A rom com with a bit of bite. Josie and Zach were the best of friends until he fell apart- understandably- after the death of his fiance in a car crash he survived. He moved from Sydney to Newcastle for a fresh start. And now Josie has. been assigned there. She's got her own challenges with anxiety, Can they renew their friendship? Yes, but will it turn to love? Fans of the genre can guess but no spoilers from me. This might be trope-y in spots but the issues of grief and mental health elevate it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARc. A good read.

A friend’s to lovers rom-com that will just tug at your heartstrings. Told with glimpses of the past and in the present day, at the start we meet Joise Lawson, now a reporter for a major news network in Sydney, Australia who’s been moved to Newcastle for 6 months on assignment. For 2 years she’s barely communicated with her best friend of 14 years Zac Jameson, who works as a paramedic in…well…Newcastle. Forced to finally face each other and deal with the trauma of their fallout and the past two years of sparse communication will they be able to salvage their friendship and maybe break the tension that’s existed between them for the past 14 years? You’ll have to find out.

Natalie Murray has crafted a delicate love story that tells a realistic tale of the intricacies of crossing the threshold from friends to lovers laced with tense moments and heavy emotional baggage that makes these characters feel so real. Joise and Zac both are prime examples of humans who have been through immense trauma and are dealing with the aftermath. While flawed and hurt, this does not define them however, through this story we see them work on themselves in order to finally, maybe, be together and continue their work as one.

On a personal note, as someone who has dealt with health anxiety in the past, Murray addresses is so beautifully, highlighting the reality of a serious situation in the midst of this gorgeous love story. I was so struck with how deeply I resonated with Josie in that way as she battles her anxiety to learn how to live her life again. Something I wish people still had more empathy for today.


A deeply touching, and intensely relatable rom-com that left me with trails of happy tears by the end, I highly recommend this book. Also, if you love Emily Henry’s work, this is a romance novel for you.

Thank you Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for the arc!

Scarf Rating: 🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣(5/5)

Taylor Swift songs I associate with this book: Now That We Don’t Talk, Out of the Woods, Style, How You Get The Girl, This Love, You Are In Love, long story short, Labyrinth, this is me trying, Sparks Fly, That’s When

Thank you to NetGalley, Natalie Murray, and Allen & Unwin for an ARC of this book!

This book snagged my attention from the cover and description, including the reference to Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation. Josie and Zac had such a special and long-lasting friendship, and I loved seeing it both in the present as they reunited after some time apart, and through the alternating chapter flashbacks throughout the fourteen years of their friendship. The flashbacks did an excellent job of showing how the two met, how their friendship formed, and set the groundwork for the love story.

I also really enjoyed the portrayal of grief and health anxiety, and thought they were both really well done. Zac's recent trauma, and Josie's escalation of health concerns into full-blown, life-altering anxiety, were both shown in a sensitive but realistic way, and I appreciate the way both were handled.

In all, I definitely agree that this book would be great for fans of Emily Henry, as well as Abby Jimenez, Chloe Liese, and Ashley Poston! Can't wait until its publication on January 3!

RATING: 3/5 STARS

I had high hopes with this one being compared to Emily Henry, but I couldn't get into it. The writing style didn't grab me, but I may try this author's future work if a premise grabs my interest!

A cute romantic story that addresses mental health issues in a positive way. I really enjoyed Zac and Josie's story.

Josie and Zac are childhood best friends. Josie is fun, playful, loving, and mildly neurotic (in a very sweet and self-aware way). While Zac is smart, reserved, funny, and good-natured. They are inseparable over the years: moving in with one another, going to the same college, and even being the other's wingman. The reader is dropped into the story not really sure what happened that distances the two. Josie is moving to Zac's area and he begrudgingly offers to give her a ride to her hotel-they haven't spoken in over a year.

Josie keeps trying to understand Zac and with the little information she is getting, she's making little progress. But things heat up and they keep falling into instances where sparks are flying. The unwinding of history and their current relationship is truly top tier. Murray weaves the present with the past all the while driving the plot forward with strength. This friends-to-lovers is top notch, enjoyable and charming.

Read this you will not regret it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Releases Jan 3rd so make sure to pick up a copy to start your New Year off right.

A very easy read friends to lovers romance. With alternating time lines and from Josie's point of view. You get drawn in to this sweet, slow burn romance.


My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray
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Josie has been sent to work in another town for six months after an on-air incident. The good news is that her best friend Zac lives there too. She is eager to try to reconnect with him as she hasn’t seen much of him since his fiancée died.
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What I liked:
-Josie has health anxiety, and I liked that because I don’t believe I have read a book where the character has this particular anxiety.
-I enjoyed Josie and Zac’s vibes with each other when they were getting along, they had some good banter.
-The best part was at the end when all the brutally honest communication started happening. 💜💜
-Zac was a great guy in how wonderfully he kept supporting Josie.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this book a couple of weeks ago, and am just now getting around to writing my review - so here are the notes I wrote down:

- The beginning is SUPER awkward.
- The FMC feels super dramatic.
- They keep referencing something that happened, but we're kept in the dark?
- Yep, definitely dramatic.
- I'm so over the angst of him "not missing her" and I'm 10% into the book.
- I may DNF this book - it's too much. (Spoiler - I didn't DNF it.)
- So much fixation on getting back what was.
- How does your family moving make it personal?
- Josie is...a lot.
- Zac seems really sweet and awkward.
- Did Josie not always have anxiety about the cancer thing?
- How are you thrown off by the "don't drive with someone who's been drinking" comment - didn't his fiancee die in a car crash because of a drunk driver???
- How are you pretending you enjoyed the date with Lindsey?
- What's with the whole angst about being forgotten? It doesn't sound like you made moves to stay in touch either.
- I'm not seeing the correlation: Tara dying set you off about being scared of dying of cancer...but not your Aunt dying?
-3 light beers is still plenty to get you drunk.
- Why are you do determined to like Lindsey? I don't get it.
- Why would you get in the car with someone who is CLEARLY DRUNK!
- How do we go from the funeral to the night Tara died?
- When do we talk about light beers still being beers?
- You're seriously blaming Zac for not telling you the reason he kicked out Lindsey??
- I'm really not a fan of Josie. Good on Zac for setting boundaries for his mental health.
- I'm so annoyed with this book.
- That kiss was hot - and now we're back to freezing each other out? Jealous of a dead woman??
- I feel like there's something with the t-shirts...is it going to be explained? (It's not.)
- I'm getting whiplash: you didn't want to talk about the kiss, fled to Sydney, and now you want to talk about it at a BAR?
- That convo was super sweet; the sex scene was good.
- Could do without the "sexting".
- And we're back to the drama.
- The cancer thing seems REALLY overdone.
- Good on Zac for demanding he has to be enough or nothing.

I will note that I read the author's note AFTER I read the book, which explained some things. It would've been helpful to have that information ahead of my reading it, but I'm not honestly sure that it would have changed my opinions all that much. Still just a very blah book for me.

I absolutely loved this love story.

Meet 28 year old Josie and Zac, best friends since the age of 14. Now, it’s been 2 years since Josie and Zac have seen each other.

Josie has her own anxiety issues to cope with when she is sent to Zac’s city for work. Things start off a little awkward but eventually their friendship is rekindled.

If you love a good friends to lovers novel, you will love this one.

#netgalley

Past trauma, current loss, and love are all wrapped up in this heartfelt romance that deals with moving on and moving forward through your traumas with your childhood best friend. I loved this story so much and look forward to seeing what else Natalie Murray puts out.


Childhood friends to lovers
Mental health rep
Little bit of steam
Trauma (death)
Multilayered characters
Cutesiest dog sidekick

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. All my thoughts are my own.

Nope nope nope I can't do this I"M SORRY. DNF
I usually love a flashback-interspersed friends-strangers-lovers story but the way the chapters are so short yet it jumps back and forth is entirely too jarring in my opinion.
The premise of the story is stellar, but I personally don't find it written well at all and Josie the FM is absolutely insufferable (and unfortunately one of the downright cringiest main characters I have read in a hot minute).
If you like quirky female leads with a mean streak and a tendency to embarrass themselves, you might be into this, but I physically cannot continue reading. It's certainly not BAD per se, it's just not my cup of tea enough for me to push through.

This gets all the stars. What a beautifully written friends to lovers story. This had several heavy subjects touched on but was really well done. I loved Josie and Zac’s relationship through the years. They were friends from their teens growing up with one another. Navigating through life with each other until a few years were spent apart. Absence makes feelings come to light! This was a great read. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advanced copy. I’m volunteering this review freely

Josie is a news reporter, Zac is a paramedic. They’re childhood best friends torn apart by tragic circumstances and brought back together by a panic attack which might derail Josie’s career. The sheer amount of detail into the importance of mental and physical health that was sprinkled throughout this story was so refreshing, especially regarding the MMC. I feel like this is majorly neglected in contemporary romance and this book gave a much needed voice to the importance of that. The plot twisted in hilarious, swoony and unexpected ways to bring the story full circle. It’s sweet, steamy and heart wrenching yet butterfly-inducing: the perfect combination of emotions in a contemporary romance!

In short, if you love contemporary romance, I highly recommend!

A good romcom light read, but the story didn't stick with me. I'm not a fan of the flashback style and how slow the romance was.

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley.

I love a friends to lovers trope and this one was great! It is the story of two lifelong best friends who are getting back in touch after a traumatic experience tore them apart for two years. The chemistry and banter were delightful from the beginning but you can also really feel the emotions tied into the whole story. Enjoyed getting to know each of the characters & watching them find their way together.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my very own.

Super cute read! Thoroughly enjoyed the characters! This book gives me Emily Henry vibes and that did not disappoint.

Josie and Zak have a long history together. After meeting in high school and becoming fast best friends (but always platonic friends), they're inseparable until there's a tragic event. Two years pass and they likely wouldn't have gotten together again if Josie wasn't sent on a work assignment to the town where he lives. The story flips back and forth from present day to their high school and college years, and for me, there was just way too much about their high school experience. I would have liked more detail about Josie's work in the news business, or even their time in college.
Love, Just In features a very slow burn romance as well as touching a number of other serious subjects along the way, including cancer, unexpected death, and health anxiety. Some of the secondary characters (Lindsey and Davide, for example) seem to be very much over the top....and not necessarily in a good way. I did like the setting in Newcastle and Sydney, Australia.
Thanks to Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read Love, Just In in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Publication: January 3, 2024

Rating: 2 stars

I really struggled with this book early on and ended up deciding to DNF. The biggest thing for me was that this storyline was confusing! When we were in the present time with Josie and Zach, there would be tiny flashbacks within that chapter. I wish it was more linear with the flashbacks rather than so much jumping around.

This definitely had all the pieces I would have enjoyed and I could see why the blurb states that it's for fans of Emily Henry. However, the execution didn't work for me as a reader.

I really liked this romcom! The author touched upon mental health and I really liked that aspect of the book. Josie, the main character, suffered from anxiety and panic attacks and we get to see how that affects her personal and professional life. & obviously I loved Zac… the trope of this one is one of my favorites. So this hit all the right spots for me.