Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

I wish I had read the previous two books in this series before diving into A Guide to Being Just Friends. I love friends to lovers and this was well written, but something felt missing. I can't be certain, but I think reading this series in sequence may have changed that.

Wes and Hailey's slow burn was fun. The setting was fun. I love a FMC that is also an entrepreneur.

Overall, I enjoyed this read, but I think knowing more about other character's back stories may have sucked me into this world more successfully!

This book delivers on a solid friends-to-lovers story, but I felt it was missing something special. While I liked both characters, I didn't feel very connected to either of them. This is an easy read to pass the time though!

This one was cute! I loved Hailey's character. I think my mistake was not reading the first two books.

This book was cute. A very easy read with a very predictable story line. If you’re looking for a fluffy romance, this would be a good choice.

💭Thoughts:
This is the third book in the Jansen Brothers series. I haven’t read the first two yet, though it probably would have been helpful to know some of the backstory. It can be read as a stand alone.

The story started out with promise. I enjoyed Hailey and her cute salad shop. She’s got a lot of baggage, but she was working through it throughout the story. Wes on the other hand was terrible. His internal dialogue was cringy and some of his actions were off putting. I just couldn’t see them as more than friends. The relationship was slow, but it never felt like their chemistry or compatibility was real. There really was very little romance in this book. I wanted more from them, wanted more of a reason to root for them. In the end I was more interested in Wes’s brothers than I was in him.

Overall, it’s an okay book if you like slow burn and closed door romances.

What a cute book! I love the When Harry Met Sally vibes (and all of the references the characters make to that movie), and the book overall was great.

Small town vibes, business women, just friends, cute. I loved Hailey and Wes's friendship so much.

The only thing I wasn't a fan of was how Hailey was so "independent" that it was like her whole personality that she didn't accept help from anyone. Some of it was explained from her past relationships, etc. But it felt like it was her "line" for every situation for the first half of the book. I honestly wanted to skim several parts while she thought that xyz offering her help was just them thinking that she had failed at her business. It's a great storyline to have them trading favors, but her reasoning/thoughts just being repeated so much made parts a bit boring.

Thankfully the point of any good romantic comedy is personal growth, so I appreciated her character arc a lot. And their relationship was so cute that it made up for a lot of the repetitive situations. Definitely a slow burn, but totally worth it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review.

I love Hailey and Wes’ first meeting - practically the opposite of a meet-cute but such a fun story for later, as I’m sure we can all agree. These two have such a good rapport and despite their rocky start, they click on a fundamental level. The friendship of their dreams… if they can stay just friends. Sophie Sullivan wraps these characters up in warm fuzzies and friendship goodness but this author isn’t fooling anyone; Hailey and Wes are meant to be.

Despite quickly becoming best of friends, these two do have plenty of differences to overcome. Thankfully, as we saw in the other two Jansen brothers book, the Jansen boys know how to apologize (or at least are quick learners), and Hailey is quick to accept chocolate whenever it is offered (relatable).

Honestly just such a cute story of becoming friends and then so much more. While these characters have a lot to work through, they do it with grace, understanding, and open communication.

Overall, this book was ok. I didn’t feel the chemistry, but I did enjoy the friendships the main characters made throughout the story.

Pros:
- Wes was a good romantic interest. He was hardworking, respectful, and had stars in his eyes for Hailey.
- I really liked seeing Hailey gain a community of friends in her new environment.
- Opening a salad shop was a nice twist on the “she’s a baker, he’s an uptight businessman” trope.

Cons:
- Hailey was one dimensional. She wasn’t very interesting, and I didn’t find her adorably quirky, as it seemed the author was trying for. This writing style could really work for a YA audience.
- The dialogue needed work. It felt stiff and very basic.
- Not a lot of meat to the story. This can usually be made up for with great dialogue, but sadly this book didn’t deliver on that front.

I will say I put this down for a month before I picked it back up and I regret that choice. This book was great, just short of amazing and I loved the story line, this may be due to the fact that I love love, especially one that blooms from friendship. This is cute, quirky and the right amount of sad. I’m glad that I read it and you will be too!

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This was a very cute, closed-door romance. Their friendship was wonderful, and the tangle of "should we be more r is it too risky?" felt very believable. The story did drag a little bit, and at times I felt like things were overly long and drawn out, but overall I enjoyed the characters and the story. I also appreciated that even as the third (and final) book in a series, it worked perfectly as a stand-alone.

While I haven't read the first two books featuring the Jansen brothers, and was a bit worried I might need too, I learned that A Guide to Being Just Friends works wonderful on it's own, and I can't wait to go back and meet the other two brothers and learn their stories. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

I loved Hailey's character. I loved how driven she is, how determined and how strong-willed she is. I love a story featuring a strong woman entrepreneur who is out there chasing her dreams. The story is definitely a slow-burn romance and the plot lines felt familiar - SPOILERS! (girl meets boy, becomes friends, discovers romance, has a fight, breaks up, and gets back together) but the overall plot was really good.

Thank you, St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the eARC!

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC of A Guide to Being Just Friends!!

As much as I liked the first book in the Jensen Brothers series, this one also fell pretty flat for me. I loved that Wes and Hailey were best friends first, and I was really excited about seeing that story play out! When the shifts in their relationship happened, it felt a little forced every time. The hang up Wes had about falling in love really translated and I honestly didn’t feel like was as in it as Hailey, IMO, even during his epiphany moment.

The writing style is also a little *over explainy* for my taste, and often states the obvious. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for readers to draw their own conclusions.

thought this was such a cute friends to lovers book. I haven’t read the other books in this series. But I didn’t really need to in order to read this one. I will 100% be going back and reading the other ones. Such a cute romance book.

This book was cute, I just didn't really connect with it the way I hoped I would. Something about the characters felt a bit shallow at times. I also didn't realize that this was the 3rd in a series. This was a cute rom-com but nothing really stood out for me.

This was a very sweet friends-to-lovers slow burn romance. I did really enjoy the side characters always bringing good moments to scenes. I did appreciate the career driven aspect to both of the MCs and found that part relatable. And their first meeting was one of the best I have ever read!! But, oh boy, it was a slow burn! I struggled a bit with Hailey and her understanding of situations. This caused me a little to see the chemistry between the two MCs. Overall 3.5/5 stars! This was my first Sophie Sullivan and will not be my last!!

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of A Guide to Being Just Friends

I read "A Guide to Being Just Friends" by Sophie Sullivan on NetGalley. I have read her previous one in this series and loved it and this one did not disappoint! Hailey and Wes are both fairly new to town and have decided to forego getting into a relationship with anyone. They meet and decide to be just friends. This gives them time to really get to know each other. And their relationship slowly deepens. This was an easy, feel good read.

Cute slow burn, friends to lovers book. Wes and Hailey are fun together. Wes has given up on love for himself. Hailey just got out of a bad relationship with an egotistical actor. The two of them have a not so meet cute that becomes even more apparent when she delivers salads to his business meeting later. I didn’t know it was the 3rd in a series when I read it and that didn’t hurt me reading the book. It can be read as a stand alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-galley of A Guide to Being Just Friends.

Wes has written off love, marriage and kids - he knows he will be just like his father and doesn't care to repeat that experience. Hailey is focused on getting her business off the ground and does not have time for a relationship. So when life throws the two of them together, they decide that friendship is the best route. But can they both resist the pull of something more or will they be destined to be just friends forever?

Hailey just moved to San Verde after splitting up with her movie star ex. We’re okay with that though because he seemed like a super jerk. However, that’s left Hailey pretty turned off of love and relationships. Wes has recently followed his brothers and their investment company to San Verde. He’s also jaded on happily ever afters due to the nasty marriage and divorce of his parents that he took all of the brunt of to protect his brothers. Together, Hailey and Wes confide in their feelings of not wanting to be in relationships or fall in love and decide they’re just going to be best friends. We all know how this ends!

I really liked this book! I will say, I knew going into it that it was the third in a series, but this can totally be read as a stand-alone. I haven’t read either of the previous two, but now I can’t wait to read them.

First off, the (not so) meet-cute at the coffee shop really threw me for a loop because it made me think Wes was going to just be some rando side character, so that was a nice surprise. The flow of the book was interesting because you go month to month and skip a lot of things I wouldn’t think to skip, but in retrospect I think it was a smart choice. I really loved all the characters and felt a connection to them. I’m obviously going to relate to anyone who loves sweets as much as me so that’s a win. I’m a sucker for the friends to lovers and found family tropes, and those are represented well here! There was some laugh out loud dialogue that I really enjoyed, most of which came from Noah (definitely can’t wait to read his story). I could go on and on, but honestly you might as well read the book instead ;)

Special thanks to NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for my honest review!

This story was really cute and very slow burn, which had about 38 to 45% through was a bit of an issue for me. I was hoping that it would move a little bit faster, and that Hailey would show much more interest in Wes. I loved Wes so much. I thought that he was such a kind hearted. Gentleman. Hailey was great too, but at times it seemed as if she was more so focused on her own things. It is written very well in such a way where you love the characters in the book. If you love the trope friends to lovers, then this is the book for you.