I love Erin Hahn’s books so much. I think she always gets you so invested and connected with the characters and the story. I love her writing and it’s the best mix of sweet and spicy. We get dual POV which I love. I think the pacing of the book was great and it wasn’t rushed between Lorelai and Craig. These two writing songs together, and about each other was just so sweet. Just an all around adorable book with a very lovable couple.

There are a lot of characters from Erin’s other books. You don’t have to read the other books to read this book (it is a standalone) but for me personally I wish I had read her other books first just so I knew a little more information on all the characters. The beginning of the book was a little messy. I had to really slow down and reread the beginning to understand what went on. I also think that what happened to Lorelai wouldn’t actually happen in todays world. After that the book was amazing. If you love friends to lovers then I highly recommend this book!

•Friends to lovers
•Country singers
•Cinnamon roll boyfriend
•Nashville setting
•Dual POV

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book.

I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. I really liked the premise of Lorelai making a comeback as a country music star, and doing it alongside her friend/love. I really liked the first book in the series, as Lorelai popped up as a character I wanted to learn more about. This book delivers and more, and we get to still see the relationship between best friends with Shelby and Maren. (Here is hoping that Maren also gets a book!) Craig, referred to as Huckleberry, has been crushing on Lorelai and also writing ~ erotic ~ poetry about their encounters. They were obviously in love with each other for the majority of the book, but they literally wouldn't talk to each other about their feelings. At times I wanted to reach through the book and shake them, as half of the back and forth could have been solved with just talking to each other about their feelings.

Things that could have been better: random ex stalking (1. how did he know where she lived 2. how did he know her schedule 3. why did no one in this book see this as an issue?!?!)


Main Characters: Shelby, Craig "Huckleberry" Boseman
Tropes: Friends to lovers (or fwb to lovers), miscommunication, forced proximity

Country music. Friends to lovers. A comeback story. What’s not to love?

I loved how the entire premise was built around Lorelai using her platform
to promote the issues she cares about deeply. Also, let me just say that while I absolutely adored everything about Huck and Lorelai together, it’s the women that made this book. Shelby and Maren are the best friends every woman needs. Trina. Annie. I loved how much they supported Lorelai and helped her realize she was failed by the music industry and not the other way around.

I loved the sweetness between Huck and Lorelei. Their friendship is the foundation for their relationship and I adored how they went out of their way for each other. There would not be a book if they had only communicated with each other, though, so if the miscommunication/non-communication trope frustrates you, then this romance is not for you. However, I thought the author did a great job providing background on why both Lorelai and Huck would hesitate to ruin their amazing friendship.

Overall, a beautiful story with all the angst, steam, and amazing characters any romance lover could want!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a first for me of reading a book by this author and while it was cute romance story usually this type isn’t something I am interested in but it did catch my attention. Some areas were hard to follow but overall a cute story.

This was my first book by this author and it was a cute romance story. It’s not really my type however. I’m sure many people will love this.

The writing was a bit hard to follow at certain points.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC.

Friends to lovers isn’t really a favorite trope of mine. All the “no I can’t tell them how I feel it will ruin everything” when not saying anything is the only thing really standing in the way of them being together, it’s just not my jam. The parts I did like was when they were making music, recording or writing you could feel how much they loved it. Maybe it’s petty of me but I a little bit wanted Huck to put out a whole album of his songs name it something like “How it Should Have Been.” Lol

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the book overall but wished there wasn't so much miscommunication.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I think this is the first of Erin Hahn's books where I haven't really connected well with the voice of the characters, so I didn't feel very invested in their relationship. It's almost like a second-change-romance/FWB scenario--they are best friends and had a one night stand long ago, and both have been pining for each other sense then. But it's complicated because they work adjacent to one another (she is a singer, he is a songwriter/producer). It does rely on some miscommunication trope which isn't my favorite, so maybe it's more of a me thing. But the spicy moments were nice!

4 Stars Spoiler alert about Friends Don't Fall in Love by Erin Hahn: the friends fall in love. This novel is a follow-up to last year's Built to Last, though it can be read as a standalone.

Six years ago, country music starlet Lorelai Jones seemed to have it all; the successful career, the supportive bandmates and friends, and a superstar fiancé, fellow country musician Drake Colter. After Lorelai sings a politically charged protest song in response to a mass shooting at a school, the country music world cancels her, her friends, band, and agent abandon her, and Drake calls off their wedding via an Instagram post. The only person who doesn't abandon her is Drake's partner and bassist, Craig Huckleberry Boseman, who Lorelai refers to as "Huck." They spend one night together before she leaves Nashville for good to return to teaching in Michigan. Lorelai cannot escape the pull that music and Nashville has over her, so she reaches out to Huck about a possible return. He's now a producer and owns his own recording studio. Huck is also hiding a couple of secrets: he's been in love with Lorelai for years and he wrote all of the songs that Drake has been recording and taking credit for. Lorelai and Huck reunite to rebuild her career and neither can deny the attraction between them. They start a friends-with-benefits relationship, convinced that the other could never love them back.

This was such a fun and quick read! It was so easy to cheer on Lorelai and Huck, both individually in their respective careers and as a couple. Their eventual relationship was inevitable, especially given how they built it on a strong foundation of friendship and mutual respect and trust, something that Lorelai lacked in her previous relationships, both personal and professional. Highly recommend this sweet friends-to-lovers romance!

This is a cute lighthearted read, and one I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys friends to lovers. The pacing of the book is a bit odd, but romacne is very enjoyable to read. My personal taste likes a little more angst instead of a sweet and slow burn, but it was still a great read.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first romance I read by Erin Hahn, and I really enjoyed it. Friends Don’t Fall in Love is a friends-to-lovers romance set in the Nashville country music scene, where Lorelai Jones has been “canceled” by country music for speaking out against gun violence. Craig Boseman is a songwriter and producer who’s been sweet on Lorelai for years. The chemistry and development of their relationship felt real and tender and earned, and the resolution was satisfying. Apparently there is a prior book in the series, but you don’t need to read the first one to enjoy this one. Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s for the ARC.

📖
⭐3.5/5
🌶️🌶️ 🌶️

➡ Lorelai Jones was at the top of her country music career five years ago when she performed a song in support of gun reform that took her out of the good graces of jaded music execs everywhere and her celebrity fiancé dumped her. In an attempt to give it one more go, she calls her one remaining friend in Nashville- the one who stuck by her when everything fell apart- Craig Boseman and relocates back to the center of country music.

Craig has long held feelings for his ex-best friend's ex-fiancée and her return to town gives him the perfect opportunity to help her make her dreams come true in the indie studio he's spent the last five years building. When the two reunite, their chemistry makes it impossible to tell if their friends, friends with benefits or maybe something more- but unless they can find a way to tell each other how they really feel, they'll never really know.
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🙏 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of Friends Don't Fall in Love in exchange for an honest review.
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🎯 What I liked: The creative songs and poetry interspersed in Hahn's story were great and added a lot to the book. Craig and Lorelai's slow-burn romance was sweet and their swoony steam was 🔥🔥🔥. I thought it was really interesting to have a book centered around country music that exposed some of the bias within the industry- it's a great talking point and Hahn tied it well to the protest song that Lorelai played although I don't know that playing one song in concert would have had the ramifications that seemed to span from just that one performance.

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: The way the timelines were presented was really confusing. There were a few chapters listed as '6 years ago' and then '2 years later' and then some memories of times before that that jumped around instead of following a pattern of flashbacks or a consistent format. Although I figured it all out, the inconsistency of the time jumps was sort of bizarre. I also had a tough time connecting to the characters- they were both really likeable but I didn't feel super invested in their storyline. This could definitely be because I haven't read Built to Last (the first book in this series) yet and I think readers should probably do that as this was less of a standalone than I anticipated.
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Read if you love:
* friends w/ benefits--> lovers
* musician romances/ books w/ lots of lyrics
* forced proximity (neighbors)
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See also: Run, Rose, Run; Maybe Someday; Lovelight Farms

I’ve read a couple of Erin Hahn’s novels before and given them 5 solid stars, but this one didn’t work as well for me. The story was too, well, uneventful for lack of a better word. The miscommunicating friends’ trope is far from being my favorite, so maybe there’s that. But I also had the feeling the book was filled with explicit sex to compensate—that’s not something I remember from my previous reads at least.
Nevertheless, I’ll keep reading her books because she each time has a unique connection to music.

If you like country music, a friends to lovers trope, bad communication and steamy, hot sex scenes, then this one is for you. I enjoyed the country music references and imagining what it’s really like behind the scenes, there was some cute one liners and back and forth, but I just couldn’t appreciate this book like,I hoped I would. There was a lot of bad language from page one, and I think that held me back too. The language and sex scenes just isn’t my style and I think this book was written for those who enjoy this type of storytelling.

This book was far spicier than I was expecting it to be and I am here for it!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

I love the fact that this book is about two individuals who are truly trying to make their career in the music industry flourish and grow and not compromising their morals and beliefs.

This book is full of wit and humor. So much heat and a little bit of angst.

This is the first book I've read by Erin Hahn and I can definitely see myself reading more from her. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Just a great spicy, funny romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc.

Captivates you from the start!
This is my first Erin Hahn read, and I must say it was a breath of fresh air!
This story is for fans of music, and those who know the depths artist are able to reach with just a few words and meaningful tone. It goes beyond the country genre, yet does well in showcasing the reality of an industry that will happily swallow you up just to spit you out at any inconvenience.
Huck & Lore are *chef’s kiss*, and bound to make you smile, laugh, and get a bit teary eyed.
Hahn left me needing more… selfishly speaking, I would have read 30 more chapters.
There was humor, heat, and a teeny bit of angst. Adored the supporting friends and family.
On The Floor? *cry face* Love it.
Overall great read. Forever glad I requested an ARC via NetGalley. Now I found a new author to follow and a backlist to catch up on!

I thought I couldn't like the second book in this series more than the first... but obviously I was wrong! I love when romances include music as part of the storyline, and I really wish I could hear Lorelai's music in real life. I love Erin Hahn's writing and these perfectly imperfect characters.

Friends to lovers will always be the best trope! this was a lovely read! So cute! Nice amount of spice. I had a great time reading this!

4.5 Stars for this second chance romance between Craig "Huck"(short for Huckleberry) and Lorelai. She's a country singer that has been on the outs a few years with the industry due to singing a song during a concert that made a statement. He's owns a record label that's just getting started and between the two you'll find there's quite a bit of talent including song-writing during this story.

Lorelai and Huck didn't have alot of angst but did have drama to contend with in both the present and the past. She used to date a popular country singer named Drake and was actually engaged to him. Huck was a bandmate of Drake's at that time so they've known each other awhile. I won't share what happened with Lorelai and Drake but it did impact the break between their past and present. Lorelai took a few years off singing to teach after the concert where it felt like the industry turned its back on her. Meanwhile Huck went on to open his record label(he left Drake years earlier).

These two main characters meet again in present day and Lorelai is ready to sing again. Meanwhile Huck(who also is an amazing song writer which no one really knows this about him) is looking for new talents and offers to have Lorelai come into the studio to record some new songs. Of course he's always held a torch for her so this was an easy offer on his part. This book was a slow burn and while I loved Huck, I just wanted him to be more confident like he was with his business. He reminded me of that "nice" friend we sometimes have where there may be an attraction and do you/don't you act on it. Lorelai on the other hand was a heroine you could empathize with. She did have courage yet was insecure at times due to her past. I could totally relate to the choices she made and was cheering for her as the story progressed.

While this is under the romance heading I felt it was a little more fiction and I liked it. You become vested in Lorelai's return to country music and are routing for her. You'll find there's ups and downs as she needs to get back in the industry's "good graces" which is a tough market. There are other characters that contribute to the story and were a good addition to this book. Similarly Huck has chances he's taking with his indie record label plus we find out there's some music he'd written years ago which comes into play during the story.

I liked the second half of the book better and found myself reading it in almost one sitting. I felt like I was equally vested in their romance and in wanting to see how their careers panned out. Definitely more action later in the book but overall it was an engaging book to read and I also loved the dual POV's. There is an epilogue chapter at the end and we get a glimpse of the future which I always like to read too.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for my advanced reader copy. I really enjoyed this book!

Lorelei Jones was a up-and-coming country singer until she decided to change up her routine of songs and ended up losing it all: her career, her fans, and her fiancé.
After having gone back to teaching for a while, Lorelei decides that she is not done with singing and joins forces with Craig Boseman, former band mate of her ex-fiancé.
Craig and Lorelei shared a hot night together a long time ago and now, living in close quarters and spending a lot of time together at Craig’s recording studio, old feelings are bubbling up. But friends, they don’t fall in love, or do they?

I throughly enjoyed Lorelei and Craig’s story, cheering them on and hoping they would find their happy ever after in the end.
The story is filled with nods and homages to the country music scene, and nothing makes me happier than reading the name Taylor Swift in the wild.

I sure hope that we can get another novel in this universe Erin Hahn created, maybe with Maren at the front and center now? I loved the insights we got for Shelby and Cameron due to the friendships established in Built To Last.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the advanced copy of this book!
Friends don’t fall in love is set to be published on October 17 and can be preordered here.