Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for this audiobook ARC copy.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely
Pub Date July 22, 2025

Friends to lovers is not my favorite trope, but I enjoyed this so much. It had me on the verge for so much of it just reminding me of how feelings can develop this way and how navigating that line can be so difficult but also very easy.

Joni and Ren are childhood best friends; their families are friends with each other too and even share a summer house. Their lives have been intertwined for so long but when something comes between their friendship, they have to figure out how to navigate this new dynamic. The fall out kept them from each other, their friendship frayed. Joni’s sister’s wedding is the first time they’ve seen each other since and it’s awkward at first since their family doesn’t even know about their changed friendship status and they have to fake it… until they don’t. They fall back into their friendship so easily. The line remains there though, tempting them to cross but figuring out what is worth the risk is easy when you know what you want.

The narration flowed so well, it’s a single narrative which allows us to be fully immersed into Joni’s mind. It definitely gave me The Summer I Turned Pretty and People We Meet on Vacation vibes as per the description. Small town summer vibes.

Friends to Lovers was the sweetest. Was it predictable? Yes. But I still loved the story of Joni and Ren and their intertwined families. While Joni had her own things she was working through, Ren was the perfect golden retriever. He was everything she needed even when she didn’t know that’s what she needed.

The narrator did a great job too!

This is the perfect friends to lovers trope. A slow burn romance with friendship, second chances and family. Joni and Ren have been best friends since childhood. She moves to Oregon and they agree to meet every summer to be plus one’s at friends weddings. They lose touch two years ago and are reunited for her sister’s wedding. I loved the emotional depth of this story, the angst, the chemistry and the found family. It is such a whirlwind adventure, perfect summer read.

The audiobook is narrated by Patti Murin. She is such a wonderful narrator and her voicing these characters in this story was perfection. A must listen to!

The perfect summer read!!! This was like watching a 2000’s romcom and I’m obsessed!

Loved the flashbacks, I really enjoy second chance romances & Joni & Ren were so perfect!!

Loved the wedding plus one part of the book, it was so cute to see them together at different weddings. I also loved Joni’s relationship with her siblings!

The beach house vibes were also *chefs kiss *

Thank you so much for the arc!!

Loved, but I just wish (and I never say this) that it was longer! It felt like there was so much more it could’ve explored but it was cut short. This made it feel at times that there was stuff I was missing, with lots of characters to keep straight but not a lot of time to delve into each character and relationship.

This book was just as good on audio the 2nd time around! If you love a great slow burn, friends to lovers story with a dual timeline, i highly recommend this one! An incredible debut.

🎧ALC REVIEW🎧
📚Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely
🎤solo narration by Patti Murin
💘thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Audio for this ALC

📝what to expect
-friends to lovers (did the title give it away?)
-slow burn
-second chance
-music agent x still motion artist
-family secrets
-flashback chapters
-one bed


5⭐️- I’m starting to think a second chance, (childhood) friends to lovers story is my absolute favorite story in the world. This one had me crying, giggling, and even had my jaw dropping from the drama.

**scroll down for my 🎧 audiobook notes too!!

—

📚general review📚

This story follows Ren and Joni who grew up as best friends. They make a pact after college to be each other’s plus one any time either of them are invited to a wedding. They live on opposite sides of the country so this pact guarantees they see each other anytime a wedding comes around. The story is told during the week of her sister’s wedding and in flash backs to each wedding Ren and Joni attended together. It was such a unique way to frame this story and I absolutely loved it. I’m always a sucker for a ~wedding date~ trope!!

I love that this is a solo POV - Blakely does such a great job showing Ren fall for Joni without even getting his POV. It’s the actions, the words, the descriptions of his body language. It was done so well, I felt like I was falling in love too.

Another great aspect of this one was the family drama - I think it adds to the relationship itself when the family is so intertwined. And the blow up scene where it all gets aired out is so good here I was literally jaw dropping in shock. I looove messy family drama!

I loved their relationship so much and the ties to music/playlists, their little traditions, their comfort with each other. Blakely writes love so deeply- I get that gut punch, heart wrenching feeling that I’m always seeking out in a romance.


🎧audiobook review🎧
-Solo narration by Patti Murin
-Single POV with flash back chapters
-Patti is such a talent, anything she narrates I already know it’s going to be a beautiful story. She puts so much emotion into her performance and I love getting immersed in the story when she narrates.

I was given the chance to arc READ this book and absolutely loved it. So as soon as I saw it was available to listen to as the audio version, I jumped on that train! Both narrators, I feel like they fit the characters perfectly!

Ok I liked this book. It was very much of a vanilla romance for me, and it took me a bit to figure out when they jumped from present to past. I was listening to the audio for it. And with 1 person narrating it sooooo hard to follow when it’s jumping all over. The story is cute but definitely needed to be duel or duet for audio.

They grew up as best friends, he fell in love with her in high school but never told her. He didn’t want to force her, and he was scared he’d never love him that way or the same way he loved her. She realizes she loves him later in life and then realized he’s giving up his dream for her so she runs. 2.5 years later they are brought back together and well that’s where it’s fun haha!

This was actually a great audio. I enjoyed the narrators which is super important, especially for a romance. I didn't find this to be cringey or corny at all. I was very pleasantly surprised!

I would give this book 3 stars. Ren was such a good MMC, he was so attentive, sweet, and such a great friend, but I didn't care much for Joni's character. The story and the writing were good; I just couldn't get past not being a fan of Joni. Even knowing the ending and what happened, I just don't understand how you can cut someone off for 2+ years. Be a decent human and COMMUNICATE! I loved the ending so at least it ended on a high note.

*Friends to lovers
*Second chance

So like some other reviewers I had a similar experience of feeling like this book was very reminiscent of some other books or rather pieces of different books and particularly author Emily Henry. Except I had a very different end point as I enjoyed this even more.

It’s similar in that many in this niche sub genre of romance that part contemporary romance, part romcom part beach read, all sound alike with similar base stories. The difference is this is better written than some others. Full disclosure I am NOT an Emily Henry fan; finding her books poorly written and full of fluff.

This book has the fun warmth that (other) readers enjoy with books like “ Happy Place” and “the People you meet on Vacation” but it adds some emotional depth and plenty of subtext making this a much more well rounded read.

I consumed the audiobook which was narrated by Patti Murin. Ms Murin did an ok job overall however it was recorded painfully slow. I’m not sure why this is the case particularly from Harlequin Audio to have the 1x speed be much slower than a typical speaking speed. It has a molasses like quality to it which impacts the experience and the prose. Thankfully it is easily corrected by speeding things up. The issue here is two fold. For one, Ms Murin isn’t consistent in her vocal speed so when you speed it up it can be a challenge in some part with understandability. But also, her natural voice for the FMC is a bit higher pitched so when you speed it up it makes it even worse. But her chosen voice for the FMC was great. It for the age and personality of Joni. On the other side of the coin, her male vocals are NOT a strength but again, speeding it up does make things a bit better and tolerable .

This book comes out July 22, 2025 in perfect time to be a fun summer read that has some grit . A beach read it is not!

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Harlequin Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Oh, I loved this. This is a mix of friends to lovers and second chance romance, in the same vein as people we meet on vacation. Joni with her existential crisis and Ren with his quiet yearning are both such delightful characters apart and together. All the side characters and their relationships with the MCs and each other are really beautifully drawn too. Leo is very huggable.

The narrator, Patti Murin, is great. She's one of those just under the radar narrators for me, but I always enjoy her narration. Since this author was an unknown to me, the narrator and the genre are the main reasons I requested this book.

Separately, I'm not really a fan of the whole "trope as title" thing and I think it does a disservice to the book. At least in my opinion it makes it look like very little effort is being put into the story overall and they're just trying to maximize some kind of algorithm or search function.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC. This comes out July 22, 2025.

Joni and Ren have been childhood best friends for so long that their parents have been wishing for them to get together. After not being in contact for a long time, the two agree that they need to make it work so they are still in each other's lives - can they do it?

I do enjoy a good friends to lovers story and this one was good. I could feel the chemistry between the characters and just wanted them to hurry up and get their acts together! Considering how old the characters were (30!), I'm surprised they didn't communicate better. All in all though, this was a fun debut. I'm excited to read what Sally Blakely writes next.

What an amazing summer read and such a cute second chance romance and childhood friends to lovers.

After agreeing to be plus ones to every wedding they’ve been invited to, we see how Joni and Ren come to the realization that they were always it for one another. However, because they’ve known each other their whole lives their friends and family and long history as best friends, living across the country from each other and their dream jobs become the obstacles keeping them
apart.

After not talking for two years, the two come together one last time as each others plus ones and pretend they’ve been best friends all along. As the days go on,
past heartbreaks come to light and Joni and Ren must make the choice on letting each other go and continuing to stay friends or to finally take a real chance on their love.

I really enjoyed this audiobook but I think because the back and forth between timelines I had a hard time following along in the beginning but after a couple of flash backs over the years between Ren and Joni I was able to catch onto this epic love story between two childhood friends

It reminded me a lot of Emily Henry’s Happy Place and was such a great time reading about their families dynamics and as the book goes on all I wanted was for Ren and Joni to get their happy endings!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for
allowing me to review this audiobook.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Friends to Lovers – Sally Blakely (Audiobook)

This was a true romance I enjoyed quite a bit. My only hold-up was that the story flips between past and present, and at times it blurred together, leaving me unsure which timeline we were in.

Other than that, the narrator, Patti Murin, was fantastic—great pacing, perfect tone, and she really nailed the emotion in the audiobook.

Joni was so easy to love, going through real-life circumstances that made her incredibly relatable. And Ren… he made you feel like you could just melt into him. Childhood best friends, a summer wedding, and a tradition of always being each other’s plus-ones—until one night changes everything. Now they’re back at the family summer home, pretending to be friends while sparks and old wounds simmer just beneath the surface. It’s sweet, emotional, and full of those moments that make your heart ache in the best way.

The playlist was such a great touch.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely and narrated by Patti Murin. I enjoyed the narration. This book had you on an emotional roller coaster. Great beach read. I enjoyed it. Thank you to #NetGalley and #Harlequin Audio for this Arc. This is my honest review.

Friends To Lovers is (shockingly!) a perfect pick for fans of the friends to lovers trope. With its dual timeline and second chance storyline, I’d recommend it to readers who loved Love and Other Words, Every Summer After, and The Summers Between Us.

I really enjoyed the story and loved the characters, but knowing heartbreak was coming made it a tough read for me.. Being 65% in and finally getting a present-day reconciliation, only to watch things fall apart in the past timeline, gave me too much anxiety! I’m just not in an era of life where I want that level of angst. For those that do, it’s very well done.

That said, I adored the characters: their history, their friendship, their growth, and ultimately, their romance. I finished the book with a huge smile on my face, so in that sense, it’s absolutely a winner.

The audiobook is performed by Patti Murin and really, what can I say that hasn’t already been said? She’s one of the GOATs for a reason. 10000% recommend.

4/5⭐️
What a wonderful summer read!

Cozy, warm, and heartfelt!! Joni and Ren grew up together and their family and friends are completely intertwined. The pair used to be the best of friends but have had a following out 2.5 years ago when they used to attended every wedding together as each other’s plus one. Joni is keeping secrets not only from her family but from Ren as well. They reunite for the first time in years at Joni’s younger sister’s wedding at their family’s shared summer home. It’s fun, chaotic, and realistic. We get Joni’s POV throughout.

Audiobook was great, narrator was a good fit for the character!

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for this eALC in exchange for an honest review!

Patti Murin does a fantastic job narrating this excellent book! She has such a pleasant tone and really did a great job with the male voices. I felt like I was really able to easily differentiate between the characters while listening.

The book is an angst filled journey between two lifelong best friends who are dealing with their ever changing lives and close knit families while attending a wedding. I really enjoyed it!