Of all the tropes in the world, my most favorite of them all is the friends to lovers. It’s a tricky thing to get this one right because one of friends tends to realize the other one is perfect for them before the other friend comes to that realization. Navigating the friend zone/transition to lover tends to get initiated through longer looks between the couple and lingering touches. This slow-burn creates delicious tension. My favorite thing!

Josie and Ren have been friends since childhood when their parents as best friends gather at a shared beach house year after year. They have a best friend bond that is fully explored within this book. You can sense that Josie never lets it sink in how important her relationship is to Ren until she moves away after college across the country for work. They make a pact to be their plus ones for all weddings. There are present day and flashback scenes that fully formed the series of events that leads to a falling out between these best friends.

I wished the author had given us more of the backstory on Josie’s anxiety and her mother (the therapist) pressuring her daughter to address every stress and feeling. It’s sprinkled in there and I think it has a deeper root into why the couple spends several years not talking. Once the story is revealed, her need to make everyone else more important than herself is clearly the source of the poor decisions but I feel like we don’t talk enough about that.


So my favorite example of friends to lovers is Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation and this book feels very similar to that vibe and reminds me why that slow burn passion is my favorite. My only complaint is that when the story jumps around I lose some of the desire that was being built when they connect. Strong 4 stars and I would definitely recommend it!

Started off with an incredible premise - childhood friends to lovers, unresolved conflict, and summer/wedding vibes. However, it quickly turned out to be dragging and frustrating to read about. The "argument" between the two was predictable and all the characters and internal conflict felt akin to a Netflix original movie (derogatory). I didn't see much evidence of the two being best friends, though it was obvious that the guy was in love with the female protagonist since the beginning. I find it frustrating when a book is marketed and quite literally titled "friends to lovers" when they were not really friends in the first place. The flashbacks were supposed to show their previous friendship but just made the book drag even more. All the supporting characters felt one-dimensional and annoying. Overall, I felt like I could have skimmed half the book and felt/retained exactly the same amount.

4.5 rounded up because I truly couldn't out it down. Joni and Ren's world is so detailed that I was fully lost inside. The transitions between timelines were seamless and never made me feel lost or disoriented in either. I loved the entire cast of characters, and was so impressed with how well-rounded even the minor players were. I can't wait for more from Sally Blakey! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read! loved the couples and as much as I dont care for the friends to lovers trope this was a good one! thanks for the Arc.

I happened to really like this one. Love the 2 best friends and how their friendship is just so easy. This is one of my favorite tropes so I am a sucker for going from friends to falling in love.

If you’re a fan of slow burns, second chances, and summer nostalgia, Friends to Lovers delivers on all fronts. Joni and Ren have been best friends for most of their lives, growing up side-by-side thanks to their moms' lifelong friendship and a shared family beach house. Over the years, they’ve built a tradition—always be each other’s plus-one for wedding season, no matter what. But when one night changes everything, and neither of them handles it well, the silence stretches into years.
Now Joni is back for her sister’s wedding, and so is Ren. Cue the forced proximity, unspoken feelings, and an ocean of unresolved tension. The dual timeline gives us glimpses into their friendship from the start, and Sally Blakely nails the heartbreak of missed chances and bad timing. Watching these two slowly find their way back to each other—while pretending everything’s fine—had me hooked.
You can feel how much they care about each other, even when they're pretending not to. Their banter is familiar and layered with history, their chemistry is undeniable, and their moments of vulnerability hit hard. It’s not a clean road to a happy ending, and that’s what makes it so satisfying when it finally clicks into place.
This is one of those books that makes you ache in the best way. Packed with emotional tension, soft beachy vibes, and a love that’s been building for years, this debut left me rooting hard for Joni and Ren. I'm seriously impressed this is Blakely’s first novel—I'll be first in line for whatever she writes next.

᪥ Friends To Lovers
᪥ Second Chance
᪥ Fake Dating
᪥ One Bed
᪥ People We Meet On Vacation x Happy Place

A swoon-worthy, slow-burn romance packed with yearning and second chances, I was rooting so hard for Joni and Ren! I can't believe this is a debut. People We Meet on Vacation meets The Summer I Turned Pretty, if you love a forced proximity and a summer wedding backdrop, this is for you!

I really loved this book. Entertaining.

Joni and Ren have been best friends since they were toddlers. Now adults, things have changed for these two. This book has a dual timeline of them and now and it is so much fun to read about these two. Best friends who crossed a line and now they are almost strangers. But we follow along as these seem to fight it out and see what. Love they have for one another. This was sweet and romantic! Refreshing. And the tension between these two is off the charts!! A true romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for a copy of this book.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. Overall, I absolutely loved it, but there were some things that just bugged me. The writing is SUPURB! I love the craft from Sally Blakely. I love the friendship between Ren and Joni. They were childhood best friends with intertwined families, but due to a misunderstanding they stopped talking. I absolutely loved the dialogue, especially between Ren, Joni, and the siblings. It’s a fun summer read or for a book club. The things I couldn’t stand… Joni is deeply flawed. No character will ever be perfect, but Joni seemed to be 10 steps behind everyone else (while trying to be three steps ahead). I just didn’t connect or click with her character, and by the halfway point she felt insufferable. Same with her mom. I couldn’t stand her, and wanted to skip the parts with her mom. I also was not a huge fan of the number of past weddings. Do some of them add to the plot? Absolutely. Did they all need to be included? Probably not. Would I recommend this book? Yes, but it is not one of my top 10 reads of 2025.

Friends to Lovers follows Joni and Ren, childhood best friends, as they navigate a difficult time in their relationship. When their families reunite for Joni’s sister’s wedding, Joni and Ren have to hide something from them: they haven’t spoken in two years.

I’m not typically a second-chance romance person, but friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, so I just knew I had to pick this (and it did not disappoint). Joni is a great female lead to spend the entire book with. She’s relatable and likeable without being too contrived, and I just loved to be in her head. Though we don’t spend any time in Ren’s POV, I liked him for the same reasons. They both have a good head on their shoulders, which made this a delightful and satisfying romance read. Their characterization is the strongest part of this book; Sally Blakely knows how to write great characters with great chemistry. Joni and Ren understand each other on a deep level and it shows in how comfortable they are with each other despite spending an extended period of time apart. Their interactions flowed so naturally, I never questioned their love for each other.

Blakely knocked it out of the park with this debut and I can’t wait to read more from her. If you’re looking for the perfect summer/beach read, look no further! Joni and Ren’s story is heartwarming and easy to jump into.

This book was enticing at first with the romantic tension between the two main characters. One the romantic themes began however, the book lost its luster. I wish the book would’ve explored more of the budding romantic relationship instead of focusing on the other characters. I felt that the transition to lovers was a little too well received by the other characters in the book. I would’ve hoped for some push back to add back some of the tension in the beginning of the book. For a debut novel however this was a good start and looking forward to seeing what the author publishes next.

⭐⭐⭐

Thank you for Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Canary Street Press for the ARC of Friends to Lovers! This book releases July 22, 2025, just in time to squeeze it into your summer TBR. ☀️🏖️

Joni and Ren have been inseparable since they were kids - until the day Joni moves across the country for her new job. As a way to keep in touch they decide that any time they need a plus-one to a wedding, they'll go together.

When Joni's sister's wedding brings them back together, we learn that the once attached at the hip best friends haven't spoken in 2.5 years.

The narrative bounces between the past and the current day so we slowly learn what happened to their friendship while also seeing how they navigate a week with their close family and friends.

I really enjoyed this story... until we got to the reveal of what happened to destroy their lifelong friendship. It just didn't feel like it made a lot of sense to me or was worth the build up and secrets.

Also I think there is a length of time where you could reasonably keep it a secret that you haven't spoken to your best friend when your families are so intertwined and 2.5 years is way too long to be believable.

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book. I loved the setting, the fun wedding week activities, and the cast of side characters, and I found it was a quick and lighthearted read. I was mostly just disappointed with the last 20%. I would have loved better communication, more character development, and could have used less of the storyline about Joni's mom.

That being said, I still think this would make a fun summer read and I would absolutely read future books by this author!

This book had romance, angst, childhood friends, to enemies, to lovers. Im not a huge fan of the back and forth timeline but you get to know them and their history. This book took me a bit to get through. Probably from the timeline jumps. Its cuts but it was a little tough want to keep reading at times.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the friendship between the character and a sucker for when the man falls first. I did find the fact they didn’t talk for two years crazy, but didn’t make me not like the book!

The format of the ARC on NetGalley was very difficult to follow.
The story was good, but a little bit predictable. The characters of Ren and Joni were very nicely fleshed out and I enjoyed it.
It is a very lighthearted read.

Joni and Ren are best friends since childhood. Their families vacationed together and were intertwined. When Joni gets a job in New York and leaves Ren behind in Portland, they promise to always be each other's wedding date. When they cross the friendship line and don't talk about it, they endure 2 1/2 years of being not friends. They come back together at Joni's sister's wedding and struggle to get back to being friends. Once they decide to be honest and truthful with each other, they find a happy place. I found the back to different times a bit hard to follow, but I really liked their story. I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

Ren and Joni are childhood best friends who made a promise to always be each other's plus one for weddings, even when Joni moves across the country. After a falling out, the author leaves the readers desperate to find out what happened between the two of them! Thank you NetGalley for the sharing this story with me!

I did not care for this book. I really struggled to finish it. Based on the cover and title, I thought I'd love it. Unfortunately, I didn't. I'm not sure if it was because the ARC digital copy was formatted terribly and hard to follow or the story as a whole. Maybe I'll grab it from the library once it's released to find out.

This Sally Blakey novel had everything I look for in a summer read. I was fortunate to bring it with me on a late spring vacation. I was so happily surprised by the depth and enjoyment of what I thought would be a silly romcom of the most typical sort. Which would have been fine! But this was so much more. I fell in love with Joni and Ren and with their respective families too. Such well done characters, so much humor, and just enough pain to deepen the experience. This was a slow spicy romance and so much more satisfying than I was expecting! I want more from Ms Blakely! Brava, most well done indeed!

3.5 stars - This was a fun and cute story - I loved the setting, and liked most of the characters a lot. There were a couple of disappointingly unbelievable moments in the book that brought it down half a star. I did actually like how in the end, the main character didn’t wait to have her life perfectly in order to be in a relationship because I kind of hate that trope in romance books. LOVED the mmc in this. Struggled to understand Joni’s choices throughout most of the book. Would read another book by this author!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7483865267