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I really enjoyed Laura Brown's book Signs of Attraction, so when I saw that she had a new book coming out I was excited to read it. As much as I liked Signs of Attraction though, Friend (With Benefits) Zone was really hard for me to get through and I was very frustrated while reading this book. I wanted to give up several times, but ultimately I pushed through to see how things would turn out. Jasmine and Devon have been friends since they were children and both of them are deaf.

fter her father died Jasmine's family fell apart and while Devon and his family were there for her, she quickly learned that she could only rely on herself. So when she comes home after work to find an eviction notice, the last thing she wants to do is ask her best friend for help. Devon can't help the fact that he is a helper by nature, and of course there is no one he wants to help more than Jasmine. So when he offers his place for her to crash at while she figures out what to do next, he views it as a chance to finally have her close to explore the growing attraction between them while she views it as a temporary imposition that she plans to change as soon as possible. Can Devon show her that she is exactly where she should be with him, or will Jasmine's determination to do everything alone be what destroys not only a chance at a future together but their friendship as well?

I loved Devon. He was sweet and caring, a good person to the core. He was a great friend and was always considering others before himself. Jasmine on the other hand got off to a good start but quickly grew irritating and did nothing but get on my nerves. I really loved her strong sense of independence at first, but that quickly turned into being one of the most stubborn and unlikable heroines I have ever read about. She was bullheaded to a fault and I got tired of reading about her friends trying to help her when she did nothing but push them away. She refused to accept help and often used sex to deflect actually dealing with the problem. I hated that, and I wish that Dev wouldn't have allowed her to get away with that either. I still loved him, but he should have handled that differently.

Overall, this story was just a miss for me. While I liked Dev and this book had a ton of promise, it unfortunately just frustrated me to no end and I honestly grew so sick of Jasmine that I wished she would wind up alone in the end. She was impossible for me to like and it just got worse of the course of the book. I loved Signs of Attraction and that is definitely one I would recommend, I just wish I could say the same for Friend (With Benefits) Zone.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

This is a character driven romance about two friends who become lovers. I loved Devon and Jasmine. They have been friends since childhood. Jasmine has not had it easy, and Devon has been a constant in her life. The transition from good friends to dating was very natural and the problems faced were realistic. The plot did drag at times, but I was never bored.

I love the way Laura Brown writes deaf characters. Her main characters may be deaf, but this by no means defines them. There is no bitterness or angst, it's a part of who they are. Signs of Attraction was the first book I read by Laura and it's one of my favorites.

Characters with disabilities or chronic illnesses are generally sidelined to secondary characters who are defined by their disability. People are more than a disability and it's so refreshing to read main characters written this way. I even hesitate to call it a disability. It doesn't slow down any characters, being Deaf is just a different way of experiencing life.

I recommend this book for people who like character driven romance. If you prefer a heavier plot, you might not enjoy this book as much as I did.

4 Stars!

I’m ridiculously attracted to my best friend.

Today is a bad day. The worst actually. After dealing with the constant manhandling that comes with being a cocktail waitress at a dive bar and surviving a date from hell, I see an eviction notice slapped on the door of my sketchy basement apartment. Great.

When my best friend Devon shows up at my door and uses his stubborn charm (emphasis on stubborn) to get me to move in with him, I give in. We’ve had about a million sleepovers since we met in the kindergarten Deaf program, but this time it’s different because I can’t stop thinking about his hard body covering mine, every single night.

I know Devon would do anything for me, but I’m afraid what I want to happen will ruin our friendship forever. And the more time we spend together in close quarters, the harder it’ll be to resist the spark of attraction I’ve always felt. But maybe it’s possible to have the best of both worlds: keep the one relationship I can’t live without and indulge in an attraction I can’t deny.

I guess the only thing we can do is try…

Rating: 4.25/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: believable, realistic, awesome characters; SO STEAMY I CAN'T EVEN!; mature subjects handled with sensitivity and poise; I am much more open-eyed on hearing impairments/deaf culture after this read; just enough drama and angst to keep my penguin heart cold

Huge thanks to Laura Brown, Avon Impulse, Partners in Crime Book Tours, and Edelweiss for sending me a free egalley of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.

So once again, I find myself on the other side of a book I never even took the time to read a blurb for--and feeling SO very glad that I went into this read blind. I was honestly surprised with what I discovered between these covers--and what a steamy, sexy cover it is. I mean, just LOOK at him, with his brooding face and black leather jacket and... GAAAAAH. Someone, quick, find me my partner in crime and bestest panda buddy Annelise--those abs are just BEGGING her to lick them!

Dev leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss to my temple before gathering up his dinner.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"I figured you'd yell at me if I kissed your lips while you were eating."

I choked on a laugh and a noodle. "Smart man."

This romance was steamy and heart-wrenching in turn. I have always been a fan of "friends" to "lovers," and this story BEAUTIFULLY encapsulates that journey in a dramatic, angsty, fear-for-the-outcome way that kept me enthralled and entertained. The love between Jas and Dev was believable and endearing, and I loved learning about them from not only THEIR POV...but from the other's as well. The fact that these characters are also diverse and well-rounded only made me fall even more in love with them. Honestly, I'm going to be picking up more of Laura Brown in the very near future--I had such a great time rooting for (and shouting at) this couple. Their dynamics and antics are just... AGGGGGGH, I just want to hug them both!

This was a super fun, light-hearted (though still painful at times!), and diverse read--and I adored every minute of it! The characters are well-rounded, the romance is believable, and the angst only helped to cement me more fully into their journey. I definitely recommend this to lovers of contemporary romance, complex growth stories, and the flight from "friends" to "lovers." Sparks are flying, Penguins; take a seat and watch the show!

I received an advance copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I think this might be the first romance I've read where both of the leads were disabled-- he is hard of hearing, and she's deaf. The author worked this into the story seamlessly, but it caught my attention during more intimate scenes, where they'd pause or pull away to talk to each other.

The story is one of my favorite tropes- childhood best friends turned lovers. Jasmine works as a waitress (who's turned her deafness into a bonus for waitressing, using a white board to take orders that's attached to her hip), and Devon is dragging his feet while being encouraged to join his dad's firm, where another deaf/HoH lawyer is a bonus. His heart is in social work, however, and he's not sure how to come clean to his family.

When Jasmine is summarily evicted from her apartment, Devon pitches his place as a crash pad. His brother's moving out (and in with a boyfriend, the tiny subplot), so he's got room for Jasmine. But her youth has left her with scars and walls she can't seem to break down, even when the man of her dreams is in the room next to her.

This was a pretty decent new adult romance, but one that wouldn't have stood out for me if it wasn't for how well the author wrote (from personal experience, I'm guessing) deaf and hard of hearing characters living their lives without their hearing loss being the beginning, middle, and end of their characterization.

Between a 3 and 4, but I bumped it up to a 4 bc I really like the story and characters. What was pulling it down, for me, was 1) alternating 1st person POV which I loathe unreservedly and 2) approximately 100 pages was Jas being completely obnoxious about pushing Dev away/refusing help which was about 50 pages too many, in my opinion. But I really loved Jas and Dev as characters together, plus all the secondary characters (Blake and Shawn, Nikki and Pete, the parents) and how real the world around them felt.

Two insanely attractive deaf bestfriends falling for each other? Amazing trope right? Diverse and unique right? Unfortunately, the whole execution was so cliche. I wanted to love it, I do, but it was just too common. Nothing new about it besides the unique plot.

Ugh. I really liked this to start. Then from probably 1/3 Of the book through the end was just angsty and repetitive. No real action to solving problems. Just bing bang boom, SOLVED. No thank you.

Laura Brown writes some steamy romance. In this best friends to lovers story, we get to explore the fun transition of a solid friendship as it crosses a line where there's no going back. That her leads are both deaf adds another dimension and sheds light on life with no sound, but Laura makes their disability one characteristic among many, just one aspect of a rich story. Dev is a total sweetheart with a great family and a drive to help others. Jas comes from a more difficult family situation, and she craves independence and has a hard time accepting help. The love between these two friends is palpable and solid from the start, but from the very start, Jas finds herself in a position where she needs to lean on her best friend, and that becomes complicated as the friendship cedes to romance. Negotiating this new relationship while at the same time dealing with a number of set backs throws a curve their way. You can't help but root for them to find a solution to the puzzle.