(3/5) I DNF'ed this book not because it was bad per se, I liked the characters (even the side characters) and the premise was fine. I just had the HARDEST time getting into it. Perhaps it's because I haven't read the first two books so I'm not invested in the Jansen brothers like I should be? I think this certainly could be a standalone, but there are so many side characters that appeared in previous books that I think I would have liked it more had I known their background. Some of the references made it feel a bit dated, and tbh I was hoping they would create an actual guide (but alas).

Read this if your fave tropes are: friends-to-lovers (which I swear I'm going to stop requesting on NG because very few of them have pulled it off for me), found family, and slooooooow burns.

I have loved each of Sophie Sullivan's books as they have released and I was SO excited to get my hands on this one to review! A Guide to Being Just Friends might just be my new favorite of Sullivan's titles. Wes and Hailey meet at a time in each of their lives when they aren't interested in dating new people and have pretty much given up on love. They hit it off as friends and determine to keep things platonic and just enjoy hanging out together and keeping things easy between them. However, things go awry, as these things tend to do. Sullivan writes such great romantic tension and it just drips off the page. You can literally feel chemistry between Wes and Hailey from their first meeting and watching them figure it out for themselves and then try to navigate around it is the most enjoyable journey. This is a book I was sad to see end.

I really enjoyed this final book in the Jansen brother series.

Wes was a well developed, protective character whose affection for his family was really lovely to see. Hailey was a wonderful, determined and resilient main character. I loved the slow burn of the friends to lovers story. It allowed for so much growth for both characters and I appreciated that.

The ending felt a little rushed and muddled but I liked the epilogue.

3.5 ⭐️

I was really excited to read A Guide to Being Just Friends, but it never fully drew me in and I was somewhat disappointed with it overall.

The ‘disastrous meet cute’ was not really a meet cute. Wes kind of losing it on Hailey because he’d mistaken her for a date who was standing him up was just not a great start for me. He did redeem himself from there and they developed a sweet friendship, but it was a friendship for the majority of the book. This is very slow-burn, which I don’t usually mind, except that there wasn’t a lot of romantic chemistry between them for a very long time and neither of them seemed to even develop romantic feelings until at least halfway through the book.

For me, this book seemed to be much more about Hailey’s salad restaurant business and her friendship with Wes than their romantic relationship. We spend a long time with Hailey growing her business, figuring out how to expand, and hanging out with Wes as friends; and then the romantic aspect of their relationship is shoved in at the end of the book. By the time they finally get together, the relationship consists mainly of a time jump a few months forward, and two back-to-back fights.

I’m also really not a fan of time jumps, especially in romance books. I generally find that I either feel like I’m missing relationship moments that happened during the jump or that the jump was very unnecessary because the relationship hasn’t progressed in the months of story that were skipped. And this was no exception. I could have forgiven one or two at the beginning to really establish the friends phase before moving forward a few months to kick off the romance, but we just kept jumping. I really didn’t need one chapter for November, then one for December, then skip ahead to February.

This was a cute read, but it definitely didn’t live up to my expectations and I needed more romance!

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

2.5 stars ☆ This is my first book by this author and didn’t know that this is a part of a series. The fact that I have the first two books of it (physically) and still haven’t read it yet lmao.

What I felt after reading this was that Wes and Hailey's relationship felt forced that I didn't even felt that they have a connection with each other and the miscommunication between them was unbearable to me.

The gen z references in here 🧍🏻‍♀️ I’m sorry, it’s just an ick for me if it’s in books but the only exception was that Hailey is a Swiftie 🫶🏻so I loved that for her.

This book was a great start to begin with this author's other books which I'll still need to read and I hope it's better than this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC !!

A Guide To Being Just Friends is book 3 of the Jansen Brothers series by author Sophie Sullivan. It is a standalone contemporary romance with a HEA.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
✔️ Slow burn
✔️ Friends to lovers
✔️ PG/Closed door romance
✔️ Found family
✔️ When Harry Met Sally vibes

Hailey has just moved into to town to start fresh and kick start her By The Cup salad shop. Wes is using dating apps to try to find someone he just likes.

They meet when Hailey goes to the bakery next door to her shop and Wes mistakenly accuses her of standing him up. When the mix up is cleared up they instantly connect and fall into an easy friendship.

Since neither is looking for a serious relationship, they come up with a guide (in infographic form) to being just friends to ensure it lasts. But as the months pass and they spend time together, non-platonic feelings bloom. But will they let themselves fall in love?

I really liked Hailey and Wes’ friendship. I loved the bonds between Wes and his brothers and how they wanted to give back and help their community. The friendships Hailey builds are also heartwarming.

Yet I wasn’t a fan of how stubbornly resistant Hailey was to receiving help or gifts from Wes, nor his mulishness about relationships. I think that the slow burn and closed door romance added a bit to my bangxiety*

I was an overall cute, fun and enjoyable read. I’m sure fans of the series will love this installment.

By the numbers quick review:
★ Hero: 👤👤👤👤
★ Heroine: 👤👤👤
★ Plot: 📚📚📚📚
★ Romance: 💕💕💕
★ Sexiness: 🔥
★ Performance: 👤👤👤👤
★ Overall: 3

* Bangxiety (noun coined by @ratetheromance): When you are 65% into a romance and the main characters haven’t had sex yet and you start to worry that you might be reading a “clean romance.”

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and Macmillan Audio for the free book.
This book was so much fun. I loved getting to know Hailey and Wes as individuals and as friends throughout this book. Their banter was fun, their growth realistic, and the relationship had great pacing. It was also fun to see Wes with his brothers and get a glimpse into their relationships from the previous books. I loved how Hailey advocated and set boundaries for herself. Might be my favorite part of the book. Sullivan shows how relationships can develop and work towards always being healthy with open communication, even when further intervention is needed. Highly recommend this one! If you’re interested in the audio, both characters have their own narrator. Their performances made these characters come alive and I loved the tension created by their performance when it comes to this relationship.

The Jansen Brothers trilogy is such a hit for me! Right from Ten Rules for Faking It, each brother was slightly introduced into the story. Wes and Hailey’s story was a thoroughly enjoyable read! She is such a sunny person, and she balances out Wes’s more straightforward approach. This story was more of a slow burn, which I appreciate in my romances! Overall, this was a very fun read!

What's better than a romcom where we start off with a name confusion and a bad impression?

Wes and Hailey fall into step as friends and navigate this relationship but are they meant to stay there or does it turn to more.

I loved the characters, the aspirations and assertiveness. It was a well written novel and worth the read.

I really liked this book. A few times I thought I must be getting close to the end but there were many twists and turns on Hailey & Wes’ friendship timeline. This book also had me wanting to eat a stacked salad, and then go get a brownie, just like Hailey! Thank you for the advanced copy!

Overall I enjoyed this, but honestly I feel like it could’ve been about 10 chapters shorter. The main motives of the two main characters is that she is very focused on her cafe and doesn’t want a relationship to distract her, especially after a recent bad break up, and he is completely against falling in love because of seeing his parents’ marriage become toxic and fall apart despite their love for each other. Their internal monologues were so focused on not wanting to be in a relationship and being determined to just be friends, that it felt like the story didn’t have room to breathe beyond that. That’s where my comment about removing 10 chapters comes in. It was just too drawn out before getting to the good stuff of them admitting feelings and the third act fight (which felt more like the fourth act out of five).

Again, overall I enjoyed the heart of the story but I would’ve enjoyed Wes and Hailey’s story so much more if it was a little more condensed.

This book was absolutely wonderful! I’m so glad I got to pick this up early, it is right up my alley. The characters were delightfully nerdy, and not in a gratuitous way. It was the perfect blend of cute and geeky. And on top of that, the banter was perfect. Absolutely no complaints- it kept me so entranced. I will say that I think the book could be a little shorter, but otherwise lovely.

This is a cute friends to lovers story. The banter between Hailey and Wes is hilarious. My only problem with the book is that it was overly long.

I started reading this series quite by accident last year — drawn to the cover, I pulled the second book, "How to Love Your Neighbor" off the library shelf and stayed up`until after four in the morning reading it. Then I quickly read the first book in the series that I'd missed. If I liked Grace and Noah, I loved Everly and Chris. And when I saw that this last book in the series would be Wes' story? Well, good things come to those who wait.

From his first scarce mention, Wes was my favorite Jensen brother. He was quiet. Smart. Nerdy, but good looking in an understated sort of way. A little bit uncomfortable in his own skin. He felt like someone I'd met before. So when I started "A Guide to Being Just Friends" I was hopeful it would be my favorite. And it was!

There are probably a few reasons for this. Sullivan is a wonderful world-builder and character creator. After falling in love along with Grace and Noah and Everly and Chris, I didn't have to say goodbye! These characters, as well as some of the other minor ones like Stacey, Morty and Tillie, all remain part of the story in book #3.

And Hailey and Wes are the perfect pair — even if they don't realize it yet. Wes is organized while Hailey scrambles to keep things straight. Wes keeps his emotions close to his chest while Hailey let's everyone around her know how much they're loved. Wes is incredibly business savvy while Hailey is just starting to wrap her mind around being a new business owner. But they're both loyal and protective of each other, as well as of themselves. What could go wrong?

This friends-to-lovers romance is full of laughter, plenty of swoon and lots of opposites-attract energy. You can read "A Guide to Being Just Friends" as a standalone novel, but you'll have more fun if you start from the beginning and get to know the whole Jensen clan.

This book is for anyone who loves:
❤️‍🔥 Contemporary romance
😍 Friends to lovers
🧲 Opposites Attract
🗣️ Multiple POV
🤓 Nerdy guys
🌴 Warm California locales
👑 A satisfying happily-ever-after

Note: As a trigger warning, please be aware that this text has a storyline that centers around divorce and dysfuntional family dynamics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Griffin for allowing me the chance to read and provide an honest review of this book! I've posted this review on GoodReads and will share to my social platforms, as well as Amazon and B&N listings, on release day.

A charming and delightful romance. Great beach read.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read: 01/05-01/09
Pub date: 01/17


💗Friends-to-lovers
💗3rd person dual POV
💗Meet-cute

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for a copy of this digital ARC! This is book number 3 in the Jansen Brothers series.

I really liked the characters in this romcom. Wes and Hailey are both so sweet, and so good together. I loved both Hailey’s determination and drive, and Wes’s passion for his work.
It was fun to re-visit the MCs from the previous books and see “where they are now”.

The story just moved too slowly for me, and seemed much longer than necessary. There was also too much miscommunication, of which I am not a big fan (please just communicate 🤪)

I am a big fan of a friends to lovers romance as I feel like we get more history and connection with the characters as they grow into a relationship. I thought the first introduction between the two characters was a it lacking but the build up afterwards was lovely. I thought Hailey's and Wes's relationships with the other characters in the book was stronger than their relationship but that is okay. I will say this book did make me want to read the first two in the series so I will be doing that! Overall it was a cute book and a quick read for me and I look forward to learning about the side characters that were present in this story in the other books of the series

4.5/5
No spice - fade to black

THIS IS THE SWEETEST ROMANCE NOVEL I HAVE READ IN A VERY LONG TIME! The last time I can remember feeling this way was when I was reading Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I mean GOOD LOOOORD I was squealing like a small child while reading this book. Sullivan's writing is beautiful. Her characters LEAPT off the page. I loved Hailey and Wes's dynamic so much and I enjoyed reading about their flaws. This made them feel relatable and tangible. The fade to black did not bother me one single bit because the romance was sweet like candy and the CHEMISTRY! WOW! I could actually feel it while reading Sullivan's words. You do not need to read the other two Jansen brothers books in order to understand this one. I didn't read them and had no issues following the story. If you are looking for a heart wrenching but sweet romance, this is the one for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

So I'll start with saying that I loved how to love your neighbor. But, I really didn't like this one unfortunately. Legit, first kiss at like 70% in....... !!! That's just way too long, there was so much miscommunication and difficulty between the two MCs. I couldnt stand Wes.. I get you had a hard childhood and parent problems but frig, your brothers grew up! I will say that I often have a hard time with friends to lovers, I just want more from them. I think if things happened earlier maybe it would be better. I was so annoyed by the end I just couldn't be bothered to read the epilogue.

Thank you netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This kind of story is my favorite, as far as rom coms are concerned! This book is a fun slow burn, with a fun take on the trajectory from strangers to loving someone. The main characters compliment each other well, and they're a delight to read on the page.

I will say I went into this not knowing it was part of a series--but I thoroughly enjoyed it on its own!