This was an enjoyable read with a talented author at the helm. While I appreciated the narrative and found the writing engaging, the book didn't quite stand out from similar works in the genre. Sophie Sullivan is super talented, I just think my mindset wasn't right when reading this one.

Somehow I missed that this was a part of a series. If I read the previous books and read this one, I will come back and update my review but for now it’s a DNF for me.

This book had the potential of being an easy read and it turned out to be the equivalent of nails on chalkboard with all the stereotypical LA life that you can think of.

I think Sophie Sullivan always writes excellent contemporary romance, and this new book was no different! Great characters, and a good romance. I would definitely recommend!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Awww sweet. Light. Easy. There wasn’t much depth, but it was a cute friends to lovers read. The plot felt a little all over, but I couldn’t help but cheer Hailey on! ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

This is definitely my favorite of the Jansen Brothers series! I love Hailey and Wes and getting to see their friendship and love grow was so sweet.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for my digital ARC!

***ARC provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan follows two people as they try to recover from past hurts, pursue their own goals, and stay far away from the prospect of any kind of relationship.
The story uses dual perspective to help give the characters and setting more depth, leading to a more empathetic view into Wes and Hailey’s perspectives on everything from work to friendship and love.
The first quarter of the book is a bit of a slog, with a lot of the world building and context being set as we get allusions to what caused these kinds of hang ups Wes and Hailey show readers throughout the story.
You can’t help but feel for Hailey as she begins building back her life together in the face of a break up with a man that is essentially a trash can personified. One aspect of her inner life that we get to see that really throws me off is what we learn about her parents and their feelings towards her and her accomplishments.
It’s that insight that makes her relationship with her cousin and family that makes it that much more cherished. I enjoy seeing more of the integration of both Hailey and West into each other’s lives, melding into their respective social circles.
It helps build out the world a bit more and the fact that we get to see each of them interacting with more than just each other makes it feel a bit more grounded.
Wes, Chris, and Noah’s ideas are the antithesis of their father as a businessman. But it does feel a tiny bit white savior-y with the “save the community center” vibes about a third of the way through the book as well.
Wes’ commitment to keeping Hailey as just a friend because he’s determined to keep her in his life as long as possible and shooting down the possibility of more is sad. There’s something about his own hang-ups with romantic relationships because of his father that feels a little heavy-handed and doesn’t really help make his motivation to keep her as a friend that much more sensible.
The landlord mystery hanging over the first third of the book or so loses steam as it becomes clear that the landlord is the one person the reader would expect considering what we learn about all the characters, specifically Wes.
Despite the fun aspects throughout and the comical, somewhat well-rounded side characters filling out Wes and Hailey’s worlds, the constant parroting of the obstacle keeping them apart and the lack of chemistry in some of the more pivotal romantic moments, there is just something missing to make it a story that will stick with you for long.

This h fortunately was just okay to me. The characters were a little hard to feel involved with their lives and connected in a way to want to read and be invested in the story.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately between the characters and some of the plot it just wasn’t for me.

Hailey Sharp, owner of an up-and-coming salad shop, wants to leave men in the past to better her business. Wes Jansen will do anything to avoid relationships due to his parents’ rough past. After their not-so-meet cute, Hailey and Was slowly grow as friends and have to decide if they will remain just that or go against everything they wanted to commit to love.

I personally didn’t read the first few books in the series and was still able to follow along. These can definitely be treated as stand alones but you will get more out of the character dynamics if you read them in order. Despite that, I really enjoyed Hailey’s character. It was refreshing to see a character that was quirky but not totally spaced out of reality. She had her life together and genuinely loved her business.

Wes on the other hand made me angry. He clearly led her on even though he knew he didn’t want things to go further, and he has big commitment issues that made me not root for him or them getting together. By the end, I didn’t believe any feelings between them and weirdly preferred them as just friends. Because of that I give it a 2.5/5 stars but will round it up to 3 stars.

I personally do not enjoy closed door romances but in this case, it worked well for their dynamic. It would have fully taken me out of the story.

Overall, the writing is so well done, I just didn’t personally like Wes. I would still recommend this book to people who enjoy closed door romances with a tight knit family dynamic and lovable fmc.

This is the third book in the Jansen Brothers trilogy and each story is about a different brother. I have not read the first one, but will be reading or listening to it soon. This is Wes and Hailey's story. Hailey runs Get By the Cup salad shop, and is struggling to get her business off the ground. Wes Jansen is still dealing with the pain from his parent's divorce and is estranged from his father. He has no plas to ever get married, but is dipping his toes into the dating scene. Hailey and Wes meet at a local coffee shop, but it is a case of mistaken identity and Wes is rather rude to Hailey. Not thinking about ever meeting him again, Hailey is shocked when she delivers salads to his family business and they run into each other. Wes feels terrible about what happened and tries to apologize to Hailey. They get over it and become friends. Of course this is a romance and a friends to lovers story is one of my favourite tropes.

Sophie Sullivan does a great job developing her characters. Wes and Hailey are great characters and their personalities really complement each other. They start as friends and their relationship builds slowly over time, it was not instalove. To see the chemistry emerge made them even more likeable. The secondary characters, both Hailey's friends and Wes' family add much to the story. I enjoyed the slow burn romance as well as the humor that came as they got to know one another. Of course there is some angst along the way, but it is quickly resolved. I enjoyed this well written story with great characters, and interesting plot (love the idea of a salad cafe). I recommend this A Guide to Just Being Friends to those who enjoy a fun slow burn romance and if you haven't read Ten Rules for Faking It and How to Love Your Neighbor, I suggest you add those to your TBR shelf as well.

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan is a romcom about a salad store owner Hailey and a tech genius Wes. Who make a pact to remain friends because they’re tired of romantic relationships. Hailey’s just getting out of a relationship with a guide that talks so condescending to her, and as the eldest in his family, Wes witnessed his parent’s less than amicable divorce.
I think the biggest issue for me is the miscommunication trope. It has a purpose. But the main characters will tell everyone else before one another. I know it doesn’t make for a good story, but I really wanted them to just be honest with one another. The some of the drama is completely avoidable in the story.
When I first chose this book, I didn’t realize it was part of a series 😵‍💫 however it can totally be read as a standalone. I didn’t feel like I missed out, but the characters needed a bit more fleshing out. (Note to self: Read books 1 & 2)

Things I enjoyed:
Slow burn
Friends to lovers
Third person POV (sneaks up)

A Guide to Being Just Friends is your very typical friends-to-lovers romance trope. Think, "Okay, but you can't fall in love with me." Hailey is new to town and has opened a salad shop called "By the Cup". All of her time and energy is put towards getting this business off the ground and doing great things. Having an unexpected meet cute with Wes is not in her plan. So, after it ended up being a disaster, when Wes comes to apologize, Hailey makes it clear that it's not a big deal because she only wants to be friends anyway. That's it. Just. Friends. Wes agrees because after watching his parents get divorced he knows that falling in love isn't worth it anyway.

Sounds familiar right? But that doesn't mean this book is not worth reading. We go into reading these tropes BECAUSE we know how it's going to go. That's why I love romance. This book was a very well written romance and I'm interested in reading the other 2 books in the series (I believe they're about Wes' brothers?) Definitely worth the read!

Wes and Hailey are brand new friends that are determined to stay just that…just friends. They even go so far as to work together to create a Guide to Being Just Friends.

I had a ton of fun reading this book, and it reminded me of classic rom coms like When Harry Met Sally as they navigated wanting to break all of their own rules the more and more they fell in love.

This book was written for you if:
You like a dual POV so you know exactly who is falling and when
You like when two characters with insane chemistry spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince themselves that they aren’t soulmates
Or 3) If you are looking for a spice free fade-to-black love story that still has all the tension of your favorite romantic comedy

This book was just okay for me. I loved Noah and Grace’s story line but Wes and Hailey fell a bit short for me.

I loved knowing that Hailey felt independent enough and I know this is a book but I got really annoyed every time Wes would show her an act of love and she would immediately shut him down. I also understand not wanting someone to gift you things, but man oh man it irritated me lol.

I’m thankful for this eARC from Netgalley.

Thank you netgalley for sending me a copy of this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book a d I would recommend this to my friends. Funny light read and a page turner.

This is a sweet romance, a friends to lovers! I enjoyed the characters. The story is just a bit predictable and expected.

This was cute! I think the writing was a bit juvenile at times, but overall this was super sweet! I love Hailey and relate to her in a lot of ways!

This is the third book in the Jansen Brothers series. I really enjoyed reading Wes and Hailey’s story. I will say friends to lovers is not my favorite trope but this one didn’t feel like friends to lovers to me.

I really loved the characters and the friendships throughout. I always love when we get little updates on the past characters.

I only have one complaint.
I didn’t feel like there was any real conflict and the miscommunication in this drove me crazy. It’s literally the worst trope 😅

Overall A Guide to Being Just Friends was super fun and enjoyable.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!

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This was a different character combo than other books. She owns a salad store, and he is a millionaire. Such an odd combo. It was a cute story, and I did enjoy the characters and their relationship.

Our leading lady opens a business that is doomed to fail because she has no idea what she’s doing, but meets a group, including our romantic interest, that continue to help her until she starts to figure it out. The relationship in this book felt extremely stagnant, it didn’t really build up to anything and I don’t think the book have been any different if they had just remained as friends the entire time. The story was okay, but I wouldn’t consider this to be a romance so much as two awkward people figuring out how to make friends.