Joni and Ren have a friendship that would make anyone envious, yet are they willing to risk it all for a shot at something more?

While the story takes place over just one week, the reader feels like they've known the characters for a lifetime. The flashback chapters are timed and developed perfectly to add depth to the characters and suspense to the conflict. It's everything you can hope for in a romance - fully developed, believable, and relatable characters; a charming setting; substance in the plot and conflict; and, of course, all the feels.

Is Sally Blakely the new Emily Henry?? I'm already counting down until she releases her next book, and I will definitely be rereading Friends to Lovers multiple times while I wait!

This was the perfect beach read. Like People We Meet on Vacation but totally its own. There's secrets and drama, a great cast of characters and the setting makes it impossible to put down. It doesnt read like a debut, but like an established author - someone who will be on my pre-order list. Second chance romance is one of my fav tropes, and I loved all the wedding shenanigans. Highly recommend

DNF 32% in

Let it be known that I'm only DNFing bc I simply cannot stand the "friends for 10+ years and they like each other but won't do anything about it/let hooking up ruin their friendship and now it's years later" trope. I tried giving it another shot but wow my oversharing communication skills could NEVER hahaha.

That, and the fact that this is giving MAJOR "People We Meet On Vacation" vibes, I just couldn't do it.

Other than that, I am really disappointed that I didn't like it. The writing is super good, and the summer vibes are top notch!! I found myself not wanting to read and getting frustrated by the characters, so ultimately I needed to stop

Joni and Ren are best friends that grew up together and spent their entire lives in each other's orbit. When Joni moves from Portland to NYC for work they worry that the distance will grow between them, but they come up with a plan: be each other's plus one for every wedding, no matter what. This works for them until a wedding changes their friendship forever and causes them to not speak for over two years.
In the present, they meet each other again at their families' beach house for Joni's Sister's wedding where they have to pretend to still be friends and avoid the reasons of why they stopped speaking in the first place. As they're forced to spend time together old feelings resurface and Joni must figure out if what they had was worth fighting for.
I loved this book so much! Joni and Ren had great chemistry and I was rooting for them to get together the entire time. I loved the dual timelines and enjoyed all of the side characters, The romance was swoon worthy and I feel like this one is going to stay with me for a while. I was surprised to see that this was a debut and I will be checking out more books from Sally Blakely in the future!
Thank you to Canary Street Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

I enjoyed this Friends to Lovers rom-com! It was a slow burn for friends Ren & Joni. This book is in dual timelines and chronicles the friendship that grew into more, and ended badly, to the present where they are together for the first time in two and a half years.

Joni's sister is getting married and as their lives have been intertwined, Ren and his family are there, too. I liked the lead up to Joni's realization of her feelings for Ren the first time. I was definitely curious as to what caused the fall out, and I was slightly disappointed it was such a basic reason.

Rom com lovers will enjoy this book. It will be a great summer beach read.

Thanks Sally Blakely, Net Galley and Canary Street Press for the eARC of this book!

“Friends to Lovers” by Sally Blakely had great ending. I had just a hard time putting this book down! I couldn’t stop reading it. I loved the story of Ren and Joni. I liked how the book went from present to past to present. It kept me intrigued the whole time. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened between the characters that caused the lost of friendship. This was such a great book and I can’t wait to read more books Blakely writes in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

This was so cute. It was a great book to read as we head into summer, the vibes were perfect for that. There were flashbacks, which i appreciated because we don't always get that with a second chance romance. There is also strong character development, which i enjoyed because it gave me the chance to better understand the characters.

It does have a slow start, but once you get past that, it really picks up. There is family chaos as well, which i absolutely love in a story, and this one was woven well.

My only complaint is that the communication i felt that they should have was little to none. I hate when characters dont communicate well, but have this type of strong connection. It makes it feel unreal.

Friends to Lovers is a heartfelt and emotional story about love, friendship, and the fine line between the two. Joni and Ren’s journey from best friends to something more is beautifully written, filled with tension, emotional depth, and sweet moments of connection. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and the setting of the shared summer home adds a cozy backdrop to their complicated relationship. While the pacing slowed a bit in the middle, the emotional payoff was well worth it. A touching and romantic read for anyone who loves a slow-burn love story with a side of healing.

This book was cute. My favorite trope is friends to lovers. I enjoyed reading this book so much. I was kicking my feet and giggling while reading this book. I want more!

I lOVE a good best friends to lovers ❤️ Sort of wish the title was not so obvious though lol. Thank you Net galley for the ARC!

Joni and Ren are childhood best friends who are forced apart for the first time in their lives when Joni moves across the country. In an effort to stay connected they make a pact to be each other’s (platonic) wedding dates regardless of life getting in the way. After things eventually go sideways, they’re forced into an uncomfortable reunion as their families come together under one roof at their summer beach house just like old times.

Friends to Lovers made me feel so many things. Sometimes my chest physically ached when it seemed like Joni and Ren would never be as close as they used to be. The dual timeline was done so incredibly well, slowly revealing how they ended up estranged prior to their stilted reunion.

Joni and Ren know each other better than anyone else. They’ve seen each other at every phase in life they’ve experienced, and whats that phrase? To be seen is to be loved? That phrase is so true for Joni and Ren.

This book was full of nostalgia for the simplicity and predictability of a childhood with your best friend by your side. This is the perfect summer read!!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Sally Blakely, and NetGalley for the ARC. This review reflects my own opinions.

What to expect:
☀️Childhood friends to lovers
⭐️Second chance
❤️‍🔥Slow burn
⛱️Nostalgic summer vibes
⏳Dual timeline
👤Single, 1st person POV

Okay, so this was adorable. It’s giving summer nostalgia, messy emotions, and all those what if we’re more than friends vibes that make my hopeless romantic heart very happy. The whole “plus-one pact” thing was so cute!

The dual timeline worked so well here — I was fully invested in both the past and the present, and it made the payoff feel extra satisfying. The angst? Chef’s kiss. The longing? Unhinged levels. Was I silently begging for these two to stop being idiots and just TALK? Absolutely. But that’s what makes it fun, right?

My only tiny wish is that we got a little more of them after the big moment — like, give me one more chapter of happy, glowy, everything’s-finally-good Ren and Joni! But overall, this was a swoony, summery, second-chance friends-to-lovers read that delivered exactly what it promised.

Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This is one of the cutest books written. The story itself is well written, it immediately grabs your attention and sucks you in. This is the type of book you grab to read for a few minutes and then all of a sudden you have been reading for hours and you have crushed a majority of the book.

I am always a friends to lovers fan girl, the fact that the title literally screams this had me before I opened the cover. I love a book that leaves you in a book hangover, wishing you had just a little bit more interaction with the character. These characters are so realistic you feel like you are losing a friend when you finish the book. The only other author that has ever left me with such loss is Abby Jimenez. Sally has given Abby a run for her money with this one.

Joni and Ren have been best friends for their whole lives, until 2 years ago, a falling out changed their friendship forever. Now back at the vacation house where they spent most of their summers, the two are forced to pretend to be friends again to keep the peace for Joni's sister's wedding.

🌲🎣🏊‍♀️💐

This was such a fun read. I really enjoyed Joni and Ren's characters and seeing them rebuild their friendship (and build it into even more). The cast of supporting characters was really fun, and I loved all of the excitement with the wedding parties and activities. I loved the dual timeline aspect of this book, and seeing how their past played out along with the present.

This book reminded me of Funny Story and The Summer I Turned Pretty. I love lakehouse romances, and this one is a perfect summer read!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book!

This was a cute book! Joni and Ren’s story is friends to lovers/second chance romance. I enjoyed the flashbacks to all the different weddings they attended together and thought Ren was a very likeable MMC.

However, I struggled to connect with them as a couple. The chemistry and angst and tension didn’t totally convince me. Still cute, but it was just missing something for me.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book!

Friends-to-lovers mixed with second-chance romance is one of my favorite trope combos — and Friends to Lovers delivers it beautifully. Joni and Ren have been best friends since childhood. Even after Joni moves across the country, they make a pact to be each other’s "permanent plus one" for weddings. However, when blurred lines and hurt feelings create a rift, it takes a summer reunion for her sister’s wedding to finally force them to confront everything they left unsaid.

From the start, the chemistry and tension between Joni and Ren jump off the page. The dual timeline format — switching between their carefree past and their complicated present — deepens the emotional impact. It’s a classic case of the right person, wrong time, and watching them work through their hurt and history is deeply satisfying.

I especially loved being inside Joni’s head. Her fears about change and being a burden felt so relatable, and Ren’s steady, heartbreaking love made me want to shake her (in the best way). Their bond, full of nostalgia, tension, and unspoken feelings, made it impossible to put this book down.

Full of family chaos, angst, laughter, and heart, Friends to Lovers is everything I want in a second-chance, friends-to-lovers story. Sally Blakely captured it perfectly — and I absolutely loved it.

Thank you #NetGalley for eARC.

Ok, this was GOOD. I fell in love with this debut novel from Sally Blakely.

Joni and Ren are best friends, and each other's wedding dates for life...or so they thought. As we follow them during a summer at the beach to celebrate a family wedding, we get glimpses of the years prior as their relationships ebbs and flows.

I loved the writing and the character development in this story. I felt like I knew Joni and Ren by the time I got to the final page. As the title boldly touts, this is indeed a friends to lovers summer romance.

4 stars -- make sure this is in your beach bag this summer!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC! This title will be out July 22, 2025.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is the literary equivalent of screaming “just kiss already” at two characters while eating an entire bag of chips out of pure emotional distress. Joni and Ren have been best friends since forever, the kind of inseparable where you’d think someone would’ve caught feelings way back at the middle school dance but no, they had to be mature and respectful and complicated about it. Every year they’re each other’s plus-ones to weddings, which sounds adorable until you remember that nothing says “I’m fine” like slow dancing with your secret soulmate while pretending you don’t want to marry them yourself.

Then one summer, one crossed line, and poof, the friendship implodes harder than a bad soufflé. Now Joni is back home for her sister’s wedding, trying to fake-friendly her way through the most romantic week of the year with a guy who once knew her better than she knew herself. Zero pressure, definitely not emotionally risky at all. What follows is a slow burn so intense you could roast s’mores over it. Beach days, late nights, old inside jokes turning into sideways glances and painful silences. It’s messy, it’s gorgeous, and it will make you want to text your best friend something confusing at 2 AM.

Sally Blakely’s dual-narrative style flips between the past and the present so seamlessly that you’re basically time-traveling through heartbreak, hope, and a whole lot of sexual tension. By the time the wedding hits, you’re half-sobbing, half-shoving them together in your mind like some sort of rogue romance god. This book left me with that dumb giddy feeling like I had just fallen in love myself, except without the inconvenience of real-life awkwardness.

First I would like to extend a big thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, NetGalley and the author for the advanced copy of this book.

I am typically more of an “Enemies to Lovers” fan- but a “Friends to Lovers” trope (when done right), can be fantastic. As described, this one did feel very Happy Place meets People We Meet on Vacation and although the overall story was sweet, with many cute moments, it unfortunately fell a bit short for me.

I struggled to connect with the characters or feel invested in their story. The MMC was sweet and likable, which is more than I can say about the FMC, but I felt as though their relationship lacked background or buildup. I never felt as though I understood their chemistry or strong friendship. It also had slow pacing. There seemed to be a lot of conversation going around in circles that didn’t add to the plot, to the point I found myself skimming at times. What kept me interested was finding out what this big secret was, which felt anticlimactic. Given the age of the characters, the reasons behind the mess felt quite immature as a simple conversation could have eliminated everything. And as far as the FMCs family- the blowout scene at the end was strange and dysfunctional.

Aside from the slow pacing, the writing style was clear and I had no trouble visualizing each scene. The author did a good job placing you in the moment. I could picture the beach, playing capture the flag, and many of the other cute scenes. Overall, it was a cute story with a lot of potential and I would read another book by this author in the future.

Friends to Lovers delivered an emotional, slow-burn romance that beautifully captured the complicated evolution from best friends to something more. Joni and Ren’s bond was touching and believable, built on years of history, shared traditions, and unspoken feelings that simmered beneath the surface.
Blakely did a wonderful job weaving together the past and present, allowing readers to understand the depth of what was lost—and what could still be salvaged. The wedding-week setting at the families’ shared summer home added a cozy yet bittersweet atmosphere, perfectly complementing the story’s emotional tension.
While the pacing dragged slightly in a few places and a couple of misunderstandings felt a bit drawn out, the payoff was worth it. The chemistry between Joni and Ren was undeniable, and their journey from heartbreak to healing was moving and satisfying.
Friends to Lovers was a sweet, emotional read about growing pains, forgiveness, and choosing love even when it's messy. A perfect pick for fans of second-chance romance and heartfelt contemporary fiction!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!