Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Friendship Study

I may be the target audience for this book (lonely bi city girl who takes care of folks with advanced dementia) and therefore extremely biased, but I found The Friendship Study to be like drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate on a winters day.

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mlglenn's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was such a joy to listen to!! I absolutely loved the friendship turned relationship of Lulu and Jesse - their struggles of making friends as a millennial adult were so real they almost hurt. I also loved themes of searching for belonging and success as an adult, and learning to love and appreciate yourself for all that you are. I saw myself so much in Lulu (a history girly! Phillies obsessed! And so much more), and saw parts of myself in Jesse, and I just loved watching their HEA. Would recommend!

POV: dual first person

You can expect: former firefighter MMC, history professor FMC, blind date, forced proximity, opposites attract, forbidden relationship, FWB, cat dad, he falls first.

Rep: bisexual MCs, gay supporting character, chronic pain from injury, neurodivergence (undiagnosed ADHD), anxiety

Spice: 3.5/5

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melissat's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Ever since Lulu moved back to her alma mater, she has struggled to fit in. Her best friend and boyfriend betrayed her in England, and no one in Philadelphia will trust that she earned this job herself. Jesse is struggling to pull himself out of self-imposed isolation after his car accident. Together, they join a psychology study about making friends as adult millennials and realize immediately that their physical chemistry just might be the only thing stronger than their easy friendship.

Oh my goodness, Lulu and Jesse! Both of these goobers were the softest, kindest, bundles of angst and emotion. I adore the ways that they worked through all of their past hurts to come to a place where they felt able to open themselves up to their love for each other.

Ruby Barrett's writing was, as always, superb. She treats heavy subjects with such tenderness and her spicy scenes are so hot.

I loved the various friendships that were made and revived throughout the book, and the familial connections have such a soft place in my heart. I related so strongly to Lulu as a character and I know that this will be a comfort read for me to return to over and over again.

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jennireadsmaybe's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Thank you to Carina Adores and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

Holy crap!!! The yearning in this one. The Friendship Study reminds me of why I love friends-to-lovers so much. These characters come to know each other so deeply that it's impossible for me to not want them together. Their chemistry was just off the charts electric!!! It also doesn't fall into the trap that penetrative sex is the end all be all in a relationship (freaking hot!!!!).

Ruby Barrett treads into some often forgotten about territory in the premise of The Friendship Study. Why is it so hard to make friends as an adult? Is loneliness all that we're meant for if we struggle to make friends? Is it too late to discover who we are again? I felt so seen in various aspects of this book.

The bisexual rep in this was amazing!! MF romances often feature a bisexual heroine, but TFS features a bisexual hero!!!! I loved it so so much. Jesse also lives with chronic pain and uses a mobility aid from a previous injury. You could see the care that Ruby Barrett put into the representation. Although it's not confirmed on page during the story, Barrett mentions in the author's note that Lulu will be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a queer romance or a friends-to-lovers romance. It was stunning!!!

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30something_reads's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Why would Ruby Barrett write this??😭❤️😭
(I mean that in the best way possible.)

Full RTC after coffee
*****

I said full review after coffee and now it's almost 2 months later AND IM STILL NOT OVER THESE TWO!

Ruby Barrett has created something really special with Lulu's and Jesse's stories. I don't think I have ever fully related to both characters in a romance that way that I did with these two.

At it's heart, this is a story about the difficulties of starting over as an adult- professionally, romantically, when it comes to forming new relationships, and rediscovering who you are when life falls apart.

Lulu returns to her hometown to take a professorial position at the local university after deciding to leave her previous position (where she caught her boyfriend and best friend- who were also work professional colleagues- cheating together.) Now she is starting over in a new department and finds herself struggling to connect with her new team and it all feels a little bit hopeless.

Jesse is feeling like a shell of who he once was. He's still physically and emotionally recovering from an accident that left him disabled/ using a mobility device and unable to continue his career as a firefighter- a job that he has built his entire sense of purpose around. In addition, he is struggling with the recent deterioration of his grandfathers health (Alzheimer's) that has left him permanently in a nursing home and unable to remember Jesse. He is feeling regret and guilt over the fact that he never came out as bisexual to the man who raised him.

Trying to put yourself back out there as an adult is hard.

Lulu and Jesse are set up on a blind date by a mutual friend. There is definitely physical chemistry but it ends up being kind of a disaster. They are later reunited as participants in a psychological study being conducted at the university. The study is looking for 30-somethings that are having difficulty forming new friendships in adulthood. They are encouraged to engage in group activities in the hopes of forming bonds with the other participants. The only rule is that they cannot become sexually involved.

This should be great- Lulu and Jesse can start over as friends with zero weirdness. Except, as their friendship blossoms, so does the reminder of their mutual sexual attraction. Don't break the rules.

Bending the rules is not breaking them, right? (They actually get pretty creative.)

Lulu and Jesse were both so special to me and I loved seeing how they grew together as well as their individual journeys. Their 'friends with very specific benefits' relationship was also very sexy. (Though, I won't get into details in order to avoid spoilers.)

I'll gladly yap about this book with anyone who wants to discuss it in detail. Just know that I love them and this book with my whole heart.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Thanks to Harlequin for the free copy of this book.

- I loved Ruby Barrett’s previous book, but THE FRIENDSHIP STUDY blows it out of the water. I adored Jesse and Lulu, who each felt like real, unique people.
- The friendship study itself is sort of vague, but it gives the characters such a great “we can’t be doing this” setup that I was willing to forgive how unscientific it felt, lol.
- Jesse is a bisexual man dealing with chronic pain after an injury, and Lulu is a queer woman just beginning to think she might have ADHD. Both are struggling with where their lives are going and the way making new friends as an adult seems impossible. And amid all these feelings, this book is HOT.

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