4.5 stars!!

This book was an AMAZING friends to lovers book!!! I absolutely LOVE books where the characters have known each other since they were young! Josie and Zac met when they were teenagers and became fast friends! The story shifted from the past to present! I love stories that bring you up to date on the present by giving you these glimpses into the past!

Zac was THE best!!! You could feel his love for Josie shining through every page! Josie was a bit slower on the uptake, but once she finally got there she was all in!

The story flowed perfectly for me!! Both characters had traumatic feelings/events that were impacting their lives! I like how the story unraveled and brought them to light!

There were a light of funny parts, along with the serious and emotional scenes, which balanced out the story! I will definitely check out other books by this author!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an ecopy in exchange for an honest review!

This was an OK read, but I didn't love Josie and wasn't super engaged at any point. I feel like it was a bit too long and the slow burn got frustrating.

This was a cute story with a lovely couple at the center of it. The setting was brilliant and it made me want to get to Australia as soon as possible. At first I enjoyed the flashback chapters but after a while they started to get on my nerves. They were weirdly out of order and always seems to come at the wrong moment, when all I wanted was more of the main story.

Thank you netgalley for the arc ebook.

I’ve been interested in reading more books that are published or written outside of the USA. As someone who’s always dreamed of visiting Australia, I was excited to get a peek into the country and its culture through this book. Having the set-up of friends-to-lovers only sweetened the deal. However, this novel ended up being bittersweet—with an emphasis on the bitter.

The first three chapters of this novel were the strongest. The writing was clear, the emotions were coming off the page, and I was genuinely excited to learn more about Josie, Zac, and the tragedy that tore them apart. Murray did an excellent job of setting up the characters, the heartbreak, and Josie’s health anxiety (more on that later). But things derailed after those initial chapters.

The story derailed because of two characters: Josie and Zac. I’m not sure that I want to label this book as a romance because these two characters were so toxic and immature toward each other. They couldn’t seem to stop hurting each other or themselves in attempts to avoid their “romantic” feelings. They seemed insistent on avoiding their own feelings, miscommunicating (through failing to listen to each other), and never grew as people falling in love (i.e. lack of character development). Although, I will give Murray props for writing in a great example of boundary setting. When it came down to it, Zac was unafraid to set a boundary and place space between himself and Josie to figure out his headspace. And did Josie’s narration do a good job of expressing anxiety? Absolutely yes. And I say that because it triggered my own anxiety to the point that I had to set the book down and return to it when I was in a headspace where I could continue reading it.

I recognize that the author used this book to explore health anxiety—a facet of anxiety that is not wildly represented in media—and was presenting it in the best way she could. However, for me personally, I don’t think it was handled well. It is one thing to explore and represent anxiety, it’s another altogether to not provide enough page space to properly address how to care for yourself when living with anxiety.

As someone who lives with generalized anxiety disorder, I get it. Anxiety can make you illogical and fearful and emotional. But, at some point, something gives, and you must do better by yourself and the people in your lives. Which means facing anxiety and getting the help and support you need. Seeing Josie languish in her anxiety and refuse to do anything about it for 350+ pages made for a difficult and frustrating read. One, it was incredibly triggering to remain in that anxious headspace for so long (there should have been a trigger warning—more on that shortly). Two, there was a hampering of Josie’s developmental arc because she would not take the steps to treat her anxiety. The entire second half of the novel could have been different if her developmental arc had been reworked. And I say that because this story gave us 91% of Josie’s health anxiety and 9% of her character growth and doing something about her anxiety. (Yes, 91% is the percentage marker where Josie found her agency and began doing something about her anxiety.)

This is a statement I stand by: the book should have opened with the author’s note and a trigger warning. The author’s note was tucked away at the end of the novel with a justification that the note would have spoiled a major plot point if it was included in the front. For me, that justification was a weak one. At minimum, the entire paragraph about health anxiety should have been presented before the first chapter of this book.

Overall, I was let down by this book. I was expecting a fun romcom set in Australia. Instead, it was emotionally draining to read and failed to handle heavier topics utilized as plot points. And I certainly wouldn’t label this book as being like any Emily Henry, Sally Thorne, or Ali Hazelwood book.

TW: health anxiety, death of a partner (off page), car accident

Thank you to Allen & Unwin and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I really liked this! There’s a bit more will they won’t they than I usually prefer but I read the book in one sitting so, clearly I enjoyed it! Zac was super cute and sweet and the sex scene was superb. I think it worked out well with her moving to Newcastle and felt realistic. Their reunion scene was so cute and the epilogue proposal was perfect!!

Overall I enjoyed this book. I do think that the middle of the book dragged and I struggled to push through it. I think this book could have been a bit shorter and it might have been more enjoyable without some of the middle. I think the author did a great job of switching between the past and the present to give readers the history of Josie and Zac's story.

Love, Just In is a sweet friends to lovers tale about Josie and Zac. We deal with a whole lotta issues in this one, so buckle up buttercups.

Zac and Josie were the best of friends until Zac's fiancee dies in his arms and he isolates. Understandable. However, he has a bit of a health anxiety panic that while I can understand, can seem to be a problem that our two protagonists can't overcome at times. I struggle with those that push people away because they're convinced that a situation that previously happened will happen again and therefore their lives must be lived lonely and alone forever to avoid that pain.

That being said, Love, Just In does a great job of straddling the line between friends to lovers while spanning multiple timelines. It's a sweet but at times heavy read.

I really enjoyed this book. Certainly predictable but with an added depth which I leave to you to find out.

I unfortunately did not finish this book. It put me in a reading slump. It was getting repetitive and just didn’t catch my interest.

This one was a fun read that I finished pretty fast. I will say though, I wanted to smack the leading lady a few times for her immature behavior and bad decisions. Her decisions were truly like a train wreck that I couldn’t help but watch. Maybe I am so far removed from my twenties dating life that I cant remember the blaringly obvious red flags, but I suppose that and miscommunication is what makes a story, right? I loved the sleepy beach town location of this one. Zac was a fun male lead, with his sweet little dog.

The health anxiety angle that Josie experienced was interesting, and something I don’t see represented in books very often. Couple that with Zac’s grief…and it went a little bit deeper than your average romcom. There was some fun banter, a few steamy scenes and this was a childhood friends to lovers situation that was fun.

Bottom Line: Read it.

**I received a copy of Love, Just In from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

The premise and overall story were adorable, but the execution was inconsistent for me. There were a few aspects of the story that I struggled with.

For instance, the two-year gap between Zac and Josie's last encounter and their reunion felt both too short and too long. Zac went through a massive, life-altering event during this time, yet two years isn't that long for such recovery. However, the way it was written made it seem like they had been out of touch for over a decade. Conversely, their present situation spans only about six months, yet so much happens that it feels like many years have passed.

At times, the story moved quickly, while at other times it was tediously repetitive, especially concerning Josie's work and health issues. I wished there had been more current interactions between Josie and Zac, rather than experiencing most of their relationship through Josie's thoughts and internal dialogue.

That said, I really loved Zac and Josie's friendship. Their friends-to-lovers journey was beautiful, and I was thrilled that they found their way to each other.

Overall, it was an interesting read, and I'm glad I read it. I'm curious to see what's next from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Didn’t finish stopped at 25% Josie was so painfully obnoxious I almost felt bad for Zac . There’s honestly no way I would buy any chemistry between them later in the book so I didn’t see the point of continuing. Also, the medical anxiety was so weirdly thrown in and not cohesive and not something. I personally want to read about.

I enjoyed this romance book, but it felt like a *slight* miss for me. I’m not a fan of the miscommunication trope, for the most part. Sometimes it can be done really well and sometimes not. This felt kinda like a not?
I thought the characters were well written, but I really didn’t feel the love and CHEMISTRY between Josie and Zac.
I will say though, text message conversations are my faves in books!!! Something so cute and real that can be said virtually instead of face to face. Overall, I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it. I think 3.5 but rounding up for the stars sake! ♥️

I'm between 3.5 and 4 stars on this one. Let me explain.

The premise and the story in general- adorable. The overall execution was hot and cold for me. There were a few aspects of the story that I grappled with.

For instance, the time that lapsed between Zac and Josie's last encounter and their reunion was only 2 years, during which Zac experienced a massive, life-altering event. However, two years, in the grand scheme, is not very long, particularly for someone to recover from such a traumatic experience. Yet, it's written as if they went 10+ years without contact. On the other hand, the present situation between Zac and Josie is only about 6 months and yet so much happens in such a short amount of time that, again, it feels like many years have passed.

At times, the story flies and at times it's tediously redundant, particularly with Josie's work and health issues. I wish there had been more current interactions between Josie and Zac rather than mostly experiencing their relationship through Josie's thoughts and internal dialogue.

That said, I really loved Zac and Josie's friendship. Their friends to lovers journey was really beautiful and I absolutely loved that they found their way to each other.

Certainly an interesting read. I'm glad I read it. I'm interested in what's next from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Allen and Unwin for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

The cover, the title, and even the summary make this book appear to be a lovely summer rom-com. It is much deeper than that. It tackles lost of serious topics, such as loss, grief, cancer, health anxiety, trauma, drunk driving and more. It's a good book but it is a bit of a shock to the system if you don't realize that up front. I don't read trigger warnings unless it appears to be a dark book, I've found most authors in romances are respectful and diligent about tackling serious issues, so I was caught off guard when the book was heavier on the issues and lighter on the romance.

That said, I really enjoyed it. Natalie took some very difficult circumstances her characters were given and fleshed things out to give them depth. A book could easily bring up all these issues but then also brush them aside to focus on the romance and the author didn't do that. Zac and Josie were three-dimensional, complex individuals who faced extremely emotionally taxing situations that affected their mental health and their relationships. I appreciate the respect the author gave them and also how we watched the characters have to work through everything.

The book jumped around from Present Day into different years in the past of Josie and Zac's friendship. The flashbacks weren't in any specific order, and were there to allow us to see pertinent parts of their relationship that were relevant to what was happening in the story at that moment. With tropes like small-town, friends to lovers, forced proximity and slow burn, this book was primed to be well liked by me. Miscommunication was unfortunately a part of the storyline... sometimes I just want to shake people in books to say what they really mean or ask for clarification instead of making assumptions, but all romances need a foil of some sort.

I could not relate to the health anxiety aspect of this book, but I did enjoy the overall story. It was a cute and easy read. I also loved the small town setting.

Josie moves out of Sydney to pursue her TV news career. This move also brings her to the same town as her estranged BFF, Zac Jameson. While Josie and Zac try to reform their friendship, more feelings are brought to the surface. While this was an extremely amusing story, overall, I had a harder time connecting with Josie as a character. This made the book a longer read for me.

Typically I don’t read a lot of contemporary but the description drew me into Love, Just In. This is a friends to lovers slow burn with some tragedy intertwined. I enjoyed this one.

This was a very cute book. Easy and light reading. Was reading this off and on because there were times the main character or interest character annoyed me but very “aww” ending.

*I received an e-arc via Netgalley from the publisher. Thank you for the opportunity to review. All thoughts are my own*

I read Natalie Murray’s young adult novels, so I was super excited to read an adult romance from her! It did not disappoint. I really enjoyed Love, Just In! This friends to lovers, slow burn romance story is set in Australia and has great anxiety representation. It also talks about healing from grief and loss.

I related to the main character Josie and her anxiety, and I am thankful to the author for her portrayal of the character.

Josie and Zac are adorable, and the banter between them was wonderful!

If you enjoy romance, I definitely think you will enjoy this one too!