Not gonna lie, the ending of Friends to Lovers gave me all the feels! This debut by Sally Blakely is full of emotion and the kind of romance that can only come from years intimately knowing each other. That is, until you realize maybe it’s not just friendship that you have with each other. Maybe it’s more.
Everything can easily change when you cross those invisible lines with your best friend. Especially when said best friend is also part of the big family your parents have made with their best friends from college.

Joni and Ren have known each other since they were little. Best friends thought school, high school and college. Sharing all of life’s biggest milestones together. As Joni moves from their home in Oregon to New York they’ve promised to make seeing other priority, but most of all to always be each other’s plus one, which you get to see their plus one moments with the dual timeline.

Joni is back in Oregon for her sister’s wedding and back at the big joint family beach house. She’s dreading telling her family she’s just lost her job and seeing Ren for the first time in 2 1/2 years. How things ended for them has left her lost and drowning herself in the work, work which she no longer has. Seeing him again feels like home, but also brings back all the pain and hurt. Now she has to faced with her past as she looks to her future.

I love the vibe of this great big messy family. Everyone is in everyone’s business, but they all have secrets they’re keeping. The dual timeline telling Ren and Joni’s story was so so good! And the tension 🫠, I couldn’t put this down!

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Sally Blakely for the ARC. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

“Friends to Lovers” is by Sally Blakely. For this, this book should’ve worked so much better than it did. Second chance romance - check. Pacific non-CA coast - check. Ocean - check. Wedding - oh, yes, it’s June - wedding season. However, this book felt like it was tangled in too much overshadowing family drama, teenage-like behavior (from the main female character), and, additionally, a female character I just couldn’t connect with. The dual timeline wasn’t greatly notated and it took me a while, sometimes, to figure out which timeline I was in. I do wish that there had been a second POV from the main male character - to get his perspective on things. To me, that would’ve made this book a lot stronger. However, if you liked “People We Meet on Vacation,” this book is very similar - or at least it felt similar. Sadly, for me, this book is a hard pass - but I would suggest reading more positive reviews and deciding for yourself if you want to pick up this book or not.

I mean my favorite trope is in the title sooooooooooo OF COURSE I LOVED IT!!!!!! If you’re a fan of “people we meet on vacation” and “every summer after” then you’re going to like this!!!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!!! this book is going to be so popular for the summer

Jodi and Ren are best friends who made a pact to be each other’s plus-ones at weddings when Jodi moved cross country for a job— a cute arrangement that seemed to work perfectly…until something catastrophic came between them. Now they have one more wedding to figure it all out.

Although I love a dual timeline and a friends-to-lovers trope, I struggled to get into this book because of the poor communication between the main characters. It felt overly lengthy, with a lot of minor details explained in depth while more important aspects were left unexplored. There was little explanation for why Jodi was so awful at communicating — not just with Ren, but also with her mother who is a therapist and her sister, whom she was close enough with to live with at one point. I liked Ren and many of the secondary characters, but I think I would have enjoyed the story more if Jodi’s struggles with communication had a clearer, more believable cause.


Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sending me an eARC in exchange for my honest review

I really wanted to love this one.. it has all the ingredients I usually go for: a cute summer setting, friends to lovers, and a dual timeline. But it just didn’t hit for me. The story dragged a bit, and I found myself getting frustrated with all the miscommunication and avoidance. Like… just talk to each other! The dual timeline was also a little confusing - I kept having to stop and figure out if we were in the past or present, which took me out of the story. It had some sweet moments, but overall, it just didn’t flow the way I hoped. Still, I can see it being a fun summer read for the right reader!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This felt like a mix of People We Meet in Vacation and Happy Place in the best way. I loved the tension that built as a reader waiting to see if Ren and Joni would finally get it together all set in a picturesque Pacific Northwest back drop (which really gave the Em Hen feels as I always find myself drawn to the settings of her books, just like this novel). The add history between them was delicious and well interwoven.

This being one of my favorite tropes I was truly excited to dig into the book. It starts out with a big question mark, Ren and Jonie are no longer speaking after a lifetime of being best friends, so what happened?

The book is told in two timelines, then and now, and slowly explains the fall out.

I really wanted to like it but it was a bit slow for me. I feel like I might have loved it if it was young adult, it sort of gave me those vibes even if the main characters were almost thirty. It was fine—cute even, but the drama drag on a little too much for me.

Things picked up speed at the end, though, and the last third of the book I was able to enjoy much more. Give it a go if you are a fan of the trope!

4 stars! This was such a fun book! It felt like it was a mix of some of my favorite summer reads! Some aspects reminded me of Happy Place and others, like the setting, brought me back to The Summer I Turned Pretty! Joni and Ren have been friends forever with their families owning a beach house together! They’ve been there for each other through it all and have been one another’s designated plus one! Well, that is, until they aren’t. Blakely makes this intriguing through her interesting set up of the book, going between the present and the past weddings they went to together! I enjoyed looking back on these weddings, getting a greater sense of Joni and Ren’s friendship over the years and what led to the end of it. Overall, this book is perfect for a summer romance!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sending me an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely loved this book. We have the classic Friends to lovers to strangers to friends again to lovers once again. The back and forth of the two timelines was a lot at times but it really drove the story. The fact that both timelines reached a head at the same time had me on the edge of my seat. I alternated between speed reading and hiding from my book because I was waiting for the big disaster in the flashbacks and excited in the present tense.

I found Joni to be really relatable. Her thought process was often wrong, but it’s so easy to jump to conclusions when you spiral like that. The inner monologue really drove me crazy because I understood it and I wanted her to make better decisions than I would. I loved getting to watch her grow throughout the book. She started off trying to prove herself Bo matter the cost which caused her to crash and burn. By the end she was able to accept the things she could not change as well as accept the love that she deserves.

Ren is a little sweet boy that deserves the world. The fact that he held on to his love confession for SO LONG is a little admirable but also a bit foolish. My heart ached for my sweet boy. He was willing to hide all feelings just to remain best friends. UGH I LOVE HIM. He was even willing to give up his dream career to be with her and that melted my heart. Joni breaking his heart so that he wouldn’t give up his dream ripped that heart right out of my chest but it was an act of love.

All in all, I loved it and I think I might love a second chance romance.

Two life long friends have a chance to reconnect the week of her sisters wedding. I loved the past and present format. Emotional and fun. I really loved this debut novel!

It's like Happy Place and People We Meet On Vacation had a baby!

Thanks Net Galley and Sally for the ARC.

Ren and Joni are childhood best friends that ultimately realize they are in love with each other. Ren was perfect boyfriend material, I adored him. Joni kind
of annoyed me. She was so back and forth, hot and cold. I could not keep up with what she wanted. Overall, it was a solid rom com read. I feel like readers who enjoyed People We Meet On Vacation and The Wedding People will like this one, as it has similar vibes.

Rating / Recommend: 4.75⭐️ / 3.5🌶️ / YES!

My Thoughts
I went feral for this book. Binged it in less than 8 hours.
This book is the perfect light read to just pass time while also giving you all the feels.

If you like the friends to lovers trope definitely prepare to read this!
A mixture of heart wrenching emotion and overflowing joy at the same time.

Cons:
Personally, I loved this book, however, the miscommunication trope in this is just atrocious. If you don’t care for that trope then don’t bother reading it. These characters could’ve solved their problems like talking to each other like adults.

CW:
Minimal adult language. Spice (not super explicit but still open door scenes), Anxiety Rep, Panic attacks referenced.

2.5⭐️

Friends to lovers. I usually love a great friends to lovers romance, however this novel did not do it for me. Although there were some cute moments, I found the back and forth between past and present got too confusing and hard to follow. Especially in the beginning when it flipped in the middle of conflicts.

I think a POV from Ren would have been very beneficial and added depth. I so badly wanted to know his perspective. Perhaps I would have loved the story and the connection between the two characters more.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Books for ARC

This was a sweet book that I read in one weekend. I liked the characters and their relationship. I sobbed quite a bit at the ending. Def recommend this one!

I love this summer romance. The slow burn romance kept me on my toes the whole time. All the emotions in the story made the character feel real.

Love the friends to lovers trope and this story really takes that and runs with it! This is my first time reading this author. I like her style. Love the characters and the story, and found this to be a very enjoy able read.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good rom com reconnection story. The patience that Ren has was tough to beat. Sally takes a classic romance at a wedding story and makes it intricate. As the reader, I kept wanting to know what the big back story was. Would reccomend.

I think this is going to be such a perfect read for summer!

Thank you Canary Street Press for the ARC 💕

Joni and Ren have been best friends their entire lives, Joni accepts her dream job across the country and they decide to be each others plus-ones to all upcoming weddings to make sure they continue to see each other in person. Yet, 2.5 years ago these best friends stopped talking to each other and are now at their families beach house for Joni’s sister’s wedding. What could go wrong? Can they save their friendship? Why did they stop talking to each other?

FMC has anxiety and the way it was portrayed felt very close to home 💕

Ren?? Sign me up for that. This man! He knew to the HOUR the last time they talked to each other 😭

Joni and Ren have been friends their entire lives. Their families are closer than most, even co-owning an Oregon beach home together. All through school and college, Joni and Ren are inseparable. Then Joni takes a job that moves her across the country, from Oregon to New York.

The friends make a pact: they will be each other's plus-one at every wedding going forward. For a while, their plan works beautifully. Between phone calls and FaceTime, summers at the beach house, and weddings, Joni and Ren's friendship not only survives but thrives. Until one weekend that, like a deep scratch on vinyl, changes the sound of their relationship forever.

Back together in Oregon for Joni's sister's wedding, Ren and Joni have one last chance to rediscover what they lost as secrets of all sorts are finally revealed.

*Friends to Lovers* unfolds between past and present, and author Sally Blakely writes characters who feel genuinely real—flawed, imperfect, and deeply relatable. Readers witness the friendship grow and deepen, transforming into something rich with a different kind of yearning and connection.

The story is written vividly and with genuine emotion—a satisfying slow-burn romance that hooked me from the start. Plus, there's a playlist! What more could you want?

Okay now this is a romance book I can get behind. This was SO cute omg. Made me want to have a lifelong friend I share a beach house with and then fall in love with them. I actually really like the concept of always being someone's plus one to weddings and then realizing you love each other(there's a good romcom on Hulu that has a similar plot). I sometimes find that with romance novels the side characters are cringe, but in this case no one annoyed me! I felt like it was well paced, didn't drag, obviously some parts were not super realistic but other than that this was fabulous. If you are an Emily Henry fan you will definitely like this. Be warned it'll make you do some SERIOUS yearning.