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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.
I have now finished the complete novel and OMG this has to be one of the best first novels I have EVER had the pleasure of reading! First of all, let me say that Abby definitely brought her signature humor to the pages and I absolutely adored all of it but she is also very skillful with her angst. Angst has always been one of my favorite things in romance because you can’t have all happy joy joy without something to temper the schmaltz. I mean you can, but is there anything better than having your heart stomped on ruthlessly before getting to the HEA?
The story plays out over chapters alternating between both Kristen and Josh’s POV and while this doesn’t always work for me, it was *perfect* for this story. I loved being able to get inside both of their heads to understand their feelings and why they made certain decisions. When it begins, Kristen is in a relationship with Tyler who is deployed overseas and will be returning shortly, when they will begin living together for the first time in their relationship. Josh had recently broken up with his previous girlfriend, moving to the LA area to take a job at a fire station with his best friend Brandon. Kristen and Josh are to be the respective maid of honor and best man when Brandon marries Sloan, who is Kristen’s BFF. So of course this is what sets up their first meeting, though if you read my previous review of the first 5 chapters you know it did not happen the way they expected!
While the attraction between them is electric, Kristen is with Tyler and Josh understands that he can’t interfere. However as he is working as a carpenter building dog stairs for her business, they begin to spend long periods of time together which only allows this attraction to grow. Soon enough however, Tyler is out of the picture and allows them to finally act on their feelings. However Kristen is hiding a secret from Josh; she is infertile due to uterine fibroids and is planning a partial hysterectomy after the wedding. Josh wants a huge family and has made no secret of it from her, so Kristen is determined to keep things at the level of ‘friends with benefits.’
Of course this is a romance and as we all know an HEA is required, but let me tell you-it is a rough, heartbreaking journey to get there! I don’t want to give any more details but just know there is a part where you will NEED Kleenex. I was at the car dealership waiting for my car when I got to that point and I stopped reading as soon as I *knew* what was coming and had to turn off my Kindle before I started bawling in front of a bunch of strangers! But I think I’m pretty safe in saying that I know you will all LOVE the complete story in the end, so go pick it up and start reading it for yourself!