This is what summer beach reading is all about. This has shades of People We Meet On Vacation but is ultimately its own thing. Friends to Lovers is my favorite trope in romance so this was right up my alley. I loved how this romance blossomed from just plus ones to more. I really liked these two leads. I felt the chemistry between them completely. This book also had a really nice supporting cast that I found myself caring about a lot.

I saw this debut being compared to People We Meet On Vacation and I do tend to enjoy the friends-to-lovers trope, so in the end I couldn't resist adding Friends To Lovers to my shelves. I liked the sound of that plus-one wedding tradition between the two best friends, and I've been looking forward to pick up this book to watch their story unfold. And while there were a couple things that prevented me from rating this book even higher, as a whole I can't deny that it was still a pretty solid romance.

Like the title already suggests, this book focuses on two best friends falling in love somewhere along the way. The story switches between the present and flashbacks to different points in the past, mainly to whatever wedding they attend as each other's plus-one after they stopped living in the same state. While those flashback chapters are key in understanding both their relationship and the current rift between them, I do have to say that the transitions between past and present could get a little confusing at times. The pace was also slower than expected, making the story drag in points and it took me a lot longer than expected to make it to the end.

The story is told from Joni's POV both in past and present, and at times I wish we could have had Ren's POV as well... Basically because out of the two, I liked him so much better. Following Joni around could get seriously frustrating at times, especially when it comes to certain actions and decisions... Although both are to blame for the amount of miscommunication happening at various points in the story. Seriously, SO much could have been solved with just a simple conversation, and this miscommunication is one of the reasons I didn't rate this story higher. Then again, it has always been a pet peeve for me in the first place.

As for the rest of the cast: I had mixed thoughts. Most of the siblings were a great addition and added a dose of humor to the plot, but I wasn't a fan of all that focus on parental pressure when it comes to both mothers. Especially Joni's relationship with her mother was more toxic than anything, and it bothered me that nobody saw it that way. I did like the background story with the two families buying a house together and the two being best friends since they were little... The Oregon setting was also great.

As a whole, Friends To Lovers turned out to be a pretty decent romance debut. If you enjoy a friends-to-lovers trope and don't mind that there is little actual romance to be found thanks to the miscommunication, you will probably enjoy this story. I agree that this book is pretty similar to People We Meet On Vacation though! And if you compare the two, that one ends up coming out on top.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 1/5 🌶️

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press, Netgalley, and the author for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Friends to Lovers is such a sweet, lighthearted contemporary romance with classic romance tropes! The dual timeline made this story even more captivating and the setting was amazing.

Joni and Ren have been best friends since childhood. When Joni moves across the country for her job, they decide they’ll be each other’s plus-ones every year for weddings, no matter what else is going on. It works well until a line is crossed and their friendship is ruined. Now Joni is back at their families’ summer home for her sister’s wedding and she’s determined to have a great time, even if it means faking a friendship with Ren. The more time they spend together though, Joni begins to question how she can even live life without Ren being a part of it. Ultimately, she has to decide if loving Ren means she should let him go or if it means fighting for love.

Friends to Lovers is the perfect summer romance read! Such a sweet story in which readers follow along the MCs story over the years and see how their relationship evolves over time. This one has a lot of awesome tropes including second chance romance, forced proximity, only one bed, and friends to lovers, all of which worked to make things even more interesting and fun. Overall, an entertaining summer read with romance, emotion, and heart!

First off thanks to Harlequinn and Netgalley for the chance to read this early in exchange of an honest review.

I'm all about the friends to lovers trope so I was excited for this story. Unfortunately I just hit 20% and I'm uninterested. The pacing of the story seems choppy and slow, without much happening. I don't think I'll be continuing with this one since its felt like a struggle to get even this far. I hope this story finds the right readers, I'm just not one of them.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this audio ARC.

This is a debut book similar to People We Meet On Vacation. I definitely feel like this could have had a different title. We don’t need to advertise the tropes this plainly.

Joni and Ren are reconnected at their shared family summer home for her sister’s wedding after not talking to each other for almost 3 years. Something happened all those years ago that made them go their separate ways.

This book is told through dual narration. The present day is when Joni’s sister is getting married. Joni and Ren are trying to tip toe their way through being around one again, having to speak to one another, while not letting their families in on the secret. In the past, we see bits and pieces of their shared lives - them going to wedding as one another’s plus one, being best friends, and experience life together.

This was done well. I enjoyed reading about their lives and begging them just to get over themselves and kiss already!

Tropes:
- Dual timeline
- Second chance
- Friends to lovers (as per the title…)
- Fake friendship
- Weddings
- It’s always been you

✨ Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely✨ 4.5/5⭐️

“And the truth of it is that I’d rather be alone than with someone else.”

ARC Review - Release Date - 22 July 2025

✨A Glimpse of What to Expect:
Childhood best friends Joni and Ren were inseparable. So when Joni moved across the country, they made a pact to stay connected—by being each other’s permanent plus-ones for every wedding.

It worked… until one New Year’s Eve changed everything.

Nearly two years later, they’re forced back together for Joni’s sister’s wedding. The catch? Their families don’t know they stopped speaking… and they’re sharing a room. How hard can pretending for one week be?

But as old memories resurface and unresolved feelings come to light, they’ll have to decide: is their love story worth the risk—or is it time to finally let go?

✨My Thoughts:
If you love weddings, friends to lovers, forced proximity, and second-chance romance—look no further than Sally Blakely’s debut novel, Friends to Lovers!

Joni and Ren’s journey to love is anything but easy. At times, I really just wanted them to communicate already—but that tension? It makes the payoff so worth it. The chemistry is undeniable, the slow burn is chef’s kiss, and when it all finally comes together, it’s beautiful.

Blakely’s writing is heartfelt, the setting is dreamy, and the characters? Incredibly relatable. Joni’s journey of self-reflection and growth was written with such care—I felt like I truly understood her, and it made the story hit that much deeper.

A must-read for summer 2025!
(Oh—and I hear the physical copies have stunning sprayed edges 👀)


Tropes
✨Second Chance
✨Forced Proximity
✨Childhood Friends to Lovers
✨Slow Burn
✨Dual Timeline

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press and Sally Blakey for this ARC opportunity! It was the perfect summer read!

I'd like to first thank Harlequin Trade Publishing & Harlequin Audio for the eARC & ALC of this book to read/listen to. Patti Murin did a fantastic job with the narration on this one!

I'm going to give this one a 3.75/4 and round up to a full 4 stars.

I really enjoyed this one, and I think that friends to lovers is a trope that I've found myself liking more and more lately. The idea that someone can be so important to another for most of their lives, and eventually lead into love is such a beautiful thing to me.

In this book, we get Joni (our FMC) and Ren (our MMC), who start off the story in an estranged ex-best friendship situation, and we get flashbacks of them through previous years to see exactly what happened along the way to get us to said point.

I don't love when a book has a conflict at the last 90% or so in the book, which is why I rated this one the way that I did, because the ending always feels rushed to me (when it's a romance, because we are *always* team HEA).

If you enjoy these tropes, you might want to give this one a read:
- Friends to lovers (obviously)
- Non-linear timeline
- Single POV
- Childhood best friends
- Wedding pacts (always their plus-one)

Closing this out by also thanking HTP Hive for allowing me the ongoing opportunity to enjoy these titles <3

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think People We Meet on Vacation is much better than this. There was humor in that and read like a romcom movie. This did not. It was quite boring comparing to that. And I read this before People We Meet on Vacation, that I was hesitant to read the OG lol

I gave this rating instead of lower because the writing itself wasn’t bad. The story just wasn’t for me but it may be for other readers out there.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for this e-arc.

3.5 stars

This story follows two childhood best friends who are actually no longer friends. After something happens between them, Joni and Ren haven't spoken or seen each other in over two years when they reunite at Joni's sister's wedding. Throughout the trip these two spend time together and rebuild their friendship only for their hearts to gravitate more towards each other than ever. I loved the premise of this book, I loved Joni and Ren and their chemistry was so good and sweet. I was intrigued that they were friends when they were younger and hadn't seen each other in a while and was very excited for the romance. I though the whole book was very sweet and cute.

(4.25 stars) IM A SUCKER FOR A SECOND CHANCE CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS SUMMER ROMANCE OKAYYYY. ren is a certified yearner

⭐⭐⭐⭐.✨


Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is perfect for readers who are huge fans of fittingly enough friends to lovers, second-chance romance, he falls first, dual timeline/flashbacks and some forced proximity. Joni and Ren have been best friends and in each other’s lives since they were 3-year olds. Their mothers are college roommates and life-long friends, and the families are intertwined. When Joni moves cross country for her dream job, she and Ren make a pact to be each other’s plus ones – except for something happened at one of the weddings and they now have spoken for over 2 years and have been hiding it from their families. Now they’re brought back together to celebrate Joni’s sister’s nuptials and forced to fake like their entire relationship hadn’t imploded.

Gah it was easy to see from the start that Ren was down bad for Joni, and you just wanted to shake her a little bit and yell at her to open her eyes! I was really hooked from the beginning of their story, and couldn’t stop reading until I found out what had torn these two apart in the past. There are some deeper topics threaded throughout the story (anxiety) and these were handled with care. This book is perfect for fans of People We Meet on Vacation. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and I will definitely be looking for other books by this author in the future.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Sally Blakely and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Publish to Goodreads on 7/4/25

This is an ARC review thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing.

If you are all about SLOW BURNS…then this is the book for you. It kept me guessing and trying to figure out what happened with Ren and Joni. I usually am not a fan of slow burns and wanted to DNF this book so bad. But I knew better than that. I am glad I finished it. About 60% in, the book grabbed me and I finished it all in 1 day after that. Really cute story and I appreciated how it was too cheesy or predictable like most romance books. I am glad the author kept you guessing throughout the story.

This was an epic friends to lovers, second chance romance told through flashbacks that has two best friends and vowed plus ones for weddings reunited for yet another wedding involving both their families. I loved the anxiety rep in this book, the narration by Patti Murin and the perfect People we meet on vacation vibes (one of my fav Emily Henry books)!! Fans of this trope won't want to miss this stellar debut. My only complaint was that miscommunication/deception was involved in the initial breakup/falling out and I am never a fan of that. Overall a solid debut and I look forward to seeing what Sally Blakely writes next! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

AHHHHHHH!!! yessss! my favorite part from friends to lovers is when the friends forget they are friends and become loversssssss!!!!
I have to admit I got a bit lost in between all the weddings and the drama but I LOOOOVED IT!!

it was very fun and I do recommend it, very cute, not spicy, just barely but not really.

I didn't love that this was a PDF but I was soooo happy I got the audiobook so I was able to finish this!!

Thank you so much to Netgalley & HTP Books for this ARC!

I’d rate this 3.5. Over all it was a cute, friends to lovers, slow burn romance featuring childhood best friends. I really enjoyed the setting at their families vacation house and everything involving getting families together for a wedding. My dislikes are that this was a slow slow slow burn that left me losing interest in the middle, especially because it took SO long to reveal why they quit talking for 2 years. When it was revealed it was a little underwhelming. I also never really connected with Joni, the female main character.

thank you netgalley + publisher for this arc!!!!

woah this review is so delayed hahahahah. i literally don’t know how i forgot about this when i literally loved this book so so much.

friends to lovers really scratched the people we meet on vacation + the summer i turned pretty itch. it was heart wrenching and lovely at the same time. i genuinely am so antsy for this release, it’s going to be an immediate buy for me.

✨️ARC Review✨️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶 1/5 spicy: I'm not mad about it at all!

This is a PERFECT summer read!!! I purposely waited a week to finish this book because I literally didn't want it to end! It's a great slow burn romance with friends Ren and Joni! It will have you cheering them on the whole time, slightly questioning whether or not your intuition was right the whole time! This book sort of reminds me of Rachel and Ross from Friends ( only not Toxic lol ) if you are looking for a great book to read while on the beach this summer, then you are in luck because this would be it!! 🌞 I will be circling back to this book soon to buy! I NEED to have a copy of this book for my collection!

✨️Friends to Lovers
✨️Slow Burn
✨️Vacation
✨️Best friends
✨️Forever wedding dates

Thank you so much @netgalley and @sally.blakely for this opportunity! This review is my own honest opinion!

ARC Review: Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

I’m such a sucker for a friends-to-lovers story, and this one totally delivered. The slow-burn romance had me hooked, and I found myself rooting for the characters from the very beginning. Their connection felt genuine - sweet, messy, and relatable in all the best ways. I especially loved how the emotional layers were handled without feeling overdone. It struck the perfect balance of heart and humor, and celebrates the magic of knowing someone deeply and falling for them anyway.

Huge thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the ARC—I had so much fun reading this one!

Book: Friends to Lovers
Author: Sally Blakey
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I want to thank the publisher, Canary Street Press, for sending me an ARC. This is a fun, light summer read. Yes, it does have a serious side at times, but it is such a great escape from the world. If you like Emily Henry, then you will probably like this one.

In this one, we follow best friends Joni and Ren. Joni and Ren have been inseparable best friends since childhood. When Joni moves across the country for a new job, they come up with a quirky solution to stay close. Every year, they’ll be each other’s wedding plus-ones, no matter where life takes them. It’s their special tradition, until a boundary is crossed and their friendship is shattered. Joni returns to their family’s summer home for their sister’s wedding, determined to make everything perfect, even if it means pretending to be friends with Ren again and avoiding the painful truth of what happened between them. How hard could it be to fake a friendship with the person who once knew her best? As they spend sun-soaked days and starry nights together, Joni begins to wonder what life would be like without Ren in it. When the wedding day arrives and old wounds resurface, Joni faces a difficult choice. Does loving Ren mean letting him go, or is their connection strong enough to fight for?

This is a classic book of best friends who used to do everything together, but are no longer speaking, and we don’t know why. We know that something happened two years ago that left a deep impression on them, to the point that they were unable to speak. Now, Joni and Ren have to fake it and pretend like everything is okay. After all, everyone thinks nothing happened and thinks they have been speaking. They have done a good job at keeping up with the lies, appearances, and not seeing each other. Things do change, and they are going to have to talk about what went down two years ago. In the meantime, there is the wedding and all of the things that go along with leading up to that.

The story is woven through then and now. We get the modern-day story, but in a series of flashbacks, we get a look into how Joni and Ren used to be, and this all leads up to what went down. It’s messy at times, but it’s fine and works well for the story. After all, Joni and Ren’s story is messy. The slow burn and the slow reveal allow us to become fully invested in what is going on and give us a lot of insight into the characters. We get to see how close Joni and Ren were and get to see the fallout.

This story is told from Joni’s point of view, so we only get to see everything unfold from her side. I liked having the story this way. Had we gotten both Joni’s and Ren’s perspectives on what happened, it would not have worked. Joni is a sweet character who wishes her mum would back off. However, we are told that Joni has a history of anxiety, which does not always come across in her character. I would not have caught it had we not been told, but I could have just been missing the mark. She has moved to New York and seems to have it all together, when the truth is far from that. She has lost her job, one that she has poured her whole life into. She doesn’t know what to do and doesn’t want to tell anyone that she was fired. She believes, like so many other people of the same age, that her job defines her. This is a very real millennial/Gen Z mindset, thinking that your job defines your personality. It’s her whole life, and she has lost it. She has to build up from the beginning, or so she thinks. Add in the fact that she is seeing Ren for the first time in two years, and it’s going to make for an interesting experience.

Ren keeps his distance from Joni-even though they are sharing a room. He has his dream job and is coming out of a bad breakup. Like Joni, he puts on this mask that things are okay, and they are not. He has had his heart broken and has things to work through. He and Joni do try to stay away from each other while keeping up the allusion that they are still friends. Spoiler alert: It does fail. I didn’t get into Ren’s character as much as Joni's. He is a great lead and all, but I just wasn’t as invested in him as Joni. It has nothing to do with how he is written and portrayed; it’s my problem, because in terms of male leads, he is well done.

As I started out my review, this is a great and fun summer romance. We have a wedding, a vacation house, and two people with a history. It’s a great way to escape and just have fun. I enjoyed following Joni and Ren. I enjoyed seeing all of the buildup and activities for the wedding. If you like Emily Henry, you will like this one. The comps, I feel, are justified for this book.

Overall, I did enjoy this one a lot. It is such a great read to beat the summer heat.

This book comes out on July 22, 2025.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/-mil4vI3Lvk

Not groundbreaking but a goodie! Joni and Ren's story reminded me of a blend of People You Meet on Vacation meets the movie Plus One. I liked all the characters and the plot and the dual timeline was well done. I don't think the subplot of Joni's anxiety really added anything to her character or the plot and it felt a bit... like it lacked commitment. I also liked the side characters and how they wove into the story, I thought that was well done. There wasn't any cringe and the chemistry and romance as well as the family dynamics all felt very natural and plausible. Overall, I would say it's a bit cookie cutter but a really pleasant read! I do wish the title were a little more clever or nuanced - it felt a bit ... boring.