This was a sweet one. If you’re a fan of the friends-to-lovers trope and a unique meet cute followed by a slow burn, you’ll be obsessed with Hailey and Wes. This book is also heavy on “found family” themes, which brings me to my next point.

Learn from my mistake! I hadn’t read Sophie Sullivan’s other books. This book is part of a series. It’s not reflected as so on Goodreads or NetGalley, so I had no idea. While it’s possible to read them standalone, I feel like I could’ve appreciated this one more if I had read the others in the series. A lot of focus is placed on these other characters, so maybe read their stories first if you decide to pick this one up.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#aguidetobeingjustfriends #sophiesullivan
I really had high hopes for this book, it started out great. i think the problem that I had with it was Wes, he just couldn't make his mind, couldn't quite commit and was so wishy washy. It was a little too slow for me and then had a fast turn around at the end that didn't feel genuine. So, I wanted to like it but couldn't love it.

I really liked the main character in this book, Hailey. After a tough breakup, she moves and starts her life over by opening a fast casual salad shop. I loved her story and the group of friends she makes in her new town. I haven’t read the first two books in the series and that may be why during the first half of the book the conversations between the love interest, Wes, and his two brothers fell a little flat for me. Their constant declarations of love seemed a little unrealistic. I do think the second half picked up considerably. I would definitely read another book by this author.

I tried my best to get into this book but it just didn't click eith me every time I picked it up. I might have been me, but it seemed like everything always jumped to the 2 main characters being together and it doesn't allow them to develop their own development. I may try to reread it again, but as of right now I am a week in and not able to finish it.

I enjoyed reading about Hailey getting her business started and making friends in a new place, but I otherwise found both Hailey and Wes a bit flat. I wish their "guide to being just friends" featured more since it's the title of the book, but I didn't really feel there was that much tension about them being "just friends."

While I thought Hailey's salad was fun, I also struggled a bit between "good" and "bad" food and weight talk. For example, characters having a slice of cake and needing to "hit the gym" or only being able to fit into yoga pants.

In regards to format, the text messages could be better distinguished from the rest of the text.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Sullivan, and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall, this was a cute friends-to-lovers rom-com. The third installment in the Jansen brothers trilogy (although each book can technically be read as a standalone!), this book follows the story of recently heartbroken and new-to-town Hailey and the adorkably shy tech cyber-nerd with an aversion to all things love/commitment Wes Jansen. The pair strike up an easy and strong friendship that is super fun to read. The friendship between Wes and Hailey is probably my favorite part of the entire bark. Wes is shy and sweet; he cares deeply for those around him. Hailey has been through the ringer with her ex and wants to prove herself; she has so much ambition and drive which I love, and she also supports Wes and his passions.

However, there were several things that drive me crazy. The dialogue seemed unnatural at times and didn’t really flow with the characters, almost juvenile really. A conflict would arise and the tension would pick up, only to suddenly deflate and be resolved instantly with no real substance. Hailey’s continued comparing of Wes to other rich people and making him feel bad about being rich became annoying after a while. Being upset with him for not listening is one thing and wanting to accomplish things on your own is understandable, but her continued fits about his money and insecurities about his money when she knew his economic worth became redundant when he never showed any inclination that he was the type of person that used his money/valued it in a wrong that (like her ex did). Also, it felt like that was really just thrown in for extra drama before the big fight over his feelings about love, so we could have a mini fight, a quick reconciliation, and another fight. Wes seemed to be having some character development about his feelings of love as well, which were suddenly all thrown out the window randomly when Hailey said “I love you” and it just all seemed immature. And we had all this build up about how impacted Wes was by his father and mothers divorce and how he had protected his siblings from it, but then when his siblings confronted him about it and asked Wes what was going on, Wes didn’t even share why he felt that way. Wes only mentions “statistics”. And then they call him an idiot and suddenly he is ready to go get Hailey back? To me, it just felt unresolved and like no real issues had been confronted. At least Hailey acknowledged that she had some trust issues and played a part of the problem as well with the money thing.

I loved the friendship aspect and the found family aspect. Wes creating Hailey a video game and volunteering at a rec center, those parts of the book were perfect! The epilogue was also really sweet. But the over-played drama and the lack of communication really bothered me in this book.

I requested an eARC of this book not realizing it was a part of a series. While the story can be read standalone, I realized about five chapters in that I was supposed to already have some emotional attachment to the side characters (all 1000 of them.) If Wes said, some version of “I am SO happy that my brothers have found women they love. I want that, BUT I’m scared.” ONCE, then he said it a million times.

Not to be dramatic, but to compare this book to When Harry Met Sally is an insult. The *friendship* portrayed is just them saying “we are friends” over and over again—regardless of the fact both characters had butterflies/noted being attracted to the other on the FIRST MEETING.

Anyhoo, I’m sure if I had more background/read the other books and was in the mood for a mindless, Hallmark romance, this would’ve scratched my itch. Unfortunately, today was not that day. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my painfully honest review.

Another awesome job by Sophie Sullivan! She is quickly becoming one of my one-click romcom authors. This book made my heart happy.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is the 3rd book in a series but I read it as a stand-alone and didn’t feel I was missing anything. There are 3 brothers and each book follows one of their love stories.

In A Guide to Being Just Friends we follow Hailey and Wes. Hailey is determined, strong, makes everyone feel loved, and independent to a fault. Wes is a protector, fiercely loyal to his friends and family, and terrified of love due to his parents.

This book was a bit slow to start but I ended up really being sucked in. It is a friends to lovers story and we get the perspective of both main characters. In this story the man struggles more with many aspects of the relationship and I enjoyed that part of the story.

Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat.
Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships.
When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.

What could possibly go wrong?

It’s been a good long while since I read a fade-to-black romance novel where the characters don’t even kiss until about 70% into the book but I found Wes and Hailey’s story delightfully sweet - like Hailey’s addiction to chocolate! Both Wes and Hailey have hang ups from their past and work both together and separately to understand and overcome them. Both are well developed, believable characters with understandable issues holding them back. Watching them learn and grow was a delight that will lead be to Sophie Sullivan’s backlist when I need another sweet treat.

Loved this book, love the friends to lovers trope! So funny, didn’t realize I had already read the other brothers’ stories! Loved those ones too!!

As many on goodreads have kindly pointed out, this is apparently the third book in a series (but they *can* be read seperately). Due to this, I felt I was missing something. But that didn't make me hate it, I just felt that it was alcking (character development? I can quite put my finger on it). That aside, I enjoyed this book. As another reviewer mentioned, it's like a cute romcom (giving off the vibes of a Hallmark movie, enjoyable, engaging, easy to read and just fun).

A cute, fun rom-com of a read. I enjoyed the story but I wish I had read the two previous books. Some swoony moments and an enjoyable read.

3.5 rounded up. First off, I love third-person POV, so I am really happy this author wrote this cute love story in this narrative style. I did not read the other books in this series before picking up this one, but I was happy that I still could get to know everyone and was pretty intrigued on what the other brother's books are about. Plus, sweet romance is my favorite romance genre so I love that this book fell into that group.

I enjoyed the meet-cute and wished the coffee cup misunderstanding in the cafe lasted a tad bit longer, but it was nice the way it was, and I was so happy that he came back to be the love interest! The story started to slow a bit for me in the middle of the book, for me, which is typical for middles, so it's understandable. I think if I was more hooked on the two individually and their individual stories, then I would have liked the middle more, but I was more hooked on them as a love interest, so I wanted them to hurry up and get that part going.

I did feel a little distance from what was going on at times, which did pull me out of the book. But, overall, this was a cute, cuddly strangers to friends to lovers love story.

A snack of a book, A GUIDE TO BEING JUST FRIENDS will be a scrumptious treat in seeing how long Hailey and Wes can remain friends.

Jump into another fun romance about friendship and finding new meaningful relationships, Sullivan’s story will delight romance readers. Plus, you’ll love the main characters! Hailey a determined young woman with her own career goals to her fast growing salad shop who will no doubt fall for Wes, the business savvy and game developer hobbyist. They both decide to being just friends, but quickly realize, that friendship might not be all that these two want.

Fun, delicious, and sweet.

Happy Reading ~ Cece

This was a cute read I really enjoyed Hailey and Wes and their friendship which leads to romance. I like how they go on grocery trips and how she taught him how to make spaghetti. I also enjoy Wes and his artistic side and ho he actually draws a guide to being friends it was so cute. I also love how Wes helps Hailey with her salad shop and creating the website. We also see a lot of haileys relationship with her cousin piper and her friend Fiona who help her with her shop as well. I love how generous Hailey is and how she hires people from the community to help run her salad business. I also enjoyed how determined she was on doing these on her own and to become successful. Of course, I can't forget that Hailey loves reading and adores romcoms.

Hailey is a chocolate-loving salad shop owner. She meets Wes in the bakery next door, when he accidentally thinks she’s his date. She’s just moved here after a bad breakup for a fresh start. Wes doesn’t believe in love and doesn’t want to get married or have kids.
Super cute. Meet cute / friends to lovers.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Arc review for A Guide to Being Just Friends

confession: I did not know this was the third book of the series however, you can totally read it as a stand alone.

Wes and Hailey’s story was fun and tender. I love a good slow burn, friends to lovers trope so this was such a fun read for me. Hailey is fun, quirky, and independent. She has also recently had her heart broken. She sells her condo and moves out of LA to open a salad shop. Wes and his brother own various businesses and he is your typical type A older brother. Their friendship was sweet and I thought their character development was *chef’s kiss*

Overall, I enjoyed this story. It was fun with some actual laugh out loud moments but also real and vulnerable and made me feel. Which is really all I ever want in a book. Look for this one on January 17, 2023. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, what a great read for my summer romance list! If you love a friends to lovers troupe, this book is for you! This book is for the romantics who love tenderness, solid friendships, and building dreams. Despite the slow pace, and sometimes you just want to shake Hailey and Wes to wake up and just get together, I really appreciated how careful Hailey and Wes approached their feelings with the other in mind. I highly recommend reading this!! Also, I did not know this was related to Sophie's previous book since this was the first book I've read from this author. I will be checking out her other books to read about Wes's brothers!

A special thank you to Sophie Sullivan, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from St. Martin's Press and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Delightful romance with the perfect about of build up. Grab it for your next book club read.