Is it ever too late to leave the friend zone? Discover the heartwarming friends to lovers romance that became a sensation on TikTok—now with a new chapter and a Q&A with the author!

The friend zone is not the end zone for Bree Camden, who is helplessly in love with her longtime best friend and extremely hot NFL legend, Nathan Donelson. The only problem is that she can’t admit her true feelings, because he clearly sees her as a best friend with no romantic potential, and the last thing Bree wants is to ruin their relationship. But those abs . . .

Nope! Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for Bree. In any case, she has other things to worry about. After a car accident ended her chance at becoming a professional ballerina, Bree changed paths and now owns her own dance studio, with big dreams to expand it. But one more rent increase could mean the end of the studio entirely.

Then, as usual, Nathan comes to the rescue and buys the entire building. A stubborn Bree is not happy about it and decides to rebel with a couple—okay, maybe more than a couple—of tequila shots. Then her plan backfires as she spills her deepest, darkest secret to a TMZ reporter. One viral video later, the world thinks Nathan and Bree are the perfect couple. Before they can really talk about her confession, Nathan’s publicist proposes a big opportunity that could mean financial security for Bree. The catch? They have to pretend to be in love. For three whole weeks.

What will happen when Bree gives in to the feelings she’s been desperately hiding for so long, and could she be imagining that Nathan is actually enjoying it? Sarah Adams scores more than touchdowns in this exciting romantic comedy.

Hello, I am a puddle of goo. I am mush. I have collapsed into a pile of swoons and sighs. The Cheat Sheet is the most adorable and heartwarming swoonfest of a best friends to lovers romance I’ve ever read, and I’m slightly depressed now that it’s over because I miss it and because I want this kind of love story for myself. As always, my main points are bolded.

1. I love Bree and Nathan, so the fact that we get chapters that alternate between each of their POVs was wonderful. Bree is a former ballerina who was injured a few years ago and now owns a dance studio devoted to giving young girls an outlet, whether they can afford tuition or not. She’s barely scraping by, but this studio and these girls mean so much to her that she sacrifices everything to be there for them. She lives in tiny a mold-infested apartment with sticky floors and armpit stench in the air, and she loves her life. I love her! She’s so goofy and spunky and I love that she’s doing good with her life. Oh, and she does this super cute thing where if she’s out shopping and sees a little thing that reminds her of someone she buys it and gives it to them. Her friends and family call them Bree-nkets (like trinkets, but with Bree’s name). Nathan is the star quarterback of an NFL football team that he’s brought to the Super Bowl once and might bring them again! He has a heart of gold. He doesn’t care about the fame or the fortune or anything. He’s down to earth, sweet, loyal, protective, and so loving. He lives in a beautiful, sprawling home, with a gloriously huge kitchen and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean. And no matter what girl is hanging off his arm at the moment, he has a special bedroom in his home for Bree so that she can sleep over if she’s too tired to walk home after and evening of watching movies with him.

2. Bree and Nathan have been best friends for years, and their friendship is the cutest. They run together every Tuesday morning, no matter what else is going on in their lives. They hang out together as often as they can, have keys to each other’s places, and will commit any crime necessary to protect the other. They have been secretly in love with each other since high school, but are too scared to ruin their friendship by talking about it. The pining is real and thick and frustrating to read because I just wanted to smush them together! Nathan’s inner thoughts about Bree are some of the sweetest ever. She can do no wrong, embodies everything that is perfect in this world, and will always be chosen first in his life. He worships her. He wants to spoil her and take care of her at all times, even platonically, but she won’t let him because she doesn’t want to fall even more in love with him then she already is. But does he know this is why she won’t let him? Nope. He thinks she has no interest in her at all, so he plays it cool and acts aloof and dates other women, further sending her the message that he’s also not interested. Ahhhhh the angst!

3. I love fake dating tropes, especially between friends, and The Cheat Sheet does this so well. Bree drunkenly admits her feelings about Nathan to a reporter while sitting on the floor of a public restroom and the video goes viral. The world falls in love with Bree, and Nathan finally has hope that she reciprocates his feelings. They end up agreeing to a fake relationship that will help his career and give her money to support herself. Wow, like it’s going to be hard for either of them to pretend to be in love. Nathan decides to take this opportunity to test the waters of their friendship and see how Bree responds to flirting and physical touch from him. As they make public appearances and stage instagram photos, they each start to wonder if their best friend actually might love them back.

4. There’s an amazing. cast of supporting characters. The friendships in this book warmed my heart so much. We’ve got Bree’s sister, who is so supportive and loving. Then we’ve got Nathan’s teammates, who help him come up with a list of things to do to see if Bree is really into him after all (it’s called a cheat sheet, hence the name of the book). I LOVE his teammates. They’re big, bulky teddy bears who believe in true love and self care. They also all love Bree and the little trinkets she gives them. The same drunken night she spills the beans to the reporter, she asks them all if she can paint their toenails in team colors and they let her. I could just see these men sitting there with tiny Bree bouncing from foot to foot, painting their toes. And what’s even cuter is that they win their next game and are convinced it was because of the nail polish so Nathan and his friends start going out and getting pedicures together. I just loved them all, and I would love it if this book became the first book in a series, and each of Nathan’s friends get their own book. Another supporting character I loved was Bree’s stylist, Dylan. He’s flashy and bubbly and hilarious, making sure Bree always looks great when making public appearances. At one point in the story, he’s not around and tries to coach someone else on how to do Bree’s hair over facetime. When he tells this person to pull back Bree’s hair like a wave rushing over the shore at sunset I literally cackled. I love Dylan.

5. There’s some amazing discussion centered around anxiety and mental health and healing, and I just loved it. Mental health needs to be talked about more, and it was so refreshing to see it handled with such reverence in a light-hearted romantic comedy. I felt very seen and understood.

6. The romance was so sweet and extremely swoony. And there was still steam, even though the big stuff happened behind closed doors. This was different steam. It’s hard to put it into words, but the emotion and the love that was present was more than enough for me. The build-up to the big stuff, like the tension and the wanting and the kisses were so well written, that I didn’t feel disappointed or like I lost anything by not reading an actual sex scene. I loved it, and felt it was perfect.

7. The end of the book was perfect and everything I needed. I actually cried, and I don’t do that!

8. I have also listened to the audio of this book, and I highly recommend it. Teddy Hamilton brought Nathan’s sweetness to life, and Renee Dorian was perfect for Bree. Her voice and humor made for an amazing listening experience.

The Cheat Sheet is my new favorite book, and I will scream about it every chance I get. I’ve already pre-ordered a paperback for my bookshelves!