Sydney TV news reporter Josephine "Josie" Larsen is approaching 30 and coming dangerously close to failing at life She is ignored and unseen by practically everyone in her life. Then she has a panic attack live on TV. As a result she is shipped off to report on the 6 month journey is another reporter. This bring her back in contact with an old friend who is putting his life back together as well. Can they help each other find their way back to the lives that they want to lead?

I really loved this book. I loved Josie and Zac and Christina and Natasha. I loved the emphasis across both the romance, work, and health storylines taking place. I liked how everything didn’t feel too perfect, it felt incredibly real. A perfect read for fans of Emily Henry.

I LOVED this story! I got accepted to read the ARC months ago and I’m kicking myself that I waited so long to read it. The book is filled with swoon, heartache, great banter and a beautiful friendship that I devoured in less than a day. There is so much awkwardness when Josie and Zac reconnect after two years apart. Murray does a great job at drip feeding information about the pair that keeps the reader well fed and engaged. I liked that throughout the story we visited the past as we learn more about the main character’s friendship (and love). Some things in this book may be triggering for some people – healing from trauma (death/car accident), health scare (cancer). I admire Murray for exploring health anxiety in her book and showing how it can affect so many aspects of your life. I’ve never read that in a romance novel before and I could definitely relate. I loved the character of Zac straight away. He was a sweetheart. A great book boyfriend with plenty of layers. I liked Josie and grew to love her as the story progressed. There were some great open door love scenes that will leave the reader satisfied. I would like to note that it was such a treat to read a book set in my hometown (that never happens!). When familiar places or suburbs would pop up it had me grinning like a little kid haha. Highly recommended read! Thank you NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I just wasn’t really invested in these characters if I’m honest… blurb compared with to Emily Henry’s Me and You on Vacation and I don’t think it’s comparable at all other than the two main characters being best friends. I needed more from their past POVS. It didn’t feel like we really got to see their connection form/grow. Took me weeks and weeks to finish this because I wasn’t rooting for them and overall wasn’t interested in the story. I don’t think I loved the huge overarching discussion of health anxiety - while I think important to have characters representing what so many go through, it felt like it overpowered the main character without letting her true self shine through it? I wish we had seen more of her journey overcoming it/communicating with those around her about what she was going through (it’s briefly discussed but not in depth). I also just didn’t believe the chemistry between them. I don’t know just really wasn’t a great childhood best friends to lovers compared to those I’ve read in the past.

Natalie Murray's latest Love, Just In is a sweet and slow, slow burn friends to lovers set in Australia. Approaching thirty, Josie Larsen is trying to achieve her dream job as an new reader (news anchor) in Sydney when she experiences an on-air hiccup. She hopes a temporary assignment in Newcastle can bring her back on track and allow her to reconnect with Zac, her childhood best friend. She and Zac drifted apart two years prior after a tragedy caused him to uproot from Sydney to sleepy Newcastle. Throughout their decades long friendship, they flirted with attraction but an obstacle was always present that kept them from acting on it. Will this experience together lead them back to their close friendship or is the time right for something more ? The main story is told interspersed with non-linear flashback to their college, post college, and high school days. Author does a great job handling and highlighting a condition called medical anxiety where Josie is excessively obsessed with pre-mature death or developing a deadly illness.. Trigger for anyone sensitive to impaired driving.

I was hooked from the beginning in this multilayered, emotional read. I stayed up far too late for someone with a baby to finish this last night.

Josie and Zac were both such amazing characters, and while sometimes I may have wanted to shake them both into sense, I really did love and relate to them so much. I think there are very few people who won’t relate to either of them as they navigate through their trauma, depression, anxiety, grief, and even their complicated feelings for one another.

There were so many profound elements in this book, but as someone who struggles themselves with the same crippling affliction, Josie’s health anxiety was so important to me. This type of mental health representation is not something I had read prior to this, so the validation and sense of “feeling seen” has left me so grateful to Natalie Murray.

I really loved falling in love with Josie and Zac as they fell in love with each other over and over. This was an incredibly cute book full of heartwarming moments, not only romantic, but in the platonic moments between friends as well. Everybody deserves the love Josie and Zac share for each other.
Natalie Murray did a wonderful job crafting this deeply intricate, heartfelt love story and I enjoyed every moment of it, from the laughter it brought in true romcom style, to the heartbreak I felt during some scenes, to the exquisite spicy scenes we tensely built up to. This was a delight to read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Allen & Unwin, and the author for this ARC.
Publication date 1/3/24

This book was so cute and emotional. I loved how it flipped back and forth between post and present. It really allowed the reader to experience all the ways Josie and Zac's relationship changed over the years. I found Josie's medical anxiety to be extremely relatable. While the romance in this one was slow to build up, it was so worth it.

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc. Love, Just In surprised me so many times, and I ended up really enjoying this book. At first, the character of Josie was truly insufferable to me, but I loved Zach. However — major kudos to this author, because between the friends to not friends to roommates to lovers of it all, the secret pining sucked me in, and I’m so glad I kept reading. Josie has so much character development, and while I was paranoid and annoyed at first with the health topics, I am grateful that I found out more about health anxiety and got to the end. This didn’t feel like too light of a rom com — it had purpose but also fun romance, which is always a great combo!

Josie and Zak were two characters that I truly did want to like but the more I read this book the more I did not care about them. I could not connect at all with them. The story did not hold my attention even with the friends to lovers’ concept which is one of my favorite storylines in a book.
I want a book like this to make me care about the people this one just left me with flat emotions.
Thank you NetGalley, Natalie Murray and Allen & Unwin for the book
Love, Just In. This is my personal review.

The Goodreads blurb says this one is "in the vein of Emily Henry's People We Meet On Vacation." Say no more. That book sits on my favorites shelf, so I immediately requested this one. It's cute, and has what may be difficult content for some, but I didn't love it. I liked the mental health representation, but this book is about 150 pages too long. After about 450 pages it's wrapped up quickly and neatly at the very end. PWMOV it is not. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Romance
Spice Level: Predicted to be high
DNF (did not finish)

I liked how it was shaping into a friends to lover story, and I loved the setting in Australia.

At about 25% there is a scene that I thought was too strange (between secondary characters) and decided the book wasn't for me. I also couldn't see why the mc would give Lindsay the time of day when she wanted to reconnect with her best friend from growing up.

So I didn't finish the book, but if you're looking for a spicy romance, this one might be perfect for you.

Synopsis: Two long time best friends find themselves having to figure out their relationship while also working through their own mental health concerns.
Pros: I did not expect to love this as much as I did! It read realistically, the characters had great chemistry- and when the spice kicked in- it was spicy. The premise reminded me of Friends We Meet On Vacation (but better!)
Cons: The only thing knocking a point off was the miscommunication trope. It spanned most of the book, which was frustrating, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the ending.
Thank you to NetGalley, Allen and Unwin for this advanced copy, and good news- you don’t have to wait too long for its release! Check it out January 3!

Sweet story of love lost and then found again with charming characters. This was a heartwarming romance that kept me engaged and cheering for happily ever after!

This friends-to-lovers romance was absolutely wonderful.

I don't want to say its like Emily Henry, because I feel that this could be a discredit to the author. Absolutely beautifully written, and sucked me in from the first page.

Josie is almost 30, and works as a TV new reporter in Sydney. Despite her best efforts, she hasn’t been able to progress her career. After having a panic attack mid air, she is sent to Newcastle for six months to cover a news reporter. Disappointed, the only redemption being that her high school best friend lives in Newcastle - except he has barely spoke to her in the past two years since his fiancé died in a cat crash. Can Josie survive her six months in Newcastle, and will she be able to reconnect with Zac?

Touted as the new Emily Henry, I had to read this book straight away. It’s a classic tale of what could have been, and old friends rediscovering each other and what truly happened in the past. The Australian setting makes it that much better.

Love, Just In is out on 3rd January. I recommend you get your hands on a copy!

Thanks to @netgalley and @allenandunwin for the review copy.

I absolutely understand the comparisons being made to Emily Henry, and I always appreciate when a romance can weave in real, emotion-inducing struggles. It was a bit on the long side and felt slow in some parts, but you can't help but root for Josie and Zac the entire time.

3 stars.

"Love, Just In" by Natalie Murray is good, but not great. I found myself frequently frustrated with the main female character, Josie. In fact, I found her to be just shy of unbearable. She is one of the most selfish FMCs I have read in a long time. She expects everyone to drop everything in their pursuit of her and her feelings but doesn't so much as think twice about anybody else. She is also an absolute airhead. There is no way a person could be as dense as she's made out to be. Zac, the main male character, tells her he wants to date her when they are teenagers, but she has ~*absolutely no clue*~ that he has been in love with her for decades?! COME ON. She makes bad decisions, like, horrendously bad decisions, while hurting everyone else around her (mentally, emotionally, and sometimes, even potentially physically). Zac is an almost perfect character, certainly wonderful for the way he puts up for Josie's crap for as long as he does! I found him to be a sweet cinnamon roll soul. I can't say I blame him for wanting a huge amount of distance from her after everything that happened between them. His heart and head were almost always in the right place, even when it meant hurting himself in the process. One thing author Natalie Murray does well is banter. Zac and Josie have a terrific back-and-forth with one another. I also liked Josie's relationships with her side-character friends, even though her pals are too good for her and she's selfish a lot of the time (until the end portion of the book). But by far, my favorite part of this novel is its portrayal of health anxiety. Talk about having me in my feelings! As someone with health anxiety, this book gave me what might be the push I need to talk to someone about fixing my issues. I have always feared dying like Josie, and the way her feelings manifest themselves... it was like Murray reached into my brain and my life and pulled out my real-life events and put them to the page. It's a very serious thing to go through. Health anxiety can be crippling and can hinder almost every facet of one's life. I like how Josie resolves some of her anxieties but has to work at them repeatedly and is never miraculously cured of her anxieties. It might be triggering for some readers to read stuff about health anxiety. so keep that in mind. All in all, the romance part of not great and got on my nerves because of the actions of the main character, but the other not-so-romance-y stuff is great.

Thank you to NetGalley, Natalie Murray, and Allen & Unwin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review,

Love, Just In is a classic friends to lovers, second chance, healing journey romance and it was so good! It is a tale of two people working through a lot of trauma and personal issues, and desperately clinging to the nostalgia of their old friendship. Plus it takes place in Australia and has great vibes!

Josie Larson and Zac Jameson have been friends for a long long time but once upon a time, Zac may have asked Josie out and hinted at some pretty not friend-like feelings. The two overcame the awkwardness of a moment of adolescent humiliation, and went on to live a great life together “as friends” through high school and college until tragedy struck Zac, and his fiancée died in a car accident. Since then the two have drifted apart, but have a chance to reconcile when Josie gets a job in Zac’s town. Josie’s story is so relevant to many women today and anyone dealing with health anxiety. She’s seen loved ones die from an illness she is slowly convincing herself she also has. Her bravery and vulnerability was so heartwarming.

I thought Love, Just In was a great story between two real people. Both characters were so well developed. There were several flashback scenes and I could see how they had grown and changed as people each time. The storylines were mature and well thought out. For those wondering, there was some spice in the book but this is definitely more of a slow burn with good drawn out angst!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy of Love, Just In in exchange for an honest review!

This is a slow burn, friends to lovers story with a few twists. Zac was in a car accident a couple of years ago that changed his life. Josie lost two family members to breast cancer and feels she is under the sword of Damocles herself, to an unnatural degree. Each is dealing with emotional issues, job issues, and how their friendship changed. Through the course of the book I wanted to give each a kick in the rear at times when I disagreed with their actions, but that is one of the characteristics of a good story. The reader gets sucked into the story to the point of wanting to give advice!

Thank you NetGalley and Natalie Murray for the ARC!

I thought this was a cute friends to lovers romance! The novel follows Josie and Zac’s friendship turned steamy relationship.

My rating for this hovers around a 3/3.5. It was a super cute romance and I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but once I had finished, the book didn’t really stay with me, as in I just wasn’t thinking a whole lot about it once I was done.

Trigger warning for health anxiety, mentions of cancer (specifically breast cancer) and a brief mention of child death.

I think if the flashbacks would have occurred in chronological order rather than jumping around from 15 years earlier to 2 years earlier then back to 11 years earlier it would’ve helped with the flow of the novel a bit more.

I had some difficulty with determining exactly how much time had passed between the jumps in time in the present day portions of the novel. *spoiler* Josie’s friend announces she is pregnant and before I knew it she was stating she was 36 weeks along and I honestly was wondering how that even happened. I knew that the whole present day takes place over a 6 month time line, but I wish the author would have been a bit more specific in stating that 3 weeks had passed or 1 month just so that I could get a feel for how much time was passing by.

I think the mental health aspect was represented well, however, having anxiety myself, it was a bit tough to read because I could feel myself getting worked up and anxious along with the main character. So, just a word of caution for those who may have anxiety too. It wasn’t terrible, just something of note.