A very light and fun summer read perfect for fans of Emily Henry! This gave me a mix of People We Meet on Vacation and The Summer I Turned Pretty vibes (except no love triangle and with adult characters and problems). I really liked both of our main characters - Joni and Ren. Their friendship and love for each other felt very authentic and I also really enjoyed their relationship with their other family members/friends.

This book also follows a unique concept in that it’s told over the course of different weddings the characters attend over the years. I thought it was fun to see their relationship evolve over time compared to current day. One thing that bothered me is I felt like we didn’t really see any yearning or banter - it was very obvious that Ren had feelings for Joni the entire time but she kept things very platonic. I wish we had seen more of Ren reaching out and making moves giving the reader a drive to want them to be together, I personally felt a bit indifferent about whether I wanted them to stay friends or be a couple because their relationship never really felt romantic to me it felt platonic the entire time.

My other issue with this book is the huge miscommunication trope - this is a bit spoilery so I won’t say much but I hate it when there’s miscommunication in books that then leads to massive fallouts … it was so unnecessary for them to not have spoken to or seen each other for almost 3 years and all of their problems could have been resolved by a simple adult conversation.

Overall I would still recommend this book especially to anyone looking for a cute, fun, lighthearted summer read that loves the “friends to lovers” trope!!

As the title suggests, Friends to Lovers is about two people, Joni and Ren, who have been best friends their whole lives. The story is told from Joni’s perspective and alternates between the week leading up to her sister’s wedding and the weddings that she and Ren have attended together throughout the years.

At the start of the book, Joni has just been laid off from her dream job and hasn’t spoken to Ren since they had a falling out two and a half years ago. They haven’t told their families about what happened and agree to pretend that they are still friends, which is especially difficult because their parents and siblings are super close. They are all staying at the beach house that their families own as they prepare for the wedding.

I’ve see a lot of comparisons to Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation and I can definitely see the parallels. Besides the shared friends-to-lovers trope, they are structured with a present day timeline, where their relationship is strained, and flashbacks to their past adventures. However, I really enjoyed Friends to Lovers as its own unique story, It’s a slow burn, full of inside jokes, playlists, and years of yearning. I liked the characters and writing style and am looking forward to reading future books by the author!

There’s just something magical about watching two best friends fall in love and this story captured that perfectly. The chemistry, the shared history, the stolen glances… it all built up into a romance that felt both inevitable and electric.

The emotional depth made it more than just a love story, it was about trust, timing, and taking risks with the person who knows you best. I laughed, I swooned, and yes, I may have cried a little.

Friends to lovers by Sally Blakely was a five star read for me. I absolutely loved it and didn’t get bored.

Thank you to Netgalley, and the publisher, for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book. A lot. The story of Joni & Ren felt realistic, and something that could happen within any friendship.

Parts of the book seemed to drag on, and left me less interested, but overall a solid read.

I just finished Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely and here are my musings.

Best friends Joni and Ren have been friends since they were kids and even with a whole country between them, they make time for each other by being each other plus ones for weddings. It worked until that friendship line was crossed.. When her sister's wedding has her back at the summer home the 2 families share, she knows she has to fake a friendship with Ren but can they both get past the heartache to move forward?

This one was a slowwwww burrnnnnnnn. I have to be in the right mindset to tackle books like this and I was lucky to be in the mood for it because the whole story took its sweet time unravelling into the main point. Anyone who reads my reviews knows I hate miscommunication in tropes and this one was no exception because it really did drag out but the last part of the book when it is all cleared up. That’s the money baby. The emotion and depth made it all worth the wait but it was a close DNF. I am so glad I kept going because that was the past end of a book I have read in a very long time.

I can see why Emily Henry fans seemed to favor this book but I didn’t really see much of a comparison. The writing was solid and I did love the self discovery journey that Joni was on and honestly, that was the only thing that kept me invested until the last part.

I felt Ren was a solid MMC and I would have loved more of him.


Overall I am really glad I finished it and if you love

Childhood friends to lovers
Slow Burn
Miscommunication
Second chances
Forced Proximity…

This would be a win for you.

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @harlequinnbooks for my gifted copy.

This book was so much fun and the perfect summer read! For fans of Emily Henry, this was like People We Meet on Vacation meets a little bit of Happy Place, and honestly had me kicking my feet and experiencing all of the characters emotions right along with them. All of the tropes in this, including the dual timeline, were executed perfectly and I was eating up every second of the childhood friends to maybe more to strangers to lovers thing that was happening here.
Honestly, my only complaint was how long they went without speaking to each other (and I am talking several years here) over something relatively mild. It just seems like if you were best friends for your whole entire lives you would be able to work things out a lot easier than they did, but I understand we had to create some angst somewhere. Overall, a great time!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Sally Blakely for this ARC!

The title of this book Friends to Loves is exactly what this book is about. It's a classic slow burn that takes its time unraveling. I thought the writing was done very well but pacing did feel a bit slow at times. I found myself waiting and waiting for the miscommunication to clear and for the past to finally come to light. When everything started coming together, especially towards the end, I loved it. I loved seeing Joni realize that her true love had been right next to her all along. When they finally confessed their feelings, it was such a beautiful, emotional moment. Their love runs so deep because they have known each other their whole lives.
I especially appreciated how the author mentioned something really deep: many people grow up together and spend their lives side by side, but that doesn't always mean love. What Joni and Ren have is something very rare and special, a connection that most people would dream of. Because they have seen every version of each other, the good and the bad, they are like two halves of a whole. It makes it so special to have someone who knows and loves every version of you.

First of all, this book has some of the most fun sprayed edges for the first edition!
So summery and cute.

Now on to the book.

Sally Blakely does an impeccable job of capturing the journey our two main characters go on from friends-to lovers.
Very much gives me Emily Henry vibes so if you are a fan of her, check this book out.
Joni's journey of self-discovery is just as important of a storyline as the love story in this book.

I really really enjoyed it!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for this ARC!

This book made me believe in love again! Oh, Blakely, you did such a wonderful job exploring the emotional journey of friends-to-lovers and peacekeepers. Belly Conklin and Conrad Fisher would approve. I’m going to be thinking about Joni and Ren for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for sending me an arc! I bought a physical copy like 10% into the book because I already knew I would love it.

For those that enjoyed the People I Met on Vacation, I have no doubt they will also enjoy this book of former friends to lovers. I hate that sense of foreboding when it comes to 2nd chance romances as you try to figure out what happened to cause them to be in their current situation. This book definitely left me guessing until the reveal and it felt like a roller coaster that slowly goes up but when you go down it's not as steep or long of a way down as you thought. Joni and Ren - their initial awkwardness is like watching the Office UK, but you get glimpses of what it used to be like. I'm not sure if it was circumstances but the book felt long and I wasn't so sure about their chemistry except wanting to yell at Past Joni on being an idiot... But anyway, Joni has been on a journey and so has Ren. I had to sit through to appreciate Joni's character growth over the years and getting through some major life changes to reevaluate what's important in her life. Glad she got her priorities straight. It was very much a love story with herself as much as with Ren.

Steam: 🔥
Heart flutters: ❤️

“Friends to Lovers” is one of my favorite tropes and this book delivered exactly the friends to lovers vibes I look for. This is the perfect feel-good summer romance. I highly recommend picking this up for your next beach read!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up
Friends to Lovers is a heartfelt, slow-burn romance about childhood best friends navigating second chances and unspoken feelings. I loved the Oregon coast setting and the emotional intimacy between Joni and Ren, but overall it just didn’t completely pull me in. Sweet story, just not a new favorite.
I like the friends-to-lovers trope but the miscommunication with this story drove me crazy. (It’s a me thing.) I got a little bored with the story to be honest.
Ren was such a sweet MMC. 💞

Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend if you like:
🩵 Childhood Best Friends to Lovers
💙 Forced Proximity
🩵 Second Chance
💙 Slow Burn

I would absolutely read more work by this author.
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I listened to this on audio and followed along the ebook. The narrator does a fantastic job!

Friends to Lovers was such a fun, swoony read that had me smiling from start to finish. I’m a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope, and Sally Blakely absolutely nailed it with this charming summer romance debut.

Told through a dual narrative, the story follows childhood best friends Joni and Ren, who have always been each other’s plus-ones for wedding season until one summer changes everything.

I loved the nostalgic summer vibes, the sweet beach setting, and the emotional push-pull between Joni and Ren. Their history gave the romance real depth, and I appreciated how the story explored not just love, but growing up, growing apart, and finding your way back to someone who knows you best.

This was a heartfelt and romantic read. I thoroughly enjoyed the emotional buildup, the chemistry, and the satisfying payoff.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Friends to Lovers was a decent debut! I liked the relationship between Joni and Ren. Their history and connection felt real, and I appreciated that their story spanned several years.The second-chance element worked well, and I liked the setup of Joni and Ren being forced back together at their shared family house. The longing and slow burn were done nicely. Their relationship felt natural and their chemistry was excellent. There were a few technical things that didn’t quite land for me. I wanted more physical descriptions of the characters. Some character details felt underdeveloped. For example, there’s a scene where a couple from art school is mentioned, but art school wasn’t brought up anywhere else in the book. I liked the dual-timeline. It gave more context to Joni and Ren's relationship and added more weight to the present-day moments. I'm excited to see what this author writes next. Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the trope was so well done and I really enjoyed all the characters.

People are going to love this book!! I just wasn’t one of them. It was kinda giving me Happy Place vibes which I already loved so much

Well this was filled with all of the sweetness! What a great book. I just loved the characters in this one and just ate it up.

This is for the Emily Henry fans out there! It had some predictability to it but Joni and Ren outweighed that by tons!


A cute read! Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the gifted copy to review.

This book pleasantly surprised me. Friends to lovers is not my favorite trope so I was a little hesitant going in. But this book completely changed that for me. I liked the switches between past and present and I ultimately loved reading Ren and Joni’s story. Plus I absolutely love a wedding!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the e-ARC.

3.5 stars

Second-chance romance is my favorite, so I was looking forward to reading Friends to Lovers. I got even more excited when I started reading the book and realized it takes place in my home state, Oregon. Overall, I enjoyed the book. Joni and Ren have great chemistry, and Ren is the sweetest cinnamon roll of a hero. I loved Joni and Ren's family dynamics and how close they were. Although Joni and Ren have a lot of history, their romance was a slow-burn. There was a lack of communication that I didn't love and found frustrating at times. I was glad when they finally had their big heart-to-heart. The ending was very sweet.