I requested this book because the cover reminded me of Emily Henry's books, and this book did not dissapoint. I thought it was super romantic and funny. I will be sure to look for more books by Natalie Murray in the future. It was super cute and just what the doctor prescribed to a diehard romantic such as myself. I loved it.

If you like Emily Henry or Tessa Bailey you are sure to enjoy this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my review!

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Thank you!

This book did not manage to hold my interest beyond the first chapter. The writing was good, but it didn't strike me the way I expected when I read the description.

An Enjoyable, fun and entertaining story set in a beautiful city. Characters are relatable and real.

Epitome of just another romance. It was boring and the plot moved way too slow. It was a chore to get through.

It's always refreshing to read books based in Australia. This was a good read! I have to admit the FMC annoyed me a little as she comes off as self centred but I guess it's all for the plot!

This was such a good book! I enjoyed this romantic comedy and read it in one day! I would definitely recommend this book!

This was cute, but I think I had some issues buying into the romance. I am a big friends-to-lovers fan (even more than enemies-to-lovers, but I know I'm in the minority), but there are a few factors that can really make or break it. The first is that I really need to buy into the friendship/closeness between the characters, and there also needs to be enough romantic chemistry to convince me that they should be *more*, and I don't think this really accomplished either.

This also had some general pacing issues, where I felt like the middle was a bit of a slog. I just wanted there to be a bit more going on, and this one fell a little bit flat for me.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded down!

The publisher called this for fans of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation, and if you come into this with that expectation i’m sorry to say you’ll be a bit disappointed.

This is a sloooowwwww burn, second chance/friends to lovers romance that follows Josie and Zac in the present, while giving glimpses into their past and long history of fourteen years of on/off friendship!

A couple of the things that I liked were also things that I didn’t — we get some great mental health representation here, but the first person narrative from Josie is so obsessive and anxious that it made me anxious too. Zac is an absolute sweetheart, protective, heart on his sleeve type guy, but he bring up his dead ex-fiancé during his declaration of love to Josie and compares the two of them… quite uncomfy!

There was an excellent premise here, and lucky for Josie and Zac their story wrapped up really nicely. It just didn’t seem like Josie loves Zac as much as he loves her, and I don’t know if their love would actually last.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a DRC in exchange for my honest review!!

A super fun friends to lovers workplace romance set in Australia by a new to me author. This was full of humor and heart and perfect for fans of authors like Emily Henry. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

This is the first of Natalie Murray’s novels I have read and I really enjoyed it!
The second chance romance story had all the feels, and will leave you rooting for Josie and Zac, all while they rediscover their lost friendship. The dual timeline works well and helps fill in the gaps nicely.

4-star read!

LOVE, JUST IN was absolutely PRECIOUS! IT definitely was spot on for being for fans of PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry. It is such a sweet friends-to-lovers semi-second chance love romance. I loved different story lines and inclusion of mental health. I look forward to reading more from this author!

This is a book that I read in a day as it was so easy to read and to get to know the characters in the story. Josie is a person I could relate to and I enjoyed her and her friendship with Zac. It is a cute and sweet read but not airy fairy as some might think it would be.

The story flowed well, had some fun, some drama, some romance and that it was set in Australia. A good read, easy and quick and a bit of fun.

Thank you NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

2.5 stars
I felt a sense of deja vu reading this book- it was almost like a fan fic of People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. The exact same vibe of best friends currently not speaking to each other and all of the back and forth across the timeline to piece together what went wrong and give them their HEA. I didn’t really connect with either of the main characters in either of the timelines but I can see how others will love it!

DNF: Not bad, it just wasn't for me! Friends to lovers can be a tricky trope, and these two had a lot of other stuff going on as well. It didn't work for me. It's a complex story that is likely to hit with some readers more than others. I ended up DNFing.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that it was set in Australia, as an Aussie it made me able to connect with the characters more. I also loved the Jose and Zac as characters, they felt real and flawed and I enjoyed their dynamic with each other. Murray really showed their awkwardness if leaning to be friends again after what they have been through while also showing their deep physical and emotional attraction to each other. Which is not an easy thing to do, but Murray is able to achieve. The reason I couldn't give it 5 stars was because it was marketed as an Aussie Emily Henry book, while their are many similarities between this book and Henry's work, Murray's writing lack what magic Emily Henry's has. But, don't get me wrong this book is still amazing and utterly perfect for any Rom Com lovers, Aussie or not.

I was sold by the cover and synopsis for this one - I could relate to approaching 30 and still being single! And the TV newsroom and Newcastle settings were a draw.

Ultimately though, I feel let down by something billed as a romcom being so dramatic. And super slow burn is just not for me.

Interspersed are flashback chapters, which I really could have done without. Characters allude to things clearly enough that I then didn't need to see those scenes - I got enough of the gist without needing to be yanked out of the present-day timeline. The details grated on me after awhile too; for example, three mentions of the coffee being dark roast were too many. i didn't care what the MMC's graphic tees said - at best he's a 30-year-old in a trying=too-hard shirt, at worst he's a man wearing a shirt with the word "crazy" on it (a red flag!).

I really liked the inclusion of health anxiety, and the focus on Josie's career. In fact, I think I'd have enjoyed this one a lot more if it had been general fiction instead of romance - if the story arc was just about her, not about her journey AND their relationship.

Readers who enjoy loads of details likely will enjoy this one more than me, and those better able to see the MMC as wonderful. (I'm sorry, but if someone needlessly explains confirmation bias to me during a serious conversation, I'm walking away!)

This one was fun and definitely gave some People We Meet on Vacation vibes! I really loved both of the main characters working through some real things, and I felt like they were fully fleshed out. For the romance itself, I went back and forth between being obsessed with them and rolling my eyes at how high school they were acting. Maybe that's a me-thing because I find myself often slightly disappointed by friends-to-lovers but I'd overall definitely recommend it to anyone who loves that trope!!

Thank you to the author Natalie Murray, publishers Allen & Unwin, and NetGalley for a complimentary digital copy. All views are mine.

Opening Quote: 'You can be with people and still be alone.' Loc.384

I don't think this book was too bad, but rather just really "not for me"!

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. I like the hypochondriac element of the fmc's development. It's a fascinating form for her anxiety to take. Hopefully the author won't take it to a stereotypical or sanist place.

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. The style is, in part, overwritten. The narrator often describes the same detail twice or more. This tendency contributes to the book's bloated size.

2. Honestly, I cannot relate less to a character's motivations for a novel than this: Oh my god, is she right? Could I actually win this job? After that , all I would need would be to fall in love with an incredible man, get married on the beach in Hawaii, and be pregnant. All my ambitions achieved before I’m thirty— tick, tick, tick. Loc.477

3. I think this book is a bit sanist in how it looks at its fmc. For example, at Loc.1301, the fmc herself stigmatized her own socially acceptable behavior.

Rating: 😬😬.5 nervous leads
Recommend? yes, just not for me!
Finished: Dec 31 '23
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetG0alley
Read this book if you like:
💋 romance
🎥 journalism
💜 prose
🩻 characters anxious about health

Love, Just In is such a perfect, heartfelt book! The main characters were so lovable, the MMC Zac being absolute perfection. I couldn’t dream up a better best friend/lover myself! The depth of emotional connection the two held really pulled my heart strings all the way through the book. I found there to be a perfect balance of romance, humor, emotion and spice. It was just an all around wonderful book! Natalie Murray is definitely an author to look out for in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy!

4 1/2 stars

I really enjoyed this "kind of" second chance romance with Josie and Zac. They've been best friends since childhood and have each had on and off again crushes on the other person but never at the right time. Due to a traumatic loss, Zac moved and has been pretty much radio silent with Josie for the past two years. But now she's temporarily moving to Newcastle where Zac lives and it's a chance for them to reconnect and repair their friendship. But things are more complicated than Josie anticipated.

The flashbacks to Josie and Zac's past are a bit heartbreaking because you can see how they took so many missteps along the way. You can see the two of them reaching toward one another and then pulling back out of fear that the other person doesn't feel the same way.

It's a story about life and the pain of finding your way through all of its realities and hardships. Zac and Josie both have traumatizing events from their past that are impacting their present lives and that is a key part of the storyline as well.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.