What an adorable romance. Hailey Sharp has just opened a business, and that’s where her focus is. After a pretty bad breakup, she’s certainly not getting into another relationship any time soon. Wes Jansen has had too many bad Tinder dates and is really not into the whole “love” thing, anyway. When they meet, they hit it off as great friends. Will it turn to something more??

Tropes: Friends-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, a hint of enemies as well
Spice level: Low / Closed door

Really enjoyed reading this one! We heard a lot about both of their businesses, but not so much you felt like you were drowning in it. Storyline was good. Toward the end, some of the declarations were a little OTT, but not in a cringey way. Would recommend if you like the tropes mentioned above and are looking for a fun and fast read.

Also worth noting: this is the third book about the Jansen brothers. It’s a set of interconnected books, but not a series. I realized about 40% of the way through that there were other books, and only because I saw tropes with Wes’ brothers and their SOs. I don’t think missing the first two books affected my reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan for this advanced reading copy. I have provided my honest review and feedback.

The final book in the Jansen series, this follows oldest brother Wes. Wes is a computer/coding whiz who sees the world as black and white. Practical to a fault, he doesn't believe in love or happily ever after after living through his parents messy divorce. He meets Hailey by accident in a cake shop and what starts as a misunderstanding, ends up in a great friendship. The spark is there but both of them have been burned too many times to take the leap.

What happens when friends become lovers? Is friendship enough for them?

Cute book with likeable characters!

What a charming book, and I highly recommend if you are reading this to stop and go to your local bookstore and pick up this book - because it is so perfect for the holidays You will want to snuggle up with this book, it is that adorable - and this would be a great gift for those romantics in your life as well! I believe that It is a truth universally acknowledged that anyone who reads this book will find it absolutely unputdownable! Sophie Sullivan is a new author to me, but I now will read everything she writes, and I will continue to do so. Forever. What a wonderful, fun romance! I think everyone would enjoy the sweetness, funniness, and the charm of this book, while appreciating all the while the simplicity of true love and of this well-plotted love story. Wonderful, captivating writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader. Vivid, descriptive story-telling, with interesting characters that have depth to them, and are skillfully rendered. At the end of the book, they seemed more like friends than book characters to me. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough because I JUST HAD TO KNOW how it ended. I highly recommend this author and I can't wait to own this novel in print.

This is a cute rom com book about two people who have baggage from previous relationships, so they decide to be just friends. It is very obvious what will happen, but it was still a fun read. Disclaimer: I didn’t read the previous Jensen books, but would definitely check them out!

This book is so cringey, I just had to stop reading. I have hardly read any of it but I just can’t continue because of the writing. 

The main character constantly has thoughts that are so cringey and unneeded. And I hate the “love at first sight” trope—just no to that. And the love interest was a jerk to her and then she texts her friend about it and her friend says he’s a jerk and then the main character is like “oh well he probably had reasons” and “he’s probably actually a good guy, maybe I need to get to know him”. And just stuff like that.

Basically, this book was really cringey and I’m not willing to read any more of it. Sorry, not sorry.

I LOVE a good friend to lovers' book. This book gave me everything I could have wanted in more. It is the new standard for romcoms, and I know booktok is going to go crazy for this. I just love love loved it

The third in the Jansen brothers series is an absolute delight! It's like a Hallmark movie in book form.
Wes Jansen is the oldest brother and the one who took the brunt of his father's emotional abuse over the years. He protected his siblings from the aftermath of the difficult divorce between their parents. As a result, he doesn't believe in love. He believes that friendship is more important than passion and common interests is more important than love.
Then he accidentally meets Hailey Sharp. Hailey is sunshine and optimism to Wes's seriousness and analytical mind. Hailey owns a salad shop and it turns out that they have mutual friends. Wes and Hailey develop a friendship of their own that turns into more. But is Wes ready to give up that hard earned control for love?
This is a sunshine/grumpy, friends to lovers, cinnamon roll hero, closed door, romance that is an absolute delight. I was sad to see the series end and I hope to see their sister Ari show up in a future book.

This is a standalone but there is a book that features a different Jansen Brother before this! I wish I had read that first just because I love reading things in order! This book is such a great little rom com that will make you swoon and laugh out loud. Would definitely recommend for anyone cozying up to the fire over at a cabin or heading to the beach and need a great beach read!

This was cute! It’s definitely a bit of a slow burn, but that can be nice with friends to lovers stories so we can really see the connection forming.

i didn't know that this book was part of a series, so i think that might have hindered my reading experience. while i did really enjoy it, it kinda felt like not being part of an inside joke. i will definitely be going back and reading the books prior to this because i really really loved wes and hailey. they were so precious and i am a sucker for friends to lovers. i loved the progression of their friendship and how it felt so natural and organic before it slowly started to shift into something more. i loved it so so much and can't wait to see what sophie sullivan has in store for us next.
thank you so much to netgalley and st martin's press for the arc!

I admit, I was quickly pulled in by the title and the cute cover. Plus, the fact that my youngest son’s name is Sullivan – I was immediately sold on reading this novel.

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan is the third book in the Jansen Brothers series, focusing on the friendship between Wes and Hailey – both of whom have been burned recently in the dating world. However, with both parties having feelings for the other, how long can their “guidebook” to being just friends really last?

Overall, this book had a cute premise and plot line, and I absolutely loved the characters. Maybe Hailey was a tad too independent, and Wes a little too uptight at points, but even the supporting cast was fun and likeable.

But – now for my gripes – I felt like this book was too long and dragged on. It was very slow to get started, and the slow-burn crawl to get to any romance at all was almost painful. It took me over two weeks to read the first 70% of this novel because I just couldn't get interested, which is unheard of for me (the last 30% I read quickly in a day).

While I do understand that the title literally warns us that this is a guidebook to being only friends and not having romance interfere, we all know this typical trope and why did we have to wait so long for anything to happen between them?!? And the romance was very minimum; this could fall under a good YA book honestly (at least my expectations would have been different).

The concept for this novel was great, unfortunately, it just fell flat for me. The ending saved the novel and made it enjoyable, but this was more of a time-filler than an amazing read. Even though this is a series, it can be read as a standalone book easily . . . but I won’t be rushing to read the first two. I give this book 2.5 stars and will round up to a 3 for the rating here.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC; all opinions are my own!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book to review.

This is my first book from Sullivan and it was a cute story. I liked her writing but I didn't love it that's why I'm rating it with three stars. It was a heartwarming romcom.

I tried with this one, I really did. As a girlie who’s is known to never turn up a good friends to lovers romance, i was SO excited to read this book! Unfortunately, I was left super unsatisfied and wanting more. I think i attribute that to not having ever read anything from this author before and not knowing her vibe before going into it. This reads a little bit like a YA to me which I just wasn’t expecting.

I thought both Hailey and Wes were kinds boring and I really didn’t feel a connection to either of these characters. Both their back stories were brushed over in my opinion and left me wishing i understood them on a deeper level. I also didn’t realize this was 3rd in a series when I requested this, so thinking that could have accounted for a little bit of the lack of characterization on Wes’s part.

Overall not a terrible read, just not what I was expecting and that’s okay!!

Another lovely book by Sophie Sullivan. This was a very sweet, almost Hallmark movie-esque romance novel. I loved the two main characters starting off as good friends and how their relationship naturally developed into more. It felt very realistic. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good friends to lovers book (or really loves salad).

Perfection! I love a good friends to lovers story with some sweet romance trickled in. It felt like a more modern/up to date Hallmark movie. Also - can we get a salad cook book with this? There has to be salad recipes in the back of the book because it would be PERFECT pairing for a book club meeting.

The is book three in the Jansen Bother's series and was a good close out to the series. I read book two, but haven't read book 1, and I did ok. It was nice to catch up with Grace and Noah and learn a little more about Everly and Chris as you delved into Hailey and Wes. I enjoyed how focused Hailey is about overcoming her breakup, and the trauma surrounding that relationship, learning to trust and lean on people all while getting her business up and running and a being a success. Wes is the grumpy, singleminded, does not deviate grump, so you know they have an encounter that turns into a friendship neither saw coming. I liked Hailey and Wes and their story felt pretty relatable and made for an easy, comfort type read. If you've read any of the Jansen Brothers series, you need to add A Guide to Being Just Friends to your TBR and pick it up in January 2023.

Super cute story with a great setting. I liked how self-sufficient the main character was, but also how she learned to let others help her when needed.

Overall I really liked this. The ending was not predictable. You thought they’d be happy ire ever after and they weren’t. Yet.

Too many characters. Besides the brothers and cousin and friend, there were so many side characters or mentioned. The book seemed to have some filler chapters that seemed like could’ve been left out.

Overall I did really enjoy it.

This book was so CUTE!! I loved the other Jansen Brother books and was so excited to finally read Wes' story! One of the kind of books I have been loving lately has been series that can be read as stand-alones, but apart of a bigger series that have connections between each other. I adored being able to catch up on the brother's relationships while also getting to know Wes and Hailey. I loved the drive that both of them have, it made me want to be more motivated to do more in my daily life lol! I love Sophie Sullivan's writing, she writes in such a fun good paced way that keeps me entertained. Definitely recommend to someone who loves a cute rom-com!

Cute premise in this one. Loved the idea of the salad shop. Wes and Hailey were really cute together, and I enjoyed that they became friends along the way before realizing they were each others’ one and only.