"Hot Here to Stay Friends" by Kaitlyn Hill is a steamy and heartwarming contemporary romance that sizzles with chemistry and charm. From the moment I met protagonists Mia and Liam, I was immediately drawn into their captivating story of friendship, attraction, and second chances. Hill's writing is evocative and engaging, bringing to life the dynamic between Mia and Liam as they navigate the complexities of their relationship. The banter between the two characters crackles with tension, and their undeniable chemistry leaps off the page. As Mia and Liam grapple with their growing feelings for each other, I found myself rooting for them every step of the way. Hill expertly balances passion with emotional depth, creating a story that is both steamy and heartfelt. "Hot Here to Stay Friends" is a delightful read that will leave romance fans swooning. Whether you're a fan of friends-to-lovers romances or simply looking for a captivating love story, this book is sure to satisfy. Hill's storytelling is as addictive as it is satisfying, and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

3.5 stars rounded up

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for this eARC.

This was a super cute and fun YA friends to lovers rom-com!!

I had such a good time reading this and I loved the sweet blossoming of a more-than-best-friends relationship between the two main characters.

My one qualm would be that I wished the characters had been slightly aged up - like maybe to college age? The premise of a reality dating show for teenagers just felt a bit unrealistic to me unfortunately. Maybe it’s because I’ve consumed a lot of The Bachelor franchise over the years, but it felt off for these juniors in high school to be on a dating competition show that their parents all signed off on.

Overall I really enjoyed this and I think the writing was great, there were so many funny moments and sweet moments, and it was just a feel good story.

I recommend if you’re looking for a cute friends to lovers rom-com.

This is a sweet and fun friends-to-lovers romance that also includes a bit of coming-of-age for both of the characters. I appreciated the backdrop of a long-time genuine friendship between Sloane and Liam that progresses in that halting, two steps forward-one step back way that these things often do. The use of Liam's father as a jerk is effective in giving Liam the opportunity to finally stand up to his father. The twists and turns of the reality TV itself are as dramatic as you'd expect, but it manages to keep you guessing.

Such a fun book! Great for if you love the Bachelor, and such a cute story! I think that this is a pretty easy book to read, and it's really quick to get into! If you're looking for a quick read that has a great friends to lovers storyline. This is definitely a great book if you love young adult rom-com style books, but want something out of the ordinary that you don't see all the time. I would recommend this if you're wanting to get into reading or maybe you're in a book slump, because it's something you'll want to finish!

This book is truly a young adult version of The Bachelor and I was here for it. I am a sucker for a friends to lovers story and this one was an easy, delightful read. When Sloane goes to LA to visit her best friend Liam, she finds out that his Hollywood producer dad has roped him into working on a teenage dating show (i.e. The Bachelor Teen). Sloane gets roped in to being a contestant and that's when they both realize that all this time, they've had feelings for each other. A predictable and cheesy read, "Not Here to Stay Friends" is a great book for any YA reader or lover of reality TV.

The plot was cute and the friends to lovers wasn’t overly cheesy. It wasn’t the most interesting idea, but she did a good job with the dating show idea, and was I sucked into the drama of it all without bashing the idea of the show. Watching their feelings develop was cute. I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

💖 Not Here to Stay Friends 💖

SUMMARY: Lifelong besties Sloane and Liam are excited to spend the summer before senior year together at Liam’s house in LA. But when Liam’s TV producer dad unexpectedly needs an extra contestant for his reality dating show, Sloane figures she may as well help out. But can Liam handle his best friend vying for another guy’s heart?

This was a charming YA friends-to-lovers romcom with a reality TV twist. I really enjoyed the slow burn romance between Sloane and Liam. The dates they went on were cute, and I was rooting for them from the first page.

I think my favorite thing, though, was the absolute lack of cattiness/backstabbing between the contestants. While it would have been easy to portray all the other girls in the house as bitchy jerks or just in it for the celebrity, I liked how the author made them all relatively nice, believable teenage girls with their own agendas.

Read it if you like:

💖 True YA
💖 Friends to lovers
💖 Reality dating shows
💖 A cast full of “girl’s girls”

The Bachelor but make it a YA friends-to-lovers story.

There's some charm and humor sprinkled in, I found Liam and Sloane's friendship to be darling, but this unfortunately missed the mark for me.

In my opinion, the dating show set up just doesn't work in the young-adult realm. You watch The Bachelor for the scandalous drama, but you can't really replicate that with a younger cast of characters. And the supposed stakes everyone felt? To fall in love with the 17 year old Bachelor? Flimsy at best.

Other than that, there were some lines that made me laugh out loud, and I was sufficiently entertained. I think it'd be a fun read for the target audience, but it's not for me.

This follows Sloane and Liam with a dual point-of-view. Sloane is visiting Liam in LA for the summer (they’ve been best friends since they were kids), but Liam’s dad has him working on his set for a reality TV show to be a date for the main TV lead (and he ends up being a dick). When someone has to cancel, Liam’s dad asks if Sloane would help be a contestant so that this show doesn’t tank - and boom, their magical summer of bonding gets shifted quickly.

Sloane works through her feelings of why she’s suddenly seeing her best friend differently, and Liam is kind of the same boat - they just don’t know how to communicate that to one another. It was definitely a cute YA romcom, but there were some slower points that made reading this kind of drag on over the course of a couple of months (I think it took me like 6 months to read being a mood reader).

It felt like reading a middle school relationship. The characters were so childish, and so boring. I would have honestly liked to have read about the dad

Not Here To Stay Friends gives huge friends-to-lovers feels with a big dose of girl power, and the twists and turns feel as wild as a reality TV finale. You will root for Liam and Sloane from start to happily ever after. (I wrote this blurb! And accidentally never posted it on NetGalley!)

I had a hard time getting into this book but when I did, I loved it! The main characters are likable and I appreciated their humor.

I'm not usually into YA but this was a great story of rekindled friendship and love. I love the dating show aspect, but it seemed a little far-fetched for a dating show for teens.

Sloane is spending her summer in LA visiting her childhood bestie, Liam. Since Liam moved five years earlier, they’ve kept up their friendship via phone calls and FaceTimes. When Sloane lands in LAX, though, she’s surprised to see how well puberty has treated Liam. She shoves it down, determined to have the most epic summer of fun ever. The problem is Liam took up a job as a PA on this new teen dating competition show that his dad is the executive producer of. He didn’t tell Sloane in fear she would decide not to come for the summer. Instead, she gets roped on the show, too… as a contestant!

Seeing Sloane “fake” date the heartthrob that is super star Aspen Woods, Liam begins to feel jealous and realizes his feelings for Sloane go beyond friendship. But Sloane looks so interested in Aspen, and when Aspen approaches Liam asking for his help winning Sloane’s heart, he stupidly says yes.

This is, like, super specific, but I LOVE this plotline of going on a dating competition show but then falling in love with someone else while you’re on it. Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales is another novel with this plot and that’s a 6 Star read for me. So, what I’m trying to say is there was no chance that I wouldn’t absolutely adore this book.

It didn’t reach perfection for me, though. I was debating a full 5 Stars, but then I figured if I had to convince myself then it wasn’t. I am happy to give this a 4.5 Star rating, though. I think my shortcomings are with some of the cringy Gen Z language. I mean, I’m Gen Z and I always call myself the main character and use low key every other sentence, but seeing it in a book was a little cringe. Especially when it’s a grand romantic speech with the sentence, “You’ve always been the main character to me.” Like, no haha.

But, yeah, it’s a pretty minor complaint, at least for me. This book had me laughing out loud and grinning like a fool. I love love love everything else about it and will 100% pick up another book from this author since it seems everything she’s written so far is centered around reality TV shows and teens. If you love trashy reality TV and you’ve never read a book with characters being on a trashy reality TV show… you are missing out!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A cute and fun YA romance! Not usually my cup of tea but this was a good one! Liked the bachelor style friends to lovers vibes this had.

I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date. After sampling several books out this week, I decided to go with a different book for my review.

This was my first Kaitlyn Hill book and I really enjoyed it! I'm not a huge rom-com reader, but I do love a cosy romance with a whole lot of humour, and Not here to Stay Friends definitely delivered.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of Not Here to Stay Friends by Kaitlyn Hill.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

I love these books where they have a dating reality show! I didn't even know it was a Cyrano De Bergerac retelling going into this. I can't wait for Kaitlyn's next book.