Quick Summary: A love unexpected romance

My Review: A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan was a charmer. This sweet love story brought together a good guy Type A personality with a fool-me-once beauty who had been burned and was on high alert against a romantic entanglement.

Hailey and Wes were two scarred people who bore witness to relationships gone wrong. One person was a giver who questioned her ability to read people correctly, and the other person was an anti-romantic when it came to love. With that in mind, from their meet-cute forward, the two once upon a time strangers became the best of friends. Soon, however, things changed and feelings became unavoidable.

My Final Say: This audiobook was such an enjoyable listening experience. The main characters and their colorful tribe were endearing. Readers will enjoy getting to know Hailey, Wes, and all of their crew.

Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status: Clean
Level: 🍡
Series: Yes

Appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher, and to NetGalley, who provided access to this title in exchange for an honest review. The words I have shared are my own.

* A Goodreads review has been posted.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a slow burn, friends to lovers romance that is filled with found family, entrepreneurship, salad, “follow your heart” moments, past trauma and of course…love. This was the third installment in the Jansen brothers series and was a fun/quick read. I did find the dialogue between the main characters to be quite awkward and that made it difficult to really connect/buy into the romance. Still a very fun read and I look forward to seeing what Sophie Sullivan come up with next!

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

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this ARC! I enjoyed both of the narrators for this book, I thought they added a lot to the story. I loved the friends to lovers trope in this, but the miscommunication near the end didn’t work for me. This was my first book by this author, but I’d read more in the future!

I really, really enjoyed this opposites attract, friends to lovers, dual POV, slow burn retelling of When Harry met Sally. Both Hailey and Wes aren't interested in anything more than friendship but as the months go by and they keep hanging out, sparks keep flying that increasingly have them wondering if something more might be worth a try.

As the oldest Jansen brother, Wes has seen his brothers find happiness in love but he's determined it's not for him even though he really hates seeing Hailey go on dates with other guys. I didn't love the third act break/misunderstanding in this one but the grand gesture at the end and epilogue really made up for it. I also really liked how the characters helped one another with their business goals/dreams (Hailey with her online website and Wes with his secret dream of videogame design).

Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital copies in exchange for my honest review. I listened mostly to the ALC and was so excited when it arrived I had to drop all my other reading plans immediately! My only small quibble is that I wish this was an open door romance instead of a fade to black one.