Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I really enjoyed the characters Ren and Joni and their story from best friends to lovers. The characters were sweet and funny and I loved their families adding more humor to it all. This story goes between the present and past of their story and how they ended up to where they are now. Definitely recommend as a nice summer read.

Solid summer romance for 2025. Classic friends falling in love troupe with good dialogue and banter. Kept waiting for something bigger with the time jumping back and forth but it was authentic and real. Loved the family dynamic and all the big moments taking place at weddings!

This book melted my heart. I found myself falling in love with the characters (each of them, not just Joni & Ren) and their stories. Throughout the book I laughed, cried, and fell in love with their love story. While the book was predictable in the sense that you know how it will end, I truly enjoyed the journey of getting there. I found myself wishing I had grown up with a week-long vacation each summer with friends who became family. Overall, I 100% adored this book! I am new to this author but will absolutely be finding more of hers to read!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC.

Joni and Ren have been best friends forever. When Joni moves across the country for work, they decide to be each others plus ones to weddings to make sure they see each other each year. All goes to plan until they start to catch romantic feelings which leads to an epic fallout. Told in alternating storylines, fall in love aside Joni and Ren as they navigate their relationship.

Add this swoonworthy friends to lovers romance to your summer reading list ASAP! A fun, quick read that had me ready to book a one way ticket to Oregon’s coast!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

A tender exploration of friendship, timing, and the quiet ache of almost-love, Friends to Lovers follows Joni and Ren—childhood best friends turned chosen family—who make a pact in college to always be each other’s “plus one” as they navigate the growing list of weddings in their lives. But as the years unfold, the boundaries of their friendship blur, and 2.5 years before the present timeline, a long-simmering attraction finally ignites—only for Joni to disappear from Ren’s life without explanation.

Now, reeling from a career setback in New York, Joni returns to Oregon for her sister’s wedding—an event that just so happens to entwine her once again with Ren. Despite years of silence, their families remain blissfully unaware of the rift, believing the two are as close as ever. Over the course of a week steeped in nostalgia, tension, and unresolved feelings, Joni and Ren must confront not only their shared past, but the possibilities that still linger between them.

Told in dual timelines spanning six years and the present day, this is a beautifully written friends-to-lovers story brimming with heart, vulnerability, and second chances. With rich emotional depth and undeniable charm, Friends to Lovers is a poignant reminder that sometimes the love of your life has been standing beside you all along. A perfect pick for summer, this novel is destined to be a standout among this season’s must-read romances.

Review for Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely

Friends to Lovers is a cozy, emotionally rich romance that delivers exactly what the title promises—and more. Sally Blakely beautifully captures the delicate transition from friendship to something deeper, showing how love can bloom slowly, steadily, and with breathtaking tenderness.

The main characters are impossible not to root for. Their shared history adds weight to every moment, making each lingering glance and hesitant confession all the more powerful. Blakely writes with warmth and insight, exploring themes of timing, trust, and the courage it takes to risk a good friendship for a shot at forever.

This book is perfect for readers who love slow burns, realistic emotional arcs, and stories that feel like a warm hug. A lovely reminder that sometimes, the best love stories are the ones right in front of us all along.

FRIENDS TO LOVERS
SALLY BLAKELY
July 22/25

DREAM GIRL DRAMA
TESSA BAILEY
FEBRUARY 4/ 25

OK, so I read both these books this week ( one on Net Galley and one a physical book) because I was feeling a little like a good rom com, chick lit book, or two, were in order.

Both are similar in fact because of their situations ( one a couple who have been friends since age three and one a couple whose parents- his dad and her mom are getting married) so it would be very wrong to act on primal urges, right?

Both are set in fun locations, a super cool “cottage” on the Oregon coast leading up to a sibling’s wedding and the other in hockey rinks around Boston. I could see both of these being great romcom movies.

Both are perfect summer beach reads with a lot of romantic tension, forbidden love, and in the case of Tessa Bailey, according to ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, she is the “Michelangelo of dirty talk”…. Enjoy! Thanks HTP Books

Friends to Lovers is a easy breezy second chance and friends to lovers romance in the midst of a family vacation/wedding. There was a lot going on, and at times I wanted the story to move along a bit faster, but it was a great summer romance read. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC!

This was my second romance novel ever and I LOVED this.

I was shocked to find this was a debut author?!!
It was so good. The author really hooks you with wanting to know what happened between the two main characters that tore a rift in their relationship.

bouncing between the past, the events leading up to the problem and current events, after the problem occurs. The two main characters Joni and ren are in a forced proximity situation when they all go to the family house in Portland for Joni’s sisters wedding. They are forced to pretend nothing happened between them and that they’re still the best of childhood friends(almost) the entire family
Believes them to be.

I have come to realize I’m a big fan of second chance romances especially when they’re tied in. For a forced proximity.

This is such a good summer read!

If you’re a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope with a hefty dose of wedding season chaos, Friends to Lovers is your next must-read. Sally Blakely captures the magic and messiness of lifelong friendship turned something more in a way that feels both heartwarming and heartbreakingly real. Joni and Ren’s annual tradition of being each other’s wedding dates is the kind of setup romance readers dream of—and when that perfect little ritual starts to unravel, you’ll find yourself holding your breath right alongside them. The fake friendship, the emotional tension, the summer house full of nostalgia—it all adds up to a slow-burn romance that’s equal parts swoon-worthy and soul-searching.

Blakely’s writing is light and breezy, with just enough depth to make you feel every unspoken word between Joni and Ren. Whether you’re here for the second-chance love angle, the will-they-won’t-they tension, or the rich backdrop of sun-soaked weddings and seaside memories, this story delivers. It’s sweet, a little messy, and completely satisfying. So grab your beach towel, maybe a mimosa, and definitely a copy of Friends to Lovers—you’ll be smiling through every page.

Cute but it likely won't stick with me. I love the friends to lovers trope but this was a bit bland for me.

Best friends Joni and Ren have been inseparable since childhood. So when Joni moves across the country for her job, the two devise a creative way to stay in they’ll be each other’s plus-ones every year for wedding season, no matter what else is happening in their lives.

It’s a tradition that works, until a line is crossed and the friendship they once thought was forever is ruined.

Now Joni is back at their families’ shared summer home for her sister’s wedding, and she’s determined to make the week perfect, even if it means faking a friendship with Ren—and avoiding the truth of why they have to fake it in the first place. How hard can it be to pretend to be friends with the person who once knew you best?

But as sunny beach days together turn into starry nights, Joni begins to question what her life is without Ren in it. And when the wedding arrives, bringing past heartaches to the surface, she’ll be forced to decide if loving Ren means letting him go, or if theirs is a love story worth fighting for.

As an avid Emily Henry reader, I absolutely DEVOURED this!! Such a good read. And the premise was so fun too...It immediately made me want to read this! Hope I can read more by Sally Blakely soon.

3.5. I really liked the first half of this book. The flashbacks to important moments were so fun. The conflict of this book just didn't do it for me though. All this built-up angst and yearning just for there to be basic miscommunication. There were also so many side characters, I couldn't imagine naming all of them right now.

This book is like a mix of Happy Place and People We Meet on Vacation but with the most aggravating conflict ever.

Also the ARC formatting was diabolical, but that's not the fault of the content.

This was the review I posted on my insta: Just finished the early release of Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely and I’m obsessed. The slow burn, the chemistry, the longing—I felt every page. Sally nails that delicate shift from friendship to something more, and I couldn’t stop smiling (or swooning). Add this to your TBR immediately!

I will echo what others have said: If "Happy Place" and "People We Meet on Vacation" had a baby- this would be it. Friends to Lovers is sheer perfection! It's hard to believe this is a debut novel. If you are a romance fan this is one you will not want to miss!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This definitely felt reminiscent of People we meet on Vacation! I really enjoyed the past and present timelines and the summer house setting. The fun wedding activities reminded me of the summer of broken rules! I really enjoyed friends to lovers stories because I loved seeing the gradual little things that change it from platonic to romantic. This book definitely gives you the angst part of that!! I could relate to Joni’s anxious thoughts about all the what ifs in life and I enjoyed seeing her grow through that. There were so many sweet moments, but I did find myself wanting to see more of their friendship growing up together because we only got some glimpses of it. I feel like it would have made me more attached to their relationship and their characters! However, I did still enjoy this and think it’s a great summer read!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the arc!!

I really wanted to love this book but I struggled to feel invested in the characters and their story.

The book focused A LOT on the family which took away from Joni and Ren’s story. The side characters didn’t really add to the story, so it felt very unnecessary to me. I wanted to read more about their friendship and connection that they’ve had for years.

The dual timeline made things very confusing at times. It would’ve been less confusing if it stated the year every time the timeline changed. The pacing was also a bit slow which made me lose interest at times.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t for me. I think it had alot of potential and there were a lot of cute moments between the characters which was fun to read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I DNF at 40% in. I couldn’t get into the characters or stories. I felt there were so many side characters and I didn’t know who was who. The format of the ARC was terrible too, not helping.

Joni and Ren have been best friends, and each other’s dates to weddings, for years. But when will they find someone to wed? Have they simply been missing each other?

Yes. Of course they have.

Man, I did not like this book.

I understand that a romance novel is predictable. I love a good romance novel. That can be overlooked by an interesting dynamic. This did not have that. The characters, all of them, were completely flat and there was absolutely no romantic tension. It was so, so boring.

And the weddings. Oy. What a plot device to try to add interest that simply did nothing for me.

Thank you to Canary Street Press and Net Galley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes because I love being in agonizing pain as two people, who clearly need to be together, keep convincing themselves that they shouldn’t be together. LOL. Seriously though, I did enjoy this book. Yes, there’s miscommunication between the FMC, MMC, and the family, which is why this is rated lower, but overall it’s a nice read. Fans of Happy Place, Love & Other Words, and People We Meet on Vacation may enjoy this story. Also a great summer read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!