Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Perennial for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If this book is Georgia Stone’s debut, I am absolutely going to LOVE future books from her.

I love everything about Ava & Finn - their raw & realness to their chemistry & their banter.

And the side characters??????? They were as memorable as the main characters.

I need contemporary romance books that have emotion and The Friendship Fling made me cry, made me swoon, made me smile, made me angry (but only at a certain character)

This book is literally phenomenal and I wish I could re-read it just to experience it for the first time again.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for this advanced copy of The Friendship Fling.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

What a beautiful debut novel.
The Friendship Fling tells the story of Ava and Finn, two very opposite people who come together over the summer to complete a bucket list friendship. It’s a slow burn romance that explores ideas of friendship, trauma, loneliness, and avoidance. Ava is our traditional black cat character, closed off to everyone including herself.
Finn is our typical sunshine character, who just wants to enjoy every moment or everywhere he goes.
I just loved Ava’s change in this book. She might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but her growth is beautiful.

Also Finn is adorable and perfect and deserves all the good things.

Note: Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the ARC.

It’s been a long time since a story touched me as deeply as this one. This romance was everything I hoped for and more. Ava and Finn will stay on my mind for a long time. As a cynical romantic with a dry sense of humor, I absolutely loved the witty banter—I laughed out loud countless times. The writing was impressively polished for a debut author, and the story was emotionally mature and beautifully realistic. I loved how much Ava and Finn valued their friendship—it added so much depth to their relationship and made their story even more heartfelt. The slow burn was absolutely worth the wait—it made their journey all the more rewarding and unforgettable. London felt like a third main character, and I absolutely loved experiencing the city through Ava and Finn’s eyes. The space metaphors were beautifully woven throughout the story, making the original title, "A Collision of Stars," feel perfectly fitting.

I simply cannot wait until the author publishes more stories. I will be first in line to read!

The ultimate black cat & golden retriever trope!
Ava is an anti people person barista and Finn, sunshine incarnate, works at the office across the street. Finn will be moving at the end of the summer and wants to complete his London Bucket List and who better to help than Ava who was tasked by her best friend Josie to make another friend. Maybe Ava and Finn will turn out to be exactly what each other needs.

This book was full of banter and friendship and angst i loved it so much!

Thank you netgalley.

This is a love story told from two people's perspectives. Ava works as a barista. Finn enters a coffee shop and catches sight of Ava. He wants to complete his bucket list. The two form a friendship in a very convenient way. There is more to life than just friendships and everything else.

The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone is a charming and heartfelt romance about Ava Monroe, a cynical barista, and Finn O’Callaghan, a cheerful traveler. They embark on a summer friendship with no strings attached, but as they explore London together, their bond deepens unexpectedly. Stone's debut novel is a delightful blend of humor and emotion, perfect for fans of contemporary romance.

This was a wonderful, character driven romance. I will be (im)patiently waiting for the next book that Georgia Stone writes.

"The Friendship Fling" is dual POV between our main couple Ava and Finn, but we spend the majority of the time with Ava. They are the grumpy x sunshine trope done incredibly well. Ava is guarded and blunt and Finn is silly and talkative but neither are annoying or fall into stereotypical acts.

Their relationship has PHENOMENAL progression. We see the depth of their emotions progress and learn them as they do. This is the farthest thing from insta-lust/love and I am so grateful for that. The emotions feel real.

There are some harder topics in this story as well, so take note of the trigger warnings in the author's note before jumping in. I think they play into the overall plot well and don't deter from the laugh out loud humor.

Rated 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

This book was alright and I was expecting great. I'm giving this book 2.5 stars because it felt promising for the first 25ish pages....then everything just sort of...fell apart. I couldn't tell you anything of note that happened until about 76% of the way through this book because all the scenes just felt the exact same.

Our FMC, Ava, is just plain mean and grumpy. And not in the grumpy x sunshine way we all love. I grew tired of her (and her 'banter') rather quickly. It's okay to be nice!!

Our MMC, Finlay, refuses to give up! I'll give him that. If you have to go to a woman's place of work just for her to talk to you she probably doesn't want to date you. He was the sunshine in the story (if you can call it that) but it was rather dull to me.

This whole novel fell a little flat for me. This book did give me a few good laughs- but when it came down to it the real plot didn't start until 3/4ths of the way through. This book did remind me of my short time in London- and man, I REALLY need to go back.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Perennial for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

For me, my biggest struggle was getting into this book. The characters (Ava and Finn) were flat even from the beginning. I just couldn’t connect with them.

The first 30% for me also dragged. I didn’t really care about the people coming into the coffee bar where Ava worked, and she kept going on dates with guys she met online…which seemed weird because she doesn’t want to be in a relationship. She wanted to hook up and got mad when the guys had bad personalities. If you really want a hookup, be honest from the start and I’m sure he’ll stop talking.

I don’t know…maybe it’s just me. I see a lot of great reviewed for this book which makes me feel like I missed something.

Also, I got the “yuck” with Finn and his mom in chapter 6. I’ll leave it at that.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

I received this arc from Harper Perennial through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!!

This was one of the cutest books ever! I’m absolutely obsessed with Finn, the mmc, as he is the biggest golden retriever ever and the sweetest human being. I love that he and Ava have opposite personalities but they still fit perfectly together in a perfect example of the “reverse grumpy x sunshine” trope. A lot of this book was set in a cute coffee shop in London, which gave it the cutest and coziest vibes ever and it was perfect. I really enjoyed this and I definitely recommend!!

Ava strives to control every aspect of her life. She’s cynical, blunt, and has no interest in relying on anyone, which is why she has a no-strings-attached policy for her relationships. Other than her best friend Josie, Ava keeps people at a distance. But then a new guy, Finn, shows up at the coffee shop where Ava works. He needs a London local to help him complete his bucket list before he leaves the city, and Ava promised Josie she’d try to make new friends, so the two of them strike a deal—a temporary friendship, just for the summer. But as the end of summer approaches, Ava realizes she may have cared about Finn more than she planned to.

I read this ARC assuming I’d picked up a cute and easy romantic comedy, and while there is plenty of romance and comedy in the story, I was pleasantly surprised to find carefully handled heavy topics, depth, and wonderfully believable dialogue. I wish I could have stayed with these characters longer. I loved this story.

Thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the eARC.

4 🌟

Thank you Harper Perennial and NetGalley for my ARC.

This was a heartfelt, cute and summery romance. It’s not your typical grumpy sunshine (spoiler, she’s grumpy — like so grumpy — and you need sunglasses to be around him). I enjoyed the personal journey the FMC goes on and thought the side characters added great depth. It felt like getting to spend a summer in London with friends!

I love absolutely everything about this book. I will definitely reread it. I love Finn and Ava so so so sooo much. And I love Georgia Stone for creating them and letting us all in on their story.

Loved this! friends with benefits is such a great trope and this book did it so well. I will be checking out more from this author

I LOVED this, Down to the cover and everything in between. the romance was too sweet. two dummies after my own heart

I really wanted to like this one especially because it has such high reviews but it fell flat for me. I felt that characters banter often aired on the same of mean instead of funny and was not cute flirty but just aggravating. They also didn't seem to have much of a plan for their life and were very adrift. This book was not for me but many people did like it

3.5 ⭐️

hmm i wanted to love this one so bad because, between the cover and blurb, this sounded absolutely perfect and right up my alley but there was something…distant? almost? about the writing that i can’t quite put my finger on and i feel like this would sometimes take me out of the story. solid romance nonetheless and i *did* enjoy my time reading it!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!

I really enjoyed this book! It had a good balance of humor and heart. A good representation of what it feels like to find and figure yourself out in your twenties. I also love London so that’s always fun. Would recommend to a friend!

Barista Ava keeps her life self-contained. When her flatmate challenges her to make new friends, customer Finn becomes a convenient excuse to pretend she's doing so. But when globe-trotting contractor Finn convinces Ava to spend the summer with him doing his London bucket list before he moves, little does she realise this might help her learn how to properly live again.

Beautifully written, The Friendship Fling is a sparkling rom com set during London summertime. I loved Ava and Finn's banter and their slow-burn transformative friendship. Ava was spiky with so many walls up, stuck in a rut after a family challenge left her giving up her ambitions out of guilt. Finn was an utter sweetheart who I wanted to hug him. Always personable hoping someone would pick him after being essentially abandoned by his workaholic parents who never put him first.

With its strong characters and plotting, I easily devoured this book in one sitting. Georgia Stone manages to convey a slow-burn romance in a way that never felt laboured or boring. I had a major book hangover afterwards and an urge to book a flight to London. I hope someone makes this a movie (and keeps it set in London).

Thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really liked this book! It’s realistic, funny, and heartwarming. The MCs have great banter, and their relationship made sense. I really enjoyed it!