Sariah Wilson is a new to me author and I know that I will be reading more of her books in the future. The blurb really got my attention when it came to this story. I love a friends to lovers romance and this one is definitely a MUST READ for anyone who loves that trope.
I loved Logan and Jess’s relationship. They knew they couldn’t date and that being friends was their only option. They set rules that they wouldn’t cross, but sometimes life doesn’t always work out how you plan.
Jess’s father also happens to be Logan’s new football coach and he has some strict rules when it comes to his team, such as no drinking, no drugs, no dating, no swearing. Logan knows he is on his last chance to make a better life for himself so he makes sure he follows those rules to a T.
I loved seeing Logan and Jess’s friend grow through their “non-dates” and watching their feelings develop for each other as they got to know each other better. Their chemistry is off the charts and when they finally give into each other it is explosive! This story is fun, steamy, sweet and emotional at times. Grab yourself a glass of emotional support milk, because you will need it and enjoy this fun take on a friends to lovers romance.

This was a very cute and easy read for me. I fell in love with all the characters over a short amount of time, espesically Logan who was funny and adorable and made me laugh out loud too many times to count. This book focused on falling in love with each other, espesically when you don't mean to do so and taking the consequenses of it. But also talking about grief, moving on and those touchy subject and i think it did a good job. I actually hands down have nothing bad to say about it, other than i wish it was more to it..

I received an early copy from Netgalley.

This book overall gave me a bit of a "meh" feeling. Okay, Fine. Nothing outstanding. I'm usually a fan of the friends to lovers trope and also the forbidden aspect didn't deter me. I think overall, the characters remained a bit flat to me, and the writing didn't entirely engage me to read. It took several attempts to finish. There was nothing directly bad, just nothing outstanding either.

This book was so sweet. The characters were real and the romance was believable. I look forward to reading more by Sariah Wilson

The Friend Zone is everything you want out of a friend's to lovers romance. Not just because he is a big, gorgeous jock. Not just because she's a beautiful math nerd. They both have a hidden side. Both are not entirely what they seem to be but it's impossible to stop the fall. Honestly, he could have killed a cat on a "not date" and I still would swoon.

Fun, sexy, and rife with tension, The Friend Zone has me wanting to start all over again. Friends make falling so much easier...

I'll be honest, I really struggled with this book and am on the fence whether to rate this a 2 or 3 star read. Unfortunately, I started and stopped this book so many times and had to force myself to finish. The first 60% was just really boring and seemed to drag and offered no motivation to continue. I'd find myself checking at the beginning of the chapter to see how many more chapters I had to go before I could mark this one as complete. Since I can count on one hand how many books I have DNF'd in my life, I figured I'd keep reading in hopes it would grab my attention. This book could have easily been written with half the pages and been 100x better. I couldn't even count on some heat to keep me interested, as they only made out twice and that was it, FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK). I'm usually not a fan of YA since it's hard for me to relate (I'm at least 15 years older than the characters in this book). But the premise of this one sounded interesting and I'm a sucker for a good sports romance, so I gave it a try, especially since this was a 'new to me' author.

I didn't really have an issue with the plot itself, which is a plus. I did find myself having a hard time connecting with the characters. Jess wasn't my favorite character. She was so obsessed with 'Ben I Am' that I just became annoyed. I really hated hearing about another love interest for most of the story and hated how she used Logan (at his insistence though) to get closer to Ben. She seemed a bit too shallow and one-dimensional to me.

I really liked Logan ... a lot. He had such a rough childhood and had made obvious mistakes, but he was serious about turning his life around. He wasn't obsessed with playing in the NFL, only wanted to graduate so that he could become a teacher. I had a lot of respect for him and found his honor and respect for Coach's rules to be inspiring.

Speaking of rules, Coach's rules were absurd and not at all realistic. I mean to prohibit a player from having ANY romantic relationship with a woman, not even the holding hands innocent kind, was taking things a step too far and into communist/dictator territory. I almost put the book down and didn't go past that chapter once I read that. It made me that mad and had me scoffing at the same time.

Around the 60% mark, I started getting more into the book. Things were picking up with Logan and Jess' relationship and the plot sped up. So for that alone, I gave my review an extra star. That 'emotional support milk' the author threw in at the end of the book just had me swooning. That was unique and made my heart melt for the guy. I wish we had gotten more of an epilogue. I felt like we were taken through the book on such a drawn out journey and then left to hang and assume life after college would be great.

I really wish the secondary characters had provided more color. They just seemed to make the occasional appearance and were pretty bland. I found Ford and Keilani to be very intriguing and I wanted to see more of them instead of more of Jess/Logan.

OMG I laughed so hard reading this book it was hilarious yet serious all summed up in one. This is a must read for anyone who wants to laugh and cry all at once!

This sweet new adult sport romance has a lot of rules for NFL players and the biggest rule is broken. Because NFL player Logan falls in love in the coach daughter Jess. A story that is so much deeper than just ordinary collage romance. Both Logan and Jess had very trouble past full of pain. Somehow, they heal each other and offer support with which they have feeling that they can accomplish more and to fight for what they want. Their story is amazing and to see how they developed and become wiser.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

The title of this book is absolutely perfect! There is so much "friend zoning" going on in this book. That's what happens when the football coach makes "no girls" one of his rules. This coach's rules are rigid and if you break them, you are basically done playing for him with no questions asked. Logan cannot afford to lose the football scholarship so he makes the comment to his math tutor early on that no girl is worthing losing his future. The math tutor, Jess (aka Jessica) is also the coach's daughter. She and Logan become friends while she is tutoring him. He agrees to try to help her make another math tutor, Ben, jealous. She's had a crush on Ben for a while but he's been having a "thing" with her nemesis. Somewhere along the way, Jess realizes it's not Ben she's interested in anymore, but Logan. Unfortunately she knows that can't happen because of her father's rules and of all of them, dating her would be the biggest violation. She refuses to be the reason that Logan could lose his ability to play football and thus continue school. She also doesn't want to betray her father's trust. So, she and Logan both try to resist the increasing attraction that they feel for one another.

The underlying passion between these two is palpable. They acquiesce to some kisses here and there but are constantly in fear of being caught. Logan is driven to succeed by his intense need to not "be his step-father" and he firmly believes that getting his education is his ticket out. Jess has been battling her own demons after a situation that happened to her in the past. Logan's friendship has helped her to see that all football players are not the same. She is attracted to his caring nature, sensitivity and vulnerability. Of course, I'm sure his perfect athletic physique doesn't hurt matters either. She battles it because she knows he can't afford school without the scholarship. Yet, neither of them can fully distance themself from the other and they think they can maintain a friendship without stepping over the line again. Can they make this work or are their hearts too invested already?

The Friend Zone was a very enjoyable slow burn romance. The characters had depth and had experienced difficult life experiences. It made it easy to feel invested in their outcome. I also really liked Logan's roommate, Bash. He was just a big lug with a heart. It was also rewarding to see Jess and her father's relationship grow as well.

This was a fresh and rewarding sports romance. Even though a lot of underlying sexual tension and attraction was at play between our main characters, the book only contained some steamy kissing scenes. However, those were definitely some hot kisses. If you like sports romance, fake relationships, friends to lovers and somewhat forbidden relationships, you'd enjoy this book.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for providing me with the ARC.**

A great friends to “lovers,” slow burn novel and so much more than your typical sports romance. Logan is the fallen star football player looking for a second chance and Jess is his new coach’s daughter. Their love is forbidden from the start thanks to Coach Oakley’s no dating, and especially no dating the coach’s daughter, rule for the football team. This rule forces Logan and Jess to be friends first and to really get to know one another. Both Logan and Jess have experienced traumatic events in their past, but Wilson does a great job of balancing the heavy content with light banter and overalls this is a fun read.

I’m really hoping this will be the start of a series because there were some great secondary characters. If so, fingers crossed for Bash as the lead in book 2.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Montlake Romance for giving me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

NEW BOOK BOYFRIEND ALERT! Logan Hunt seriously made this story for me. The difficult upbringing, the perseverance, the loyalty. Coach's rules are over the top, but Logan is determined to follow them. He is just a dream come true. The empathetic way he listens to Jess and supports her really adds to their connection. Both characters have been through a lot, and they deserve so much more. This friends to lovers story will pull on all your heartstrings, and I definitely recommend it!

The writing of this just wasn't for me. I found it a bit cringe-worthy at times and cheesy at others. I thought Jess's character could of gone in a very different way from the first chapter we see her in, but her first POV then sort of negates it. I don't know, something about this just didn't click.

3 1/2 stars This was a cute New Adult romance and my first time reading this author. I enjoyed this story about Logan and Jess. They were sweet. I think the fact that these two had to literally spend time in the friend zone led to a much deeper connection between them and it was so nice watching that develop. I really liked the epilogue.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

We have another forbidden love. We have an angry jock Logan who almost lost what he lives for Football, but given a second chance he is trying to behave. And that would be fine if his tutor wasn't the coaches daughter who hates football and everything with it. But as these two start spending time with each other feelings change, attitudes change but the problems persist and how will they deal with them.. It is a slow burn and I am sorry to say but i miss the hotness..

4 stars
Another cute story by Sariah Wilson. It was a sweet and innocent romance, with a side of football. While some arts were a little hard to believe, it was still a cute story. I enjoyed it.

I think Sariah Wilson is my new favorite author!! I love all of her royal books and wasn’t sure if I would like this one but every time I pick up one of her books I fall in love. In The Friend Zone I fell deeply in love with Logan and his honor and integrity. I love the selflessness of Jess and I love how they both persevered despite the obstacles in their lives. I felt like I was in college all over again. Thanks Sariah for another great book.

I really enjoyed this! I will definitely be recommending this to be regular patrons at books a million!!!! I wish that they did more paperbacks of these types of books though.

A heartwarming friends-to-lovers romance!

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Logan and Jess especially since it had a taste of the forbidden due to the rules that Logan's coach lays down for the football team.

No swearing. No drugs or alcohol. No girlfriends.

Their friendship is especially dangerous since Jess is the daughter of the coach! Logan knows the consequences, but he's so drawn to Jess because of her vibrant personality. What starts off as a fake relationship - crafted to land Jess the guy she's been crushing on - turns into a deep connection between the two as they spend the majority of their free time together.

It was love at first sight, but Jessica’s father is the football coach and he has a rules lots of rules for his players. Logan and Jess find time to be together doing lots of “friends” things. This was a cute friends to boyfriend story.

A cute, fun story. Im a sucker for the friends to lovers trope and this story progressed nicely. What gave it 3.5 stars for me was some of the things that the main characters did made zero sense once they were “together”. The other guy wasn’t relevant towards the end, but he would be placed in parts of the story and would make you wanna scream at the book “why is he here?!? Isn’t she over him yet?!?” Keeping all of this in mind, I will definitely look into more work from this author. The ending was cute and ties everything up nicely. I received an arc from netgalley for an honest review!