I'm going to start out by saying that I didn't realize this was the third book in a series when I requested this, so I read the first two books before reading this and I'm so glad I did because then I could fall in love with all three Jansen brothers. I really like how the characters from the previous books are regular characters in the book and not just making an appearance.
Wes and Hailey embark on this journey of friendship all the while ignoring their romantic feelings because of their past emotional issues. Wes is absolutely dreamy and loves to take care of the people in his life. Hailey is so relatable and I love watching both of their character growth.

*Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review! *

A Guide To Being Just Friends

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This romcom comes out next January, and you’ll have to put it on your list to check out! Wes and Hailey alternate chapters as they start out with a solid friendship. Friends to lovers is not my favorite trope, but I enjoyed this.

I really liked Hailey’s character. She had a unique business and I loved watching her growth. The finale fight in this was a bit predictable and dropped the rating down a bit but still an entertaining book.

I enjoyed this book so much. Wes is guarded and a workaholic and the eldest of the Jansen brothers who doesn't see it coming!
Recommend.

Hailey is a new small business owner who is new in town. Wes is the wealthy tech guru/ investor who mistakes her for someone else, for a meet very un-cute. From a salty meeting to friends to lovers. I read this in one day. While it is third in a series and I haven't read the first two, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the world of the other characters. It took me a bit to catch the names of Wes' brothers matched with their partners, but I got into it. Hailey's business is fun - salads to go, all served in a cup for easy transport. Their friendship is fun and funny but the burn is sloooooooow. Like 2/3 of the way through slow. I appreciated the backstory building of why both Hailey and Wes are opposed to being anything more than friends, but once they did get together, I was a little confused by the progression and regression. I honestly thought based on how Wes acted (and the words he said) that his outlook had changed - until it came to a halt and he clammed up. I also wish that at least some of the *things* that happen off the page leading to the third act conflicts would have happened on page. It seemed to skip forward and I had to fill in the blanks.

Overall, an enjoyable read with a fun group of characters. I'd recommend to readers who enjoy romance, slow burns, friends to lovers, rom coms (movies as well as books), and spice off page (if this was a movie it would be PG).

This book was very cute. It gave me Harry Met Sally vibes, which the book even alludes to. I would say that this is truly a friends to lovers. Because the friendship starts and develops through more than half of the book. And only then do they become more. Some friends to lovers books really skip over the friends part. If you like closed door, fade to black, romances this is the one for you.

✨Book Review - A Guide to Just Being Friends by Sophie Sullivan✨

Hailey Sharp owns a salad shop, is getting over a bad breakup and just wants to focus on her business and living for herself. Wes Jansen doesn’t do love. The two meet and strike up a friendship, what could possibly go wrong?

This was a cute little rom-com book. My issue is that there were a lot of characters brought into this that I just didn’t know. Since this was a 3rd in a series, I feel like I would have connected better had I read the other two first. But, I didn’t. There’s also a lot of salad talk and while I typically go for food driven stories, I would have liked less of that. Otherwise, it was a fast and easy read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was super cute and I loved the storyline of it. Hailey is the owner of a really cute business that sells cups of salad which I honestly think is a great idea- why isn’t there one of those in real life?! When it doesn’t look very promising for her business, she pushes onward and upward. Her initial meeting with Wes creates a good tension between them that can be shaped into something good eventually. In fact, because of the awful scenario, they’re friends and Wes is disbelieving of love so he doesn’t want it to become anything more.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a book about people who realize that being independent and loving yourself and coexist with a supportive, romantic relationship as long as both parties love each other :)

The reason I didn’t give it more than 3 stars is I lost a little bit of interest about 2/3 of the way through.

THIS IS IT. The slow burn romance has a chokehold on me.

Not my first book by this author, but can I just say that I enjoyed this more. I was satisfied with everything.

So, didn’t realize this is a 3rd book in a series, and I think I probably would have understood some of the main characters more if I had read the other books first but:
SPOILERS
I wasn’t a fan of Hailey. I don’t like wealthy people was her entirely her personality. I mean, me either, eat the rich but wait
Her new BFF is a handsome rich man.
Whatever can go wrong here
Oh you guessed it, he tried to buy her something.
Also, this has 0 sex in it. 0, none, they maybe imply it so…safe for 6 year olds to read

Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book, provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! Friends-to-lovers is my favorite because it's "our" story - meaning mine and my husband's. We were friends for longer than Wes and Hailey, but we were determined to be friends, even trying to set each other up with other people! The heat and chemistry was there for Wes and Hailey from the beginning, and I'm kind of glad the sexy times were closed door. This book was very story-driven, and it didn't need sex scenes to add to the sexual tension.

The characters actually talked to each other, and their friends, and they didn't just fall all over each other, which I really liked. It wasn't just about them or how one or the other would inevitably screw up their relationship. There were multiple relationships floating around. I'm really big on series like this.

I especially enjoyed the cast of side characters, and how they were all like a big family. I've already put then first two books in this series on my wishlist so I can read them too!

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a super cute read following Hannah and Wes. I loved the portrayal of Hannah as a business owner and learning about her salad shop. This book is a sloooooowww burn. If slow burns aren't your thing, you may find yourself losing interest. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and getting to know all of the awesome characters.

this book was cute! I enjoyed watching the relationship grow between Hailey and Wes throughout the book. I also enjoyed some of the side characters as well. I do feel like there was a tad bit too much filler and information at times.

The storyline was good, I firstly think I would feel differently about this book had I read the others in the series. I love a little spicy in romance books and this didn’t have that. It was an easy read tho, but I felt a disconnect in some parts. Overall, I liked Hailey’s story.

Sophie Sullivan has written a love letter to friends, to entrepreneurs, and to found families! A Guide to Being Just Friends is a joyful, swoony romance full of heart and humor! An absolute delight to read!

Sullivan finishes her Jansen Brothers trilogy (after Ten Rules for Faking It and How to Love Your Neighbor) with a friends-to-lovers romance featuring eldest Wes and salad shop owner Hailey, whose awkward meet-cute morphs into a tentative friendship when their paths keep crossing. The titular guide is a pact between the two to emphasize their single status—Wes has sworn off romance after his parent's disastrous divorce and Hailey is fresh out of an emotionally unfilling relationship—until both develop feelings and debate whether to potentially compromise their friendship. While Sullivan skips the theatrics when pushing her leads apart, her writing was missing that quintessential spark connoisseurs of romance may crave.

VERDICT: A cozy contemporary romance wrapping up an otherwise average trilogy. Recommended for libraries with an extensive romance collection or those already invested in the series.

For stand-alone romances in the same universe, I really felt like I was missing a lot with not having read the others. There were so many characters and I quickly lost track of who everyone was. I appreciated the friends to lovers storyline but I think the tension was lacking and that they should have spent more time together before becoming BFFs. I also felt that the storyline with Hailey's ex was too brief. I expected a bigger conflict around that. I did enjoy how there were several more minor conflicts rather than one huge one. I think that's a more realistic depiction of real life.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.

I rate this book a 3.5/5. I enjoyed this book, but I do wish I realized that this was the third book in series. It can be read stand alone, but I felt like there were a lot of characters that I was missing out on the context. I did like a lot of aspects of this book though! I loved the meet “cute” between the two main characters and I enjoyed seeing the development of their friendship into a romantic relationship. This was definitely one of the more realistic romances I have read in the while which was good. I enjoyed reading about the two different businesses, especially Haley’s salad business -just the cutest thing! I would definitely read the first two books of this series!

Overall I loved this book. A little slow in parts but it did keep me interested. The writing is top notch.

* MILD SPOILERS* A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan was so fun! The pacing in the first 95% of the book was great. The tension built slowly and the task of being "just friends" became increasingly difficult for Wes and Haley. The packing in the ending was rushed. Wes brings up topics that are essential for couples to talk about ( wanting to get married, kids, etc.) and they get brushed to the side and do not get addressed as they should be. I just wish that these fears of Wes and Haley's were addressed properly and not brushed to the side. Altogether I enjoyed this book, I related to the MC (main character) Haley. My biggest issue was the pacing. I did not realize when I received this arc that there are two other books that predate it that follow Wes's brothers love story. Although the book read nicely without me having read them in my opinion!

* This ARC was sent to me by netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to pick up the characters despite not having read the first two books in the series about the other two bothers.

In my opinion the start of the relationship between Wes and Hailey progressed too quickly in the first three interactions. I would have loved to see more interactions between the two of them before they became "friends"

Overall I thought this was a really cute story.

Thank you to NetGalley for ARC in return for an honest review. Looking forward to reading more from Sophie Sullivan!