This was such a fun audiobook! I absolutely loved the story and how it call came together.

This is the classic story of always being each others plus-one, but then it possibly turning into more than that.

I enjoyed the narrator of this book and appreciated how fast I could speed it up without losing the ability to understand the story.

Friends to Lovers has a lot of things that I love in a Summer Romance. One of my favorite books this past year was The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce and that's actually what prompted me to pick this book up. A lot of things I loved about that book are present here too.

The story unfolds in alternating past and present timelines but single POV (Joni's). We know that Joni and Ren have some history and are now "estranged best friends" right off the bat but we don't know the exact why. All we know is that they are keeping it secret from their families who are longtime friends and vacation together annually. There's tension on all ends from everyone while they are staying at the vacation home in preparation for a family wedding. The wedding festivities and group activities were fun and I just adore big chaotic family groups like these!

I really loved Ren and I thought he was just so precious and sweet and you could just feel the love pouring off of him in the past POV. Like Joni girl c'mon how did you not see it?! It was fun to see their romance blossom throughout the progression of their friendship and you could tell they had a close bond and chemistry. My heart ached for them at times and their progression to romance felt totally natural IMO. There were so many sweet moments and swoony moments that kept me reading. In the present POV the tension wrecked me at times!! The slow burn and all the build up of the small moments was chef's kiss. The Capture the Flag game had me like ahhhhh!!

I just couldn't quite bring myself to 5 star this because even though I enjoyed it there were a lot of moments where things seemed to rapidly build up, blow up, and then blow over so fast I didn't even have time to process it before we were moving on. There were just some moments that felt so pivotal to the story but didn't seem to get enough attention. The reason for their estrangement kinda just came out of left field and was over so fast it almost felt like not enough to cause a 2.5 year estrangement if their friendship was so important.

I was also super fortunate to get the ALC and I enjoyed it as well! I tandem listened/read the book and I enjoyed the narrator for Joni a lot. I did find myself leaning towards eyeball reading though bc I wanted to annotate even when I was listening. I'm super picky about narrators and this is one I would definitely recommend!

Overall this is a cute and fun Summer romance that's great for a beach or vacation read. I would pick this one up again! This felt reminiscent of some of my favorite Summer romance novels from Annabel Monaghan, Emily Henry, and Jessica Joyce. If you're a fan of any of these authors, I think you would enjoy this as well. If you don't like reading tropes skip below!

✧ Second Chance Romance
✧ Wedding Weekend
✧ Vacation Home x Family Friends
✧ Forced Proximity
✧ Tension & Yearning
✧ Past / Present Timelines
✧ It's always been you

Thank you so much to Harlequin Audio & The Hive for the ALC and ARC!

Sally Blakely’s debut is a heart-achingly romantic mix of friendship, missed opportunities, and the courage to finally say what’s been unsaid. Set against summer weddings and a nostalgia-soaked beach house, it’s tender, swoony, and full of longing.

The audiobook brings Joni and Ren’s bond to life with warmth and intimacy—the narration captures every ounce of tension, hesitation, and quiet devotion, making the slow burn irresistible. Flashbacks unfold like a scrapbook of playlists, inside jokes, and missed moments, pulling you deeper into their history until the wedding week forces everything into the open.

Romantic without ever tipping into overly sweet, this debut nails the beloved tropes—friends to lovers, reunion romance, forced proximity—while keeping it fun and heartfelt. A standout summer listen, and one that lingers long after the last chapter.

Grateful to Harlequin Audio and Sally Blakely for the gifted audiobook and the chance to share my thoughts.

Perfect book to end the summer season romance. I didn't love the main female character as much as i did the male which made the rating drop for me.

Joni and Ron are childhood best friends who have always been each others plus ones but never actual romantic dates. The story is told in present day and in the past of all the weddings they have attended together all over the country throughout the years. The result is a story full of nostalgia, fun, and all the butterflies.

Patti Murin narrates the audiobook and is obviously wonderful, bursting with her typical warmth and humor. There is a large cast of characters who are all individually captured by her effortless performance. Readers need to grab the audiobook of Friends to Lovers!

Thanks to my friends at @htp_hive for the opportunity to read this gem of a book early- I absolutely adored every last page! Friends to Lovers is available everywhere now!

This surprised me! I wasn’t expecting to be half as invested as I was. I loved the setting of wedding and a family gathering on the coast of PNW. And I loved the dual timeline with the childhood friends to lovers, even with the miscommunication.

I thought this was a cute fun summer romance read! I would recommend! The audio was done great!

Friends to lovers is my favorite trope so I was really excited for this book. I thought it was a cute romance and I’m glad I read it. However the dual timeline confused me and I found myself listening to the same parts over again to figure out if it was the past or present. I also wanted the MC’s to get together sooner and not wait so long to figure themselves out. Overall this was a cute read and I would recommend. The narrator did a great job bringing these characters to life.

Friends to Lovers is a sweet, funny, and heartfelt story about two best friends who finally realize what everyone else has seen all along—that they’re perfect for each other. Blakey captures all the awkwardness, banter, and swoony tension of taking that leap from friendship to something more. The chemistry sparkles, the side characters add plenty of charm, and the romantic payoff is worth the wait. A couple of moments felt a little predictable, but honestly, that’s part of the cozy fun. A delightful, feel-good romance that earns a solid four stars!
Audio was perfect. Narrator did a great job.

This was super cute! I love a friends to lovers romance so I knew I would love this. I really liked the rekindling friendship/love aspect. It was fun, low stakes, summery, and romantic. This was such a cute read and gave me a little bit of TSITP vibes which I’ve been loving watching every week.

DNF @ 23%

I really thought I was going to absolutely love this one & it was going to be the perfect summer read but of my goodness I was absolutely bored & I found myself not paying attention most of the time.

The narrator is amazing & the writing is really good but the story just didn’t pull me in at all & I just didn’t care about the characters enough to keep going. Unfortunately this was not for me but could be someone else so always give it a try & see for yourself!

Thank you to Harlequin trade publishing & NetGalley for the advanced readers & listeners copy!

Listening to this romance, narrated by the fabulous Patti Murin, hit me with all the feels. I love the genuine friendship between Ren and Joni and the way they care for, support, and respect each other. I felt Joni's fear of losing her best friend and the way things are to take a chance on what they could be. And Ren. Ahhhh. My new book boyfriend. He is everything and when they get together their chemistry is on fire. This is a must read for anyone that loves a love story.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is an absolute delight from start to finish. Blakely captures the tenderness, longing, and undeniable spark that makes the friends-to-lovers trope so irresistible, and she does it with charm, humor, and so much heart. The chemistry between the leads feels natural and deeply rooted, making every moment of their slow-burn journey satisfying and worth the wait.

The narrator did a phenomenal job in adding to the emotion of the story. What stood out most to me was how authentic and layered the characters felt—their bond, their banter, and even their moments of vulnerability pulled me in completely.

Sweet, swoony, and full of emotion, Friends to Lovers is the kind of comfort read that leaves you smiling long after the last page. Sally Blakely has crafted a romance that feels both timeless and fresh

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is an adorable slow burn summer romance/beach read with dual timelines following Joni and Ren as they connect over time and are friends and there for one another as each of them grow up. Joni and Ren are longtime family friends, including the sharing of a summer home during childhood. When they are not dating others, they come together to be each other's dates for weddings, even when they live across the country from one another.

There are cute moments where you can tell that there is a spark between them or that Joni and Ren understand each other better than their various love interests over time. But the timing is never right, things never quite work out. And despite them being out of communication from the last time they saw each other until coming back together for a family wedding one last time at the summer home and having to fake the friendship that seems to have fallen apart, the same sparks seem to fly.

I loved how these characters were described, the amount of care that went into crafting both of them as individuals and as a pair, and the timelines intersecting at the perfect times to allow us to understand why the Joni and Ren we meet at the beginning of the book have gotten to this place and whether there's any amount of salvaging their relationship (platonic or romantic) by the end.

I absolutely adored that this book included playlists throughout and that it included a playlist at the end. This was a really cute detail and was really well done.

The audio narration by Patti Murin was perfect and enhanced the story.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook arc for "Friends to Lovers" by Sally Blakely.

A friend joked that the title of this book really advertises what you are reading. And while the "friends to lovers" trope is a tried and true one, this book still felt fresh and was an enjoyable listen. It boggles my mind a bit that this is a debut novel from this author as the writing was great!

The plot centers around childhood best friends who decide to serve as each other's wedding "plus one" as they are invited to a multitude of weddings throughout their twenties. Truly best friends, their relationship is seemingly broken after FMC Joni and MMC Ren hook up. Now thrown together at yet another wedding, this one in the family, they must reconcile after several years of being estranged.

While not an identical plot by any means, if you liked Emily Henry's "People You Meet on Vacation", I feel like you will enjoy Blakely's book. Chapters alternate between past weddings Joni and Ren have attended together, and present day, which is primarily them getting thrown together by family for pre-wedding tasks and events. A large portion of the book takes place at the cabin Ren and Joni's families share, which also reminded my of Carley Fortune's "Every Summer After." I think both books give warm, nostalgic vibes and if you like Fortune's writing, you will like "Friends to Lovers" as well.

I look forward to seeing what Blakely writes next- I see a possible July 2026 publication "Summer People", which I'm sure will be right up my alley!

This was a sweet read, but it was more of a like than a love. I usually adore dual timelines, but I found myself a little confused at times since the past and present blended together more than I’d hoped. That said, I did enjoy the overall journey of these characters and the depth of their friendship. I was just super frustrated with how long it took them to finally move past all the back-and-forth, it felt like they were so close already that the delay didn’t always make sense. Still, it was a heartfelt story with plenty of charm, and I’m glad I picked it up.

I ended up listening to the audiobook and I loved the narrator, it is possible I may have been able to follow the story easier with the jumping timelines if I had a physical book.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ALC of this.

Friends since childhood and connected through shared family traditions, Joni and Ren have one last chance to reconnect, clear up past misses, and see if they can transition to more than best friends.

☀️ Book Review: FRIENDS TO LOVERS by Sally Blakely

This is a friends-to-lovers romance that feels like a second chance for Joni and Ren. Best friends since childhood, they agree to be each other’s wedding date plus ones after Joni moves from Portland to NYC. We then follow a dual timeline of friendship, missed romantic connections, and wedding dates.

⛱️ My Take: As much as I enjoyed this, I also found it a bit painful. What takes Joni so long to see what’s so obviously right in front of her?! And why is she so eager to avoid grown-up realities like work and the hard truths of relationships? Maybe I’m too old for young romance, but she read as really immature to me. The reader is also teased with whatever went wrong in the past and it’s not until the very end that the mystery is shared then resolved.

🎧 The audio reading is top notch. It's hard to believe that one narrator reads and brings both parts so well to life.

Read FRIENDS TO LOVERS for
💘 Friends to lovers, duh
🎶 Custom playlists, swoon
💍 Weddings of all sizes and destinations
🤫 Family traditions and dynamics
🌲 Pacific Northwest scenery and cabin home base

There’s something about a story set at weddings that always tempts the hopeless romantic in me. Sally Blakely more than delivered with this one.

I’ll admit I’m more of an enemies to lovers girl, but Friends to Lovers pulled fantastically at my heartstrings, and had me swooning and yearning at so many moments. I loved the chemistry between the leads, and the small moments you see in their journey that bring them more and more into each other’s hearts.

Oh, and this boy? So down bad. Even before he dropped declarations of love (which were SO GOOD, by the way) the longing was delicious. I’m always a sucker for a He Falls First—and even when Joni doesn’t see it, you do, with stunning clarity.

I really enjoyed this audio. Patti Murin did a lovely job conveying all of Joni’s emotion. Her voices for Ren and every side character were distinct enough that it was easy to follow who everyone was. I do sometimes struggle with timeline jumps on audio (especially given my propensity to multitask) but didn’t have an issue following the narrative here.

I will admit, some of the pop culture references, humor, and dialogue didn’t necessarily hit for me—but the full recipe worked well enough together that I left perfectly satiated.

PS - Love a book that gives me a playlist for the vibes too!

Thank you to HTP’s The Hive / Harlequin Audio for the ALC on NetGalley!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded 🆙

4.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ALC and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! It has similar vibes to People We Meet On Vacation, which I absolutely loved.

Ren and Joni are soulmates. You can tell how much he loves her throughout the whole book. Ren is such a good guy and so sweet. I really loved his character a lot.

I think that Sally Blakely did a really good job with the friends to lovers trope.

Adding in chapters about the past helped develop the story and show their relationship at all stages. I really appreciate when stories do this, and it is done well.

As for the audiobook narrator, I love Patti Murin! She did such a great job, and I always enjoy listening to her narrate.

I definitely recommend this book, especially if you love the friends to lovers trope!

I just finished Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely and here are my musings.

Best friends Joni and Ren have been friends since they were kids and even with a whole country between them, they make time for each other by being each other plus ones for weddings. It worked until that friendship line was crossed.. When her sister's wedding has her back at the summer home the 2 families share, she knows she has to fake a friendship with Ren but can they both get past the heartache to move forward?

This one was a slowwwww burrnnnnnnn. I have to be in the right mindset to tackle books like this and I was lucky to be in the mood for it because the whole story took its sweet time unravelling into the main point. Anyone who reads my reviews knows I hate miscommunication in tropes and this one was no exception because it really did drag out but the last part of the book when it is all cleared up. That’s the money baby. The emotion and depth made it all worth the wait but it was a close DNF. I am so glad I kept going because that was the past end of a book I have read in a very long time.

I listened to the audio as well and I loved the narration.

I can see why Emily Henry fans seemed to favor this book but I didn’t really see much of a comparison. The writing was solid and I did love the self discovery journey that Joni was on and honestly, that was the only thing that kept me invested until the last part.

I felt Ren was a solid MMC and I would have loved more of him.


Overall I am really glad I finished it and if you love

Childhood friends to lovers
Slow Burn
Miscommunication
Second chances
Forced Proximity…

This would be a win for you.

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @htpbooks for my gifted copy.

#bookalorian #lionessofliteracy #friendstolovers #booktropes #romancebook #romancereader #sallyblakely #colorsoftkindle #kindlereader #bookreview #bookishblog

Enjoyable but a bit predictable. A light summer read or a nice palate cleanser. Good chemistry between the characters but nothing special.