A contemporary Romcom with lots of heart!

Josie and Zac, were inseparable since they were 14 years old. And until 2 years ago, when Zac cuts off communication following a tragic accident, Josie would never have imagined differently.

Josie has hopes and dreams to check off her list: securing a career as a news reporter, finding a handsome and successful husband, and having kids by 30. At 27, she’s still single and is starting to panic. After a misstep at work, Josie finds herself on assignment to the sleepy beach town of Newcastle away from her Sydney life. Newcastle also happens to be where Zac retreated to in his grief.

Josie and Zac must now confront their broken friendship and potential feelings of something deeper. Are they willing to risk their hearts or jeopardize their precarious and recently rekindled friendship?

Tropes/themes:
💕 Adult contemporary romance
💕 Dual timeline
💕 Friends-to-lovers
💕 He falls first
💕 Mental health rep (anxiety, trauma, grief)
💕 Forced proximity

“I need to stop thinking about what I've lost and start thinking about what I've found”

“Maybe love is a checklist, after all. Just not the list you thought it was”

“Looking at you is like staring right into the sun. so bright, it's blinding”

Shifting between the past and present, we witness Josie and Zac’s relationship grow and slowly unfold over the years. We see the subtleties of their repressed feelings for each other.

Forming a narrative that is tender, emotionally raw, and inspiring, Love, Just In impeccably captures the nuances of a friends-to-lovers story while highlighting mental health.

I was engulfed by tidal waves of emotion while reading this book. The friendship melted my heart. The tension was electric. The longing and passion was perfection. I loved the masterful balance of heartache and humor.

If Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation had a book baby with Christina Lauren’s Love and Other Words and Abby Jimenez’s The Friend Zone, this would be it!

Let me just come out and say that Love, Just In is my *favorite* contemporary romance read of the year! I’m hopelessly in love with Zac Jameson and this book. I highly recommend adding this to your bookshelf or TBR if you’re looking for an endearing friends-to-lovers romance with lots of heart.

I received a free e-ARC and am voluntarily leaving my honest review. Huge thanks to Natalie Murray, Allen & Unwin, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

3.5/5

Now contemporary romance is a genre I don't often enjoy and am extremely hard to please in, so I do try to bear that in mind when reviewing a book. Overall I think this was a pretty decent friends to lovers story. I think it will really appeal to the Emily Henry fan club. I personally found this one much more enjoyable than People We Meet On Vacation (which was like watching paint dry for me).

I do think this book felt longer than it needed to be for the substance of the story. Many of the flashback scenes felt underdeveloped and a bit tacked in.

I tried my very hardest to exercise patience and compassion towards the main character, as I know her battle with health anxiety was drawn from the author's personal experience. I do appreciate that this issue was highlighted in this book, as it's not something you see a lot in fiction.

Josie was definitely a bit of a mess, and I did at times find it hard to understand what Zac sees in her at all, let alone to be so gaga for her. Calling her "sunbeam" and saying she's a ray of light, but that didn't seem to fit her personality at all? Zac himself was the perfect gentleman and frankly deserved better than her being all wishy-washy with him.

I will say though, that the chemistry between the lead characters did feel convincing.

I am personally not a fan of stories where they're in a relationship/situationship with one person but in love with another, and there was a fair bit of that here. Just gives me the ick.

There's definitely a fair amount of miscommunication and kind of drawn out "we lovvvve each other but we cannnn'ttt be together for absolutely nooooo good reasonnnnn" which got a bit tedious for me in the end.

I liked the Australian setting and it was better than PWMOV. I think it's a solid choice for anyone who loves contemporary romance and the friends to lovers trope, with some anxiety rep on top.

i loved the relationship between these two. it was very cute and i really enjoyed the flashbacks to their past, it really added to the reading experience and helped me understand their history a bit more. sometimes their interactions would make me roll my eyes because they seemed more flirty than friendly, but i guess that was the whole point. overall, they were very sweet and wholesome.

i enjoyed the storyline but it wasn't my favourite. i honestly liked the romance more than i liked what was happening outside of the romance. i did very much enjoy the breast cancer awareness and the conversation about health anxiety though. as someone who also gets anxious and think every single thing happening to my body is a disease, josie’s thoughts felt like my own. it was like the author had hopped into my head and had written my thoughts out.

thank you to netgalley & the publisher for an arc of this book. all opinions are my very own.

‘We’d agreed that if we hit the age of twenty-eight and were still single, we’d marry each other.’

I’ll confess: I am not a frequent reader of romance. But every so often I can be tempted, and I was this time. ‘Love, Just In’ is a friends-to-lovers romance which touches on several other issues.

Josephine (Josie) Larsen is a Sydney TV news reporter approaching 30 who thinks that she is failing at life. A panic attack on live television has dented her career hopes but a six-month placement to the network’s regional bureau in Newcastle may give her another chance to prove herself. Josie suffers from health-related anxiety (a little knowledge and a family history of some conditions does not help) but is too afraid to seek help.

But Newcastle is also the home of her friend Zac Jameson. Josie and Zac have been friends since high school, but they have barely spoken for the past two years. Zac’s fiancée died in his arms in a car accident in Sydney, which is why Zac left.

So… both Josie and Zac have issues to resolve. They feel attracted to each other but worry that their friendship might be sacrificed. You know that they will eventually overcome all the obstacles they’ve each placed in the way of becoming lovers (because that’s what happens, right?) but you don’t know just how long it will take. Josie agonises over some medical issues and takes way too long to seek advice. Fortunately, Zac steps in. And Josie has some learning to do in relation to Zac.

And yes, it looks like a ‘happy ever after’ ending is in store. Nice. The romance may have been suitably angsty and predictable, but Ms Murray covers some important issues along the way.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Title: Love, Just In

Author: Natalie Murray

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Reviewed By: Arlena Dean

Rating: Four

Review:

"Love, Just In" by Natalie Murray

My Sentiments:

"Love, Just In" was a beautiful love story featuring Josie and Zac, who had been friends while growing up till it fell apart. Will this be a read of a friend-of-lovers romance? This is where you must pick up this good read to see where this author will take the reader. What will happen when these two have so much tearing them apart, especially with all the flashbacks we were given to observe during the read? What will happen now that Josie, from Sydney, moves close to Zack in Newcastle? Will they be able to get together and renew their friendship? Will it turn into a new thing and turn into love?

The story works very well with the portrayal of grief and health anxiety. Zac and his trauma and Josie's health concerns brought out what was going on for these two. This author brought it out so well in the story in a very positive, intense way that the reader will have a good understanding of what has happened with these two. I enjoyed the ending, where communication started coming forth.

If you are into good friends to lovers...you may enjoy this read.

Thanks to Netgallery and Allen & Unwin for the ARC and my review of the read.

Josie and Zac were best friends growing up, but had grown apart in recent years following Zac's traumatic accident. When a work assignment put her in Zac's new hometown, Josie looked forward to reconnecting, but she quickly realized she could be harboring more than friendly feelings for Zac.

The number one way to get me to read a book is to tell me it's a friends-to-lovers romance. It's always special to see people who already love each other in one way develop a new kind of love for one another. For Josie and Zac, there were many obstacles over the years which kept them in the friend-zone, but for once, the timing could be right.

Those pivotal moments in their fourteen year friendship where Josie recognized (and denied) her changing feelings for Zac were shared via flashbacks. The flashbacks were really effective in helping me understand Josie and Zac's relationship better, while also shedding light on Josie's struggle with health anxiety. This is a first for me. I have read books that featured OCD, but not health anxiety specifically. Though this issue did not take center stage, it was given some attention in the story.

I have seen other readers lament the slow progression of this romance, but these two had a lot to overcome and their friendship was at stake. I can understand why they were hesitant to act on their attraction, but I did enjoy the pining, the flirtations, and Josie's inner battles regarding her feelings. Part of me would have loved more time in Zac's head. We only got one chapter from his point of view, but it was a great one. Had me shedding those happy tears.

Overall, I enjoyed getting to see Zac and Josie's relationship grow and change. I appreciated their journey and was overjoyed with where this path led them.

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray is a captivating friends-to-lovers romance that will leave readers with a warm and fuzzy feeling long after turning the final page. This novel delivers the perfect blend of romance and spice, making it the ideal summer read. The story revolves around Josephine "Josie" Larsen, a TV news reporter in Sydney, who finds herself on the brink of turning 30 and feeling like she's failing at life. Surrounded by the achievements of others and burdened by her perpetual single status, Josie is also grappling with her invisible existence in the eyes of her boss. The only time he noticed her was during a live TV panic attack, which resulted in her being sent to cover a colleague's leave in Newcastle, a regional bureau. While Newcastle may seem like a mundane assignment, it holds a surprise for Josie in the form of Zac Jameson, her best friend from high school. However, their reunion is bittersweet, as Zac has been distant since the tragic loss of his fiancée in a car accident. Seeking solace, Zac had left Sydney to find a way to cope with his grief. As the narrative unfolds, Murray skillfully navigates the complexities of Josie and Zac's neglected friendship, their mutual secret attraction, and the challenges they face in their careers and mental health. The author beautifully portrays the emotional journey of these characters, delving into their personal growth, vulnerabilities, and the power of rediscovering lost connections. Murray's writing style is engaging and relatable, effortlessly drawing readers into the lives of Josie and Zac. The chemistry between the two protagonists crackles with authenticity, making their evolving relationship a delight to witness. Through their journey, the author explores themes of love, loss, self-discovery, and the importance of nurturing friendships. Love, Just In is a well-crafted novel that expertly balances heartwarming moments with poignant ones, keeping readers emotionally invested throughout. Murray's vivid descriptions of Newcastle create a vivid backdrop, immersing readers in the setting and adding depth to the story. In conclusion, Love, Just In is a must-read for fans of friends-to-lovers romances, offering a perfect blend of heartfelt emotions and sizzling chemistry. Natalie Murray's ability to craft relatable characters and compelling storylines shines through in this novel, making it a standout in the genre. So, grab a copy, settle in, and let Love, Just In whisk you away on a captivating journey of love, friendship, and self-discovery.

3.5 but rounded up to 4 star. The first 5% took me 3 days and the rest of the 95% took me less than 24 hours.

I have a very love/hate relationship with this story. I really connected with Josie and her health anxiety - I would also bet that a good number of readers will too. I thought her thoughts and feelings and worries were handled beautifully. However, I think we needed a dual POV because I really struggled with understanding Zac. I kept thinking that he thought of Josie as more than friends, but his actions showed differently. The sexual tension definitely felt more one sided and I wish I could have been in his thoughts.

I really struggled with feeling the chemistry between the two but I think that's where a dual POV could have helped. I loved the side characters - at least I loved Christine. But I definitely felt like the side characters were an intrical part of the story and sometimes that's hard to find with books.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I loved Natalie Murray's writing! I will absolutely be on the lookout for more books from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. Even while missing all of the geographical references in the book, I enjoyed this. Josie's health anxiety could be triggering for some readers but it was handled well. The flashbacks took me out of it at moments as to where they were placed within the novel but overall it was well done and showed how each interaction was viewed and how Josie could not quite see what was in front of her. Enjoyable read that I would give 3.5 stars.

✨ ARC REVIEW ✨

I loved this book so so much! This story was so fresh and new but still had all the pieces that make up a wonderful love story. It made me think and learn about topics that I hadn't really thought about in the past- health anxiety for one. If you're a fan of Josie Silver and Emily Henry- you will LOVE this book!!

Thanks so much to Natalie Murray and Netgally for the opportunity to read and give my honest review.

📚 Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥Spice Rating: ❤️

✨ BEST Friends to Lovers
✨ Close Proximity
✨ One Bed
✨ Anxiety
✨ Australia

Content Warning: Cancer and Car Accidents

Josie and Zac have been best friends since high school. They have been intertwined into each other's lives in every way but the timing for romance has never been there. Zac experiences a very traumatic loss and moves to a small town to recover- away from Josie. After two years of not speaking, Josie is sent to the small town on a six month work assignment that puts her right back into Zac's life. As they both work through all the challenges of their lives, they slowly rebuild their friendship and find that maybe there's more there.

I adored these character- and their friendships! They just loved each other so much and they had the best witty banter back and forth. Josie is impulsive and fun and Zac is loving, thoughtful and laid back. This book covers some TOUGH topics and I was afraid it was going to be overwhelmingly sad, but the way it is written is so beautiful. There were definitely some heartbreaking moments, but there was so much joy woven into the hardships. Perfect balance.

It takes place in Australia, and as an American, it took me a second to catch on to the lingo, but now I want to go around calling everyone Gorgeous and Favorite.

I highly recommend this one! Grab it as soon as it releases on January 3, 2024!

Steam Meter
🤍 clean romance
💗 closed door/ fade to black
❤️ sexual content
❤️‍🔥 explicit, play-by-play
🖤 graphic, more than vanilla

This was such quality mental health rep & had so much genuine friendship (both between the two main characters and their entirely platonic friends). It passed the Bechdel Test and also addressed the very real reality of medical anxiety (especially being a woman!)

Josie and Zac both clearly cared so deeply for each other even when life was tearing them apart, and their hesitance and dancing around each other’s fears and feelings as well as their own was so real. The brief flashbacks allowed for us to watch their friendship grow and also watch them see each other differently throughout it.

I felt some of the flashbacks could have been longer or more detailed, but overall it was a cute read and I genuinely enjoyed it!

A rom com with a bit of bite. Josie and Zach were the best of friends until he fell apart- understandably- after the death of his fiance in a car crash he survived. He moved from Sydney to Newcastle for a fresh start. And now Josie has. been assigned there. She's got her own challenges with anxiety, Can they renew their friendship? Yes, but will it turn to love? Fans of the genre can guess but no spoilers from me. This might be trope-y in spots but the issues of grief and mental health elevate it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARc. A good read.

A friend’s to lovers rom-com that will just tug at your heartstrings. Told with glimpses of the past and in the present day, at the start we meet Joise Lawson, now a reporter for a major news network in Sydney, Australia who’s been moved to Newcastle for 6 months on assignment. For 2 years she’s barely communicated with her best friend of 14 years Zac Jameson, who works as a paramedic in…well…Newcastle. Forced to finally face each other and deal with the trauma of their fallout and the past two years of sparse communication will they be able to salvage their friendship and maybe break the tension that’s existed between them for the past 14 years? You’ll have to find out.

Natalie Murray has crafted a delicate love story that tells a realistic tale of the intricacies of crossing the threshold from friends to lovers laced with tense moments and heavy emotional baggage that makes these characters feel so real. Joise and Zac both are prime examples of humans who have been through immense trauma and are dealing with the aftermath. While flawed and hurt, this does not define them however, through this story we see them work on themselves in order to finally, maybe, be together and continue their work as one.

On a personal note, as someone who has dealt with health anxiety in the past, Murray addresses is so beautifully, highlighting the reality of a serious situation in the midst of this gorgeous love story. I was so struck with how deeply I resonated with Josie in that way as she battles her anxiety to learn how to live her life again. Something I wish people still had more empathy for today.


A deeply touching, and intensely relatable rom-com that left me with trails of happy tears by the end, I highly recommend this book. Also, if you love Emily Henry’s work, this is a romance novel for you.

Thank you Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for the arc!

Scarf Rating: 🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣(5/5)

Taylor Swift songs I associate with this book: Now That We Don’t Talk, Out of the Woods, Style, How You Get The Girl, This Love, You Are In Love, long story short, Labyrinth, this is me trying, Sparks Fly, That’s When

Thank you to NetGalley, Natalie Murray, and Allen & Unwin for an ARC of this book!

This book snagged my attention from the cover and description, including the reference to Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation. Josie and Zac had such a special and long-lasting friendship, and I loved seeing it both in the present as they reunited after some time apart, and through the alternating chapter flashbacks throughout the fourteen years of their friendship. The flashbacks did an excellent job of showing how the two met, how their friendship formed, and set the groundwork for the love story.

I also really enjoyed the portrayal of grief and health anxiety, and thought they were both really well done. Zac's recent trauma, and Josie's escalation of health concerns into full-blown, life-altering anxiety, were both shown in a sensitive but realistic way, and I appreciate the way both were handled.

In all, I definitely agree that this book would be great for fans of Emily Henry, as well as Abby Jimenez, Chloe Liese, and Ashley Poston! Can't wait until its publication on January 3!

RATING: 3/5 STARS

I had high hopes with this one being compared to Emily Henry, but I couldn't get into it. The writing style didn't grab me, but I may try this author's future work if a premise grabs my interest!

A cute romantic story that addresses mental health issues in a positive way. I really enjoyed Zac and Josie's story.

Josie and Zac are childhood best friends. Josie is fun, playful, loving, and mildly neurotic (in a very sweet and self-aware way). While Zac is smart, reserved, funny, and good-natured. They are inseparable over the years: moving in with one another, going to the same college, and even being the other's wingman. The reader is dropped into the story not really sure what happened that distances the two. Josie is moving to Zac's area and he begrudgingly offers to give her a ride to her hotel-they haven't spoken in over a year.

Josie keeps trying to understand Zac and with the little information she is getting, she's making little progress. But things heat up and they keep falling into instances where sparks are flying. The unwinding of history and their current relationship is truly top tier. Murray weaves the present with the past all the while driving the plot forward with strength. This friends-to-lovers is top notch, enjoyable and charming.

Read this you will not regret it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Releases Jan 3rd so make sure to pick up a copy to start your New Year off right.

A very easy read friends to lovers romance. With alternating time lines and from Josie's point of view. You get drawn in to this sweet, slow burn romance.


My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray
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Josie has been sent to work in another town for six months after an on-air incident. The good news is that her best friend Zac lives there too. She is eager to try to reconnect with him as she hasn’t seen much of him since his fiancée died.
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What I liked:
-Josie has health anxiety, and I liked that because I don’t believe I have read a book where the character has this particular anxiety.
-I enjoyed Josie and Zac’s vibes with each other when they were getting along, they had some good banter.
-The best part was at the end when all the brutally honest communication started happening. 💜💜
-Zac was a great guy in how wonderfully he kept supporting Josie.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this book a couple of weeks ago, and am just now getting around to writing my review - so here are the notes I wrote down:

- The beginning is SUPER awkward.
- The FMC feels super dramatic.
- They keep referencing something that happened, but we're kept in the dark?
- Yep, definitely dramatic.
- I'm so over the angst of him "not missing her" and I'm 10% into the book.
- I may DNF this book - it's too much. (Spoiler - I didn't DNF it.)
- So much fixation on getting back what was.
- How does your family moving make it personal?
- Josie is...a lot.
- Zac seems really sweet and awkward.
- Did Josie not always have anxiety about the cancer thing?
- How are you thrown off by the "don't drive with someone who's been drinking" comment - didn't his fiancee die in a car crash because of a drunk driver???
- How are you pretending you enjoyed the date with Lindsey?
- What's with the whole angst about being forgotten? It doesn't sound like you made moves to stay in touch either.
- I'm not seeing the correlation: Tara dying set you off about being scared of dying of cancer...but not your Aunt dying?
-3 light beers is still plenty to get you drunk.
- Why are you do determined to like Lindsey? I don't get it.
- Why would you get in the car with someone who is CLEARLY DRUNK!
- How do we go from the funeral to the night Tara died?
- When do we talk about light beers still being beers?
- You're seriously blaming Zac for not telling you the reason he kicked out Lindsey??
- I'm really not a fan of Josie. Good on Zac for setting boundaries for his mental health.
- I'm so annoyed with this book.
- That kiss was hot - and now we're back to freezing each other out? Jealous of a dead woman??
- I feel like there's something with the t-shirts...is it going to be explained? (It's not.)
- I'm getting whiplash: you didn't want to talk about the kiss, fled to Sydney, and now you want to talk about it at a BAR?
- That convo was super sweet; the sex scene was good.
- Could do without the "sexting".
- And we're back to the drama.
- The cancer thing seems REALLY overdone.
- Good on Zac for demanding he has to be enough or nothing.

I will note that I read the author's note AFTER I read the book, which explained some things. It would've been helpful to have that information ahead of my reading it, but I'm not honestly sure that it would have changed my opinions all that much. Still just a very blah book for me.