SUMMARY
For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.
Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?
From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?
ABOUT ELIZABETH
The short and sweet version:
Elizabeth Eulberg was born and raised in Wisconsin before heading off to college at Syracuse University and making a career in the New York City book biz. Now a full-time writer, she is the author of The Lonely Hearts Club, Prom & Prejudice, Take a Bow, Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality, and Better Off Friends. She lives outside of Manhattan with her three guitars, two keyboards, and one drumstick.
 
 
 
“The building is basically in the shape of a T. Down this hallway you have your math, science, and history classes.” I started motioning my arms like a flight attendant. “Then behind you, English and languages classes as well as study hall.” I started walking fast. “And there’s the gym, cafeteria, music and art rooms. Oh, and there are bathrooms at the end of each hall as well as a bubbler.”
His eyebrows shot up. “What’s a bubbler?”
My immediate reaction was one of disbelief. How could he not know what a bubbler is?
I laughed about this passage because after I tweeted about it I had a conversation with non-Wisconsin people about this very word ‘bubbler’ and some of them didn’t know what it was!! So… where does the word ‘bubbler’ originate from and why do we call it that? A man named Harlan Huckleby designed the first Bubbler in 1888 and Kohler Water Works patented the invention and trademarked the name.  Kohler is a Wisconsin company and apparently people had no other name for it so bubbler stuck!Â
“Look!” I pointed up at the Culver’s marquee.
Her eyes got wide. “Yes! You know Turtle’s my favorite.”
CULVER’S – Okay, so the first Culver’s opened in 1984 in Sauk City, Wisconsin and it is now a well-known franchise. Â They have the best butter burgers and some amazing custard… if you have the chance to stop, make sure you do!Â
“Who goes to a fish fry and doesn’t get fish?” Â
Okay… so I’m the person who does this because yuck… fish. But in all honesty, Fish Fry is best known in Wisconsin. Â Â The tradition in Wisconsin began because Wisconsin was settled heavily by German Catholics whose religion forbade eating meat on Fridays. The number of lakes in the state meant that eating fish became a popular alternative.
“Hey.” Alex smiled at me. “Do you remember when we were little and we went up to Door County with our moms?” …
I did remember that week in Door County when I was six and Alex was eight. We’d gone swimming, went for walks among the cherry trees, and picked our own cherries – our hands and mouths stained red, our bellies full.
I love love love Door County. Add wine to that sentence above about the swimming and the cherries and you would have a perfect weekend getaway! Â If you’re looking for an amazing place to get away to I can’t recommend it more! Â
Jaime’s Thoughts
Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Are you looking for a sweet and funny read … something that is for the most part light-hearted and fun? Then look no further! Better Off Friends captures the best parts about friends to more stories and I enjoyed every single second.
Told from alternating, first person, points of view we get the chance to know both of these characters pretty well … Macallan and Levi don’t exactly hit it off when they first meet. He’s the new kid with long hair who just moved to Wisconsin from California. But a mutual love for an obscure British show has them bonding pretty quickly and they say the rest is history. But neither is interested in any kind of relationship … They epitomize platonic friendship and they become best friends over time…. And then things get a bit complicated. Those of you looking for minor drama this one is definitely for you… while there are definitely some issues, because let’s face it, all friendships have them, there was nothing here that made me angry… just the trials and tribulations of a boy and a girl growing up and learning things about themselves and each other.
I think my favorite part of this book though was the dialogue between the two characters at the end of each chapter. It really was incredibly cute and highlights the sweetness of their relationship. But I also loved that Eulberg, an author from Wisconsin, used a lot of familiar things to me. As someone who lives in Wisconsin it’s so fun to read books that are set here and it rarely happens because…. Wisconsin.
Ultimately I really enjoyed the friendship between these two. The banter and dialogue was fun and light, and watching the relationship have its ups and downs was entertaining. While the book spans several years, I felt like the pacing of the story itself was wonderfully done and Eulberg does an amazing job giving both Macallan and Levi their own voices and making them authentic.
If you’ve been recently crushed by a book filled with heavy and need something a bit lighter, I can’t recommend this enough!
Thank you to the publisher and the amazing Liza Wiemer for providing a copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!
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