I really enjoyed this audiobook!

Hailey is a small business owner of By the Cup - a salad shop (that I would love to visit in real life!). Wes is way out of her league and is committed to not falling in love. This story is a fun romantic comedy and very Hallmark-y. Great storyline and not too many additional characters. A feel good, must read for modern romance fans in 2023! I didn't realize until after I listened to this audiobook, it's actually part of a series. I read as a stand-alone and will be finding the other books in this series soon!

A very special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was extra cute, and the voice actors were top notch! I don’t usually read closed door spice, but this book was so interesting without it. It’s rare to find a book that keeps me enthralled in such a way, but Sophie Sullivan has really mastered the art of entertaining romance! This book was a wonderful read!

the book was good it was kind of scary how much a related to the characters in the beginning it was almost like same person different front the characters were cute i liked wes he was sweet and you could tell you liked hailey even if he kept on denying but some times he got a big mouth and says some things that just don’t sound right as for hailey she cute like i get her a lot and like she really sweet there were some parts were it was just like cringe like i get why she said it i would have done the same thing just maybe use different words but in all this was such a cute romcom and don’t even get me started on the side couple like noah and grace were cute but what i’m really taking about is chris and everly like i haven’t read their book but i know for a fact that i definitely am planning on reading their book eventually THANKS FOR THE ARC!

Thank you MacMillan Audio and net galley for this Audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This is a cute friend to lovers sorry about Wes, the eldest of the three Jansen brothers, and Hailey, the new girl in town. Wes mistakes Hailey for his blind date and things start out rocky between them. Their relationship builds into a close friendship when Hailey realizes she had feelings for Nate.

My favorite parts of this book were:
✨️the familial banner between the Jansen Brothers
✨️Hailey and Wes adorable friendship
✨️the charity work the two MCs did throughout the book
✨️the audiobook narrators

What I didn't love:
✨️Honestly, they seemed like better friends than lovers
✨️Hailey deserved better than uptight Wes
✨️Slooooow burn

If you were a fan of the other books in this series, maybe this book is for you. It just wasn't for me.

This was a really fun strangers-to-friends-to-lovers story. I thought Wes and Hailey were really cute together and I loved the emphasis that was put on their friendship and how that developed into a romantic relationship. The supporting characters and friend groups were great and really added to my enjoyment of the story. I though it was a little weird that the narration switched from 1st person in Hailey's POV to 3rd person in Wes's POV, but overall I enjoyed this one!

This was my first experience with this series and this author. What a treat! I will definitely be checking out the first two.

I love a group of characters that you see pieces of your friends in. Love the main character and her strong will. This read will make you laugh, swoon, make you want to shake your reading device and feel all the things.

Great narrators!

Thank you for the opportunity to review.

A fun, easy, heartworming romance about two persons who REALLY don't want to fall in love. It is refeshing in its adults ways of communication, of friendship, of expressing feelings and caring for one's love one. 3,5 stars !

First off I haven’t read the others in the series, I didn't realize it was part of a serious and I find it difficult to rate because I didn’t love the story but that’s on me.

In general this is your average contemporary romance with a friends to lovers trope which I am now realizing isn’t my jam and I didn’t particularly love the main character. I did really like the male characters family and the other side characters and will be checking out the first two books in the series.

I do think this was well written, the dialogue was great, and anyone who loves friends to lovers, slow burn, and minimal spice will really enjoy this. Putting aside that this book isn’t for me I give it 4 stars because I think people into these tropes would really like this.

I enjoyed this novel by Sophie Sullivan. I have not read the first two in the Jansen Brothers series and honestly didn't even know there were others until I just came on here to do a review. So I think it goes without saying that this could also be a standalone book. I loved the character development of both Wes and Hailey. It also kind of makes me want a salad shop or salad food truck. I love the friends to lovers trope. I think Sophie Sullivan portrayed it really well and it was believable. I'm curious as to what the first two books in the Jansen Brothers series are about, obviously Chris and Noah getting with their gals. I think they may be next up! Thank you to NetGalley for the audio book version of this book.

This is an adorable story about two people who vow to be "just friends." You know how well that always works out! I loved that you got to see both characters points of view. You start off with Hailey's point of view, staring her new salad shop "By The Cup" off the ground, trying to make it a success. Then you met Wes who seems to be all business. I just loved both of them. The audiobook is just adorable. This is also book three in the series but you wouldn't know it because it is just a cute little love story all on its own. Planning to add the first two to my TBR list now!

I read this book as a NetGalley eARC last September and it turned out to be my favorite read of that month. So when the audio version popped up on NetGalley, I had to request it. This is by far one of my favorite interconnected stand-alone series! The representation of mental health issues and other issues adults face when moving to a new place, or starting a career they love. These books make me so so happy. Wes and Hailey are by far my favorite, although I have only read Chris and Everly’s story, and not Noah and Grace’s but it’s on my TBR and I will read it soon! Wes and Hailey have such a special place in my heart because I met my boyfriend in a similar way, and we were friends at first. I’m a sucker for friends who were interested the entire time. The audio of this is amazing, I wish I could permanently listen to it over and over. The narrators perfectly captured all the emotions and attitudes of each character. I also love a good Dual POV audiobook, so that added to my enjoyment! I’m so thankful I got to listen to this, and share my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audiobook of A Guide to Being Just Friends.

I love a good enemies to lovers trope, and I felt like this was a great one. My only complaint would have to be that I felt like the story was a little long winded. I felt like Hailey and Wes had great chemistry from the beginning. I don't know if I totally understood the guide part, but it was still a very cute book that I would recommend to my friends if they enjoy rom-coms!

Audiobook update:
Listening to this book was suuuuch a treat. I fell in love with Hailey and Wes when I read this book last year and was missing all the Jansen brother's so this was the perfect excuse to come back to this world.

Love the narrator for Hailey so much. She really capture's Hailey's tone well and brings so much life to her. Wes' narrator took a minute to grow on me. He started kind of meh for me, but definitely felt like he embodied Wes better as the story progressed.

This is a fantastic way to experience this book, and I really want to go back and listen to the audiobooks for the first two Jansen brother books.

5/5 stars again
_________________________________
"I feel like I've found a secret code that unlocks a different world that only I'm allowed to be part of, that only I know how to navigate. Even the hurdles feel more manageable with her there. It feels like everything fits perfectly into place even when it doesn't all make sense... I feel happy."

After a less than pleasant meeting, Hailey Sharp and Wes Jensen really don't expect to run into each other again. When life keeps throwing them into each others paths, they realize they actually click really well and easily become close friends. These two are determined to only stay friends. Hailey is busy building up her new salad shop, and Wes has enough trauma to deter him from ever wanting to love. The closer they get, the harder it is to follow the guide they've made up for themselves, and can't deny the feelings that are there.

SOPHIE SULLIVAN DID IT AGAIN!! She captured everything I love in a friends to lovers book. The slow burn was done so well, and you barely felt it because the friendship developed was perfection. Sullivan also brought back our favorite characters from the first two books as big parts of Hailey and Wes' story. I highly recommend reading Sullivan's other two books first to get a full feel for how important these characters and their stories come together.

When it came to romance, Wes and Hailey had so much healing to do within themselves. My sweet sweet, protective, and scared Wes had to really go through it in this book. His heart is so big, and I fell in love with him right away. I loved Hailey and her headstrong attitude. Watching her not only thrive with her business, but find a family in a new city had me crying happy tears for her.

I love love love this book. I cannot recommend it enough, especially if you were a fan of the first two books. I cried like a baby at the end, because I was not ready to say goodbye to the stupid, big hearted Jensen brothers and the three women they fell in love with. All three books felt like a big found family trope.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sophie Sullivan for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

↠5 stars!!!

*3 stars*

This was a pretty standard romcom. A solid friends to lovers story if not the most memorable.

While this was a pretty cookie cutter plot with the grumpy/sunshine trope, it did what it needed to do as a quick turn off your brain (not in a bad way) kind of romance. The conflict was a little overdrawn; I would have preferred more relationship development instead.

I haven’t read the other books in this series so I can confirm that this is a solid standalone. I enjoyed this enough to check the first two books.

Happy Release Day to Sophie Sullivan, and congratulations on this sweet gem of a story.
Hailey Sharp, determined owner of a salad shop (a girl after my own heart), meets and becomes friends with Wes Jansen, who, amongst other talents, builds apps and is distinctively anti-relationship. Fortunately, Hailey and Wes are on the same page about only wanting something platonic and even come up with a set of rules to make their friendship a success.
I ❤️ the friends-to-lovers trope. Listening to their friendship grow from a meet-not-cute into something warm and lovable made this book such a delight. The slow build of feelings was well-executed. The supporting cast of characters (in particular, Wes’s brothers, who embrace the joys of all-consuming love) added humour and sincerity.
And the audiobook narrators did a great job too. Thanks to #netgalley and #macmillanaudio for the ALC.

A Guide to Just Being Friends is the third book in the Jansen Brothers romance series. When a salad shop owner, Hailey Sharp, and a business prodigy, Wes Jansen meet there is an instant connection. Both have reservations about relationships, for different reasons, but they fall into a quick friendship. Being just friends is well and good until feelings form and their well laid plan goes up in smoke.

This is the first in the series that I have read, but it could easily be read as a stand alone, you just lose a little bit of the background info with other Jansen brothers. A Guide to Being Just Friends was the perfect romance for me. I love the just friends turned to lovers trope and this one was well done in my opinion. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to come next for Wes and Hailey and I didn’t want to put this book down. If you are a romance fan who loves the friends to lovers theme, this book is definitely worth a try! I can’t wait to go back and read the first two books in this series. I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a refreshing romance!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an audiobook copy of this book!

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrators did great keeping me engaged. The story was a very cute friends to lovers saga. When I started this book I wasn't aware it was part of a series. I didn't feel like I'd missed anything by not reading the first two beforehand. I loved Hailey and Wes' story about building an independent life while learning to lean on each other. The character development and story telling was very relatable. I enjoyed the dual perspectives throughout. #AGuidetoBeingJustFriends #NetGalley

I have to be honest, this is not my typical genre. I work in a library so decided I needed to step out of my typical reading material so that I can be well rounded for our patrons and make suggestions. It is your typical romance book, audiobook in this case. The narrators did fine job with the he said/she said and I feel they got the characters right. I do feel it went on longer then it should have. It came to a conclusion and I thought okay it is finished and realized it kept going! Maybe it just needed to be rearranged? I just feel it could have ended, predictably, a lot earlier. I will recommend to our patrons who read romance and I am sure they will love it. I just felt it went on a bit longer then needed.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the chance to read this ARC. I am familiar with the Jansen Brothers and this book did not disappoint. I listened to it as an audiobook and loved the narrators voices! This book hooked me from the first page and I couldn't finish it soon enough. If you've read the other two books in the series, you definitely want to read this one too! If you haven't, you could read this as a standalone, but the entire series is worth the time.

A Guide to Being Just Friends - Sophie Sullivan
Synopsis:
"Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.
Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents' angry divorce following him around, he'd much rather find someone who he likes, but won't love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.
When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn't even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that's all this can be. Hailey doesn't want any distractions. Wes doesn't want to fall in love.
What could possibly go wrong?"

Thoughts
This was a sweet friends to lovers story! I really enjoyed Hailey and Wes's relationship, although I didn't like their meet cute. I actually really loved the first 2/3 of the book.
I didn't vibe well with Hailey, she was very independent to a fault. I understand her characters backstory on why she didn't like to receive help, but it was just a bit
"much".
Wes was mostly adorable, except for the "big fight" moment.
Even though the ending felt a little thrown together, I did still like how it played out.
I received this #gifted via audiobook AND ebook. I did prefer the audiobook version, I liked the narrators a lot!
Thank you @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for these copies in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.