I know a lot of people loved this book but I just found it okay.

The theme was unoriginal - boy and girl are close friends from childhood but cannot make that step from friendship to romance. Both of them are longing to do so but think the other one does not. Fair enough but this went on for over four hundred pages during which they were frequently actively unkind to each other. Especially Josie. Now there is a character you would not want to know in real life.

Basically I think my real issue was the length of the book. The subject matter just did not warrant so many pages and it became tedious. I made it to the end with some relief.

I loved the romance between Josie and Zac, but I felt that there were too many flashbacks. It could have benefited from a faster plot line, but I appreciated the authors note at the end explaining how personal it was for her. I can definitely tell that through her writing. She is a new to me author and I will be following her next works!

I'm so glad that I took a chance on a new-to-me author when a golden opportunity to snatch this up emerged. What a terrific friends-to-lovers tale with more weight than your typical romance due to its subplots sensitively covering health anxiety, trauma and grief. I really enjoyed central characters Josie and Zac and reading about their long friendship through the events unfolding in the present interspersed with jumps back to important moments that they shared during different years in the past; the tagline of "one missed chance" is technically correct, but there are many smaller fleeting opportunities revealed along the way. At close to 500 pages, the book feels a touch long and Zac's hesitation during the final act became repetitive, but overall I found this to be an incredibly rewarding read. While it would have been nice to receive more of the story from Zac's perspective, relaying it primarily from Josie's point of view allowed for Murray to effectively convey the oppressive effects of her spiraling thoughts about dying of cancer. I loved how the book came full circle to a train station during both the final scene and epilogue.

I didn’t even get a chance to read this before it was archived. Usually things aren’t archived until after publication date. It’s too bad because it sounded really cute and was looking forward to reading it. I usually wait to read them until right before pub day, so that way my thoughts are fresh. I’ll still check it out after it is released. I have to give a star rating to submit, so three it is. I feel like that’s pretty neutral.

I absolutely loved this book! Loved the friends to lovers and the banter back and forth. Josie was a wonderful female lead character. Zac was a very likable character. There was so much anticipation on the two characters getting together that I was totally enveloped. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy contemporary romance.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin and NetGalley for an advance copy for my honest review

Taking place in Australia, Love, Just In primarily focuses on Josie and her best friend, Zac. A reporter, Josie is sent to a remote television station for six months after a major on-air gaffe. Luckily for her, her best friend from high school, Zac, lives there. The two lost touch in recent years after a tragedy took Zac's fiance's life, and he needed time to recoup and recover.

Over the course of the six months, the two face their emotions, many of which are holding them back from finding career success and love. After Josie has an epiphany about her feelings, the two have to figure out what their future holds.

A cute rom com that also delves into anxiety and grief, looking to perhaps normalize these feelings, I recommend it when you want something with a little depth but also want the romantic formula.

4-4.5 stars. While friends to lovers tends to be my least favorite trope, I enjoyed this one. Josie and Zac have been friends for decades, but as of late, there’s been more distance between them geographically and metaphorically. When a snafu at work sends Josie to Newcastle where Zac lives, they have the chance to rekindle that lost connection.

Normally a heroine like Josie would annoy me, but I found her to be relatable and also a bit careless at times. Mainly she would ignore any undertones of the more-than-friends feelings with Zac and keep things platonic, but now she is seeing him again with new eyes. Before anything romantic can take place, they have to get their friendship back.

I loved Zac, he wore the coolest tees with fun messages and is an all around stellar guy who has some issues he is still overcoming. Yet he is solid in his support for Josie. Any awkwardness between them stems from the elephant in the room that they navigate carefully around. There’s humor, wit and angst, as well as definite sparks and chemistry between two people who are tiptoeing quietly into it. They both make their fair share of mistakes, but what doesn’t change is their need to have the other person in their life be number one. Zac is truly swoon worthy and Josie really comes into her own by the end and shows true growth and maturity once she faces her insecurities. As a duo, they really are unstoppable together.

While the cover leads the reader to believe that it is going to be a light read, the depth of characters was such a fresh take on the romcom genre. A captivating and engaging story.

I was so emotionally invested in Zac and Josie’s relationship I could not deal with the heartbreak. Even though as I was reading my own anxiety was being triggered, I loved the take on mental health and how it was a big part of Josie’s storyline. But also I am now a full on convert to the friends to lovers trope.

WELL THAT WAS LOVELY!
I started this book by feeling devastated after every chapter, the flashbacks in particular made my heart ache (but in a good way) but that ending made it all worth it. As an Aussie, I wasn’t sure that I would like to read a book set so close to home, but I was proven wrong! It was so comforting to read about characters that have that familiar Aussie banter, who grew up in Sydney, went to their local public school and studied comms at uni in Bathurst. There is no other way for me to describe how it made me feel other than it was gezellig (Dutch word that means cozy, quaint, or nice, but can also connote time spent with loved ones, seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness).
This was a spicy read (chapters 26, 30 & 32) and most of the romance in it was probably too 🌶️ for what I would normally feel comfortable reading (it's a 4.5 star for this reason, purely for personal preference). Aside from that, I enjoyed this book. It felt relatable, honest, familiar and heartfelt!
These friends-to-lovers books get me every time! 😂😭
Thank you NETGalley for the E-ARC.

This is the kind of friends to lovers I don’t like, Josie spend a lot of time like wanting their friendship to be the same as in the past but we know that something happened that changed their friendship. I am a firm believer that if something happens that changes your relationship there is no way to unring a bell. This book proves that time and time again, when both main characters realized they had feelings for each other they just couldn't go back in their minds to just be friends, they always wanted more.

I will say this book has a FMC that has anxiety and a fear of illness. Josie’s family has a family history of getting cancer in their 20s and she her anxiety of getting cancer and dying young is something she struggles with in the book. There is a lot of cancer talk in the book.

The pacing of the book was okay, it has flashbacks in some chapters to show us how their friendship was in the past and when her aunt was sick.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

This book comes out on 01/06/2024!
I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

Josie is a Sydney news reporter that is approaching 30. After a slight panic attack during a news story, Josie is told to go to Newcastle to cover another reporter's leave there. Newcastle just so happens to also be the place that her best friend, Zac, has been living for the past 2 years, with little to no contact. As she makes the short term move, Josie tries to figure out how to get her friendship back to what it used to be by navigating these new waters.

This book was definitely a slow burn friends to lovers trope, but turned out to be so good! If you enjoy Emily Henry novels, I think you would enjoy this one! But beware, there is discussion of health anxiety and cancer throughout the novel.

Thank you to Net Galley and Allen & Unwin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Josie is moving to the smaller city of Newcastle as she's just had a major career flub, she's a new journalist and froze during an interview on a live feed. The smaller station in Newcastle will give her a chance to do some solid work, news reading and reporting so she can get a temporary position as a newsreader at her home Sydney station as her friend and newsreader is going on maternity leave. But, moving to Newcastle means she needs to see her best friend, Zac. In high school, he had a big crush on her and she's only seen him as her friend. Then, a tragedy struck and they haven't talked for two years. Can they find their way back to the best friends they were before? How does Josie really feel about Zac - friends or is there something more? This story was enjoyable and I liked that it took place in Australia which provided something a bit different than most of the romance books I've read that are either in or characters from the US or UK. The story felt familiar and a bit long for it to develop.

3.5 stars. This book was enjoyable to read. I did feel like there was so much lead up to the friends to lovers piece that could have been cut out to make it a little shorter. For example, some of the in the past chapters felt unnecessary to me. Also, there was so much lead up in the present timeline that I feel like I barely got to know the friends as lovers. That being said, I think once I got through about 50% of the book I liked it more than I had the first half. The first half felt too long and they both spent so much of it in other relationships. Like I get that they were friends first but we spent so much storyline on their other love interests, and I felt that could’ve been done more in the background and not so much time spent on the story. I thought the mental health representation was super well done, so I think that helped the story more, especially when you get more of that in the second half. Overall, I would recommend this read.

Josie is a news reporter looking for her big break, closing in on 30 and so not meeting the goals she set for herself. Zac is her best friend since middle school. They share all their hopes and dreams.

I typically don’t read romance, but for for some reason, I grabbed this one. I’m so glad I did. Much more than ‘just’ a romance. A young woman facing the doubts, fears and questions I think most 30 year olds face. I found the characters likeable and situations relatable. Love a book with a message and a lesson! I enjoyed the subtle backstory of the TV station. A little steam, friends to lovers and a diagnosis needing to be accepted and dealt with. I’ll admit that at first I found Josie slightly annoying and paranoid, but that soon changed as I got further in, and my empathy took over. Loved the friendship (and more) between her and Zac that developed slowly.

This was a new author to me, and I’ll gladly read her again. I must admit that I can be a cover snob and typically steer away from this type of cover and genre. But, this book has proved me wrong! It was definitely a fun read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

An absolutely beautiful friends-to-lovers romance that tackles some really heavy issues. I love that the author kept the emotions messy - there’s a lot of indecision and confusion which totally makes sense given all the trauma. Besides, no relationship is perfect (duh) - that’s why it’s so satisfying when the MCs choose to work it out together. Also, I love being immersed in books not set in the US or UK, so an Australian book by an Australian writer - *chef’s kiss*! I look forward to more from Natalie Murray in the future.

I received a copy of this book from Allen & Unwin through NetGalley.

This was a nice reconnect book, friends to lovers . Is tactfully done, and I enjoyed quite a bit. The characters where nice and cut. And the chemistry was good. Thanks for allowing me to read this book really enjoyed.

I really enjoyed this book. It was so heartfelt and raw reading the love story of Josie and Zac. I felt like I could relate to Josie's anxiety with her health. I've dealt with health issues of my own and it can be tough when you're not feeling well and don't know why. I look forward to reading more of Natalie Murray's books.

This book is a DNF for me. I’m not going to post my review on Goodreads since many people seem to enjoy the book but I was not one of them. I found Josie to be an incredibly unlikeable character and didn’t feel she deserved to end up with Zac.

Josie and Zac have known each other for many years while living in Sydney and, while Zac asked her out once and she declined, they’ve remained close friends. After 14 years, their friendship seems to be in a holding pattern as once Zac moves to Newcastle, he has very little contact with Josie.

Josie is a newscaster and due to some online incidents, she’s sent to work in Newcastle and tries to rekindle the friendship with Zac. There is a lot of angst between Josie’s health anxiety and Zac’s grief in losing his fiancé’. With Zac determined to remain in Newcastle and Josie anxious to be able to return to work in Sydney, their developing relationship seems doomed.

This isn’t a light story with Zac and Josie’s various issues. Josie’s health anxiety was difficult to read as most of us worry about medical issues but not to the same extent where it seems to take over her life. At times, this heavy material was overwhelming. I appreciated the author’s note at the end of the story to explain why this topic was used.

While I sometimes struggled to get through this story, I enjoyed the past and present scenes, the text messages and the slow burn romance.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and enjoy a new-to-me author.