Barely Even Friends

A Novel

By: Mae Bennett

Narrated by: Victoria Connolly

Bellamy Price has 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 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.

Perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, this debut novel will have listeners rooting for this Beauty and her Beast.

©2024 Mae Bennett (P)2024 Tantor

5 stars isn’t enough!

The plus size rep, the Beauty & the Beast retelling, the CLEVER writing, quippy banter, the list of treasures in Bennett’s writing is endless. This book is delightful. The performance is seamless. I laughed out loud more than once.

It’s rare I finish a book these days and know I’ll read it again soon, but thought this was the first time I picked up Barely Even Friends, it absolutely won’t be the last.

Miserable retelling

Bellamy is an unprofessional brat. As an overweight woman in a male dominated field, I get her anxieties in the beginning of the book but good god, she’s rude, obnoxious, and obsessed with pointing out she’s pudgy and wears suspenders. And when he friends show up at her work site, they’re top tier jerks for making her look so horribly unprofessional. They’re why people should really speculate her ability to run the business. Sure, “The Beast” wasn’t the friendliest but I wouldn’t even say he was rude. It was allllll Bellamy.

60% and DNFed. I couldn’t even stomach powering through.