4.5

Love this series and enjoyed this audiobook! These can be standalones but I highly recommend all of them!

Thanks Netgalley

I do love friends-to-romance, so this was a cute story, and I thought pretty well-paced for most of it; because Hailey and Wes only met at the beginning of the book, they really did need that friendship time to settle in with each other to make the payoff feel worth it for me. . Still, the last quarter of the book felt much rockier, with multiple arguments resolving and then reopening, but then the characters' major issues being wrapped up too quickly although they both have clear psychological issues based in their respective childhoods - I almost would have liked to see them separated and in therapy for several months before finally getting together rather than rushing through a quick fix. I did think that the secondary characters were pretty strong, and I appreciated getting group scenes, stuff about Hailey's business, scenes with the two of them getting involved in the rec center (what happened to Hailey's actual book club, though???), despite the "REMEMBER THESE COUPLES FROM THE OTHER BOOKS WHO YOU LOVED SO MUCH?!" tone to some of the sequences with Wes's brothers and their girlfriends (I guess because I only read one of the books and wasn't super invested, that bugs me a bit). I also appreciate how their differences were clear but not to such a degree that it felt like they wouldn't work together as a couple, although I wouldn't say they necessarily felt like they had crackling chemistry to me. Overall, a sweet read if not a particular standout, and both narrators on the audiobook were pretty good.

The story was okay but I didn't like the writing, multiple times important information was brought up by the opposite POV without the readers ever having read the conversations where this information would have been shared, so it felt like we were missing crucial conversations and it led to a very choppy and confusing reading experience. There were also multiple seemingly casual fatphobic comments and it really pulled me out of the reading experience and dislike the book more and more. They just felt so unnecessary and it was hard to read.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a cute rom com about a salad shop owner and a rich, nerdy guy. This is a slow burn, friends to lovers romance, pretty clean, and while the third book in a series can be read more as a standalone. The downside of this book is the first half. So much detail is given to salads that it becomes tiresome! And the friendship portion felt less than believable and their agreement to stay just friends felt forced given they had quite literally just met. The second half of the book picks up and the actual relationship between Wes and Hailey feels less forced and more natural. Overall, a cute rom com!

This book wasn’t anything special and with an over saturated romance genre it’s hard to stand out. What really threw me off was the characters not having the conversation that he doesn’t want to ever be in love until she said it. It’s the kind of thing that would have been discussed before.

I didn't realize this book was the third in a series when I requested it, but it ended up working out okay, it was fairly easy to follow.

I really did not enjoy reading about mostly salads and business, rather than character development or romance. Also, how is a salad restaurant groundbreaking, especially in CA? There are chain salad restaurants all over the country. Anyways, I also don't like reading about rich business man as love interests, it's so frustrating.

The dialogue was also a bit stilted and overall, it was pretty boring and forgettable. There was nothing memorable or notable about the audio either.

I loved this friends to lover troupe. Hailey is a dreamer that has moved to San Verde California in hopes to begin a thriving salad business. Wes is part of the Jensen brothers and is a businessman who wants to invest in his community. A chance meeting starts a deep friendship, but strictly friendship. Wes and Hailey are determined to remain friends and not get to deep. Both have issues from past relationships and their home life and don’t want to being that baggage to another person.

I loved the story line and was always cheering for each of them. The friendship gets a little messy but with open and honest communication they clean things up. It’s a sweet story!!

I would give this a solid 4.3 stars!!

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.”

Who doesn’t love a good Friends to Lovers trope?

Not this girl.

I liked a lot about this book, actually. I liked the friend set. I liked the family background depth. I liked the money weirdness.

I especially liked knowing that there were other stories before (and maybe after?) that I can track down, but that it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of Book #3.

I DON’T love Miscommunication as a trope – are romance writers contractually obligated to use it? – and so quickly got tired of the whole, “We like each other, but couldn’t possibly have a legit conversation about our feelings, so we’ll just continue to misunderstand each other’s motives.” thing.

Luckily that didn’t last long.

I can’t say this books was super action-packed (the girl sells salad, for goodness sake), but it delivered exactly what was promised.

6.5/10

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for this feel-good ARC.

📝After a disastrous first encounter, Hailey and Wes find themselves meeting again. Neither of them want the distraction of a romantic relationship an decide to be “just friends” but nothing more. However, as months pass and they keep hanging out, real feelings blossom. Will they take that risk?

💭The best part about this book was how authentic the progression of their relationship was. Nothing felt rushed and the amazing supporting characters added a realistic piece to the story! Hailey and Wes were both interesting characters outside of their romantic relationship with career goals and lovable personalities, and they just fit as a couple. While this is book 3 in the Jansen Brother series, it can 100% be read as a stand-alone as Sullivan does a great job giving you glimpses of the relationships from the prior two books and making you truly understand the brother dynamic. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrators did a great job making the characters come to life!

A slow burning friends to lovers contemporary romance that has entertaining and likable characters. The story is told through alternating points of view of the main characters, Hailey and Wes. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives since made the story more interesting to know why both characters reacted the way that they did in each situation.
As with the previous two books in this series we are introduced to the characters with a fun meet cute. Both Hailey and Wes are not looking for a serious romantic relationship but they are great as friends. Wes helps Hailey with getting her new business off the ground while Hailey helps Wes with his social life. As they get to know each other better there are sparks that are undeniable but will they actual act on their feelings and if they do are they emotionally available for a serious relationship?
This is a fun continuation of the Jansen Brothers series. I was pleased to see a few familiar characters included in this book but this book can, without a doubt, be read as a stand alone. Although, I highly recommend the first two installments because they are fabulous books and will give you a bit more knowledge of Wes Jansen's background.
The narrators, Timothy Andrés Pabon and Stephanie Willing, did a superb job. The speed and cadence to their narration was wonderful and they added feeling to Wes and Hailey's story.
I am grateful to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to an an advanced audio copy of this fun and heartwarming book in exchange for an honest review.

The audiobook for this is not an option on goodreads at this time, so I will post my review on the paperback edition until the audiobook is listed. I was unaware that this was the third book in a series when I requested it, but that being said it was still easy to follow and jump right in. The narrators were very good and put on a good performance. This book was well written, Sophie Sullivan clearly knows what she is doing. But for me, story wise it was only okay. It felt like every other contemporary romance novel I have read in the past year. The thing that stuck out the most for me, rather than the characters was how disgusting a dessert salad sounds to me. Girl, no wonder your shop wasn't making money in the beginning! You're trying to sell people salads with chocolate on top as a dessert. I was also not a huge fan of the fact that Hayley's business only starts to be successful after a man inserts himself in it and decides to "fix" everything for her. I'm not sure why every romance novel heroine needs a man to "fix" things for them to be successful. I would actually rate this book a 2.5, but I will round up to 3.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were well developed & I felt like I really got to know them! It had the perfect amount of romance without being overly cheesy. The friendship/love between Wes & Haley was so sweet & relatable!

This is my first romance type book in about 5 years and I am hooked!!! This book gave me all the warm feelings and had me feeling connected to the characters. I will be reading more by this author!!!

3.5 ⭐️

Told in alternating POVs, this is a friends to lovers, super slow burn book.

You start off with Wes being adamant that Hailey is lying about who she is, then they become friends basically by circumstance, and then they realize they like each other but fight that growing feeling.

Hailey is a sweet local business owner that believes in love. Wes is a no-nonsense business tycoon that doesn’t want to fall in love because he doesn’t want someone to have the kind of power over him that comes with that feeling. Sounds like a healthy basis for a relationship, right?

The plot was fine, but the more I got to know the characters the more I didn’t LOVE them. Hailey is so fiercely independent that it seems like she says “no” to Wes’ help just for the sake of being able to say she didn’t have help. Wes’ back and forth with how he treats Hailey(because of his own insecurities with relationships after childhood) drove me nuts.

There were some sweet moments in this book. Hailey and Wes as friends was my favorite part of this book, not their “romance”.

Dnf.

Initially I liked this book. The lead lady was cute and fun and I was curious about if her new salad show was going to work out, but then the guy was introduced as a narrator and I lost interest immediately.

Not only did I prefer her and want her back,, the actual male character didn’t work for me—I could tell with each line that this was a “man written by a woman”. It would have been better if he had been a woman.

I was hoping for more of a rom-com but from the first chapters this jumped right into “typical romance”

I didn’t realize this was a #3, so I wasn’t familiar with any of the characters or backstories.

Thanks netgalley for my ARC

I received an arc of this audiobook from NetGalley. Some discussions of the plot below, nothing overly spoilery.

This book was such a hoot. We follow two narrators: Hailey and Wes after a disastrous meet-cute that ultimately results in them becoming friends. Wes is an investor and tech guy with a secret passion for video game creation and art. Hailey has just opened a salad shop after a bad break up and is an independent entrepreneur who loves making delicious salads for her community. Both have been burned by love and the examples of it they’ve seen, and are determined not to make those same mistakes again. Despite their attraction to one another, they’ve decided to be just friends.

This book features a very lovable cast of characters including Wes’s brothers and their girlfriends, Hailey’s cousin and friends she makes along the way, and assorted community members that Hailey adopts at the shop. Everyone is passionate, compassionate, and kind. The book, in so many ways, felt like a warm hug. The friendship between Wes and Hailey is charming and believable, and the banter between them is fun and sweet. I enjoyed hanging out with them as the silent third wheel.

While Hailey and Wes (as well as the relationship between Wes and his brothers), are more fleshed out, other characters take much more of a backseat. I imagine that several characters would stand out more if readers read the first two books in the series. As a standalone, the background characters can get a little muddled, but it doesn’t radically impact the main love story.

There were a couple of plot loose ends left in, such as Hailey’s community center book club that never came to fruition, or Wes’s father’s lawsuit against the brothers. There was mention of Hailey being a reader without that ever showing that she was a reader. But in other places we do get a more satisfying action, like seeing Wes actually design a video game after thinking about it for a while. There was some clutter with all of the people, ideas, and events that happened on the page or were mentioned off-page, and some loss of potentially great relationships.

But the relationship between Wes and Hailey was sweet, and I enjoyed seeing them experience their various trials and tribulations. Their final fight was not especially believable, because it seemed as though Wes’s stumbling block was handled over the course of the book already, but it came to a sweet conclusion none the less. Highly recommend for a sweet love story and very funny lines like “Life happens. Hearts get broken. You are ROCKING the salad world.”

A Guide To Being Just Friends is book 3 of the Jansen Brothers series by author Sophie Sullivan. It is a standalone contemporary romance with a HEA.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
✔️ Slow burn
✔️ Friends to lovers
✔️ PG/Closed door romance
✔️ Found family
✔️ When Harry Met Sally vibes

Hailey has just moved into to town to start fresh and kick start her By The Cup salad shop. Wes is using dating apps to try to find someone he just likes.

They meet when Hailey goes to the bakery next door to her shop and Wes mistakenly accuses her of standing him up. When the mix up is cleared up they instantly connect and fall into an easy friendship.

Since neither is looking for a serious relationship, they come up with a guide (in infographic form) to being just friends to ensure it lasts. But as the months pass and they spend time together, non-platonic feelings bloom. But will they let themselves fall in love?

I really liked Hailey and Wes’ friendship. I loved the bonds between Wes and his brothers and how they wanted to give back and help their community. The friendships Hailey builds are also heartwarming.

Yet I wasn’t a fan of how stubbornly resistant Hailey was to receiving help or gifts from Wes, nor his mulishness about relationships. I think that the slow burn and closed door romance added a bit to my bangxiety*

I was an overall cute, fun and enjoyable read. I’m sure fans of the series will love this installment. The performance by both narrators was well done, they gave the characters an extra layer and brought them to life.

By the numbers quick review:
★ Hero: 👤👤👤👤
★ Heroine: 👤👤👤
★ Plot: 📚📚📚📚
★ Romance: 💕💕💕
★ Sexiness: 🔥
★ Performance: 👤👤👤👤

* Bangxiety (noun coined by @ratetheromance): When you are 65% into a romance and the main characters haven’t had sex yet and you start to worry that you might be reading a “clean romance.”

Cute and sweet, predictable in a good, comforting way. The main characters, Hailey and Wes, each have their own issues from their pasts that cause them to act, or sometimes overreact, to the various situations they end up in but they, of course, manage to work through them and find their way to each other in the end. I really liked their friendship and honestly would not have been disappointed if they had just stayed friends, but of course it’s a rom com so that’s not where it’s going to end up..

Perfect for when you want to read something cozy, with low-stakes/drama/spice that won’t leave you stressed out from an emotional rollercoaster. Friends to lovers, found family, grumpy-sunshine, slow burn…lots to enjoy!
And it’s totally fine as a stand alone - this was the first book in the series that I’ve read and I never felt like I was missing something. But I enjoyed the characters so I’ll definitely be going back and reading the first two books!

Really enjoyed the audiobook, the narration is well done and keeps you in the story.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and Macmillan Audio for the free book.
This book was so much fun. I loved getting to know Hailey and Wes as individuals and as friends throughout this book. Their banter was fun, their growth realistic, and the relationship had great pacing. It was also fun to see Wes with his brothers and get a glimpse into their relationships from the previous books. I loved how Hailey advocated and set boundaries for herself. Might be my favorite part of the book. Sullivan shows how relationships can develop and work towards always being healthy with open communication, even when further intervention is needed. Highly recommend this one! If you’re interested in the audio, both characters have their own narrator. Their performances made these characters come alive and I loved the tension created by their performance when it comes to this relationship.

Wow I loved not only the story but the narrator. She had a nice rhythm to her speech that helped make the book more enjoyable. The story it self was great and I even
N laughed at the characters a couple of times.