An enjoyable Aussie rom-com which gave me all the feels. The main characters are relatable and quite likeable.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, sweet and held my interest. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

This book was so cute and heartwarming while also pulling at my heartstrings, I absolutely loved it.

I was captivated from the very beginning. I immediately was invested in their story from literally the end of chapter one, and I found myself constantly reaching for this book throughout the day. I really loved the way this book flowed as well - the flashbacks were just enough to provide helpful context as a reader and help us see the characters’ past in real time, without being an overwhelming duology like so many other books.

The romance in this book was lighthearted, very Emily Henry-esque with the classic friends-to-lovers trope, but the book itself managed to cover some heavier topics and dove into a bit of trauma and physical/mental health issues. The issues the characters dealt with were captivating and entertaining, but still felt overall relatable and realistic.

I loved this book and will be going back to find other books from this author!

I was provided a complimentary ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a wonderful read. It was spicy, but not all spice; had real world problems between characters and was still heartwarming.

Jodie Larsen is a reporter for a busy news station in Sydney and is being sent to a station in a smaller city for six months to cover an absence, following a gaff during a live report. Her best friend Zac moved there after his fiancé died in a car accident two years ago and he cut off contact. She is hoping to rebuild their friendship while she proves her worth at the station. Without giving any spoilers, this is a well written story about friendship.

This story ended up being way better than I expected. What did I expect? Something fluffy with surface treatment of several different issues. What I got was a charming story with witty banter and plenty of love (family, besties, coworkers). What I also got was some serious emotional pain-again from several different issues such as loss of a partner, fear of never finding love and serious health anxieties. (I've seen hypochondriac being mentioned but it isn't that at all bit a deep-seated fear that was debilitating). The author treated all the issues with the perfect amount of care and still gave us a great friends to lovers story

2024 is off to a great start because I absolutely loved Love, Just In. It is the story of a woman who reunites with her former best guy friend when she moves to his small town for a work assignment. As they get reacquainted, secrets are revealed, feelings surface and a perfect romcom of friends to lovers and second chances is created.
It was a slow burn sweet story with a real look at anxiety and grief. I loved the looks into their past to help explain their current situation and I loved their texts. It was emotional and endearing.

Wow. This was so good. I read it in literally a few hours. It was the perfect mix of real and raw with sweet and rom-com. I am a sucker for second chance romances, especially childhood best friends. I really love how the author wrote about health anxiety. I think it’s important to represent that, and normalize a discussion around it as well as other anxieties. I also just love how raw the conversations were between Josie and Zac. I love when our two main characters can actually communicate. I appreciate that the third act breakup wasn’t really a breakup-it added some angst and realness without making me angry that the main characters can’t communicate. I really enjoyed this!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley, Natalie Murray, and Allen & Unwin for the chance to read Love, Just In early for review.

While I don't normally go for friends to lovers books, this cover was so cute that I wanted to give it a try anyway when I saw it on NetGalley.

Overall, this book was a fun and easy to read story about childhood friends who've drifted apart coming back together by chance. They've both experienced grief, which was explored very well and I loved the additional exploration into Josie's health anxiety. The main characters were both really interesting and well developed, and the side characters were fantastic additions to the story.

Overall, a fantastic debut that I would really recommend!

Love, Just In is a wonderful friends to lovers story that takes its time to address the misconceptions, and misunderstandings left in the past. Josie and Zac have been close friends since uni, but haven't spoken in two years. Living in the same town again gives them a chance to renew the friendship and maybe much more, but first some tough conversations about the past. Slow burn open door romance. Issues of griefs and anxiety handled well.

Don’t let this bright and sunny cover fool you: this one packs heart and depth with its storyline.

Josie is given a second chance to prove herself as an up and coming newscaster after a disastrous on air fumble. This career opportunity just so happens to put her back into Zac’s orbit; her childhood best friend and maybe, just maybe, the one that got away.

Throughout the novel, we witness Josie struggling with health anxiety. As someone who has been dealing with a similar issue, I really connected to Josie’s character. My only wish for her is that she would have looked for help sooner (read this as my gentle reminder to take care of your needs, friends).

“Love, Just In” is the perfect book for those seeking a heartwarming and humorous romance that explores themes of friendship, grief, and mental health.

“Friends to Lovers is the best trope, yeah? That ‘I’ve been waiting for this for so long’ moment…gah.  Gets me every time.”  Couldn’t agree more 💕

Josie and Zach were the best of friends, until they lost touch two years ago when Zach moved to Newcastle.  But when Josie must travel there for work, they reconnect, though not as seamlessly as Josie would have hoped.  Together they must navigate their past and what truly forced them apart and the dynamics of their new relationship going forward.

This book dealt with a lot of heavy topics like health anxiety, drinking and driving, cancer, etc.  I typically don’t mind a heavier book, but for some reason this one was just a little too much for me.  I think it felt like that was the majority of the story and there just wasn’t enough levity for me personally.  Josie’s constant anxiety made me anxious, and I truly read to help escape that, so didn’t get my normal reprieve.  Overall, still a decent read and I enjoyed the dual timelines that gave a fun view of their friendship before their falling apart and helped add some context into what went wrong.

Thank you to netgalley and publisher Allen & Unwin, and author Natalie Murray for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pub Date: Today, January 3, 2024

This was such a gem of a book!
This is my first read by Natalie Murray and I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but more than that I adored the characters she created and the world we lived in.

I cannot wait for more from Murray!

Super cute romance! Love the card paramedic character line. It was a refreshing change of jobs from most male characters.

Lots of miscommunication among friends, but overall, loved it!

A great second chance/fiends to lovers book! I always appreciate learning through back story more about why the characters are the way they are in present day. Would recommend!

A long term friendship to more with a lot of life in between. There is a lot unpack in this thoughtfully written book. Zac is a respected and talented paramedic who is dealing with the traumatic loss of his girlfriend, has relocated and is trying to move forward with a broken heart and soul. Josie, a news reporter, who is working hard to grow in her role, never got over saying no to Zac years ago when he asked her out and is suffering with some mental health issues she is remiss to address. They reconnect when they are both in the same place for work and travel a long emotional road to finding their way back to themselves and each other.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book!

Love Just In is a second chance friends to lovers romance. Upon starting it, I immediately realized that there was going to be a lot of miscommunication issues with the main characters- which is just NOT for me.

There was a lot of drama for this book somehow also being slow…

content warning: main character with cancer.

Overall this one was just not for me and I decided not to finish it.

Another very, very cute romance! I really enjoyed the characters and plot line in this one. You won't be disappointed.

Natalie Murray has Emily Henry vibes, which I love! Love, Just In is a classic friends-to-lovers with a little spice. Joes is a tv news reporter who is invisible to her boss and is stuck in a loop of friends' milestones. Josie and her best friend from high school, Zac, are thrown back into each other's lives...and this time it might just last. Love, Just In was beautifully written and exceeded my expectations.

Smart, exuberant, and an absolute delight, LOVE, JUST IN by Natalie Murray is that upbeat, intelligent rom com we yearn to read. The tension is high, both at work and in romance, for ambitious newswoman Josie Larson is banished from Sydney to a backwater news station in Newcastle to redeem herself after an on-air panic attack. There, she reconnects with a lifelong best friend in Zac Jameson, silent for the past two years since his fiancé died in his arms. Given six months to get herself together for the life she has always longed to live, Josie is continually challenged to reconsider what is most important to her and who she wants to be. An enthusiastic thumbs up for an escape to a different, warm, wonderful world. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.