This is one of my favorite reads of 2022. Easily.

Not Here to Stay Friends was exactly the book I needed and I am so happy I picked it up. I'm currently in the midst of finals week as I write this and I decided to start this book on a whim because it sounded cute. I was instantly sucked into this incredible story and I finished it within two sittings.

This book was the friends to lovers YA romcom I've been dreaming off. It's full of all the mutual pining I could dream of split between two POVs. The added tension of the film set and having the characters be part of a reality TV show was *chef's kiss*.

While reading this book I frequently found myself giggling, gasping, and wiping tears off my cheeks. My emotional investment in these characters is unreal. I adore Liam and Sloane. I would read fan fiction about them if it was available. Their romance and relationship was so beautifully written and reading their scenes gave me butterflies.

Their first kiss scene was also a trope I adore and I about screamed when it happened.

This book was incredible and I can't recommend it enough. If you're a fan of friends-to-lovers, The Bachelor, mutual pining, or" one of the characters gets sick and the other takes care of them" trope... then this book belongs on your TBR!

Sloane is visiting her best friend Liam for the summer, her best friend who she’s starting to realize that she may have more-than-friends feelings for. The only problem is that she’s been invited to be part of a reality dating show that Liam is a production assistant on. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot is wrong with this book. While there were a few surprising and creative scenes and fun dual points of view, the majority of this book was extremely predictable. While most romance books follow a similar formula, this one follows it with highly unlikeable main characters and very few developed side characters. This book was a cringey mess.

Not Here to Stay Friends is a well-written, fun YA romance 4.5 stars. The two main characters are adorable, awkward and cute. The idea of a bachelor/bachelorette show for teens is a bit much. My logical brain just thinks of all the liability of putting minors in those situations. However, for the premise of the book, it works. True friendship wins over Hollywood manipulation. I love stories that show girls how to get along instead of sabotaging each other or acting like jealous whiners. A couple of romance cliches aside, this was a fun little read. Thank you to Random House Children's / Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Random House Children's / Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not Here to Stay Friends by Kaitlyn Hill is an adorable contemporary YA romance that will appeal to anyone who loves reality TV! I’m picky about YA, I won’t lie, but this was a super cute read and gave me all the bachelor/bachelorette vibes but for teens!
Liam and Sloane are characters you want to root for and the love triangle was done well!
Be prepared for a little twist at the end too!

Not Here to Stay Friends is a charming YA romance by Kaitlyn Hill. Seventeen year old Sloane McKinney is traveling to LA to spend the summer with her childhood best friend Liam Daniels. Sloane has prepared a Summer Of Fun list to make the most of their time together, but nothing could prepare her for the true adventure she's about to take. From the moment of her arrival at the airport, nothing goes as planned. Liam is now working for his dad this summer which somehow lands Sloane as a contestant on a teen dating show. Full of surprises, secrets and shenanigans Not Here to Stay Friends is a fun story that is hard to put down.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Centered around a dating competition, author Kaitlyn Hill did a great job of showing how young women can be supportive of one another instead of the cliche of jealousy and sabotage. I also really appreciated how this YA book keeps its content appropriate for a young adult audience. As a mother I appreciate a story where teens can have fun without the use of drugs and/or alcohol. This book is one that I think teens will enjoy and parents can be happy with what they' are reading. I would recommend this book to my kids and their friends.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

I LOVE the bachelorette so this book was right up my alley. YA is so hit or miss for me, but this was definitely a hit. I enjoyed the characters and the drama. This was a fun read.

AAAAAA ADORABLE OH MY GOD, once again, netgalley arc, been down so I'm catching up. And hear me out i hate friends to lovers i just physically cannot handle them but this? Is SO GOOD. like? Liam baby loml AAA daddy issues and like? He's perfect
Loved poor baby slo too, who was basically in love with him from the get-go and AAAA they fueled my idiots to lovers meter. My heart is full. I love them. They deserve the entire world i don't really have any other comments except READ IT

This book was ADROABLE! It was jam packed with teen drama, on an actual teen reality dating show - and I couldn't get enough. It was such a fun read and the author did an amazing job at capturing all the angsts, complicated feelings towards your childhood best friend, and you felt you were along side all the characters. I was hooked from start to finish and I literally devoured it in one day, the writing was so well done and very enjoyable; had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Sloan and Liam had undeniable chemistry and they were just adorable. The fact that this was dual POV made it that much more perfect in my opinion because it gave the story a lot of depth and you were rooting for Sloan and Liam from the start.

Friends to lovers is probably one of my top favorite tropes and I never get over the slow realization when the characters start to see that their friendship is changing and the flirting with the idea of evolving into something more. This hit all the right spots with this trope BUT with an added flare of reality TV dating show. Without giving any spoilers the plot twist was EVERYTHING, and the way this ended in the last chapter was perfect.

This was my first book by this author but I already plan on reading her first book. Definitely recommend, it was fresh, unique and a ton of fun to read. The premise of the story will draw you in and before you know it you'll be reading the last line - because that what happened to me LOL.

Thank you to Random House Children's / Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness this book was absolutely adorable. Liam and Sloane are absolutely adorable.

Sloane and Liam are childhood best friends and are planning to spend the summer together. Liam's dad works for a TV Show and has Liam working on the set ruining their summer together until a last minute switch up happens and Sloane gets asked to join the bachelor style TV show. Sloane battles with her more than friendly feelings towards Liam while also trying to date hot celebrity Aspen Woods, along with 24 other girls.

Tropes:
Friends to lovers
Bachelor Style
Celebrity
Love Triangle? (Kinda)
YA book

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC of this book!

I’d give a 3.5 if possible on GR!
This was a cute story about two friends who start seeing each other in a new light in a bachelor style environment. The characters were cute and likable and it was a cute writing style!

This was a cute book. I loved Sloane and Liam. They feel like every day tends rather than characters. Some times I read a book and the characters are just too much, but I felt they were real, their reactions and feeling all went with thoughts going through my head as I read.

This was such an adorable read! Hill has such a distinct voice that I loved in Love From Scratch, and shines through in Not Here to Stay Friends! I'm a sucker for a dual POV romance, and I loved how Sloanne and Liam felt like such unique and engaging characters!

YA bachelor rom com? Yes please. This is such a fun, cute story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was my first book by this author and it won’t be my last.

A delightful candy bar of a book.

Kaitlyn Hill's Love from Scratch was a surprise hit for me- after a slightly clunky start, it blossomed into a sweet enemies-to-lovers confection. It's gotten a decent amount of reads from my students, as well.

Understand, then, my expectations for Not Here to Stay Friends were certainly not low, but neither were they on a pedestal. However, I'm happily, delightedly surprised with this sophomore effort from Hill!

For one, she steps up her wit and comedy. Love from Scratch was just amusing, but NHTS got several good chuckles. (Which is a feat, coming from me!) The dating-reality show setting served the story well, and added a flavor of whimsy to an otherwise straightforward plot (boy/girl are best friends, get crushes on one another, and now too nervous to tell). The insight into reality tv was thoughtful, as well, even if you're a Bravo superfan like me.

Sloane and Liam were adorable and root-able. Your romance will flop if the reader doesn't care about the main characters, and Sloane and Liam are fleshed out enough to be engaging and endearing. I wish more could be said for the side characters, particularly the other contestants with Sloane. I could not tell a single facet of their personalities, and if it weren't for the enjoyable payback against one of the antagonists at the end, I wouldn't need these characters.

Speaking of villains: they were all underdeveloped. Sloane's parents are neglectful for no well-established reason, and Liam's dad is a caricature of a workaholic, CEO absentee dad. Aspen Woods fares the best of all the antagonists, but that's not saying much. He's interesting enough, but never given the story space to develop into a 3D character.
Sloane and Liam were the best characters, which clearly is better than nothing at all. But the rich backstories of the secondary characters create texture and depth to the main characters' journey, especially in romance (see Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters series). Some of these interactions would balance out the sometimes tedious push-pull of the primary romance.

Recommend, and definitely buying for my classroom!

What a cute read!

I love a good childhood best friends-to-lovers trope, so this was a nice break from all the murder mysteries I’ve been reading lately. Sloane and Liam were really likeable, fun characters. Two of my biggest cautions:

1) I saw another reviewer say this somewhere, and I agree—there were literally no stakes in this book. I was never worried that things were not going to work out. I felt like the author tried to introduce tension at certain points in the plot, but it never really worked.

2) If you’re hoping for drama reminiscent of The Bachelor or even The Selection, you won’t get it here. Again, there were a couple dramatic points with some of the side characters, but they fizzled out quickly and didn’t seem to add much to the story. Which is great, because we love to see books without toxic feminism!! However, I’m worried people will be misled by the whole “reality TV dating show drama” thing. It’s not really a focal point of the story.

Bottom line: this is an adorable feel-good romance, and you can probably read it all in one sitting, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen (or read) before.

THIS BOOK. I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK. I devoured it in two days, but I wish I could’ve finished it sooner. Sloane and Liam were everything I wanted in a friends-to-lovers trope, and I loved that we got both of their POVs throughout the book. I thought this was a fun and different take on reality shows, especially being in the YA genre, and I loved it so much. I was literally cheering and clapping along with the girl power ending, and I squealed when I read the last line. This book was absolutely perfect.

Thanks NetGalley for this advanced readers copy of Not Here to Stay Friends, some slight spoilers lie ahead in my review so beware.

I liked this bachelor style teenage romcom, I’m here for the drama and the revenge. I enjoyed this book a lot, I liked the behind the scenes of a realty show and the friends to lovers being involved on the show as well. I wish Aspen would have been a little more likable throughout the book so I could’ve been surprised at the end with her choices but i still really liked it and will definitely recommend. Happy for the girl power, really liked Liam and Sloane’s entire deal, A+ for vibes.

I loved this cute friends to lovers YA book that I literally read in one sitting. I didn’t want to put it down and lived the backdrop of a reality TV show like The Bachelor paired with your favorite teen drama. Thanks NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review!

I really, really enjoyed this YA novel by Kaitlyn Hill. I'm a big fan of a friends to lovers trope and the addition of the reality show component made this one such a fun read.

Sloane and Liam are characters that are so easy to like and root for. As best friends who reunite after years apart, it's sweet to see their first encounter and how nervous they both are. They easily fall into their friendship but the romantic tension clearly starts to build. I especially enjoyed their slow build. Their feelings were palpable and the eventual fireworks moments was intense. There were some great twists and turns (funny, endearing and dramatic!) thrown in there too in relation to the things going on during the reality show filming.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a light-hearted YA romance. I'm now very excited to check out Kaitlyn's other books!

3-3.5 Stars! Cute young adult rom-com book about a friends to ‘lovers’ relationship. The main characters were teenagers, Sloane & Liam, BFF’s that haven’t seen one another in person for a few years. I usually like books about adult relationships but this was a nice change. Pretty predictable but still cute and funny at times with a HEA ending.
*I received this at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*