Mari and Javi have a unique relationship. Met in college - could not stand each other. Became best friends. They even contemplated a relationship but were never on the same page in life. They both hid their love for each other until the very last minute in hopes someone would finally reveal their true feelings.

It had me in all the feels frustrated, happy, laughing and worried.

- Latinx representation
- Enemies to lovers
- Best friends to lovers
- Second chance
- Family dynamics
- Rom com

cute, fun, well written story with some very cutesy romances. would potentially recommend. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

The story cleverly weaves together past and present timelines. In the present, we see Mari preparing for her wedding, much to the dismay of her best friend, Javi. The past reveals how Mari and Javi first met and their dating pact. I was completely invested in the main characters and found myself yelling at them to admit their feelings, as they seemed so perfect for each other.I absolutely loved this book and definitely plan to read more by this author!

Thanks to Putnam Books for the ARC of this book and to PRH Audio for the ALC! It is my absolute favorite to go back and forth between the audio and print versions of a book and this one was fantastic! The voice actors were perfect for the characters in this one and I really enjoyed the storyline a lot! This one follows, Marisol "Mari," a successful lawyer in her father's big time firm. She is set to get married to Alex, a fellow lawyer at the firm. Deep down though, there is some lingering doubt because her best friend from college, Javier "Javi" has always felt like just a little bit more than friends. When he agrees to be her "man of honor" at the wedding it sets off a bunch of memories from long away and just thrusts the two of them together a whole lot more than normal. The book goes back and forth over the course of a little over a decade and details all of their friendship/relationship. I loved reading all of the details and watching their relationship unfold. This is the perfect friends to lover and second chance story! Five stars! LOVED IT!

The pining! The friends to lovers! Such a fun book! I've really enjoyed Mia Sosa's other books and this one is no exception.

Let me start by saying I love Mia Sosa’s writing. Her books are always so funny and entertaining.

That said, I have mixed feelings about this one. I enjoy a good dual timeline because it’s nice to see how we get to where we are in the story. I actually might have enjoyed the past chapters a little bit more here because I feel like there was more tension there. I guess that would make sense because their relationship does get established in the past chapters. Lol. Anyway.

I guess my biggest hangup is I wanted *more* from the present chapters. It’s hard to say more without giving things away…

In the end I’m still giving this 4 stars because I still very much enjoyed my time with Javi and Mari. Still a Mia Sosa fan, and can’t wait for what she has for us next!

I really enjoyed this read, and of course, I'll need to read more from the author. This is told in both past and present timeline, in the present day we see the fmc Mari planning to get married and her best friend Javi not liking the guy, and in the past we see how Javi and Mari met and how they formed their dating pact. I liked the main characters a lot, and I was shouting at them to get together because of how perfect they are for each other, and the fact that they didn't confess their feelings to each other. I liked the wedding drama and seeing them come together, even if it did take most of the book. Overall, a good romcom, thanks to Putnam Books for this arc for an honest review.

This book was everything I’ve come to expect from Mia Sosa! Funny, smart, sexy, and unique. The dual timeline set up was so well done, showing us all the tension and pining between them before giving us their history and how two people who so clearly belong together could end up apart. Javi and Mari were both so appealing, and I thought their growth arcs were beautifully done.

I’ll read anything Mia Sosa wants to put out!

Am I the only one who found this title very misleading to the actual plot of this book?! Like, sure, Javi ghosted Mari after college, and there were clearly insecurities that caused it, but I was ready for a second chance romance, but instead got a friends-to-lovers with a whole lot of almosts. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book! I loved Mari and Javi's personalities. They played so well off each other, and their love for each other showed through. It's giving When Harry Met Sally Vibes. Javi, however, is so much sweeter than Harry. He is trying so hard to be the person he thinks Mari needs, someone who is successful and driven and can support her expensive lifestyle, while Mari thinks Javi is more than enough as is. Mari is afraid of disappointing her father and living out his wishes for her life instead of breaking out on her own path. Together they come to a wonderful conclusion, but how they get there was entertaining and an unputdownable story.

Read if you like a friends-to-lovers, slow-burn romance with dual narration and dual timelines. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 6/24!

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and Netgalley for the arc ❤️ This was my first Mia Sosa read and I really enjoyed it! This book was super cute and fun, I even laughed a couple of times which is always good.

I really enjoyed the friendship between Javi and Mari, obviously I wanted them to end up together. I like the fun shenanigans that came up throughout the story leading up to the resolution, I also liked the complex family dynamics that both Javi and Mari had to work through individually.

Super cute and fun romance book, I’ll definitely be reading more from Mia Sosa 🫶🏾

When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia Sosa was one of my most anticipated books of the year, but unfortunately it just did not deliver. There was none of Mia Sosa's signature humor and the titular characters lacked chemistry. The back and forth in time pulled me out of the story and made the pacing very choppy. This one just didn't work for me.

I am very grateful for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I wanted this one to be better.

This enchanting love story unfolds in a captivating dual timeline—one of my favorites!

The characters are genuine, relatable, and wonderfully diverse. The playful banter between Javi and Mari beautifully showcases their “friends to lovers” journey, making it an utterly satisfying read.

A huge thank-you to G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Random House for emailing about this book and offering me a copy through Netgalley.

When Javi Dumped Mari is a heartfelt rom-com that absolutely hit me in the feels as well as had me laughing at the incredible banter between Javi and Mari. The book follows best friends Javier and Marisol, who, on the eve of their college graduation, make a pact to approve each other's dates forever forward. Basically friendzoning each other without realizing it. A decade later, Javi realizes he's in love with Mari, only to find out she's engaged to someone he hasn't vetted due to a falling out they had after a rather spicy encounter. Determined to stop the wedding, Javi has to convince Mari that he made a mistake and to understand that he "loves loves" her.

I thought the storyline was cute albeit predictable. The characters were relatable. I could have done without the racial descriptions of the ancillary characters (ie Black security guard).

I love a book that can make me laugh, and Sosa's upcoming release made me grin and chucke often. Javi and Mari were characters with fantastic chemistry - the great back-and-forth, the quips, and the playful banter made for an enjoyable read.

This story mixes the friends to lovers trope with the right-person-wrong time trope. It's also written in a past-present timeline with dual pov as you follow Mari and Javi from the night they met on campus through their college, post-college, and adult life. You witness the highs and lows of their relationship, as well as their individual vulnerabilities, fears, and aspirations, which made for both realistic and relatable characters.

I will admit that this story could've been appx 50 pages shorter, but overall I enjoyed my experience. This was a cute, lighthearted, and entertaining romance, and I really appreciated how much it made me smile.

I should have dnf'ed this book after the first chapter, when the set-up was that two best friends from college, obviously in love with each other, made a pact to always run their new significant others by each other, until one day, Mari doesn't and introduces Javi to her new fiance. These are tropes I hate: friends who can't actually have honest conversations with each other, breaking up a wedding, love triangle. But I kept reading because I really enjoyed The Worst Best Man and The Wedding Crasher (although now that I'm thinking about them, they were both about wedding mishaps...), and I liked Mia Sosa's writing. But I should have known, and I should have dnf'ed.

When Javi Dumped Mari follows Javi and Mari in two timelines: now, when Mari is engaged to Alex, the top dog at the law firm her dad owns where she also works, and she asks Javi to be the man of honor, and then, when Mari and Javi are in college together. The "then" chapters are interspersed, used to explain things happening in the "now." Part of what I hate about the breaking-up-a-wedding plot is that someone is obviously bad here. If it's the person breaking up the wedding, then you have a villain to contend with, and if it's the person getting married, then you have to read an entire book about how a supposedly good character is ending up with a bad character, which isn't a good look for the supposedly good character. In this case, we're supposed to be rooting for Javi, who is suspicious of Alex but is basically doing anything Mari wants for the sake of her wedding and because he's so in love with her. Which, of course, he's never actually really told her or said anything out loud. Which isn't a good look for him either!

About 80% through, I really really really really should have dnf'ed it. But I stuck with it because I was so close to the end. I'm not so mad that I read this, but this really was not the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with an eARC of When Javi Dumped Mari in exchange for my honest review.

What a charming, steamy second chance romance from Mia Sosa!

The chemistry was off the charts with Javi and Mari, and I really enjoyed getting to see their dynamic blossom as their friendship brought them closer and closer, until they just couldn't keep their hands off each other! I loved Javi's character, and I deeply respected his journey and commitment to working on himself and growing as man and character, even if I despise the motivation behind it (Luiz, when I get my hands on you...).

Mari... well, she had me rolling my eyes at times throughout the story, especially when it came to how she treated Javi and couldn't find it in herself to really stand up to her dad when he is very obviously being a dick. But, she had my (and Javi's) heart by the end, so I'll let it slide this time. I did really enjoy her friend group, and their dynamics with the two best friends that are soooo obviously in love with each other!

And of course, one of my favorite things about Mia's books is the Brazilian rep! I loved getting to practice my Portuguese while reading.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story, and I'm excited for more from Sosa!

A slow burn friends to lovers told through dual POVs and dual timelines, the story of Javi and Mari vaguely echoes the same beats as When Harry Met Sally, a movie I don't particularly like but I did enjoy this book.

Javi and Mari meet in college and though they seem polar opposites in a lot of ways, a friendship blossoms. Sure, there's and underlying layer of simmering sexual attraction but both value their friendship too much to ever let themselves ruin it by trying and failing for something more.

Years pass and after college, Javi is struggling to find gainful employment while Mari is living across the country and going to law school. He ends up ghosting her and they run into each other years later, when Mari is a successful lawyer working at her father's firm and Javi is a struggling bartender/actor who is still working on the musical he's been writing for years.

Renewing their friendship while also occasionally hooking up, Mari wants more but Javi doesn't think he's good enough for her. So they decide to stay friends until Mari shows up to dinner with a fiancé in tow.

I liked a lot about this book, even the flashbacks that show the evolution of their friendship and the highs and lows. I liked their extended friend group. Both Mari and Javi have some family issues, Marie with her parents, especially her father, and Javi with his two older brothers. They both spend the bulk of the book pretending that they are fine with the way their respective family members screwed them over which is frustrating but also somewhat realistic.

The end of the book is really good and sweet and lovely and I love that Mari has learned how to draw boundaries for herself with her father.

All in all, this was a super enjoyable read.

Content Notes: toxic parental relationship, problematic fiancé, MMC has issues with betrayal regarding his older brothers.

3.5⭐️, although was 3⭐️ until the ending. I’m not sure why this story didn’t connect with me, but I didn’t feel pulled in to keep reading and felt like I needed to force myself a bit to stay on track for the deadline. It did have some super charming moments, and while I loved Mari I struggled to like Javi. I think it would have benefited from significantly less flashbacks (I love a dual timeline, but this seemed to be excessive) and more present-time interaction between the characters. I think there are readers who will absolutely love the more coming-of-age aspects to the earlier timeline. I do think I would read this writer again, and maybe I will connect more with a differently framed narrative.

“Talking to Mari is the best part of my days. Every sentence reveals something about her personality. And the more she shares, the more I want to reciprocate.”

I love a good Mia Sosa book.

What I liked:

I adore a good friends to lovers book. Javi and Mari have such a wonderful friendship.

The chemistry and banter between the two of them was so good! I loved their conversations, and just reading them interact with each other.

What didn’t work for me:

I enjoyed the present timeline, more than the past. Some of the past chapters dragged a bit for me.