I'm going to start this by saying I had no idea this was the third book in the series until this moment as I am writing the review and see (Jansen Brothers, #3) in the title. With that said, this knowledge does not change my review at all. All it changes is that I need to go back and read the first two books haha. I probably would have understood the background of some of the characters better, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything at all.

This was a great slow burn friends to lovers that is adorable! The book starts with a very, very awkward meeting between the main characters, Hailey and Wes. When Hailey sees Wes again, she dreads talking to him, but she does, and somehow, they become friends. Then somewhere along the way, Hailey realizes that she might be developing feelings for him, but, as the title implies, they have to remain just friends.

I greatly enjoyed the dynamic between Wes and Hailey. Their character development (both individually and their relationship) was exception and had me rooting for them the whole time. Plus their witty banter! I also loved that you got to experience both POV's which definitely helped with the character development.

Overall, this was a light and fun read!

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

This is the slowest of slow burn friends to lovers romance stories. It was so slow burn that it made me feel disconnected from the main characters. For the first half of the book I felt almost nothing. It was almost as if our yo MCs didn’t like each other in the “more than friends” way. To do a friends to lovers well and capture the reader, the MCs either gave to be the best of friends while they finish each others sentences and order menu items and instantly take food from each others plates because you know their preferences where the reader can visualize the chemistry or we have to have a sizzling angst filled friendship where each encounter of the MCs leave fireworks.

This story fell flat of that. We got sparks at around 50% and then the relationship felt flat.

This read reminded me too much of reality. Big meets girl. They become friends. They decide to date. They talk about business. The end.

The story didn’t jive with me

This book was good! I really enjoyed getting to know Wes and Hailey, and the way their friends and families were involved in the books. I loved how Wes and Hailey's relationship developed, and how their dynamic continued to evolve as they got to know each other better. I also really liked the side plot with Hailey's business! This book is a solid, light, fluffy, easy read.

A Guide to Just Being Friends by Sophie Sullivan gets 4.5 stars from me! It’s a quick read; cute and clean romance. I love Hailey’s personality and appreciate a main character who knows what she wants and doesn’t let anything stop her. Wes is adorable in the successful (career-wise) but clueless way and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing their relationship play out. I haven’t read the other two books in the Jansen Brothers series but have added them to my TBR list now.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed the first two books of this series (specifically the second one) and this third installment was a fun, quick read. Although I did enjoy the book, I wasn't so impressed with the writing. This felt like more of a debut, with the author telling everything instead of showing the reader what was happening. It was surface level and left me not connecting with the characters. Overall, this was an enjoyable story, but the writing didn't live up to my expectations.

This was a perfectly likeable, friends-to-lovers, closed door romance. Also, the third and final installment of the Jansen Brothers. I’d previously read the second book, so I was familiar with most of the players. Wes and Hailey are the main characters. I always enjoy an independent female lead and grumpy male love interest. What I don’t really love is when the male lead falls into the “I’ll never fall in love, marry or have kids” situation.

I loved the interaction between the brothers and with Hailey and her cousin. The slow burn was good, not a lot of spice here, folks. All in all, it kept me reading and I really enjoyed it. I rated this book 3.5/5 Stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

I tried to get into this book time and time again and I just couldn't. I don't think its an author issue. I honestly think its a me thing. everyone else seemed to love it. but i just couldn't get into it

A Guide to Being Just Friends is great for Romcom fans who like a fade to black type romantic vibe.

Hailey has moved to a new place to rebuild her life after a disaster relationship and meets tech wiz Wes in an awkward exchange. This wasn’t a meetcute experience but an awkward and uncomfortable first impression. I loved it so much.

I adored Wes and the way he cares for and protects the people he’s closest to. I loved how their friendship evolved and how it built up to something more. I’m usually not a friends to lovers fan but this book might have changed my mindset on that.

2.5/5
Hmm. Here is the thing. I love it absolutely when we get both characters' perspectives because I can visualize the story with much more clarity. However, in this case, there was no need for visualization on my part because... everything was simply stated. There was no show and complete tell. This ruined the experience of reading what otherwise was a cute book for me largely.

such a fun read. I instantly fell in love with the main characters. I wasn't sure about Wes at first, but I did end up loving him so much! This was such a great slow burn love story that started out with them firmly as friends and I loved watching it grow and develop.

I absolutely loved this end to the Jansen brothers' story! Wes and Hailey are such incredible, complicated and interesting characters that I loved getting to learn about throughout this story. I really enjoy Sophie Sullivan's writing style and she makes it easy to feel engaged. I also feel like a lot of her writing is mature and her tone matches her story and characters well. I really liked how Hailey is such an independent and strong character. I really enjoyed seeing her relationship with Wes progress, and appreciated how their connection felt so natural and realistic. I also enjoyed seeing how much both of them grew throughout the story individually while also growing together. I love the literal and chosen family that both Wes and Hailey had in this book and the supporting characters definitely made this story so much better. I did find that the book was a bit long and took me a bit longer to get through, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. My favorite part of the book was the part with the black dress. It's such a perfect example of how despite not being a steamy book, this book is so incredibly romantic and wholesome. The ending was also incredibly satisfying and I think people who enjoyed reading the Jansen brothers will be really happy with this book.

This book was cute. As someone who hadn't read any of the other books in the series I was pleasantly surprised by how everything came together. It all fit even though I was starting with the last piece of the puzzle. The book itself was everything I love it a romcom, cute, well-paced, and ultimately makes me want to find true love. It got me our of my current reading slump as I just had to see when being "just friends" would stop being enough for them. I don't even usually like friends-to-lovers style romance, but this one was really, really, cute. It's a book that you can just pick up anywhere and fall into. It was comfortable, fulfilling, and left me happier than when I started it. It's like a nice hot chocolate. It wasn't an all consuming romance but a really quiet and sweet one.

Thanks to NetGalley for sending me the arc of this book.

I’m going to miss these Jansen boys! What a fun series. It’s a closed door romance, but still somehow felt steamy at times. I’m so glad Wes and Hailey got out of their own ways and let go of some baggage to find their HEA.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Hailey is starting over in San Verde. She’s just opened a salad shop and has exactly zero time in her life for a relationship. Though a friendship other than her cousins would be welcome. Enter the eldest Jansen brother, Wes. This no nonsense, type A, coding and cybersecurity genius knows he isn’t built for love. He has no interest in it after how his parents marriage crashed and burned. Following their guide to being just friends, Hailey and Wes have movie nights, go grocery shopping, and make dinners together.

Plot: 3/5
This slow burn, fade to black style romance will have you wanting to yell at the characters. The plot happens over the course of over six months with the months noted to help you follow along. The concept was cute but I found myself frustrated with the practicalities of their situation.

Characters: 2.5/5
Hailey is very emotionally intelligent but with insane trust issues. She’s a funny and enjoyable character. Though she leans a little bit too much on the “I don’t want designer” energy, unlike the potential other women that Wes could be interested in. The whole concept of her opening a salad shop seemed wild to me considering she didn’t seem to have any love for the food at the start. She seems to have zero know-how on running a business to the point where she’s considering taking some marketing courses. But then later it’s mentioned she has a degree in business and marketing? And she’s taken two years of culinary school? This just all didn’t seem to add up.

Wes Jansen is emotionally stunted because of the trauma of being the eldest kid shielding his siblings from a brutal divorce. He takes everything literally and doesn’t beat around the bush. For as smart as he is, he’s kind of an idiot. But I really enjoyed his character.

There’s a wealth of side characters in the book considering there have already been two books worth of characters introduced. Some fell flat but the MCs from the last books still had depth.

Writing: 3/5
Sullivan has a solid writing style for a romance writer. I did find there was a bit of repetitiveness in her phrasings. But she writes in a very bingeable way.

Overall: 2.5/5
I definitely preferred the previous book How to Love Your Neighbor and this one was a bit of a let down in comparison. But there were still several factors I enjoyed, hence the middle rating.

4 stars

*I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. *

Fun story in the friends-to-lovers trope. This is the third book in the Jansen Brothers series, and while I haven’t read the other two (but will seek them out), I really enjoyed the story. It’s a slow burn that I didn’t want to put down.

Great quick read that I would definitely read again.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a fast paced classic rom com. The recipe as follows
Humor, strife, unwillingness to budge out of one’s old way of thinking, more humor, a meet cute, conflict, romance, and banter. Mix together for the perfect HEA! Well written and clever perfect for anyone who wants to curl up with a modern romance!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.

Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.

When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.

What could possibly go wrong?

I really, really wanted to give this a higher rating. This book is definitely a slow burn, possibly the slowest burn I’ve ever read. But it’s a more clean kind of book, so having a huge build up and not really any spice was pretty anticlimactic. Hailey was a character I really liked 70% of the time, but her stubbornness bothered me. As others have stated reading the first two books may benefit before reading this book. I do believe it can be standalone but it’s obvious the side characters have a story of their own that we missed bits and pieces to. Overall it was a cute book. I really liked the side characters, and I liked Wes. I wish is had way less fluff and dug a little deeper.

This is for rom-com lovers that YEARN for the slow burn and love the friends-to-lovers trope. It had all the warm and cozy feelings of your favorite romance movies.
Sophie Sullivan does such a great job at making her characters multidimensional, full-fledged people that you can see yourself in. Some moments felt like I was actually enjoying the holidays and friend gatherings with them.
I love novels like this that go beyond the general plot and touch on important topics. This especially goes for the way the author showed how the characters’ past traumas completely distorted their thinking and impeded their present lives. Everyone can relate to this in some form and it was just great to see the characters learning that they can change their habits and negative thinking.
A major aspect of this novel was community and found family. There was so much love written within the pages that made me want to jump into this cozy world.
This is the 3rd book in the Jansen Brothers series by Sophie Sullivan. I haven’t read the previous ones so you can definitely read this as a stand-alone. Past characters are heavily mentioned through the story so readers of the previous books get updated on their favorite characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

This is a strangers to friends to lovers rom-com that I adored. This book gave me all the good feelings, made me
Laugh and made me tear up. While I did not know this is part of a 3 book series, you can read it as a standalone. I am however, going to go and read the first 2 books. I highly recommend reading this book if you want a feel good rom-com type of book.

This was a really great read. Hailey and Wes had such great chemistry, and I love that they built a really genuine friendship.

I love that this didn’t really rely on miscommunication as that can be so frustrating. I think Hailey was a very relatable heroine, and it was easy to see why she would fall for Wes.

I LOVE Wes. The broody hero is great but a hot awkward nerd? I’m in. He’s a little dumb but we love him anyway.

Overall, it’s a really sweet friends to lovers romance. I love the bits of pining. There’s great banter, and chemistry among all of the characters really. I definitely recommend this one and will have to check out the first two myself.