Review: "Friends with Benedicts" by Staci Hart

Congratulations to Staci Hart on today's release of "Friends with Benedicts," her latest small town romantic comedy. It's a follow up to "Bet the Farm" (which I loved) featuring one of that book's secondary characters, but reads as a complete standalone.

 

"Friends with Benedicts" was the perfect blend of humor, heat, and light angst, featuring endearing, sympathetic characters and an engaging plot. I loved the flirty, witty banter between main characters Presley Hale and Sebastian Vargas, who rekindled their romance shortly after Presley and her young daughter moved to the small Texas town where she'd spent her summers in high school. With Sebastian planning to leave for a Peace Corps mission in Africa at the end of the summer, they knew that their time together was limited. However, after meeting Presley's daughter Priscilla and learning the secret that Presley had been waiting to share with him since the last time they saw each other, Sebastian realized that his future path might not be as clear as he thought it was.

The time Sebastian and Presley spent together sometimes seemed to have a bittersweet quality to it, as if they were trying to store up memories for the future when they would no longer be together. They obviously cared deeply for one another and each wanted the other to be happy; while I understood and appreciated how that played into Presley's efforts not to influence Sebastian's decision about leaving for Africa, it sometimes frustrated me that she wouldn't just come out and tell him what was in her heart. That led to several critical miscommunications between them, but fortunately, with the help of their family and friends, everything turned out right in the end.

 

Presley's daughter Priscilla was just as much of a scene-stealer in this story as she was in "Bet the Farm," when she first began demanding "monies" from adults who said a bad word. I loved Priscilla's sweet relationship with Sebastian and his family, who were wrapped around her little finger almost as soon as they met her. Presley's cousins Daisy, Poppy, and Jo were also a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better in Jo's book this fall.

Overall, I loved "Friends with Benedicts" and highly recommend it for fans of contemporary romance and romantic comedy. I look forward to Staci Hart's next release.

 

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

 

 

About "Friends with Benedicts"

Timing is everything.

Presley Hale and Sebastian Vargas are no strangers to goodbye. Their high school summers were spent wrapped up in each other until she would inevitably go home to California. One season after college, Sebastian finally escaped the little Texas town to travel the world, and they said goodbye for what they thought might be the last time.
Sebastian went one way. Presley went the other.

For the first time in five years, they’re both in town, but the timing is no better than ever. So the only thing to do is what they do best. Keep it casual.

Friends with benefits.

They’ve done it before—doing it again will be easy.

But their hearts don’t get the memo.

When the lines of their arrangement blur, Presley and Sebastian are faced with decisions they’ve avoided for years. And that’s not even their biggest problem.
A small town in danger of failing.

A secret that could tear them apart.

And two hearts that can’t hide anymore.

They’ve shared so many summers, but none compare to what they’ll face.

Timing is everything.
And their time is almost up.