A fun and heartwarming friends-to-romance romantic comedy with plenty of wonderful (and occasionally annoying) characters - both main and secondary, lots of friendships, and trying to run a successful independent business while still trying to figure things out. It's actually the third book in the series, but it stands alone with no problems.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

Just published in January this is a new must read for all romance readers! If you like "friends first" tropes this is for you!

I love a standalone romance story that has family members that arch across each book. The Jansen brothers were so fun to read about if you haven't read the first two books you will want to read them just to learn more about Noah and Chris. This story really embraces the support of family and how tight you can be with people who really know you and what makes you tick, and those people who you trust and let see your true self can get to love exactly who you are.

The best part of this story for me was the strong female friendships with Haliey while she opened her own business. I adored the way the other women embraced her and helped her feel part of the community. I loved the business aspects between the Jansen brothers as well. All these young people so deeply involved in the business world was a fresh new line of plot for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC I will be recommending this one highly!

The life that Hailey had in NY wasn’t making her happy so she has recently moved to town and is focused on the friendships she has made and making her salad business a success. After her last relationship she isn’t looking for love so when Wes suggests a friendship after their less than ideal first meeting she agrees.

Wes has seen and experienced the negative side of love and knows what he doesn’t want. The friendship he forges with Hailey is exactly what he needs especially since she isn’t who he would expect to be his life partner until he starts to wonder if she is exactly who he has been looking for.

A heartwarming romance with a mix of turmoil and humor as Hailey and Wes realize where true happiness lies. Not only are they relatable characters but the secondary characters only make the story better.

This is the third book in the series and although I loved the other two, this is my favorite. This book dealt with issues so realistically that I felt like I was in the room with the characters. Add to that a Harry Met Sally theme and you have a winner in my opinion. I adore heroes that are awkward because you love them and want to help them, but they always mess up so badly. This book started with the best meet-cute I've read in a long time. Mistaken identity with attitude. Wes Jansen is very unsuccessful with first dates via app, but this is the first time his date pretends they don't have a date while looking at him. Hailey Sharp doesn't have time for an arrogant although gorgeous jerk who insults her out of the blue when she's just picking up a coffee. After much, discussion with family, Wes realizes he owes Hailey an apology. The easiest way to do that for him is to help Hailey with her new store website. Wes' offer is one of the best things Hailey could ask for, since she just opened her salad By The Cup shop and she's pouring all her energy into becoming a success, but her marketing is lacking. This is the beginning of a great friendship, and all goes according to each of their plans for awhile, but then feelings tend to get in the way. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, St Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Tropes:
Best Friends to Lovers
Oblivious to Love
Jealousy
Only Eyes for Them

I have really been putting off this review because I have really conflicting feelings about it. I really enjoyed the story of this book. I LOVED Wes’s character specifically and I really enjoyed the friendship he had with Hailey. They were too cute and their banter was so fun to read. I even loved the idea of the salad shop because there is nothing like that where I live and I just adore salads. Here’s where I’m conflicted. There were just too many moments where I was confused or found my self questioning things. Not major things but minor things. I stopped writing them down at some point because I didn’t want to keep flipping between the app and my notes. There were a few points where there was quoted text and it doesn’t indicate who was saying it and I found myself flipping to the beginning of the conversation to figure it out but it just said “she said.” Well, the conversation was between 2 girls so I was still lost. Or, I did know how to picture characters because I didn’t feel like we got a whole lot of character descriptions. The story was super cute and I really enjoyed the plot and subplot but I wish there had been more to describe it so I could’ve visualized it as I read it. That was the biggest issue I had with it.

I didn't realize this was part of a series, as I only read the first book, but this was still great as a standalone. This book was super sweet and uplifting and romantic. Though I didn't always love Hailey's character, I fell for Wes immediately. It was great to read a little about all the Jansen brothers again. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I have read Sophie Sullivan’s Ten Rules for Faking It and I loved the social anxiety representation that brought to the romcom world. Did I think it was the best written novel of all time? No. And that is the same case with this book, the third entry into the Jansen Brother’s universe. Walking away from this novel, I can’t help but wish there was more to it.

I’ll admit, it took me a large chunk of the novel to get invested in the story itself. And there was one reason for that: the story execution. I do believe the greatest weakness of this story was the execution. The synopsis set up this fun concept, similar to Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, and I was excited to see another similar take on that friends-to-lovers trope. However, this novel fell short because the writing style couldn’t support the plotting or characterization. At multiple points, I found myself writing notes about how the story was being told in one mode: telling, not showing. It made for a clunky and unengaging read, but it also prevented the reader from getting lost in the story and connecting with the characters.

Unfortunately, the plot was predictable. Not only did it follow the standard romcom format (that third act breakup is not something I love to see), but the plot didn’t add anything else to the friends-to-lovers trope, either. I was hoping to see a fresher take on the trope as a whole, with all of the tension and slow-burn action that comes with it. Instead, it was a standard romcom novel with the usual themes of “best friends make for the best romantic partners,” and “you need to learn to let go and enjoy the fall.”

This is a smaller note, but I was surprised as to how little the “guide” had to do with the overall plot. It was, more or less, a passing joke between Hailey and Wes. With that guide being a large part of the novel title, I wish it had a bigger role in the plot. It would have been cute to see Hailey and Wes teasing each other about the “rules” they had created to keep their relationship in the friend zone.

Overall, this was a standard romcom entry into the adult contemporary genre. I found myself longing for the writing style to provide the reader with further emotional depth to help me connect with the story and the plights of the characters. Instead, the story plodded along and it wasn’t the romcom this reader was hoping for.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a friends to lovers story of the 3rd Jansen brother, Wes, and spunky salad shop owner, Hailey.

Even though they each feel attraction to the other they decide to start as friends and soon become inseparable. But soon their feelings deepen and Wes has to decide if he is open to a relationship after watching his parent's marriage fall apart as a kid.

The story was entertaining but it didn't hold me captive. I wasn't anxious to get back to it but I did want to see how the story ended up, especially having read the other books in the series. Overall, it was cute but not super memorable.

I loved watching how Hailey and Wes’s story developed through out this book, it was so cute. Not only did they have a cute/weird first meeting they grew together as friends. You could tell as they got to know each they just got closer until them being together was visible to everyone except themselves. I also loved how even before they were a couple they were talking about boundaries and also other limits. I am glad that they were able to work through their own issues and could acknowledge their faults and things they have to work on.

Review: 3.5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley & St Martin's Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is apparently part of a series and touches on the final Jansen Brother and can be read on its own.

Hailey and Wes had a disastrous first meeting with a funny case of mistaken identity. Their second meeting is no less humorous when Wes's two brothers found out and added to it. The story happens in a span of a year plus with Wes and Hailey starting out as complete strangers to close friends and eventually, lovers.

The interactions between them are cute and quirky and the wonderful side characters add to the story. The dual POV makes it an easy read as you get to see both characters' thoughts as they first deny their feelings with the others teasing them. I also love that we got to peek into the other Jansen brothers' relationships as they work towards their HEA. I love that the author tied up loose ends!

My downside to this story is I didn't feel any connection with any of the characters. The characters were very surface level and it lacked substance that made me fall in love with the characters. The time jump in between made it slightly confusing to read as I could not keep track of the duration of time it took the characters to finally admit their feelings (trust me, it was definitely a long slow burn) but I do admit that it gives time for more friendships to form.

If you are looking for a light, fluffy, fun rom-com to read, A Guide to Being Just Friends will check all your boxes!

This was a cute read! I love slow burn romance and this one I enjoyed. I hadn’t read the other 2 books of the series but still was able to enjoy this one.

I didn't realize this was the third book in the Jansen Brothers trilogy, but I loved book two so it was safe to say I would love this one too. And, I did. Wes and Hailey's story was a fun jaunt through friends trying to fight the feelings they develop for each other. The classic friends-to-lovers trope. I think I liked book 2 just a little bit more, and now I am determined to read book 1 since I haven't read that one yet. Thank you, NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the eARC. Sophie Sullivan is now becoming a go-to author for me

I am usually such a stickler for reading book series in order. I will sometimes relax this for romance books - mostly because I tend not to realize that certain books are part of series so I have been forced into relaxing my rule. I kid of course. Sort of.

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan was a real treat to get through. I loved getting to know each of our main characters, Wes and Hailey, and their past difficulties that have caused them to become who they are. Heartbreak has caused them both to change how they approach friendships and relationships…for better or worse. While Wes believes that it’s silly to place yourself in a situation where you can fall in love with someone, Hailey has become more vigilant of her feelings and others’ intentions.

I think A Guide to Being Just Friends did a fantastic job of weaving the story of two hurt people learning to fall into a friendship and then love. I honestly really appreciate how much we got to see Wes and Hailey in their friendship stage. It is definitely not something we get to read about often in a book - yes, their attraction is described, but over all of it we see a real amount of care for each other. That was lovely to read.

Now, I need to let my spicy romance readers know this - there are no spicy scenes in this book. I know, I know. We have been spoiled with the spicy-ness of all the romance novels out there. Trust me, I am one of those readers! I have never liked the “fade-to-black” scenes in books, even before spicy book-tok was a thing. However, I was able to forgive this when the rest of the book is such a treat on the reader’s feelings.

So, while I do not recommend this book for the hardcore spicy-romance readers of the world, I do recommend this beautiful read to those who love the act of falling in love in those romance novels. If you love rom-coms, you’re going to love ​A Guide to Being Just Friends.

LOVED this one! Such a fun read. It has everything from friendship, small business feels, "book club" vibes, and a slow-burn romance.

Thank you #netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!

I needed more chemistry, and I think I felt the same way about the other book in this series that I happened to read.

This book is like a warm hug. So sweet and tender hearted, I think a lot of people will love this book especially if they are a fan of the slow burn. Plus friends to lovers is always top tier

I love how sweet Sophie's books are. I love getting a peak at the other couples. While I liked this one, I think Chris and everly are still my fave. Wes really needed to learn how to communicate /accept feelings. I don't usually read closed doors but I really enjoyed all the build up and how hailey makes a home for herself. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed with all the main conflict being in the final 20%, but overall a good book! Big thanks to NetGalley for the Audio ARC. it was good!

Review posted to goodreads, bookbub and Amazon!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the chance to read this ARC. I am familiar with the Jansen Brothers and this book did not disappoint. I listened to it as an audiobook and loved the narrators voices! This book hooked me from the first page and I couldn't finish it soon enough. If you've read the other two books in the series, you definitely want to read this one too! If you haven't, you could read this as a standalone, but the entire series is worth the time.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book really fell flat for me. It was a slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance. I had to put it down about 40% through. The only reason I finished it was that the audiobook was finally released. The characters had very little chemistry. I found that their development was little to none. Haley was whiny and too presumptuous. I don't understand why she wouldn't take any of the help that Wes was offering her. Wes's outlook on marriage/relationships made no sense.

The only saving grace that made this 2 stars was the side characters in the salad shop. Overall, I would not highly recommend it, but as always suggest readers form their own opinions.

I appreciate receiving early access to review this book!

This was an amazing conclusion to the stories of the lovely Jansen Brothers!

Sophie Sullivan did a wonderful job building this universe. Leaving Wes's story for less was definitely the move because the other supporting characters that were already part of the "crew" were great for getting the main characters to acknowledge their feelings. Also, I really enjoyed Hayley's character! She was lovely and I really felt her struggles were well balanced with Wes's flaws, so when they came to blows it made sense how things came to that boiling point, but the resolution also wasn't unreasonable to the point of being unbelievable. Their struggles as a couple was deeply grounded in their character flaws, and that made the story that much more real. Overall, I'm so happy with this book and definitely recommend this trilogy if you are looking for a feel-good couple of reads with funny and entertaining characters that take you through realistic struggles of what it's like being a human that has friendships and romantic relationships.

Looking forward to reading more from Sophie Sullivan! :D