Made me want a salad and a brownie! It's a cute easy read that's perfect for the beach or a cozy afternoon.

3.5 Stars - I wish we were given this option!

This is the third (and final) book in the Jansen Brothers' series, however it can definitely be read as a standalone (which I did). I really enjoyed Wes and Hailey's story and overall it felt fairly realistic to me. There were moments where I felt the pace was slow and certain things were being dragged out but overall it kept me entertained. The romance was a slow burn with no spice, but it was a cute story with swoony moments. One thing I loved in this slow burn was the foundation that Wes and Hailey built through their friendship. It was adorable and what I'm sure many of us romance readers would love to have. If you enjoy friends to lovers, slow burn, ambitious and independent female main characters, I'd give this story a shot! Be warned, there is a fair amount of miscommunication in here, but doesn't love make us all a little crazy and confused?

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

4 ⭐️- I love Sophie Sullivan’s writing, and I was so excited to get my hands on this ARC! I didn’t realize this was the third in the Jansen brother series, but was so excited once I started reading. Hailey Sharp is new in town with her cute little salad shop, and she meets Wes Jansen in an awkward situation— he thinks she’s the girl he’s been talking to on a dating app, and he thinks she’s trying to stand him up. They leave their not-so meet cute feeling awkward, embarrassed, and sure that they will never see each other again, but of course that’s not the case!!! This book follows Hailey and Wes as they become friends and try (and fail) to not fall in love. This was a cute, easy read, and I loved getting to see how the other Jansen brothers are doing! A big shout out to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced readers copy!

I was so excited for the third and final installment in the Jansen Brothers series and Wes and Hailey’s story did not disappoint. Sullivan had me hooked with Chris and Everly from the first book… so I will admit that I didn’t fall for W&H like I did her other characters. My favorite parts of this book were seeing the worlds interact— I love the side characters and seeing the brothers come together. It was the perfect ending to a fantastic series!

First off, I want to thank Negalley and the St. Martin's Griffin for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I will admit here, I goofed a bit. I had no idea that this book, though it can be read as a stand-alone, was also technically third in a series until I read the acknowledgements. It makes a lot of sense honestly, because I was hoping that the brothers' stories would be fleshed out more in this book...but obviously they have their own books and are fleshed out in there lol. That aside, this was a really fast, enjoyable read with slow-burn romance and dual POV of the two main characters, Hailey and Wes. The book follows Hailey just moved into the area to restart her life after her dumpster-fire of a relationship and opened up a salad eatery/cafe, and Wesley, who is the son of a business tyrant who followed his brothers to CA. I will say I was surprised of the lack of spicy scenes, which I kinda assumed/expected from rom=com. Another thing was they both are stubborn on their hangout

I read this in basically a day because I really liked the tension and storyline for Hailey and Wes. I also loved how the book did include a lot of backstory on both Wes and Hailey and built upon that. One of my biggest pet-peeves is the miscommunication trope in rom-coms and I didn't really see that here, thank god. Or if it was technically miscommunication, the conflict was set-up in a way to be believable and something i could see happening IRL. Also, I adored that they had open communication during the resolutions and genuinely had some changes made because sometimes you read about the conflicts but they're never really resolved (which this didn't have). Also some of the sentences/prose in this book...especially about both of their difficulties in letting other people help them/let them in was spot-on.

Overall, this was a great read and while I goofed and read technically out of order, I will be going back to read about the other brothers!!

This was an enjoyable friends to lovers read, a trope I quite enjoy. Hailey and Wes have a meet cute, but are determined that they have their own lives to focus on. Funny and charming, I did enjoy this read. The characters were likeable and I didn't mind the slow burn of the when-will-they. Although I admit I didn't know it was part of a series and likely would have appreciated it more worth the back stories of other characters. The characters that I did know were loveable and I may go back to read the other books!

3.5/5⭐️

I wanted to give this book more stars but I don’t think that I can. To say this book was basic would be lying but to say it was unique would be giving it to much credit. I enjoyed it & managed to push myself to finish it, I just feel there could have been more. The first 20 chapters of the book were okay, I enjoyed the world building & character building however, it bored me. I felt there was no emotional connection to anyone in this book. I loved Wes & Hailey, their friends, Wes’s brothers, the much appreciated side characters, I just feel like the author could have gave more. More depth to each individual rather than playing “i don’t know how to love” & “ive been hurt by someone so I don’t trust anymore” cards. Also the miscommunication towards the end?? Very unnecessary. I’m not hating or anything because I enjoyed this, it just wasn’t what I hoped it would be. All in all I recommend this book if you like just hearing people rant & characters talk and build bonds. The romance took a little to long for it not to give what I thought it would. There are 2 other books before this with the two younger brothers that I feel I will enjoy more! Hopefully I will read those soon. As always though, thank you NetGalley, the author & publishers for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review!

so so so good, a amazing slow burn. if you enjoy mariana zapata you’ll definitely like how slow this goes. this is part of a series so i do recommend reading those before this. i felt a bit confused which is why i rated this a 4 and not a 5, jumped into this without expectations.

i was not left disappointed, this is the first book from this author i’ve read. i will be coming back for more.

i received an arc of this book, that at all does not affect my rating. i prefer being honest and truthful about my reviews. please give this an opportunity thank you for the opportunity to read this early!

4.25/5

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of A Guide to Being Just Friends!

This is the 3rd book in the Jansen brothers series but can absolutely be read as a stand-alone.

I loved this friends to lovers, slow burn & definitely recommend! I also loved the chosen family aspect of these characters & felt like I was apart of the group while reading. Highly recommend if you love a great friends to lovers book. I couldn’t put this one down!

Hailey is trying hard to make her eatery By the Cup successful. She’s not long out of a toxic relationship and is in no hurry to have a repeat. Wes has had an unsuccessful run at merging women in dating apps. They run into each other at the bakery/coffee shop next to By the Cup when Wes mistakes her for his date. They hit it off and, shrug they are both attracted to the other, decide to be friends only. What follows is funny and warm and heartbreaking all at the same time. Can they be friends or will love find them?

I adored this book! It made me want to open my own eating establishment! The characters are fun and real. The angst is real. It gave me all the feels! Highly recommend for light, easy reading!

Thank you Sophie Sullivan and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I gave this book a 4/5!

I really enjoyed the characters and thought they were really well written! It's more of a slow-burn which I don't typically enjoy, but this book had such a great romance trope that I was able to enjoy it! Really enjoyed this novel!

I really enjoyed the idea of the story but being dual POV and written in the third person, I often found myself rereading sentences or even paragraphs to fully grasp the scene. Having more than one “third act break up” really made this book feel more real, which I appreciated. Wes’ struggle to accept his feelings really irritated me because he was so self aware in his business life, but Hailey had just the right heart to help him see what he was missing out on. Being in a similar situation as Hailey (at the beginning of the book), really helped me put myself into her character and hope to find a friends-to-lovers situation for myself.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC copy of this

Hailey is to busy for love after starting her dream salad take out bar and moving on from her ex-boyfriend. Wes wants companionship but no love after navigating his parents messy divorce. After striking up a friendship they both feel like they have found the perfect balance but it is never that simple is it?

This is the third book about the Jansen brothers and I really enjoyed it. I hadn’t read the first two books but don’t feel like that really took away from the storyline at all. It was a fun, light and quick moving read. The characters were well developed and I found it hard to put down. I really liked Hailey, her ambitious nature and her kindness. Wes was really sweet and his relationship with his brothers was one of my favourites. This was a perfect summer read.

I would definitely recommend this book and will be reading the other books in this series!

Tropes
-found family
-friends to lovers
-miscommunication

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
🌶 /5

Finished reading this books before I realized it is book 3 of 3. Definitely will go back to read books 1 & 2.

Very sweet and heartwarming story. The being friends part was a bit long, full of friendly love sparks. Makes sense though, since it is a book about friendship. Good for the characters to build trust and accept themselves for who they are before taking on any romantic relationship. Started to pick up halfway through the book.

Very emotional towards the end.

This book had so many elements that lead me to not read romance - namely, forgettable characters with little growth and development, not enough chemistry, heavy on the tropes to the detriment of plot. Calling this "When Harry Met Sally meets 500 Days of Summer" is way way off. I generally have high standards for romance anyways, so I immediately knew this wasn't going to meet the bar.

I swear to you, I couldn't tell you five distinct things about either of the main characters, nor could I really explain what happened with their "meet cute." The book centers around them being friends, but that's just told to you through them repeating "we are friends" over and over. The side characters were similarly forgettable - from reading other reviews, I now know that this is the third in a series about Wes and his brothers, so maybe that's why the author is very light on describing them, but it only served to take me out of the story even more. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for this very honest review!

I want to bash my head against a wall, this book started off cute but quickly turned into cringe city.

Cute read! This is the 3rd story of the Jansen brothers series, and it was so fun to finally read Wes’ story of finding love (even if he was resistant to the idea of love) in California. It can be read independently from the series, but I’d recommend reading all 3 of the books in order for maximum enjoyment. This has a meet-cute and a friends-to-lovers trope with a little spice. I’m looking forward to reading more from author Sophie Sullivan in the future!

wes and hailey are just <3
first of all the meet cute !!! (or not so meet cute) more books need those tbh
watching hailey and wes grow as their own people and as friends was so so sweet. i loved their grocery shopping dates and sweet nights in. seeing these two bring out the best in each other was such a treat. (also wes actually making hailey a guide to being just friends <3 )
revisiting the community that has been built in the last two books in this series felt like coming home to old friends. the heroine of this book felt like she was all alone and the world- it was lovely seeing her welcomed with open arms into this friend group.
overall i can't recommend this book enough!
i can't wait to purchase it on january 13th 2023!
thank you @netgalley for this digital arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a cute Chick Lit book that I could see being made into a romantic comedy or tv show right away!

Wes and Hailey have both recently moved to California and have a meet cute. In the process become friends, but they both decide ONLY friends. It’s a slow burn romance and I adored their friendship. It was such a fun read and perfect palette cleanser if you need a lighthearted book.

FYI: all of the romance scenes are fade to black and it’s very clean. Just wanted to throw that out there for all my fellow romance readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Such a cute novel! Definitely a happy, positive read! I loved this novel and quickly read through it as it was a quick read. Definitely recommend to fans of romance and contemporary novels! I love Sophie Sullivan's novels and this one is no different!

This was read through Netgalley.