[Review] Frenemies with Benefits by Lydia Sharp

Publisher's synopsis: If there was an award for Least Able To Function Around Cute Boys, Jess Webster would clean up. She can barely talk to a guy, let alone engage in naked things. But now that high school is over, Jess resolves to put her big-girl pants on and at last bang—sorry, bag—the longtime object of her desire, Andrew. All she needs is someone to practice on first.

Enter Benjamin Oliver. Jock hot, nerd hot (which is just greedy, really), star quarterback, and all-around pain in Jess’s ass. While Jess would rather nap on a nest of fire ants than be his girlfriend, there’s still something about him that sends a jolt through her stomach, making him her best (and only) candidate for her guy game glow-up.

With summer in full swing and not one but two cute boys on the horizon, Jess is pretty sure she’s on the winning side of the bargain. But can her deal with Benjamin stay purely business-with-pleasure? And, the question that Jess soon can’t ignore: does she want it to?  

My thoughts: I truly, honestly wish this kind of story was around when I was in high school. Jess and Ben were absolutely perfect on the page: real, candid, embarrassing, awkward... these two encapsulated what it feels like to be floundering on the inside, feeling lost and confused, all on the precipice of adulthood. 

I loved the premise of this book, because everything Jess was worried about? We all go through it. Sharp took all those real fears and big, scary unknowns and made me laugh, page after page; even fade to black, this story taught me more about life than time in a classroom ever did. 

Jess and Ben are just so relatable. Sharp managed to capture magic in a bottle, taking me back to those precious months between high school and college when everything changes. I may not have taken the same steps as Jess, but those thoughts and feelings are understandable, relatable, and so well done on the page by Sharp. My emotions ran the gamut while reading this one; mostly, I laughed, but Jess and Ben did affect me in other ways before the end. 

Sharp just did such an outstanding job at capturing the teenage-into-adulthood experience. There were so many remarkable lines throughout, and there wasn't a moment spent with Jess and Ben that I regretted. I adored both of these characters, and I easily got lost in their story. Sharp covered a lot of tougher topics, but each one was handled with the perfect balance of weight and humor. 

I may be well past the age of the main characters, but this story was so well done that Jess and Ben were still very much relatable. I highly recommend this read, and I look forward to reading more from Sharp in the future. 

[A huge thank you to Entangled Teen for sending me an early finished copy of this title. All opinions are my own.]

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Release date: 8/29/23

Format: paperback

Paperback provided via: the publisher