Nope. It’s not over yet. I refuse to believe it. We may have seen the last Jansen brother paired up, but I still have so many questions; about their family, about San Verde, about the cast of characters that have loved and supported the Jansen couples all the way through. I’m also kicking myself for not having gone back and read that first book like I promised myself I would. I think it’s safe to say that this book still makes perfect sense without it, but I also think I was correct in my assessment of the previous book that I was missing some context around the dynamics between the brothers and their relationships without that first installment. I really liked Hailey and Wes. They’re adorable, they’re awkward, they’re emotionally wounded, yet they’re the missing pieces that fit each other’s puzzles. It was interesting to me that one of the big lessons of this book was a similar message to what I took away from the previous one: asking for and accepting help is a strength, not a weakness. Though, this one upped the ante by including: opening your heart and life to love, while scary, is also a strength. I really enjoyed this book. I laughed and I learned. I just feel like the Jansen family story isn’t finished being told yet.
I received a complimentary advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

This book was so much fun! I loved every minute of Wes and Hallie's relationship. Their first meeting was hysterical and there were so many more laugh out loud moments. I loved that Hailey was such a strong character. While this is the third story about the Jansen brothers, the book can be read alone. I do recommend the other books in the series too! My only criticism is that the ending seemed a little rushed. It might be that I was sad to see the story end. I will definitely watch for more books by this author in the future. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

After meeting the Jansen brothers in Noah and Grace’s story, I was excited to meet Wes and Hailey here in A Guide to Being Just Friends.

Both of these characters are intriguing. Hailey and Wes both come to their friendship with baggage and wounds from the past. This leads them to the idea that they can only be friends. Their journey to a developing friendship and growing connections was sweet and endearing.

I enjoyed getting to know both characters and seeing how knowing each other brought about their personal growth. Wes and Hailey were excellent offsets for each other. Add in small, but impactful secondary cast and this is a well written read.

Ms Sullivan is a newer to me author who is moving to my “must read” list and I am curious about going back to read Chris and Everly’s story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this good read. It was quite fun to read right from the start. It was easy to read and the story was slow burn to make it more realistic. I liked the length of the book as it did not drag and make it boring to read. If you like a Happily ever after book, this is for you. Well, I do not think I have read one yet that end broken and horrible...hahha. I will read the more from this author as they come. Thanks

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A GUIDE TO BEING BEST FRIENDS (Or: A Guide To Starting a Business With Zero Marketing Skills)

I’ll preface my review with this: if NetGalley had labeled this as part of a series (it’s the third installment in the Jansen Brothers series), I wouldn’t have requested the ARC. But since other reviewers said it can be read as a standalone, I decided to give it a shot.

In my opinion, you CAN read this book as a standalone, but I wouldn’t recommend it. This story relies heavily on emotional attachments the reader has to these characters from previous books, which means if you haven’t read them, you’ll be dealing with a huge cast of characters you’re expected to root for at the outset without having any meaningful reasons why. And unfortunately there’s very little substance in this book that will make you care about them otherwise.

What this book has going for it: it’s cute, fluffy, and breezy. It requires zero brainpower to read it (take that as you will). But that lack of depth is also really frustrating, and I almost DNFed it several times. The characters are forgettable and there is hardly any plot to speak of.

This book is described as a slow-burn romance, but the love story is largely obscured by talk of business and real estate and community activities involving the many side characters. I wanted more scenes featuring the love interests hanging out and bonding over movies and video games (which only get a passing reference most of the time) instead of talking marketing and investments and community center stuff. (While we’re at it, Hailey’s not the most adept businesswoman—no website or business cards or a single employee [in her takeout restaurant!!!]—yet she gets upset when people try to help her out. Like, how did she really think that was going to go?)

I’d recommend this for anyone who has already read and enjoyed the first two books, and possibly for readers of chick lit and clean romance. But for me, the writing was just too bland/contrived/derivative for me to care enough to want to go back and read the other books in the series.

Hailey Sharp has moved to San Verde to be closer to her cousin and start her own business. By the Cup is salad on the go. She figured that people in California are eating healthy so she thought this would be the perfect fit. She is also getting over a break-up that has left her wanting to be independent. Wes Jansen has followed his younger brothers to San Verde. They have found their niche. Their grandparents drilled into that with great wealth comes community responsibility. Wes has decided to use apps to meet women only the last one went haywire. The barista wrote Hayden not Hailey. When the confrontation happen, both thought the others were crazy. Little did they know that the next day they would actually meet in person. So begins the Guide to Being Just Friends. They are total opposites of each other, yet they feel so comfortable around each other. They value the friendship. Till a kiss happens and everything changes. Hailey has no problem saying the words but Wes goes crazy. It takes a village to get these two back to each other. A fun read!

Such a sweet rom-com. Hailey has fought for herself every step of the way determined to never depend on anyone else again. Wes has sworn off love forever. The two of them accidentally meet and decide to be friends. With their friendship taking flight their stories of dates and family are sure to make you laugh out loud. I have not read the other two books in the series, but I didn’t feel lost at all. A great book to cuddle up wit, just don’t plan on doing anything else until you’ve reached the last page.

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan was a lovely read! In this dual-POV contemporary romance, our main characters are Hailey Sharp, the plucky, optimistic and hardworking owner of By the Cup, a to-go salad shop, and Wes Jansen, nerdy, reserved, (kinda) secret billionaire who, seconds into meeting her, accuses Hailey of not being herself. He's there for an online date, which Hailey slightly resembles, and he's convinced that she's his date but is trying to flee--which she isn't, making sweet baby angel Wes look like a total jackass. You know, a perfect meet cute.

They meet again and realize that they have things in common and good chemistry, so they decide that they should be friends, and take any pressure for more off the table...that way they can be friends with no expectations. They jokingly make a "Guide to Being Just Friends," which they regularly refer and add to along their road to becoming actual best friends--even when they can't see that they're each other's besties, we know it!

What follows is a cute love story peppered with pop-culture references and enough graphic depictions of food that you'll be salivating for a salad and chocolate cake--and enough drama to keep you engrossed while maintaining relatively low stakes. Wes' brothers and their girlfriends take to Hailey, because let's face it, she's sunshine personified and (most) everyone loves her. Hailey is fiercely proud and independent, which I love, but there were moments that I wanted to scream at her. Girl, let this man spoil you if he wants to!

The only real complaint that I have is that I wish a particular character (which I won't name because SPOILERS!) had gotten theirs--either a punch in the face, or realizing what an idiot they were, or, preferably, both.

I'll be honest: I requested this book via NetGalley because of the title and cover, and only after starting the book did I realize that it's actually part of a pseudo-series. I say pseudo because it doesn't seem like these books have to be read in a specific order, but so far the "Jansen Brothers" books have each apparently featured one of the Jansen brothers and their love story. This book definitely made me want to go back and read more of Sophie Sullivan's work, because I know it will have me high-pitched squealing just as much as this story did.

I tend to always be a fiend for slowburns and how the tension between the main characters are always astronomical but sadly, this book did not give what I expected it to give. Don’t get me wrong, it was an semi-enjoyable read, but the main characters had an ounce of chemistry and that was after 70% of the book.

The communication— or lack thereof was horrible. And I understand people not believing or even wanting marriage and love and kids, but for him to string her along to just say something along the lines of ‘you knew since the beginning I didn’t want that’ is crazy. What was the whole point of him going out of his way to do these gestures for him to not even see a future with her. And the groveling was not enough, simply NOT enough.

(thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review)

I love the friends to lovers trope, and Hailey and Wes definitely had that, although it was a slow burn. This was a very fun, swoonworthy, and delightful read.

This book was the best friends to lovers story. So cute.

You meet Hailey. A hard working, loves her friends & job kinda gal. But she has a bad history with love & the wrong guys. So she’s on a no dating hiatus right now. She’s focusing on her salad shop.

Wes, one of a few brothers. He loves his job too. He’s a handsome rich hard working guy. He also has some bad luck with dating & dating apps.

One day Hailey & Wes meet in the cafe next to her salad shop. But it wasn’t the best meeting. Poor Wes thought she was someone else. He makes an ass out of himself but can he fix it with this new girl he seems to like?

Hailey & Wes start to make a “guide to being just friends”. Can they stay to the guide? Or will feelings evolve? You have to read to find out!

This is the 3rd book in this series. But can totally be read as a stand alone. I will definitely be checking out the other two books!

So if you love friends to lovers, a little bit of grumpy/sunshine, rom coms, & books you can’t put down! This is the book for you!

Sophie Sullivan is a master at creating a slow burn, clean romance. While this wasn't my favourite of the trilogy, I appreciated the time taken to build Wes & Hailey's relationship so that the reader feels invested in their story.

As a mostly character-based story, you get to know the characters very well. Hailey's strong personality shines through with her desire to be independent and focus on the business-side of things. And Wes's process of working through his childhood experiences, how that shaped the path he is on now, and reflect on how that impacts his life now was a key element of this story. Recognizing each other's challenges, they developed such a supportive foundation based on mutual care, which made the build-up all the sweeter.

What I didn't love about it was the slow burn eventually got a bit tiresome and I found myself putting the book down more frequently between reading sessions because I was getting a bit bored. As well, Hailey is a stubborn character, while admirable, got me frustrated at various points in the story.

Overall, as I think this is the last book in the trilogy, I loved how all the supporting characters from previous books were included, so we could see them all again one more time before the end and check-in on how their relationships are going.

You definitely need to read the other books in this trilogy before reading this one, for full enjoyment of the storyline and an understanding of the huge cast of supporting characters, so be sure to keep that in mind.

Hailey Sharp uprooted and changed her life; she recently opened a cool salad ship called Get By the Cup and her only focus is to live the life she wants to live. Wes Jansen, the oldest of the Jansen brothers is a serial first dater with no desire to settle down due to what he saw in his parents’ relationship. After an off putting meeting at Tara’s bakery, they didn’t expect to see eachother again so soon. When he apologizes, the two become fast friends and that’s all they’ll ever be because they both don’t want anything else... right?

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a fun, really cute slow burn rom com. I love Sophie’s writing and appreciate the multiple POV as it kept the story entertaining the entire book, it also made the slow burn so angsty. The characters in this series are awesome and the romances in each book were so well written; this one didn’t disappoint. I liked Wes and Hailey as individuals and together and the focus on friendship above everything. I enjoyed how everything concluded although, I’m sad this series has come to an end.

Thank you netgalley and St. Martin's Press
Pub Date: January 17, 2023.

I enjoyed this meet cute story between Hailey and Wes. I liked the main characters and the side characters, but would get confused at times as who was who as there quite a few side characters throughout the book. I also didn’t realize that this was a trilogy, but didn’t feel like I missed much from the first 2 books as the relationships from the first 2 were also in this book.

Hailey and Wes had a meet cute and agreed to be friends and come up with a guide on how to be friends. I felt the characters were real especially Wes’ character as they navigate being friends and building their friendship / relationship. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Griffen for the chance to read A Guide to Being Just Friends in exchange for my honest review.
•
She did it again, Sophie Sullivan wrote another amazing book! I am absolutely in love with the Jensen Brothers series and was excited to get to read this one. Getting to get inside of the last brother's head was amazing. It was the perfect culmination of the series, though I'm not ready for it to be over. In this third and final book, Wes finally moves to California to be with his brothers. He gets right to work working for Squishy Cat Industries. He also gets right to meeting people. Enter Hailey, a woman who also just moved into the area too. She recently opened up her salad shop, By The Cup, right next door to the coffee shop Wes frequents. They meet and are the perfect friends, that's all they can be...unless...
•
Wes was a great character! I liked the way he thought and acted, he felt 100% real. You can tell by the way his character acts that he is the oldest of the three. This fact directly impacts the way he acts, and how he feels about love. I can't express this enough, his actions make perfect sense. Hailey was also an amazing character, I really enjoyed her. Likable characters only in this book. Her past also worked great for driving her actions. Sullivan does a great job of creating well-rounded, real-feeling characters.
•
Speaking of characters, we get to see all the characters from the last two books! So while you can technically read this as a standalone, the connections to the others make it that much better. I am really sad to say goodbye to ALL the characters. Hopefully, Sullivan decides to write about the Jensen sister. Nudge Nudge.
•
Do yourself a favor, and pick up this series! Like right now. It delivers on all you could ask for. Read this one last for the best Epilogue ever!

Super cute meet-cute with an interesting hook. I didn't realize this was the third in a trilogy when I started it, but didn't feel like I was missing any major information in this story. But it's a little heavy handed in mentioning the "love stories" of the other brothers scattered throughout this book. I might visit them eventually, but felt satisfied in this story with a fairly innocuous romance side - more of a slow burn from friends to more, nothing terribly overt. I realize that there has to be some kind of obstacle to bring interest to the story for our heroes and heroines to overcome and find each other, but their little hang-ups really got under my skin for some reason.

Still a fun read with a plenty of tie-ins to the rest of the Wes's family, so I'm sure readers of the past books will enjoy seeing them again.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for the advance audio book via NetGalley!

2.75⭐

I love books that incorporate food, and our main female character owns a start-up salad restaurant. I thought the meet cute in this book was adorable and fun. However, things started to get a little boring for me as I continued reading. For one, I felt like there were too many different characters to keep up with, which is probably where reading the previous books in the series comes in handy (but it is not mandatory since all of the books can be read as standalones.) I am not a big fan of slow burns, but when done right, they can be a very immersive experience. However, with A Guide to Being Just Friends, I felt like things were too slow, and mid book things felt more like filler. I also wish we would have gotten an actual step by step guide to "Being Just Friends". This is the case of an excellent premise, fun tropes, but the execution was not the most effective.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sophie Sullivan for sharing a digital advanced reader copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

Expected Release Date is January 17, 2023.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5149474989
Storygraph Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/9a77e3bd-f1f9-4e65-9c57-bdecaed03e2f?redirect=true

When I read book 2, I didn't realize this was a series and it looks like I missed book 1 (need to remedy that!). I think this series needs 1 more book - we need to find out what happens with the law suit with their dad and Ari needs someone. Anyway, this was such a sweet friends to lovers book! I love slow build romances, especially when the guy needs to figure things out :) Hailey and Wes are wonderful together and balance each other perfectly.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher.

This was sloow. It did have some cute moments. I loved their meet cute, cooking dates, and their friendship, especially how they had each other to help with their trauma. There were too many side characters and sadly I started losing interest towards the middle. The fact that this girl opened a business with absolutely no experience and kept fighting help got a little irritating at one point. She didn’t even have business cards. The 3rd act break up was not my favorite.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Hailey and Wes. From their first meet to the final pages, their story drew me in. I loved the way their friendship grew and how it eventually became more. Overall the story is fun and will give you the feels. I definitely recommend this book.