The tropes here are quite clear:
- friends to lovers
- slow burn (a life of slow burn, I don't know what could be called slower than this).
What I really liked was the setting: New York.
Laila and Cole are long time friends, they are now almost 40 years old and find themselves at an impasse.
When Cole's grandfather dies, Cole finds himself having to make a life-changing decision. He decides to take a job in NY. Cole practically lives in symbiosis with Laila, he asks her to go with him for a mini vacation to NY. And that's where their story begins. I don't give 5 stars to this story because the slow burn was too much, a little unnerving to be honest. And above all because the protagonists seemed to be decidedly under 40, i mean act your age.
But otherwise I found it to be a pleasant and cozy read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson.

Thank you so much to Thomas Nelson for giving me a early copy to this book! This is just only my opinion, Things I am going say/Write are only mine opinions after I finished this book!.
I fucking LOVED this book. I literally enjoyed the story and the writing! Every page I read of this book it was amazing!
Some of the references that are in the book make the story even more better! I would recommend this one if you need a sweet not to long book to read! you can really enjoy this one!

I love Bethany Turner's humor and voice. Cole and Laila Are Just Friends did not disappoint. A sweet, lighthearted romance with a witty sense of humor to draw you in to its unique world. I also love the illustrated cover.

Very sweet friends to lovers story. Being a New Yorker I loved all of the references to the touristy attractions and history. I love experiencing New York through the eyes of someone experiencing it for the first time. Cole and Laila have such an adorable relationship. Loved this book.

I really liked reading Cole and Laila Are Just Friends. It didnt read like a typical friends to lovers. I think I liked it so much because it was more about two people loving each other for who they are - not what they looked like or the chemistry first. And there wasnt a ton of "should we" or "shouldnt we," or "what if this ends." I mean there was some of that, but it wasnt 100 pages of it - which I appreciated. I didnt read the first book Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other and that could have helped in terms of understanding their friends who play such large roles in the book, but otherwise it was a good solid read.

You know that feeling you get when after a somewhat stressful day, you get to eat a small cone of icecream? The cold, extremely satisfying feeling sending a thrill down your form?
That is how I felt when reading this book. Though I must admit, that the beginning of the story dragged on quite a bit, I am glad that I read it to the end. 
I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a cozy novel with little to no drama, and clean romance.

Ok when you tell me a friends to lovers rom com kicks off and the first 1/3 of the book the two main characters have the sexual tension of potatoes, I’m skeptical. THEN the magic of Bethany Turner occurs. I absolutely adore the way she shares so much kindness and vulnerability through this story of Cole + Laila.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team!

The writing style initially threw me off. This is a dual POV, but with Lilia, she had a first person narrative while Cole’s was written in a third person narrative. It did make the flow of the story harder for me to follow with the switching back and forth.

The story was cute, but it felt too cookie cutter and too sweet for my liking. The chemistry was there between Cole and Laila but it was just a little too much of a slow burn for me. I did enjoy how the author tackled personal growth with Cole and Laila and how handled the challenges that faced them.

Overall this was a good, but not great read. As a romance, I need a bit more and at a faster pace, but as a character development story, it checked all my boxes. The dialogue was funny and I especially loved all the pop culture references.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the ARC

This was a cute story. Long-time friends that ultimately turns into a relationship. A little hard to get into, but overall a sweet story.
Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for access to this ARC.

Thank you netgally for approving this arc.

I loved this fun and witty rom com. Fake dating.. friends to lovers story that had me smiling a lot

#ColeandLailaAreJustFriends #NetGalley

“i’m in love with you, and apparently I always have been”

“apparently my lifelong obsession with you isn’t just normal friendship stuff. who knew?”

“so have you eaten?”
“ill answer your question with a question: have you cooked anything for me?

“something tells me you and i are going to be very good friends”

There were cute and fun aspects to this romcom--even for someone who didn't get a single one of the Gilmore Girls or Friends references. But I also really struggled to find this particular friends-to-more very believable.

I met my husband when we were thirteen years old. We celebrated seventeen years of marriage the year we turned forty. We were friends for almost ten years before we got married. But to spend nearly thirty years as "best friends" without ever realizing that you were both in love with each other?! That's not normal or realistic. And it definitely doesn't sound healthy, even if this is a romcom.

Note: This is published by Thomas Nelson but it is not labeled as Christian fiction. If it was, I would have further comment about the interactions between the hero and heroine. (Let's just say I'm never going to be a fan of members of the opposite sex bunking together--unless they are married to each other--in fiction or anywhere else.)

Cole and Laila have been friends their entire lives. Still living in their small Colorado town, they are now in their late thirties and comfortably moving through life - until Cole's grandfather dies and his entire world is upended. Determined to make a fresh start, he decides to move to New York City, where he already has close friends as well as a promising job opportunity. Distraught at the thought of losing him but unable to leave her family in Colorado, Laila joins Cole in NYC for his exploratory trip.

Emotions are running very high at the thought of separation and soon the tone of their relationship is shifting in the most disorienting way, as they consider why their relationship never turned romantic - and if it should have.

This was wonderfully done, realistically depicting the struggles of two close people who love each other not knowing how to articulate their newly realised feelings. And their limited but electrifying physical contact was perfectly done.

It was so good to be back in Adelaide Springs and this time to get to know Cole and Laila better! It was fun to be in New York with the characters and hear so many movie references. The story was a tad bit slow moving for me at times. I loved how Cole and Laila wanted the best for each other and knew how to do that.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

An amazing story . Laila and Cole have been best friends from the time they were babies and now that they both are 39 is the first time in their lives that they must live apart . When Cole grandfather died the dinner he owned and Cole was the chef has already sold it to a company and now he is lost . He has an offer to work with a famous chef in New York and he consider it . Laila is heart broken with the news . Cole asks her to spent the next 10 days in NY without him asking her to come with him and her asking him to stay in Adelaide Springs . What happens when he starts seeings her like a woman for the first time in his life ? Will they risk their friendship for something greater ?
I received this book from netgalley and the publicer as an ARC . Thank you . All thoughts and opinions are my own .

Such a great read. I didn't realize it was book #2 in the series.. A fun romcom which made me laugh out loud - witty banter, steamy - perfection. Off to read book #1....

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely adored Cole and Laila! Having said that I will say that had I read Brynn and Sebastian first I probably would have followed along better than I did. The banter between Cole and Laila is hilarious and I love the many movie and tv inside jokes that they had between. I found myself broken hearted for Cole as he navigated the hard journey of what comes next when the only thing you know is being taken away from you. As for Laila, I was comiserating with her over terrible eyesight and glasses that were out of style but you want to hold on to. Cole and Laila not only found themselves on an adventure in New York but on the edge of their lives changing forever. I simply could not put this book down.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson--Fiction for the advance copy of this book. The opinions in this review are mine alone.

This book was incredibly disappointing and I really took a lot for me to finish. I didn't find either of the characters endearing and the dialogue between them felt stunted and forced. This felt like a bad take of Virgin River.

This was a little bit of a slow starter for me, but there was a lot of pop culture that was fun for me to read about. I actually stopped reading at one point and turned on “You’ve Got Mail” to refresh my memory so I could catch the references. It wasn’t very believable to me that Cole and Laila were nearly 40 and never really thought about a relationship together, but it was a cute story of friendship without any spice.

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

You’re trying to tell me these leads are supposed to be almost 40 years old?? Cole, ok maybe, but flighty, spacey, insufferable Laila? I did not see any charm in this story or how suddenly these friends flip a switch. It also didn’t feel fleshed out how and why the friends were apparently huge daytime talk hosts but split time in a Colorado mountain town? They’ve been together since they were young but decided to wait to get married until now? The wedding wasn’t even needed to start the book so that felt like an unnecessary and unexplained plot device. The shitting on New York was also unnecessary as was the random addition of the very real Milo? Really nothing in this worked for me, personally.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.