King of the Friend Zone by Sheralyn Pratt

King of the Friend Zone by Sheralyn Pratt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Received to Review
Genre: Contemporary Romance



Book Description;  From the Power of the Matchmaker series:

Esme Taylor has an amazing fiancé, a lifelong best friend, and a problem.

The problem stems from the fact that her best friend is named Hunter and, well. . .he’s kind of (totally) hot. It’s hate at first sight when her fiancé, Jon, and Hunter meet. Jon’s convinced that Hunter is in love with Esme, and that Hunter must be out of the picture if their upcoming marriage is to succeed.

Esme thinks Jon is paranoid.

The truth is, Jon’s not that far off. Hunter is in love with his best friend and always has been. What Jon has wrong, however, is that Hunter never had any plans of ruining Esme’s happily ever after. Hunter wants what’s best for Esme, even if that’s not him.

When Jon pushes hard to end Esme and Hunter’s friendship, opposition comes from the most unlikely of places. It’s an eccentric lady with a cookie cart who suggests a different solution to Esme’s problem: Hunter and Esme should give each other a chance.

They’ve both thought of the possibility over the years—of course they have. But with a ring already on Esme’s finger and a heap of hurt feelings and broken trust in the mix, there hasn’t been a worse time to explore the depths of their feelings for each other.

Both Esme and Hunter think it’s time to move on and leave childhood crushes in the past. The question is: Can one woman and the taste of one cookie change their minds? 


My thoughts: For me, happiness is being married to my best friend. It is wonderful to live and grow with the person who I want to spend time with. For the characters in this story, they need to figure out if they can take a chance on loving their best friend.

Esme's best friend has been Hunter since they were babies. They grew up together, their families spend holidays together. They are each others happy place. But they are too stubborn to admit it to each other.

The book escalates the relationship from "status-quo" when Esme becomes engaged to another man. Pearl is the matchmaker and sets up the tone of the book when the newly engaged couple sample her cookies. Neither one of them like the cookie. The magic ingredient is a kiss. The way the couple feel about kissing each other is tasted in the cookies. Both Esme and her new fiance, Jon, throw them away.

A quote that I enjoyed from the book is when Esme is talking to one of her best friends. It is found at 87% in the book. It reads: "Why do people pretend like falling in love is fun, when really it's the most terrifying thing on the planet?" (New paragraph) "It can be," Grace said. "When you fight it. The part everyone writes stories about are the times when people let go, fall, and embrace the ride. When you fight the ride, I'm pretty sure that's what people call angst."

The things that I loved in this book is a wonderful and patient male protagonist, Hunter. He is everything that you would want in a best friend and companion. In many ways I didn't feel that Esme deserved him. This explored jealousy, selflessness, service, patience, and the look and feel of true love.

It is a clean romance that has innuendo and a little bit of violence.

Get an eBook copy today:

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About the Author: (Taken from her Webpage)  Sheralyn was born at an early age, with 10 fingers and 10 toes. She is proud to report that she currently retains all 20 digits. Described by one reviewer as "the bomb dot com" (url already claimed... bummer), Sheralyn has been a karate instructor, musical theater performer, a beach bum, freelance writer, nomadic traveler, and, yes, a private investigator. At the moment she enjoys working with and training her dog to give the poor thing breaks from sitting and Sheralyn's feet with the unbearable task of watching someone write a book.

Really, and you thought your job was bad!

Sheralyn currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, although as people who know her can attest to, that is subject to change at any time ;)