While I overall enjoyed A Guide to Being Just Friends, it was a slow burn that I had a hard time connecting to. Overall, A Guide to Being Just Friends is a sweet romance that gives you the warm and fuzzies. Sullivan knows how to write with a warm-hearted feeling and sucks you into the story and makes you want to root for the characters. For me, I just had a hard time connecting to the characters in this story.

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan is the best rom com I’ve read this year. This book was such a breath of fresh air! From the very first pages, I fell in love with the characters and was committed to finding out what happened to them. The plot kept my interest throughout. As I finished this book, I discovered that this is the final book in a series. I have really missed out on the first two books! I immediately looked for them. Such a great book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I’m sad! I love friends to lovers. It’s one of my favorite romance tropes. Maybe since it’s my favorite I just expect more from those stories. What i want to feel is the tension of yes we’re friends but could something more happen, the push and pull of maybe this situation is more than what I thought. Yes that is included here but i don’t know what it is but it felt flat. Maybe a little forced?

This could totally be a my bad moment though. When I picked it up, I didn’t realize it was the 3rd book in a series. I’m sure if I had read the first two books I might feel differently. I would probably have some kind of connection with the main characters as side characters in other stories usually draw me in. I just didn’t feel anything!

One last thing and maybe it’s just me bc I didn’t see any other reviews mention it, but some of the conversations around food and healthy ratings vs eating at the cake shop made me cringe. Like I know it’s trying promote being healthy & living a healthier lifestyle but it kinda rubbed me the wrong way!

This was a DNF for me. I have read the other two books in the series and while I LOVED the first one the second one wasn't my favorite. I was hoping this one would be better but it was just moving at an odd pace and felt kinda choppy? I made it about 28% before I put it down. I do think if you enjoyed the second book you'll like this one I just didn't love the second one and this one was more similar to the second than the first.

After finishing A Guide To Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan, I have now completed reading the Jansen Brothers trilogy.

Hailey runs an up-and-coming salad shop; Wes is a business-oriented type-A planner. Both are jaded about relationships and love, so they enter into the friend zone, creating a guide along the way.

Let's start with what I didn't enjoy. Wes is supposed to be the oldest and wisest of the three brothers, but I'm not convinced I saw that being portrayed; I found him to be very immature at times. I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope, and after Hailey and Wes decided to be in a relationship, ditching being just friends, there was one issue or argument followed by another until the book ended. It was odd that Wes, as an American, referred to the day after Christmas as being Boxing Day (which is not observed or celebrated in the United States). There seemed to be a plot hole when Tara mentioned the wrong meeting date to Hailey; I had suspected this would play a part later in the story, but it never did, and it really caused me to mistrust Tara.

Let's finish by what I did enjoy. I love this cover, and this is what drew me into requesting this novel on NetGalley. Hailey is a book worm, and I obviously really enjoyed this aspect to her character. After having read the first two books in this series, it was really easy to keep track of the Jansen brothers, and the group of friends (although I can see this being very overwhelming if this was the book you start the series with). I truly loved the found family theme that runs through this book especially, but also occurs through the entire series.

Overall, I've decided that Sullivan's writing, characters and plots are just not for me. This novel (and this series as a whole) are just too perfect, and I need more grit to my stories.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy to read and review.

Sophie Sullivan's next installment in her series about brothers just warmed my heart. I loved the story and it was quite heartwarming.

Having a book start off with salad commentary is such a bold move with high reward. Now if anyone thinks they know me and doesn't understand how much I love a good romantic comedy then they don't know me at all!

A Guide to Being Just Friends (AGTBJF - for short) has witty banter and fun characters. You have Hailey, a business owner who is new to town, and Wes, a business mogul who doesn't believe in love. This book also has dual pov for everyone who loves being inside the mind of a man. I love me a good friends to lovers especially when there's that simmering of 'what if we could be more?' always hanging over their heads. You could argue that the friends worked better than the lovers in this book.

This book is a great option for the days you just need a no stress, only good vibes story and this book is definitely that. AGTBJF is a really calm and cozy book that doesn't require a thousand brain cells to follow. Which is perfect and much needed throughout a busy week. My go-to to solve a reading slump is to read a feel-good story, typically a rom-com that's heavy on the comedy and banter. I definitely want to read the other books in this series!

Huge thank you to St. Martin's Press, SMP Romance and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!

I'm delighted to give A Guide To Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan a glowing five-star review. This playful and emotional romantic comedy is a must-read for fans of the genre. The author weaves an enchanting story around Hailey Sharp and Wes Jansen, two individuals with different goals and beliefs when it comes to relationships. The book highlights their meet cute, their hesitant friendship, and their struggle to suppress their undeniable attraction towards each other.

Sophie Sullivan masterfully crafted the story to ensure readers are entertained and emotionally invested throughout the book. The character development is superb, as we witness Hailey and Wes grow into their friendship and learn to navigate their complicated emotions. The romance aspect is swoon-worthy, and the author creates moments that are both tender and humorous.

Moreover, I appreciated the themes of self-discovery, trust, and forgiveness woven into the narrative, making the book not just a love story but also a commentary on human nature. The supporting characters are also delightful, and it's always fun to see beloved characters from previous books in a series make appearances.

Overall, A Guide To Being Just Friends is an enjoyable, sweet, and heartwarming read that is perfect for anyone looking for a fun and engaging romantic comedy. The book is a testament to Sophie Sullivan's exceptional storytelling abilities, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great read.

This is a really sweet friends to lovers story, I just found myself not connecting with the characters.

I had such an amazing time reading A Guide to Being Just Friends. Although the third in a series of interconnected standalones centred around the Jansen Brothers, Sullivan tells the story of Wes and Hailey in a way that leaves little room for confusion or lack of context. While still being delightfully tied into the previous love stories of the past instalments, I never found I was lost or missing something. All necessary context is provided in a smooth and natural way that never feels like exposition or an overwhelming dump of information, nor does it hinder the progression of Wes and Hailey’s own love story. The involvement of Wes’s brothers and their love interests is so sweet, and I just know that had I had the chance to read the previous books, this one would provide a very heartfelt and satisfying conclusion to the story. In fact, with how much I enjoyed this book and how intriguing the other ones seem, I’m definitely looking forward to reading the full series, and seeing how the predecessors compare to A Guide to Being Just Friends!
Like a very dominating part of the book community, I am a big fan of the enemies to lovers trope. That being said, I am always down for the sweet and beautiful transition from friends to lovers and Sophie Sullivan absolutely nailed it. It’s not often that we see this friends to lovers romances that don’t span multiple years, and I found this more mature take on the trope refreshing and rather interesting. No nostalgia or memories weighing them down, just two people who want to be with each other for who they are now, and who they will be. And while I’m certainly not knocking the childhood friends to lovers trope, I would definitely be open to seeing more books with this blueprint.
Both Wes and Hailey were so easy to root and fall for, and I loved shifting between their perspectives. While quite different people, both are relatable and endearing in their own right and they work so well as an unconventional yet lovable couple. I I would only loosely label the two as an example of the grumpy-sunshine trope, but I found Wes’s more approachable demeanour to be an unexpected but pleasant surprise. The two contrasted and complimented each other in all the right ways, and I loved their chemistry as friends and lovers alike.
This book was absolutely shaping up to be a five star read, but the bump in the road came at about the 68% mark, where we were hit with an unexpected and, in my opinion, unnecessary time skip. I had to turn back a few pages to ensure I hadn’t actually missed something. I admit I felt a little lost and would have appreciated more time dedicated to explaining what had gone on between these moments, because it felt like the pair were off after the skip in ways that hadn’t been adequately focused on prior to it. It felt unnatural and left me confused for a number of chapters, all the way into the confession which, while charged and well written, felt out of the blue. The slow burn had been keeping me on my toes and the suddenness of it all left me unbalanced. I don’t know what it was, but something about that time skip really threw things off for me.
That being said, I still greatly enjoyed this book and found myself smiling through the epilogue. I look forward to revisiting those tender moments after having read the previous books. Sophie Sullivan is incredibly talented, and will certainly be staying on my radar!
As always, thank you so much to NetGalley and the lovely team at St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review <3

I have given this book a 4/5 according to the reviews on Goodreads.

Unfortunately, I was unable to read this book prior to the release date, as the file I downloaded would not work on my device. I look forward to purchasing it on my own and reading it, as I have read the other two books in the series and loved both of them.

This book was “just okay” to me, which is truthfully why I initially struggled in writing a review. I didn’t completely hate or dislike it really, I was honestly just reallt bored. I’m normally a huge fan of slow-burn romances, but this one unfortunately felt like it dragged on and on, with no clear end in sight. I also think that this book would’ve benefited from having just *a teensy bit* of steam (NOT full-on spice; I understand this is a closed-door romance), especially in light of how long we play “will they-won’t they” with our two MCs, Hailey & Wes. Overall, while I thought this book had a cute premise & some promising development/character arcs for and between the two leads, it just missed the mark for me.

I LOVED this book! This is an amazing continuation of the series and it was great being able to see how the couples from the other books have grown. Wes is such a sweetheart and the relationship between him and Hailey is adorable!

A fun and heartwarming friends-to-romance romantic comedy with plenty of wonderful (and occasionally annoying) characters - both main and secondary, lots of friendships, and trying to run a successful independent business while still trying to figure things out. It's actually the third book in the series, but it stands alone with no problems.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

Just published in January this is a new must read for all romance readers! If you like "friends first" tropes this is for you!

I love a standalone romance story that has family members that arch across each book. The Jansen brothers were so fun to read about if you haven't read the first two books you will want to read them just to learn more about Noah and Chris. This story really embraces the support of family and how tight you can be with people who really know you and what makes you tick, and those people who you trust and let see your true self can get to love exactly who you are.

The best part of this story for me was the strong female friendships with Haliey while she opened her own business. I adored the way the other women embraced her and helped her feel part of the community. I loved the business aspects between the Jansen brothers as well. All these young people so deeply involved in the business world was a fresh new line of plot for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC I will be recommending this one highly!

The life that Hailey had in NY wasn’t making her happy so she has recently moved to town and is focused on the friendships she has made and making her salad business a success. After her last relationship she isn’t looking for love so when Wes suggests a friendship after their less than ideal first meeting she agrees.

Wes has seen and experienced the negative side of love and knows what he doesn’t want. The friendship he forges with Hailey is exactly what he needs especially since she isn’t who he would expect to be his life partner until he starts to wonder if she is exactly who he has been looking for.

A heartwarming romance with a mix of turmoil and humor as Hailey and Wes realize where true happiness lies. Not only are they relatable characters but the secondary characters only make the story better.

This is the third book in the series and although I loved the other two, this is my favorite. This book dealt with issues so realistically that I felt like I was in the room with the characters. Add to that a Harry Met Sally theme and you have a winner in my opinion. I adore heroes that are awkward because you love them and want to help them, but they always mess up so badly. This book started with the best meet-cute I've read in a long time. Mistaken identity with attitude. Wes Jansen is very unsuccessful with first dates via app, but this is the first time his date pretends they don't have a date while looking at him. Hailey Sharp doesn't have time for an arrogant although gorgeous jerk who insults her out of the blue when she's just picking up a coffee. After much, discussion with family, Wes realizes he owes Hailey an apology. The easiest way to do that for him is to help Hailey with her new store website. Wes' offer is one of the best things Hailey could ask for, since she just opened her salad By The Cup shop and she's pouring all her energy into becoming a success, but her marketing is lacking. This is the beginning of a great friendship, and all goes according to each of their plans for awhile, but then feelings tend to get in the way. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, St Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Tropes:
Best Friends to Lovers
Oblivious to Love
Jealousy
Only Eyes for Them

I have really been putting off this review because I have really conflicting feelings about it. I really enjoyed the story of this book. I LOVED Wes’s character specifically and I really enjoyed the friendship he had with Hailey. They were too cute and their banter was so fun to read. I even loved the idea of the salad shop because there is nothing like that where I live and I just adore salads. Here’s where I’m conflicted. There were just too many moments where I was confused or found my self questioning things. Not major things but minor things. I stopped writing them down at some point because I didn’t want to keep flipping between the app and my notes. There were a few points where there was quoted text and it doesn’t indicate who was saying it and I found myself flipping to the beginning of the conversation to figure it out but it just said “she said.” Well, the conversation was between 2 girls so I was still lost. Or, I did know how to picture characters because I didn’t feel like we got a whole lot of character descriptions. The story was super cute and I really enjoyed the plot and subplot but I wish there had been more to describe it so I could’ve visualized it as I read it. That was the biggest issue I had with it.

I didn't realize this was part of a series, as I only read the first book, but this was still great as a standalone. This book was super sweet and uplifting and romantic. Though I didn't always love Hailey's character, I fell for Wes immediately. It was great to read a little about all the Jansen brothers again. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I have read Sophie Sullivan’s Ten Rules for Faking It and I loved the social anxiety representation that brought to the romcom world. Did I think it was the best written novel of all time? No. And that is the same case with this book, the third entry into the Jansen Brother’s universe. Walking away from this novel, I can’t help but wish there was more to it.

I’ll admit, it took me a large chunk of the novel to get invested in the story itself. And there was one reason for that: the story execution. I do believe the greatest weakness of this story was the execution. The synopsis set up this fun concept, similar to Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, and I was excited to see another similar take on that friends-to-lovers trope. However, this novel fell short because the writing style couldn’t support the plotting or characterization. At multiple points, I found myself writing notes about how the story was being told in one mode: telling, not showing. It made for a clunky and unengaging read, but it also prevented the reader from getting lost in the story and connecting with the characters.

Unfortunately, the plot was predictable. Not only did it follow the standard romcom format (that third act breakup is not something I love to see), but the plot didn’t add anything else to the friends-to-lovers trope, either. I was hoping to see a fresher take on the trope as a whole, with all of the tension and slow-burn action that comes with it. Instead, it was a standard romcom novel with the usual themes of “best friends make for the best romantic partners,” and “you need to learn to let go and enjoy the fall.”

This is a smaller note, but I was surprised as to how little the “guide” had to do with the overall plot. It was, more or less, a passing joke between Hailey and Wes. With that guide being a large part of the novel title, I wish it had a bigger role in the plot. It would have been cute to see Hailey and Wes teasing each other about the “rules” they had created to keep their relationship in the friend zone.

Overall, this was a standard romcom entry into the adult contemporary genre. I found myself longing for the writing style to provide the reader with further emotional depth to help me connect with the story and the plights of the characters. Instead, the story plodded along and it wasn’t the romcom this reader was hoping for.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.