Welcome back Jansen Brothers! Three brothers ~ three books which probalby makes this the end of the line. Insert sad face.

I don’t know what it is about female leads in Sullivans books, but they are just so darn likable and somewhat relatable! The first book took place at a radio station, the second book took place at the main character's home and this one takes place at a salad shop that's next door to a dessert shop. I have always been a sucker for a good salad, and each of Hailey’s salad creations sounded like it would be a flavor bomb in your mouth! I also need the chocolate cake from Taras! Yeah there's a chance you will get hungry reading this.

Anyways this story was absolutely adorable and quite the page turner as we follow along with Hailey and Wes trying to avoid the BIG feelings they have for each other. If you enjoyed Ten Rules for Faking It and How to Love Your Neighbor, do not miss out on this one! It will have you once again swooning over the Jansen boys who are thankfully nothing like their father.

Initially I felt that the writing was a little clunky. I haven’t read either of the other books in the series or anything else by this author so I’m not sure if it’s just a writing style to get used to. The introduction to the leading man is 😬. For a few chapters, I wasn’t sure I would continue it. But I’m so glad I did! The leads in this novel had palpable chemistry. It is a friends to lovers/slow burn romance that works. Often, I feel like the slow burn trope is used only for the sake of prolonging the inevitable. A Guide to Being Just Friends did not feel that way. Despite the clunky start, Sullivan writes witty dialogue that often made me laugh out loud. The banter in general (between the leads, between the brothers) is great. Definitely check this out and push past the beginning.

Wes is a workaholic and totally set in his anti-live mindset. Hailey had a bad breakup, and while it didn't crush her, she throwing herself into her salad shop.
I liked the friendship they struck up. They were good for each other, her loosening him up a bit and him encouraging her with ideas. Then their attraction builds, and other dating opportunities pop up for each of them, making them realize they might want to be more than friends.
There were a lot of sweet moments in here. It was obvious that they were great together, but there were maybe too many bumps in the road.
Works as a standalone, but there are tons of appearances from Wes' brothers and their SOs, so reading the first two books would help.
I also felt like there were multiple plot points related to businesses and/or family that were brought up but didn't go anywhere, and I would have liked to know how those turned out instead of assuming they just worked out.

I didn't realize this book was part of a series and I look forward to going back and reading the first 2! This was a slow burn friend to lovers romance. I enjoyed watching their relationship and flew through this book in just 2 days. The fight and subsequent resolution at the end seemed a bit rushed and could've been flushed out more but I was rooting for Wes and Hailey to have their HEA.

I am certain that there are folks out there who love this book, and I mean NOTHING against the author or the story, but this one just wasn't for me. I found myself bored, and I ended up DNFing. However, I don't believe in hurting a book's rating because I DNFed as I didn't finish the book & don't have the entire picture. Therefore, I rated it 4 stars because what I read was written well, and it isn't the author's fault that the story just wasn't for me. I hope everyone who enjoys this author and this trope LOVES it!

This story is told in third person dual point of view from Hailey and Wes. It is the 3rd book in a series and while you can read it stand-alone, the characters from the first two books are present as friends and siblings to both characters and you probably will enjoy it more if you have read the prior stories.

Hailey has just opened a new small business, a salad shop, and I enjoyed watching her navigate the learning curve though she was a little stubborn at times about accepting help and she often took on too much by herself just to prove that she could. Wes is the oldest and last of 3 brothers that have moved to California to get out from under their father’s thumb both personally and in business though it doesn’t stop his trying to control them from New York. Both she and Wes had complicated family issues that I found both enjoyable and frustrating as they both put up obstacles in their relationship as a result.

This is the type of friends-to-lovers story that I typically enjoy, where we get the meet cute, the gradual build of friendship then the choice to make it more. However, it suffered a little on the timeline for me, jumping months between chapters to indicate the passage of time while I felt like the relationship could have been built on page without the jumps. I thought that Hailey had a lot of character development over the course of the story going from doing everything by herself to accepting help from friends who had good intentions while Wes seemed to jump through hoops then run into road blocks and grovel without really understanding why he was apologizing which only meant that it happened again. I was also not satisfied with the way the Jansen brothers family issues were left at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy provided for an honest review.

This book was very much focused on the “friends” portion of the title. I’m not typically a friends to lovers guru unless it is done perfectly so this one already started out to not really be my cup of tea though I have been liking friends to lovers more and more.

I enjoyed the beginning and specifically how Wes and Hailey became friends. However, I felt like most of the book then ended up being a story about their friendship which was cute but I feel it took way too long to get to the romance portion of the romance. Because of that, I didn’t feel that the romantic part of their relationship was very well established.

I did like the family and friend group and how welcoming they were to Hailey. I also really want to eat at that little salad shop!

Spice: 🌶/5 (closed door but strong references)

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this electronic of the book for review.

Read this if you like:
🥗 Craving a salad
🥗 The Friend Zone
🥗 A Supportive Family

This book started the off great. Hailey and Wes move into a new town and are drawn together. They become great friends (maybe start to feel a bit more) but they don't want to wreck what they have by having a relationship. As they both have been hurt in the past they view a relationship as being very negative. By the end of the book it fell short for me as the negativity got to be too much and was uninterested in finishing the book.

Such a sweet book. It felt different from other rom-com books in that i felt a lot of thought went into feelings and expressions of love. It was fun and a great pleasure to read.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a heartfelt rom-com about two unexpected people becoming friends and then relaxing they have feelings for one another.
The last book in the series but you don’t need to read any of the priors to follow the story.
I enjoyed that it read a light hearted and quick read.

As a huge fan of Sophie Sullivan, I was really looking forward to this book and hoping it measured up to her previous novel's. Overall I did like both Wes and Hailey but found so many moments to be "cringe.'
Hailey always assuming the opposite of what Wes is so obviously meaning and vice versa. It feels like Sophie was really reaching for filler content in some conversations. I also found it frustrating Hailey was constantly punishing Wes, for doing even the simplest things for her. I felt like he could never do any thing right, in her eyes.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was fine. But I'm tired of fine.

I will admit that I don't love Friends to Lovers. Especially, if they are new friends like in this case.

I never bought their romance, I barely bought their friendship.

Things were incredibly repetitive and there was no follow-through on several of the subplots.

I enjoyed the side characters, especially Leo!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this book, but really struggled to connect with the characters from the very beginning. For some reason the book felt distant for me.

I'm at about 80% as I write this review, but I don't see the ending changing my opinion by much so I'm writing this now. I've been listening to the audiobook and reading the ebook back and forth as NetGalley and the publishers granted me both.

They're cute, just not super memorable for me. I like the MMC, the FMC not as much. It's a little *tooo* contemporary at points. Why are we talking about iPhones, TikTok, etc. The salad bar thing was a little funny too. And I do dislike the rich boy x poor girl where the girl is aggressively against any help or minor favors. It's hard to generalize my thought on it, but specifically here her business is just starting and she's barely getting by but refuses to let him pay for a single salad? "Money and business ruins friendships!" as he just wants to pay for his meal and she's the one refusing money because he's rich.

I didn't read the other books in the series but it didn't leave me confused, and honestly the mentions of previous couples are so minor I wouldn't say there's any spoilers at risk for reading the series out of order.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publishers, for the ebook and audiobook ARCs of this book.

I really enjoyed this one. It was so heartwarming. Wes was swoon worthy for sure and just so much made me smile. Definitely check it out!

No spoilers review!
This was was extremely fluffy, funny and lighthearted! Everything you need in a cute romance to make you swoon.
Would recommend to anyone in the mood for a great light read.

I had to read the first two books in this series in order to properly review it (A Guide to Being Just Friends is the third Jansen Brothers story). The series overall is excellent, and I enjoyed Hailey and Wes' love story so much!

First of all, Hailey might be on to something with her boutique salad venture! Sophie Sullivan does an excellent job of setting up her characters and has a knack for making them interesting but relatable. Wes Janzen was set up in his brothers books, but now we get an up close and personal look at the eldest Jansen bro. He and Hailey start off on the absolute wrong foot, but recover to friendship status seamlessly. From there we are taken on a bumpy friends to lovers journey - and I loved every moment!

Let’s start by discussing the main characters: Hailey and Wes(ley). I think the couple had some chemistry; it isn’t as extraordinary as I've seen in other books, but it was still enough for me to want them to get together. I think the way that the friends-to-lovers trope unfolds throughout that story was remarkably realistic by the way Hailey wouldn't want to express their feelings for fear that it would ruin everything. I think the characters were well-developed and loveable. I genuinely felt like I knew them by the end of the book, until the ending. I didn't like the way the story ended. I felt like it was really out of character for Wes. There were a couple of Taylor Swift references which definitely won some points from me. I think the pacing was well, and the events did an undoubtedly excellent job of keeping me hooked on the story and wondering what was going to happen next. This book is the third in the series (I will admit I haven’t read any of the other ones,) but I was very easily capable to follow the story due to the fact that they can be all read as stand-alone.

In conclusion, this was a solid four-star read. It was light (with enough emotional heaviness) and enjoyable. This one is for rom-com lovers!

This is a sweet fun rom-com that was a joy to read. It's a wonderful romance full of humor and wonderful characters.
I received a complimentary copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

NetGalley Review — my rating ⭐️/5
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Girl starts over in a new town. Boy accidentally calls girl wrong name after thinking she’s standing him up on a blind date. Girl opens restaurant and delivers food to boy’s work. Boy realizes he’s wrong and feels dumb. Girl and boy become friends. Girl and boy eventually fall in love. *fade to black*
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A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan is the 3rd in the Jansen Brothers Series. You do not need to read the others to understand this one.
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If you like fade to black friends-to-lovers romances where there’s more description than dialogue, this one is for you. As you can see, I do not go for that. There wasn’t even sexy bits to balance out my boredom.
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Don’t recommend (obviously) but you do you. Pub date is just a week away — 1/17/23
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Thanks to St Martins Press for the ARC!
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#netgalley