The Friend Zone

by Abby Jimenez

Strong willed Kristen is the maid of honor for her best friend's wedding. She knows who she is and what she wants. That is until she meets Josh, the best man in the most unusual way. The immediate chemistry confuses Kristen and begins the friends to lovers story.

Kristen tries to keep Josh at arms length, not wanting to get too close, but his magnetic personality blurs the lines for her. It is not only his handsome looks, but his caring nature and sense of humor which draws her in. Kristen's character did confuse me because as no nonsense, take charge as she was developed, she hid a big truth from Josh. She is able to take charge in every aspect of her life except this one.

This was a slow burn read. The tension building as the story developed. Halfway through though I was not just confused with Kristen, but completely annoyed with her. It was almost like she was using Josh. Her inability to tell the truth caused so much pain.

Then the story takes a hard turn and it is no longer about Kristen and Josh, but Sloan's and Brandon's journey. This is a SPOILER so I will say nothing more about it. When this happened, I was over Kristen and Josh and really didn't care if they ended up together or not. They lost my attention.

I read this book with a book club and the discussions surrounding the story, characters and hidden knowledge was interesting. A couple of people in the book club had attended a signing and they found out this was written after another manuscript she has.

I will say this book had many laugh out loud moments and the snarky back and forths were entertaining. It will also pull at your heart strings so have tissues ready.

This was a 🌟🌟🌟🌟 star read for me.