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.

This book was exactly what I needed. It was such a beautiful mix of best friends to lovers and second chance romance. Joni and REN’s relationship was so lovely and I felt completely sucked into the progress of both their friendship and relationship. The love they had for each other shone from every word written and page turned. I laughed and cried and enjoyed every second of their story.

Friends to lovers is my absolute favorite romance trope so was excited to receive this! I loved the two main characters and the way this book was written. It made me want to devour the book as quickly as possible to see what would happen next. The writing style reminded me a lot of Emily Henry who I also enjoy, so this one was a winner all around. I didn’t love a couple of the choices in the final third of the book, otherwise this would have been a 5 star read. Grab your copy on July 22 for the perfect beach read! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

I love a good friends to lovers book. This was well written and scratched all the itches. The friendship was well developed and it was understandable how it became love. It almost felt like a second chance romance. I really look forward to more books from her.

This was a fun read! If you are into romance and swoon worthy back and forth relationships, you will enjoy this book!

Ren and Joni have insane chemistry, but haven’t spoken in 2.5 years after a fallout. They reconnect at Joni’s sister’s wedding where these former friends begin to reignite that spark. It is a great friends to lovers read that I couldn’t put down.

I appreciated anxiety being touched on in this book and loved the writing being first person POV told by Joni.

Thank you to NerGalley for this arc in exchanged for my honest review.

This book is 100% for the Emily Henry girls - it was such a treat and a joy to read. The settings and the characters felt so grounded in reality, it was refreshing to have conflict that ebbed and flowed much like real life rather than only a third act drama

This is a captivating romance that shows the beautiful story of Ren and Joni. I never would have guessed that this was Sally Blakely’s debut novel because this book was written so beautifully. You can feel friendship, the slow burn, the pure love these characters have for each other. You can feel the love that these characters share with their family. Their friendship/romance is probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. I giggled, I smiled , I laughed. If I could rate it higher than 5 stars I would. Once again thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this e-Arc.

This story was absolutely adorable and *spoiler* there was no third act break up which I LOVED, this was very realistic and mature in how the conflict between the FMC and MMC was handled. It was also super fun reading a sports romance not involving the athletes! I’m not old by any means but I’ve been out of college for a few years so it was a bit more relatable reading about people around my age (not that a story has to be relatable but it is refreshing).

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakey

Joni and Ren are childhood best friends. When Joni moves across the country for her job, they both decide to be each other’s dates every year for weddings. But when a line gets crossed, things change between them.

There families have no idea they aren’t friends anymore so they decide to pretend to be friends. What could possible go wrong? I instantly liked Joni and Ren. All I wanted was for things to work out for them.

I’ve been getting more into romance books and this one was perfect! I loved the story. It just felt so real and relatable. I felt like my heart was going to explode. This is something I can see myself reading again, especially in the summer!

If you love a cute story and reunion romances, this book is for you. I can’t recommend this book enough.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Sally for the E-ARC!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication: July 22 2025

#NetGalley #FriendstoLovers

Everything you want in a romcom! I absolutely loved the chemistry between not just the main characters but the families involved. There was a great balance of serious and funny. This was so well written that you simply can't put it down.

3.5 🌟

The title kind of spoils it, but this is a cute friends to lovers romance. I don’t read much of this trope, so this was new and fun for me. The writing style was descriptive and steady - I found some parts to come across as quite lyrical even. I did like the back and forth timeline swaps that were going on. It was exciting to get a few more puzzle pieces fit in the whole picture and start to figure out what the deal with the drama was. I will say, it might have been helpful for the chapter starts to indicate the year every start, not just some. There were a couple instances where I was confused if we were in past or present.

I loved Joni and Ren’s friendship. I WISH I had a best friend that I could be that comfortable and that carefree around. Joni’s anxiety and overthinking got a little annoying, and her naivety for their relationship had me rolling my eyes. I loved all the other characters though, such great individual personalities. Stevie reminds me of my own little sister ❤

The whole story was just interesting enough to have me wanting to know what happened, but when the reason for their friendship/relationship “break-up” finally came to light, I was pretty disappointed. I just thought it was going to be way more intense. I was trying to find a reason to root for Joni in this, to think “hey, maybe Ren isn’t perfect.” But no, she’s a wiener and Ren is, in fact, perfect. Happy for the ending though.

I could not put this book down. I chose it due to the cute cover, but the first few pages I was hooked. I enjoy the way the story is told, stating the problem at the beginning and the story unfolds with flashbacks explaining how the main problem occurred. I also enjoyed that it was only one narrator, I have a hard time with books that switch between two narrators.

I was surprised that I couldn’t find any other books by Sally Blakely as she seems like she would have a similar resume to Emily Henry or K.L. Walther. Sally is an author to watch. I can’t wait to see what other works she has for us.

Such a cute story about friendship and love. When two best friends realize their feelings towards each other, it leads to periods of silence until they’re all brought together for a wedding. The characters are well developed, good story line, and I’m hoping for a sequel to see what happens next. Thanks NetGalley for an ARC.

3.75/5 - This book was cute! The pacing was a bit slower than I expected. I love a good friends to lovers trope, and this did provide that. Overall, I thought it was good.

I know I’m forgetting something about this book that I didn’t like and I was thinking about which is why I hadn’t written this review until now but I honestly can’t remember what that is so I’m taking it as a sign that it was that big of a thing.

I really did enjoy this book. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite troupes and it’s so comforting if done well. Thankfully this one was done well.

I liked how the flashbacks were handled they didn’t interrupt the story or make it feel disconnected. It actually made it better because it allowed readers to build suspense wondering what happened between the two friends while also seeing how good of friends they were and all their cute moments together over the years. This allowed for character and relationship development that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise and without it it would have seemed like really fast. But it wasn’t and this allowed us to root for the characters both in the past and present.

I liked Joni and I loved Ren. But I especially loved their relationship. They were meant for each other and so good for each other. I loved seeing them grow back into being friends and then again into being more and was rooting for them the whole time.

All their side characters were also likable and enjoyable to read about although the moms did get on my nerves. I liked the capture the flag scene also that was pretty light and funny and cute.

It’s overall a quick fun cute read that you’ll enjoy especially if you like the friends to lovers+second chance tropes.


*Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to ARC read this book. This review is my opinion and was my decision to write*

What a fantastic story! Friends to Lovers is everything that the title would imply, it details the journey of a pair of friends, Joni and Ren, who grow up together and gradually come to realize they wish they were something more. While the start is a little slow, the pining towards the end makes up for it and I devoured the second half of this book! Friends to lovers has always been one of my favorite tropes and it is certainly very well done, I would definitely recommend!

24 hours. That's the amount of time it took me to read this book. And it only took that long because I had to sleep.
My favorite line? "What did we do?" "We were together, Joni."
Friends to Lovers is exactly what it sound like and so much more. This novel follows the peaks and pitfalls of a lifelong friendship between Ren and Joni. Blakely explores the feelings behind protecting the one we love most whether it be from us or the world. For fans of Emily Henry, I can't wait for this book to come out!