Best Friends Never Kiss

Best Friends Never Kiss #1

by Krista Wolf

It wasn't easy growing up with three gorgeous male friends, each so hot it should be illegal. But as a trio, it kept things honest. I couldn't have any one of them without making the others jealous.

That is... until the day I could have all of them.

Tyler was the ripped, beautiful boy next door; the unachievable best friend with whom I shared an innocent first kiss. Axel was the hottest hockey prodigy this side of Seattle, surrounded by adoring puck-bunnies, and Zane was the sizzling but brooding goalie; a man with whom I shared a secret chemistry that was off the charts.

I'd grown up with these three best friends, watching them skate the edge of glory. Until one sweltering night when the sparks between us ignite an explosive powder-keg of pent-up longing; one that promises the bliss of fantasy-fueled oblivion... while also threatening to burn down everything we built together.

Or, if I play my cards right, perhaps even begin building upon something else .

There's no logical reason I can't have all three of them, right? Especially when they make it crystal clear they intend upon sharing me, exactly as they've shared everything else, and in every possible way...

Can I pull off a hat trick with this trio of gorgeous teammates and best friends? Or will the perils of being passed between three scorching hockey stars land our lifelong friendship in the penalty box?

BEST FRIENDS NEVER KISS is a sexy, stand-alone reverse harem hockey romance filled with laughter, excitement, friends to lovers hijinks, and enormous amounts of love. It's also hot enough to blister the fingers holding your kindle! HEA guaranteed.

Genres: Sports, Friends To Lovers, Hockey, Sports Romance, Romance, Why Choose, Hockey Romance

356 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 19, 2023

About the author

Krista Wolf is a lover of action, fantasy and all good horror movies... as well as a hopeless romantic with an insatiably steamy, dirtier side.

She writes suspenseful, mystery-infused stories filled with blistering hot twists and turns. Tales in which headstrong, impetuous heroines are the irresistible force thrown against the immovable object of powerful, alpha heroes.

If you like intelligent and witty romance served up with a panty-dropping, erotic edge? You've just found your new favorite author.

Sign up to Krista's VIP Email list to get instant notification of all new releases: http://eepurl.com/dkWHab

Reviews

[tiffany dai jel 🐝✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Best Friends Never Kiss

star rating: 2 ★ ★
spice rating: 2 🌶️🌶️

Was this horrible? No. Did I cringe at some point? Yes, very much so. But, that wasn’t the issue. I couldn’t really connect with it for some reason. But I plan to give this author another try in the future!

[Neermboop · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay. Giving it 3 stars for making me laugh out loud at some of the awful descriptions though! 😆

[Lyrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was perfectly enjoyable, but the writing lacked the finesse to really make the story shine. There were quite a few word choices and phrases during the spicy times that were just ick and cringey. The characterization was better than I expected. I loved the friends to lovers aspect and that the guys were club hockey players instead of professional, which is what you usually see. The why choose aspect was much more group orientated than I would have liked. I wanted her to have three relationships versus having one relationship with three boyfriends. This is the type of book that you know exactly what you're going to get based on the title. I would read more books from this author when I want a straightforward story with spice for a palate cleanser.

[🦉Maggie Whitworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋💋

Fun steamy read, sports setting, RH romance, mmmf ,
Not a bad read, good storyline that keeps your attention, the sport setting helped I think.
These guys helped too😜

[Courtney Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one would’ve been rated higher had it not had descriptions like “molten womb” 🤢

[Sarah Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It was fun, flirty and super steamy. Ariana and her three best friends Tyler, Axel and Zane were all gorgeous characters and I found myself very invested in their story. I loved the low angst, the emotional connection between all the leading characters, the inclusion of the men’s POV, and especially the beautiful HEA and bonus epilogue.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Elaine Lucky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ari and her three male best friends since childhood finally hook up and admit their feelings after spending the majority of their lives together. Solid story with no drama or third act breakup. The only irritating thing was the overuse of "he said lustily" too many times. Also I would give the bonus epilogue available for free on the author's website 2 stars (my opinion is I think it ruined the story)

[Stephy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle suggested; not terrible. The format was different. The writing could’ve been better and more descriptive. There were multi POVs but I would’ve loved to get LESS of the FMC and more from the MMCs! I wouldn’t have hated a few more in depth flashbacks with them all to help build their inevitable progress of their relationships. I enjoy me a good hockey reverse haram and therefore gave this a shot. I’ve read other books by this author and her writing style isn’t necessarily one of my favs.

[kymagirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ariana/Ari (h) navigates her feelings for Tyler (H), Axel (H), and Zane (H), three incredibly hot hockey buddies, whom she's had a lifelong friendship and thing take a steamy turn when sparks fly between them. Their friendship evolves into something more, and the chemistry between Ariana and her trio of besties is scorching. As the lines between friendship and romance blur, the story keeps you hooked with witty banter and low drama amid the gradual progression from friendship to something steamier. Hot and steamy low-drama RH romance with likable characters, and a delicious blend of friendship, love, and hockey that revs up the heat both on and off the ice.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always love Krista’s RH books and she did not disappoint with this book. I really enjoyed the story of 4 best friends from childhood now into adulthood. Ari is a force and speaks her mind and so faithful to her best friends. Tyler, Axel and Zane were best friend from the start and their love of hockey filled their loves. Tyler and Axel played for a team but Zane was not on that same team. Life throws curveballs and sometimes the only thing you need is your Best Friend.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sophie Sosweetysocrazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Sarah Thurecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first ever reverse harem book and completely blew me away

[Aya Blackwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

Here is why
Manhood
Flower
Piercing my maidenhead
Pulsing urethra
Giant banana
Hottest depths of my womanhood
Felt more like a friends with benefits situation than a why choose with people in love
Imo the really steamy sceens happened when actual steam came from the shower. The spice just wasn't spicy to me
Calgary

[Codie Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this well-written? Meh.
Is it a believable story? Absolutely not.

Did I kinda love it? Heck yeah.

[J.A. Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can we call it something other than a bubble-butt? If I see the word Bubble one more time...
I struggled with the first probably 70% of this book. I mean, it was cute... Ari has a great group of friends. Tyler, Zane and Axel are her best friends and I love the relationship they all have together. But I feel like she took advantage and played them against each other. She knew she was driving a wedge between them, or could be if they all found out about each other. But did she stop? NOPE! It just felt wrong in so many ways.
Then they all found out. Or felt guilty enough to confess to each other. And all was well? It just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, these are all adults. They all grew up together. Yet, they still acted like teenagers in so many ways.
The ending and the extended epilogue were sweet though.

[Sara Gomes · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 64% I skimmed through a lot of it but even with the spicy scenes I just couldn’t get into the story. It was disjointed and confusing at times. The dialogue between characters were cringey in some instances and not enough in others.

[Lissa J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those light, fluffy reads that you can sometimes enjoy. It was in KU so u didn't feel like I had especially wasted money. Nothing taxing, just a lot of positive spin on the friends to lovers in a RH relationship.

Nothing especially deep happened, these were young adults working out what they wanted to do with their life. There wasn't any conflict in how the relationship played on the page. There was no exploring how the unconventional relationship might affect any one of their chosen careers. Even when one guy moved from amateur hockey to professional. This was a rose coloured erotic romance novel. The one on one erotic scenes were more emotionally detailed than the group scenes unfortunately. There weren't many of these considering the type of story this is.

The descriptions/words/sounds in the sex scences were hilarious, I was laughing at not with. Flower was used a few times as one example 🤣

The book does need a good proofread, double words in sentences occasionally and several times the wrong tense was used.

I will probably check out more of this author for a bit of fun.

[Jessica C · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 64%

Just bad.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ari and the guys

So RH are my favs. I guess it’s the way I truly like to escape. This had potential. The characters were no drama, no hate just a strong female and 3 strong men all loving her. With that being said almost all of the spice was interrupted with mind thinking and words taking away from the spice. In every scene she would start the smut only to be taken over by Ariana mind thinking, so much so that I was skipping paragraphs. Also some of the words were weird. Like she liked his pulsing urethra. Uum just a bit weird for me.
It had a HEA.

[Lindsi (Do You Dog-ear?) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been trying to find a good hockey romance for months, but none of them have been AMAZING. (Please leave recommendations in the comments!) Best Friends Never Kiss was good, but it's not one I would go out of my way to recommend.

I also really struggled with the description of Zane. I kept picturing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and it wasn't working for me in the context of this book. I think it was the goatee, honestly. It made me start thinking about whether or not I've ever read a book where the male love interest has a goatee, and I don't think I have! 😅

The spice in this one was more poblano pepper. It had some flavor, but ultimately lacked any real heat. This was a really big bummer, since I picked up Best Friends Never Kiss wanting and expecting a steamy romance. The word choice and descriptions during intimate interactions also could have been better. A lot of it made me cringe and completely took me out of the moment.

I honestly really only liked Tyler as an option. She seemed to have the biggest connection with him emotionally and physically, but the author wrote this as more of a group romance, so we don't see the individual relationships develop as much as I would have liked. Ariana — Ari — makes amazing foam art at the coffee shop she works at, but seems to lack that attention to detail in her personal life. I'm still not sure how they all work together, since there didn't seem to be any depth to their relationships. Everything that happened was just too convenient.

Best Friends Never Kiss was an enjoyable read. There wasn't any drama between the MC and her menfolk, but they did deal with some in their personal lives. I think the writing could have been better and the relationships more believable, but it wasn't bad for a KU freebie.

[★Ruth★ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Writing

Dear Lord the writing!
In this day and age in a rh book to be using words like “Maidenhead” , “flower” etc (there are more but I’ve managed to block them out) was just so weird and cringey.
Also the use of the words “screwing into” each other (not referring to sex but like hugging and stuff) and for some reason when any of the guys were in a shower they said things “lustily “ even of they were only looking for a towel. It was the only time they spoke like that and again it was so weird to me!

[casvec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arianna has grown up with Axel, Tyler and Zane and have been best friends. When her love life seems to faulter before it starts, she asked them for help. This is a sweet story with heated moment that pulls you in.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Craftybookworm11 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure why I finished it

There were some continuity issues with this book. A couple times where the author forgot which character did what. Also there were some word choices that personally give me the ick. Very light on the hockey.

[Lynn_G · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars
It’s got hockey, it’s an RH, no cheating within the quad, best friends to lovers, what’s not to like? FYI no swords cross, but many swords are depicted in latte foam.

[Lil Ms Reads A LOT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Krista Wolf's latest book "Best Friends" provides proof that there is no better romantic relationship than one built up with friendship as a solid core. 

Ariana, Zane, Axel and Tyler have been best friends since they were small children. They've been there for each other through it all.  When Ariana struggles in the dating department, who better to judge her technique and give her the most accurate advice then her best friends? 


As each guy takes Ariana on a date, long suppressed feelings surface and are explored. Actions are taken  that change the trajectory of their lives. Secrets are kept from one another. Suddenly, friends who have always shared everything are now  withholding the truth. Once these secrets are exposed, would their friendship be strong enough to withstand the betrayal?


"Best Friends" is the story about four childhood turned adult best friends who braved the possibility of losing one another when they finally made a move towards becoming lovers.  What I truly love about this author's writing style is that her stories are equal parts hot, naughty  sexual chemistry mixed with a deep dive into the characteristics and the personalities of each of the characters. As readers, we really get to know the characters.  We truly understand what they're thinking deep inside. It's the perfect blend of naughty goodness with theme and character development. Some authors in this genre write books which seriously lack a plot... but not this author. I truly felt like I was a voyeur into the lives of these four best friends. I was rooting for them the entire time. 


"Best Friends" is my first "must read" book I'm recommending for the fall!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Camsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a couple of bad dates, Ariana is left wondering if something is wrong with her. After sharing the events with her 3 best friends, they offer to take her out of practice dates. They will flirt, have fun and then exchange notes between them to see what could be the issue. Rapidly tho, feelings from the past and their connections, get them to share a little bit more than just a practice date. But what happen when men who are used to share everything, realize that they never tried to share her this way ?

I did enjoy most of it. There was a lot of humour, understanding, love and respect between them all. Sadly at times, I felt like Ariana wasn’t the most believable narrator… it was like she was omitting informations in her own narration until it could be used and suddenly it was revealed. It sometimes felt kind of out of nowhere. Also I feel like it took way to long for them to talk about protections. I have difficulties believing that hot hockey players who get it on often, would not even think about protecting themselves, even if it was with someone they trust and love. It wasn’t even part of the communication. And when they talked about it, it was for the FMC to tell them they could have cum inside like they all did before and it was just a bit strange to me.

[Shazz Mattaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'd at 59%

I just couldn't do it. Usually, even if a book hasn't lived up to my hopes, I can power through if either the spice is spicing or the story/writing are good.

This book has some of the worst spice I've ever read. Like so cringey that I actually thought the first spicy scene wasn't happening. Like the character was going to wake up and have it be a dream. Because the descriptions were in no way sexy. . .

Choice phrases from that scene:

her wet thigh gap
her molten valley
calling her vulva/vagina 'her flower' (happened in another scene as well)
her molten womb
saying he detonated inside her, spewing like an angry volcano
her swollen mound

Yeah, the story and writing don't save this either. The characters are incredible bland. I skimmed a lot.

Just. . .skip this one. Go read a Lily Gold book if you want some plot-light spice with a reverse harem or Gimme More by Sara Cate if you want an emotionally resonant look at polyamory. Any number of the million of hockey player books out there will satisfy that element for you better than this one. (even the hockey scenes were just lame).

⭐/5: .5 for the attempt
🌶️/5: -🌶️ Sex happens in the book, but it's too cringey.

[Julianna K · Rating 1 out of 5]

'Best Friends Never Kiss' was enticing to read from the synopsis. As I dove into the book, you were teleported to multiple point of views (POV) from the three males; Tyler, Zane, Axel and our leading female character Ariana.

I was pulled into the humor of Ariana's dates as "another one bites the dust" on a long list of unfortunate events. As her best friends, they listen and promptly date her - for an experiment to see why all her dates seem to end so soon. As I got ready for these men to fall in love, I was thrown for a loop. This story seemed to be both in the past and present. Though it was really hard to distinguish. It was also hard to piece together where all of them were going even if I knew there'd be a HEA, it just didn't feel like that was here it was going to end up. At the 87% mark, I begun to skim the book till the end.

I can not tell you how conflicted this made me feel. I wanted to enjoy this, but it just felt like 3 separate relationships... even though they are all friends. They had a "pack". Not a seamless flow as they all come into a polygamous relationship. I did enjoy Ariana and how she was a strong female character who was open with her sexuality.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a friends to lovers RH, and pretty much what you’d expect going in. Ariel has terrible luck dating, but thankfully three hot besties to hang out with when her other plans fall through. They agree to help her by taking her on fake dates so they can figure out where she’s going wrong, but it leads to real attraction.
Once things start moving it goes at bullet train speed, and Ariel character changes to this overly confident and flirty person she wasn’t before. Lots of sparks and chemistry, but most of the group action is off page. Very low on drama and miscommunication (so bonus points there) and the friendship here is amazing. The pacing is a bit weird, so sometimes things jump and change without mush notice, and there’s more telling than it needs. (We don’t even go on all the dates, just get told about it afterwards).
This is pretty low on hockey stakes too. They’re pretty much backyard hockey type level of playing, just a bunch of friends mucking around on weekends. It’s got a HEA though, with the fairy tale ending of all their dreams coming true.

[Ellen Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story.
Absolutely loved this story you could help but smile from the start with how Ariana's date went. The 4 if them had been the best if friends since they were at school & that friendship bond grew stronger as they got older knowing everything about each other & being there for each other.
It was only after Ariana's series of bad dates Zane, Axel & Tyler agreed they would each take her on a date to see where she was going wrong but it brought out the feelings that they had each been hiding from each other that the guys had always loved Ariana & she'd always felt the same but nobody wanted to step over that boundary afraid to lose the friendship they had. Oh hell yeah it was steamy but it was also sweet, caring except where Lexus was involved & I loved reading every page knowing how much they all loved each other but it looked like they might all get the happy ever after I was desperate for.
Once you start reading you won't want to put it down I almost read it in one sitting.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.