This was absolutely delightful. The plot was well-paced and captivating from start to finish. The characters were charming and witty. I highly recommend this fun and quick read

What a quick, sweet, read! The Friends to Lovers Project follows Daisy as she goes on a mission to find a lover. What a plot am I right? It was such a fun read and Lorenzo was a character I would love to know in real life!

I didn't love that Daisy had an attitude for a lot of the book- I found her a little annoying at points. I did think she went through a lot but not enough to be that needy!!! Cmon girl!! I wish that she would of just had fun instead of being desperate to find love.

I ended up giving this one a 3.5 stars as I love the readability of this book- and the love triangle! But man, some of Daisy's actions had me questioning the whole thing!!

Thank you to Harlequin Romance for the advanced reader copy!

🎧 Audiobook +📗 Ebook: The Friends-to-Lovers Project-a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Paul Ottoni -I read Never Date a Roommate-gave it 3⭐

📃Page Count: 288

📅Publication date: 7/1/25 | Read: 6/28/25

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 8:01

🌎 Setting: Venice, Italy

👆🏾POV: 1st person dual

Genre: Multicultural Interests, Contemporary Romance, Rom-Com

Tropes: love triangle, male/female friendship, BFFs to lovers, matchmaker, right person/wrong time, music

⚠️TW: death of parent, grief

🗣️Narrator: Carly Roberts and Will Damron voice all the characters with standouts from: Daisy, Lorenzo, Jeremy, and Luigi. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrators paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.


Summary: Daisy has taken a trip to Italy for inspiration. Her father's old restaurant is being sold, and she plans to buy it to follow through with his dream. Jeremy accompanied Daisy along with their significant others, but Ryan and Alice breaks up with them and run away together. Daisy and Jeremy invent a project to see if they can be BFFs to lovers. They plan to go on romantic dates and only take it further if they get that "feeling." Lorenzo overhears them and volunteers to be their tour guide through Italy. Their relationship gets complicated when he and Daisy are attracted to each other.

👩🏾 Heroine: Daisy Hogan-27, LA chef at a Santa Monica restaurant

👨🏾 Hero: Lorenzo Fontana-28, a hotel concierge and violinist

🎭 Side Characters:

* Jeremy Burton-Daisy's BFF
* Ryan + Alice-Daisy and Jeremy's exes
* Luigi Marchesi-Lorenzo boss/father figure
* Nick-Daisy's brother moving to Hawaii

🤔 My Thoughts: From the culture, history, and food, I felt like I was in Italy with Daisy and Lorenzo. Their romance was set in the perfect place, but their dreams just didn't match up. Daisy's life was in LA and Lorenzo promised Luigi he would stay in Venice at the hotel. His music also called to him because of Daisy's influence. He wanted to join an orchestra and had to leave Daisy. Jeremy became a side character after he and Daisy decided the project failed, and they were better as best friends. Jeremy was still in Italy when Daisy and Lorenzo fell in love and continued to be her confidante. They part ways, their dreams change, and they reunite together in Italy.

*Spice: 4/5 🌶️
*Emotion: 4/5 🥲
*Couple: 4/5 💑
*Rating: 4/5 ⭐

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin-Romance |Afterglow Books by Harlequin, Harlequin Audio, and Paul Ottoni for this ARC & ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

↝ arc by netgalley review

I picked this up to read by the pool this morning and finished it in about 4 hours, with a few swim breaks in between!
I loved the idea of a friends-to-lovers trope, and while this one started that way, there was truly no initial connection between Jeremy and Daisy from the get-go. The “forced” project didn’t work for me as much as I loved the whole being in Venice and falling in love, I felt the story came to life once Lorenzo entered the picture from the moment they met. I adored Lorenzo and Daisy’s chemistry and wish the book had focused on them right from their first meet-cute. Jeremy was sweet, but more as a side character after a couple of chapters.. Overall, this was such a cute read, I would just not go into it thinking the friends would be the ones to fall for each other.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc. This was a cute book. It was an easy quick read that had me giggling throughout the whole thing. Daisy and Lorenzo are so adorable and I loved the double perspective. I liked how Daisy never really lost sight of what she wanted to do, even if the plans changed. I also liked how Lorenzo found bravery in Daisy to play the violin again, it made my heart happy. I did feel like there were a couple slow spots but then it picked right up again. I also liked the idea of this book with how she wanted to fall in love with her best friend but then plans changed. I loved the tension between Lorenzo and Daisy that was there from the beginning. I definitely recommend this book especially if you want a light hearted fun read!!

This book left me wanting more but not in a good way. I kept wanting to pull more emotions from both the FMC and MMC. the relationship alone was really hard to sell myself on and I felt like the authors writing wasn't convincing either. I wish there was more of an effort put in between the FMC and her best friend. It felt like that friendship was almost empty. I understand the title leads the reader to believe one thing but once reading the actual book itself the title doesn't quite hold up. This book reminds me of a book you would pick up at the airport and then getting a handful of chapters in all for the book to get left in the bottom of your carry on and forgotten about. I just needed more emotion, something intense that will grab me by the shoulders right from the beginning.

This book was a little bit of a rollercoaster but ultimately, I couldn't get through it.

First I want to say, I really enjoyed the premise. The setting in Venice was super interesting and fun to read, and I loved the little bits of Italian and culture that were intertwined into the storyline. It was done pretty seamlessly and I felt like the author did a great job of making you feel like you were learning and exploring alongside the characters.

The premise was also cool and unexpected, and I appreciated the attention to platonic relationships and their importance.

Where the story suffered for me was the writing. Sometimes it was easy to read, well paced, and filled with humor and tension. Those parts kept me intrigued enough to keep moving through. Unfortunately, there were other parts where the writing was so clunky and unnatural and it took me out of the story completely. They would be having great tension and romance and then something would be said that came so far out of left field that it derailed the story and felt inauthentic. It felt like the author wanted to give the characters depth through language but didn't fully develop the characters- causing it to fall flat.

I still this think book could be up someone's alley and it feels so "Euro-Summer" but unfortunately the execution didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Romance for the eARC. All opinions are my own!

The Friends-to-Lovers Project
By Paula Ottoni

Unfortunately I dnf this book around 52%. This book perhaps just didn’t find its target audience as I’m not interested in this particular type of romance. I felt a bit embarrassed by the premise of the project and during scenes where Lorenzo and Daisy were listening to classical music and waltzing.

Thank you to Harlequin Romance for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Friends-to-Lovers Project by Paula Ottoni

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Spice: 3/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you to Harlequin - Romance, Afterglow Books by Harlequin, Netgalley, and the author for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Two best friends, Daisy and Jeremy, try to fall in love in Venice after both being dumped by their partners. Lorenzo, a concierge, tells them about hidden gems to in the city to help them fall in love and offers to be their tour guide. They have a week to fall in love. Will they fall in love with each other or will maybe one of them fall for someone else?

Overall, The Friends-to-Lovers Project is a fun, fast-paced romance that’s perfect for summer! The Italian setting was wonderful and the tension/passion was well done! Also, the twist to a classic romance trope was an unexpected delight!

I'm gonna be really honest, I DNF'd this book only a couple of chapters in. The writing felt like it needed a lot of editing still and the format was not suitable to be reading on Kindle. I'm giving this three stars because while I didn't dislike the story, it was the writing and characters that took me out of it and made it so I did not want to finish reading.

I read until page 145. I had to DNF it. I couldn’t get into the writing style and I didn’t like the characters. I really wanted to like this, but it was not for me.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁:

If you want a vacay to Venice with a fun romance this one’s for you! Seriously I have been and this book was so descriptive. I felt I was right back eating pasta, sipping wine, seeing the sights, embracing the culture and strolling along the canals. Come fall in love in Venice this summer with this duo. The audiobook paired with the ebook is the perfect immersive reading experience. The narration was great!

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:

Daisy is in Venice on a dream vacation to get inspiration to open her restaurant back home in LA. But the first day she’s there she gets dumped. So pivoting she gets the idea why not use this as a chance to fall in love with her best friend Jeremy who’s also traveling with her. Only problem is there is zero chemistry between them…

But the hot Italian concierge Lorenzo, at the hotel they are staying at has volunteered to be their “Fairy GodMother”. Meaning he will show them around Venice and sprinkle them with all the Italian magic allowing them to fall in love.

Only problem is Lorenzo is spending alot of time with Daisy and he is falling for her hard. If he’s able to pull off his mission he can prove to his boss he deserves to run the hotel. He already loss his dram once of becoming a violinist and he won’t let that happen again. So he can’t let his feelings for Daisy get in the way, plus she’s leaving at the end of the week.

𝙁𝙖𝙫 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚:

“You need to get lost to find yourself, right?”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Off Limits Romance
* Project “Fairy GodMother”
* Italian vs American
* He’s a Violinist Turned Hotel Concierge
* She’s a Chef in La
* He Gives Her “Love Lessons”
* Travel Romance Venice
* Learning to Live in the Now
* Dual POV w/ Spice

💕🇮🇹🍝🎻💕🇮🇹🍝🎻💕🇮🇹🍝🎻

This was really fun and cute albeit a little predictable. But that’s entirely fine for me in the romance genre. For me it’s about the characters and their journey and the banter and this book had that for me. I enjoyed this a lot

A short, emotionally driven romance set in beautiful Venice. After a painful breakup, Daisy finds herself navigating love, loss, and confusion while vacationing with her best friend Jeremy. What begins as a friends-to-lovers story quickly turns into a slow-burn love triangle with the arrival of charming tour guide Lorenzo.

Daisy’s desperation for love can be frustrating, but her grief and vulnerability are relatable. While the pacing is uneven and the plot a bit scattered, the story offers spice, emotion, and a satisfying ending. Not quite a rom-com, but an easy read for fans of multicultural romance with heart.

I really enjoyed this super cute dual POV story! This book really made me want to go to Venice. I thought it was very interesting to read about who was going to give up their previous life since they were both very tied to their countries.

The characters were super lovable and the ending was satisfying! I thoroughly enjoyed this one and can’t wait to read more by this author!

What happens when you and your old friend are both single in Venice? Fate might finally be giving you a second chance.

But just as sparks begin to fly, enter Lorenzo—the charismatic tour guide who complicates everything in the most delicious way.

Who is her forever and who's fun for right now?

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a very tongue in cheek romance that was aware of the genre and played with those expectations, as the title hinted at. Daisy and Lorenzo were both easy characters to root for and the beautiful Venice setting was atmospheric and really helped to set the tone for a budding romance. The premise for the book was really cute and the author really took full advantage of the fun and romance.

This author is new to me, but I will be keeping an eye out for anything else they publish. I loved the story and the characters. The pacing of the story was great and the characters were relatable.

The romance in this was so cute!!!
I really loved how I never knew where this story was going and it kept me stumped the entire time. It was easy to read, and adorable!

Thank you NetGalley and Afterglow Books for allowing me to review the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Daisy and her long time friend, Jeremy, find themselves both single while in Venice. Both dumped they could get together. Is Jeremy her forever? Hence the name. But then we meet Lorenzo, the tour guide that brings the story into a love triangle.

This was a super cute and sweet summer read. 3.5 stars rounded up.