I really enjoyed this story of Craig and Lorelai. They were friends years ago when he she was engaged to his bandmate. Country music dropped her after a scandal, and now she's trying to a comeback with Craig's help.
They were so good for each other the whole way through the book. I love their text game, and how he repeatedly demonstrates how much he cares about her.
There were lots of great side characters in here, and I rooted for Lorelai as she stood up for her values and what is right. This was a fun, quick read, and Shelby and Cameron from Built to Last make appearances.

Best friends to lovers with song lyrics & *secret* erotic poetry? Yes please!

📖 Friends Don’t Fall in Love
📝 Erin Hahn
🗓️ 10/17/2023
💜 Contemporary Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Lorelai & Craig (aka Huck/Huckleberry) are best friends, and it’s just never seemed like the right time for them to be more. From her being unavailable to them working together, Craig is in love with Lorelai from the start - she just has to catch up 😉

I struggled at first to get into this one, I felt the prologue a bit confusing and unnecessary, but once I was past that I really enjoyed it!
I loved the show Nashville and it definitely had similar vibes.

Tropes + Topics:
🎙️ One night stand
🎙️ Best friends to lovers
🎙️ He falls first
🎙️ Nashville country music scene
🎙️ Music producer mmc
🎙️ Country singer + teacher fmc
🎙️ Forced proximity
🎙️ Song lyrics & erotic poetry
🎙️ MCs over 30
🎙️ Dual POV/first person

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy to review. All opinions are my own.

Lorelai Jones was a country music starlet who played one protest song on a very public stage that led to her career imploding and her fiancé dumping her in a very public way. Her return to Nashville and attempt at a comeback brings her back in the orbit of Craig Boseman, a talented music producer and her long-time friend and one-time one-night stand.

I loved Built to Last, which this is kind of a sequel to, but Friends Don't Fall in Love can be read as a standalone. I find Erin Hahn's writing to be relatable, endearing, and emotionally satisfying, and all of that was true here. The friends-to-lovers trope was beautifully executed, the steam was on point, and the cameos from the prior book were fun. My biggest issue with this book was the amount of profanity used by both main characters. I think it cheapened an otherwise well-written story. That aside, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for gifting me with an ARC to review! I enjoyed it.

4.5 stars
I’ve always loved Erin Hahn’s YA books, but she’s been killing it with her adult romance titles. Friends Don’t Fall in Love was a companion to her book Built to Last, but a friends to lovers music story—even bringing back cameos from the couple in her first novel You’d Be Mine. The chemistry between our couple was so electric and very spicy. I loved them.

This was definitely one of my favorite Erin Hahn books - right behind You’d Be Mine (which got some airtime this book as well 🙃).

📖The Details:
Friends Don’t Fall in Love by Erin Hahn

⏱️Quick Summary:
Lorelei Jones is making a comeback in country music after the industry shut her out for getting too political (a la The Chicks “shut up and sing”). She pairs up with a friend from the past (and former songwriter for her ex-fiancé who left her after said scandal). Friends to lovers, second chance.

💁🏻‍♀️My Take:
Swoooon! I really really liked Lorelei and her whole journey. I was rooting for her in personal life, professional life, and love life. She’s the girl everyone can be friends with. And Huck! What a guy. I loved their banter and how much they believed in each other. It was a such a sweet story with some insight into the music industry and some heavier topics.

4 ⭐️ recommend!!

After her world fell apart six years ago, Lorelei fled the music scene in Nashville to go back home to Michigan to return to teaching. Now she is back to see if she came overcome the past with the help of her longtime friend Craig, who now has his own music studio. This is a spicy romance where they are both afraid to let the other know that they love them. This is the second book in what looks to be a trilogy, though it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone book.

I loved this book! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and this was no exception. The characters were great, the romance was fast-paced and believable, the anecdotes into the past were done really well. I’m looking forward to any other adult romances this author writes in the future.

A disgraced Nashville superstar and her longtime friend and eventual producer, what could go wrong when they have romantic feelings for each other? Both did a lot of second guessing, but in the end the resolution was worth it. This book was quite a romantic ride! I was rooting for Lorelai and Huck. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

This is my first Erin Hahn book, and I'm thrilled to say that it definitely won't be my last!

This book is simultaneously sweet and spicy and lighthearted and heartwrenching. How? Not sure. But it is.

I'm a big friends-to-lovers fan, and Hahn did a great job with portraying this couple as such. And it's all centered around country music?! Yes, please!

After one night together, Lorelai decidees to leave her best friend Huck in order to pursue her music career. Huck, always supporting her, stands on the sidelines, loving her from afar.

Friends don't fall in love... but maybe sometimes they do?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

unfortunately this book was hard for me to love! I usually love the friends to lovers trope. However with all the backstory, it felt like we missed 3/4 of lorelai and craig's story, and we just got the highlights of it in the beginning. plus, with them already having had a one-night stand, it felt like they were never actually "in the friend zone". they were both clearly in love with each other.

This was a sweet friends to lovers romance. I was invested in their story & I wanted to see them together. The chemistry was great & I always love when “he falls first”. Great for lovers of country music & Nashville also.

Rating: Loved It, 4.5 stars

Friends Don't Fall in Love is the second romance novel I've read by Erin Hahn, and I think that she will be an auto-buy romance author for me! I loved Friends Don't Fall in Love. In this we follow Lorelei Jones, a former country star whose career fell apart when she played a song in protest of guns and school shootings. She is attempting to make a comeback in Nashville where she has one friend, Craig "Huckleberry" Boseman, her best friend and former bandmate to her ex-fiance.

This is a friends to lovers romance that I felt like was done pretty well overall. With any friends to lovers there always seems to be an element of repetition and miscommunication, but while that was present to some degree, it didn't feel overwhelming. I liked Lorelei's personality and that Huck was the one who was the over-thinker and and the one who would spiral. I believed them as a couple. I also appreciate the nods to country music and the current issues within it. Overall, I felt this was very well done and a great time.

I am hopeful that we get another companion novel to this series to follow Maren, the third friend in the trio of Shelby, Lorelei, and Maren. I enjoy these characters and this slice of the world that Erin Hahn has created.

Friends Don't Fall in Love releases on October 17, 2023. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an advance eARC of this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A spicy, steamy second chance, friends to lovers romance set in the world of country music. Lorelei lost it all when she sang "Ohio" at a concert and managed to offend her audience so she went home to Michigan and taught school but now she's back in Nashville and in Craig- Huck's- heart. He's a songwriter who now runs a recording studio and he's deeply into her. Both of them tell this story of how they come together again and how he helps her revive her career. You know what else happens, don't you? There are good atmospherics, zippy dialogue, and interesting insight into the songwriting process. I suspect there will be some who won't appreciate Lorelei's perspective on certain things, which is part of the point. If I have a quibble it's the way their back story is told because I found it confusing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A light quick read with good characters.

Thank to you to the publisher for a copy of this great friends to lovers romance. I adore the history between Lorelei and Craig and seeing the flashback and their relationship. The banter and tension between them is so good. I love the added lyrics and how much they played in the story. This story always covers some heavier subjects which added more depth to the story.

I was not expecting this to be a full on sequel to not just Built to Last but also You’d Be Mine. I was approved for the YBM e-arc years ago and it is a book that has never left my mind since, and every single one of Erin’s books does not miss.

Friends Don’T Fall In Love was utter perfecting! The unrequited love, the yearning, the SPICE! So delicious. And I loved seeing all the familiar faces. Lorelai was a favorite from Built to Last and I am so happy I got a chance to read her story.

I actually wish this book was LONGER because I just want to live in these character’s world all the time.

I am kind of hoping Maren’s story is next based on that little piece of info we got at the end there.

I will forever and always be an Erin Hahn stan and I cannot wait for more

This was a good book. At first, I was a bit worried because it seemed like it could be a bit slow but I was proven wrong.
There was a good backstory, which was great to see. But it seemed weird at times because you are reading in present day and then all of a sudden bam you are in the past. There was a lot of back and forth of that for a good part of the book.

The chemistry between the 2 main characters is so strong and I am so glad for that. It felt like something that could really happen in life and made for a great story. I loved how it all came together.
I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters even the background ones, because at times they even played an important role in the story.

I am so happy to have been able to read this ARC, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. The above is my honest opinion and voluntary.

Lorelai Jones had the perfect country music career and the perfect fiancé until she took a stand and it all fell apart. Five years later, she is trying hard to rekindle her dream with the help of indie music producer and one of her good friends, Craig Boseman. Craig has been in love with Lorelai for years but always stuck to the friend zone. Now that they are working closely together and Lorelai is starting to see the sparks fly too, will they be able to stick to the friend zone or will it turn into something more?

I really wanted to like this book because it love the friends to lovers theme, but I just couldn’t get into this one. There was something about the storyline and the characters that I just couldn’t connect with and it didn’t help that I wasn’t a fan of Lorelai at all. I really enjoyed Craig, but that wasn’t enough to overcome my feelings about her. I can definitely see how many who love this trope will love this romance, but it just wasn’t for me. I’ve read other books by Erin Hahn that I’ve enjoyed, so this was a one off for me. If you like friends to lovers with a slow burn, give this book a try!

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

4.5 stars for me. I fell in love with Shelby and Cameron, so I needed to continue. Lorelei was a fun, spunky woman in the first book and I was squealing when I found out she was getting her own book. Craig (huckleberry) was perfect for her, and she was perfect for him . There was some spice, but it was mostly a lot of pining and swooning . I am such an Erin Hahn Stan .

Can’t wait for this book to come out. I’ve been waiting for Lorelai’s story since I finished Book 1 in the series. This could be read as a standalone but “Built to Last” is fantastic and I highly recommend reading them in order. Everyone is going to love Craig Boseman aka Huckleberry.
This country singer got “canceled” because of a political statement she took on gun control (especially schools) which is a subject very dear to the author’s heart (her social media). So it was wonderful to see so much of herself poured into this story while also bringing the HEAT!
A spicy book with a lot of heart and movement t. You’ll like it a lot.

Don’t let the title fool you, friends absolutely do fall in love!

Hilarious, heart-felt, and deeply feminist, this book is about more than a romance. It’s about gun control, the way the media demonizes women in the public eye, and what it means to have a voice and use it.And, of course, it’s about falling in love with your best friend.

Erin Hahn has done an amazing job of writing a spicy yet sweet romcom that put a giant smile on my face. Bonus points for all the Easter Eggs, some people who have read her YA books may recognize a couple of the characters in this book…

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*