Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is the sweet story of childhood besties Ren and Joni who were always each other’s wedding dates. However, after a falling out, they haven’t spoken in ten months, but when they’re back at their families’ shared summer house for Joni’s sister’s wedding, they fake their friendship so their families won’t suspect a thing. The more time they spend together, the more they miss their shared bond. Will they fight for each other or move on?

I loved this book! I really liked how the chapters showing the past and present were woven together. Would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well colour me pleasantly surprised. I loved this, and once I got about 25% through, couldn’t put it down. It gave me the feel goods and the butterflies. I’ve seen the comparison to People We Meet On Vacation - but I have to say, this book is everything I had hope PWMOV would be.

While the main character, Joni, did drive me a little batty near the end, she came to the decision the reader needs to relatively quickly. And Ren… he’s a perfect male lead. If you’re a lover of a “friends to lovers” and “he falls first” trope - this is the one.

📖 Best friends and childhood friends Joni and Ren make a pact to be each others plus ones at weddings, and this pact keeps them in touch through long distance, other relationships and career focused years. Until a line is crossed, and they are reunited after 2.5 years of no contact at one last wedding.

🔎 ARC Review

Friends to Lovers

@sally.blakely
@readmirabooks
@netgalley

Publication Date: July 22nd, 2025

My Rating:
🌟 4/5

👀Read if you like
Childhood Friends to Lovers
Second Chance
Forced Proximity

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 touch: 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.


🔎 My review
If you love Friends to Lovers then this is the book for you! Joni and Ren have been best friends since childhood and were inseparable until they went months without speaking! It truly is magical to see two people who know each other so well give up the last pieces of themselves and realize they are only complete as a whole!

Thank you @sally.blakely
@readmirabooks @netgalley for the ARC!

#books #bookreviews #bookworm #bookstagram #bookobsessed #secondchanceromance #friendstolovers #forcedproximity #NetGalley #FriendsToLovers

Friends to Lovers had nearly every single thing I love in a romcom all in one book.
•Friends to Lovers (obviously)
•Second Chance Romance
•Forced Proximity
•He Falls First
•Yearning (so much yearning 😍)

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Katherine Center, or Annabel Monaghan

Ren and Joni. Joni and Ren. It’s always been the two of them versus the world. Even when Joni moves from Portland to NYC, their bond stays strong with a pact to be each other’s wedding dates, ensuring their get time together despite the distance. Then New Year’s Even happens and everything changes.

Now two and a half years later, Ren and Joni haven’t spoken or seen each other since that night. And their families don’t know. The story unfolds across dual timelines, blending emotional flashbacks with the present as Ren and Joni reunite at a family vacation home for Joni’s sister’s wedding.

There is such emotion in the way the story unfolds. The author masterfully captured the tension, the heartbreak, and those pivotal relationship moments that make you hold your breath.

Ren? Top-tier book boyfriend status secured. May this love find me. 💕 His devotion and love for Joni was so steadfast and genuine.

As their lives span years in these pages, Joni’s growth and emotional arc shine through in such a beautiful way.

I absolutely loved reading this and can’t wait to grab a physical copy for my shelves once it’s released!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 ⭐️

from the moment i read the title— i knew this book was going to be for me!!! the friends to lovers trope is everything to me, but paired with a little second chance? it’s unmatched!! there’s nothing better!
i love that we got a past and present timeline so we can really feel and understand all the history between joni and ren. i loved everything about their romance— from the easy banter and playfulness in the past chapters to all the juicy tension and yearning in the present chapters. i loved the summer lake house setting and family dynamics— this book truly just has everything i love in a romance book!
there were some moments i found a little boring or slow but overall, such a sweet, fun summer read! it’s a must read for lovers of emhen!



thank you so much to HTP and Canary Street Press for this eArc in exchange for my honest thoughts :)

Felt like your average run of the mill friends to lovers book lol it was predictable but cute at the same time. I wish I had more to say but it did also take me a long time to get thru it but sometimes that speaks more about me as a reader than anything

Friends to Lovers is one of my absolute favorite tropes, and Joni and Ren's best friends to lovers journey was so well written. Joni and Ren grew up together, and they have always been each other's best friend. When Joni moves across the country for work, they make a deal to stay in each other's lives. They will be each other's plus one for weddings. The story is told through flashbacks over the past few years to show the weddings that they attended and ultimately what went wrong in their friendship.

After being inseparable for most of their lives, they haven't spoken in two and a half years. They reunite at the wedding of Joni's sister, and Joni and Ren have to face their feelings and past hurts to decide if they want to be in each other's lives again.

Having flashbacks allowed for the reader to get such deep insight into how things have changed for Joni over the past few years. I enjoyed seeing how much they cared for each other, and their story resolved in such a meaningful way.

This story was well-written, and I would definitely recommend it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Childhood Best friends to lovers?! Yes please! Joni and Ren have been best friends since childhood. She moves to Oregon and they agree to meet every summer to be plus ones at friends weddings. The chemistry these two had truly gives you all the feels. The dual timeline was written well; I absolutely loved how everything aligned! This is such a great summer read and I highly recommend you check pick this one up!💙

If you’re looking for a romance with :
☀️Fake Dating
💙Childhood Friends to Lovers
☀️Forced Proximity
💙Reunion Romance
☀️ Immaculate Summer Vibes
Definitely add this one to your list!✨

After their last encounter ended in heartbreak, former best friends, Ren and Joni come face to face again after 2.5 years spent apart for a wedding. As Joni reflects back on their time spent as each others plus ones to past weddings, she begins to question if the decision she made to walk away from Ren was the right one after all.

I typically love second chance romances but ones that occur due to miscommunication like this one are just not my favorite. I also am not keen on when the FMC leads the MMC on for what feels like on eternity. It just felt like a case of "she can live without him until he is unavailable and then, all of a sudden she can’t live without him.”

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Harlequin Audio for the ARC and ALC.

In this summery rom com, estranged best friends Joni and Ren are forced to reconnect after two and a half years of silence. Joni’s sister is marrying Ren’s friend, and they are forced to stay together and pretend things are normal for the sake of their families. Through a dual timeline, the reader learns why the two stopped being friends two and a half years earlier, and in the present, the former friends work to reconnect.

This was a very sweet debut read in the vein of Emily Henry’s Happy Place or Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After. Readers who enjoy second chance, it’s always been you, friends to lovers summer romance stories will love this one as well. The characters share a charming, wholesome friendship and are both relatable and likable. The story is deliciously slow burning and filled with nostalgia. Although not surprising, the miscommunication was prominent in the book, and made me so sad for the characters that they could have had so much time together (even just as friends) with a simple conversation. Even with the miscommunication, I still very much enjoyed the book and look forward to the author’s next release.

Thank you to Sally Blakely and Harlequin Trade Publications and The Hive for the arc and opportunity to be an early reviewer.

Ren and Joni are so sweet, both then and now, and it was a joy to watch their relationship evolve over the years (except not so joyful for the past couple fraught years). I really enjoyed the dual timeline of weddings leading up to now, and this current wedding weekend of Joni’s sister.

I love the heartfelt moments, the families of each of our main characters, and the nostalgia and flashbacks interlaced throughout.

☀️Childhood best friends
☀️ Friends to lovers
☀️ Dual timelines
☀️ Forced proximity
☀️ Second chance
☀️ Slow burn
☀️ Some spice

Such an AMAZING debut from Sally Blakely, and I can’t wait to read what she writes next.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you HTP The Hive, HTP Books, and Canary Street Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This one was a slow burn that really grew on me. The trope is exactly what the title describes and, initially, I thought I was going to be frustrated by how obvious the mutual feelings were (a struggle I sometimes have with friends to lover stories), but Blakely ultimately drew me into the story. The cast of characters was also quite lovely, making for a good supporting story and context for the relationship. Overall, a lovely romcom and summer read. If you are waiting to watch The Summer I Turned Pretty until the whole season is out, this will also fill a similar niche. 

Publishing tomorrow 7/22! Thanks to Netgalley and Canary Street Press for the eARC!

Sally Blakely's debut, Friends to Lovers, is simply stunning and captured my heart from the very beginning. This book masterfully tackles some of my favorite tropes, friends to lovers (obviously) and second chance romance. There's also a little forced proximity and only one bed in there as well and I simply could not stop reading this book once I started. Sally's debut is a must-read for readers who have enjoyed The Ex-Vows by Jessica Joyce and People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. And Sally, you're officially an auto-buy author for me!

Joni and Ren have been best friends since childhood. Their families are essentially extensions of one another and they share a beach house in the Pacific Northwest where each summer they spend a week together. Joni gets her dream job in New York, tearing apart the once inseparable friendship she has with Ren. Determined to still be friends, they devise a plan to be each other's plus ones to weddings because they're at that age where someone is always getting married. It works well, until one night they cross the line from friends to something more, leaving Joni to make a decision that alters the course of both of their lives for the next two years.

There's something special about the friends to lovers trope that's just magical and Sally definitely captures that magic here with Joni and Ren. When two people are friends first, it makes the bond between them all that more special and more emotionally developed when they decide to become more than friends. However, going from friends to lovers can be risky but I'd take that risk each time if there was a guarantee it would end up like it did for Joni and Ren. This book is the slowest of slow burns, but so worth it. The flashbacks, which were effortlessly weaved into the present-day storyline, really allowed me to see how Joni and Ren came to be important to each other. Sally wrecked me about 75% in and I was just balling because Joni and Ren are the epitome of true love.

Thank you to Harlequin and Canary Street Press for the e-ARC!

This book had an interesting way of telling the story. There were flashbacks, forced proximity, and the classic pining and miscommunication. I found the characters interesting, and they overall seemed like good people. I think there was also some good personal growth for some of the characters, and the relationships the families had with each other added that extra layer. Overall, a fun, lighthearted book.

I really liked the story line. I liked the vulnerabilities of the main characters. I also enjoyed the relationships of the two families. The only thing I found difficult had to do with the writing itself. Overall, it was well done, but numerous times, mid conversation, a long explanation or flashback would take place. This didn’t last for just a few sentences or paragraphs, but sometimes a couple pages. Then out of nowhere, the conversation would continue. This always left me confused and having to scroll back to find the beginning of the conversation to see what they were talking about. This really disrupted the continuity of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the eARC.

Friends to Lovers is just that, friends to lovers. And this trope works well for me most of the time, but Sally Blakely did something with it that I adored. These characters felt real, fleshed out, and raw. I was rooting for them the entire time.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC 🙏

Absolutely adorable friends to lovers story. Quick, fun, and engaging read.

I loved how real the characters and situations in this book felt, something I find is sometimes missing from other romance novels. The vibes and aesthetics made me want to just go to the beach, read, and kick my feet in the sand like a little girl. Banter was on point and the main characters were so easy to root for. Such natural chemistry 🥰

What a wonderfully written debut. I both listened to this on audio and read the e-book. Theyboth were incredible. I enjoyed the narrator and just getting lost in the book. The emotions were felt from page 1, not just between the FMC and MMC, but their families and friends. The love and support were apparent throughout the book and I truly enjoyed how real the relationships felt. I loved the chemistry, the banter and the growth. This story clearly portrayed the love felt between friends, a love that slowly becomes more. The fear of ruining a relationship, the impact felt from family and close friends. This book alternates between past and present and it was done flawlessly. I really enjoyed getting lost in the emotions of this book - just really well done and wonderful.

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copies.

Friends to Lovers is a great book for those who like The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry or The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord. Joni and Ren’s families are best friends, and so were they, until Jodi is blindsided by wondering if they have always been something more. This realization freaks her out and breaks her friendship with Ren, until they are confronted by having to share a room when in town for Joni sister Stevie's wedding. Joni is a likeable main character who’s struggle with her feelings is very believable. She is dealing with a quarterlife crisis as she searches for who she is outside of her relationship, her job, and her idea of what was going to make her happy. The anxiety that she has is so relatable, its easy to see yourself as Joni and to root for her to let go and allow herself to just be.

Ren is an interesting character. He has depths that the reader doesn’t see because Joni won’t allow herself to see them. Joni consistently misinterprets him and so the reader has to decide if they agree with joni or see something more behind Ren’s facade/actions.

The side characters in this were great! There is definitely a world here that could be a universe of 4 books. I particularly love Leo and Stevie. Joni’s relationship with her mom is the perfect amount of love and complication that reflects most oldest daughter’s relationship with their mom.

This book was so enjoyable to read, I didn’t want to put it down. A great beach read; it kind of feels like eating an ice cream cone, decadent and refreshing on a warm day, but gives you a little angst whether you will finish it before it melts and gets sticky. 4 stars. Can’t wait for the next novel by Blakely. Thanks to Net Galley and Harlequin Trade for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fabulous friends to lovers story. Joni and Ren are best friends and eternal plus-ones, and I love getting their history in flashbacks of the weddings they've attended in the past. I really enjoyed seeing their friendship in multiple stages, as well as their interactions with other members of their close-knit families.