I absolutely loved this book. We have the classic Friends to lovers to strangers to friends again to lovers once again. The back and forth of the two timelines was a lot at times but it really drove the story. The fact that both timelines reached a head at the same time had me on the edge of my seat. I alternated between speed reading and hiding from my book because I was waiting for the big disaster in the flashbacks and excited in the present tense.

I found Joni to be really relatable. Her thought process was often wrong, but it’s so easy to jump to conclusions when you spiral like that. The inner monologue really drove me crazy because I understood it and I wanted her to make better decisions than I would. I loved getting to watch her grow throughout the book. She started off trying to prove herself Bo matter the cost which caused her to crash and burn. By the end she was able to accept the things she could not change as well as accept the love that she deserves.

Ren is a little sweet boy that deserves the world. The fact that he held on to his love confession for SO LONG is a little admirable but also a bit foolish. My heart ached for my sweet boy. He was willing to hide all feelings just to remain best friends. UGH I LOVE HIM. He was even willing to give up his dream career to be with her and that melted my heart. Joni breaking his heart so that he wouldn’t give up his dream ripped that heart right out of my chest but it was an act of love.

All in all, I loved it and I think I might love a second chance romance.

Two life long friends have a chance to reconnect the week of her sisters wedding. I loved the past and present format. Emotional and fun. I really loved this debut novel!

It's like Happy Place and People We Meet On Vacation had a baby!

Thanks Net Galley and Sally for the ARC.

Ren and Joni are childhood best friends that ultimately realize they are in love with each other. Ren was perfect boyfriend material, I adored him. Joni kind
of annoyed me. She was so back and forth, hot and cold. I could not keep up with what she wanted. Overall, it was a solid rom com read. I feel like readers who enjoyed People We Meet On Vacation and The Wedding People will like this one, as it has similar vibes.

Rating / Recommend: 4.75⭐️ / 3.5🌶️ / YES!

My Thoughts
I went feral for this book. Binged it in less than 8 hours.
This book is the perfect light read to just pass time while also giving you all the feels.

If you like the friends to lovers trope definitely prepare to read this!
A mixture of heart wrenching emotion and overflowing joy at the same time.

Cons:
Personally, I loved this book, however, the miscommunication trope in this is just atrocious. If you don’t care for that trope then don’t bother reading it. These characters could’ve solved their problems like talking to each other like adults.

CW:
Minimal adult language. Spice (not super explicit but still open door scenes), Anxiety Rep, Panic attacks referenced.

2.5⭐️

Friends to lovers. I usually love a great friends to lovers romance, however this novel did not do it for me. Although there were some cute moments, I found the back and forth between past and present got too confusing and hard to follow. Especially in the beginning when it flipped in the middle of conflicts.

I think a POV from Ren would have been very beneficial and added depth. I so badly wanted to know his perspective. Perhaps I would have loved the story and the connection between the two characters more.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Books for ARC

This was a sweet book that I read in one weekend. I liked the characters and their relationship. I sobbed quite a bit at the ending. Def recommend this one!

I love this summer romance. The slow burn romance kept me on my toes the whole time. All the emotions in the story made the character feel real.

Love the friends to lovers trope and this story really takes that and runs with it! This is my first time reading this author. I like her style. Love the characters and the story, and found this to be a very enjoy able read.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good rom com reconnection story. The patience that Ren has was tough to beat. Sally takes a classic romance at a wedding story and makes it intricate. As the reader, I kept wanting to know what the big back story was. Would reccomend.

I think this is going to be such a perfect read for summer!

Thank you Canary Street Press for the ARC 💕

Joni and Ren have been best friends their entire lives, Joni accepts her dream job across the country and they decide to be each others plus-ones to all upcoming weddings to make sure they continue to see each other in person. Yet, 2.5 years ago these best friends stopped talking to each other and are now at their families beach house for Joni’s sister’s wedding. What could go wrong? Can they save their friendship? Why did they stop talking to each other?

FMC has anxiety and the way it was portrayed felt very close to home 💕

Ren?? Sign me up for that. This man! He knew to the HOUR the last time they talked to each other 😭

Joni and Ren have been friends their entire lives. Their families are closer than most, even co-owning an Oregon beach home together. All through school and college, Joni and Ren are inseparable. Then Joni takes a job that moves her across the country, from Oregon to New York.

The friends make a pact: they will be each other's plus-one at every wedding going forward. For a while, their plan works beautifully. Between phone calls and FaceTime, summers at the beach house, and weddings, Joni and Ren's friendship not only survives but thrives. Until one weekend that, like a deep scratch on vinyl, changes the sound of their relationship forever.

Back together in Oregon for Joni's sister's wedding, Ren and Joni have one last chance to rediscover what they lost as secrets of all sorts are finally revealed.

*Friends to Lovers* unfolds between past and present, and author Sally Blakely writes characters who feel genuinely real—flawed, imperfect, and deeply relatable. Readers witness the friendship grow and deepen, transforming into something rich with a different kind of yearning and connection.

The story is written vividly and with genuine emotion—a satisfying slow-burn romance that hooked me from the start. Plus, there's a playlist! What more could you want?

Okay now this is a romance book I can get behind. This was SO cute omg. Made me want to have a lifelong friend I share a beach house with and then fall in love with them. I actually really like the concept of always being someone's plus one to weddings and then realizing you love each other(there's a good romcom on Hulu that has a similar plot). I sometimes find that with romance novels the side characters are cringe, but in this case no one annoyed me! I felt like it was well paced, didn't drag, obviously some parts were not super realistic but other than that this was fabulous. If you are an Emily Henry fan you will definitely like this. Be warned it'll make you do some SERIOUS yearning.

Sally Blakely....another 5 stars! I can not tell you a single book written by Sally Blakely that I have not liked! This one is no exception. I was engrossed in this and can not wait for the physical book to add to my collection. The characters were so perfectly written that I felt like they were some of my closest friends. Great summer pool read!

I’m a big fan of friends to lovers tropes but not a huge fan of miscommunication tropes so this was unfortunately a miss for me..

Very reminiscent storyline, similar to The Happy Place but just didn’t quite hit me with the chemistry. At times I felt it, but it wasn’t consistent and then the romantic moments fell a little flat.

The characters were hard to understand for me personally? Maybe I needed more development to understanding why Joni handled everything the way she did.

I also didn’t love the jumping timeline of present day to past memories/weddings that included Ren. I didn’t like that at the start of the book, we were thrown into the middle of conflict and then had to wait until the memories “caught up” to even know what happened in the first place.

I loved the coastal Oregon backdrop of this story and all the details of each wedding they went to. My favorite character was Stevie, the sister. She seemed like the only person in the whole book who knew how to communicate properly. Most of the problems could have been solved if everyone just talked... which made the book kind of drag on. I found myself daydreaming a lot while reading. Had to keep regaining my focus.
If you're a sucker for the friends to lovers / second chance romance then you'll probably love this.

Friends to Lovers, by Sally Blakey tells the story of , Ren and Joni, childhood friends, whose families spent every summer sharing a cottage. Ren and Joni develop a friendship like no other. When you know what someone is thinking before they do, when you can choose the perfect outfit for them to wear on stage, knowing the dinner that they’ll have before they do, are just a few of the things that they share.. Their friends and family are jealous of the secret way they communicate with each other like no one else. But as Joni moves across the country for her dream job, can their friendship survive the distance. One way to stay in touch, they promise to be each other‘s “plus one” as they meet each other to attend weddings across the country. But can a romance bud when sharing a room, dancing to your favorite songs or walking down the beach hand in hand with your best friend? And if it could, would you want to risk losing your best friend? I enjoyed the quick pace and the characters, this was a great summer read.

I can’t believe this is Blakely’s first book because wow it was beautiful. I was so attached to Ren and Joni from the beginning and watching their love story unfold was so special.

I was so happy to receive an ARC for the book friends to lovers. The characters were lovable and the story was very well written. I loved reading this story and watching the characters develope so to speak. I look forward to reading more by this author.

**Book Review: *Friends to Lovers* by \[Author Name]**

*“Friends to Lovers”* is a heart-tugging, slow-burn romance that beautifully captures the messy, emotional journey from platonic devotion to something deeper. Told in a dual narrative, the novel follows Joni and Ren—childhood best friends turned perennial plus-ones—through a summer that challenges the boundaries of their relationship and the truths they've both been avoiding.

The story is equal parts tender and bittersweet, weaving together nostalgia, longing, and unresolved feelings in the idyllic backdrop of a beachside wedding week. The chemistry between Joni and Ren feels authentic, built on shared history and quiet moments that linger long after the last page.

Fans of second chances, unspoken love, and emotionally rich storytelling will be swept away by this debut. It's a perfect pick for those who love character-driven romances and the ache of what-ifs finally given a chance. Prepare to laugh, cry, and root for a love that’s been years in the making.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC of Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely. All opinions are my own.

Friends to Lovers is a story about two childhood best friends that have been estranged from each other for over two years. The plot switches back and forth between present day and the different weddings the two have gone to over the years.

I am a big fan of friends to lovers in romance books, so I was excited to have the chance to read this book early. While I enjoyed certain parts of this story, I also had several issues with it.

The Oregon setting was picturesque and was easy to imagine with the way the author described it. I enjoyed the different scenes that the characters spent outdoors and would’ve loved to spend even more time in those places.

Ren was an interesting main male character, and I appreciated that he had a unique job that I haven’t seen in other stories I’ve read. He was such a kind friend to Joni, and I felt bad that he didn’t always have the confidence in himself when it came to his job. I also enjoyed the relationships he had with his siblings.

Joni was not as enjoyable for me as a main character. I had a hard time understanding why she kept her job loss a secret from everyone almost the entire story. It seemed immature, and honestly kind of shallow to think that her lack of a job would be such a big deal to people that loved her. Joni’s character was one of my biggest issues with this story because I found her so unlikable and honestly not worthy of Ren.

I did however enjoy the sister relationship between Joni and Stevie. I often see a lot of negative sibling relationships in books, but I liked the bond these two had even if their relationship wasn’t perfect. I thought they both did a good job looking out for one another and I thought they had a lot of sweet moments together throughout the story.

Another issue I had was the conflict. Most of the story was spent going back and forth between present day issues and a mystery of what happened in the past to break the friendship between Ren and Joni. When the big reveal happened, it was honestly such a stupid reason. These two characters were supposed to be best friends since early childhood yet they allowed themselves to stop communicating over one stupid conflict.

Overall, this book was a miss for me. I do think some people will enjoy it, especially if the issues I mentioned don’t bother them. If you like books such as People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, or Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren, then I think you should give this book a chance.