I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the story of Hailey needing to rebuild herself in a new, smaller city. She opens a salad shop and is bound and determined to succeed on her own. She meets Wes unexpectedly and they create an odd friendship. This is a HEA, so you can assume what happens early on in the book, but getting to know Haily, Wes and their friends and family is very enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Sophie Sullivan for allowing me to read this book in advance.

I want to start this off by saying I had no clue this was part of a series, or I definitely would not have requested it. I wish that was made clear. I also don’t love most books written in third person, and this really was no exception. The main characters felt very immature. Way too many side characters. Just overall didn’t care for this one, I really wished I did!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

*The book description didn’t mention that this was #3 in a series. I can’t just jump into the middle of a series so I looked at the reviews for all three books. I particularly noticed the reviews for this book and I can’t handle friends to lovers books where they fight and miscommunicate as soon as they start seeing each other romantically. So, I’m going to pass on reading and reviewing because I can already tell it will be a 2 star review (max).

Really cute romcom, from the meet cute to the HEA,, I enjoyed this story. It is nice to see all three brothers happy, but a few loose ends remained with their father and Wes’s video game design. I would like to have seen both those issues resolved too.

Beautiful cover for a fantastic book. Thank you for this book and these characters. I can’t wait to read another.

Jansen brother number 3 is here! Wes is the level-headed, analytical, slightly broody of the three, and he's in town to help grow the Jansen brother business. When he shows up for an arranged first date with a girl online, he mistakes Hailey to be the woman he's waiting for. Rather, he was stood up. Wes swears off dating, but his brothers ordered salads from Hailey's new salad shop, and the two cross paths again. Wes can't help himself but to offer advice to help Hailey's new business, and the two of them strike an unlikely friendship. However, neither know that the other is developing feelings for one another. Will they get in their own ways or give love a shot?
**
This classic Harry Meets Sally friends-to-lovers is a light, cute, and sweet romance.

I liked both Wes and Hailey as individuals. Wes slowly works through his own lingering trauma from working under his dad, and Hailey is coping from a bad previous relationship. I also appreciated how realistic Hailey's business is described. She doesn't go from "new business owner" to "booming success" overnight. With some help from Wes, she creates a smarter business model and is successful enough to sustain herself and even hire some employees.

Wes and Hailey are great friends. And therein lies my qualm with the story. I didn't feel the burn! It's set up to be a very slow burn, but I never truly felt the urge to yell at them to get together! I just wasn't getting the chemistry I hoped to feel in a friends-to-lovers.

Anyone, however, looking for a quick, light, sweet read will devour this instantly.

Who doesn’t love a good friends to lovers story??? If you do, then this one is right up your alley! I will say that I didn’t discover till the end of the book that this was a series about the Jansen brothers. I haven’t read the others one and didn’t feel like I was missing any information. Back to A Guide to Being Just Friends now…Wes and Hailey are ultimate friend goals but very obviously begin to develop feelings for each other. Due to their own reasons, they decide that just remaining friends would be best but clearly that doesn’t stay true for long. I really enjoyed this book. The lead up to them getting together was a little long. Also just fade to black scenes. I would have preferred more spice. If you’re looking for a cute, sweet read, this is an excellent choice!

I did not realize that A Guide to Just Being Friends was a part of a series about three brothers. I had thought so many time while reading it that I would have liked to known more about the other brothers love stories. Good thing I now can do that!

This book was very cute. I really admired Hailey and thought she had such a great growth throughout the book. I was always really rooting for her and I am happy about how her story plays out!

Incredibly cute, funny and full of witty banter. I went in not expecting much but was delightfully surprised by the all around goodness of this book! Can't wait to dive into the rest of Sophie Sullivan's books!

A Guide To Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan

⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for providing a digital copy of A Guide To Being Just Friends in exchange of a honest review.

Such a cute easy-going friends to lover story. I didn't even realised it's actually the third book in a series, so thumbs up for the great introduction. It's the perfect summer read if you like strong independnt female protaconist and great friends dynamics.

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booklover #booknerd #bookcommunity #canadianbookstagrammer

I loved this story, it was super sweet. It was a friends to lovers trope and not only did I live the main characters (even though they were both a little stubborn) but the friendships in these stories were so well done. I fell in love with everyone in their friend group! This was my first Sophie Sullivan novel but won’t be my last!

(I do wish it wasn’t “closed door” from a spice perspective, but I knew that going in and don’t hold it against my rating.)

I have so much I can say about this book. It’s easily my new favorite rom com! I adored the friendship and the growth the characters had through out the book. Their love felt like it was lifting off the pages, giving me hope that people still fall for each other absolutely head over heels in love. The jokes and humor Sophie put into this book literally had me cry laughing because it’s just so funny! This is my first book I’ve read of the Jansen brother series, and now I must read them all. This book is everything you can imagine for a rom com, 10/10 highly recommended!

Thank you Sophie Sullivan, St Martins Griffin Publishing and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this amazing novel.

This is the first book I've read from this author/series. I enjoyed getting the chance to meet the two main characters who have a disastrous first meeting. Much is made of it, but enough chance encounters get them past their first impressions enough to agree to be friends. They could both use someone they're not related to for things like grocery shopping and game playing. Under the guise of friendship, they learn what makes the other tic, but when being friends isn't enough, can they move forward without losing what they've gained? It was fun and a little tortuous watching these two fall for each other, but they got there in the end.

I became a fan of Sophie Sullivan with her debut, Ten Rules for Faking It. She ups her game with this wonderful friends-to-lovers story. Hailey and Wes meet in a hilariously embarrassing way and despite this agree to be friends going forward. Neither of them intends for anything but friendship to come from this, but the universe may have other plans... Ugh! It was so good. I love slow burn romances and this one was so enjoyable!

Hailey Sharp needed a fresh start and moved to San Verde to open up her own shop, a place where customers can buy salads in a cup. Wes Jansen, coincidentally needed a fresh start and moved to San Verde to work with, and be closer to, his two brothers. Hailey and Wes meet and strike up a friendship, even going as far as to create a guide to their friendship. The more Hailey and Wes spend time together, the lines get blurred and they find themselves wanting to be more than friends.

This book was okay and I did not really have any deep connection to the characters or their story. I learned that this was the third in a series of books (the other two are centered around Wes' brothers) so this might have been different if I had read this before this one. I was annoyed that the friend guide Hailey and Wes created was talked about a few times and then never seen again. The friends-to-lovers trope is one of my favorites but there was just something about Hailey and Wes that bothered by, mostly that I just did not care. This is a cute, easy read but you will get more out of it if you have, or are going to, read the others in the series. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

This was a very cute read! I enjoyed the rom-com love story between Hailey and Wes. The pop culture references were spot on. I feel like the world needs more rich guy meets independently successful girl type stories.

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes when done well and Sophie Sullivan did it well in A Guide to Being Just Friends! Hailey is trying to get her new salad shop off the ground. She wants to be able to stand on her own two feet and doesn’t want to have to rely on anyone else. Wes is a business man who likes to have everything in his life neat and orderly. After an interesting and laughable first meeting, the two decide to become friends. What could possibly happen when neither of them are looking for love?!

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book was how real and relatable the problems the characters faced and fears they had were. Hailey and Wes’ storyline was believable and fun to read. Sometimes I wanted to yell at Hailey and Wes for being oblivious but that’s par for the course in a friends to lovers book! Overall the pacing was pretty good. The beginning of the book didn’t grab me right away but after 50ish pages, I was hooked. There were a couple times in the book where I thought it started to drag on a little bit but then it would pick right back up.

This was an enjoyable read and I will definitely be checking out the others in this series! The secondary characters were fabulous in A Guide to Being Just Friends so I can’t wait to read more about their stories! Thank you NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this book. I got very annoyed with Hailey and how frequently she reflected on her horrible ex-boyfriend Dorian (also, that name is so bad lol). We just needed to be told a time or two how bad he was, not reminded every other page.
And then same with Wes and his father. We get it, his dad is overbearing and rude and thinks his kids will never measure up, but again, we don’t need to be reminded every other page. Couldn’t continue.

I so enjoy this book series!! Love the author's writing and now having background info for this one. Easy to read and a sweet friends to lovers romance--exactly what I like! Very fun side characters as well!

Thank you NetGalley and Sophie Sullivan!

(3.5) this was a cute, slow burn romance. I really enjoyed it and am definitely considering reading the first two books in the series! While this worked well as a standalone, having more background may have helped me get into the book a little bit easier.

My one qualm was that it felt like there were two act 3 drama points, one of which felt like it came on a lot stronger than anticipated? The ending felt a little rushed, but it ended up well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!