At the beginning, I thought awnn this is gonna be a cute read but honestly, I got really bored and the characters just felt like they were missing something + the side characters were kind of annoying.

Man i truly wanted to love this book. The cover and the end pages are everything but sadly it wasn't a summery romance in my opinion. I also didn't love the romance either but it is what it is. overall it was a cute and fast read but not one I really loved.

This book was maximum 2 stars. The writing was fine. Fine enough to not DNF this book.

Now the bad. There was too many characters. To many past timelines (some being totally irrelevant or just too much story). The miscommunication trope is the worst trope to date and the FMC still didn't communicate at the end! Both MCs cared WAY TOO much about what others thought, especially with their parents. With almost being 30 years old, these characters were very immature. The FMC did not have character growth and this relationship, at the end, would 100% fail.

I did not like this story and I will not recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the earc. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! It had me hooked almost immediately. The characters were likeable and relatable, even the few times that I wanted to shake the book at the MC to wake up to the obvious. I did feel like the whole reason they were estranged felt a bit forced, but not so much that it took away from the book for me.

The pacing was good, and I really enjoyed the writing style. I would definitely pick up another Sally Blakely book for sure.

**Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.**

Im not sure why but something about this was off for me and i didnt really click with the characters or writing. the flashbacks did not feel relevant and were kind of boring to me, i ended up dnfing around 30% because i did not care about what happened at all.

4.5
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Childhood friends? Second chance romance? Wedding dates? Multiple time lines? Some of my favorite tropes! This was a great summer read and if you love angst with your second chances you will love it!

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for a copy of Friends to Lovers in exchange for my honest review. These are the toxic platonic friends that literally everyone on earth knows they are going to end up together but somehow they don’t see that and try to date other people. I loved it (as someone who wasn’t trying to date them, because then it would’ve been awful). Childhood best friends who are so annoyingly close but somehow very sweet to see. I liked how the story was told in flashbacks and the pacing felt nice to me. It really felt like a mature “The Summer I Turned Pretty” minus the brother drama. I liked how the book didn’t wrap up on a “perfect” ending and felt more realistic in that way. I did feel like the explanation of why they were no longer friends took way too long hence my star deduction but I still enjoyed the story overall. I also liked how it wasn’t a typical beach read set somewhere tropical, but instead on the Oregon coast.

I love when a friends-to-lovers trope is done correctly, and this was just chef's kiss. I loved the big family and the different family-friend dynamics. This book definitely made me smile.

I enjoyed this! It was beautifully written. The emotions were articulated so wonderfully and realistically. Her predicaments were completely relatable. So many times we focus on the wrong things when we should be focusing on what and who we love.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

This one is great for fans of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation. Good romances have yearning, and this one has it. Joni misses the friend she has in Ren but also mourns what could have been.

It took me a minute to get oriented in this book—there’s two main families meeting for a wedding so there are a lot of characters quickly. There are also a lot of flashbacks to prior weddings the main characters attended together, and I liked how weddings strung the plot together. While I would have liked to know more about why the two main characters hadn’t spoken in a couple years sooner, I recognize that this mystery/question spurred me to read faster.

Overall, this was a cute read falling in love with your best friend.

Joni and Ren have been friends forever, their families have been friends forever, even buying a summer house to share where both families spent time together every summer. But when Joni decides to move across the country, she and Ren agree to be each other’s plus-one to every wedding in an attempt to keep their friendship alive. But an argument is taken too far and Joni and Ren haven’t spoken in years when they’re thrown back together in their families’ summer house for Joni’s sister’s wedding. Can Joni and Ren repair their friendship, or maybe even more?

I devoured this book. I really liked the dual narrative between the present and the different weddings Joni and Ren attended. I liked the family dynamic too, the siblings, the infighting, the banter, it all kept me engaged and wanting more. I found myself really invested in Joni and Ren’s relationship, growing from when they were younger through the weddings they attended. I found myself pulling for them throughout the book. This book pulled at my heartstrings, it was hopeful yet fun, and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is a lighthearted fun read that is an emotional exploration of the blurred lines between deep friendship and romantic love. Set against a charming backdrop of sunny beach days and emotionally charged wedding festivities, Friends to Lovers is as atmospheric as it is heartfelt, making it the perfect book to enjoy on those hot summer days lounging at the beach, lake or by the pool.

Joni and Ren, best friends since childhood, have a cherished tradition of being each other’s wedding plus-one. When Joni relocates across the country for a new job, they agree to continue the tradition in hopes of staying connected despite the distance and changes in their lives. However, one moment, one decision, one wedding alters everything, causing the bond they thought was unbreakable to fracture. Returning to her family’s summer home for her sister’s wedding, Joni tries to keep the week “perfect,” even as every conversation and shared glance with Ren threatens to reveal their unspoken feelings. What follows is a slow-burn unraveling of their undeniable connection, as they navigate a week of pretending to be fine while confronting the truth of their relationship.

Sally Blakely captures the pain of lost closeness with remarkable clarity. The forced-friendship dynamic is both heart-wrenching and captivating, allowing readers to feel the tension simmering just beneath the surface between Joni and Ren. What truly distinguishes this story is the emotional honesty Sally brings to her characters, equal parts longing, regret, and hope. Joni’s journey, questioning her life without Ren and whether love can survive its own challenges, is one of vulnerability and personal growth. While the romance is the primary focus to the narrative, it never overshadows the introspective depth of the story.

Friends to Lovers is more than a story about romance, it is about the risks we take for the people who matter most, and the courage it takes to turn years of friendship into something more. It is a beautifully written story about what happens when the most important person in your life becomes the one you fear losing the most, and whether love, when tested, can find its way back home. Sally Blakely delivers a love story that lingers long after the final page. Whether you have ever fallen for a friend or simply wondered what might have been, this book will speak to your heart, and maybe even break it a little before putting it back together. I recommend that you give it a chance, it could be like falling in love with an old friend.


Thank you, Sally Blakely, NetGalley, and Haelequin Trade Publishing
for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

Rating: 3.75 stars

Friends to Lovers is a debut romance novel by Sally Blakely reminiscent of Emily Henry's People We Meet On Vacation with a little bit of K.L. Walther's Summer of Broken Rules mixed in. If you're a fan of these authors/stories, you'll for sure want to pick this one up.

Joni and Ren have been best friends almost all their lives. When Joni moves across the country for a new job, she's afraid their friendship will take a hit, so they make a pact to be each other's plus one for any weddings they're invited to. As time passes, the two become more distant but keep their promise. They've never crossed a line with each other until one night they do. And things are better than either could have imagined...until Joni suddenly takes off early without giving Ren an explanation.

Told from alternating present and past timelines, we get to see Ren and Joni now and at the weddings they've attended throughout the years. I found myself laughing at times and grinning like a cheeseball atthe banter between the two.

I enjoyed the main characters. I'm a big fan of the guy falling first and falling hard and I love a good second chance love story. I don't love when characters dont communicate clearly. I found the side characters to be just fine. They were necessary to get our main characters to the weddings, but none of them really stand out to me.

If you love the friends to lovers, second chance, or forced proximity tropes, you'll probably like this one. I sure did! And I'll be looking for more from Sally Blakely in the future.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Overall, I thought this was a fine romance book! I fear this book might be in the "right book but wrong time" category for me right now because I feel myself heading into a reading slump, but with that said I overall had a fun time reading this book!

If you like People We Meet on Vacation, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and The Summer of Broken Rules then I think you will also enjoy this book.

I don't fully love the miscommunication trope (even though I know it's honestly a very realistic trope) so that's kinda what knocked it down a few stars for me. I thought it was a fun romance and perfect to read during the summer time.


Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced copy!

I enjoyed the story of Friends to Lovers. The first half of the book was so good. I enjoyed the parallel timelines and what cuties these friends were in the earlier timeline and how cautious they were in the present. I loved the lake house setting with all their friends and family present for the wedding. I thought the backdrop of the present timeline was great. And I could fully believe the past long distance friendship making the feelings grow stronger. The story started to lose me around the big reveal of the “break up”, and I didn’t feel like these characters would have chosen to separate for this reason and NEVER speak. I think their friendship likely would have weathered this storm. BUT I still had a fun time, and I think this is a good read if you like friends to lovers (obviously), second chance romances. I will be reading more Sally Blakely in the future!

I listened to this and physically read the book, just depending on where I was during my reading journey. As far as the audiobook goes, I love Patti Murin’s narrations. I love the way she tells a story. Her voice makes these contemporary romance FMCs feel so relatable and real, and I actively search for books she’s narrated. I thought this was a great audiobook. Quick and easy listen, perfect summer romance.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a great summer. You can really feel the love and romantic connection between the two main characters. However, I think the reasoning for the entire break of their friendship was a little silly and the miscommunication trope is just not my favorite. However this book was still very fun to read, and it kept me hooked the entire time. I just wish it had a little bit more depth to it Given that the couple really lived off of good communication.

This was SO MUCH FUN! Perfect summer vibes. This was great to read for winding down summer. The characters were likable and the story was believable. Loved!

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is the sweet summer romance I didn’t know I needed! If you’re a fan of Emily Henry, Carley Fortune, or Katherine Center, listen up—this book should absolutely be on your radar.

Joni and Ren have been best friends since childhood and each other’s go-to plus-ones for every wedding. But when their unspoken boundaries are crossed, their friendship is fractured. Now, they’re unexpectedly reunited for a summer wedding at their shared family beach house—and forced to pretend like nothing ever happened. Easier said than done. As the summer unfolds, Joni finds herself missing Ren more than she expected, and she’s faced with a choice: confront their complicated history or let him go for good.

Told in dual narrative, this story delivers everything you want in a classic friends-to-lovers romance—with a fresh twist, emotional depth, and the slowest of slow burns. Bonus: it’s a closed-door romance, so if you prefer your love stories low on spice and high on feels, this one’s for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced copy!

Joni and Ren have been friends since childhood so when Joni moves across the country, they decide to be each other's wedding dates to help preserve their friendship. This arrangement works for them until they have a falling out. Thr next wedding that they are both expected to attend is that of Joni's sister and neither of them can avoid going. Joni is determined to act as if everything is normal between them in front of both of their families. But being around Ren makes her realize how much she misses having Ren in her life and that she likes him as more then just a friend.

Thank you net galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review

I really wanted to love this book after seeing all the hype for it but unfortunately this just didnt do it for me. I really struggled to get hooked and keep attention to the story and didn't connect well with the characters.

I hope in the future, a reread will change my mind.