“Friends to Lovers is the best trope, yeah? That ‘I’ve been waiting for this for so long’ moment…gah.  Gets me every time.”  Couldn’t agree more 💕

Josie and Zach were the best of friends, until they lost touch two years ago when Zach moved to Newcastle.  But when Josie must travel there for work, they reconnect, though not as seamlessly as Josie would have hoped.  Together they must navigate their past and what truly forced them apart and the dynamics of their new relationship going forward.

This book dealt with a lot of heavy topics like health anxiety, drinking and driving, cancer, etc.  I typically don’t mind a heavier book, but for some reason this one was just a little too much for me.  I think it felt like that was the majority of the story and there just wasn’t enough levity for me personally.  Josie’s constant anxiety made me anxious, and I truly read to help escape that, so didn’t get my normal reprieve.  Overall, still a decent read and I enjoyed the dual timelines that gave a fun view of their friendship before their falling apart and helped add some context into what went wrong.

Thank you to netgalley and publisher Allen & Unwin, and author Natalie Murray for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pub Date: Today, January 3, 2024

This was such a gem of a book!
This is my first read by Natalie Murray and I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but more than that I adored the characters she created and the world we lived in.

I cannot wait for more from Murray!

Super cute romance! Love the card paramedic character line. It was a refreshing change of jobs from most male characters.

Lots of miscommunication among friends, but overall, loved it!

A great second chance/fiends to lovers book! I always appreciate learning through back story more about why the characters are the way they are in present day. Would recommend!

A long term friendship to more with a lot of life in between. There is a lot unpack in this thoughtfully written book. Zac is a respected and talented paramedic who is dealing with the traumatic loss of his girlfriend, has relocated and is trying to move forward with a broken heart and soul. Josie, a news reporter, who is working hard to grow in her role, never got over saying no to Zac years ago when he asked her out and is suffering with some mental health issues she is remiss to address. They reconnect when they are both in the same place for work and travel a long emotional road to finding their way back to themselves and each other.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book!

Love Just In is a second chance friends to lovers romance. Upon starting it, I immediately realized that there was going to be a lot of miscommunication issues with the main characters- which is just NOT for me.

There was a lot of drama for this book somehow also being slow…

content warning: main character with cancer.

Overall this one was just not for me and I decided not to finish it.

Another very, very cute romance! I really enjoyed the characters and plot line in this one. You won't be disappointed.

Natalie Murray has Emily Henry vibes, which I love! Love, Just In is a classic friends-to-lovers with a little spice. Joes is a tv news reporter who is invisible to her boss and is stuck in a loop of friends' milestones. Josie and her best friend from high school, Zac, are thrown back into each other's lives...and this time it might just last. Love, Just In was beautifully written and exceeded my expectations.

Smart, exuberant, and an absolute delight, LOVE, JUST IN by Natalie Murray is that upbeat, intelligent rom com we yearn to read. The tension is high, both at work and in romance, for ambitious newswoman Josie Larson is banished from Sydney to a backwater news station in Newcastle to redeem herself after an on-air panic attack. There, she reconnects with a lifelong best friend in Zac Jameson, silent for the past two years since his fiancé died in his arms. Given six months to get herself together for the life she has always longed to live, Josie is continually challenged to reconsider what is most important to her and who she wants to be. An enthusiastic thumbs up for an escape to a different, warm, wonderful world. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

I really liked this book and it’s main characters.

I wasn’t sure at the beginning about Zac and Josie but I loved how the backstory was weaved in so we could understand how they got to where they are now. The two of them seemed like such sweet friends and as I started to understand I did end up rooting for them to get together.

The mental health representation was so good. I really liked how Natalie added in Health Anxiety as part of the story as I haven’t seen this inside any story I’ve read before.

There were some characters I didn’t like, but none of them were in a way where the story would’ve been better without them. These characters helped make the story even better.

This book was really enjoyable and I would love to reread it at some point.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was my first Natalie Murray read and I will definitely be checking out more from her! This was such a sweet friends-to-lovers story! It was always the wrong time or wrong situation for them. Zac was a goner for her basically all their lives, it took Josie a little longer to realize her feelings and that caused a lot of anguish for both of them.

They hadn’t spoken in 2yrs due to Zac moving away to deal with his grief from a traumatic accident he was involved in, but Josie moves to his city for work & they reconnect. While trying to figure out their new friendship dynamic, they also realize they belong together. Both of them had to really work on their own issues & figure out if they should cross that line in their friendship.

This story was told with flashbacks which gave us a lot of insight into important moments in their friendship and showed just how much they cared for each other. If you like your friends-to-lovers with a side of angst, be sure to check this one out! Thank you to Natalie, Allen & Unwin, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you Net Galley for this arc. It was a very funny book about the longtime friendship and love. The many ups and downs and health issues addressed throughout the book tear at the heartstrings. Anxiety sucks and I’m glad it was spelled out clearly in this book. Grab Lobe, Just In, it it’ll make you feel warm all over. Thank you!

Love, Just in
By Natalie Murray
⭐️4
🌶️3
💧.5

As you all know I live to go in blind. Well colour me surprised when I realised this was an Aussie based book by an Aussie author!!!
This book has some sensitive topics so I do suggest you don’t go in blind as there isn’t a content warning .
I really felt that Josie resonated with me in a lot of ways and a relatable character is always a win!
Zac is such a sweetheart you just want to smoosh him!
Such a great read I really enjoyed this! This book just released today! Go check it out!

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Josie Larsen and Zac Jameson were best friends in high school and university roommates but never anything more after Zac once asked Josie out and was shot down in front of their friends. When Josie takes a long term assignment for work in Newcastle, she and Zac are reunited after many years apart.

Tropes include: 🔄Then & now storytelling 🧍‍♀️🧍‍♂️ friends to lovers 🥹 “it’s always been you” 🌲long term pining

TW: cancer, death of loved ones (past), medical anxiety, death of fiance (past), drunk driving, car crash


Thank you to Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for the advanced copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Josie Larsen goes through some trials and tribulations not only in her home life but also in her career. While working as a News Reporter she has a live panic attack and then gets sent to cover for another reporter which is a down grade from her current position. She ends up in Newcastle while Zac Jameson, whom was her interest in high school does too.

What a romantic read whom I would recommend to anyone that loves to read about love.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A sweet romance that takes place in Australia. Good and sweet concept, an easy and quick read with a great love story !

Took me a while to finally get to this because I was finishing up my 2023 reading list. But I wish I hadnt waited. I read this in 2 days. It got me out of my fantasy genre slump. I didn’t know the author but I’m glad this started that journey. The reading is easy to follow along to and it’s a cute story line.

“It’s like you’ve completely filled my my head, and there’s no room for anything else.”

- Friends to Lovers
- Slow Burn
- First Responder
- It’s always been you vibes
- Miscommunication trope
- Australian setting

It follows along Zac and Josie who have been best friends since they were 13 and they were inseparable until a tragic accident happens and they go without speaking for two years…

I’m not usually a fan of miscommunication tropes but I really enjoyed the two main characters going back and fourth instead of just being upfront with one another. I was enjoying (and internally screaming that they just tell each other how they feel) but it was fun watching them navigate their feelings after every thing they’ve been through.

The book goes back and fourth from the present to the past and in doing so takes you through some tragic events so check trigger warnings or dm me if you need, it’s nothing major but I like to point it out.

I can’t wait to read more of this authors work! Forever grateful that I was gifted not only an e-arc but a physical arc also

What’s not to like with a friends to lovers story?! First book by this author and I loved it, the storyline, the destination, etc. had some important topics about grief and mental health. Definitely one to pick up!

This is a slow build friends to lovers book.

Josie is a news reporter who struggles with anxiety. She feels like she has hit the wall in her life and career, and of course the one time she freezes on air, her boss happens to be watching. Josie is sent to Newcastle to hopefully prove that she deserves to be on air. The fortunate part of this transition is that her best friend Zac live in Newcastle.

Zac has very obviously been in love with Josie for a very long time. But they had remained the closest of friends. He and Josie had become somewhat distant ever since his fiancé died in his arms. But now he is in a better place.

This is a very emotional ride. Josie’s anxiety festers and almost causes her career to crash, not to mention the possibility of losing Zac as a friend forever. But spending all this time with Zac again makes Josie realize that maybe she’s been missing everything that’s been right in front of her this whole time. You should grab this book today.