This book was SO cute! Hailey is new to town and meets Wes. They are both attracted to each other but decide neither of them are in the place to date, so they decide to be just friends. They end up spending all of their time together and end up becoming the very best of friends until they cannot hold their feelings in any longer. I thought this was so so cute! Wes is a character with a lot of money and Hailey is a business owner, but Hailey does not want his help. I think the chemistry they had was so cute but I also think that building a relationship built on a really strong friendship is really important. It's how my own personal relationship started and I think it makes us stronger in the long run. I really enjoyed seeing their friendship play out over time to something that grew into more.

A GUIDE TO BEING JUST FRIENDS is a delightful romantic romp. Haley Sharp flees to California after a disastrous breakup. She meets Harry Styles in an awkward encounter in a coffee shop. Later, they meet again,, and decide to have a strictly platonic friendship. As they become best friends, they realize they could have deeper feelings. Will they overcome their previous hurts, and try at love again? Grab a cup of tea and enjoy this lovely read.

This book was phenomenal. I was obsessed with this book from the moment I read the first page. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light and funny story. I can't wait to see what else this author has to offer!!

This is the third book in the Jansen Brothers series.

I am a sucker for a good meet cute. Hailey and wes meet unconventionally and later agree to be friends since they are both reinventing their lives. Their friendship turns into a slow burn love as they both pursue their dreams. It could have used a few steamy scenes but overall i enjoyed this book, and was rooting for the main characters to end up together.




Thank you Netgalley and St Martins press for this Arc!

Hailey is ready to start fresh in a new town, putting all her effort into her small restaurant. Wes has laser vision on growing the family business, securing investments, and trying to become a better person than his father. After the two stumble into a meet-cute turned sour.. Wes and Hailey pursue a mutually beneficial friendship.

Easily falling into each other’s lives, Wes and Hailey find themselves at a crossroads: Keep everything status quo or risk losing it all by gaining something more.

This book made me really want a huge salad.

Hailey, our female main character, owns a salad business. A restaurant you can pop into to get a nice cup of salad, either to-go or to enjoy while sitting in the restaurant. One day, she decides to stop by the café/bakery next door and has a “meet ugly” with Wes, our main male character who works with businesses to market and build them up.

Obviously, the only choice Wes has after such an embarrassing slip-up is to help Hailey win over the hearts of their community with her super tasty salads.

I really liked the pacing in this book. It was very much a slow burn, which made it perfect for easing in characters and their dynamics as Hailey and Wes met more people in their neighborhood. At one point near the end of the book, I looked back on what it was like for these characters and couldn’t imagine their friends not being in their lives from day one!

I also really enjoyed the romance, especially once they gave in and decided to have a romance. There were a lot of moments I really adored and thought was super cute. I even remember telling my vlog “this is peak romance!”

I can’t wait for this book to come out so everyone can enjoy this fun story too!

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

First off, I wasn’t aware this was the third book in a series. Yes, it works as a standalone, but I’m sure that reading the other books would have filled in some blanks and added depth to many of the characters.

So let’s get right down to it: the friends to lovers trope is one thing, then there’s the slow slow slooow burn that is this book. We all know where it’s going, but it takes forever to get there. The good side of this is that it gives the reader plenty of time to catch butterflies as the characters unknowingly fall in love; the bad side is that it can feel like the story is dragging on and the reader can get bored. Unfortunately, I often felt myself wanting to yada yada yada through chapters to get to something finally happening. I feel like the story could have been condensed a bit in order to keep the reader engaged and the heat could have been kicked up several notches.

Overall it is a cute read, but I did not feel invested. I do think I would have cared more had I read the other two books prior to this one, however NetGalley made no mention of this being part of a series. Hopefully it is marketed more as a series so readers can benefit from having more background and appreciation for the characters.

This was a really cute romcom with a likeable couple. I thought Hailey was a great lead as she starts over in a new town while trying to get her small business--a salad cafe--on its feet. After she meets Wes in a hilarious meet-cute (more like a meet-ugly) they resolve to remain just friends. This paves the way for a really great friends-to-lovers dynamic as each of them works through their very realistic baggage on the way to becoming better people and better partners. I liked watching them build on their friendship first--a nice change to diving into dating immediately--and the fact that they grew as people outside a romantic relationship. I especially loved the other platonic relationships in the book, both friends and family. It's lovely to see love in all its forms and gives me the warm-fuzzies to watch as these (admittedly, made up) people receive support from others. All in all, a really enjoyable, comforting read.

Such a sweet romance! I can't believe I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but I certainly will go back and read them now. This book is well-written and easy to read-a must for romantic comedy lovers!

Hailey is a salad shop owner who is trying so hard to drum up business to stay afloat when she has her meet (not-so-cute) at a nearby coffee shop with Wes. They go their separate ways but Fate has other plans for them.

This is a classic friends-to-lovers story and if you have read the other stories in this series about Wes’s brothers, I’m sure you are much more connected to the characters. I unfortunately hadn’t read them so I spent the first section of the book trying to connect with a pretty large cast of side characters. That said, the writing was good. I enjoyed the storyline until we got to the main problem which I found to be a little out of left field. Still, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it highly if you are a fan of Sophie Sullivan’s two other Jansen Brother novels.

3.5 stars
Closed door romance
Friends-to-lovers trope done well!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC that I received in exchange for my honest opinion on this title.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martian Griffin, and Sophie Sullivan for the EARC in exchange for an honest review.

Like most people who requested this book I didn’t know it was the third in the series u too I hopped on GoodReads to write the review. This book can truly read as a stand alone and I don’t think reading her previous books in the series would have changed my review.

Hailey opened a little cup salad shop and is in a new city. Wes is rich but still works hard and believes that “love is dead” same dude. Anyways, they were cute but not cute enough for me to rave about them.

If you live very slow burns with an instant spark this is for you.

Hailey opened a business with really no idea what she was doing. Her story was a little painful. She was kinda ditzy and very optimistic. I found her hard to connect too.

The book did multiple POV’s and sometimes it would take me a second to figure out who the chapter was about.

The book is an easy to read romcom, but I won’t be reading it again or the pervious books in the series.

i came into this thinking it was a standalone and it wasn't. apparently it's part of a series? if i knew that, i probably would have enjoyed it more. especially if i had read the previous books. i didn't connect to the characters as well as i would have liked to and maybe it's because they've already been developed in past books and that development just built on.

but anyways, not for me. i didn't connect to the characters or writing and i dnfed about 30% in due to both of these factors. but if you think you might like it, go ahead and pick it up!

This book took me a lot longer than normal books to finish. Just ready very slow. The writing made it difficult sometimes to decipher who was narrating it, as in which characters POV it was and then it would suddenly swap. The way the text messages were written were also difficult for me to initially follow along.

But it was a cute story and I still enjoyed it!

I didn’t like the focus so much on the salad shop and would’ve liked more Wes and Hailey! But but I liked the characters and always love a HEA. I would’ve loved more of Wes’ video games taking off in the epilogue.

3.5 stars

I want to start off by saying I didn’t read the first two books as I had no idea this was a third installment until after I requested it. I may have liked it more had I known the tertiary characters better.

This book wasn’t for me. I put it down about 50% of the way through and never picked it back up again. I wanted to love Wes and Hailey so much more than I did - but to me, they were just fine, nothing special. The romance was so incredibly slow, too slow for me to get into. Halfway through the book and there was barely an accidental brush against a hand.

I’m sure other people will find this read enjoyable, but I had a hard time connecting.

I really ended up enjoying this sweet story. The characters themselves were really fleshed out. I appreciated they way they reflected and maturely discussed the conflicts that were presented in this book. Although the romance is considered a slow burn, it felt like it progressed naturally so it didn’t feel like it dragged on so much. I will have to look into the other works by this author. The only thing that knocked down a point was that at times the dialogue between the characters confused me in the beginning. Unsure if that could also just be due to the formatting of the ebook within the NetGalley app.

I’m going to be completely honest, I had no idea that A Guide to Being Just Friends, Sophie Sullivan’s upcoming novel, was the third in a series! I had read Ten Rules for Faking It a few months ago and loved it, so I requested Sullivan’s latest right away. The third installment in the series follows Haley, the owner of an up and coming salad shop. Haley picked up this new business and new life in a new city, and while trying to get her footing, she meets Wes Jansen. Wes, the oldest and last of the Jansen brothers to embark on a (sort of) quest for love, is a right-brained businessman with a serious knack for technology. He is sure of himself, and sure of his desire to remain a bachelor, that is, until he meets Haley. With both of them freshly moved to California, they decide to be just friends, and you can imagine how that goes.

Sullivan’s newest rom-com is a fabulous friends to lovers. I haven’t read this trope in so long and I enjoyed every second. Every Jansen brother and their leading ladies are so different and it makes each read all the more fun. I also love how you do not have to read these novels in order to love them. Each can be a stand-alone but they get even better when you read each character’s individual stories. If you’re looking for a genuinely fun read, I highly recommend A Guide to Being Just Friends which will be released on January 17! (This also gives you plenty of time to read the first books in the series, I will be reading How to Love Your Neighbor ASAP)

Special thanks to Sophie Sullivan, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Griffin for this copy!

This was a light, fun and fluffy read that not only provides the HEA fuzzy feels for the mains, Hailey and Wes, but also for Grace and Noah and Everly and Chris from the other two books in the Jansen Brothers series, which was fun!

The character development was well done and is probably the reason why I liked the book as much as I did because some of the plot points felt a bit awkward and contrived. I really liked both Hailey and Wes and was definitely rooting for them, but then I am a sucker for the independent woman and protective/supportive male combo!

I also loved Hailey and Wes together, and their relationship...when they got there because this was a slow burn...was really cute. It was refreshing that, for the most part, they had a functional line of communication and were able to see from each other's points of view (in other words, no annoying miscommunication trope, WOO!).

Overall, a welcome light and fun read to get lost in for a while.

This slow burn romance was so cute! The suspense for Wes and Hailey to finally admit their feelings almost killed me. No spice, and a few slow parts, but overall cute! I loved the idea of the salad shop - it’s such a unique take.

I did not realize this book is the last of a series, but it’s a standalone book (although I do think knowing the other characters beforehand would have only made it better)! I will definitely be reading the first and second now that I’ve finished this.

I enjoyed both of the main characters, although each of them had a few annoying traits (Wes’ take on love, and Hailey’s inability to let ANYONE even remotely help her).

Shoutout to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC!

Okay, I should probably read descriptions every now and then because I didn’t know this was the third book in the series. I didn’t feel lost though because this story was about the oldest brother and I immediately checked out the first two books to get to know the rest of the characters a bit better.

This was a cute romance. Slow-burn and friends to lovers trope. I did appreciate that they both had to learn how to navigate this relationship while also dealing with past experiences that, at times, made it hard for their relationship to grow. Did the characters frustrate me sometimes? Yup. I wanted to shake some sense into them multiple times.

Also, if you’re looking for a romance book with no steamy scenes then read this one!

Got an eArc on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Leading lady is incredibly ditzy. Tries to open a restaurant with no staffing, a website, business cards, not even a business launch, and then acts all worried at low customer numbers. No way she would have stayed in business past the first month.

Pretty helpless in general, gushy about "gosh, people can be friends" and "love can't be real because I had a bad relationship". Spends every chapter bewildered that people might like her. I don’t mind a flawed main character, but they need to have some gumption and not be completely insecure man-reliant bimbos.