Josie moves to the town her former best friend lives in for work. She sees it as the opportunity for them to reconnect but didn't realize how far they could go reconnecting.

The Australian based romance may look like a romcom but it is much more serious than that. Josie and Zac have been through so much in their lives that it changes and affects so much around them, including their own relationship. A lot is held back early in the book but needless to say, once things start coming out, you feel so much for both of them and their missed opportunities.

Make sure you go into this knowing it will make you very sad at times and break your heart in others.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted copy. My reviews are always honest.

I really wanted to love Love, Just In, especially since the mc’s anxiety is very similar to my own, but unfortunately just didn’t connect well with the story.

I absolutely loved this friends-to-lovers romance! I’d say it’d make a great summer read (which it is in Australia where it takes place) but for those of us in the US it’s a great way to spice up a cold winter night! I could not put this one down!
The subplots and some of the traumas that the main characters are working through are quite serious but never took away from the care and love that these two best friends have for each other, despite their distance in the past several years. Sydney news reporter, Josie Larsen is sent to Newcastle on assignment loan and as punishment for botching a live broadcast. Coinsidently, her best friend since high school, Zac Jameson had previously moved to Newcastle. Instead of this being a happy reunion though, the two friends had hardly spoken in two years, cause Josie some anxiety when reaching out.
This was a fun and heartwarming story, with two very likeable characters who you won’t be able to help but root for! Zac is just a dream of a guy, and I loved him as a main character! I was always interested in journalism and appreciated the peek inside the competitive industry and the balancing act that on the scene reporters must make. I also appreciated the author including her own issue of Health Anxiety into the storyline. Not a term I was familiar with, but something I think that touches each of us but usually in a much lesser way than what I now realize some people suffer.

I just could not get into Love, Just In. I don’t feel like it’s completely fair to judge it since I am someone who has anxiety, and a good chunk of the premise is about a woman with health anxiety. The last thing I want to do is read about someone else’s fears. Yet I also didn’t connect at all with either character. I didn’t love the writing and there was nothing for me to grasp onto to get me into the story. All in all, I just didn’t enjoy this one.

A friends to lovers romance. I enjoyed the characters in this story. I thought health storyline line brought awareness to the condition. There was only one really spicy scene.

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray is a delightful read with great characters. While the story was probably quite predictable it still had lots of twists that kept you interested in where it was going. Josie and Zac were interesting and were very believable and realistic. Well written and while the going back and forth between time periods, was at times annoying, overall the plot was well developed.

I loved the fact that the author used this story to highlight a health anxiety mental illness and to share this with her readers.

An enjoyable read with a lot of positive energy. Recommended read.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Allen & Unwin Publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#Love,JustIn #NetGalley

I wish this book was dual POV. I liked it but I didn’t love it.

I wanted to grab the FMC and scream some sense into her more often than not.

The conflict would’ve been solved if the 2 main characters stopped dancing around each other. That being said, it was insightful and full of depth.

dnf @ 15%

The premise of this sounded promising, especially with the Emily Henry comparison. Unfortunately, I can't get into the writing and feel absolutely nothing for either of the main characters.

I really enjoyed Love, Just In. This was my first time reading a book by Natalie Murray and I will definitely be picking up more from her. This romantic comedy is well-written and goes much deeper than a love story, giving us complex and well-developed characters, each with issues of their own, to which I believe a lot of readers will relate. And of course I must mention the sizzling chemistry. I couldn’t put this one down!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy.

Very enjoyable friend to lovers story that begins in childhood. Zac and Josie,best friends in and out of each others lives, now closing in on 30. He more steadfast,she the flakier one, now each dealing with their own anxieties and trauma.
Lots of missed signals and things unsaid sometimes to the point of annoyance. Yet even as this story can be frustrating it’s also good and the ending will leave you bleary eyed with 🖤

I really enjoyed this book, it was incredible to read about places I am completely familiar and to see mentions of the places I grew up! I think it was written really well. Josie was completely relatable.

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray

Australia's answer to Emily Henry has just taken me on the most beautiful, heartfelt, moving, friends-to-lovers journey.

Whilst working through some seriously hard issues, the chemistry and build up is sexy as hell. And, phew, Zac is my new book boyfriend.

Thank you netgalley for the early copy. I will be recommending this to everyone this summer!

I always love a friends to lovers story line. I especially appreciated how this book highlighted anxiety and it's hold over some people. Loved this story!

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this one early!

i have started to appreciate friends to lovers a lot more with how they suddenly realize that there is more than friendship there. i appreciated the health anxiety representation as well! i do think this story was a lot sadder than the blurb let on and i think i spent a lot of time stressed out. i know romance doesn’t always have to be rainbows and butterflies but i think the blurb definitely didn’t give us the right vibes that were actually there and i went in thinking this was an easier read.

Great book. The pace was a little slower than I liked, but the writing and story line were great! I would recommend this to friends.

Friends to lovers a classic trope. The book had a lot of potential but sometimes it fell flat. I had to close it and come back to it several times in order to finish it.
Lots of emotions. Good character building. I loved the dual timeline. Definitely a slow burn.

Overall, It was good just not spectacular.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and sweet romance. This book had me swooning.

i hate doing this which is the reason i almost never do but i unfortunately have to dnf this book. reading the description and going in i was soooo excited, but this just is not the book for me. the fmc is unbearable -- she makes horrible decisions and is extremely inconsiderate while expecting everyone else to be thinking of her. i like the mmc enough but we don't get his perspective so he's hard to understand. i really tried to push through, but this book is not worth reading for me personally.

There were several things about this book that could have lost me. I didn't feel that this was because of poor writing choices though, just personal preferences. I thought I liked friends-to-lovers romances, though often towards the middle my mind is less "will they", and more on the side of "they better". Having Josie and Zac's friendship coming after two years growing apart abruptly following a tragedy, and Zac having made his feelings more than clear, changed the dynamic in a way that had me seeing Josie as a bit of a villain. I thought she was unfair and purposely ignoring things a lot of the time, which made it a bit hard for me to like her. You don't always have to like the main character though, and I think that this book succeeded despite this.

I wasn't particularly interested in the journalism career Josie was following, or the ways that she would have to compete to get stories. My interest flagged a bit, but when Josie was reporting on the scene of a fire, it did open my eyes a bit to a world I'd never considered. Having to report on a tragedy, get in the way slightly of those trying to do their best to save people, seems like a heartless, cold job. How many times have I looked up articles, trying to find out exactly those answers though? Never thinking of the person who would have to be at the scene, inserting themselves for my and a community's peace of mind.

Another thing that really stood out was the way grief and guilt were handled following an unexpected death. As well as medical anxiety - an anxiety I'd never heard of or considered, but that deserves to be recognized all the same. I thought these were handled so well, something that I'm enjoying seeing more and more in fiction, and really appreciate.

There were some steamy moments, trope typical miscommunication, and plenty of heart. All together, a solid read!

Rounded up from 3.5 stars. Thank you to the publisher through NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a pretty classic childhood friends to estranged to tentative friends again to lovers. This is single POV, dual timeline (the flashbacks are luckily brief).

I really appreciated the mental health rep of this, particularly medical anxiety. I don’t read that enough. I also found the FMC job as a newscaster to be really fun and interesting. An also, as an American married to an Australian, all the Aussie references were so good!! I was proud of myself for knowing them. Lovely setting.

My biggest hang up with this is how when they first meet up again it’s very sad and tense and not in a good tension way or even angsty way. It made it hard to believe the MMC was ever going to be into the FMC romantically or even on a friendship level. To spare spoilers it just felt like one sided effort and not a lot of chemistry. Similarly, it’s usually a pet peeve of mine for main characters in a romance to be dating other people for a significant chunk of the book and that happens here.

I felt that their dynamic was believable as childhood bffs though so I appreciate the writing there and how quick witted the FMC was with her banter. I just needed more from him in return.

I also agree with other reviews in that the blurb doesn’t accurately convey that this has a pretty sad tone throughout. This can be heavy for some readers. Going in with that mindset would have helped me enjoy this more as it is well written.

This is a solid read, solid 4 stars from me. Thank you to Allen & Unwin for this ARC!