I loved the storyline and how the author painted the fictional reality of these characters. Tho the story takes it's time to build and you feel the anxiety and mounting fears and pressures for how they are going to overcome these challenges. And, this story was totally filled with so many of them. It has has had my heart racing. It deserves nothing but full 5 stars. I so loved this book!

Not my favorite
Felt a little like wanted to tackle so many things that the story didn’t grip me. Characters didn’t either so it was a cute love story and the resolution was solid

The pacing and the gradual development and easiness in their relationship followed by the cute moments was just chefs kiss good. Plus, I loved the hero for being so patient, caring. The heroine was fun, relatable and entertaining too!

I requested this book as I loved the premise and the cover just hooked me in.
The story definitely had potential but in the end it was not really for me.
I was confused for part of the book, especially with the panic attacks that Josie had regarding cancer. The back story for that just came a bit too late for me in the book.
I did enjoy the chapters set in the past which showed how their friendship grew over time.
But then Zach ghosted Josie for two years and she basically just accepted it instead of going up to Newcastle to demand answers. Just didn't fit for me with the friendship that they have shared the majority of their lives.
I would have also liked more internal dialogue of Josie as we are reading from her PoV but we didn't get a lot of her internal monologues or thoughts.
I did appreciate that Josie got help for her health anxiety as mental health is very important.

There was so much to love about this book! First, the setting of Australia. I studied abroad in Oz so I have a deep affinity for this magical place. Now I wish I’d made it to Newcastle! I also loved this story. There were so many layers to it, and I think we can all relate to the health anxiety part to some extent. I think the author did a great job of dealing with these heavy topics in a “light” read. I really enjoyed the way she told the story of their journey… plenty of build up and steam too! The only thing I didn’t love was the nickname Zac has for Josie; it felt kinda cheesy, but that’s just me ;)

Josie Larsen is a TV news reporter in Sydney and has been sent to regional Newcastle for six months. Zac Jameson is Josie’s best friend since high school and happens to live in Newcastle. However, Zac has barely spoken to Josie since he left Sydney two years ago after the tragic death of his fiancée. Love, Just In is a friends-to-lovers romance that explores what happens when these two old friends come back together and have to repair their friendship and navigate a love that has existed between them all along.

I found this book to be well-written and funny. I enjoyed the banter and the chemistry between Josie and Zac. I’d never read a book set in Australia and as someone who had the pleasure of living there for two years, I really enjoyed the setting. I think the author treated the topic of mental health delicately and I appreciated that aspect of the story. Sometimes when two characters have disconnected I end up really disappointed when I get to the reason why but I think that part of the story was laid out well and believable. Zac Jameson was lovely. *I* am in love with Zac Jameson.

I didn’t care for some of the flashbacks. Some of them told me nothing in the flashback that hadn’t already been said. I did not always find Josie easy to like, at times she was self-centered and lacked accountability.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Love, Just In by Natalie Murray!
The first couple chapters I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this book but glad I kept going. I really enjoyed Zac and Josie’s friends to lovers evolve.

Love that this is set in Australia. Always good to read a Aussie romance

This is a slow burn friends to lovers.
Zac is a big softie and I just wanted to give him the biggest cuddle and make him smile.

Josie was a little hard to like at the start for me but she warmed up and turned into the sweetest character.

It a great book to read and I highly recommend

⭐️ news reporter x paramedic
⭐️ friends to lovers
⭐️ illness anxiety
⭐️ slow burn
⭐️ He falls first and hard

Love, Just In available January, 2024

3.5 stars – This was such a good story! It was very slow for me in the beginning, and I wasn’t a fan of how often the author jumped back and forth between the present and the past. But stick with the story as it comes through big time in the end. Zac and Joise are friends from high school and are attracted to each other but through miscommunication and the timing of life events, they miss out on deepening their relationship.

Please note that there are several trigger warnings that a reader should be aware of.

A big “Thank You” to NetGalley, Allen & Unwin and Natalie Murray for allowing me to read an advance copy in return for an independent, honest review.

I am telling you guys my heart grew legs and walked out of my chest to spend the day in this book. It was utterly emotional, a friend's to lovers romance that I never knew I needed.

The piece of anxiety in this story was relatable, it held my hand saying I see you. I loved this story to pieces.

Finished this book in one sitting -- it was so cute! Agree with the Emily Henry comp; it felt similar to PWMOV but different enough to be interesting and fun to read. The Austrilian setting was really fun to explore and the relationship between Josie and Zac really sold the story for me. Recommend to anyone looking for a classic, feel-good romcom.

Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for letting me read an early copy. Opinions are my own.

Let me tell you, I LOVED this book. It was so captivating and it left me wanting more once I had reached the last page. From the very beginning of, Natalie Murray draws readers into a world exploring the joys of romance but also the complexities of living with mental health conditions. As someone who both experiences PTSD symptoms and anxiety on a daily basis, the author's approach to these sensitive topics was not only done with the upmost empathy but it was also incredibly informative for people who don't know what is is like to deal with meatal health conditions. I felt as though she truly captivated my thoughts and feelings! She not only weaves these themes into the book, but allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding on the daily lives of those who deal with these challenges. The characters' experiences were authentic and were portrayed with sensitivity allowing the reader to connect but also empathise with them.

Beyond the touching exploration of mental health, "Love, Just In," is a beautiful, fast-paced read. It was impossible to put down once I got stuck into it and I was super sad it ended. The slow burn romance was also super cute and I was cheering on Josie and Zac the whole time. The balance of serious themes and swoon-worthy moments was executed beautifully.

The cover artwork also deserves a special mention. It has the Emily Henry charm we all seem to love at the moment. The Australian setting adds unique and also refreshing dimension (and is expertly shown on the cover artwork), offering a much needed change of scenery from the usual American settings of romance novels. I felt like I could connect with it easier as it was just like home!

This book put the biggest smile on my face and I urge you to keep it on your release radar! It is out Jan 2024 and if you are looking for a book that entertains, educates and makes you swoon, this is a must-read!! Natalie Murray is 100% going to be an auto-buy for me now.

In this friends-to-lovers romance, we follow Josie, a TV news reporter, who’s reassigned to the same city her best friend, Zac, lives, after an on-air anxiety attack. I was very intrigued by the plot and especially the Emily Henry comp because those are some BIG shoes to fill in, and unfortunately, filled they were not. The writing style was great, it flowed so smoothly and MOST of the time, it was really quick and easy to get through. The times when I got stumped and had to reread sections, it wasn't because of the writing, it was because the plot didn't make sense, and unfortunately, this happened quite often in what I could get through.

The hardest part of this book was the prologue, which is NOT a good place to be stuck because that is where you want to be drawn in as a reader, not confused. The setting, tone, and vibe were off, and a few pages later, this prologue is essentially rewritten as a memory as opposed to the present tense first-person view we saw in the prologue, rendering it useless, a waste of words, and confusing to the reader. It really got me started on the wrong spot and it didn't get better than there because I was so CONFUSED.

At one point, Josie has a panic attack about cancer, and there's probably some big tragic backstory about why she has this fear, but it's so out of place and under-explained, that I was... you guessed it, confused.

I also wasn't really buying the friendship or relationship between Josie and Zac, which is not ideal when reading romance. Josie keeps on calling him her best friend in her head, but they haven't spoken in 2 years, so clearly they're not that close. In the Emily Henry comp, there's a prior CONFLICT that led to the main characters' separation which makes the distance make sense, but in this story, there's nothing, no reason for the 2 years of silence and no reason for the awkwardness.

I think the point where I gave up on finishing this was when I realized there was no interiority within the characters, which is why you read first-person POV books. We were reading from Josie's perspective, but we got none of her emotions or internal thoughts. At one point in the beginning of their reunion, she bumps into Zac's chest, and we get NONE of her inner monologue. Nothing about being close to him (this is a romance, she should feel SOMETHING about touching the chest of the man she'll fall in love with, or at least at this moment, her best friend), about it being awkward because it's been two years, about wishing she could hug him instead of backing away, about ANYTHING.

Also WHAT is up with the single quotation marks whenever there was dialogue. It wasn't a cute Sally Rooney vibe, it was quite literally just bad grammar.

Overall, I think the writing was lovely, the story idea was interesting, but it was executed poorly. I think plotting out this whole story THEN writing it, with HEAVY edits could do this book a lot of good.

This book, WOW!! I won’t actually say just how late I stayed up to finish this last night, but I literally COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. It spoke to my heart and had me crying like a baby, so naturally, an easy 5⭐️!!

These characters were so multi-layered, each dealing with their own past traumas. Josie has crippling health anxiety and Zac is dealing with grief from a past relationship. They lean on each other and support each other so beautifully while each person is dealing with the fallout from traumatic events from their pasts. There were beautiful, light moments, but also some heart wrenching and heartbreaking moments.

I loved the text message exchanges, mental health representation, cute dog side character, and Josie’s and Zac’s sweet friendship most of all. This book was such a pleasant surprise! I did not expect it to be so phenomenal! Go request this on NetGalley now and grab it when it comes out this January!!

TW: grief, anxiety, car accidents, cancer

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen and Unwin for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review. 💕

I read this book in an afternoon and enjoyed it. The story was sweet, if a little predictable, but takes you on a journey of second chances and love.

I read this in one night - lovely little rom-com with a focus on mental health. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.5 stars for this sweet friends to lovers romance. This book did a good job dealing with health anxiety, and I loved the friendship between Josie and Zac, and Josie and some of her other friends.

Books that get compared to Emily Henry are tricky for me, because in addition to sweet, moving romance, she writes such entertaining banter. So a blurb comparing a book to EH sets me up to be more critical, I think. The banter and dialog in Love, Just In did not reach EH quality for me.

I also felt the resolution was a little anti-climactic, but overall this was an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Allen & Unwin and NetGalley I received an advanced electronic copy of the book to read and provide a review.

Rating: 3.5 rounded up!

Oh this was a roller coaster of a book! Fair warning, I HATED Josie for the first half of the book. How could she not see how she was getting in her own way?! I was beyond frustrated but also couldn’t put the book down. The story made it hard not to root for Josie and her best friend, Zac, despite the miscommunications, general lack of communication and social obstacles.

The author won me over by the end with her character development and vulnerability shown through her journey with a health scares, love/loss and medical anxiety. I enjoyed this book - I ran the gamut of emotions but ultimately was swooning by the end. This is a great second chance (ish) / friends to lovers book.

This is a lovely, slow burn friends to lovers rom-com based out of Australia. Josie is a tv presenter who has made the move from Sydney to Newcastle following an incident during an on-air segment at work. And who also happens to live in Newcastle but her best friend Zac from university that she hasn't seen in two years. Zac and Josie reconnect as friends but the romance builds over time. I did find Josie a bit immature at times (like trusting Lindsay, and getting medical appointments) but I appreciate the reason behind this behavior (anxiety). Zac had his own set of issues but he was so supportive of Josie at every turn.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and (most) of the characters. This was my first time reading Natalie's work but I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you NetGalley, and Natalie Murray for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars.

Thank you very much to Allen & Unwin for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this! If you love titles by Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary and Sally Thorne then look no further for your next summer read. Natalie Murray really delivered with ‘Love, Just In’!

I really adore rom-coms and even more so when they’re set near home in Australia. It’s so great to have Australian representation in the rom-com space, to me it just feels like most rom-coms are set in America (although this could be very wrong!)!

I really enjoyed getting to know Josie and Zak over the course of this novel and flew through the ~400 pages in one sitting. My only drawback was that the plot felt a little repetitive and drawn out towards the end, although that could have just been because I had read through it so quickly.