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.

Friends to lover troupes are my favorite. Toss in dual timelines and I’m there! The detailed back story with incredibly relatable and layered characters made this story that much harder to put down. The author included heavier themes surrounding mental health and alcohol while handling them with thoughtfulness. It was an immersive experience filled with inside jokes and clever bantering between the two characters that had me rooting for them.

Murray's writing style is engaging and fluid, making Love, Just In a really enjoyable read. The pacing is well-balanced, and the plot twists keep the reader guessing. The book is filled with moments of humor, heartache, and joy, creating an emotional rollercoaster that will keep readers hooked from start to finish.

I relly enjoyed this one. I thought the plot was really cute. If you like Emily Henry books then you will like this one. Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me a copy to review!

This book had me hooked from start to finish! The friends-to-lovers plot? Totally my new favorite trope

Good vacation read - friends to lovers is always a good trope. Especially non-US authors. Reporter is a convenient plot point to move people around.

This was a friends to lovers romance that had grief, anxiety, and guilt fueling it. Zac and Josie have been best friends for 14 years, but haven’t seen each other in two since Zac moved to Newcastle. Josie moves to Newcastle for 6 months due to a mishap on air at her news station job. Zac is a little distant with her and she makes it her mission to rekindle their friendship, and finds herself coming to terms with feelings for him instead.

I struggled with what to rate this one. I liked the writing style and I enjoyed the flashbacks though other reviewers did not. I also thought the mental health and anxiety rep was done well here. I guess part of me didn’t buy their uncertainty about their friendship and feelings for each other. They had the same conversation at least three times, where Josie believes Zac doesn’t want her even though he’s told her he does. He just has to protect himself. I also thought the random people they both date in the beginning were unnecessary, and the their conflicts being resolved immediately (initially at least) were a little unnerving.

Overall I thought it was okay, but it isn’t one that will sit with me for a long time- this could be a quick beach read or a lazy Sunday read.

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

Such a sweet emotional book. Extremely relatable plot line that was easy to follow. I absolutely loved it

I love that I could see into her mindset and read exactly what she was feeling when she thought out situations. Her thoughts flowed well and moved the book along very quickly. Cassandra's narrative voice is wonderful. She is serious at times, but also very witty, which makes for an engaging read.