Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my eARC of Just Friends which is the debut novel from author Holly McCulloch.

The book is in the friends to lovers genre and is a quirky, quick little read with true to life, likeable characters and a heroine in Bea who could be any one of us! Written from Bea's POV, Just Friends is essentially a snap shot of her life over a year or so, with all its ups and downs and relationship dramas.

It wasn't complicated and I enjoyed rreading it as an interlude between some other 'heavier' books. My biggest criticism is that it's too short - the book basically ends just as it gets going. Other than that, a nice little summer read during an afternoon at the beach 😊.

#JustFriendsBook #NetGalley

Just Friends is a sweet story of the friends-to-lovers relationship of Bea and Peter. It was fairly well written but short on plot and action. I liked Bea’s straight-talking friend Mia and also enjoyed Peter’s original quirkiness which seemed to be toned down later in the book as he became more of a romantic lead. Or maybe the author just felt his quirkiness was already established, but as there was not much else to focus on it felt a bit of a shame. (I also liked his ‘lounge pants.’)

Nothing much happened until about quarter of the way through by which point I was in danger of losing interest. I kept on with it because the characters were lovely, but it could have stood more action. Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for the advance read.

Gotta say, Bea, the heroine, is one hot mess! But what I liked about this book is that she remains a cute hot mess throughout and the character and the story don't go into cringe-worthy territory much. Many authors seem to go over-the-top in making their heroines messes so as to make them sympathetic, but Holly McCullough walks that fine line with panache and does it very well.
I would just have wanted some 'more' between Be and Peter - the story was, after all, about them and this attraction that creeps up unannounced on Bea. It's not a long book, but nothing on that front had actually happened by 10% into the story, so this aspect dragged a bit for me and didn't really catch required steam after that.
Still, it's a nice, good one to get lost into.
***With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book. This review is my honest opinion

Loved this book!
A friends to lovers story for Bea and Peter, who have known each other since university. He has always liked her more than a friends and now she is finally noticing him, but is it too late?

Bea and Peter met at University and have been ‘just friends’ ever since - this is a story about not realising what’s been right in front of you all along.

It was refreshing to have a relationship in a novel like the one between Bea and her friend Mia: Mia is straight talking and doesn’t hold back; this is exactly what Bea needs.

It took me a little while to get into the story, in places. I really wanted to hear more about the relationship between Bea and Peter (both how it flourished in the past and a much more developed interaction in the present, even if it remains minimal), but it never really materialised.

I really enjoyed aspects of this book, but I felt it was over too soon. I would have loved the author, Holly McCulloch, to have made it so that there was more chemistry between Bea and Peter (although, I appreciate this ‘new’ attraction had snuck up on Bea and this may have been a structural ploy in making the story what it is).

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to read this book for an unbiased review. I wish the author the best of luck with the release of her debut novel.

I’d give this book 2.5/5 stars.