skygiants

I was sitting outside at work two weeks ago reading Zen Cho's Behind Frenemy Lines when our regular volunteer suddenly popped up next to me. "What are you reading?!" she demanded, and I blinked at her, and she said "I can't remember the last time I smiled as much reading a book as you were right now! Please tell me the title, I have to read it!"

So now you all know two things, which is that I have no poker face when reading in public and also that Behind Frenemy Lines is a delight. It's a particular delight to me because this book is a really fantastic, affectionately grounded example of bring-your-work-to-the-rom-com; my brother works in the same kind of big law firm as the protagonists and every word of it rang true. As soon as I was done I texted my long-suffering sister-in-law to tell her that she should read it immediately. (My brother should read it even more, but he will never have the time to do so, because, again, he works in big law.)

So, the plot: our heroine Kriya Rajasekar has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend and followed her boss to a new firm, which has unfortunately resulted in her sharing an office with the competent but deeply awkward lawyer whose presence throughout her career has coincidentally but unfortunately coincided with all the most screwball catastrophes in Kriya's career.

Charles Goh does not know that he is Kriya's bad-luck charm. Charles actually has kind of a crush. This is regrettable for Charles given that life has provided them with a couple of perfect reasons to fake date (Charles needs a date to his cousin's wedding and Kriya needs to fend off the increasingly inappropriate attentions of her recently-divorced boss) and also a good reason they should not real date (Kriya is busy fending off the increasingly inappropriate attentions of her recently-divorced boss and does not need romantic complications from her office-mate/fake boyfriend.)

As a sidenote, the cousin's wedding is a Fandom Wedding, the details of which I will not spoil but which are the other half of why I was laughing visibly out front of my office building (and which I did not explain to the volunteer.) I would not trust a lot of authors to write a Fandom Wedding, but this book carries it off with charm and ease. It really helps that the leads do not understand what is happening and do not really care except inasmuch as it's nice to see a person you like get married.

Of course everybody catches feelings, but also everybody also catches more serious ethical dilemmas, as the corruption case from The Friend Zone Experiment rebounds back into the plot and forces both Charles and Kriya to figure out where their professional lines actually are. I love where the characters make their respective stands, and where they end up; the stakes feel exactly right for the book, deeply grounded and deeply personal to the characters. It's so nice to pick up a Zen book, and know I can trust her to always be very funny but also to always make her books about something real.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

thistleingrey

It really helps that the leads do not understand what is happening and do not really care except inasmuch as it's nice to see a person you like get married.

Yes! I thought that the leads' appropriately shallow understanding was really well done. (Props also to the friend acknowledged for an aspect of the fandom theme.)

skygiants

They are enjoying the party! It seems like a nice party with many confusing aspects! And that's exactly as it should be.

(HUGE, HUGE PROPS)

sovay

It's a particular delight to me because this book is a really fantastic, affectionately grounded example of bring-your-work-to-the-rom-com; my brother works in the same kind of big law firm as the protagonists and every word of it rang true. As soon as I was done I texted my long-suffering sister-in-law to tell her that she should read it immediately. (My brother should read it even more, but he will never have the time to do so, because, again, he works in big law.)

Nice!

There are few things I enjoy more than being in the capable hands of an author who understands how to do the job they are describing their characters doing.

qian

<3 I didn't know your brother works in biglaw! My sympathies to your SIL ... It hadn't occurred to me that including a fandom wedding was a risk but I'm glad it paid off for you. Though obviously I am OUTRAGED at the suggestion that Charles did not understand what was happening. He gave such a nice explanation of which Duke of Badminton character represents each bride and why!!

My brother is theoretically attempting to get out of biglaw, but this has been true for years now so we'll see if he ever actually manages it ... in the meantime we send my SIL condolences on the daily.

Charles did such a heroic job of mustering up a level of caring about the Duke of Badminton in order to express how much he cared about the brides! It was a really valiant effort and a tremendous charm point, and so soothing for me personally to have it 100% confirmed that he does not actually know what tumblr is.

larryhammer

Looks like my hold is down to 3 weeks. Soon!

SOON

schneefink

Putting this on my to read list :)

I hope you enjoy it!

cafemassolit

Can I ask please how the tone and dynamics compared to the Friend Zone Experiment? When I love Zen Cho I love her to bits, and when it refuses to connect it does so despite my moaning that it by all means it should, why doesn’t it etc etc.

(And hi! I don’t remember if I introduced myself here - I am fridge brilliance at bsky so you may have seen me making admiring/friend-shaped noises across platforms)

Hmm, they're definitely partnered books but I would say the voices and romantic dynamics are pretty distinct -- the Charles-POV chapters have a very fun voice-style that's meant to evoke personal notes written on a phone, and immediately give the character a uniqueness and specificity.

(also hello!! nice to see you here in this space also! :D)