I wanted to like this more than I did. The characters felt very juvenile to me and the writing told more than it showed. I am interested in reading one of the other books in the series to see if these types of issues got ironed out in the author’s earlier works.

I truly love these two!! They both have amazing stories separately and definitely an amazing one together. Both have some rough patches in their past just like everyone else. But with the right friend you can forget those things for a little bit. Wes and Hailey are those friends for each other. Friends that they feel comfortable with, could grocery shop together and still enjoy it. The best of friends and the one everyone wants.
Even with a huge misunderstanding when they first met, they grew to understand each other more than anyone else could. Both decided to take breaks from dating to grow as individuals together. They were their for each other when it was time to start dating again and was there when everything came to light.

On top of amazing characters, the main trope is my favorite trope of all time! Friends to lovers! Especially love when the friends are best friends and are each other rocks!

I did not realize when requesting this was the third book in a series but I can't wait to go back and read the first 2! From my understanding they can be read as standalones (I will find out if that isn't the case when I go read the rest) but I think once you read one you will want to read them all.

Some tropes/what you'll find in this Jansen Brothers story:
- slow burn
- friends to lovers
- DUAL POV!!! (my favorite)
- coffee shop meet-cute

I felt this was a sweet romance that felt realistic. I love a good romance that gets carried away and totally not something I imagine could happen in real life but this was so different. It felt genuine and I truly wish I could read this for the first time again after reading the first 2. There are a lot of characters that can be overwhelming if you were to read this as a standalone but I predict for myself it wouldn't have been a lot at first had I read the first two first.

"It feels like everything fits perfectly into place even when it doesn't all make sense... I feel happy." -- this quote made my heart flutter!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the third book in the Jansen brothers series and it was just as heartfelt as the other two. Wes doesn’t believe much in love. He thinks allowing himself to care about someone as much as his brothers care about their girlfriends would be a flaw. Enter Hailey, an entrepreneur with a salad business startup who is recently split from a toxic ex. As they create a friendship and deal with work commitments, they realize that their preconceptions about relationships might be wrong.

This was a fun read! I loved Wes and Hailey as characters a lot, but I did find that Wes’ inner thoughts concerning relationships got stale and the 3rd quarter drama felt like it was recycling feelings I thought Wes already worked through.

Overall, solid 4 star read.

Hailey has recently moved to a new town to start over after a messy break up and opens her dream store, a to go salad shop. She has a chance meeting with Wes, who thinks she is the date that stood him up. The two end up hitting it off and become friends. Neither of them are looking for anything more than that, so they fall into an easy platonic friendship. Things begin to change as they become aware that they are both starting to develop feelings for the other.

Now I liked Hailey and Wes' characters overall. But I did find Hailey's inability to let anyone be nice and help her frustrating. If I had a rich best friend you bet I would be okay if they were trying to buy me nice things and help my business succeed :) but that's just me haha. And Wes also drove me crazy with his ridiculous take on love and relationships.

Overall this is a cute read. There's no steamy scenes (which I think all romance books need) and it did feel slow through a lot of it. But the writing is good and I think if you have enjoyed the two previous novels in the series, you will like this one too.

I really enjoyed this book! I think what I enjoyed most was the way the plot set up the relationships-it was more how a normal real life relationship starts instead of the dreamy movie romance. The connections Wes and Hailey built with each other but also with their core people were heartwarming and left me wanting more of everyone’s story! This book was a great great!

I went into this book not realizing it was the third in the Jansen brothers series and read it as a stand-alone. It was an enjoyable and easy read, but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me. I don't always like friends to lovers as a trope, but felt the author did a good job establishing the trust and mutual respect between the two main characters while they were friends. Once they started to acknowledge their feelings for one another though is where this book started to fall short for me. It was slow-paced, and the build up felt like a letdown in the end. I did like how the epilogue tied a nice bow around the series, but seeing as I didn't build up a strong connection with the characters, it didn't leave me missing them. All in all, this was a fun summer read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED Hailey and Wes's story. Sophie Sullivan's third Jansen brothers book checked all the boxes, earning a spot on the one sitting reads shelf 🥰 The dialogue, the friend group, the romance that wraps you up in a warm hug, the laugh out loud moments, cameos by characters from the precious stories giving that extra post-epilogue glimpse, it was everything I hoped it would be!

Friends to lovers is always a favorite and Wes and Hailey are no exception. From their disasterous meet not cute, to the community they hopped right into and continued to foster, even their Saturday grocery and movie nights that they hated to miss. . . This was very much a sloooowwww burn but I loved being able to watch their friendship build into more, it made that pinnacle moment just that much sweeter.


Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

I loved A Guide to Being Just Friends! I adored Ten Rules for Faking It. I liked How to Love Your Neighbor but this might be my favorite of the series. I was excited enough to pick this up that I read it at the end of August!

I’m a big fan of friends to lovers and I just adored how Wes and Hailey built their friendship and insisted they were “just friends.” They has so many great moments as they learn about each other and both attempt to deny their feelings. This is definitely a slow burn, but I loved that aspect. I also loved how they had a little grumpy/sunshine going on. Wes is serious and organized and Hailey is depicted as so happy and fun loving. I liked how they balanced each other out. Hailey was able to get inside Wes’ shell and draw him out. I also liked seeing elements of Chris and Everly and Grace and Noah. I’m sad to see this series end, but I can’t wait to see what Sophie Sullivan writes next!

I really like this series. It’s a romance novel but with more in depth feelings. At times it was a little too long but not enough to be annoying. Hailey is a strong independent women who makes a great role model. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC

Thank you Net Galley, St. Martins Press, and Sophie Sullivan for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I’ll start with the fact that I wanted to love this book and I really thought I was going to at first with the fun idea of the salad shop and the cute way that Hailey and Wes met. I usually don’t mind a slow burn book but this was the slowest burn I’ve ever experienced. By the time I was at 50% and the main characters were still nothing more than friends I was questioning why I was still reading the book.

All in all, it was a cute easy read but it was far too slow for me. I found myself bored and just waiting for the end. I hate hate hate to say this because the book really was very cute and I have no doubt that it is a whole lot of peoples cup of tea, but in this case I’m clearly more of a coffee drinker.

This was an okay romance that had what you would want or expect out of a friends to lovers romance but nothing more. By okay I mean it wasn’t good or bad, but I liked it enough to want to keep reading. While Hailey and Wes were good together and made sense, I just did not feel attached to them or their story. But they were good main characters had their own flaws and growth throughout the story. I think their story can be a good one depending on who you ask but for me it was just okay. It’s a quick simple romance book that doesn’t take too much to get into or through it. This is also the third in a series I haven’t read but was written so it could be a standalone. I didn’t feel as if I was missing anything if I didn’t read the others.

Overall, this was an okay read for me. I’d recommend if you’re looking for an easy romance and/or if you like friends to lovers.

Read if you’re looking for…
•friends to lovers
•slow burn
•small town romance

This was super cute. Can be read as a stand alone. Hailey is starting over with a new biz, a new town and chance at life. A cute story with a cute ending. I will definitely be recommending this one to family and friends. Thanks NetGalley for this advanced copy of this book.

Y'all I had a feeling Wes's story was going to be my favorite. & While I LOVED the banter between Noah and Grace... That friends to lovers vibe was 👌🏻🙌🏻

Wes is the oldest Jansen brother. In all his broody, uptight nerdiness. Atleast until you get to know him. Which is something very few people get to do.

Thanks to an accidental "not so meet cute", Hailey finds a way in the very small crack into Wes's life.

Hailey is here to rebuild her very messy life. And all she is looking for is success in her new salad shop and friendship. Lucky for her, Wes isnt looking for true love either.

But just because you aren't looking, doesn't mean you won't find it.

This was such a fun and silly read with all that slow burning tension. Wes and Hailey built such a strong foundation with their friendship. Loved watching them both grow as individuals and as partners.

a new business is always a hard start-up — especially when you’re in the business of salad. 😅🥗 starting from the ground up, hailey opened a specialty salad shop called —> by the cup <— next door to a wildly popular bakery . . . and the place where she met wesley (who thought she was his blind date). spoiler alert: she wasn’t. 😳

after the mishap at the bakery, hailey and wes kept bumping into each other around town and they quickly realized that they were becoming F R I E N D S. thus, leading to: ‘the guide to being just friends.’

i could reread this book 15 times and still fall in love with wes and hailey’s friendship. it was so pure and heartwarming and downright adorable. my heart nearly burst out of my chest when they told each other they adored one another like CAN. IT. GET. ANY. CUTER?! 😍😍😍

fast forward to them actually dating and the cuteness kept coming. 🫶🏼❤️

this book was humorous, witty and so fun! i haven’t read the first two books but i’ll definitely be ordering the whole series ASAP! be on the lookout for this fun rom-com Jan 17, 2023 or go preorder your copy now! 🤩

This was a fun and quick read! I didn’t realize the book was part of a series. I have not read the other books in the series, but was able to follow along easily. I liked the quirky and fun characters. Any book with interesting salads will peak my interest!! I read it on a plane and it held my interest throughout the flight. Rounding up to 5 stars.

3.5 This book works fine as a stand alone, which is how I read it. But it doesn’t completely work overall. The main characters are likable, except for Wes’s ill-timed F-bombs, but achieving the predictable ending is a bit tedious. Hayley was my favorite, but even she could be annoying with her passive aggressive “I don’t need anyone’s help” mantra. And the actual “guide?” There really wasn’t one.

So I didn’t realize this was part of a series until I was already a good bit in. But it seems to work as a stand-alone 🤷‍♀️

📖 The details:
Hailey just moved to California to be closer to her cousin and open up a salad shop after a tough breakup. She meets Wes (and the rest of the Jansen brothers + friends) while trying to build her business and take a break from love.

🙋‍♀️My take:
I give it 3 stars for it’s sweet story and characters. I liked it. Didn’t love it. The “meet-cute” and beginning felt too forced and unrealistic. As the book went on and characters developed, I liked them more and rooted for their success personally and professionally - but parts had me skimming. Definitely some cute dialogue (although some of it could have been internal), and sweet moments. And a lot of involvement of past book players, which I’m sure is a treat for those who love the series.

Overall, would recommend if you’re looking for a light and quick read.

I really liked the previous book in this series. But this one did not work for me. I felt that the main characters lacked the chemistry that they needed to build the romance. Also the Male main character was not my favorite.

This was my first NetGalley read and I was super pumped to get my hands on a free copy! I have read Sophie Sullivan’s Ten Rules for Faking It and How to Love Your Neighbor and really enjoyed them. This is a series that follows the Jansen brothers as they fall in love and they’re just super sweet, quick, and fun. This one wasn’t my favorite of the series - the relationship between Hailey and Wes didn’t have the same spark for me as the relationship between Nick and Grace in How to Love Your Neighbor. But I loved seeing more of the friendships between the brothers in this one! And I was especially thankful for something light and fun in the middle of long quarantine days.