Review: Into the Night Reviews - Friend-Zoned by Belle Aurora
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 14, 2013
I had the great fortune of reviewing an ARC of Friend-Zoned prior to its release and was absolutely blown away by this book. First time author Belle Aurora has created an awesome story with an amazing cast of characters who you just can’t help but fall in love with.Friend-Zoned is centred around the friendship between Valentina Tomic (Tina) and Nikolai Leokov (Nik). Tina owns a boutique called Safira’s which is across the street from Nik’s night club, The White Rabbit. Tina notices Nik through the window of her boutique following an exchange with a less than satisfied customer. She then observes him during the three cigarette breaks he takes each day and finally, on a whim, sends him a bag of candy with a note attached. What follows from there is a not so ordinary introduction and the development of friendships, love and lust between the two and their circle of friends.Tina is the kind of woman everyone needs for a friend. She is generous of spirit, trusting, loving and the woman can bake cupcakes that are to die for! As a result of some significant past hurt, Tina keeps others at arms length in the relationship game. She’s a touchy, feely kind of girl so gives out hugs generously and is a loving and loyal friend, but she keeps her heart closely guarded for fear of it being irrevocably shattered. The hurt and loss associated with Jace, the guy she thought was ‘the one’, has taken a massive toll on Tina and she doesn’t believe she will ever love again.Nik is generally mistrustful of women. Following the death of his father when he was sixteen, Nik took on the role of head of the household and took care of his family. As a consequence, Nik didn’t have a lot of time for girlfriends. Nik’s father had been a senior figure in the Russian gang world and Nik was initiated into Chaos, a Russian-American gang, as an enforcer shortly after his father’s death. Nik spent a number of years collecting drug money, debt money and bribes before leaving the gang to start his night club. His wealth and success have made him a regular target for women, but not the sort of women you settle down with.At an early stage Tina and Nik declare themselves ‘friends’ and begin to do the things that ‘friends’ do with each other, coffee, lunch, clubbing – all the while both of them are fighting against the feelings they are developing. Watching the relationship develop is just gorgeous. The underlying sexual tension is palpable and I was just praying they would act on their feelings (I may even have emailed the author a little extract from the book at one point followed by a “YAY!”). Aurora’s writing style is brilliant – she captures the humour and the intensity of the burgeoning relationship perfectly.Aurora has also expertly developed the characters that form the ‘family’ in Friend-Zoned: Max - Nik’s younger brother, Ghost (Asher) - Nik’s best friend, Trick - Nik’s cousin, Nat – Tina’s BFF, Mimi and Lola – the two girls who work at Safira’s with Tina. The group of eight spend a lot of time with each other and there are snippets about the interactions between them all that had me wondering whether there will be more for these guys – Aurora has confirmed that ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ is book two in the series and it will tell Nat and Ghost’s story (which I’ll be watching for closely).Aurora posted a ‘fantasy cast photo’ on her Facebook page (check out [...]...) and I think she has chosen perfectly. If the link doesn't work, visit Facebook and search for Author Belle Aurora, then check out her photos - it's worth the look ;)Friend-Zoned is a mature, contemporary romance – with some humour and even a bit of intrigue as some of Nik’s gang life history re-surfaces and threatens the group. The dialogue is well written, there are some ’hawt’ and steamy love scenes(definitely not YA!!) and I really got caught up in this story.The ARC I reviewed was the pre-edited version, but even so there were not that many typos/errors, so I would expect the final product to be error free in that regard. There is a satisfying conclusion to Nik and Tina’s story that had me smiling from ear to ear. Definitely pick up Friend-Zoned for an engaging read – I loved this book and will be recommending it widely!