“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to fall for your best friend.”
No one told me that junior year is when everything would get complicated. At the heart of the complexities? My best friend, Aaron freaking Cooper—more specifically, my relationship with him. Whether I should have a relationship with him that’s more than friendship. Whether I already do.
Everyone else in our lives seems to think there’s something between Aaron and me—that we’re denying it and lying to ourselves—even my boyfriend and his girlfriend.
No matter what we tell them or our friends, it doesn’t change what they see.
But as the lines start to blur between friendship and more, I find myself thinking that everyone else might be right.
Then again, maybe it doesn’t matter. Because I’m not sure it’s a good idea to fall for your best friend. But I’m not sure it’s a choice, either. Which leaves me wondering if Aaron and I have ever been just friends, or if we’ve always been something more. And if we are, is it finally time to risk everything and do something about it?
I have no idea.
And that’s the problem.
My Review
This book is a young adult romance that slowly embraces some new adult moments. Rae and Aaron have a complicated friendship and are both hopeless romantics. But this book isn’t about romance as much as it is about finding out what you want and what you deserve and embracing it. For these teenagers, it happens to be right in front of them, but they don’t see it. The story is angsty, steamy, and involves a family of friends. I did enjoy the realizations and inner turmoil that Rae works thru in the book, as well as the emotional honesty that is captured. The author does a great job highlighting difficult decisions, what respect looks like, and even more mature content. I can’t wait to read more about Rae and Aaron.
This book begins very young in elementary school with Aaron and Rae. This has characters from Freaking love but younger. You may remember Rae from that series with moments of intrigue. I’m glad we get her story.
We jump from elementary nostalgia to middle school as we see the friendships Rae and Aaron are part of and get a taste of this new group of friends. We also deal with immature drama as they navigate hurtful comments, juvenile pranks, and antics.
We move from middle school to high school. Oh, this turns swoony as these best friends do anything for each other and are also romantic. It is more about their friendship and noticing each other beyond best friends. I like how the author kept everything pg so far.
I thought there might be something kinda a friend to lovers thing going on, but the author surprised me with a different romantic interest. I thought It would be the guy’s best friend. So far, I’m not predicting this book well, so everything is surprising. However, friendships and relationships are very emotional in high school for some of these characters, you know, a typical teenager.
This book gets hot and steamy but still very new adult. Some of the terminologies are a little young, and I had to look them up to understand what they were trying to say.
This book was angsty as these teenagers sometimes find what they really want and mess up. I love this big group of friends so close they are family. I also like how they incorporated other characters from previous books into the storyline. This book isn’t about romance but the initial finding of true love and what it looks like. Yes, they are young, just in high school, but the heart wants what it wants, and this couple can deny it all they want, but eventually, the truth comes out. The end of this book is satisfying, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I have enjoyed many books by Bethany Monaco Smith and look forward to reading more.
If you want to read Friends Like This by Bethany Monaco Smith, you can find this book on Amazon. As an Amazon Assocaite, I earn on qualifying purchases.
If you like this book, you may also enjoy books with these tags and categories Coming of Age Fiction, Friends to Lovers, and Family.
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