BARELY EVEN FRIENDS by Mae Bennett-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 4, 2024

Bellamy Price has just been offered the job of a lifetime: lead contractor on the restoration of the mysterious and sprawling Killington Estate. If she meets the owner’s ridiculous timeline, she’ll finally make a name for herself in this male-dominated industry. But when she rolls up her sleeves, slips on her suspenders, and shows up at the crumbling mansion, Bellamy finds the estate very much occupied.

After a traumatic car accident that left his parents dead and himself injured, Oliver Killington, heir to the Killington empire, took up residence as the grumpy caretaker of his grandfather’s mansion. None too pleased by the presence of the hammer-wielding woman who’s moved into his house, Oliver tries to block her at every turn.

But when Bellamy discovers Oliver’s facing his own ultimatum from his grandfather, the two form a cautious truce, which leads to flying sparks that are definitely not from faulty wiring. As Bellamy restores the gleam to the Killington Estate, she’ll have to decide if the walls she’s built around herself are worth knocking down to make space for someone else.

This clever, steamy debut novel will have readers rooting for this Beauty and her Beast until the very last page.

•••••

REVIEW: BARELY EVEN FRIENDS by Mae Bennett is a contemporary, adult, erotic, romance story line focusing on interior designer Bellamy Price, and reclusive Killington heir Oliver Killington.

Told from first person perspective (Bellamy) BARELY EVEN FRIENDS focuses on the growing but tempestuous relationship between our story line couple. Years earlier, Oliver Killington lost his parents and his future in the blink of an eye, and retreated to the privacy and darkness of the family owned Killington Estate. Having fallen into disrepair through years of neglect, Oliver’s grandfather Adrian Killington hired Price Renovations to rehab and renovate the mansion but the mansion was not completely empty, and Bellamy Price would discover the missing ‘heir’ living on the estate. Enter Oliver Killington, the man with whom Bellamy would fall in love. Struggling in the wake of his parent’s death, a death he has always blamed on himself, Oliver sought the seclusion of the only home he has ever known, a home that his grandfather was preparing for someone else. What ensues is the building relationship between Bellamy and Oliver, and the potential fall-out as their time together comes to a close.

The world building focuses on what was and what will never be. Oliver has struggled in the years since his parents death, cutting himself off from his family and friends but Oliver’s grandfather is tired of waiting for Oliver to take his place in the family line, and issues an ultimatum that forces Oliver to step up and step out.

The relationship between Oliver and Bellamy begins acrimoniously as Oliver wants nothing to do with renovating the Killington Mansion. Oliver wants to be left alone, even the limited number of staff is too much for our story line hero but Bellamy’s arrival for a six month stay is about to tip Oliver’s world over the edge. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate but I dislike the use of a certain four-letter word, although only used once, more for shock value than anything else.

We are introduced to Bellamy’s father Maurice Price, and her best friends Sebastian and Finn: chef Rue, IT genius Nick, Ambrose the butler, and house AI Bl8z3 aka Blaze: Oliver’s sisters and social media influencers Remy and Grace, and cousin Carter.

BARELY EVEN FRIENDS is a Beauty and the Beast-esque style story line; a grumpy-sunshine couple who find themselves pulled into the aura that is one another. The premise is familiar yet entertaining ; the characters are energetic-the back and forth banter is often humorous and fun; the romance is fated yet seductive.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy