A super fun friends to lovers workplace romance set in Australia by a new to me author. This was full of humor and heart and perfect for fans of authors like Emily Henry. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

This is the first of Natalie Murray’s novels I have read and I really enjoyed it!
The second chance romance story had all the feels, and will leave you rooting for Josie and Zac, all while they rediscover their lost friendship. The dual timeline works well and helps fill in the gaps nicely.

4-star read!

LOVE, JUST IN was absolutely PRECIOUS! IT definitely was spot on for being for fans of PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry. It is such a sweet friends-to-lovers semi-second chance love romance. I loved different story lines and inclusion of mental health. I look forward to reading more from this author!

This is a book that I read in a day as it was so easy to read and to get to know the characters in the story. Josie is a person I could relate to and I enjoyed her and her friendship with Zac. It is a cute and sweet read but not airy fairy as some might think it would be.

The story flowed well, had some fun, some drama, some romance and that it was set in Australia. A good read, easy and quick and a bit of fun.

Thank you NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

2.5 stars
I felt a sense of deja vu reading this book- it was almost like a fan fic of People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. The exact same vibe of best friends currently not speaking to each other and all of the back and forth across the timeline to piece together what went wrong and give them their HEA. I didn’t really connect with either of the main characters in either of the timelines but I can see how others will love it!

DNF: Not bad, it just wasn't for me! Friends to lovers can be a tricky trope, and these two had a lot of other stuff going on as well. It didn't work for me. It's a complex story that is likely to hit with some readers more than others. I ended up DNFing.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that it was set in Australia, as an Aussie it made me able to connect with the characters more. I also loved the Jose and Zac as characters, they felt real and flawed and I enjoyed their dynamic with each other. Murray really showed their awkwardness if leaning to be friends again after what they have been through while also showing their deep physical and emotional attraction to each other. Which is not an easy thing to do, but Murray is able to achieve. The reason I couldn't give it 5 stars was because it was marketed as an Aussie Emily Henry book, while their are many similarities between this book and Henry's work, Murray's writing lack what magic Emily Henry's has. But, don't get me wrong this book is still amazing and utterly perfect for any Rom Com lovers, Aussie or not.

I was sold by the cover and synopsis for this one - I could relate to approaching 30 and still being single! And the TV newsroom and Newcastle settings were a draw.

Ultimately though, I feel let down by something billed as a romcom being so dramatic. And super slow burn is just not for me.

Interspersed are flashback chapters, which I really could have done without. Characters allude to things clearly enough that I then didn't need to see those scenes - I got enough of the gist without needing to be yanked out of the present-day timeline. The details grated on me after awhile too; for example, three mentions of the coffee being dark roast were too many. i didn't care what the MMC's graphic tees said - at best he's a 30-year-old in a trying=too-hard shirt, at worst he's a man wearing a shirt with the word "crazy" on it (a red flag!).

I really liked the inclusion of health anxiety, and the focus on Josie's career. In fact, I think I'd have enjoyed this one a lot more if it had been general fiction instead of romance - if the story arc was just about her, not about her journey AND their relationship.

Readers who enjoy loads of details likely will enjoy this one more than me, and those better able to see the MMC as wonderful. (I'm sorry, but if someone needlessly explains confirmation bias to me during a serious conversation, I'm walking away!)

This one was fun and definitely gave some People We Meet on Vacation vibes! I really loved both of the main characters working through some real things, and I felt like they were fully fleshed out. For the romance itself, I went back and forth between being obsessed with them and rolling my eyes at how high school they were acting. Maybe that's a me-thing because I find myself often slightly disappointed by friends-to-lovers but I'd overall definitely recommend it to anyone who loves that trope!!

Thank you to the author Natalie Murray, publishers Allen & Unwin, and NetGalley for a complimentary digital copy. All views are mine.

Opening Quote: 'You can be with people and still be alone.' Loc.384

I don't think this book was too bad, but rather just really "not for me"!

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. I like the hypochondriac element of the fmc's development. It's a fascinating form for her anxiety to take. Hopefully the author won't take it to a stereotypical or sanist place.

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. The style is, in part, overwritten. The narrator often describes the same detail twice or more. This tendency contributes to the book's bloated size.

2. Honestly, I cannot relate less to a character's motivations for a novel than this: Oh my god, is she right? Could I actually win this job? After that , all I would need would be to fall in love with an incredible man, get married on the beach in Hawaii, and be pregnant. All my ambitions achieved before I’m thirty— tick, tick, tick. Loc.477

3. I think this book is a bit sanist in how it looks at its fmc. For example, at Loc.1301, the fmc herself stigmatized her own socially acceptable behavior.

Rating: 😬😬.5 nervous leads
Recommend? yes, just not for me!
Finished: Dec 31 '23
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetG0alley
Read this book if you like:
💋 romance
🎥 journalism
💜 prose
🩻 characters anxious about health

Love, Just In is such a perfect, heartfelt book! The main characters were so lovable, the MMC Zac being absolute perfection. I couldn’t dream up a better best friend/lover myself! The depth of emotional connection the two held really pulled my heart strings all the way through the book. I found there to be a perfect balance of romance, humor, emotion and spice. It was just an all around wonderful book! Natalie Murray is definitely an author to look out for in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy!

4 1/2 stars

I really enjoyed this "kind of" second chance romance with Josie and Zac. They've been best friends since childhood and have each had on and off again crushes on the other person but never at the right time. Due to a traumatic loss, Zac moved and has been pretty much radio silent with Josie for the past two years. But now she's temporarily moving to Newcastle where Zac lives and it's a chance for them to reconnect and repair their friendship. But things are more complicated than Josie anticipated.

The flashbacks to Josie and Zac's past are a bit heartbreaking because you can see how they took so many missteps along the way. You can see the two of them reaching toward one another and then pulling back out of fear that the other person doesn't feel the same way.

It's a story about life and the pain of finding your way through all of its realities and hardships. Zac and Josie both have traumatizing events from their past that are impacting their present lives and that is a key part of the storyline as well.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Okay so if you have regular anxiety or health anxiety, I don’t recommend reading this book because it had me STRESSED.

First of all, the writing itself was not great. Like the female MC is the narrator but not only are we getting her narrating we have like double narration because her like Lizzie McGuire cartoon character thoughts are in italics within the narration and we are being pulled to the side way too many times with her inner-inner thoughts.

Then like, this was supposed to be a rom-com and out of nowhere this girl starts internally panicking about the smallest things being like cancer, and okay don’t we all I guess, but it wasn’t explained where this was going until like waaaayyyy into the book, like we are 60-70% in before we start getting some explanation.

And then this friends to lovers romance is all over the place, and the guy went through this truly tragic experience, and this MC is leading him ON. And toying with him, and everyone just keeps praising her for being such a good person but she says the most ridiculous things.

Like, okay so maybe if this had some better writing and editing, it wouldn’t be so bad. I’ve never seen health anxiety addressed in a book before, but is a rom-com the right place? I don’t know. These rom-coms lately are doing too much, like I’m looking for something lighthearted and this has SO much trauma and anxiety in it, I was stressed every time I picked it up.

Not sure if I’d recommend this one? If you want to read it just know it’s heavier than your typical rom-com, the writing isn’t great, and everything is a mess.

Thank you @allenandunwin and @netgalley for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Love, Just In is the story of childhood friends reuniting after two years of little communication and given a second chance to see where their relationship might lead. This takes place in Australia, beginning in the summer through to winter.

At 28, Josie has an opportunity to progress in her news reporting career and transferred to the city where her friend Zac lives. She had always placed Zac in the friend-zone from the time they met at 14, and may have developed feelings for him while they lived together through university, but supported him through an engagement until his fiancée died. He shut down, moved two hours away, and stopped communicating with Josie. Now that he is back in her life, she wants to repair that friendship.

They are both struggling with their mental health - Josie around getting cancer young as it runs in her family, Zac around traumatic car crashes even though he is a paramedic. Together they learn to open up and help each other through their insecurities, and soon realize their love for each other has developed past friendship and into romantic.

I enjoyed their journey together, and was rooting for them through the slow burn. They made it 60% in until they caved, and the rest to figure out how to make it work. Zac was adorable and Josie was hilarious. Many of the side characters were enjoyable too, but we didn’t get to know any of them too deep. Some of the dialogue didn’t feel genuine, and the conflicts were sensationalistic, but the story flowed well and was a fast read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for providing this eARC for my honest review.

This is a lovely story about first love and friends to lovers told through jobs and topics that are new to me. Josie’s newscaster job takes her to the town Zac Jameson, her BFF, lives and gives her the chance to rekindle their friendship after Zac moved from Sydney to Newcastle. Josie has to cope with her own health issues while battling for the news reporter job she has always wanted. Zac continues to heal from a past tragedy. Will these two BFFs find love? Told through dual timeline it gives the reader a glimpse into the beginning of Josie and Zac’s relationship that ties into the present. The story is beautifully scripted.

WOW!!! This book!!
I truly enjoyed this book, I picked it up and could not put it down. I also cannot stop thinking about it either.
Aside from the friends to lovers trope, this book highlights the genuine struggle people have with mental health and anxiety.
It is very clear these two characters have a genuine love for one another. There are also times when I want to shake Josie and say stop!!! When everything comes to light for Zac my heart just broke and I cried. I have never met to characters who were more destined than these two.

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. It will make you laugh, cry and swoon. It will be a favorite, that you'll pull out when you need a boost, because Josie and Zac go through some major issues and trauma, but find a way through it.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book overall. I love the alternating timelines as it added depth to the characters and their present day story. I related to Josie's anxiety and I felt that it was portrayed in a well thought out manner as someone who has these same struggles. The place where I fell this fell flat was the chemistry between Josie and Zac. I adore the friends to lovers and slow burn, but the miscommunication in adult romance is something I do not enjoy especially where communication should be a solid basis when they are friends in the start. I would recommend this to people and would look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honst review.

I love a good rom com and this one did not disappoint.

This was my first Natalie Murray book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the story and the characters.

This one is definately worth reading.

I really enjoyed this rom-com - a friends-to-lovers romance told with humor and feeling, with a couple of more serious underlying themes. Josie is almost 30, and thinks she knows exactly what she wants for her life. She's also her own worst enemy in achieving her goals. Zac has been her best friend since high school. He's slowly recovering from some serious emotional trauma. They find themselves back in each others' lives after a couple of years of near estrangement. Their story is told in present time as well as in a series of flashbacks to different periods in their friendship. I enjoyed the humor and their best friend banter. And I liked that their friendship was so important to them both, important enough that they worried about transitioning from friendship to romance, because they didn't want to risk the friendship. And as someone who's had Australia on my travel bucket list since I read The Thorn Birds in the 80s, the locale was also very appealing. More seriously, though, I liked the underlying theme of how health anxiety (aka hypochondria) can be seriously debilitating when it remains unrecognized and/or unaddressed. Natalie Murray addresses this in her acknowledgements, letting us know that she wanted to write a book that included health anxiety because it's something she deals with in her own life. Overall, this was a fun read that kept me awake way too long when I got to those last few chapters.
Thanks to Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for providing a copy for an unbiased review.