Book Review: Falling for My Grumpy Best Friend (updated)

Title: Falling for My Grumpy Best Friend

Author: Laney Crowe

Date: June 3, 2026

Too many romances these days use "grumpy" to describe someone who is polite, but not instantly infatuated with the person mislabelling person as "grumpy." Jason, on the other hand, really is grumpy--as in reasonably polite, but sometimes just a bit curt, harsh, or frosty, because he's just a bit socially awkward. He's young. He's an athlete, not a politician. He doesn't always say the right thing.

Kennedy is a little better at saying the right thing, most of the time, but she's not the most organized person. Sort of a millennial Annie Hall, you might think if you're a baby-boomer. She is Jason's good friend and public relations person. 

When somebody gets hold of a picture of Jason and an ex-girlfriend, rather than be distracted by gossip about whether that relationship can be revived (it can't) Jason blurts out that he and Kennedy are engaged. Of course they are, Kennedy backs him up, loyal to the end. Now they just have to work out whether they want to make it true, or report a broken engagement after the big game. 

This is a sweet romance so you know how it must end. I like it because Jason is grumpy, as distinct from angry or mean; he realizes it's a flaw and wants to improve. Most people's communication skills improve in between ages twenty and thirty, so there's hope for Jason. 

(Edited to add...)

The first time I read this e-book, I was in the middle of chapter 7 when Booksprout suddenly stopped working. Instead of showing the page it showed a message that the site was "down." 

I couldn't even double-check the young man's name...Drew is another PR person, in the book. Kennedy's grumpy best friend is Jason. For a full week, anyone who read this review and then read the book must have been saying, "Drew? What about him? What about Jason?"

I wanted the review to go live on schedule. So it did. This is a full-length book, with subplots I didn't mention, but it is a sweet romance. There's a lovable dog, a night when Jason and Kennedy are stranded in a blizzard and share a motel room chaperoned only by the said dog, an opportunity for the ex-girlfriend to show why she's one of the Women Men Leave...It was worth going back to read the whole story. 

Apart from getting the main characters' names right, though, that review of the first quarter of the book stands. The rest of the book is equally sweet. Jason wants someone who "won't expect me to be 'on' all the time." Kennedy doesn't expect that. They have a fair chance at happily-ever-after.