4 Star
When a friend urges Stephanie Cohen not to put all her eggs in one bastard, the advice falls on deaf ears. Stephanie's college crush on Craig Hille has been awakened 13 years later as if soaked in a can of Red Bull and she is determined not to let the guy who got away once, get away twice. Stephanie, a 32-year-old paralegal from Washington, D.C., is a 70's and 80's television trivia buff who can recite the starting lineup of the New York Yankees and go beer for beer with the guys. And despite her failure to get married and pro-create prior to entering her thirties, she has so far managed to keep her overbearing mother from sticking her head in the oven.
Michelle- 4 Star
Just friends with Benefits by Meredith Schorr is a funny and endearing novel that many, if not all women can relate to at some point in their life. Whether it’s her mother’s constant reminder of her lack of a love life, or her own pressure to find someone, Stephanie Cohen inadvertently sets out on a journey that will teach her what all of us learn at some point- that love is a complicated, magical and unpredictable thing that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
Stephanie Cohen is a smart, funny, independent women in her early thirties who spends much of her free time with the same friends she went to college with. Eric and Jess her best friends who are married with a baby on the way, Paul her obnoxious yet lovable ex and Suzanne the friend we all have, who tells it like it is. Married or in serious relationships, it seems this tight knit group are forging ahead in the love department, all except Stephanie it seems, and her college crush, Craig Hille. Stephanie has had a crush on Hille since that night years ago in a college bar where she gets the nerve to go introduce herself but instead of ending up with Hille she finds herself in what will become a 2 year relationship with Hilles’ friend Paul who is also at the bar that night. Determined not to let him get away again, Stephanie begins to examine her life and convinces herself that Craig Hille is still the one and sets out to win the heart of her old crush while at the same time inadvertently beginning on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth all the while managing to keep us laughing and rooting for her.
Just Friends with Benefits is a well written novel that taps into our emotions, mostly because at one time or another we were Stephanie. Young, single and determined to win the guy. Ignoring those feelings deep down telling you that maybe you’re seeing things because you want to see them, not because they’re really there. Meredith Schorr does a great job of creating characters that are complex yet at the same time relatable. We the readers feel like we know these characters, and quite possibly we do in some capacity in our own lives. They are funny, honest and likable. They draw you in and compel you to keep reading right up to the end. A definite must read!
All opinions are our own.
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Thanks so much for your review, Michelle! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed Just Friends with Benefits :)
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