YA contemporary romances are not hard to find, but ones containing depth and meaning are few and far between. BETTER OFF FRIENDS is a cute and fairly entertaining read but lacks that particular substance that makes it a five star favorite. 
 Told in both of their POVs, Macallan and Levi are the two "better off friends" duo that make up the novel. Macallan was easily my favorite character because she was so easy to relate to and always put others before her, a very admirable trait. Levi was a bit less tolerable because his personality was wishy-washy, the most important things in his life football and being popular, or the "Stud" and "the Man" as he likes to call himself. 
 I was expecting the moral of the story to be something like "boys and girls can be friends," learning Levi and Macallan could be happy being Just Friends like the synopsis strongly suggested. I think that would have been a much more unique story that way. Because without that, the book is kind of a predictable, ordinary story. 
 BETTER OFF FRIENDS was not the novel I was expecting based off the synopsis, but it was still a good book. If you are a fan of contemporary YA, you will find yourself enjoying this one easily.