4 🌟

Thank you NetGalley and Canary Street Press for my ARC.

This was an incredibly sweet and heart tingling romance. It’s a mix of friends to lovers + second chance romance, the story told through a mix of present day and past. I couldn’t put it down, but also felt a bit frustrated with the FMC and her lack of communication. There’s a bit of spice but not too spicy, and I was definitely rooting for the main couple. Very sweet!

I loved every second of Friends to Lovers—it’s hard to believe this is Sally Blakely's debut. The dual timeline was handled beautifully, weaving together past and present moments in Ren and Joni’s relationship until everything clicked into place. It's the kind of storytelling that just grips you.

Ren and Joni’s friendship was the heart of the book, and it was written with so much care and depth. They were each other’s person in every sense of the word—always listening, understanding, forgiving, and never pushing the other in a way that didn’t feel right. It wasn’t overly dramatic or forced; their connection just felt real, and that made it hit so much harder.

The writing is sharp and original, but there’s also this quiet emotional depth that reminded me of Emily Henry’s books. If you’re into stories about friends-turned-lovers that feel honest and deeply human, this is one you shouldn’t miss.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this one since I don’t usually reads about the “friends to lovers” trope, specially in a romance book. But I absolutely loved it. Joni and Ren are incredible lovable as character and the whole time you ask yourself, what happened to make this two not friends anymore??!. We get parts of flashback so we understand their history but in the present they are both in the beach house they grew up visiting for Joni’s wedding, and they must play nice.

I had so much fun reading about their history but I was more entertained by how entwined their lives are even with Joni living in New York. I pretty much binged read halves of this book , and every time I picked it up I could jot put it down. When I got towards the end, I really got to my feelings. Joni not only is conflicted but her life is a total mess but I am glad for her at the end. Really cute ending to this story.

This book was such a beautifully nostalgic summer romance that made me wish my own parents owned a vacation home with their best friends. I loved that it was single POV as I thought it created the perfect amount of tension for Ren and Joni. I will be downloading the playlist asap!

I admit it. I am a total sucker for second-chance romance and friends-to-lovers romance.

So when this book hit my hands, I could not stop reading. My heart was breaking on one page only to smile and laugh at their antics on the next as they tried to act normal around family. A permanent plus one for weddings, they cannot help but be together, especially at her sister’s wedding festivities.

This author loaded in the angst as we are tossed back and forth between today and the past as we learn what broke them. It seemed like it took forever to get them back together and not having a conversation made it worse. Plus family stress and craziness didn’t help much either!

I loved so much about Friends to Lovers. Ren is a sweetheart and his love for Joni made my heart break. I wanted to shout at her so many times!

Blakely could have made this a 5-star for me if we got a longer together story. I hate that we only get one chapter or so. We go through so much with them, why can’t we celebrate the swoon and love for a bit longer???

For a first book, this is an awesome story, especially for those who love second chances and friends-to-lovers romance. I will definitely keep this author on my radar for more!

I absolutely adore this couple. The friendship between Ren & Joni is enviable and I could tell from the beginning how hard Ren had fallen for Joni and she had no idea.
There were a couple of moments where I actually got goosebumps from how much electricity was between them!
Love, love, love this friends to lovers story.

The title of the book says it all; it’s what the story is about. There’s constant tension between the main characters, which is sometimes tiring. The main character has relatable characteristics, but I found myself not being a fan of hers. The ending is expected and the “juicy” parts were disappointing, although that could just be my personal preference and not what the author wanted, which is fine. This was an okay read, perhaps a good beach or plane read, but unfortunately, not something I would recommend or purchase a hard copy of.

Adorable friends to lover story. I truly enjoyed this book so much. It gave me the emily henry vibes.
The main characters have been best friends since childhood, as adults they are always eachothers plus ones to every event.
This book has angst and nostaglia in it. The chemistry of the MMC and FMC is incredible.
Heartwarming and swoon worthy.


4.5/5 stars

I enjoyed this book, my one complaint was that it was choppy going from past to present. I loved Ren and the fact that this book was set in Oregon. Overall, a 4 star read.

Everything about this debut is stellar, including the dreamy sleeping porch on the beach and the playlist the author added to Spotify! Perfect for fans of Annabelle Monaghan and Emily Henry, this is the story of Joni and Ren, best friends since childhood. But, boy/girl relationships are complicated and they need to be for a good book! This one is so swooney with just the right amount of sweet, but not over the top moments between the lead characters. Another reviewer described this book as if People We Meet on Vacation and Happy Place had a baby and that is just the perfect description! Sally Blakely has earned a spot in my physical library with this romantic debut, because I’m pre-ordering this one right away! Got a fantastic feeling about this author! Thank you so much #netgalley for this early copy of Friends to Lovers.

Reminds me of that movie with Hayley from Modern Family and the guy she goes to a bunch of weddings with (with important differences) but the point is that this is very romcom coded, but with a more lit fic tone. Exactly what I expected it to be when I saw the title and all the many, many comparisons to Emily Henry in the reviews and the cover that has a font/style match to her covers.

Friends-to-lovers is a top tier trope. I think this will satisfy people's yearnings for that. Joni and Ren have great friend chemistry. They go a fair bit of time without talking after an incident, so if that frustrated you in PWMOV take note of that here. But I think people will enjoy it!!

4.2⭐️ Joni and Ren are best friends turned lovers turned nothing turned friends turned ?
Friends to Lovers is a really heartwarming story about two close families who are staying at their co-owned beach house for Joni’s sister’s wedding. They end up maneuvering not just romantic relationship woes, but familial relationship and friendship obstacles as well. While it reminded me of The Summer I Turned Pretty a bit, Ren is much more bearable than Conrad and Joni is DEFINITELY more bearable than Belly. This would be the perfect book to read on vacation or, in my case, curled up by the fireplace during a snowstorm! A really nice read!

*I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review. Opinions are my own.

This is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. Loved this story. Reminded me a lot of the style of writing that I love with Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez. Beautiful sweet romantic story. We’ll definitely read this one again. Can’t help but wonder why it doesn’t have a slightly more creative title? Although it is a true description of the story. Really enjoyed reading this one and hope for more from the author.!

Friends to lovers
This was a very witty book! Like others have said, it reminds me of Emily Henry’s books : D this was super fun and I love how we immediately got thrown into the drama with our main fmc Joni facing her greatest fears of seeing Ren again. These two past best friends are now forced to face past indiscretions that led to the downfall of their friendship. I love tropes that involves the reunification of a friendship! And now potential lovers haha. This was such a fun read. I definitely recommend it to everyone who is a lover of beachy romcoms

This story was very cute, I loved Joni and Ren! This is your classic friends to lovers romance told through time hops throughout their relationship. I enjoyed the flashback perspective and the mystery around what happened between them. The big reveal literally made me laugh out loud and I really enjoyed the music references throughout.

As always I’m a sucker for a friends to lovers romance so obviously I wanted to read this one! I loved the format of this book told both in present day and spanning the past. The setting was beautiful and the added background of a family wedding made the story fly by. I loved the dynamic between our couple, their families and all the characters. I loved witnessing the memories and the nostalgia laced through the whole book. Of course there were miscommunications and moments of frustration but that’s just all part of the journey!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this all. The opinions stated in this review are mine alone.

I’m obsessed with a good romance, and Sally Blakely delivered! I finished this book in less than 24 hours because I just couldn’t stop. The whole best-friends-but-what-really-happened-between-them vibe had me hooked. I was guessing the whole time, but never totally sure, and it kept me on the edge of my seat with my heart in knots. I was rooting for them so hard! This book gave me all the feels, and I’m already thinking about a re-read. I can’t wait for July to add this one to my trophy shelf—it’s a keeper!

4.5 stars rounding up. This book had my feelings all over the place in the best way. This book seemed very similar to an Emily Henry book which is a big compliment. I definitely rooted for this best friends to lovers couple and enjoyed reading about their relationship. When my Kindle app said there was only 10% of the book left, I started to slightly worry but the ending was happy and it was fabulous. Thank you to Sally Blakely and Harlequin Trade Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book early on NetGalley.

This will be a new favorite for fans of Emily
Henry. I saw one reviewer refer to it as the child of “Happy Place” and “People We Meet on Vacation”, which is funny because those are not my favorite EH novels, but I have to agree and I LOVED this book. I’m a total sucker for friends-to-lovers and this book nailed it. Sure, it wasn’t revolutionizing the genre, but it did exactly what I wanted it to do, and I was distraught following these characters through their rocky journey to love. Can’t wait to see what Blakely does next!

Childhood best friends to lovers is a difficult trope to manage, and this pulls it off beautifully. Their fears about losing their friendship was so visceral, but so was their love. Such a good read.