The Friend Zone

By: Abby Jimenez

Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Erin Mallon

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Fall in love with this hilarious and heartwarming USA Today best-selling romantic comedy that LJ Shen calls "an absolute treat".

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.

"Your next favorite romantic comedy...The Friend Zone is that rare beach read with tons of heart that will make you laugh and cry in equal parts." (PopSugar)

"Your next rom-com to obsess and cry over." (Cosmopolitan)

Goodreads Choice Awards nominee - Best Romance, Best Debut 

O, The Oprah Magazine Best Romance Novels of the year

Audie Award Finalist

USA Today best seller

Bookish Best Books of the year 

SheReads Best Romances of the year

Women's Health Best Romance Novels of the year

Good Housekeeping Best New Books for Summer 

PopSugar Best Books of Summer 

Publishers Weekly Starred Review 

Booklist Starred Review 

Booklist Top 10 Romance Debuts of 2019 

©2019 Abby Jimenez (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Jimenez's dazzling debut is a brilliantly written romantic comedy that seamlessly toggles back and forth between scenes of laugh-out-loud, snarky wit and serious emotional issues without missing a beat, all the while delivering maximum reading satisfaction."—Booklist, Starred Review

"Harnessing sass, heartfelt struggle, and unapologetic sexuality, Jimenez's debut is as hysterical as it is tear-jerking...Jimenez manages to fulfill all expectations for a romantic comedy while refusing to sacrifice nuance. Biting wit and laugh-out-loud moments take priority, but the novel remains subtle in its sentimentality and sneaks up on the reader with unanticipated depth. Readers who have wrestled with infertility will find Kristen's anxieties and sorrows deeply relatable."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"The Friend Zone is a beautiful tale of learning to accept the love you deserve and finding a path to self-acceptance along the way....a zippy, instantly recognizable voice and fresh, funny characters."—Entertainment Weekly

Disappointed

Every review I'd read here was five stars, loved it. I had high hopes for this book. The first half was fantastic. I couldn't wait to know what happened next and I stayed up until early morning hours to find out. Later, about 3/4 of the way through, my heart hurt and it never got much better. I figured this had a level of predictability and some things would go a certain way, but it was ultimately disappointing and sad to me. I hate to give three stars or less to anything because I know the authors put their souls into books and I don't like to critique it, but I so wish this book had ended differently. The first half reminded me of The Hating Game, it was so attracting and fun. The second half just made me cry more than I wanted to and almost made me wish I hadn't read it.

Teddy Hamilton was a fantastic narrator. The three stars is for Erin Mallon, whose voice grated on my nerves. She talked with this attitude I didn't connect with and held the ends of words too long. "Chapter __, Kristennnn," every single time. I cared less as the story progressed, but it continuously bothered me. I'll definitely look out for Teddy's voice in the future, though.

Good Story

I liked everything about this book except the woman who read the part of Kristin. I have returned other audiobooks that she has narrated because of her voice. It might just be me, but I find her voice to be snarky, sarcastic, condescending, and, at times, whiny. At first I thought she might be narrating in this way because the character’s personality is snarky. I’ve heard enough of her work to now know that it’s just the way her voice sounds. I kept the book because the story was intriguing enough to make me want to keep listening, even though I had to suffer through Kristin’s narration.

Teddy and Erin

What an awesome story, so full of happiness and heartache. I really enjoyed the narration of course, it was Teddy Hamilton and Erin Mallon. I was surprised how fast this story flowed, I didn't cry but, I laughed a lot. There were definitely a few surprises thrown into the mix, it was a deep and touching audiobook. Well worth the Credit or the money to buy it.... I'll for sure go back to this story for relistening...⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clichéd

I feel like every other line of this book that Kristen would use to describe a scenario or personal trait was ripped from a basic girl's Facebook repost or early 2000's t-shirt. Not original or clever writing.
I wanted to like it but honestly, she was whiny and pathetic and everyone seemed to think she was so great. Even the narrator made her sound whiny. Thanks I was over it halfway through but forced my self to finish it. It tried to tackle tough real life issues- infertility, organ donation and rights of loved ones after death but it fell horribly flat of the real emotional depth and pain involved with those topics.

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I really liked all of the characters, I found them relatable and loved how different they all were and I truly loved how Kristen was so far from perfect. And Josh might be the perfect me! I think that what I liked the most was that the story felt original, after thousands of contemporary romance books they all start to feel exactly the same and this one didn't. The subject matter really was hard and I know a lot of people feel like it should have been handled different but honestly I don't think there is a right way to handle this from the characters perspective, everyone is different and everyone has a different threshold for how much they can handle and how they handle it. I will say that I would have liked it even more if Kristen would have just talked to him instead of keeping it bottled up for sooooo long, that felt a little like drama added to the book for the sake of drama. I loved that it had a happy ending, while probably not very realistic, this is fiction and romance so I expect that.

The narration was perfect! I actually bought this book because of the narration team, they are my favorites!!

Couldn’t stop listening

It was so easy to read and connect with these characters. Kristen’s struggles aren’t just about infertility, but about accepting true love into her life and believing that she deserves it. I laughed, and cried, and laughed more. I yelled at them and cried with them. My first thought when I finished the book was I want more, when does the next one get released?

The only thing I didn’t enjoy about the experience of listening to this book was Erin Mallon’s over-emphasis of the end of the word at the end of each sentence.

Good book but had a trigger for me.

Spoiler Alert! A solid romantic comedy with flawed characters and witty banter. The one very sad event in the book unfortunately was a trigger for me. The book description or reviews did not mention it so I unfortunately was left to deal with it. My son died of a motorcycle accident and a flood of memories and pain hit me. I was able to finish the book. I hope this review will spare reliving of this sorrow for someone else.

Female narrator awful

I could not get through this book. The female narrator is ridiculous. The way she narrates could not be more annoying. I really tried....

Sweet and funny and heartbreaking

Loved this book and it had me hooked from the first few minutes - from the strong female characters to the humor found around every corner. The dialogue was witty and i found myself laughing aloud. The story kept me guessing and I loved the ending. My only complaint was the female narrator, how she seemed to overemphasize the last syllable of every sentence. I was able to get passed it because I fell in love with these characters and the story so quickly.

Rollercoaster of amazingness!

It was more than I ever thought it could be, It was amazing getting to read a realistic romance novel with real life problems where you can't always fix everything but you work through it and make the best of what you've got! I love this book so much.

Easy listen

It’s a good story and I enjoyed listening to it but man the main female character complains a lot!

She’s constantly feeling sorry for herself, being selfish and unfair. The story was a good listen but towards the end I was tired of the constant complaining and then the wanting for something she could have but thinking she wasn’t enough.

An emotional roller coaster

Good story line. Really kept me wanting to listen more. The main characters ware really funny, with good humour. Narrators did a great job.The emotional aspects of the story develop gradually and towards the end they reach critical level. Found myself crying. One of my favourite reads so far.

Oh what a story

I listened to this after the “happily ever after playlist” so I knew what would happen, but it still made me cry! Honestly I’ve had the time of my life listening to these books by Abby Jimenez and really hope more releases come out soon! Highly recommend.

Really fun to read

The story line was really entertaining , the switching between characters keeps you engaged. Overall if your looking for a fun easy book I do recommend.

Lighthearted and enjoyable

Used my credit accidentally on this audio book but I was surprised how quickly I was hooked. I personally love Abby Jimenez style. There is a journey of enemies to friends , to then friends to lovers and I was along for the entire ride jumping back and fourth. I have seen some negative reviews due to the fertility issues and PCOS but I believe it was portrayed realistically and as for the ending many people seemed negative towards, it’s a feel good book that is there to give you hope. I really enjoyed this and will be keeping my eye out for Abby Jimenez.

Wow

So I have only just discovered Abby's books and I'm a massive fan - can't wait for the next one! If you are a fan of Sarah morgan then you will love Abby's books! I read them in the wrong order and (huge spoiler alert!!!) I was glad I already knew Sloan got her happy ever after!! Excellent narration too. Roll on April and the next book.

Love this book

I’ve not finished this book yet. I still have about an hr to go I had to have a minute and just had to write a review. This book is awesome it’s a love story that is a roller coaster of emotions I’ve laughed and cried. It’s actually quite a real story both male and female caricatures are relatable. I’m going to look into other books by this author because her writing is amazing. Everyone needs to read this book best book I’ve listened to in a long time and I love both narrators.

Funny, heartbreaking and real

I loved this book! The story is one of the most real ones I’ve heard in a long time. I love the characters and the plot twists and I have both laughed out loud and cried during the read. I truly recommend it to anyone who wants to experience a sweet book that is well written and relatable.

The only minus is the female narrators voice melody which somewhat annoys me from time to time. But that probably could be the result of me never having heard that kind of accent before and therefore not something that might annoy anyone else. Aside from that she does a kick ass “male” voice so if it something that you worry might annoy, it’s still totally worth the listen. 😊