Big thanks to the publisher who sent a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
What can me more uplifting than a friends to lovers story? This book did not disappoint. The story is told in different POV allowing you to really connect with the characters and fall in love with their story. Sadly, I didn’t know it was part of the series, but it was so well written, I didn’t feel like big chunks of the story was missing.
I listened to the audiobook version and I really enjoyed the characters’ voices.

I enjoyed Wes and Haley’s story! I wish I would have read the other books before it but felt it gave adequate back story that it can be read as a stand alone. I loved the way they met and the way their relationship progressed. Will recommend this to friends 💜

What I read: A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan

Why I picked it up: I got this as an audio arc from NetGalley (free copy in exchange for an honest review).

How I read it: On audio at 1.5x speed while driving home from NY yesterday.

What it’s about: Hailey has decided to open a shop of her own selling salad cups (sounds like a super cute place) next door to a bakery, which is where she meets Wes for the first time. The barista writes the wrong name on her cup, which just happens to be the name of the woman he was meeting there for a first date. He thinks she took one look at him and bolted, and she thinks he’s kind of a jerk. The apology that follows begins their friendship. While they are busy “just being friends” – the truth is that they’re dating without the kissing and the title. The entire book is them lying to themselves (and everyone else) that they’re just friends when they’re falling in love.

What I liked: I liked most of Hailey’s character – the times when she’s accusing him of using his money to manipulate her because that’s what her ex did annoyed me. They were just so frequent.

What I disliked: He gets over his decades decision that “love is the worst idea ever” in like 24 hours, which felt quick – but also #romancenovel.

Genre: Closed door romance, friends to lovers, new to town.

Rating & Recommendation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and yes – it’s the 3rd in a series that I haven’t read the other two in. I might like those, and maybe I’ll go back – especially if they’re all closed door, which is hard to find.

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a cute friends-to-lovers rom com style romance.

One thing to note is that this is the third book in a series. Although it can be read as a standalone, I would actually recommend reading the books in order. I requested this one not realizing it was part of a series and this definitely affected my reading/listening experience. I often felt like characters were introduced and events were alluded to with very little context or information, and because I haven’t read the previous installments, I felt a bit confused and out of the loop.

There were several things that I really liked in this story. I enjoyed the overall concept of this novel - a When Harry Met Sally meets 500 Days of Summer premise sounded phenomenal; I thought the genuine friendship Hailey and Wes develop throughout the story was very charming; and I loved that Hailey was a small business owner (I wish I could try her salads in real life)!

However, there were a few things that let me down. I found Wes and Hailey’s meet cute at the beginning a bit underwhelming - it didn’t set off any fireworks or heart-eyes for me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I also felt like their chemistry as a romantic pairing left something to be desired. And speaking of desire… there were no steamy scenes AT ALL. Not only was this disappointing, but it made the progression from friendship to romantic partnership difficult to differentiate.

Overall, I think if you are looking for a sweet, low-stakes, tame romance this is a good one to pick up.

Thank you to the Sophie Sullivan, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my audio copy. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.

This was a middle of the road rom-com for me. It is a SLOW burn, meaning the characters do not have any true romantic interactions until pretty far into the book, which made it a bit difficult to connect with the characters and their relationship.

The meet cute however? Super adorable. And there were enough of those charming, give you butterflies in your stomach feelings that kept me going until the end. The narrators for the audio were also excellent and I love a good dual POV.

I have not read the previous books in the series, but I think I would have better connected with the full cast of characters so I would definitely recommend starting from the beginning!

Friends to lovers! A cozy romantic comedy. This is the third book in the Jansen Brothers series but definitely makes sense as a stand alone.

Wes and Hailey are the main characters. They are cute and likeable with an easy friend/family connection. Hailey is super independent and puts her efforts into sustaining her new business, Salad's By the Cup. She will go to any lengths to make it successful on her own terms.

Wes is a rich, but grumpy male love interest. He just wants someone to love, not like. He is determined not to fall in love or ever have a family because he believes it's in his genes to never have a successful relationship.

When these two characters meet, what could possibly go wrong?

This was a slow burn but enjoyable book. If you like this series or rom coms, this is one to check out!

Thank to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC in return for my honest review.

Platonic friendships between a man and woman are okay. And while I know this book is a romance, I think the characters of Hailey and Wes would’ve benefited more from staying friends. The first part of the story was a lot of fun. I enjoyed their friendship and being there for each other. Even the first kiss. But after that, it was hard to root for them to be together. I found they were both too stuck in their ways, and Hailey actually started to frustrate me with her constant “I don’t like you for your money” remarks and refusing to allow anyone to help.

This is still a cute story, and I would recommend all three to someone, but it’s not one that I would personally re-read.

How many third act breakups do we neeeed 🥲. It was a cute enough book but nothing to write home about. Plus closed door?! Booo

Audio helped move things along though! Glad I listened and loved both voice actors

Overall, this book was just okay. I switched between the audio and the physical copy of the book, and for the first 60% of the book, it was just like sitting in and observing the day-to-day moments between Hailey & Wes. Their friendship was believable, and then out of nowhere… feelings?? I would have liked to have seen more development of those feelings in the “slow burn” of this friends-to-lovers arc. I hadn’t read the other two books in the series, which may have been helpful to understand the relationship dynamics of the side characters. I also felt there were some tiny, unneccessary plot points introduced that didn’t really get developed/resolved.

I will say that the narration of the audiobook was very good and kept me interested in this otherwise slow story. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC, as well as Macmillan Audio for the ALC, in exchange for an honest review.

*I'm rating the audiobook higher than the ARC because of the strength of the narrators*

A Guide to Being Just Friends is a friends to lovers story. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. I liked the characters and I liked their friendship. The second half I found myself losing interest in the story. Overall, it was a good story and if you enjoy romcoms then I would say it’s worth the read.

This was a well narrated audiobook and it was great in this format.

I gave this audiobook 3.5⭐️

Thanks to #netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3.25⭐ for the audiobook.

Book 3 in the Jansen Brothers series ~ fine as a standalone, but our characters from book 1 and 2 make quite a few appearances, so it's nice to know their background ~ not essential to the story though.

Featuring ~ dual 3rd person POV, small business owner, slow burn, friends to lovers, no steamage

Hailey & Wes
I do prefer friends to lovers over enemies to lovers, but this was a super slow burn. I think maybe it was because their friendship only spanned a few months and wasn't from childhood, which I guess I prefer. Even though that makes me mad too cuz it's a time waster ~ and now I'm totally off topic of this one.
So anyway, I didn't like their meet cute and how he was sure she was lying to him. I loved that Hailey had her own small business that she built on her own. Some of the salad combinations sounded lovely and now I've gotta head to the store for some salad fixings ~ my family will be thrilled 🤣

They were both really bugging me at times. Hailey was a little much with not wanting to accept help from Wes. I get that she wanted to do everything on her own and I commend that, but sometimes a small bit of help won't hurt your pride. Although, he was a little much too with wanting to throw his money around to fix everything. I was mostly liking Wes (meet cute aside) until the whole conflict ~ what a dope he was, but he rectified it in an adorable manner.

All in all, cute-ish, but not my favorite in the series.

Narrated by Stephanie Willing and Timothy Andrés Pabon for 9 hours and 54 minutes, easy to follow at 2-2.5x. Hallelujah for 2 narrators! Took me a minute to be able to listen to Timothy at 2.5x as he was more of a fast talker then Stephanie. Overall, both did a fine job.

This was such a sweet story; smart, nerdy, older brother Wes meets Haley sunshine salad shop owner fleeing California from a toxic ex. ⁣
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Wes is analytical and his mind is always working but he’s also caring and a protector as older brother. After Haley loses faith in her intuition about people and starts over far away from her toxic ex, she starts her own salad shop, makes new friends, Wes being one, and slowly finds herself again.⁣
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These two swear off relationships for a while but build a wonderful friendship, that soon turns into them noticing little things about each other that they find more endearing than just friendly. Their relationship slowly grows into this wonderful friendship that they soon find out can be more.⁣
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I absolutely adored their banter and how they brought each other out of their shells. I also really adored all of the surrounding characters in their lives.⁣

I absolutely adored the narrators and felt they really brought character to the characters. I love dual narrators.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn't realize this was the third sequel in a series so maybe my opinion is skewed but I wasn't super into this one. I thought the characters were pretty boring and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. I was most interested in Hailey's salad shop storyline and loved seeing her vision and business start to grow. The female narrator had too much inflection in her voice for my liking which also could be a reason I wasn't a big fan. Not for me but I know it will be a good one for others!

This story is a slow burn, friends to lovers, that will makes your heart pull in all the right ways. The beginning is a bit slow, but hang on, because you won’t be disappointed. The characters are so genuine and relatable. The cast of characters are fantastic and well thought out. The female character (Hailey), though never given a label, seems to be ADHD, which was a fantastic thing - as I saw myself in her. And the chemistry between Hailey and Wes was palpable.

The audiobook is an excellent production with two narrators who will keep you entertained.

Thank you @MacmillanAudio for this advanced audio copy.

"A Guide to Being Just Friends" is Sophie Sullivan's third installment for the Jansen Brothers series. It follows Hailey Sharp, a new small business owner trying to lift her new business, start in a new city, and move on from a bad breakup. After an awkward first encounter with Wes Jansen, an investor, they become friends and start getting romantic feelings for each other.

This was a pretty cute friends-to-lovers romance! I liked the characters and the setting. However, I felt the ending was a bit rushed (and slightly cheesy, which is great if that's your cup of tea), and it could have benefitted from a little more angst and longing between the couple. Nevertheless, for being my first read from this author, I enjoyed it, especially because of the great work done by the narrators! They kept me wholly entertained throughout.

"A Guide to Being Just Friends" comes out on January 17.

Cute story of a Independent Woman moving to open up her own store after a toxic breakup. Hailey and Wes have an accident "meet Cute" moment at the bakery next door that lead to a misunderstanding into a friendship. They both decided that they didn't want to date and being friends would be best. Time goes on, new emotions emerge, and Wes and Hailey both have their own growth and journey to finding themselves and what its means to let love in.

I have adored this series from Sophie Sullivan so was excited for Wes's story. It did not disappoint. Wes is the super serious Jansen brother. He's all business and has no interest in love or marriage. This works well for Hailey as she has just opened her salad restaurant and has no time for anything but friendship. After a disastrous meet-cute, the two agree on friendship and quickly become besties. I loved Wes and Hailey. She is the sunshine to his grump. She is independent and wants to prove she can be a successful businesswoman on her own. Wes loves taking care of friends and family. The two have to learn to find the balance there and it brings pages of tension, chemistry and character growth. I have read many series where you get to revisit characters from previous books, but Sullivan brings Wes's brothers and their girlfriends prominently into this one and the story is stronger for it. I enjoyed the way they all interacted. I also had this on audio and will say that the print worked slightly better for me for this reason.  The narration was fantastic and I would listen on audio again; but having all the names and characters straight when they were all hanging out in a group lost me every once in awhile.  That being said, Wes and Hailey are the stars of this show and kept me listening without issue so it wasn't a major concern. This book is a fantastic friends to lovers romance that is easy to read and light on the heart.

What a way to start 2023 strong! I absolutely loved this book. I smiled, laughed, and even shed some tears!

Okay so the story follows Haley and Wes! Two individuals that meet unexpectedly and it’s not a good or happy meeting. Wes mistakes her for someone else and is convinced that she is lying about who she is claiming to be. Needless to say he gets a swift kick in the gut when Haley- a new and upcoming salad shop business owner, shows up to deliver lunch to him, his brothers, and their girlfriends. Realizing his error he decides to be an adult and go apologize to her in person. This is where the story really begins. Haley and Wes realize how different they are and yet how well they compliment each other— just as friends of course. Both convinced that love doesn’t belong between them they embark on life that becomes so tightly woven together… until disaster in Wes’s mind strikes. Will he lose the one thing in his life that doesn’t and yet does make SO much sense all for the sake of control?

These two are just TOO cute. I adore how independent the author made Haley as a woman and as an entrepreneur and yet shed light on it being completely okay to let those that care for you help you with your dreams. Oh and that receiving support doesn’t mean that those who want to help you, don’t believe in your capabilities.
This is such a feel good story of friendship, opening up after heartbreak, stepping into your own, and falling head over heels in love even if you try to pretend you aren’t ;)

Thanks so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for allowing me to experience this book. I absolutely love it and plan to place a physical copy in my home library to read again!

Really enjoyed this one! Slow burn enemies-friends-lovers. Great narrators, too! Thank you so much for the ALC!

Right away I liked the narrator for the FMC, which made a big difference as I alternated between the audiobook and ebook. The narrators in general were enjoyable to listen to!

I didn’t realize this was book three in a series but it read as a standalone so I didn’t feel like I was missing context.

The characters and the plot were both likable enough. I did enjoy the way the friendship between them developed and eventually led to more. The story is slow burn and closed door with no steam. I wish there had been a little bit of it since we had such a slow burn with the relationship and there seemed to be an attempt at angst.

I didn’t fully understand why the MMC didn’t want a relationship so that seemed like an unnecessary complication.

Overall, a cute story!