The Friend Zone (The Friend Zone, 1)

I haven't read a book in almost two years, and I couldn't put this down. I have suffered from PCOS and menorrhagia since I started my periods - I'm anemic and facing a hysterectomy in the next few years and have been told having children is near impossible. I have never related to a character more than I did with Kristen, and I'm so happy that this was a front-and-center problem in the book. No one wants to talk about periods, about the terrible side effects and the debilitating nature of the beast.Kristen is real, down-to-earth, and hilarious. She says what she's thinking and the reasoning behind her choices and hesitations are perfectly sound (as someone who's been through the same stuff). I loved her relationship with Josh from the get-go, but loved even more the connection between Kristen and Sloan. I love their friendship and in my eye I think it was the most important relationship of the book.The ending is what really got me, though. It was a left-field blow to my heart that left me sobbing in my bed at 11pm hugging my cat and trying not to wake my boyfriend. It was beautifully written and I loved, loved, LOVED Kristen's reaction to the situation. She is such an interesting character and I couldn't wait to see how she'd react throughout the story - especially at the end.It's a beautiful, heartwarming story that left me thinking about it when I wasn't reading. I couldn't wait to steal some time at work or at home to get a few chapters in, and had a hard time sleeping last night because I was left going over the story in awe of how it had all played out (I even debated starting it again right then - and would have if I didn't need to work).I've been reading some reviews and comments and see a lot of people are unhappy with Kristen's inner reasonings through the book. I don't want to give anything away, but do want to say that I've had the same thoughts. When you want kids and learn you can't have them, it's debilitating. Yes, there are options like adoption, foster, surrogacy... it's not the same and to me, it's like losing a piece of yourself. I've been told to my face, "You can't have kids, so what's the point of being with you?". It kills you, and even if no one comes out and says that to you, you think that all the time. All. The. Time. Kristen's thoughts, feelings, and reactions - especially with Josh - are totally what makes this story so great. It's real. It's raw. It may seem selfish and cruel but some people just won't understand what that's like until you live it (and I hope so much those people never have to face it). It's another reason this book is so great - you get an inside look at this painful truth.Thank you, Abby, for the amazing story! And for highlighting an issue that so many women face and no one wants to talk about. This book is beautiful and I'd give it 100 stars if I could. Please read it!

I enjoyed this book. It has humor and shows wonderful relationships between friend and lovers. The banter is fun and the author includes serious, realistic situations that makes the novel and relationships more textured and not one dimensional. I do admit the misunderstandings between Josh and Kristen was a little prolonged but once that was cleared up the story moved forward very quickly. I appreciated that the author was able to integrate serious issues like infertility, managing unexpected death of close friends and coping with poor self esteem. This book was the debut novel from the author and, although her other books show how much she has developed over the years, this one is still better than most similar books currently in the market. Two thumbs up, your time spent reading this book will not be wasted.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀THE FRIEND ZONE BY ABBY JIMENEZ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️After an interesting meet-cute, Kristen and Josh are forced to be spend time together because her best friend is marrying his best friend. Kristen enlists Josh to help her with her business and they fall into an easy friendship with one another. Although she is intensely attracted to Josh, Kristen keeps him in the friend zone because she has a long-distance boyfriend. Once things end with her boyfriend, they sleep together but Kristen continues to insist on being just friends.I decided to re-read this book because I was in a reading slump and this book definitely helped me get out of my slump! I was blown away by how real this story felt. The dialogue was honest and touching. The characters were well-developed and their reactions to the situations in the story felt genuine. There were parts of the story that I thought could take a predictable turn, and they didn't. This book had me laughing out loud, crying with big fat tears streaming down my face, and gasping from shock or heartache. It's been a long time since I've read a book that had me in such a wide range of emotions.Kristen and Josh's relationship was the perfect friends-to-lovers progression. Kristen was sassy and hilarious and I loved the way she joked with Josh. Josh was there for Kristen when she needed someone and the way took care of her warmed my heart. When they finally heated things up in their relationship, their chemistry was intense and fiery. They had a journey to get to their HEA but I think it made their eventual coupling even more exciting when they finally decided to be together. And that ending! Exactly what I needed!I am reeling from how much I loved this book and the emotional roller coaster it took me on. I finished this book in a day both times I read it because I couldn't put it down!Steam level: 🔥🔥¾⚠️: chronic illness, infertility, DUI, fatal motorcycle accident, death of a loved one, grief, anxiety, OCD