I steamed through this from friends to lovers romcom in a couple of evenings (I stayed up slightly later than I planned I was enjoying it so much😳)

The three main characters are all beautiful doctors who in their spare time volunteer in a free clinic. The plot which is written in alternating points of view by Lori and Jace is mostly lighthearted and fun, with the odd bump or two along the way.

If you want a fun book to escape into this would make a perfect choice.

Thanks to @netgalley for the early opportunity to read this fab book.

The blurb
Lori has been in love with her best friend Aiden since college. Now Aiden (handsome, fair, All-American dream doctor) is getting married, and Lori desperately needs a date to the wedding.
So she asks the best man, Jace (tall, dark, and brooding), to pretend their platonic friendship is something more not to have to face the worst day of her life alone.
Fake dating one best friend to forget the other should be easy… Plot twist—it’s not. When Jace starts acting like the sweetest, most attentive boyfriend, Lori begins to wonder if she’s been seeing him wrong all this time?
They’ve been an inseparable trio since freshman year, but now everything is changing — and that’s not even bringing Jace’s feelings into the mix.
Basically? It’s complicated.

Lori needs a date for her best friend’s wedding, and what better way to get over your best friend than to date his best friend?
But things soon get complicated when unrequited love is thrown into the mix.
Isley gives us another fantastic novel. I loved this narrative, this was a really fun and quick read full of fake dating, lots of secrets and a happy ending to keep everyone smiling.
I loved the character of Jace, and felt for him throughout the novel, while the character of Lori had a growth throughout the novel, while the character of Aiden was the balance to the friendship.
This author never disappoints and will look forward to reading more by them in the future.

4.5⭐️


I love Camilla Isley. Her books are interesting and engaging and I haven’t found one I didn’t like.

It’s Complicated follows the story of three best friends embroiled in a know/unknown love triangle.

With tropes such as friends to lovers, fake dating, love triangle, workplace romance and the dreaded miscommunication, we are taken on a journey of love, secrets and discovery.

I enjoyed the book and I love Jace, Lori and Aiden and their long friendship and the ease with which they relate with each other. I love Jace’s family and how accommodating and accepting they were.

This was funny. I was giggling to myself most of the time. I particularly liked Lori’s POV. Her thoughts, wit and unfiltered energy and words were spot on.

The ending could have been done a little slower so we could savour the moments, memories and victories with this couple.

I would love to see an extended epilogue- to catch up with the characters and see how they are getting on.

I received an advanced copy via Netgalley but I read this via Kindle Unlimited and the review is mine and voluntary.

There is something very satisfying in knowing that when you pick up a book by an author you are going to love it, which is how I feel about Camilla Isley's books, I never have to worry because I know it is going to be an enjoyable read. It’s Complicated is no exception, I loved this story and I honestly didn’t want to put it down, I was excited to get back to it any chance I could.

I could tell that it was going to be a fun story as soon as I started reading because of the banter between the characters, even when it feels like the worst day of Lori’s life she can be witty and sassy and has this wonderfully easy chemistry with Jace and Aiden. Then Lori manages to, in the spur of the moment, create a fake dating scenario between her and Jace to try to make Aiden jealous and I knew I would be hooked.

Especially because the chemistry between Lori and Jace starts to sizzle very quickly, they were magnetic and I could tell it was very quickly going to become…complicated. They are opposites in certain ways, but that makes them more endearing as a couple.

I loved getting the perspective of both Lori and Jace because we could see how they had misread each other throughout their platonic relationship and then throughout the fake dating journey. I also appreciated being surprised by Jace’s character, all of my assumptions about him were thrown out pretty quickly and I loved how sweet he was.

There is so much more I could say about this book because I thoroughly enjoyed it but I don’t want to spoil too much. It’s Complicated is a humorous, light-hearted romance with wonderful characters, that left me feeling very happy, I highly recommend this book.

You all know how much I love a @camillaisley book and I was so excited to read this one as it sounded perfect…

And it was!! I have to say, i think it’s been my favourite read of the year so far, it is just everything that I want from a romance!

It’s so fun and sweet and swoony and I loved loved loved the main characters!

We’ve got friends to lovers, with a little bit of a possible love triangle thrown in too 😉

Friends to lovers is one of my absolute favourite tropes but I think it’s one of the hardest to do right but @camillaisley did it perfectly! I didn’t want this one to end and I know I’ll definitely have reread it by the end of the year as well!!

Out now to buy and on KU too ✨

From the blurb -
Lori has been in love with her best friend Aiden since college. Now Aiden (handsome, fair, All-American dream doctor) is getting married, and Lori desperately needs a date to the wedding.

So she asks the best man, Jace (tall, dark, and brooding), to pretend their platonic friendship is something more not to have to face the worst day of her life alone.

Fake dating one best friend to forget the other should be easy... Plot twist-it’s not. When Jace starts acting like the sweetest, most attentive boyfriend, Lori begins to wonder if she’s been seeing him wrong all this time?

They’ve been an inseparable trio since freshman year, but now everything is changing - and that’s not even bringing Jace’s feelings into the mix.

Basically? It’s complicated.

*ARC from NetGalley

Another fantastic story from Camilla Isley I loved the characters and the realistic plot

This one has
friends to lovers
fake dating
love triangle

So it definitely has some of the best tropes in romance!

I have been a fan of Camilla's work for a while although by no means have I read everything that she has written. I love the way in which she writes such fun and light hearted romantic comedies. I read the synopsis of 'It's Complicated' and it certainly sounded like an interesting read. I couldn't wait to start reading and so without further ado, I grabbed my cup of tea, grabbed my Kindle and settled down for an interesting afternoon of reading. I really enjoyed reading 'It's Complicated' but more about that in a bit.

It took me no time at all to get into 'It's Complicated'. In fact by the time I got to the bottom of the first few pages I knew that I was going to find it rather difficult to put the book to one side for any length of time. I warmed to the characters from the start and they ended up feeling more like friends rather than characters in a book. My Kindle wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn't bear to miss a single second of the story. I had my own suspicions as to what was going to happen so of course I had to keep reading to see if I was on the right track or if I had wandered off in the opposite direction. I became so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the different characters that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of 'It's Complicated'. I found 'It's Complicated' to be an lighthearted and funny story, which certainly kept me guessing.

'It's Complicated' is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Camilla Isley. Camilla has an easy going writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. In fact reading one of Camilla's books feels more like a chat between friends rather than reading a book. Camilla clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. As I mentioned earlier on in this review, the characters ended up feeling more like friends than characters in a book. I love the way in which Camilla makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. I can honestly say that I started chuckling away to myself at the start of the story and I kept chuckling all the way through the book. 'It's Complicated' is perfect, escapist reading, which will certainly put a smile on your face.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'It's Complicated' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Camilla's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Three friends since college, two secret crushes and one wedding invitation is just begging for me to say ‘on your marks, get set, go’, especially with how fast I raced through this book.

It’s not complicated how I feel about this author’s books. They are fun, easy romances with great characters and packed with my favourite tropes. This one has fake dating, friends to lovers and a love triangle.

Also I didn’t realise how cute unrequited love could be and Jace loves her just the way she is. Bridget Jones eat your heart out.

But will things turn complicated when the three doctors who share the same practice reveal their secret longings? Will Jace’s life become as messy as Lori’s home? (He’s a neat freak so this will be fun). Will the wedding still go ahead?

There’s only one way to find out so on your marks, get set, read!

Somehow, I thought this was going to be a 'Love, Rosie' like story; the FMC is in love with her best friend for yeaaaars and was unrequited for years as well. But nope, it wasn't like that. There were a lot of things I assumed in this story and none of those happened (for the better I guess because I don't like clichés)

Lori
Not going to lie but she annoyed me at first. I just feel like her introduction as a character isn't that likeable. She used her other male friend to go along with her shenanigans to make the other guy jealous. She's also the type that says, 'I am not like other girls.' But as the story goes, she became tolerable.

Jace
Oh dear, I didn't expect him to be the type who often assume someone's feelings for him. He doesn't communicate himself and then misinterpret a lot of things and then sulks. But I guess 15 years of having unrequited love does that to you. Poor dude, tbh.

Aiden
He's not really the main character but I just want to give him a spotlight for being so patient with his friends (where does he get that kind of patience? Idk but I would want to know and I'll buy a pack of it) No, seriously. And he also speaks well. I feel like he balances the group. Also, I understand why Lori likes him.

Plot
It's not as complicated as the title says and I am very happy about it. Everyone in this story is very mature (well, Lori is debatable 😅) and everything worked out in the end because of that. There's also no 'other woman' here (I was worried because of the other side character but she's not a threat after all).

Overall
I love the story! It's a light and quick read. Definitely recommend it if you like
- long unrequited love
- golden retriever guy
- fake dating
- best friends since college
- close door romance

What irks me a bit were the pop culture references specially Taylor Swift songs. Got nothing against her (I also listen to her songs) but reading about her on a book specifically using her song to end the story somehow takes all the attention from the plot. It felt like the author had no idea how to end it so she used Taylor Swift to save it. I just feel like if you are not a fan, you won't understand some of the references.

💎 Thank you, Netgalley and Boldwood books for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Lori Jace and Aiden have been best friends since medical school and now have a practice together Laurie has had a crush on Aiden since then and Jace has had a crush on Laurie since then when Laurie finds out Aiden is marrying his longtime girlfriend Kiersten she is obviously upset and goes to Jay’s to comfort her when they’re caught the next morning by Aiden waking up together she begs Jace to pretend to be her boyfriend and of course he agrees. Soon Laurie finds herself seeing and feeling things for Jace she’s never felt before but when he kisses her she starts to think that instead of Aiden… Jace could be the one. That is until Aidan lets it slip that he and Jace have had a packed and when she demands to know what it was and he explains the pack is that neither one would date her. Lori immediately goes to Jason‘s apartment to yell at him and do the whole “how could you” routine only to leave saying she never wants to see him again but after Aiden talks to her and smooths it all out. Unfortunately she isn’t prepared for Jace to go missing after she was ready to profess her overwhelming love for him, not knowing he is sad and depressed with a dead cell phone at his parents thinking she and Aiden are now together despite everything Aiden told him before hand. There are many things I didn’t enjoy about this book and many things I did. I did think that it was ridiculous that these three accomplished doctors and adults would still play such childish games I mean Lori is a doctor a grown-up and for 15 years she’s had an unrequited crush on Aiden… I found that to be quite unbelievable but having said that they were many parts of this but I did enjoy I love Camila Isalys riding in the way she paints a picture really makes the funny parts much funnier but I am not big on second chance romances or close door love stories I think the only thing that saved this book for me was the authors writing the funny moments in the great ending because if a book makes me swoon it was so worth reading it and this one totally did. Though I am not big on Insta love I am big on romance. I want to thank Boldwood Books and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review

It's Complicated is a quick and fun read. Fake dating plus friends to lovers equals a great story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Lori, Aiden and Jace have bern best friends since college. Now they all work together in a private practice in Chicago. Unfortunately Lori has secretly been in love for Aiden for all these years and now he is about to marry another woman. What can Lori do to prevent the wedding? Maybe make Aiden jealous by pretending to be in a relationship with Jace?

I loved this book sooo much! It is entertaining, fast-paced and full of relatable characters. I felt for Lori and Jace being in love with somebody who has no idea about your feelings. I adored Jace, he is the perfect book-boyfriend and I rooted for him from the start.
If you like friends-to-lovers romances with a twist of fake dating this book should definitely be on your TBR-list!

Lori has been best friends with Jace and Aiden since they met while at university, and she's been in love with Aiden for almost the same amount of time. But she has never had the courage to tell him how she really feels and when he meets Kirsten and they decide to get married, Lori decides the only way to save face is to fake date Jace.

Only problem is, Jace has been in love with Lori the same amount of time she's loved Aiden and he's never told her. But he's always been there for her as a sounding board about her feelings for Aiden, and now she wants him to pretend he's in love with her. He agrees and he loves having free rein to touch her and kiss her but he's starting to get confused between what is real and what is pretend.

For Lori, she soon realises that being with Jace is what she wants and her feelings for Aiden disappear almost overnight. Was she ever really in love with him? Or just infatuated with him? She's attracted to Jace and when things start to get a bit hot and heavy between them, he puts a stop to it and admits he's in love with her. Telling her he can only go further if she loves him too otherwise he won't be able to come back from that. This is one of the parts where I really like Lori, she knows her feelings for Jace are real but she's agreed to take things slow to fully explore how she feels about him and what she wants from him. I think this is really mature of her and shows just how much she cares about Jace and his feelings.

Unfortunately there is a third act break-up which I really don't like, but they get over it really quickly. So quickly that within minutes of talking to each other they're getting married in secret while at Aiden's wedding! It's not until their wedding night that they finally sleep together, which is actually quite sweet.

I enjoyed this book, and I really liked Lori, Jace and Aiden. They work through all their feelings quite well for the most part with only minimal screaming and disappearing acts. I thought it was well-written and the characters were relatable, especially when Lori is trying to assess her feelings for Jace, she wants to make sure he's The One before she goes full in to the relationship. I didn't like the third act break up or Jace's disappearing act, they'd all been so mature up until that point so it was a little disappointing for that to happen when a simple conversation could have solved a load of drama.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I do love the Fake Dating trope as it feeds into my enjoyment of books where there’s an early start to a relationship. It’s Complicated didn’t disappoint and had me invested from the opening pages.

Lori is a perfect protagonist and I absolutely empathised with her dilemma as she was set to watch her secret crush marry his fiancée. Determined to finally get Aiden’s attention on a romantic level, she embarks on a fake relationship with her other best friend, Jace. All of this is included in the synopsis, so please don’t worry that I’m including spoilers.

Jace and Aiden were both gorgeous characters, and I must admit to being surprised that Lori had never considered Jace as an option in the years of their friendship. Both guys were text book handsome and loved their friendship with her. They even shared a workplace which made for some real laugh out loud moments.

Whilst there was some serious sizzle in the fake relationship, Neither Lori nor Jace acted on their developing feelings. In fact, Jace was the perfect gentleman who dodged almost every opportunity to maximise on the situation.

The pace is perfect and I found myself unable to put the book down as I wanted to see how their fake relationship would pan out. This is a clever, sassy story that delivered on all levels. I loved it!

This is a book about a love triangle done right! A friendship that can’t be broken no matter who loves who… Lori figuring out that what she had with her best friend was really love and that the crush she had on her other was really just that - a crush….

Lori is a wonderful mess of a character - between the animals, being blind about love and saving books… she is so fun.

I am such a huge fan of Camilla Isley’s writing, and have read many of her other books and totally loved them. It’s Complicated is another one of those amazingly written stories, which I read in just two days – I loved it that much.

The story revolves around 3 friends who have been the best of friends since college, through medical school and even know working together in a medical practice partnership. Lori, Aidan and Jace have been the best of friends, but their friendship carries some secrets that even the three of them are not all aware of. Lori is head-over-heels in love with Aidan and has been since college. He has zero idea of Lori’s feelings, but Jace has spent many years aware of Lori’s feelings for Aidan. The one thing that Lori isn’t aware of his that Jace is also in love – with her – but he has never said a single word about his feelings.

Things all of a sudden become very complicated within the friendship group, as Lori ropes Jace into a fake relationship to try and make Aidan jealous – and realise that it is really Lori he wants, and not his very soon to be wife – Kirsten. Jace struggles initially with the fake-dating situation with Lori, but soon realises that he wants to be honest with Lori and tell her his true feelings – that he is in love with her.

I am not going to give any spoilers, but I can 100% say that if you read It’s Complicated you will not be disappointed at all. I devoured the book in just two days, and (I rarely say this about many books) but would happily re-read It’s Complicated again I loved it that much ♡

Lori has had a crush on one of her best friends, Aiden since they met in college. When she receives the wedding invitation and realizes he is actually going to get married to someone else, she rushes to her other best friend Jace for comfort.

A cute love triangle (sort of) story.

A great beach read or when you just want something easy to read without having to concentrate too much.

It was easy to see where the book was going. It just happened a little too quickly to be realistic.

Lori is the most quirky of the friend trio. Her untidiness, the cats and the chickens seemed just a little too much for one character in comparison to the other characters who had little or no quirks.

Overall a fun read. Also not my usual genre so it may appeal more to others who normally read this type of book.

3.5 stars round up to 4

Thanks to netgalley and Boldwood Books for the arc.

A breezy and quick lighthearted beach read. I was a little worried going into this about the love triangle aspect, but it actually turned out to be the type of love triangle that's actually pretty palatable, in that it's immediately very obvious who the final pairing will be and there's pretty much no internal debates about picking between two love interests.

Overall, this was pretty, albeit standard, concept and setup. The third act conflict dropped this from a 3.5 to 3 for me though because the conflict was too contrived and wasn't resolved in a satisfactory way.

Content: closed door

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a copy of this ARC.

I wanted to love this so badly but it was unfortunately not the one for me. In the beginning Lori was quirky and cute, but she quickly slid into annoying territory. She’s very much “not like other girls” and scoffs at everything traditionally feminine. It’s fine if that’s not something you’re into, but all the other female characters were villainized and she comments about how having guys as friends is easier, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. There are a few other examples and it didn’t make her sympathetic to me. By the end, Lori did warm up to Aiden's fiance so there is a bit of growth, but in my opinion it was too little too late. The other POV is Jace and I liked him a bit better, but I didn’t find him to be too unique.

Also, I didn’t like the writing too much. There is some backstory on the three of them and some of Lori’s hobbies, but it seemed everything was just thrown together and nothing was too fleshed out. It felt very dry and there was a lot of exposition. The dialogue didn’t feel genuine and the declarations of love were cheesy. I liked the fake dating in the beginning and how she starts to see Jade in a new light, but she just falls in love with him so quickly and forgets about the 15 year long crush on Aiden in a way that doesn’t make sense.

I’m so sad about this but I know I’m in the minority here. This is also a closed door romance, so it could be a good option for you if you’re looking for that in your romances.

This was such a sweet book! I loved the characters, and their love story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable.