I hesitantly jumped into this one. I loved one of this author's previous books (Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck) but the others I've read have fallen sooo far from my expectations that I keep picking up her books in the hope that there's one that compares to how much I enjoyed that story.

I love friends to lovers with the secret pining and no of course we don't like each other like that story line so, hopefully started reading.

**side note, If you haven't read brynn and Sebastian, (while I didn't enjoy it) you definitely need to have read that first as this is very much not a stand alone story.**

The story itself is clunky. For two characters that have been best friends for 30 years and are almost 40, feelings had to have come up and been addressed at some point. But per the plot it did not...I feel like the reader would have benefited from some flashbacks to see their friendship grow because, we really weren't given any background or anything specific to root for. The dual POV but she's in first person and he's in third was very awkward and didn't flow seamlessly from chapter to chapter/each character really leaning into their own voices. And finally, a romance without chemistry just doesn't give the reader something to root for. A book without spice can still have butterflies and longing glances and banter and chemistry without being explicit and I think that would have helped the plot immensely.


The last 20% really started to pick up the plot, but where else that the first 80% of the book?? I was hopeful for this one, with so many of my favorite things mentioned to be present but unfortunately was disappointed. The romcom tour of NYC and the fake first date were top notch but weren't able to sway my opinion.


Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson--FICTION for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Gilmore Girls Fans This Book Is For YOU!

Small Town Romance= Adelaide Springs, Colorado
Friends To Lovers
Childhood Friends
New York Trip
It Has Always Been You
Cute Banter

Cole and Layla have been friends for over 25 years.
She's his lifelong best friend and he has always been her shoulder and her rock.

He is a chef and she works as a waitress at his grandfather's restaurant Cassidy's which was supposed to be Cole's eventually but when he dies the will states that it has been sold, Cole's world flips upside down and he needs to leave everything behind. So when an offer, lands him a position in New York's finest restaurants he can't say no but there's Layla he cannot also be without her and that's when she agrees to go with him until he figures things out, but what they didn't know that this trip will change everything between them too.

What a cute and heartwarming love story.🤍🤍🤍
What I liked most about it:
The fact they are approaching 40 and it's okay if your life is still not figured out yet.
The easiness between them and how they know each other from a glance.😍 Their caring and love for each other was so sweet🥰.
The surprises that Cole did for Layla in New York and how he made her smile.❤️
All the amazing chocolate chip pancakes 😋😋😋

All in all, it was a beautiful love story which I highly recommend.
Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for my ARC of #ColeAndLaylaAreJustFriends
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own .

Xoxo💋

"Cole and Laila Are Just Friends" is an absolute gem of a book! Turner's writing is a beautiful blend of emotion and humor that keeps you hooked from page one. Cole and Laila are like two sides of the same coin, oblivious to their deep connection until they begin to unravel the truth. The journey from friendship to something more is pure perfection, filled with uncertainty, tension, and some of the most engaging dialogue I've come across. Witnessing their realization of love amidst the chaos was an absolute delight—I found it impossible to tear myself away from their story. I enjoyed the appearances of characters from a previous book even though I had not read that one. It made me want to go back and read their story. The friendship angle was very well done with both couples.
The trips around New York seeing their favorite sights were delightful as well. For anyone in search of a fantastic, clean romantic comedy, I recommend diving into the world of Cole and Laila.

This is an enjoyable and clean/chaste rom-com about two best friends finally realizing after more than three decades of friendship, and when circumstances threaten to separate them, that they actually want to kiss each other a lot.

What I liked: There was some good, if inconsistently funny, banter. I also liked that characters from a previous rom-com played a role in this story.

The shared history of the main characters was nice to see, if a bit overdone. They are best friends. Please don't say it 175 more times. We get it.

I also enjoyed the New York setting and seeing it through the perspectives of two people from a small town. That was done well — they felt like smart but real tourists — not rubes but also wide-eyed in a fun way.

What I didn't like: The characters are meant to be late 30s. I think they read as mid-twenties. Laila was a touch of wacky, wide-eyed pixie dream girl but make her from Colorado. I found descriptions of her inconsistent — she doesn't work out much but does climb rocks. She wears Barbie-pink shoes, but also her favorite outfit involves khaki cargo pants? What? And she can't even cook a pancake from a box. Give me a break.

Also, no way they have been best friends through all of puberty and their early 20s and not thought pretty seriously about a romantic relationship (well, mostly Cole). This is not realistic on any plane, but I would buy it if they were a decade younger.

Next, the author puts Laila's chapters in first person and Coles's in third. I don't understand that editorial choice at all and it always pulled me out of the story for a second.

Ok I really did not dislike this book, but finally, I must call out it is not Christian Fiction in any way, shape, or form. Maybe it's just the Goodreads labels that have attached this genre to it.

Anyway, I've read books with no claim to religious affiliation at all that had more Christian content than this one. Within these chapters there is no mention of God, they don't reference attending church, or following any moral standard. They are just PG-rated people. Since it's published by Thomas Nelson, that may be confusion, but just know that it is void of any Christian overtones and you could read it out loud to your grandma.

A pair of small-town best friends take on New York; what could go wrong?

In Cole and Laila Are Just Friends, Cole Kimball and Laila Olivet have been friends their whole life, the only two in their friend group who didn't move away from their small town of Adelaide Springs, Colorado. Cole is the owner/chef of Cassidy's, the only bar and grill in Adelaide Springs, and Laila is a spunky, outgoing waitress. Cole's grandfather passes away and leaves him feeling betrayed and with so many questions about his future. Cole hops on the first plane to New York to investigate a job opportunity that would get him away from Adelaide Springs, and Laila tags along to help him process everything that has happened. Laila fights to remain cheerful and supportive as she struggles with changes that could turn Cole and her comfortable friendship upside down. In the Big Apple, while exploring New York's greatest movies and TV shows sights and spending time together away from their small town, they both start to wonder if their friendship is enough and if it can withstand them being apart.

Bethany Turner's witty, pop culture-filled rom-com about two closer-than-close friends, Cole and Laila, is a delightful read. It is filled with poignant moments between two lifelong friends who start to wonder, What if we were more?

While you can read this book as a stand-alone book, it is most rewarding to read it after reading Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Fiction. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book. I enjoyed it a lot!

Just Friends. The words Laila hates the most. The last 20+ years of her life she’s been best friends with Cole Kimball. Just friends can’t possibly describe their friendship. It’s so much deeper, so much more.

Cole’s loss of his grandfather has sent him into a spiral (not midlife crisis as he says). At 40 years old he feels like he should know what he wants and right now the only thing he wants is to escape their Colorado small town. And, now is his chance.

““I’m not panicking, and I’m not having a midlife crisis. I’m ready. I’m pretty sure I need this. It’s . . . it’s what I want.” “Oh.” That was all I could really say. Because that changed everything, didn’t it? He’d taken away my opportunity to playfully slap him and scream, “Snap out of it!” like I was Cher in Moonstruck. The pain on his face robbed me of my chance to play the martyr and beg him to stay for my sake if not his own. Any argument I put out there now would be asking him to choose what I wanted over what he wanted, and that put us in new, foreign territory. I couldn’t remember the last time we hadn’t wanted the same thing.”

The only thing that’s put a kink in the plan is leaving behind his best friend Laila. They do and live life together literally daily. Laila has agreed (only to try and convince him to return yo Colorado) to join Cole as he heads to NYC to interview for a sous chef position and stay with their other best friends and celebrities from their group, Bynn and Sebastian, who have literally just come back from their honeymoon.

The question that has always been asked by townspeople and their friends is why they have never tried to become more than “just friends.” Cole has never once thought about it over the years until he has a dream about a possible romantic future with Laila their first night in NYC. He wakes visibly shaken and confused. Now, he’s wondering if that possible future is worth the risk of messing up their lifelong friendship.

“What if we’re so afraid to mess up what we have that we’re actually messing up the best stuff? The stuff we haven’t even seen yet.” -Laila-

First off, this dual POV story is amazing. I loved the ride I was on from the beginning. Their friendship is pure, funny and so lovably adorable. All the pop culture references were gold! I laughed out loud, swooned and even growled in frustration over these two characters. Miscommunication and insecurity galore. This is where I started to feel like the story wasn’t as believable as it could be. The whole book I could never picture them the age they were supposed to be. Maybe it’s because I married young and developed emotional maturity fairly quickly, but Cole just wasn’t mature enough for the age he was supposed to be. It felt more like they should be in their late 20’s or early 30’s. Outside of the age and maturity part, I loved this book. The twists it took I never saw coming. The fumbling and shyness over new love, totally adorable. And the ending wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction and Bethany Turner for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of the book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Overall, I thought this book was really cute. I like the friends-to-lovers trope, the fact that the MCs are in their late 30s, and that they seemed like relatable characters. However, I didn't love a certain aspect of the friends-to-lovers trope which was that they've been best friends forever. They're super affectionate with each other--always touching, hugging, and holding hands. They can read each other's minds and are incredibly close. No wonder neither of them has ever had a serious relationship! For me, there just wasn't a buildup to the romance. They were already in-sync, already intimate with one another. It just made the romantic aspect to their relationship seem inevitable and anti-climatic.

I liked the small town charm and the third act crisis. I especially liked that they didn't do the typical big break-up thing only to make-up a few pages later. I liked that the crisis was still climatic but not too far out there.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

DNF I couldn't handle the constant switching between 1st person and third person. Hard to connect with the characters

Cole and Laila was such a cute book. I loved Cole and Laila’s friendship. They had this great dynamic. They had fun together and they supported each other through the hard stuff. I loved how they had a mutual respect for one another. They also had great communication skills which is so important in relationships. 🙌 Even when they struggled to communicate they tried to be honest with one another and talk about things. Even the way they fought and made up quickly was such a great example of a healthy relationship. 👏

I loved the references to NYC rom-coms and the TV show Friends. It was so fun to read about Cole and Laila running around NYC. 🗽

I was so glad Cole and Laila had a happy ending. The in-between was so painful to read. I just wanted them to be together and be happy. Trust me, they will be. You just have to get through the awkwardness first 🙈. I only wish a certain special event had taken place at the end, but I know there's a third book coming out in this series so 🤞.

This book is definitely worth picking up. Cole and Laila will be your new friends and you'll want to visit all your favorite rom-com locations in NYC. Be prepared to laugh and maybe even shed a few tears. 🥲 It'll all be worth it.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the privilege of reading and reviewing this book.

#NetGalley #ColeandLailaAreJustFriends

Cole and Laila Are Just Friends is such a wonderful rom com book and a great follow up to Bethany Turner's Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each other. I loved seeing these two, who we met in the first book in the series wake up to reality. It was also great seeing them travel to NYC to see Brynn and Sebastian and have those two pop up in this book.

This book includes great pop culture references like the movie You've Got Mail, Taylor Swift song references (and mentions of Taylor herself) and discussion of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds living quarters as well. It has everything you need in a rom com book from parts where you shred a few tears to laugh out loud moments. It is a clean read and could be enjoyed for anyone late high school on up.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was excited to read this one (and even pushed it to the top of my list because I was in the mood for a friends to lovers story), but I got bored pretty quickly. I found Laila and Cole to both be unappealing—Laila feels quite infantile, and Cole was just personality-less. Moving on.

I wanted to like this book because the cover is gorgeous and I love the small town vibes. However it was hard to find the romance believable. I loved the characters being in there late 30s and their friendship was sweet but how are you just starting to like each other?! You never guessed you could have worked out together. It made no sense.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Cole and Laila have been best friends for decades, living in a small town in Colorado. When Cole receives some life changing news, he decided to take a chance on New York and Laila tags along. There, away from the life they knew and with question marks around their friendship and their future, their relationship takes a new form.

I absolutely loved Cole And Laila’s friendship and their banter. And also the depiction of people in their late 30s who are still unsure about what to do with their lives and taking chances. The execution of the book itself I had issues with. The book features dual POVs but whereas Laila’s POV is in first person, Cole’s is in third person. And somehow I found Cole’s the more interesting POV as Laila’s tended to go off on tangents about pop culture and sometimes was basically a NYC tourist guide, also full of too detailed dialogue and thoughts about outfits. They also, after a 30+ year friendship, decide to think about romantic feelings after Cole has a dream.

Regardless, this is a cute book with some great characters. This was obviously an ARC so the published version will be more polished.

Many thanks for the ARC and the opportunity to read early.

Cole y Lila han sido mejores amigos por casi 3 décadas, pero un viaje a New York cambia sus sentimientos. Hay muchas cosas pasando en la vida de Cole que no saben sí ver que pasa o ignorarlo y quedarse como amigos.


Toda su vida como amigos nunca pensaron en el otro de otra forma, pero de la nada ambos empiezan a sentirse atraídos. Lo siento, pero no me fue creíble como mágicamente cambiaron sus sentimientos.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for and honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I don't think this author is for me, unfortunately. First, the dual POV kept switching between first and third person. Then, the characters are pushing 40 and show no signs of wanting more than friendship with each other. I can't fathom them changing their minds that fast at that age and after such a long friendship. This book might work for others, but not for me.

I read this as a stand-alone (my first by this author) and while it's a sequel, it works well on its own! I love a strongly structured friends-to-lovers story and i love a good rom-com, so this book was great in my view!

The main characters were super relatable (and I loved they were a little older …aka not fresh out of college). Cole and Laila were fun and hilarious — and seemed truly like real friends I’d want in my own life! Their chemistry was palpable and they jumped off the page.

The story was full of depth, as well as really heartwarming and endearing, not to mention quite emotional. I so enjoyed reading this ARC!

LOVED this cover. SO cute! I loved the continuation of stories in Adelaide Springs. I loved being in that small town with all the dynamic small-town characters. I love friends to lovers tropes. I always love Turner's creative voice, turn of phrase, and pop culture references. However, this book just took too long for me to become invested. Felt like too much introspective and narrative without the plot moving forward much. I started skimming pretty early on. Buuuut ... I'm going to chalk it up to me and just not quite being in the mood for this one and hope to return to it later.

Tristemente no me gusto.

La historia me aburrió y no me creí el romance entre Laila y Cole que salió de la nada, lo sentí forzada, ¿cómo se supone que crea que de un día para otro empezaron a tener sentimientos románticos por el otro, siendo que convivieron por 30 años y jamas se vieron como otra cosa que mejores amigos?


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for and honest review