Erin Hahn’s new adult romance, Friends Don’t fall in Love, is a spicy and sweet Nashville love story. Lorelei Jones was on top of the country music scene until her experience as an elementary school teacher compelled her to perform “Ohio” live on stage to call attention to school shootings, sending her country music career crashing at the hands of the conservative gatekeepers who pushed her out of the industry and out of Nashville altogether. Despite everyone rejecting her, Craig “Huck” Boseman, a songwriter and bassist who performs with Lorelei’s ex-fiancé, has her back, and a surprise one-night stand leaves them both with deep feelings and the question, can friends fall in love?

The answer in this book is a resounding yes. Lorelei and Huck are really terrific characters, brimming with talent and conviction and love for each other. All along it’s clear that they should be together, but the book does drag a bit through a lot of miscommunication. The spice is great, and the HEA is so satisfying. I also love the side characters like Annie Mathers, the darling of country, and her boyfriend Jefferson Coolidge, another country bad boy who makes his comeback alongside Lorelei.

Altogether, this book is a solid 3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC; review provided voluntarily.

Erin Hahn can do no wrong. This was the first Erin Hahn book that I felt had more spice than others and it was SO GOOD! Erin Hahn can write about photosynthesis and I would love it it. I loved that both are "sunshines" and also so shy and anxious about their feelings. Both characters were older- in there mid 30's which is different than some of the Erin Hahn novels I've read where they are high school/college age. The will they won't they of this story had me on the edge of my seat. Forever an Erin Hahn stan.

This was an adorable friends to lovers, second chance romance. I really enjoyed the two main characters, Huck and Lorelai, and their easy chemistry just made it that much easier to love them both. The miscommunication trope always frustrates me, but I suppose it also helps guide the story along so I understand the point behind it. But come ON people I know you both know this is right so why aren't you just speaking to each other about your feelings already?!

But I digress...In the end this had a lot of laughs and great banter between the characters. I also enjoyed the tie in with Built to Last and some recurring characters/friendships.

4/5 solid stars and thank you so much to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the digital copy for my honest review.

I usually love Erin Hahn because her setting is usually in my home state and feels so familiar. This one counted on great music to feel familiar as she branched out of Michigan and into Nashville. She made me (a decidedly non country music person) want to go explore Nashville.
Love the layered storyline and slowly unraveling the character's histories with each other, loved seeing the collaboration and musical elements throughout. The entire book was written much as a song with call backs and refrains, crescendos and bursts of energy, layering of stories and memories. Hahn's yet to disappoint and based on her writing progression, I don't anticipate being let down anytime soon.

#arc
#netgalley
#friendsdontfallinlove

Friends Don't Fall In Love is a perfect friends-to-lovers story and exactly what my heart needed. I loved Built to Last and was thrilled to see that the main character in Friends Don't Fall In Love was Lorelai Jones. I really enjoyed getting to know her character more and her own backstory. I definitely swooned through this entire story and audibly cheered when both Huck and Lorelai finally admitted to their feelings.

If you prefer closed-door romance, be prepared because there is nothing closed-door about this book. It's pretty steamy, including erotic poetry.

For me, this is another win by Erin Hahn and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next (and what characters she brings back!)

Thank you, St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the eARC!
4.5/5 stars

I really did love this book, but blatant propaganda disrupted the story. And frankly, this pissed me off because Lorelai is such a strong character and telling her story as a women in country music is refreshing and needed. However, a cavalier Hahn shows her disdain for Christianity through an unnecessary “JesusISourLordandSavior” username who comments “repent, sinners!” The article was about Lorelai covering Toxic by Britney!!! It was so unnecessary and felt like a pointed dig. This makes me sad because I have really enjoyed Hahn’s work (and yes, I am totally overreacting), but it just kind of hit me hard and made me sad and disappointed.

Nevertheless — I still recommend this book. It explores themes not typically found in romance, but the strong heroine and her championing, supportive hero are the soul of this story.

Love a story with musicians. Lorelai was once engaged to Drake who broke their engagement on social media after her career imploded. Craig (Huck) was once in a band with Drake and loved Lorelai from the start. The story spans several years and and has to revisit the past at times to cover events that happened to shape Lorelai and Huck's relationship. Drake was an unlikeable character. It took quite a long time for Lorelai and Huck to get together romantically. This was a good read!

There were a lot of aspects of this one that I enjoyed. The music was really great and I loved the deep diving into it. I enjoy the friends to lovers trope and thought the chemistry between the main characters was so well done. I didn’t enjoy the miscommunication trope as much, though. I felt like there really was only a story because of the lack of communication. Overall, a solid romance read, just didn’t hit my preferred tropes.

This book was so slow.

The premise was so great! It was very cute.
I just wish it wasn’t so slow. The book didn’t grab me till the end.
The book being set in Nashville was fun and I enjoyed the setting.

Another sweet-and-spicy, friends-to-lovers, second-chance romance from Erin Hahn. My review for her prior book, Built To Last, is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5078841924 Some characters from Built to Last make cameo appearances in this book, and the author is clearly teeing up a third book featuring Maren, but this book can definitely be read as a stand alone.

Huck is a songwriter/producer who is there for his friend, country music star Lorelei, when she loses it all and when she wants to try a comeback a few years later. He's stupid in love with her from the jump, and knows it, whereas she attempts (in vain) to convince herself friends with benefits is the way to go. I liked the music/poetry angle in this, and if you believe The (Dixie) Chicks were unfairly cancelled, you will probably enjoy Lorelei's comeback story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for this honest review.

I had never read anything by this author before reading this. And after reading this I don’t want to read anything else by her. This book did not make since at all. It was all over the place and so hard to get into. I didn’t feel a connection between the characters at all. This book left me more confused than anything else.

Erin Hahn is such a consistently solid author.

When you read as much as I do, it can take a bit to hook me sometimes and I'll meander through a book until it grabs me. This had me paragraph one, page one. Craig wasn't even pretending to do anything but bask in the glow of her if friendship was as good as it ever got for him and he would be grateful for it. I appreciate when a character has absolutely no chill even in his own mental dialogue from the beginning. I thought Lorelai was a dream in Built to Last so I was thrilled to see it.

Lorelai was an elementary school teacher turned country superstar and sang a song condemning the second amendment because her heart was broken after yet another school shooting. Her star blinked out immediately in the backlash from everyone. Her fiancé broke up with her via public Instagram reel and everyone let her flounder. Except Craig.

I can't say enough good things about this book. She was a woman who accidentally falls in love with her best friend and both of them think they're the lucky one in the relationship. They're both right and it was glorious.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with Friends Don't Fall in Love. I was hooked from the beginning. Per the authors notes there are "discussions of school shootings gun violence, neither event occurs on the page". Erin Han also mentions that, "despite the adorable cover, FDFIL is a very spicy romance with explicit descriptions". I really appreciate the author taking the time to make these notes over on Goodreads.

Thank you to Erin Han, St. Margins Press, and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Gosh, this was such a sweet book. I absolutely adored the main characters, Huck and Lorelai. They had such real personalities and that is what I truly liked about them. This was a fabulous friends to lover’s trope with a shot of second chance romance. The growth of the characters is wonderful. And I loved that we got a dual POV and timelines!!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this eARC!! I really loved it!

I voluntarily agreed to read and honestly review this book.
*sigh* I so loved this story. There’s this rumor that says you shouldn’t fall in love with your best friend, but I think that’s a bunch of hoo-hah. “Who better to fall in love with than someone who Knows you?” is what I always ask. The best kind of love is with someone who knows your quirks, your motivations, your insecurities, and the things that make you You. And Erin Hahn’s story proves my point.

I had a very hard time getting into it, but maybe because I am not very much into second chances and the fact they let that kind to manipulate them so much got a little boring to me.

Lorelai Jones was a country music sweetheart until she played a protest at a concert six years ago. Her label dumped her, and so did her fiance. The only one there for her is her best friend, Craig Huckleberry Boseman ("Huck"). They spend one romantic night together, and she disappears to start her life over. Fast forward six years and Huck is now the owner of his own recording studio, and Lorelai resurfaces with some new songs of her own. Huck has always been in love with Lorelai, and when she suggests a friends with benefits situation he says yes. The only problem is, his feelings keep getting in the way of this arrangement. Friends don't really fall in love, do they?

This was a quick, easy read. Lorelai and Huck are best of friends and even though they don't talk for several years, you can see the friendship in their banter and "inside jokes" they have. Though there was several funny moments, this book also looks seriously at how women are treated in the music industry and the "shut up and sing" mentality. I thought this was handled well, and loved watching Lorelai regain her strength of self.

With everything going for it, this book had the one trope/theme I hate, which is the miscommunication trope. These two could have easily saved themselves a lot of heartbreak if they would have just talked to each other, rather than thinking they knew what the other was thinking. It did frustrate me, but it didn't stop me from enjoying a lot of the book (other than silently yelling at Lorelai and Huck to just talk to each other).

This was a sweet and spicy read by Erin Hahn. Hanh writes interesting characters that are fun to read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

Read if you like: friends to lovers, cinnamon roll

I don't normally love a friends to lovers trope, but this was done perfectly. I loved the chemistry between the characters. The behind the scenes of country music was very cool - and felt realistic (Dixie Chicks early 200os drama sound familiar??) I loved this!!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

Publication: October 17, 2023

Rating: None/DNF

What drew me into this book was the “friends to lovers” trope. However, what made me end up DNFing revolves around the layout of the plot.

First, it was too choppy with the timeline. I didn’t get enough time to settle in as a reader.

Next, I felt lost and almost wondered if this is a sequel? I wasn’t sure who some of the characters were but just expected to get thrown in.

Ultimately, maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I read Hahn’s previous book. Her writing style was easy to read but the jumpy timelines made it difficult to attach to the story.

Thanks so much to Erin Hahn and St. Martin's Press for the Free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Who doesn't love a great book with a famous love interest. This one had my attention quite quickly in to the book. I can't forget that it's got a bit of spice in it. Overall a quick read for me. Definitely recommend. Erin Hahn is an author You need to keep an eye on.