Friends without Benefits by Penny Reid (Knitting in the City #2)
Contemporary Romance
Released: September 29, 2013
Self Published
Reviewed by May
Blurb: There are three things you need to know about Elizabeth Finney: 1) She suffers from severe sarcastic syndrome, especially when she’s unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her like Nico Manganiello, and 3) She knows how to knit.
Elizabeth Finney is almost always right about everything: the musical merits of boy bands are undervalued by society, “benefits” with human Ken dolls are better without friendship, and the sun has set on her once-in-a-lifetime chance for true love. But when Elizabeth’s plans for benefits without friendship are disarmed by the irritatingly charismatic and chauvinistic Nico Manganiello- her former nemesis- she finds herself struggling to maintain the electric fence around her heart while avoiding electrocution or, worse, falling in love.
It really was a cute read, there were a lot of fun moments and this author’s style of writing continues to delight me. What I like most about her style is that she seamlessly and (seemingly) effortlessly blends humor, romance, heat, and great character relationships into a story that is light and fun, yet sweet and tender at times too.
Nico Manganiello is a TV star. He hosts a raunchy talk show that includes jell-o wrestling and ladies dancing around. Now she never convinced me that Nico’s show was a positive thing or that his brand of humor was healthy and female friendly, but I did applaud her for showing the man vs the tv personality, and giving us an unusual hero.
“I’m going to write this day down so I can remember it. Dear Diary, today I was complimented by Elizabeth Finney. I think she’s starting to like me. When oh when will she let me feel her up?”
Nico definitely has a sense of humor and I really liked how hard he worked to get a real chance with Elizabeth. The pair has some serious history, and some deep rooted issues that will have to be worked out. Elizabeth doesn’t do relationships, and as she explains this to Nico, my heart broke for her.
“I pretend to like a guy and use him for sex. When I get tired of having sex with him, and I always do, I stop returning his phone calls and blow him off.”
Elizabeth continues…
“I’m completely toxic. I’m a user. I have no interest in having a relationship. I have no interest in men other than using them to play hide the salami. So, see me, Nico. See me for who I am and not who you want me to be.” I grimaced, annoyed by the lingering look of sympathy he was casting in my direction.
Elizabeth is honest with herself and Nico right up front. She doesn’t pretend to she’s happy as she is, and she knows that she wants more but doesn’t know how that might be possible. I really liked the twist that it is the female who has issues of trust and relationship commitment. I really liked how imperfect she is, and how both she and Nico grow (together and separately) and build a new and wonderful relationship together.
“I’m not bossy, I’ve never been bossy. I’m just always right.”
In addition to the laughs and fun parts, there was a really tender love story here. Nico has his own challenges being a celebrity, and Elizabeth has her own baggage and insecurities as well. I really liked their journey from enemies, to friends without benefits, to happily ever after.
The one real problem I had was that I felt like the author was trying too hard at times. When I look at the things about this book that bothered me, the scenes and lines that didn’t quite work, they are all small and really just little things that niggled at my enjoyment. Sometimes I felt that instead of letting the story flow and the characters take over, some scenes felt over-thought, perhaps obsessed upon to the point that they pulled me out of the story and took away from the book.
There is in fact a love scene chapter that has options. As in, the author types:
I’ve included two versions of chapter 22 in this book. The first describes a “closed door” love scene where specifics of the scene are minimal. The second version of chapter 22 describes an “open door” love scene where the specifics of the scene are provided.
The “open door” scene was really well done, and brief enough not to mention not very graphic by romance standards that the double chapter was unnecessary, and just one example where I felt like there was too much thinking or second-guessing on the author’s end going on.
I had unreasonably high expectations for this book based on the first book, and while they were not met (and honestly I’m not sure they could have been!) I did still enjoy this story and re-visiting this author’s world tremendously. Upon re-reading this book I liked it even more the second time around and that is definitely a good thing. Penny Reid is a romance author to watch for – I look forward to seeing what she will release next and I will be first in line to read whatever that might be.
Grade: B-
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