by Sarah Adams
Rating: ⭐3.5/5⭐
Is it ever too late to leave the friend-zone?
Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.
Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion.)
Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter over too much tequila, and now the world seems to think me and Nathan belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with…oops, forgot I can’t tell anyone about that!
Bottom line is, now my best friend is smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I’m just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me.
How am I going to make it through three weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sort-a-kinda seems like he’s fighting for a completely different outcome?
Send help.
XO Bree
Review
The first chapter completely sucked me in. I was totally invested and sure this would be a 5 star read, but close to the middle point, the plot got somewhat repetitive and my excitement petered out.
I liked the snappy writing style and dialogues, it made the book really fun and easy to read. I’m also a big fan of dual POVs in romance stories: it’s amusing to get to see the awkward or unusual interactions from the perspectives of both people. Romantic comedies thrive in exploiting misunderstandings, so it’s always funny when one of the characters thinks it’s being painfully obvious, but whatever point they’re trying to make ends up completely flying over the other character’s head.
I’m generally more of a Enemies to Lovers than Friends to Lovers type of girl. I’m all about the snark! But perhaps there’s something to be said for mutual, hopeless pining. Is FtL where the good stuff is at? Have I been mistaken all this time? Let me know if you’re team enemies or friends in the comments I certainly loved how Bree and Nathan basically kept friend-zoning themselves during this book. Also, the concept of the cheat sheet was fun and Nathan’s friends and teammates provided some good comedic relief. And of course, Bree was an absolute gem and totally hilarious and Nathan was too kind and sweet for words.
I very much appreciated the way mental health issues where included and approached, too. Anxiety, stress and feeling like your emotions and feelings are not valid because other people have it worse, and so you should just suck it up and get over it. That was a bit too real. That part whacked me right in the feels. Everyone is entitled to their emotions and we all struggle sometimes.
All in all, I wish things would have been a little more shaken up in the middle. A few twists and turns, feints, schemes… just things to up the ante and up the entertainment value. Maybe a few more romance movie/book inspired harebrained, silly or outrageous plans. But I still had a good time reading this, so if you’re looking for something quick and lighthearted, definitely consider giving The Cheat Sheet a chance!
What should I read next?
