The story seemed to be alright from what I read of it. As a general rule though, I don’t read books with language in them, so I stopped reading in the first few chapters. The description of the story sounded great, and I was excited to see how the story would progress and how the salad business would survive. Some of the best books revolve around food businesses.

“A Guide to Being Just Friends” by Sophie Sullivan
BFF that’s the goal
I loved this sweet clean contemporary romance-comedy. Two special folks (aren’t we, each and every one of us special folks?!?) with wounded hearts find healing and friendship, and maybe something they were not looking for. Come read this story and get together with some new friends. Happy Reading ! !
NOTE: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I received an ARC copy of this story from the publisher via NetGalley.

“it isn’t because you weren’t enough, hailey. it’s because I'm terrified you could become everything.”
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

READ IF YOU LIKE: friends to lovers, rich mmc, banter, closed door romance

PRELUDE: thanks to netgalley and st martin’s press for the arc of this one - i was so excited to read!

LIKES: wes being so pure and cute and sweet and just a really GOOD guy, hailey’s fierce independence, the dress shopping, the relationship with wes and his brothers, hailey’s business was unique, the community outreach was deep, the friends to lovers bit didn’t seem overdone - it was well balanced between friendship and teetering on more, when they felt something they were usually honest about it and that was different than the normal friends to lovers romance which I REALLY enjoyed.

DISLIKES: hailey’s dynamic with her parents was really weird/sad and i wish it would have been expanded on a bit more because it felt a bit unexplained. as with almost all friends to lovers, there was a miscommunication aspect which is not my favorite. this was also a closed-door romance - heads up for all my fellow smut queens!!

IN CONCLUSION: definitely recommend this one for fans of friends to lovers romance with a splash of workplace talk, a lot of fun moments, and two idiots who don’t realize they’re basically already dating and hide their feelings from each other!!!!

OUT JANUARY 17!

This is the third book in the author’s Jansen Brother series but I read this book as a standalone. I do not feel I missed anything by reading this book first. This is my first book by this Canadian author but it certainly won’t be my last.

I love a story of a strong, independent female protagonist and Hailey Sharp is just that. She’s recently moved to live closer to her cousin after leaving behind an emotionally abusive relationship. She’s fulfilling her dream of opening up her own business – a salad shop she calls “By the Cup”. She’s sold her home to open the business and is desperate to see it succeed.

Wes Jansen runs a business with his two brothers each with their specialty. His brothers are both in loving relationships and would like to see their brother find someone of his own. In a bakery shop to meet someone from his dating app his brothers suggested, he mistakes Hailey for his date. This meet-cute moment shows a side of Wes that Hailey would rather forget.

When the two meet again in Hailey’s shop, things go much better and soon they are good friends. Neither wants to be in a romantic relationship and mutually they agree to “being just friends”. But sometimes the heart speaks louder than our brains. Could the two become something more?

I enjoyed this book. It is funny, engaging and flowed well. The backstories of each of the main characters were well-written and believable. I loved that both Hailey and Wes gave back to their community whenever possible. I also appreciated the wide circle of friends and family supporting this couple.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy romance.

I received a digitial reading copy of this book from the publisher but the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan
Rom Com
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I requested this book on Netgalley because I loved the cover! However I didn’t notice this was book 3 so I didn’t read the first 2. You don’t need to read the first books but I do want to read them now!

This is the story of Hailey Sharp who left LA because of her breakup with her awful Ex. She wanted to start new and opened her own business By the Cup salad shop. She was focused solely on her business and herself and didn’t want any relationships. While in the neighboring bakery Hailey has a disastrous meet cute with Wes. Wes realizes his family has already met Hailey needs to apologize, and they realize they end up making great friends. Can they make it as friends only though?

This was a very cute story of their relationship. I loved the banter between Hailey and Wes and was smiling throughout their conversations together. I also enjoyed all the other characters in their bubble and now need to go back and read book 1 and 2! If you are a rom com fan, like closed door and slow burns this book is for you!

Can this book be any sweeter???!!! I loved Chris and Noah, and I knew I would adore Wes. Gorgeous brothers from NYC, who are amazing well rounded men, have major daddy issues but push through and fall in love with strong AF no nonsense women?!!! I knew this one wouldn’t disappoint.

Hailey is starting over in a new town, she has a cute little salad place, and she’s trying to get her life together after a HUGE breakup, and then some. Then she meets Wes, it was the funniest Meet-cute, and some mistaken identity stuff going on and POW, they became friends. This friends to lovers trope is pretty predictable, but I couldn’t help but love how the oldest of the Jansen brothers kept up with her. It was a slow burn, but the ending was totally worth it.

This is a perfect, heartwarming story about the road to love, and all of it's bumps and detours!
Haylet is a woman who has been burned badly by love. Wes is man who has been burned by life and circumstance.
They meet by chance and decide they're going to be friends, then friends with benefits. Problem is neither wants to fall in love. It works out well until they both start feeling much more than either of them ever expected. The L word panics them both, so what should they do?
This is a story that will be floating around in my head for quite a while
1

I wasn't aware this book was a series but I still feel like you can read this as a stand alone. I really enjoyed Hailey's story. Especially her experience opening a small business. I enjoyed learning about Wes and his brothers. I felt like the chemistry between Hailey and Wes was believable but some of their interactions seemed a bit far fetched or immature. It was hard for me to keep up with the characters through the first 50% of the book. Everyone just seemed so similar. I wish their had been a bit more character development in the brothers and the friends so I could distinguish better and they would be more memorable. Overall this was a cute and entertaining read.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a cute, endearing love story of two people who find the friendship they've graved their whole life. It is truly a Harry met Sally modern take of this famous movie.

This story is told from each friends point-of-view as they skirt their feelings. Wes and Hailey's relationship is truly genuine, and witnessing them slowly fall in love is heartwarming. A Guide to Being Friend is the third in the Jansen Brothers series, and can be read as a stand alone.

I have throughly enjoyed reading all the novels in this series. Road trip to Get by the Cup salad shop!

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy of this romance novel.

4.25 stars

It’s not often that I complete a series, and this is the only series I’ve read pre-publication for each book. I loved Ten Rules for Faking It a couple years ago and now Sophie Sullivan has completed the series based on the Jansen brothers. My favorite type of series are those that can be read as stand-alones and bring in characters from prior books, not those that build on each other and must be read in order.

Read if you like:
Closed door romance
Slow burn romance
Friends-to-lovers
Dual POVs
A love interest who loves a good spreadsheet

Thank you St Martin’s Griffin for an ARC through NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an ALC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saint Martin's Press for allowing me to read the third, and final, Jansen Brothers novel.

I did not know that A Guide to Being Just Friends was the third novel in the trilogy. With that being said, the book still made sense without the knowledge of the first two books– but I think I would have appreciated this book more if I did read the first two before this one.

This book was “just okay” for me. It had a lot of potential with Hailey as a protagonist; Hailey is a salad shop owner that isn’t afraid of her sweet tooth. She loves romance novels and rom com movies. She’s an overall lighthearted character that has some growing to do but is lovable to most readers. Wes is the oldest of the Jansen brothers and the last to find love.

This novel had some really sweet moments that had me grinning, but overall the plot lacked depth; I found myself struggling to stay interested in the plot after the first 25% of the story.

Not only did the plot lack depth, the characters were very immature for their age. I felt like I was reading a high school love story when I was actually reading an adult love story. The repeated miscommunication between the two characters got old really fast; I wanted to shake them and tell them to get over themselves already! But not in a good slow burn romance kind of way… I felt like this book was actually too long and I found myself longing to get to the part where they had their happily ever after.

There were things I liked about this book though, and if you are someone that enjoys the friends to lovers/slow burn trope, you may love it! I love reading about a found family of characters that really love each other and have each other’s backs– that was very evident in this book. The minor characters were a great addition to the plot and I enjoyed reading about all of them. There was a lot that happened in this book that could have been expanded on to make the story even more interesting and would have added a lot of depth and character growth, but unfortunately I just read about Wes and Hailey’s miscommunication and fear of falling in love. By the time the friends became lovers, it felt inorganic and quickly thrown together. I felt jipped by the ending because, while my heart was happy, my head wasn’t convinced that they had grown enough as individuals to last as a couple long term.

I do love a sweet romance book! This was a nice experience and I enjoyed how it pulled together the couples from the other books in this companion series. Wes was extra annoying during the third act break up (to be fair Hailey was also pretty annoying at this point), but in general their banter was really good. I feel like the relationship developed in a realistic way and was rooting for them to both stop being dummies and get together already!

3.5 stars rounded up

Hailey Sharp is an independent and smart woman out to prove herself. As a new resident to San Verde her main focus is to make By The Cup, her new salad business as successful as possible. Wanting a fresh start and to escape her past life in LA, the last thing on Hailey’s mind is romance.

"Squishy Cat Industries – 3 Brothers, One Goal : Creating A Better World, One Business At A Time." Wes Jansen loves his 2 brothers Chris and Noah with a fierce passion and will do anything to ensure the success of him and his brothers business ventures. Growing up as their protector Wes always tried his best to shoulder a lot of the issues that their father caused the family. Seeing first hand how being in a love never caused anything but pain, Wes does not believe in love. After leaving New York to join Chris and Noah in their new lives in San Verde, the 2 main focuses in his life are Squishy Cat Industries and his brothers.



I truly adored this book! This is the 3rd story in the Jansen brother’s series and I have read the previous 2. While this can be read as a stand-alone book, I think you appreciate the dynamics of all the characters better having known the history. This is a slow burn romance with a friends to lovers trope. I enjoyed the growth of Hailey and Wes friendship (after a very awkward first encounter or some might say meet cute). All the grocery store trips, video game and movie watching nights allowed that growth to seem natural despite both character's hesitation in opening up to new people. Sophie Sullivan does a truly incredible job writing multidimensional characters. This gave me all the warm fuzzies feeling and a very nice wrap up to this series!





Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet cute and fun rom com. Love a good friends to lovers story and this one hits the mark. Thank you SMP for the ARC,

Hailey and Wes took me on a great friends to lovers journey. Both of them have made choices to start over and break away from situations that didn’t make them happy. For Wes, he moved to California to work with his brothers and stop working with his father. He is a fixer and always wants to take care of those he knows and loves. Hailey got out of a bad relationship and is boldly starting a business. I love her determination and drive to make what she is doing a success on her own terms. Neither of them are looking for a relationship but what they did find is a friend and confidant that they both needed. Of course, Wes tends to want to over help Hailey which causes some issues along the way. But Hailey also has to learn that accepting help doesn’t mean she is a failure. I enjoyed how this relationship built over time and that the connection they felt from the start was always there, it just took them time to realize love is worth taking a risk on. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.

I absolutely adored this book! I have never read anything by Sophie Sullivan before, but now I will be adding the first two books to my TBR list. I loved the slow burn love story and the perspective of how becoming friends first is so important in long lasting relationships. Hailey was so lovable and the narrative surrounding her salad shop was so interesting to me. Wes's character was also really easy to love, even when you were screaming at him in the inside. I was rooting for these two throughout the whole book. A Guide to Being Just Friends was a sweet story that I did not want to put down. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially all you rom com fans! A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was so cute! A fun slow burn romance between characters I enjoyed and rooted for! I loved their banter, meet cute, and HEA. Cant wait to read more by this author!

Started off slow and was slow burn but whewwwww it paid off! Wes is swoonnnnnnn omggggg! I loved them as close besties but then when they were finally together wow! But then that breakup yikes it hurt me a lot and pissed me off he was such an idiot. The ending and reconciliation was a bit quick for my taste but really loved this book over all! Their chemistry was coming through the pages and their friendship and build was done really well!

Read or Listen if you like:
❤️ Friends to Lovers
🧮 Uptight Successful Male MC’s
⛅️ Grumpy x Sunshine Trope
💔 Scared of Love MC’s

This one was a cute romance with two MC’s that are afraid to truly be vulnerable and love because they both have histories that lead them to believe staying guarded and keeping the walls high will keep them safe… but while they do this and immediately friend zone each other, it is clear that they have more than friendship feelings for each other… but will they let the ghosts of their pasts keep them from potentially something good that could be their once in a lifetime romance?

You’ll have to read to find out! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC copy of this one!

3.5 / 5 stars if we’re being technical. I love the concept but the chemistry of the two main characters fell flat at times, especially when marketed as When Harry Met Sally meets 500 Days of Summer. I really appreciated Wes and Haley as individual characters and their backstories, but wasn’t overly invested in their romantic relationship for a large portion of the book, especially when both of them seemed generally content as friends for the first 40% or so. Their banter and friendship is cute and enjoyable to read and translates well when they do (spoiler) end up being more than just friends.
Like many other readers didn’t realize this was the third in a series but I think those who have read the previous installments will enjoy seeing the happy endings of previous characters.
Overall, this is a cute, easy to read rom-com with enjoyable side characters that left me wanting a salad, but not fulfilling me urge to re-watch When Harry Met Sally.

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