I really enjoyed this book overall. I love the alternating timelines as it added depth to the characters and their present day story. I related to Josie's anxiety and I felt that it was portrayed in a well thought out manner as someone who has these same struggles. The place where I fell this fell flat was the chemistry between Josie and Zac. I adore the friends to lovers and slow burn, but the miscommunication in adult romance is something I do not enjoy especially where communication should be a solid basis when they are friends in the start. I would recommend this to people and would look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honst review.

I love a good rom com and this one did not disappoint.

This was my first Natalie Murray book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the story and the characters.

This one is definately worth reading.

I really enjoyed this rom-com - a friends-to-lovers romance told with humor and feeling, with a couple of more serious underlying themes. Josie is almost 30, and thinks she knows exactly what she wants for her life. She's also her own worst enemy in achieving her goals. Zac has been her best friend since high school. He's slowly recovering from some serious emotional trauma. They find themselves back in each others' lives after a couple of years of near estrangement. Their story is told in present time as well as in a series of flashbacks to different periods in their friendship. I enjoyed the humor and their best friend banter. And I liked that their friendship was so important to them both, important enough that they worried about transitioning from friendship to romance, because they didn't want to risk the friendship. And as someone who's had Australia on my travel bucket list since I read The Thorn Birds in the 80s, the locale was also very appealing. More seriously, though, I liked the underlying theme of how health anxiety (aka hypochondria) can be seriously debilitating when it remains unrecognized and/or unaddressed. Natalie Murray addresses this in her acknowledgements, letting us know that she wanted to write a book that included health anxiety because it's something she deals with in her own life. Overall, this was a fun read that kept me awake way too long when I got to those last few chapters.
Thanks to Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray is a reconnecting friends to lovers romance where a news reporter lands in her old friend’s life once again. I am always thankful when mental health is discussed in books. I also thought it was neat that it was set in Austrailia because I haven’t read many that are.

This was marketed as hilarious & heartwarming, which it has some parts, but it also deals with some quite heavy things. I don’t think that part was emphasized quite enough & so I struggled to full immerse myself into it.

Thanks to NetGalley & Allen & Unwin for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

Absolutely enjoyed this! This was my first Natalie Murray book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the story and the characters. I really can not wait to read more from this author. I can recommend this book enough

Love, Just In is an engaging contemporary romance novel from Australian news reporter Natalie Murray.

After having a panic attack while reporting live on air Josephine Larsen is banished to cover another reporter’s six-month leave at the regional bureau in Newcastle. Nearing 30, perennially single, and steeped in anxiety, the only silver lining to her demotion is the chance to reconnect with her best friend, Zac Jameson, even though they have barely spoken for two years.

Friends-to-lovers is generally my preferred romance trope, and some of my favourite parts of Love, Just In were the flashback moments that showed Josie and Zac as teenagers and young adults. The ‘will they/won’t they’ of their adult relationship is far more complicated and there’s plenty of angst and miscommunication between the couple before they work things out. Zac’s hesitation in pursuing Josie makes sense, especially once certain information is revealed. Josie’s treatment of Zac frustrating at times, even knowing it stems from her own insecurities.

Murray touches on several serious subjects in Love, Just In including drink driving, grief, illness, and health anxiety. I found the latter to be an interesting topic that the author explored with sensitivity and compassion and I feel it’s something many can relate to at some level. There is some humour too, but I think the description of the story as a romcom is over generous.

I was a fan of the setting, since it’s familiar with Newcastle being just a few hours south of me.

I do like a happy ending, and though perhaps a tad long at over 450 pages, I found Love, Just In to be a pleasant and satisfying read.

"Love, Just In" by Natalie Murray is a heartwarming and emotional read that explores the complexities of friendship, love, and second chances. As a newcomer to Murray's writing, I was immediately drawn into the story and the well-developed characters.

The book follows the journey of Josie and Zac, former best friends who drifted apart after a tragic event in Zac's life. When Josie, a reporter, temporarily relocates to Zac's new hometown for an assignment, she is determined to reconnect with him and find the closeness they once had. However, the blurb doesn't fully prepare the reader for the level of angst and heartache that both characters are grappling with, which made the story more intense and emotionally charged.

One of the standout aspects of this book is the author's attention to character development. Josie and Zac are both multi-dimensional and flawed individuals, and their growth throughout the story is both realistic and relatable. Josie's struggle with health anxiety adds depth to her character, and I appreciated how the author handled this aspect with sensitivity and honesty.

The slow-burn romance between Josie and Zac is beautifully crafted, allowing their relationship to develop gradually and authentically. The forced proximity situation adds tension and chemistry to their interactions, making the eventual rekindling of their friendship feel earned. However, the presence of outside drama involving other characters may be triggering for some readers, so it's important to be aware of this aspect before diving into the book.

The steam factor in "Love, Just In" is moderate, with a focus on the emotional connection between the characters rather than explicit scenes. This choice aligns well with the overall tone of the book and enhances the emotional impact of the story.

One minor point that I noticed was that the pacing felt a bit slower at times, especially during the flashbacks that explored Josie and Zac's history. While these flashbacks were essential for understanding their relationship, they occasionally interrupted the flow of the present-day storyline.

Overall, I would rate "Love, Just In" a solid 3.5 out of 5. Natalie Murray has crafted a heartfelt and emotionally resonant story that will appeal to readers who enjoy friends-to-lovers romance, second chance love, and slow-burn relationships. Despite a few minor pacing issues, the book's strong character development and emotional depth make it a worthwhile read for those seeking a heartwarming and uplifting story.

Thank you Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book ticks so many boxes: humor, friendship, romance, heartbreak, and tragedy. Zac and Josie have been best friends since they were young teens and weathered life together through all the ups and downs. But an expected tragedy creates a separation that spans 2 years until Josie has to travel to Zac’s town for work. They reconnect and their friendship quickly reaches its old position of comfort and happiness. But as new situations reopen old wounds and new worries threaten their happiness, both of them work through their anxieties and realize their happiness together is more important than their work ambitions or comfort zone.
Solid 4 stars for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I loved this, highly enjoyable and entertaining!! thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. Highly recommended!

This was an adorable friends to lovers, second chance story. The characters were highly relatable and likable and I found it so easy to spend a day getting lost in this story. I appreciate that the author included one of the main characters struggles with anxiety. It added a layer of depth and relatability and as a reader made you feel like you are not alone.

This was a heart-wrenching, extraordinarily-written book. I stayed up entirely too late reading it, and dreamt about it. The story is amazing and the characters felt SO real. Highly recommend.

This book is one of my favorite tropes, friends to lovers. Zac and Josie were best friends that had grown apart as life and personal tragedies kept them away from each other. When Josie takes a temporary job in the city where Zac lives, they rekindle their friendship and it slowly turns into more. There is a lot of back and forth as they dance around being more than friends. It got tiring after a while and the book didn’t need 428 pages to come to the obvious conclusion. I wanted to like this book more, but I couldn’t warm up to Josie and Zac was too perfect.

Love, Just In was a DNF for me. The story, writing, and characters just did not grab my interest enough to keep going.

I think if you enjoy romances with characters around the 20-30-ish age group who are trying to figure out their messy lives, this may be a fit for you.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for my review.

This one was cute. It was very easy to get through but I honestly don't have much to say other than that. I thought that the pining for one another was cute, but I just didn't care when they actually going to get together. It honestly might just be that I read this at the wrong time, so I will definitely come back to this one!

Josie is coming close to the age of thirty and very discouraged about her life. Her parents and sister have moved out of the country, her career isn’t going anywhere, and her love life isn’t going well either. Her last attempt at an on-air news presentation turned into a disaster when she froze on air. Now she is being sent to the Newcastle station temporarily and hopes to have a chance to prove herself again. The only good thing about Newcastle is that she will have a chance to reunite with her best friend Zac. They have been friends since their school days but haven’t been in touch since Zac left Sydney after a tragic event in his life. Both characters are well developed and quite complex. Both are forced to confront the issues in their lives that need to be resolved to move forward. I found it a good story that I had a hard time putting down.

Also reviewed on B&N under 1IrishEyes430 and Kobo under IrishEyes430

Friends to lovers
Second chance
Forced proximity
OW / OM drama
Slow burn
Steam factor 3/5
The story is laid out well. Good character development and no major plot holes.

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray is a friends to lovers trope romance. I had some difficulty believing the characters and their romance. It is set in a small Australian town north of Sydney and used a lot of Australian expressions and descriptions I wasn’t aware of or haven’t heard before and they kept taking me out of the story. The banter between the two main characters, Zac and Josie, felt really forced and even uncomfortable at times, especially from two characters we are to believe knew each other from 14 years old until they unite again at 28, after little communication for the previous two years. The story is told in two timelines and I also felt just as I tried to get into the story, the timeline swap made the pacing of the book stop and start again each time. Some of the flashbacks to 14 years prior could have been left out to help the pacing of this 462 page book. The good part of the story was when the protagonist opened up about her anxieties and insecurities which were more universal and relatable. I give the book 3⭐️⭐️⭐️s.

I thank NetGalley and the author and publisher for the advanced reader’s copy of this book.

I really enjoyed the book. I even cried a bit at the end. I think it had great pacing and I found that it was unique because they weren't your typical best friends to lovers. There was a history and some grief associated with their losing touch and then the emotional rollercoaster once they were back in each other's lives. I don't think the setting hinders or changes anything for me as a reader. I liked the different setting and imaging being there (I will get there one day!).

Love, Just In was slow to start and I struggled to stay interested because I did not care very much for Josie's character. Josie and Zac got their happy ending, but unfortunately overall it did not work me.

Described in the synopsis as "In the vein of Emily Henry's You and Me On Vacation". This would be an accurate summary as friends, who have barely spoken in 2 years, show their relationship through flashbacks of 3 (THREE) different timelines in a constant will they/won't they timeline of drama and miscommunication. They keep referencing something that happened, but it took waaaay too long to get to there that I almost didn't care about what happened anymore. Slow burn. Too slow. Author's notes at the end explain some of the book's plot points. Emily Henry did it better and I just didn't care for this one.