Rating: 5/5

Spice: 0

Primary Genre: Contemporary Romance

Plot: 5/5

My Thoughts:

This book surprised me in the most pleasant way! This book has a dual timeline with a big looming unanswered question…why aren’t Ren and Joni friends anymore? It feels a bit like a mystery in reverse, which I felt made for a fun and page-turning read. It manages to stay light hearted while dealing with some serious stuff. Once I got going on this book, I could not put it down and it brought tears to my eyes more than once. It had my heart racing and my face smiling at times as well. Invoking real emotion is the true test and Sally Blakely passed. This book reminds me of an Annabel Monaghan summer romance, and I mean that as the highest of compliments-I love her books. Do. Not. Miss!

⭐️4.25
🌶️2

Joni and Ren have been best friends their entire lives. So when Joni moves across the country for work they make a plan to help stay in touch by always being each other’s plus-one for weddings. As the years of weddings pass by eventually a line is crossed that threatens their friendship. Now, years of silence later, they have Joni’s sister’s wedding week to endure together.

This was such a quick read! I was so invested and it was hard to put down. It would be a great summer beach read especially if you particularly enjoy a friends to lovers trope. There were funny moments but there were times it was pensive and I could physically feel my heart ache for Ren and Joni. I really appreciated Joni’s character growth throughout. Altogether a great story!

✨Pacific Northwest beach house vibes
✨second chance romance
✨forced proximity
✨dual narrative
✨childhood best friends to lovers
✨big found family dynamic

1⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of Friends To Lovers.

Joni and Ren have been friends since they were little. They are always each other’s plus one at weddings. Then at one wedding the friendship lines are blurred and they fear they can never go back to what they had.

This was just an absolutely ridiculous plot in my opinion and the characters were just not likable.

This has the he falls first trope, and I'm all here for it!!
"I think I'm always going to be waiting for just five minutes of you loving me like I love you."
-Ren
The story alternates between past and present, which i did not realize until I was reading, so it confused me at first. After I realized that it was really easy to read and I very much enjoyed it.

A huge thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

This is a great summer romance!

I love a second chance and friends to lovers combined. The pressure that these characters felt are very realistic of those in our early thirties trying to figure out how to move forward in life with a career, adult friendships, and love.

I enjoyed the back and forth between the past and the current time. I do think the weddings were a fun way to bring it all together but also was a bit redundant feeling.

Overall a cute read!

Thanks to Netgally and HTP Books for the E-ARC. Joni (FMC) and Ren (MMC) are besties but when the stories starts off they have been entangled for over 2 years but now have to fake their friendship for their whole family for a whole week. The story goes back to years before and to the present. This was a fast cute read as we see why Joni and Ren stopped being friends but also see whether they will go back to being best friends or even something else.

I loved Friends to Lovers! It was sweet and cute and felt real. The characters had depth and were well developed. The dual timeline worked great, and the whole book was well paced.
It sucked me in, and I couldn't put it down!
Love love loved it. Definitely recommend.

Best friends Joni and Ren had a pact to be each others plus one’s at weddings, until the last wedding they attended caused a rift between them. Almost 3 years later, they are gathering with their families at their shared beach house for Stevie’s sister’s wedding. With most people not knowing they haven’t been talking, they’ll pretend for a week that everything is fine between them and maybe confront what tore them apart.

With the story alternating between present day and past weddings they’ve attended, you really get to know Joni and Ren’s relationship and how much they care about one another. They are put into so many situations where they have the opportunity to talk about their past, but they both skirt around it for a while afraid that after having each other back in their lives, they’ll lose them again. You get a lot of growth from Joni throughout the book, and I was glad towards the end she realized she couldn’t keep everything to herself anymore.

Joni and Ren are childhood best friends. When Joni gets an invitation to a wedding she asks Ren to be her plus one since neither of them are in a relationship. They make a pact to be each other's plus one's to any future weddings as a way to stay in touch when Joni takes a job and moves across the country which works out great until one weekend lines are crossed and their friendship is ruined. They haven’t spoken in 2 1/2 years. They are reunited at their family’s vacation home for one more wedding. Joni’s sister is getting married and they are forced to spend time together for a week of activities where they will have to deal with the past.

This was such a heartwarming story. It was so well written and descriptive. From the backdrop to where the story takes place in Oregon to the locations the weddings they attended together. I liked how Joni and Ren navigated their friendship in spite of the distance and when Joni finally realized she couldn’t ever not have Ren in her life. They were so perfect together it just took her longer to realize they were end game.

I really enjoyed this debut novel from this author and can’t wait to read more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing / Canary Street Press for an e-Arc copy of this book.

4/5 stars! Thanks to HTP books for this eARC!

This was a solid contemporary romance. I devoured it in one sitting🤭 I’m a huge sucker for a dual timeline story, especially with the added suspense of “what happened between them???” thrown in there. Friends to lovers (the trope) is honestly one of my fave tropes. The pining is unreal in stories that feature it, and this was no exception. 4/5 stars because I am not the biggest fan of second chance romances or miscommunication tropes, BUT this was still worth the read.

Honestly, if you liked People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, you’ll eat this one right up!

[ DNF @ 25% ] It was a hard decision to not finish this book when I thought it would be a decent read. Secret former best friends-to-lovers? Forced proximity? An impending wedding? That's a good basis to start from.

The friends-to-lovers trope is one of my favorites. I liked a wedding as the backdrop. The summer vibes were nice. I also liked the joyous close bond the MCs families shared, and what I learned so far about Joni and Ren's previously easygoing friendship.

But the more I read the clearer the likelihood of finishing would be a long struggle and the story no better.

I couldn't get into the story and was uninterested in the characters, so it felt like nothing was happening. Also, and this could be because I was reading an uncorrected proof, the switch from past to present was a little jarring.

For those reasons, I'm sadly calling it quits with this book.

Thanks again Canary Street Press, HTP Books, and NetGalley for the e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 - A fabulous debut! This is friends to lovers done well, and I loved the dual timeline. I probably would have combusted with a dual POV, but the story felt natural from Joni’s perspective.

I really loved the setting - the beach house! - the characters - two families, friends for a long time - and how intertwined and invested the characters are in one another. I was frustrated at some of the commutation issues BUT they made sense from a relationship standpoint. My only bugaboo is that we didn’t have more time with Ren and Joni as a happy couple.

Thank you to @netgalley and Canary for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I genuinely believe that friends to lovers is the greatest trope - the pining, the longing, the will they/won't they of it all - I love it all!

This book, clearly based on the title, gives all of those things and more! I really enjoyed the single POV but multiple timeline combination, and the dangling carrot of what happened between Joni + Ren really added to the tension of their relationship.

If you enjoyed People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, you will love this too!

Thank you to the author + Harlequin for my advance copy!

4.75 ⭐️
With a cover and storyline somewhat reminiscent of “Happy Place”, I knew I couldn’t pass this one up. A second chance romance between two childhood friends? Even BETTER.

Joni and Ren are reuniting at their families’ cabin outside Portland, Oregon for Joni’s sister’s wedding after a falling out 2(.5) years prior- the catch? They didn’t tell their family they weren’t friends anymore. What ensues is a dual timeline, second chance romance that positively pulled at my heart strings.

Listen, I love the drama as much as the next person, but what I love even more is a straightforward storyline with a lot of emotions. That this book served exactly that. I loved the side plots amongst the main story, but I also loved that there wasn’t so much going on that we couldn’t be in the depths with Joni. When I learned this was Blakely’s debut novel, I was even more impressed. If you’re looking for a summer romance to make you feel feelings, this one’s got you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book was sooo good! I absolutely loved it! Coming from someone who doesn’t love the friends to lovers trope this one worked so well, and it honestly read as second chance as well. The summer and beach house vibes were amazing. I loved the dual timelines as well as all of the weddings that are featured in the book. It was light spice but worked perfectly in the setting. And I loved the character work. Ren and Joni are meant to be and flawed but such great characters. Truly next level.

I am loooving all these contemporary romances I’ve been consuming lately. Devouring actually. I could’ve read this one in one sitting too if I didn’t have to work. Oh wait. Jer says “we don’t got to, we get to.” Work, that is. He’s adorable.

Ok, back to Joni and Ren. First of all, does anyone see the name Ren and start singing “Footloose” in their head? Moving on.

Joni and Ren have been best friends since they were three. But something happened two and a half years ago. They haven’t spoken since. Now, Joni’s sister, Stevie, is getting married at their families’ shared oceanfront summer home. There’s no avoiding each other now. And they haven’t spoken to pretend they’re as close as ever. They didn’t tell their families they had a falling out. They didn’t want to squash the family dynamic.

This is told in dual timelines. We fall in love with them in the past and through Joni’s memories. And we fall in love with them as they reconnect in the present.

I don’t know that I have the words to describe what it was like living with them in the past and how that felt so real and special. And what it’s like while they’re thrown together over and over again during wedding week. Not just thrown though. They’re also magnets. Pulled together by their shared history and their hearts.

And @sherry_reads_books, it’s another spot-on title. Two in a row!

Highly recommended for lovers of slow burn romance, music, weddings, and close families. Also, knowing who your soulmate is for your entire life.

I received this eARC via #netgalley and @readmirabooks. All thoughts are mine alone.

romance books | contemporary romance | friends to lovers | sally blakely | book recs | book reviews | bookstagram

3.5 this took me a bit to get into. I didn’t necessarily love Joni and Ren but the further I got into it and the backstory leading up to them not talking they drew me in. This book is a good portrayal of complicated family dynamics, family friends and relationships in general, and how important communication is in everything

Book Review✨

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely

“Always each other’s plus ones, but never each other’s real dates, two childhood best friends have one last summer wedding to fall in love.”

Rating: 5⭐️
Genre: Romance
Yes, no, or maybe: WITHOUT A DOUBT YES

Read if you love:
-friends to lovers (obviously)
-beach romance
-PINING
-he falls first
-multiple time lines

THIS BOOK! Girl… this book… wow! Um Miss Sally if this is your debut, I cannot wait to see what you do next!!! Keep em coming!

This story revolves around best friends Joni and Ren. Right off the bat we see that Joni and Ren are no longer friends… but what has happened??? Something happened 2 and half years ago but we have to start at the beginning!!! 6 years ago they made a pact to always be each others plus one at any wedding that comes up but what went wrong?! I was HOOKED. Ren was handsome and charming. Joni was spunky and thoughtful. I was fully invested in their story.

The setting was ideal, their families shared beach house that they have went to every summer their whole lives. You get to see their friendship and love blossom over the years (cue dreamy sigh). The writing was beautiful, I was swooning at almost every page.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. It’s the perfect summer romance ❤️

**Available now!!!**

🌲 Book Review🌲

Title: Friends To Lovers
Author: @sally.blakely

Thank you so much for this ARC & ALC @netgalley and @harlequinbooks

The book:

Friends To Lovers follows Joni and REN whom are childhood best friends. When Joni moves to the East Coast and leaves Ren behind in Portald, Oregon they make a pact to stay in touch and be each others weddings plus one’s. This all changes when their friendship has a fallout. After years of silence they both reunite for Joni’s sister’s wedding. Even though things are awkward they pretend to be friends and ignore what happened between them. This is until they realize that old connection between them still exists and brings them to face unresolved feelings.

What I thought:

I loved that this story was told in dual timelines as it brings a better understanding of Joni’s and Ren’s friendship. I absolutely adored their characters! This was a sweet, flirty, and heartfelt slow burn love story. My soul was crushed when their friendship took a downfall due to miscommunication really, but, the ending was heart rewarding.

If you love a summer romance, second chances and friends to lovers trope this is the book for you!

As much as I loved this book…it felt a little too similar to People We Meet on Vacation. We have a MMC who chose to stay in his home town and a FMC who chose to move to NYC to pursue her job. They always travel together, hook up on a trip, things fall apart, and then a wedding forces them back together. All the while, the FMC is struggling with the job she swore was her dream but is now crushing her. And the MMC goes back to the ex when they have their falling out, moves in with her, and almost marries her but just can’t because of the FMC. I knew it would be a trope-heavy book based on the title, I just didn’t expect to read the same story in a different font. I like the characters and the premise a lot, I just wish it had been a little more unique. I read both the ebook and listened to the audiobook. The narration is okay, but not great. Overall, I had a good time reading this book and flew through it. I received an advanced copy of this book as part of the Hive influencer program. Thank you, Harlequin for the chance to read and review this story!