The Friend Zone

Starred review from March 11, 2019
Harnessing sass, heartfelt struggle, and unapologetic sexuality, Jimenez’s debut is as hysterical as it is tear-jerking. Kristen Peterson is a woman who knows what she wants and is not afraid to speak her mind. She meets every situation with sarcastic humor—except the devastating news that she’ll never be able to get pregnant. While Kristen is planning her friend Sloan’s wedding, she meets the groom’s best friend, Josh Copeland. He’s sexy, funny, and always on board for her shenanigans, but he is hoping for a large family. Despite her best efforts to keep Josh at arm’s length, Kristen can only fight their attraction (and her unresolved feelings around her infertility) for so long, but questions about their future loom large. Jimenez manages to fulfill all expectations for a romantic comedy while refusing to sacrifice nuance. Biting wit and laugh-out-loud moments take priority, but the novel remains subtle in its sentimentality and sneaks up on the reader with unanticipated depth. Readers who have wrestled with infertility will find Kristen’s anxieties and sorrows deeply relatable. Agent: Stacey Graham, Red Sofa Literary.

May 15, 2019
A woman refuses to be with her soul mate, but life intervenes, making her choice harder and more heartbreaking. Josh meets Kristen with a bang, literally, when she slams on her brakes and he runs into her. There's minimal damage, so she disappears. Minutes later they discover that their best friends are engaged to each other and they were slated to meet that day at the fire station where Brandon and Josh work. Josh is immediately smitten, but Kristen has a boyfriend, Tyler, who's deployed overseas. Counting down the days until he gets home for good, Kristen adamantly puts Josh in the friend zone, refusing to acknowledge their growing closeness and her spiking attraction. Then Tyler reenlists, effectively breaking up with her. Kristen and Josh sleep together, but she slams the door on his hope for a real relationship, telling him it will never be more than a friends-with-benefits situation. Josh thinks Kristen is mourning the end of her relationship with Tyler, but really, Kristen realizes Josh is her perfect match. Unfortunately she also knows Josh wants children, which would be nearly impossible for them due to her malfunctioning reproductive system. The two reach a painful impasse, but when tragedy strikes, they find themselves reevaluating their relationship. Josh knows he'll never be happy without Kristen, but he'll have to think outside the box to convince her to take a chance on them. Jimenez tackles a myriad of issues in her debut and hits each one with depth and sensitivity. Kristen's take-no-prisoners attitude is smart and sassy and perfectly balanced by Josh's easygoing resourcefulness, though at times her lack of transparency while jerking him around makes her seem more immature than self-sacrificing. An excellent debut that combines wit, humor, and emotional intensity.

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June 1, 2019

DEBUT There's nothing like a fender bender to get a relationship off to a smashing start, but discovering that the guy who rear-ended your borrowed truck (gently, to be honest), firefighter Josh Copeland, is the best man to your maid of honor at your best friend's wedding makes it worse. Snark flies, but the attraction can't be denied--an attraction that Kristen Petersen is determined to keep at bay for a number of reasons. "Friends only" is the order of the day--until it isn't. A hero who wants a big family and a heroine who probably can't have children struggle to understand what love really means and what they both want in a realistic story that cuts to the quick. VERDICT Zingy dialog, laugh-out-loud humor, and plenty of sass temper the heartbreak of infertility in this modern, well-grounded debut that is sure to satisfy readers. Jimenez is a baking expert and former Food Network champion; she lives in Minnesota.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Narrators Erin Mallon and Teddy Hamilton are bursting with chemistry in a witty, snarky romance that leaves an emotional punch. Mallon and Hamilton play off each other well in alternating chapters as best man Josh and maid of honor Kristen try to keep their growing attraction squarely in the friend zone. Mallon's casual, cheeky tone is ideal for Kristen, whose lack of a filter and spunkiness instantly draw in the usually levelheaded Josh, whom Hamilton voices with palpable frustration because Kristen has a boyfriend. The narrators move at a brisk pace as the couple find themselves in close quarters. Mallon and Hamilton share a knack for comedic timing and the ability to express heartfelt emotion when medical complications and tragedy threaten this blossoming off-limits romance. J.E.C. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine