticipated Books for Summer Bookstr and an Ultimate Summer 2019 Reading Guide by Publishers Weekly.
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2019
Publication date: 11th June 2019
Language: English
Length: 384 pages (may vary)
Genre: Romance, Fictional, Contemporary Romance
Theme: This is truly a book about infertility, self-acceptance, and self-worth. This novel explores themes of infertility, untold tragedy, unforgivable romance, heartbreaking reproductive issues and more.
Point of View: The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez is told from two different voices from the point of view of Kristen and Josh.
Main Characters: The story begins with Kristen Petersen, the main character, planning her friend Sloan’s wedding, where she brings together the groom’s Brandon best friend, Josh Copeland, who is another protagonist of the story. Their chemistry is overwhelming and more like being boldly playful and with some flirting. But the person named Tyler is Kristen’s boyfriend so it does shape for an interesting read.
Is this a real story, and what inspired her to write? The novel Friendzone contains a surprisingly beautiful story, filled to the brim with real people and their real problems. This was someone’s true story. At that time, it was defined in author’s note, where Abby examines one of her friends with a very similar fight to her leading lady, including the same miracle baby at the end, and doing justice to that story was what compelled her to write a novel.
Book Summary | The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
The story follows a woman named Kristen Peterson, who is courageous and aware of what she wants. She is a person who you can call a true friend, can do anything for her friends, and has no place in her life for guys she doesn’t understand.
She approaches every situation with sarcastic humour, except for the wrecking news that she will never be able to conceive as she is about to undergo a medically necessary procedure that will make it difficult for her to have children.
She is the maid of honour at the wedding, where she meets Josh Copeland, the groom’s best friend and the best man.
After a sweet meeting over an unfortunate incident en route to planning their best friend’s wedding, Kristen Peterson and best man Josh Copeland can’t deny the spark between them. He’s funny, sexy, and never offended by her miles of sarcasm and her hangry chicken enchilada. He was exactly the guy Kristen wanted for her, except that he wanted a big family.
Also, Kristen has a boyfriend, Tyler, stationed overseas. Tyler sometimes reconnects with her and effectively breaks up with her for certain reasons. Counting down the days that Kristen knew their growing closeness and escalating attraction won’t lead to happy endings puts Josh in the friend zone and tries to keep her distance from Josh. Hence, they never got more than a friends-with-beneficiaries situation.
The two reach a painful impasse, but they find themselves reconsidering their relationship as tragedy strikes. Josh knows he will never be happy without Kristen. But on the other hand, Josh would like to have a family and biological children of his own, even if he is not interested in adoption. He also broke up with his last girlfriend because she didn’t want one, while Kristen biologically can’t have one.
Including Kristen’s maximum attempt to keep Josh at bay, she can only fight against her attraction, not his, for so long, but the main question is how it ends on a happy note, despite everything that happened.
My Thoughts on The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
The book is mostly well written, and the writing seems to be quite good throughout the book. All characters are well developed, and the relationship between all characters makes the book emotional, funny, heartbreaking, romantic and scary. This book was an entertaining read but difficult at times and absolutely a little break from my own life. The author did a great job of putting us in the shoes of all the characters.
I sympathize with Kristen and love how the author addresses Kristen’s issues and how that impacted her entire life. So often, when a character has a disability or chronic illness, it’s just mentioned and then set aside for the story. Still, I like how her condition was portrayed throughout without feeling sorry for herself or looking to others for it. It was shown as a part of her life, and that’s the reality that leads to some choices about her inner happiness.
Josh is a sweet guy, and you’ll see how respectful he is of Kristen’s choices throughout the book. Although he wants to take their relationship to the next level, he doesn’t force Kristen with many questions like why she’s putting him in the friend zone.
Ideally, he will discuss the matter with Kristen and try to understand every aspect thoroughly. Josh is a calm and caring character that every woman wishes for. However, the ending left me a little confused.
Reviews from Different Platforms
“Your next favourite romantic comedy… The Friend Zone is that rare, heartfelt beach read that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.” _PopSugar
“You can expect to laugh and cry during this one.” _Good Housekeeping
“Jimenez tackles a variety of issues in her debut, hitting each one with depth and sensitivity. Kristen’s no-prisoner attitude is smart and cheeky, perfectly balanced by Josh’s off-hand ingenuity…An excellent debut that combines wit, humour and emotional intensity.” _Kirkus
“Jimenez’s scintillating debut is a brilliantly written romantic comedy that seamlessly switches between laugh-out-loud, snarky jokes and serious emotional struggles without missing a beat while delivering maximum readability.” _Booklist, Starred Review
“The Friend Zone is a deliciously hot, sweet debut full of banter it can’t get enough of. All the characters from Kristen and Josh to the supporting cast and even stuntman Mike. This book is an absolute treat.” _L.J. Shen, USA Today bestselling author
“Slick dialogue, laugh-out-loud humor and heaps of sass allay the heartbreak of infertility in this modern, informed debut that’s sure to leave you satisfied. _ Library Journal
Rating For The Friend Zone
Final Words
Overall, The Friend Zone is a sweet and emotional book that tackles some real issues. This is a good reading experience, and if you want to feel the same, I highly recommend you read this by all means. It was bittersweet, but yeah, it paid off. Thank you for taking the time to read my review. I hope to get something useful.
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