It’s almost unreal how many times I’ve read the books in a romcom series out of order. Full disclosure, I did it again here and read book 3 first. As always, I recommend reading books in series order to avoid spoilers.

I wasn’t crazy about this one. Which sadly doesn’t bode well for the other 2 books in the series but, I digress. I found the MC to be really annoying at times and her pride got in the way of her happiness so much. It was beyond miscommunication, she just didn’t want to see anyone helping her and it was frustrating to see.

I’d read the other two books in the series because I liked the writing. It was the characters that I didn’t love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for approving me to read A GUIDE TO BEING JUST FRIENDS! I adore romantic comedies and this fun friends-to-lovers trope fest is a delight. Plus I love any book when the MC has their own business, it's always so interesting. I'd recommend this to any rom com lover!

Disclaimer: I work for HarperCollins at the time of this review, but my opinions are my own.

This book sadly expired before I got to finish it, but I loved reading it until it expired. I was in the middle of college finals, so had to focus on those but this book was such a fun plot! Loved the characters and how it really was a slow-burn friends to lovers book and didn’t just start off right away! Thank you NetGallery for the ARC!

Falling for your best friend is hard. Falling for them after you've expressly agreed that you wouldn't date each other, and on of you doesn't believe in love or want to experience the pain associated with it is even harder. The characters were really fun, it was nice to see the characters change and grow. Easy read.

I really enjoyed this read! Hailey was a great FMC, I really enjoyed that she built herself back up after a bad breakup and started the business of her dreams, I also really wanted to eat at her salad shop! Wes was a little less of an enjoyable character. His whole persona of being a hard, no fun, most support my brothers and my business and can't do anything he actually enjoyed was kind of a turn off. But I think that he and Hailey did end up gelling well together, after that whole miscommunication thing.

I had not read the previous books in the series, and while that doesn't matter per se, it would help you feel a little connected to the side characters in this book.

A Guide To Being Just Friends is book 3 in the Jansen Brothers Series. While the book will stand alone, the characters from the first two books are prominent in this one.

Wes Jansen moves to California to live and work with his younger brothers. He's a super organized tech geek in charge of technology for their business. Wes's passion is in writing gaming programs, but his father's constant belittling of his talents causes him to suppress that side of himself to concentrate on the more serious aspects. Hailey leaves behind a bad relationship to arrive in California and open her own salad shop in a local strip mall. She has trust issues so romance is off the menu for her. Wes and Hailey meet in an awkward situation, but then reconnect later. Neither wants a relationship so they agree to be friends. Can a man and woman be "just friends"?

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes in cute romances and A Guide To Being Just Friends delivers that and more. Sullivan does a great job fleshing out characters with all their quirks and pushing them out of their comfort zone to grow. While the relationship between Wes and Hailey progressed slowly, the other relationships including Wes with his brothers and Hailey with her new friends filled in the time and space. I enjoyed the fact that each main character had to grow and learn to accept some things individually before they could accept their changing relationship.

Quirky banter, heartfelt emotions and light conflict kept me turning the pages in A Guide To Being Just Friends. Sullivan shines a light on the possibilities when two people let go of the past and embrace the future both personally and professionally. Fans of rom coms will love this charming romance. I highly recommend the audio book version as narrators Stephanie Willing and Timothy Andres' Pabon are outstanding!

This book was just very cute. Was it predictable? Oh yeah. Was it an easy read? Yes! It was fun and flirty. I would recommend as an easy read to someone.

For those that love a slow-burn romance, this sweet story is a gimme. Friends to lovers is a tried and true trope that makes for a good story. The story is well developed and I had high hopes for the two main characters.The other characters added fun and levity. Wes was great although he did have his own issues to deal with as well. At least he was all in for quite a bit of the book, just scared to lose her friendship..

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Sophie Sullivan book and I really enjoyed it! It’s the third in the series but can be read as a stand-alone and I enjoyed it. I typically like reading enemies to lovers, but this friends to lovers did not disappoint! I really enjoyed that it was dual POV. This was a light hearted easy read and it got me out of my reading slump

Loved this book, it was such a fast read for me. I was sucked in from the very beginning. I will definitely be on the lookout for future books by Sophie Sullivan.

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.