Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

If you follow my blog and want to choose just one book to read based off of my reviews/recommendations, PLEASE let it be this book! THE FRIEND ZONE by Abby Jimenez may be the BEST book I read all year. I read it in just over 24 hours, and it was absolutely incredible.

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Kristen Petersen doesn’t do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don’t get her. She’s also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.
Planning her best friend’s wedding is bittersweet for Kristen–especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He’s funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he’d be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it’s harder and harder to keep him at arm’s length.
The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.

As I said at the beginning of this post, this book was absolutely phenomenal. The characters, plot, and writing were just the top highlights of this book, as literally everything was great!

Kristen and Josh, the two main protagonists, were the best part of this story. They were both incredible and fully developed characters, the provided a lot of thought provoking dialogue. I have never connected to a character more than Kristen. While we do not share the same medical troubles, I still saw so much of myself in her. From her powerful but sarcastic attitude, caring more about other people than herself, and her obsessive tendencies, I couldn’t help but think of myself when I was reading from her perspective. I also obviously LOVED Josh. I think readers will become obsessed with him simply because most of us want to date someone similar to him! Their friendship (no spoilers here!) dynamic was fantastic, and I loved every part of it.

I have never felt more emotional when reading a book. After practically every chapter, I had to stop myself and take a deep breath along with a chuckle or cry! It was so easy to immerse myself into this story and feel all of the emotions for all of the characters in this novel.

The writing in this novel was fantastic! It was super fast paced, while also being able to create a slow and steady romance. The writing never felt choppy or odd, and the writing styled stayed the exact same throughout the entirety of the novel. Every chapter was relevant to the flow of the story, which made me highly anticipate each section.

As I said before, this story felt so incredibly real. There was a strong focus on women’s health throughout this novel, which wasn’t something I’ve ever read before. This book didn’t skip over real life issues, which made it so much different than other adult romance/contemporary stories. It also helped contribute to why I felt so emotional while reading the story.

Overall, I absolutely love love LOVED this novel, and rated it 5/5 stars. Thanks to Hachette Book Group Canada for the finished copy!

It’s crazy to think that as of right now, my top two books of 2019 were both debut novels, written by debut authors. It is so cool to see that there is so much to look forward to in the world of books over the next several years!

Good Night Book Owls!