I love a strong, business-minded, female lead, which is why I loved Hailey. Although, I grew to like Wes, I wasn’t crazy about him at first and didn’t want her to end up with him with the fear that she will risk her independence. Just like Hailey in the book, I wanted to see her achieve everything she could - but on her own. I could’ve done without “the fighting over the boy” drama, but happy that part of the plot was resolved.

This is my first book from the author and will definitely be going back to read more about the Jansen brothers.

I’ll be honest, I am not one for the friends to lovers trope but Sophie Sullivan wrote it so well I absolutely loved this book. These characters were so well thought out and described that I related to their issues, understood them, but still felt myself screaming inside “GOD JUST TALK TO EACHOTHER AND WORK IT OUT ALREADY!!!”.

Hailey is an independent woman (go off queen) starting a business that has been hurt by exes and parents, causing her to want to do it all alone because the only person she can trust fully is herself. Wes is a successful businessman who spent majority of his life protecting his brothers from family conflicts. If Wes sees a problem, he wants to fix it and take the burden off the people he cares about. These two certainly butt heads because of their past.

Hailey and Wes’s friendship was exactly what the needed and I didn’t even mind that it seemed to drag on forever (even though it was obvious to the readers that they obviously wanted more). If you like friends to lovers as a trope then you will DEFINITELY like this one. Also has a grumpy-sunshine vibe as well.

I didn’t realize this was a part of a series before reading but I definitely think it could be read as a stand alone as well! But i loved this so much and i enjoyed the side characters that I’ll definitely consider reading the other two of the series!

Thank you Netgalley, Sophie Sullivan, and St. Martin’s Press for letting me read this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

A cute friends to lovers story. I liked how their relationship progressed throughout the story and culminated with a happy ending.

loved this book so much!! As many of you know Ten Rules for Faking It (the first in this series) is one of my fave books ever and this new installment in the series totally gives me the same vibes!! I love the references to Chris and Everly!!!

This is the perfect friends to lovers romance. Hailey is a super driven business owner who has her own things going and doesn’t need a new relationship right now. In comes Wes who befriends her through her work and helps her with the marketing side of her business. Wes doesn’t think relationships or commitment is for him and tries his best to keep his friendship with Hailey purely platonic but the attraction grows.

These two have great chemistry and it’s fun to see all three brothers interact throughout this book which we didn’t see as much in the first two books.

As always I adore Sophie Sullivan’s writing style and can whole heartedly recommend this book to you!!

I really liked the salad shop setting! It was fun to watch Hailey grow her business and tackle problems head on. I really liked her as a main character and thought it was inspiring how she stood up for herself in many situations.

Wes on the other hand was a giant, walking red flag to me. Some of his actions and the things he would say to Hailey were pretty unredeemable for me. The way he would use his money to try to save Hailey/buy her love really rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall, I didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between Hailey and Wes. The miscommunication trope was also pretty hard for me to get past.

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

I loved reading every page of this book. The characters were all just the best and this was such a cute story. Wes and his brothers showing they can do great things without their father and also Hailey putting herself together one salad at a time. The whole book just made me happy the whole time I read it.

I haven’t read the other books in the series but I don’t think that’s a problem. I like a friends to lover romance, but sometimes the slow burn was a little too slow for me.

I thought this was a really cute book. The romance is slow burn which I don’t mind and I really loved that these two were friends first before taking it to the next level. Their shopping dates and the ease in which they were comfortable with each other felt very real. I loved the salad shop and the fact that Hailey wanted to make it successful on her own. I related to her crappy previous relationships and the damage it did to her self confidence.

A few things didn’t work for me however.
1. It felt like some of the plot points weren’t fully fleshed out. For example, we hear about Wes’ father suing him and his brothers and looking for ways to ruin their business and then that doesn’t ever seem to get resolved. It could almost be left out of the story- or just kept it at they were estranged.
2. The way that Hailey absolutely refused to ask for help and got incredibly upset anytime it was even suggested. Just seemed over the top even for with her background and caused a lot of drama that could I felt was unnecessary.

Overall I liked a lot about this book. I enjoyed it more than the second book. But some parts felt clunky and unfinished and for those reasons I rated it 3 stars.

I enjoyed this read, even though it took me quite some time to get through it. I love Hailey and her salad shop. She is so kind and caring, the type of person everybody wants as a friend. Wes definitely evolves over the course of the book. He is definitely skittish at times and doesn't always seem to know what he actually wants vs what he thinks he wants. Wes is very stubborn, which made me a bit frustrated with him at times since I truly just wanted him and Hailey to realize and act on their feelings with each other. This book is definitely a slow burn! There is a lot of work building up their friendship, in fact the majority of the book they are just friends. I just wish I got to see them interact as a couple more and watch their relationship develop further. I also have some questions about the characters' journey after the conclusion of the book, especially pertaining to Wes and his job. Overall, I think this is a good book if you have the patience to wait it out and watch Hailey and Wes's friendship develop and grow.

This book is definitely for thr hopeless romantics. A slow burn read but worth it.!I didn't realize that this book was part of a series but it was never lost. An adorable, funny romance read.

3rd book in the series features big brother, Wes!

Wes and Hailey are just friends, right?

If you love a slow burn romance that starts out as friends, you're going to enjoy this book. I would suggest reading the 1st two books as well, but they can totally be read as standalones!

This was such an enjoyable and fun book about two very focused business people, one of whom is trying to start her business and the other trying to continue to grow his business.

I loved that this book had a slow burn and focused on their supportive friends and family. This is part of a series, which I didn't realize at first, but I honestly didn't feel like I was missing any backstory, which is always good when starting mid-series.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC at my request. I definitely recommend this book!

The Jansen brothers are back! This is book three in a series of connected stand alones. It can definitely be read on its own but there are quite a few mentions to the couples and stories in the previous two that definitely add to the experience if you read them in order.
I’ve been curious about Wes’ character since the beginning and I honestly really liked him. I think his struggles from trying to protect his younger brothers was realistic. Wes wasn’t a perfect character but he was sweet when he tried to impress Hailey. (The video game!!)
I didn’t love their misunderstanding of a meet cute. Hailey was so stubborn with doing things on her own and I just wanted her to see that her friends and Wes just cared about her and want to help. The big conflict irritated me. They were doing so much better with communication and then Wes freaked out and it was so frustrating because everyone can see how he actually feels. He had a pretty good groveling/apology scene though. I love that he took notes from the hero’s in her romcom movies.

The Jansen brothers are hilarious. I love them. Noah might still be my favorite though.
I love all the parts about the brothers and the community center. 🥹

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a slow burn in the friends to lovers world. Readers of the other Jansen brothers books won’t be disappointed. Wes is a serious guy with little social life outside of his brothers. Haley is a bubbly new business owner who is starting over. The two have a hilarious meet cute and become good friends and begin intertwining their interests, friends and businesses.

This third and final book in the Jansen Brothers series is a great way to close it out. We get to see a lot of Everly, Chris, Grace, and Noah. Wes is all business and careful planning with his emotions tucked neatly away. Hailey is focused on getting her restaurant up and running after being burned in her last relationship, all she's looking for is a few customers and a friend. Enter Wes. The first 70 percent of the book we get to watch the friendship build and some jealousy appear. There are cute friend dates, a mean girl, and some inconvenient feelings. All of the action happens in the last 30 percent, in my opinion, it felt like a bit much in too short of a time. Overall it is a cute read, if you enjoyed the first two you'll enjoy this one.

Incredible swoony, cute, and funny friends to lovers book. This is for my slow burn lovers, but so worth it.

Sophie Sullivan truly knows how to capture the friends to lovers aspect and I would 100% re-read this book!

I knew from the moment these two met, they would have to get together somehow. That it was mistaken identity was just ironic.

As Wes finds ways to apologize and not fix all Hailey's problems the two of them become friends. Both of them need that closeness without the confines of a relationship.

Life of course throws in a few twists and almost unsurmountable problems. However, strength and persistence will win the day.

Love on the other hand, well that will take some soul searching on both their parts.

I now have to go back and read the first two books of this series. I want the back stories on Wes's siblings.

3.5 stars. On the whole, this was an enjoyable closed-door rom-com. I liked meeting Wes' family, seeing Hailey reclaim her life and succeed, and the community of friends they built. It's nice to read about thoughtful, well-intentioned people growing and finding happiness. That said, the story did tend to go on a bit. Wes and Hailey's meet-cute was endearing, but their issues were laid out early and then the plot seemed to tread over and over the same ground. Their third-act conflict didn't really work for me--after dealing successfully and satisfyingly with the foreseeable but logical problem that was brewing between them, there was an additional last-minute implosion on Wes' part that didn't really ring true, both in how it came out and how it was resolved. I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking this up if it appeals to them, but these things kept it from being as good as it could have been.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Do you enjoy a really good salad, especially if you don’t have to do all the chopping to make it?
I definitely love salad, and I find chopping all the toppings (because the more toppings the better) to be so tedious. Even though the end result is worth it, there is too much effort involved for me to make them often myself. When I started reading this book, where the main character owns a small salad shop, I had the BIGGEST craving to eat a delicious salad! Luckily, I stopped at Hand Cut and enjoyed a fantastic steak salad which satisfied my craving so I could continue reading without the distraction of hunger.
Hailey has just opened By the Cup, a salad shop, and is working to get it off the ground, after a bad breakup. She wants nothing more than to focus on the shop without distractions, especially not the distraction of a boyfriend. She befriends Wes (after a funny meet cute) who is anti-relationship but wants to use his business knowledge and connections to help her shop succeed. They make a pact to be just friends and continue spending time together. I wasn’t convinced by their insta-friendship but I did think it was sweet to see how that developed into more. Though it was definitely a slow burn, I was rooting for the pair to succeed! This is a clean, closed door romance, and it’s the third book in the Jansen Brothers series. I think you could go into this one without having read the others - in fact I just realized I never read the first one!
A Guide to Being Just Friends published this past Tuesday (1/17), so it’s available everywhere now. Thank you to St Martin's Press and St Martin's Griffin for the ARC via NetGalley - all opinions are my own.

Grab a salad and a comfy seat because this is a great read! So glad I started off my year with this one.