A great little romance that also deals with some big issues like trauma and anxiety.
I loved both Josie and Zac and their friendship, even though it was strained in their current time, the flashbacks showed how much they cared for one another.
Lindsey was the worst….there I said it

This was a cute friends to lovers romance set in Newcastle, Australia. I enjoyed the relationship between Josie and Zac and the best friend banter. This story is set in a dual timeline that jumps back and forth between the present and past events to provide the details and background to some of the current issues. There are a few content warnings (car accident, drunk driving). This was a nice escape read to the warm beaches of Australia while in the middle of winter in the Midwest. This would make a great beach vacation read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Friends to lovers, seems to be a common theme these days. I have to give the author credit for job well done, it can be hard to write without sounding like all the other ones out there. This was slow to get going but once I got into it, I could not put it down. I liked that the author touched on Medical Anxiety as myself lives with all the Anxiety. I found that I could relate to the main character and putting yourself out there is scary when your brain telling you something different.

Josie is almost thirty and feels like she should be at her career and life goals by now. But soon after on air panic attack on air she is sent to a small-town Newcastle to cover another reporter while they are on a six month leave, so she is back to square one. What should be the good news about this is her best friend lives in Newcastle, but they have barely talked for the last two years. Both dealing with mental health issues and needing each other more than anything right now. Which seems easy enough, but friendship and love can tangle this complicated web that you have to untangle. Are they brave enough?

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for copy of this book for my honest review.

Love, Just In, had an intriguing synopsis that drew me in. While there was a hint of a mysterious event that caused our two main characters to go from best friends to awkward acquaintances, I still had trouble staying interested. I usually read contemporary romance in one sitting but I kept putting this one down. The characters were very flat and I just couldn’t be less interested in them. The writing overall was good but the characters needed more depth.

A cute romance with a friends-to-lovers trope. Loved the Australian setting and the history that Josie and Zac shared. Theirs is a wholesome love built on shared trauma and I really loved that they were there for each other. Nice to read about just good characters that are nice people.

Love, love, love!! This was a delightful read that just squeezes your heart! It was so well written and the epitome of a great romance that you want all of your friends to read!

I don't know if it was just the wrong time for this book, but I wasn't thrilled with it. I can't say I won't try again, but for now I have to set this one aside

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I think there were elements in this story that I didn’t enjoy, but it didn’t mean that others will feel the same. I have a lot of anxiety from getting cancer, so I could empathise with her feelings, but I didn’t want to relive it, if that makes sense. It was too realistic and feeling that anxiety wasn’t enjoyable for me.
The weird banter at the start with her and Zac felt like she’d treated him badly in the past, and she hadn’t been a particularly caring of his feelings.

Josie Larsen's been sent off to Newcastle after a major flub on Sydney news. It's not permanent but it feels like a demotion. One good thing is she will be able to reconnect with long-term best friend, Zac, who has been distant since his fiancé was killed in a car crash. But initially things are awkward with Zac and the job still feels like a demotion.

This friends=to-lovers story had characters who both had a lot of development in the course of the book. Josie had been dealing with health anxiety and Zac was dealing with guilt, among other things. I liked the way it addressed the health anxiety, and it did so in a realistic way. Anxiety isn't something that can be fixed easily so it was good to see how she reached the pathway to coping better with life without an instant cure. Along the way we meet several side characters, including roommates who like to walk around nude and friends having babies. There's a fair bit of humour mixed in the angst, for sure.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and give it 3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Allen and Unwin for the advanced reader copy. I have provided this review voluntarily.

*thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my review*

Josie and Zac. Sunbeam and Favorite. These cuties tangle in a battle of who-overthinks-the-most as they navigate the muddy waters of being roommates after fourteen years of friendship and two years apart. This friends-to-lovers romance was filled with so much more heart than I expected. The pair has to wrestle with past and present traumas and anxiety, and they slowly learn that they don’t have to do it alone.

If you’ve ever had a guy best friend who you’ve suddenly found attractive, you will find Josie’s situation humorously relatable. All of the awkwardness that comes with finding your friends attractive is on display here. And while this isn’t a rom-com, I had my share of giggles in the lighter moments.

Of course, this book has heavy moments too—addressing health anxiety in a way that was so particularly sensitive that I was truly moved. The amount of compassion that I developed as I was reading honestly surprised me. But what good is the message that you’re not alone, if the readers can’t feel it for themselves? Natalie Murray has expertly crafted a story that reaches out to her readers through a relationship filled with ups and downs and most of all real love and support.

AHEM, PLS NOTE:
- dual pov
- trouble 🐶
- bad jokes and lots of sarcasm
- sweet nicknames
- fake dating
- are we flirting??
- marriage pact 🤭
- forced proximity
- “I’ll be there.”
- #IsThisAKissingBook: open door

Josie and Zac have been best friends since they were teenagers. Zac tried to break through the friend zone once - and only once - and was quickly put back in his place.

Even after that, the two were inseparable. They roomed together in college. Josie introduced him to his fiance. Nothing could come between them.

Until the unthinkable happened and Zac's entire world shattered. Josie ends up left behind while he picked up the pieces.

Love, Just In is a relentless romance where your heart never stops pounding, wondering what's going to happen next. The flashbacks build up the relationship to the point where you're breathlessly waiting for them to get out of their own way. I DEVOURED this story and cheered when the slow burn finally exploded!

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was due to other woman/other man drama. It added to the tension which was nice but was taken a bit too far at times.

Fans of mild angst, witty banter, and second chances will fall in love with Zac and Josie!

Thank you, Natalie Murray and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Love, Just In is about our FMC Josie reconnecting with her best friend, Zac after an incident 2 years prior had caused some distance between them. These characters didn’t have their lives together entirely which was nice, realistic and so relatable. There was a lot of tension and angst in this book- which I’m always here for! I swooned, I felt frustrated, I felt sad, I felt relief, right alongside the characters. I always feel like if a book can educate you while telling a story and making you feel, it’s a good one.

Please check out Natalie’s site for CW.

Give me a good friends-to-lovers anydayyyyy!
This story definitely has a bit more bite behind their history, which adds to the depth of Zac and Josie's reconciliation after two rough years apart. Plus, we love a good mental health rep! The author wrote such a layered tale and her characters are *chef’s kiss*, like how could you not root for them to end up together?

I had fun with this book. Josie is a great main character for a romance novel - she is driven but messy, fun but focused on career, overthinks literally every choice she makes, and at the end of the day, just wants to find her "person". Zac was charming but kept himself at such arm's length from both Josie and the reader that it was difficult to really fall for him - he was just okay for me. I thought the pacing was a little slow and the novel could have been about 100 pages shorter and been just as effective at displaying the tension between the two of them, but I still enjoyed the book overall. The ending was excellent and the spicy scenes were good, too.

This is a friends-to-lovers romance that deals with some serious topics. Josie is a TV news reporter who has always wanted to be the desk reporter for her station in Sydney. She is sent to cover for a sister station in the smaller town of Newcastle where her lifelong best friend, Zac, lives. This sounds ideal except for the fact that Josie and Zac haven't spoken in two years.

I enjoyed the friendship in this one. Zac seemed fairly perfect with the way he cared for Josie. He is still recovering from the loss of his fiancé and just now getting back on his feet as a paramedic. Zac is cautious about having Josie shake that up. Meanwhile, Josie appears to be at a crossroads. She's dealing with a lot and has severe medical anxiety that she tries to keep hidden from everyone. While I did enjoy the lighter moments of this book, the heavy topics here really felt a bit much at times. It truly made me sad while reading. In addition, both Josie and Zac are seeing other people for a good portion of the book which is not always what I love reading in a romance. That being said, I loved revisiting their memories of growing up together and the ease they had with one another. There is growth here and talk of therapy that I appreciated.

I would say to read your content warnings with this one and if you are okay with heavier subject matters in your romance, you may enjoy this one. I loved the setting in Australia and the summery feel to it. I was happy to see Josie and Zac find their way in the end.

This is a tough one for anyone who has suffered from loss, survivor's guilt, or PTSD. But it was great to see anxiety portrayed in such an honest and caring way. Plus the love story was lovely!

Josie Larkin is a journalist for Channel One News in Sydney. She also battles with crippling, undiagnosed anxiety. When an interview triggers her anxiety during a live report, she is given leave from her job and banished to the newsroom of regional city of Newcastle, instead.

Zac is Josie's best friend, since their school days, but they have been estranged since his fiancee died in a car accident and he shut Josie out of his life. But her arrival in Newcastle gives then the chance to repair their relationship - if only Life would stop getting in the way.

There is a LOT going on in Love, Just In:
* We have the tale of Zac and Josie told through interleaving chapters of 'Now' and flashbacks to 'Then'. The flashbacks are not in any chronological order, but they make sense with the present-day plot.
* We have the tale of Josie's health anxiety and physical health concerns
* We have the tale of Zac and his fiancee
* We have the tale of the newsroom and the off-camera politics
* We have the dramas of the side characters: Meghan, Christina, Lindsay, and "Dahvid"

So there's a lot to unpack. With all of these different storylines woven together, this is a rollercoaster of a book. From the nudist housemate to the delivery of a baby, this book does not let you come up for air. There is one chapter with a couple of sex scenes, but most of the book is about relationships first and foremost.

I loved that it is set in Australia, and the characters are relatable. I LOVED how honest this is when talking about mental health challenges and anxiety, but its not an earnest, serious book on the topic: one can be a functional person and still battle mental illness.

Its a rollercoaster of a story, that elicits laughs, tears, WTF moments and much more.

~Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~

I loved this book so much! The Emily Henry comparisons had me nervous going into this but my goodness Natalie delivered!

This book is friends-to-lovers, second chance and has wonderful mental health rep. Zac and Josie’s story was beautiful and had me feeling all the feels!

Fans of Emily Henry truly will love this book, and the Australian setting was such a comfort and joy to read for me :)

I was really surprised by just how addictive this read became. I am usually not a fan of Friends to Lovers but this was written so well and there was just such depth to each character that I really loved it.

Josie and Zac have been best friends since they were thirteen. But then 2 years ago something happened and Zac cut off contact from Josie. They both went through so much but now they find themselves in the same town trying to reconnect but is there just too much history and unknown between them now to go back to the way it was?

I enjoyed how the author discussed health anxiety which is a prevalent topic in this book as it is something so many people go through and yet it often isn't discussed. This focused in on breast cancer and I know personally having had experience with people with breast cancer it is something I think about often and I can often work myself into an anxious state about it so I really appreciated how raw and honest the author made these characters about this.

I figured this would be a good read to have on the sidelines but I quickly found that I was not able to stop reading as with every chapter I needed to get to the next. I needed the answers, I needed the characters to talk, I needed it all. I was certainly impressed with this read.

LOVE, JUST IN - Natalie Murray

FUN! - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - After a couple of problems, Sydney TV news reporter Josie Larsen is sent to cover another reporter's six-month leave at a regional bureau in Newcastle. The city also happens to be the home of Zac Jameson, her best friend since high school, although they've lost touch. Now thrown back into each other's lives, Josie and Zac have to navigate their neglected friendship and secret attraction to each other while struggling with their careers and mental health.

Writing - 4 stars - This is a new-to-me author, and I found her writing to be light and easy-to-read. She has built enjoyable characters with a little more personality than the usual. Their foibles are clear, but approachable, and I enjoyed sharing in their disappointments and vulnerabilities.

Characters - 4 stars - Zac is the ultimate male main character. He's a genuinely nice guy, a paramedic dedicated to his job, and recovering from the death of his fiancée. However, he's conflicted in his feelings for Josie, not wanting to risk their BFF status, but also having thoughts that are very un-friend-like. Josie is appealing, in a mildly annoying kind of way. She's a good reporter, with scruples and heart, but she gets caught up in her hypochondria, and this makes her seem flightier than she actually is. She also has feelings for Zac, but both are paralyzed with fear that they'll lose their close friendship, so they don't address the issue directly.

Title - 3 stars - I guess this refers to a news phrase, while also indicating that this is a romance. Kind of cute, but a little awkward, in my opinion. Especially since their love has been building for years and isn't really anything new.

Cover - 3.5 stars - I'm not a big fan of these cartoon-y covers, but they seem to be popular at the moment. The bright colors definitely catch the eye.

Overall - 4 stars - This book has all the elements of a fun, light-hearted romance developing between two friends. Unfortunately, their characters are both so worried about what they'll lose if they take a chance that they are stuck in their present unsatisfactory situation. On the other hand, both are fun, and I liked their sense of humor. I also was impressed with their dedication to work and loyalty to their long-term friendship. Interestingly, I learned a lot about health anxiety, something I had not heard of before, and I found it fascinating. I applaud the author for bringing it to our attention in an understanding and understandable way.