Friends Without Benefits: An Unrequited Romance (Knitting in the City)

Friends Without Benefits is Tosh.0 meets Grey’s Anatomy, covered in chick litty goodness (except Nico is way hotter than Daniel Tosh, like McDreamy/McSteamy hot – sorry Daniel). An odd mix to be sure, but even as I chastise myself for lol-ing at Tosh’s crazy and weeping over doc drama on Grey’s I wouldn’t have it any other way (I told you I have eclectic tastes – hence the name – don’t get me started on the zombie apocalypse, real housewives or Star Wars). Anyway, Friends without Benefits is the story of Nico and Elizabeth, childhood frenemies that reunite over a less than ideal situation. Nico is still the man boy wonder that can have any woman he wants, but Elizabeth, (aka Skinny Finney) now Dr. Finney, is no longer the scrawny wallflower afraid of love. She’s an adult now and while she’s no longer afraid (yeah, right) she just isn’t interested. But a gal’s got needs hence the friends with generous benefits package. I love an m/f friend story with or without benefits (but bennies are always much appreciated). I like the underlying tension and the subtle sparks of chemistry and Friends has all that. But I also liked the female friendships in this story. The humor, trust and support between all the gals of the knitting circle is motivating and made me want to grab some knitting needles and find my own circle. It takes a real friend to tell you the truth even when it hurts. And it did hurt when Elizabeth realized that she wasn’t the slam bam man-eater she thought she was, “four a whore, does not you make.” I loved Nico’s charm (the eye twinkle strikes again). His frankness and honesty about his feelings for Elizabeth was a refreshing and welcome change to all the alpha males out there, but make no mistake wamby pamby he is not. When he opens up about his unrequited love I might have swooned a little. Unfortunately, Elizabeth is a harder nut to crack, at least outwardly. Her inner dialogue is hilarious and heartfelt and I liked the dichotomy between her rigidity and vulnerability. I found their relationship appealing and believable. Although for a doctor I found the lack of sexual preparedness (protectiveness) odd. Hello paging Dr. Condom! Reid employs the unusual tactic of having a dual bedroom (elevator) scene. There is an open and closed, door version of the same love scene. The author is the captain of the ship and steers us where she wants the story to go, and I thought it bit of a cop out not to choose one scene over the other, I understand Reid wanting to appeal to a wide range of readers. Both scenes are well written and even the closed-door version is pretty tame as far as erotica goes so it is a win-win either way you go. There is also a bit of a suspense/thriller element to the story. It is on the lighter side of the genre and kind of a throwaway for me (although I so wanted to point the finger and maybe a weapon at Megalomaniac Meg). I can’t recall how I first came across the wonder that is Penny Reid, maybe it was the superhero cape she sports on her website that drew me in, but I am soooo glad I did. I have not come across such a witty wordsmith in awhile. The one-liners and punchy dialogue had me rolling throughout. And while I don’t know knit or crochet I want to after reading her work. It reminds me of a great day out with friends and the perfect antidote to a bad day. Friends without Benefits is a compelling, funny, and heartwarming tale that I highly recommend and I can’t wait to read to rest of the series. My rating: 4.5/5

Elizabeth Finney is a doctor who suddenly runs into a sexy TV reality star that also was her childhood friend (and person that she lost her virginity to)...Nico Manganiello They are thrown together, by Nico's skilled manipulations, and they end up needed to see each other over a course of several weeks. (am trying not to throw out too many spoilers). Nico is still completely smitten by Elizabeth and does everything he can to get her to fall for him. She, other the other hand, does everything she can to keep from falling again for him. Nico is incredible. He is gorgeous, funny, sexy, kind, an adoring uncle, a loving son, talented, etc. Almost perfect. Elizabeth is smart, beautiful, funny and sassy. But she is commitment-phobic. She is scared (for reasons you find in the book). I didn't truly buy into the reason. I think we've all lost someone important to us, but she is now completely afraid. Nico pursues. She deflects. She rants a bit in her head. She keeps telling herself that she is going to hurt him, etc. It would be super annoying, except that she does have a few moments of clarity and she is incredibly funny. Both Nico and Elizabeth are funny and some of their conversations are laugh out loud funny. What saves me from not wanting them to end up together b/c of Elizabeth's 'issues', is that she is an amazing doctor, she is deeply a kind-hearted selfless person, Nico is super amazing, Elizabeth does have moments where you realize that the is hope for her. So the book has an evil villain, and it is realistic - meaning that you could see something like this truly happening. The book has a couple of hot sexy scenes, but it's not a big part of the book at all. There is a very nice HEA. No cliffhanger. This book is funny, sweet and a very steady ride to a happy ending. Elizabeth did get on my nerves a few times with her internal conflicts, resulting in her freaking out on Nico a few times. But she gets herself together at the end and makes it all right. This is a easy to read, no angst-y book that doesn't have major misunderstandings, nor super high drama. It's predictable, but leaves you with a happy feeling at the end. Enjoy

Ich genieße die gesamte Reihe. Es ist lustig, spannend und herzerwärmend. Nicht nur die Hauptcharaktere sind Klasse. Auch die Nebencharaktere machen Lust auf mehr.

Really well written this series. The characters are witty and intelligent, girls and boys, with great personalities. Romantic but more than that. Not many sex scenes, not too much details, but enough to be interesting and give a look on this side of the interaction. You will love each book. This one... Oh, Nico Moretti, bad bad boy, but soooo in love with our girl. You will love him. Totally recomended, this and the rest of the series. Well, I'm in the sixth book but so far so goooood.

I think Elizabeth and Nico will be my favourites in this series, and I would have given it 5 stars if not for some of the italian sentences which had a wrong translation. Nothing major but as an italian reader I felt bad when they weren't properly translated. This said I loved it!

Funny, romantic and original. A very pleasant book well written. The girls fron the knitting group have become good friends of mine, can't wait for the next adventure!

Friends without Benefits by Penny Reid (Audiobook) Narrated by Devra Woodward Knitting in the city series book 2 5 Stars - The longing and tension between Nico and Elizabeth.. so good. The narrator took a bit for me to get used to as she has a very lazy raspy voice for Nico, but it works and I ended up quite enjoying it. LOVED when Nico speaks Italian to her. Also, as I am one of those people who loves when bits of other languages are used in the books, but also immediately have to go look up the translation...I loved the fact that I had bought the kindle version along with the audible version because Ms.Reid included the translations of what he said in the written form. - Perfection! Also she had an “open door version and a closed door version of the same scene” which allowed the reader to choose which version they wanted to read. I listened to both cause it was great each time! Wonder if Dan the security guard - gets a story. I really liked him. He didn't have a huge part.. but he stuck with me. ~Paragraphs and Petticoats~