A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan has a lot of good things going for it. The comparison to When Harry Met Sally is what initially drew me into this book, and I have to agree, that friends to lovers slow burn was a fair comparison.

My favorite thing about this story was how realistic and relatable it is. The characters and setting are developed really well - it is very much a story that could happen to anyone in real life and it felt very comforting for that reason.

This book feeling so realistic also made this a little tricky to get into. I love stories that make me feel like I can escape from “real life” for a bit, and this certainly wasn’t that. It felt a little slow to read because I was very much aware that I was reading a story, rather than getting so sucked into the book that I forget about everything else.

Overall, I’d give it a 4⭐️. If friends to lovers is your thing, I think you will really love it. If you prefer more fast-paced stories and angst, this one probably won’t hit for you.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! This book will be published January 17th, 2023.

@netgalley @stmartinspress

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3.25 ⭐️

I thought this book was cute! It was definitely a slow burn, friends to lovers story where the intimacy was implied rather than described. However, I do think the character development and relationships between characters was lacking. In the beginning, I liked Hailey and thought her entrepreneurship was endearing, but as the book went on she seemed so adverse to Wes’s financial situation that she refused any and all help from him. Also, I think Wes’s perspective and background deserved more time as the plot about his father left me confused and I’m not sure it was really relevant. Lastly, the conflict and resolution felt rushed and unnecessary. Overall, I thought Hailey and Wes’s friendship was super cute and wholesome but not sure if their chemistry was right for me.

Big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a sweet, friends to lovers romance. Wes and Hailey, met while building their careers in a new town. Both were burned in previous relationships and had bad dating experiences. So they decided they would take a break and just be friends. After becoming close, they decide they will develop a little guide to being just friends. Adorable.

I will note right away that this is fade to black. There was a lot that built to get to Wes and Hailey admitting their feelings for each other and I was bummed for a fade to black- but that is just my preference!

I loved Hailey's salad shop and her friendships with other business owners and Wes' family. This is the first in the series I read, so there were people I did not know, but it definitely worked as a standalone.

I did not love the third act conflict, or conflicts. I felt like they fought, made up, fought, made up and fought. So the ending dragged a little for me but overall I enjoyed this adorable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This was so cute! A wonderful romance, filled with witty banter, delightful characters, and just enough steaminess. A must read for romance lovers!

I’m torn between liking and disliking this book. I didn’t love either of the main characters. Hailey is supposed to come off as hardworking and independent. I did feel this way some until the Valentines scene and then she comes off as obnoxious and ungrateful. Then, she says something along the lines of her and Wes being “real” so she had to tell him she didn’t like the gift but it only reminded me of when people say they are being honest when they are just being harsh. I also found her very cheesy and cliche. Some of the scenes like her standing up to Anna seemed unnecessary and led to me finding her cheesy.

Wes was fine. His introduction scene, I thought he was rude. Then, he’s sweet and charitable. He seems very cute and sweet, the video game thing does not do it for me but it’s not bad.

This is a very slow burn friends to lover book. I thought it went on a bit longer than it needed to and that some of the “extra” scenes and moments at the end of the book were unnecessary.

My biggest complaint with this book was the amount of characters and dialogue. It is very overwhelming trying to keep track of the different characters and who is doing what and their relationship to the other characters. *However* I did not realize this is the third book of a series, so that may be on me as a decent chuck of the characters are introduced and developed in previous books.

Thank you NetGalley and Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Can a guy and a girl really be just friends? Or will they end up finding something better together? I really liked Sullivan's third installment in this series! While they can be read as standalone books, I loved getting glimpses of the other brothers and their relationships too! This was the perfect light-hearted read.

This book is the third in a series but you don’t need to read the previous books to understand the story and characters.

Hailey has had a bad break up and has moved to a new city to start fresh. She’s starting a new business and finding her self again.

Wes has moved across the country—joining his younger brothers— to assist in running their new business venture, away from the toxic influence of their father.

After a meet ugly and a second, cuter meet up, Hailey and Wes start to tentatively become friends, both at a point in their lives where they would prefer to avoid romantic entanglements.

The main characters are pleasant, with realistic back stories. The secondary characters are a bit thinly characterized, perhaps because they figure more prominently in previous books.

Despite this I could not get invested in this story. I found some of the internal monologues repetitive and parts of the book telling far more than showing. The conflict didn’t really feel believable to me. I didn’t find myself deeply invested in the characters either. It’s a pleasant read but not something I’d go back to, nor have interest in reading more about these characters.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC.

After a rough breakup, Hailey decides to start over in a new city. There she befriends Wes, a businessman who is convinced that love is nothing but trouble. While there is a clear chemistry between the two of them, they're determined to stay just friends. (You can see where this is going)

I thought this book was super cute, and a fun read. I loved the slow-burn and the found family elements. The banter between the main characters was wonderful. I was genuinely surprised at how much I liked a book that centered in a woman who owned a salad shop.

Because this is the third book in the series, there are a lot of characters. If you're like me and you haven't read the previous two books, it is a little hard to keep track of everyone. However, I don't think you're missing anything too vital if you haven't read the others.

I will also warn that this is absolutely a fade-to-black romance. If you're a spicy romance only kind of person, this might not be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I will start by saying that I did not know this was the third book in a series when I started it. However, that did not take away from how much I loved this book! I loved seeing the Wes and Hailey grow from their friendship. Overall this book brought me many laughs and presented a perfectly done slow burn that left me feeling happy after reading. I will definitely be going back to read other books by Sophie and highly recommend this one to others!

I loved this rom com in which the heroine and hero just want to be friends. But we all know how that works in rom coms. It was a cute story and I finished it in one day.

This story is the third installment of the Jansen brothers filling the oldest Wes and fmc Hailey. Their story is a cute take on friends to lovers after both decided to take a dating hiatus. It’s funny, cute, easy read and i absolutely love Haileys character and Wes is just adorable. Would recommend

this book was soo cute!!! i loved it so much!! i’m a sucker for best friends to lovers trope, especially slowburn so this was a perfect read. haileywes were absolutely amazing. i loved how strong and independent hailey was throughout the book and how her character development showed that it’s also ok to ask for help. i would def want to read this again!! sophie sullivan did slowburn trope so well! there were no boring parts too, every interaction with hailey and wes were the absolute insane and cutest!!!!

okay, picture: a combination of YOU s2 and 3, but without all of the murder and make it romantic and sweet instead of terrifying.

sophie sullivan’s final installment in her jansen brothers series is, above all, sweet, like one of hailey sharp (our cute, feisty, talkative FMC)’s special dessert salads-in-a-cup. focusing on hailey and wes’ story, a guide to being just friends sets itself apart from its predecessors in all the right ways while still offering sentimental glances into noah and chris’ lives for those of you who salivate for more when a story is over (like me).

this book is, at its core, a strangers-to-kind of enemies-to-friends-to-desperately trying to stay friends-to lovers tale that hits nearly all of my boxes for a cute, fun, enjoyable romcom.

i am a SUCKER for a good friends to lovers. something about the are you feeling it too? type of angst is delicious to me, and seeing wes and hailey’s friendship progress into deeper waters was a treat. the casual intimacy of grocery shopping together? being in each others’ spaces? brb while i reevaluate all of my platonic friendships for romantic undertones. (just kidding……………)

the only complaints i have for this one are, while i love a heaping dose of unrealism in my romcoms, wes’ self-awareness was through the roof in only the way a man-written-by-a-woman can be. his inner monologue didn’t feel authentic to the standard male-love-interest voice we get in these types of books, and it left him feeling a little two-dimensional. while the writing is a bit clunky, and wes is a bit too unrealistically observant, it’s still a fun story that explores all the delicious, painful ways a friendship develops between two people who are perfect for one another.

be forewarned, my spicy friends, this book is STRONG fade to black. PG at the most. but sweet enough to keep your belly full through the whole thing. mostly.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sophie Sullivan for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this book, I didn’t know it was part of a series! But it can definitely be read as a stand-alone, especially since Sophie does a fantastic job at helping us fill in the blanks with who the other side characters are. I feel Ike I know them just as well as the main characters!

Hailey is starting her life over after a breakup by starting her own business, By The Cup. It’s salad in a cup, how creative! Wes is working on fulfilling his own career with his brothers and sticking to his plan, and that includes absolutely NO falling in love. Considering his past, Wes doesn’t believe in love and Hailey feels that she can’t rely on love, or anyone for that matter. They rely and take care of themselves until they meet and sparks clearly fly. Perhaps it’s time to challenge the notion that they can’t rely on anyone?

Considering where they are in life and what their stances are on love and relationships, they decide to stay JUST friends, and alas, The Guide to Being Just Friends is born.

I adored the whole premise of this book. Wes and Hailey are such lovely characters. I relate to Wes so much. Overhelpful, wanting to fix everything, oldest sibling, sticking to a routine, not falling out of order with his life plan. He’s me in a nutshell!

Sophie is an incredible writer. I adored the dual POV and being able to witness what both characters were feeling! Friends to lovers, overprotective, headstrong gf + overhelpful bf, slow burn, found family, you name it! I cannot wait to read the other two books in this series!

Alright. This was pretty cute.
I enjoyed a majority of this book, but I don't know that it's one that will leave a lasting impression. 🤷‍♀️
I feel like there was opportunity for more of an in depth view into Wes as a character. Maybe it's because this is technically part of a series and I haven't read the other two books? But I feel like I was left confused by his character quite a bit.
I loved everything about Hailey though. Super relatable, hyper independent female for the win.
I also feel that the end conflict/resolution was extremely rushed, while so much time was spend on the build up.
3.25⭐️

As always, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is the last installment in the Jensen brother’ series (even if Goodreads doesn’t say so) I haven’t read the ones before but this book can be read as a standalone.

I had a couple of problems with the book and that is why the rating is so low:

- there were way too many characters; maybe this one would not have been too much of a problem if I read the other books first? I am not sure, as my problem was not the fact the side characters didn’t have much of a personality (they probably had it in the other books) but that the dialogue between them was so boring!
- too much business talk that made the story go very slow.
- I was not a fan of Hailey and I was not happy with the fact Wes was the only one doing some changing. He was clear with her about what he wanted, he told her he didn’t want to lose her as friend, and she kept pushing, then - when he reminded her what he didn’t want - she bailed. Even when he helped and saved THE WHOLE street she got upset because she didn’t want his help… he save the whole neighborhood and all the parties involved were happy! *eyeroll*

What I liked:
- I liked the timeline and the fact they took their time. That made the relationship more believable
- I liked all the parts with the main couple and I really liked Wes, it was very real and reminded me of my husband with his need to fix it all.
- I likes the tension when they were about to transition from friends to lovers.
- No miscommunication trope YAY! I hate that trope!

I think it would have been better if there were less people involved in the story and less business talk… a little bit more tension and harder obstacles would have improved the story, everything was getting resolved way too easily!

This was the sweetest story! Perfect easy read! I haven’t read the other books in the series, but I will now!!

I really didn’t expect to like a book about a girl running a salad bar this much but it was so cute! Hailey & Wes had such great chemistry!! The way they pushed their true feelings aside so they would just have an incredible friendship was so adorable. There’s dual pov which I LOVE! We get to see both their feelings about everything and we don’t have to guess how the other person is feeling. Overall this was definitely a sloooooow burn friends to lovers story but it was definitely very sweet so if you’re into both of those things you’ll love this story!

*Thank you so much to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for sending this arc in exchange for an honest review*

What a adorable story! The characters were so easy to fall for and the relationship was so real. I absolutely loved this book!

I definitely went into this blind - I loved the idea of it and the cover, but what I didn’t know was how much I would fall in love with the characters in this book and the way they fell in love. Wes and Hailey were the perfect mix of friends who made me laugh and throw my hand over my mouth. They made me scream in anticipation, I “awed” out loud and so much more.

I loved that this was one of the first books I’ve read that actually brought up solid issues in relationships, not just “you have something from 5 years ago that hurt me” but “hey, I have a different idea on this.”

I didn’t know this was part of a series, so I am off to read more. My only hesitation from a 5 star review was whether this is marked YA for the fade-to-black aspect or romance, as the conflict feels a little more adult