I love a good friends-to-lovers book. I loved the main characters, Joni and Ren. Their lifelong relationship is changing as they maneuver adulthood. The feeling of having to leave a place with so many memories to pursue a dream is one that Sally Blakely did well. I resonate with the heartache of leaving people behind. I wish there were a little more "something." I'm not quite sure, but I feel like I needed more communication between Ren and Joni. The miscommunication was driving me nuts. With that being said, it was a good book and a great read. Thank you to Sally Blakely, Canary Street Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

2.75⭐️ thank you Harlequin trade publishing and canary press via NetGalley for the eARC!

Ultimately this one didn’t resonate with me. I found the characters to be really flat and would have liked this to be dual POV. And books where the whole conflict/miscommunication could have been solved with a single call or text really irk me.

I liked the concept for the plot where Joni and Ren are each others plus ones for every wedding and I enjoyed the flashbacks to weddings they’ve attended together. At the end of the day I just didn’t feel the chemistry between the two of them.

I’ve seen this compared to people we meet on vacation by Emily Henry, and I didn’t like that book either so if you were a fan maybe check this one out!

This was my first book by Sally Blakely. I thoroughly enjoyed Friends to Lovers, both Joni and Ren's love and friendship were so heartwarming.

Cute story very easy to read and entertaining, definitely has People We Meet on Vacation vibes. This is the perfect beach/summer read I liked the writing style and the characters. Would recommend I want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

People have been saying this book is like if People We Meet On Vacation and Happy Place had a baby, and they are right! This is a great poolside read.

Get ready to SWOON with Sally Blakely's "Friends to Lovers," a heartwarming and emotional journey that explores the delicate dance between friendship and romance. This novel takes the beloved "friends to lovers" trope and infuses it with genuine emotion, relatable characters, and the undeniable pull of a shared history.

At the center of the story are Joni and Ren, best friends since childhood, whose bond is as strong as the ocean tides. When Joni's job takes her across the country, they create a unique tradition to keep their connection alive: they'll be each other's wedding season plus-ones every year. It's a plan that works, a comforting constant in their changing lives, until one fateful moment a line is crossed, shattering the foundation of their seemingly unbreakable friendship.

Now, Joni is back at their families' shared summer home for her sister's wedding. The week is a minefield of shared memories and unspoken tensions. Determined to make the wedding perfect, Joni is forced to confront the awkward reality of faking a friendship with Ren, all while avoiding the truth of why their bond was broken in the first place. How difficult can it be to pretend with the person who once knew you better than anyone?

As the days unfold, filled with sunny beach outings and starry nights, the carefully constructed facade begins to crumble. Joni starts to question what her life truly is without Ren in it. The proximity, the shared history, and the undeniable chemistry reignite feelings they both thought were buried. When the wedding day arrives, bringing past heartaches to the surface, Joni is faced with an agonizing decision: does loving Ren mean letting him go, or is their love story one worth fighting for?

Blakely masterfully captures the bittersweet nature of navigating a changing relationship. The emotional depth of the characters, the picturesque summer setting, and the compelling narrative will draw you in and keep you invested until the very last page. "Friends to Lovers" is more than just a romance; it's a story about growth, forgiveness, and the enduring power of connection.

If you''re looking for a book that will make you believe in second chances and the magic of falling in love with your best friend, "Friends to Lovers" is a must-read. It's a beautiful exploration of how love can blossom from the deepest of friendships, leaving you with a warm feeling in your heart.

I would like to thank Netgallery and the Publisher for the ARC.

I don't generally like the friends to lovers trope but that usually doesn't stop me from reading them. This was was cute, I felt at times a bit bored with the pacing and the goings on of the characters. I enjoyed the MMC but didn't really like the FMC. I didn't mind the back and forth of when they were friends to the present but I felt pulled out of the main story whenever it happened and forgot at times when I was in the past or present. The pacing was a bit slow but you could visualize your surroundings very well.

When the inevitable secret comes out to the family I thought they took it really weird and blew up for no reason. And I appreciated that the sister apologized but the mother did not after what she said to the FMC. And then when you find out the mess that blew the MMC and FMC a part, I had to stop and face palm because considering the age the characters are, you would think they would be able to sit down and have a conversation.

But overall I still enjoyed this book. 3.5 stars.

Cute and a little emotional!

I enjoyed it and the writing was great. I look forward to more from this author!!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the ARC!

This book was exactly like any other friends to lovers romance where all the problems would have been avoided by communication. And what bedazzled me is that they know each other through and through but still fail to open up and talk about important things 🤦‍♀️

I'm not going to say it was a bad book, but it lacked the surprising or holy crap effect. Nevertheless, it was a perfect pool side read.

DNF at 1%

Unfortunately, the format was distracting enough that I couldn't get into the story in order to properly review it.

"But like any good story, life has its twists and turns, and sometimes, just when you think things are going to end up one way, those two lines head straight for each other."

Given the title of this book, Friends to Lovers, I thought I knew exactly what to expect and what the plot of the story would be. Boy, was I wrong - but in the best way! I cannot believe this is Sally Blakely's debut novel, and I will definitely be looking for more of her books in the future.

I thoroughly enjoyed the nod to romantasy (and Zoltar!) hidden in the text. Any mentions of other nostalgic or modern fantasy books/movies is a surefire way to get me hooked immediately. I also really appreciate that these characters seem real and multi-dimensional. They have their own "real life" struggles, and aren't a perfect, cookie cutter version of what you see in similar books or themed rom-com movies.

The timeline was absolute perfection, and even though I began to anticipate when the narrative changes would occur, they were a welcome addition to that point in the story. I was desperate for more information, and I was never left disappointed. I'd consider this a cozy beach read, and am rather sad that I was not cozied up on the beach reading it myself!

Thank you to Harlequin/Canary Street Press and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book!

Joni and Ren have been inseparable since childhood. When Joni moves across the country, they make a pact: no matter where life takes them, they'll always be each other’s plus-one for every wedding. But as time passes and blurred boundaries strain their bond, a rift forms. Now, at a summer reunion for Joni’s sister’s wedding, they’ll finally have to face the tension between them—and the feelings they’ve tried to ignore.
If you love friend to lovers and Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation then this book is for you. A great, lovely summer read.
Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the arc.

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!