"Love, Just In" was a joy to read! This friends-to-lovers tale was heartwarming and sexy. Josie's inner monologue provided plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The banter between Josie and Zac was sharp, with lots of flirty humour. More than that, the topic of health anxiety (and anxiety in general) was treated with sensitivity and provided meaningful insight to readers.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC and the opportunity to review.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

I loved this childhood best friends to lovers romance! Josie and Zac were so cute! I really loved their friendship and the romance was top notch. Natalie is a master of angst and pining and she delivered both in this book.

I loved the quirky humor to break up the more serious parts. It's great to read mental health struggles represented and managed in a realistic way. Natalie handled several heavy topics in this novel in a very delicate and beautiful way.

Overall, this book was a great read and I loved the characters and the story!

I just finished Love, Just In and I honestly don’t even have words. It was such a beautiful journey with stellar character development. You won’t regret reading this book. It was so well done, I loved It!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy of Love, Just In by Natalie Murray. I picked up this book after being in a reading slump following a very emotional book. I assumed it would be a light, quick read with not much substance. I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t the case.

The main characters, Josie and Zac, have been best friends for a very long time and as they realize they may have feelings for each that go beyond friendship, they go through some tough and confusing times. Each character in the book has depth and a unique set of very real problems.

The book brings a lot of realistic and widespread mental health issues to light, including grief and anxiety, making the characters relatable. There isn’t a single character in the book who “has it all” and that’s refreshing. Murray does a wonderful job of creating in-depth characters and navigating through the trials and tribulations of real life relationships.

Overall, 4/5 stars. Would recommend!

I enjoyed the writing style of this book but not the plot fully. This was not a rom-com. It was a good friends to lovers trope book though. The heroine, Josie, suffers from severe health anxiety and has a cancer scare during the book. Zac, her oldest friend, is lovable MMC who is still suffering from past trauma. These two have a slow burn relationship that pays off in the end.

I absolutely loved this book! I read through it so fast that I wanted more. I connected to the characters and they felt very real to me. The characters are best friends and are dealing with their own past traumas. Josie has crippling health anxiety and Zac is dealing with grief from a past relationship. Romance at it's finest, will read anything else by this author now!

Absolutely loved this book! Fans of Carly Fortune and Emily Henry’s work should definitely add this to their TBR. The start was slow but then it was a book I couldn’t put down and one of my top romcoms of the year! The main female character struggles with medical anxiety, similar to the author, which I found compelling and relatable. If you have severe medical anxiety this may be a trigger for you though. Zac and Josie are the cutest couple though and have the best banter! Highly recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley for ARC in return for an honest review.

Consider me gobsmacked! This is a beautiful mash up of “The People We Meet on Vacation “ and “One Day in December “. The genuine BFF love between Zac and Josie reminded me so of Alex and Poppy that it had me in tears! Plus, the angst and the wanting and missed opportunities definitely has echoes of “One Day in December “ I think Ms. Murray executed this novel beautifully.

This was a friends to lovers, slow burn, and well worth the wait! I found myself up late at night, trying to stay awake to keep reading. Emotionally complex characters and yet, fun and easy to read. I’m personally not a fan of stories that keep cutting back to the past, as I don’t like to be pulled out of the moment. However, these flashbacks were short and sweet and each served a very strong purpose. Very enjoyable!

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


<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198484472-love-just-in" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Love, Just In" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1694571310l/198484472._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198484472-love-just-in">Love, Just In</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14829945.Natalie_Murray">Natalie Murray</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5895588416">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This was a friends to lovers, slow burn, and well worth the wait! I found myself up late at night, trying to stay awake to keep reading. Emotionally complex characters and yet, fun and easy to read. I’m personally not a fan of stories that keep cutting back to the past, as I don’t like to be pulled out of the moment. However, these flashbacks were short and sweet and each served a very strong purpose. Very enjoyable!<br /><br />Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/10127425-missygirl">View all my reviews</a>

This was a great balance of rom com
and more serious issues. Of course I was rooting for Josie and Zac and Josie made me frustrated at times, but it was also
very relatable. Definitely gives Emily Henry vibes!

After having a mild panic attack on live television, reporter Josie Larsen is transferred to Newcastle to cover another reporter. But Newcastle happens to be home to Zac Jameson, Josie’s estranged best friend from high school. The two of them try and rekindle their friendship while fighting off the feelings they’ve had since high school.

This book was not really what I expected it to be. I walked into it thinking it was a romance, which wasn’t the right call because it read more like a general fiction novel. Basically what I’m saying here, is that if you walk into it thinking it’s a romance novel, it won’t be your favorite. If you walk into it thinking it’s a general fiction, it’ll be great.
Josie was a really good main character, although sometimes she did annoy me. Thankfully I was able to ignore those parts a lot of the time, so it didn’t bug me that much.
I really enjoyed how there were a lot of switches back to high school, though. Having those in there, really showed what their friendship was before they separated and it also helped understand what they were thinking about or going through in more detail. I also enjoyed how the author wrote those in specifically making sure the line of events matched what the characters were discussing or thinking about in present time, it really helped keep things in track.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen and
Unwin for an eARC of this book

I enjoyed reading Love, Just in. Trigger warnings for health anxiety and cancer, also car accidents, house fires and child death (not in detail)
The story follows a news reporter and a paramedic throughout their 14 year long friendship from highschool onwards. Each chapter moves through their past and their present from the perspective of Josie. I enjoyed the pace of the story, it was not confusing swapping from past to present at all which was fantastic. I lived the story, cried through a few things that he close to home and laughed out loud at times to. Slow burn chemistry which lead to some steamy scenes that you can't discuss with your mother. I would definitely read more from this author.
I received this ARC copy of Love, Just in from netgallery for an honest review. Thankyou

This title took a bit for me to get in to, but I’m glad I stuck it out. While the alternating timelines was a peek into moments in their past, I don’t know that it was really executed to its full potential. I would have liked it chronological and possibly less of it.

This friends- to- lovers tale is a sweet, angsty and a bit spicy story of long- time best friends that FINALLY get their shot of moving from “love” to “in-love” after a tragedy separates them for two years and then a chance move for a job reunites them.

As someone who suffers from anxiety, I can appreciate the internal struggle and self-sabotage that Josie has to work her way through. Zac is a completely lovable character who also is working at getting past trauma and grief. The love, honesty and fear that propelled their storyline felt genuine even though at times it was a bit maddening.

I had high hopes for Love, Just In! I ultimately could not get past the main female character. Josie's health anxiety was too much for me to read. I also found Josie naïve and immature. Although I didn't connect with Josie's character, I did like Zac! I liked how the author used flashback scenes to further the story. Despite this book not being for me, I would give Natalie Murray another chance! I really liked her writing style. Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for the ARC.

This book took a little for me to get into. The switching from various years in the past to the current time was irritating at times. I’m so glad I stuck to this and read it through! This story of a girl with severe health anxiety who falls for her oldest best friend is a great read! I kept cheering for them to realize how much they each cared!

I really loved Zac, and I found myself looking forward to the scenes with him in it. His feelings for Josie were pretty obvious, even when she didn’t treat him with the love and respect he deserved. I’m less found of Josie, who came off as immature and a bit annoying.

This book gave the completionist in me a run for its money. There were times I want sure I wanted to keep reading—likely due to the other relationships the MCs were in and Josie’s wishy washy behavior. I think Zac kept me holding on.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Josie and Zac have been friends for 14 years, though they have not spoken in 2 years. They are reunited when Josie (FMC) lands an exciting job opportunity in Zac's hometown, Newcastle and she moves there for the duration of her contract, away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney.

Love, Just In explores Josie and Zac's story from the beginning, with segments jumping anywhere between 14 years ago and the present.

I generally don't enjoy friends-to-lovers romances, slow-burns or books that jump between the present and future, however, I do believe all these things were done quite well and the health anxiety perspective (Josie) was something very different and very interesting to read about.

Good, light read compared to my usual genre 😎

Love, Just In tells the story of two friends that have been inseparable since high school, but have been practically estranged for the last two years after a tragedy. It touches on serious topics like health anxiety, loss of a loved one and fractured relationships. These are the elements that I enjoyed. I felt like the characters were a bit flat, and although I enjoyed parts of their romance, I didn’t find myself getting invested in their relationship.

A sweet contemporary romance with a friends to lovers trope. Love, Just In describes the ups and downs in Josie and Zac's relationship over the years, from high school to the present. The chapters look at their present friendship, alternating with episodes from their past. We get to see how their history, both together and separately, has influenced their feelings for each other, positively and/or negatively. Unfortunately, the episodes from their past are not presented in a chronological order which at times is distracting. With so much past baggage, will they ever get the HEA they deserve?

WOWWWWWW

Two days after finishing and I’m still struggling to write a review because I am still enthralled by this book! Natalie brings all the angst, pining, TENSION, heartbreak, gut punches and SWOONY SWOONY LOVE to this story!

What you can expect:
☀️banter, tension, angst
☀️childhood friends to lovers (done beautifully)
☀️dual timelines (flashbacks)
☀️golden retriever, sunshine MMC
☀️🌶️🌶️
☀️slow burn, forced proximity

CW: cancer, death of a loved one, mental health, health anxiety, see her website for full details and read before picking up this book!