After a disastrous break-up, Hailey moves from Los Angeles to San Verde, and opens her own restaurant called By the Cup, where she sells various kinds of gourmet salads. She is determined to make her business successful, though she’s off to a slow start. Soon enough she has a decent-sized lunch order, and is thrilled to deliver to the local radio station, where she runs into the good-looking man who erroneously thought she was his date, his two brothers, and their girlfriends.

Wes has a lot to prove after he left New York for San Verde, joining his brothers to develop their own company after leaving their father and his dysfunction behind. Wes has tried the Internet dating scene, but never seems to meet anyone he’s interested in getting to know. When he sees Hailey at the coffee shop, he’s intrigued, and the fact that she delivered their lunch salads several days later was a happy accident.

This third book in the series can be read as a stand-alone, though having the background of the previous books is helpful. I didn’t like this book as well as I liked the others; this one seemed to drag along and the characters never felt realistic. Hailey is stubborn, Wes is stubborn, but since it’s a rom com, you know there’s an HEA involved. Maybe too much conflict? Not sure, but this book didn’t hold my attention for very long at a stretch..

2.5 stars

I wanted to like this one more than I did. I loved the premise, the reluctant acquantences to best friends to lovers, but I think that too much of the build up and strengthening of the relationship between Hailey and Wes happened behind the scenes that I didn't get to feel it as much. I think for them getting together to be as exciting that needed to happen. Still a very cute booK! Just doesn't really stick with me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and #NetGalley for the arc!

This was just sadly not for me at all. Sophie's first book I DNFed but I quite enjoyed the second and I can say this was not a hit for me.

I'm usually not a fan of when I accidentally jump into a series that I never knew existed. HOWEVER, my fault, no one else's. This was a bit of a slow burn, and I enjoy a little bit more action and movement within the plot. It was sweet, but not my favorite romance I've picked up.

I really thought I would’ve loved this one but sadly it was a let down for me.. but before I get into that let’s talk about the stuff I did liked!

I liked how cute it was with Hailey and Wes’s friendship in the beginning which was awkward at first but it worked! I loved the side characters which I believe is apart of the other first two books.
But I didn’t like the connection with Hailey and Wes when they finally got over “being friends,” and it felt off-? I felt like their relationship was more cute in the friendship stage than together which led to a big mishap near the end which I felt like was forced? But i do hope others read it and enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you for St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this eARC. I really appreciated the opportunity to read this!

If you like sweet, clean romances and friends to lovers and this sounds good to you PLEASE read it. As always, reading is subjective and if I dislike something it doesn't mean you will. You may love it!

Things I Liked:
- The secondary characters were really sweet and funny. They added a lot to the story and I was glad they were there!
- When Wes says, "Unless you want that hand shoved down your throat, I suggest you don't touch her again."
- There were some cute moments that made me smile.

Things I Didn't Like:
- The idea was cute, but I wasn't inspired or moved by the story. The business aspect was too overwhelming and I just didn't care about it.
-Wes and Hailey. I didn't love them or feel the chemistry. I as continuously frustrated with their pride, stubbornness, petty arguments, and miscommunication. They made me scream (in not a good way) multiple times.
-This book made me realize "clean romance" isn't for me. YA is one thing, but this was adult with fade to black and it made me sad.

Overall, I found this book to be stiff, unmemorable and just not for me. They can't all be though! 💚

This book and I did not mesh.

I’m not a fan of miscommunication tropes. If the MCs in this story would have communicated with each other and stopped trying so hard to hide their feelings from one another, this book would have been about 10% of its actual length.

I am a fairly quick reader, and it took me ~4 weeks to finish this. I didn't find myself wanting to pick it back up between reads. This is not a bad book by any means, I was just bored until about the 60% mark. I think one thing I struggled with in the first half of this book was Wes's brothers' relationships. They were SO over the top and cheesy in their dialogue and interactions with their girlfriends, while always giving Wes the 'how do you not want this?!' look and talk. It drove me crazy.

I love the friends to lovers trope. Wes and Hailey were very cute characters but they lacked depth. The tropes in this book reminded me a lot of People We Meet on Vacation but with more surface level characters.

This book did make me laugh a few times, and I was definitely rooting for Wes and Hailey when their friendship hit the turning point. I liked that Hailey was a FMC who has no problem standing up for herself.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I originally requested this, I did not realize it was the third book in a series, however, it reads as a stand-alone just fine. I probably would have been more attached to the side characters had I read the first two.

I really enjoyed Hailey being a small business owner and wanting to prove that she could make it on her own.

I actually liked Wes being a little awkward.

The one thing I hated about this was how resistant Hailey was to receive help from Wes. You have a rich boyfriend who wants to spoil you. There is no reason to be mean to him about it. I get the principle that she wanted to be independent, but it got old that they constantly fought about this.

And just when I thought we narrowly escaped the third act breakup I was proven wrong.

I did enjoy everything Wes overcame to be with Hailey.

Overall I really did enjoy this and will probably go back and read the first two. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

cute book! i didn’t read the first two in the series, but that’s okay. it does have a third act breakup, which i don’t usually love, but it was still a cute romance and had a few good tropes (friends to lovers, slow burn). i don’t love a third person POV, i find it makes it difficult to connect with the characters more.

review: 3.5

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for allowing me the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. I liked Hailey and Wes’s friendship. But this book was a little bit to slow paced for my liking. And normally I like a slow burn and a LOVE a friends to lovers plot line but something about their friendship developing as quick as it did almost feels like lust a first site or insta love. I was also a Little hesitant to read this book because one review said it’s a mix of When Harry Met Sally and 500 Days of Summer. When Harry Met Sally is one of my all time favorite rom/coms. 500 Days of Summer on the hand is a terrible movie. That’s besides the point though. I just couldn’t vibe with this book even though it had all of my favorite tropes.

Can be read as a stand-alone but the couples from the previous two books have a lot of interaction in this story.
Hailey moved away from Los Angeles to San Verde and opened a small restaurant making salads. It’s the perfect solution for the small strip of businesses and her knowledge of the industry. But she doesn’t have any money for marketing yet, so she’s counting on repeat business and locals finding her. She makes friends with the owner of dessert place next door and other business owners. Wes and Hailey meet and ultimately decide to be friends. The relationship might go deeper but neither is ready.

This was a really cute romance novel. The bakery versus other shope trope seems to be more common in this genre, but it totally works! Both main characters are likeable, and have some baggage/background to work through, but this gives the storyline some depth. It was a cute set up for the inevitable, yet adorable, ending.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this digital ARC. I absolutely loved this story!

So, let me start by saying that as soon as I finished this, I realized it is the third book in this series. So now I need to go back and get all the juicy information about the other brothers! Wes is a dream... The video game he creates for Hailey is the cutest thing I have ever heard of!

Hailey is such a strong independent female character, I loved her and her business. The supporting characters in this story are also so well written. I look forward to reading the first two books in this series.

Going into this book I did not realize that it was a part of a series? That is my fault for looking into that. Although, I didn’t feel like I missed anything while reading this book. I enjoyed the cute romance and was a slow burn for sure. Overall, a good book if you are looking for a cute romance with no “spice”.


Thank you Natgalley the eARC

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmillian.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

When I requested this book, I did not realize it was part of the Jansen brother’s series. Have no fear! It can be read as a standalone, but I will be going back to read the other two books.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a story of Hailey opening up a salad shop. Wes is the computer tech guy in a family business who dreams of the day he can design video games. Neither are looking for romance, but they are drawn to each other. They agree to be “Just Friends.” We all know how that goes in a romance novel 😊

This book is a slow burn but worth the wait! I also appreciated the self-discovery and forgiveness that is part of the story, making it much more than just a romance novel.

4 stars

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This was a great read! I look forward to reading more why the author! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you for the eARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and all for an ARC for an honest review.
This is a cute clean friends to love romance. There are many underlying themes.. new friends, community, found family, trust, emotional abuse.. but remains a light read.
This was the third and last in a series. It was a little heavy on referencing the other storylines which may be nostalgic if you've read the others but I had not.
Problems I had: there was a investment that isn't good in one situation but is good in another..? Also, there was a lawsuit that was left unresolved..?

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this one! I read book two, but still haven’t read book one. I’ve seen some people say they feel they can’t be read as standalones, but I disagree. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything that couldn’t be pieced together.

This book is a nice pallet cleanser. It’s not too stressful. It’s cute, there’s an awesome friend group, and I love this romcom premise. Two people fairly new to town who need a friend but they’re also harboring secret feelings for one another? Sign me up.

Get ready for a slow burn, but it’s totally worth it! I loved this book!

I didn't realize this was part of a series, but I think it read fine as a stand alone. This one was a super slow burn, which typically I don't mind, but I felt like parts of it really dragged for this reason.

This is book 3 in the Jansen Brothers series which can be a stand alone The other couples are in this book you can go into it without reading the other 2 as I did

This is about Hailey she's starting her own salad shop and is trying to get her business going and starting over in a new place and new people. She's also a people pleaser she will go out of her way to help anyone but doesn't allow someone to help her and if they do strings have to be attached as she's learned in the past.

Wes doesn't feel the need to get close to other people in that way he has his brothers and that's all he needs. He is the computer Tec at his company but he has also been into making his own games or he used to be.

After a bad run in with Hailey a few times he realizes he was a dick for no reason and they start a friendship and its nice for both of them to be friends only until one day the pull is to much.

This is a SLLLLOOOOOWWWWW Burn and I don't typically like that that slow of romances but I really enjoyed this book the writing was nice and the cast of family/ friend charterers were great. I love how they both help them overcome pass issues to go towards things they really want.

*Thanks to NetGalley for my e-arc in exchange for my honest review.