Ok when you tell me a friends to lovers rom com kicks off and the first 1/3 of the book the two main characters have the sexual tension of potatoes, I’m skeptical. THEN the magic of Bethany Turner occurs. I absolutely adore the way she shares so much kindness and vulnerability through this story of Cole + Laila.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team!

The writing style initially threw me off. This is a dual POV, but with Lilia, she had a first person narrative while Cole’s was written in a third person narrative. It did make the flow of the story harder for me to follow with the switching back and forth.

The story was cute, but it felt too cookie cutter and too sweet for my liking. The chemistry was there between Cole and Laila but it was just a little too much of a slow burn for me. I did enjoy how the author tackled personal growth with Cole and Laila and how handled the challenges that faced them.

Overall this was a good, but not great read. As a romance, I need a bit more and at a faster pace, but as a character development story, it checked all my boxes. The dialogue was funny and I especially loved all the pop culture references.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the ARC

This was a cute story. Long-time friends that ultimately turns into a relationship. A little hard to get into, but overall a sweet story.
Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for access to this ARC.

Thank you netgally for approving this arc.

I loved this fun and witty rom com. Fake dating.. friends to lovers story that had me smiling a lot

#ColeandLailaAreJustFriends #NetGalley

“i’m in love with you, and apparently I always have been”

“apparently my lifelong obsession with you isn’t just normal friendship stuff. who knew?”

“so have you eaten?”
“ill answer your question with a question: have you cooked anything for me?

“something tells me you and i are going to be very good friends”

There were cute and fun aspects to this romcom--even for someone who didn't get a single one of the Gilmore Girls or Friends references. But I also really struggled to find this particular friends-to-more very believable.

I met my husband when we were thirteen years old. We celebrated seventeen years of marriage the year we turned forty. We were friends for almost ten years before we got married. But to spend nearly thirty years as "best friends" without ever realizing that you were both in love with each other?! That's not normal or realistic. And it definitely doesn't sound healthy, even if this is a romcom.

Note: This is published by Thomas Nelson but it is not labeled as Christian fiction. If it was, I would have further comment about the interactions between the hero and heroine. (Let's just say I'm never going to be a fan of members of the opposite sex bunking together--unless they are married to each other--in fiction or anywhere else.)

Cole and Laila have been friends their entire lives. Still living in their small Colorado town, they are now in their late thirties and comfortably moving through life - until Cole's grandfather dies and his entire world is upended. Determined to make a fresh start, he decides to move to New York City, where he already has close friends as well as a promising job opportunity. Distraught at the thought of losing him but unable to leave her family in Colorado, Laila joins Cole in NYC for his exploratory trip.

Emotions are running very high at the thought of separation and soon the tone of their relationship is shifting in the most disorienting way, as they consider why their relationship never turned romantic - and if it should have.

This was wonderfully done, realistically depicting the struggles of two close people who love each other not knowing how to articulate their newly realised feelings. And their limited but electrifying physical contact was perfectly done.

It was so good to be back in Adelaide Springs and this time to get to know Cole and Laila better! It was fun to be in New York with the characters and hear so many movie references. The story was a tad bit slow moving for me at times. I loved how Cole and Laila wanted the best for each other and knew how to do that.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

An amazing story . Laila and Cole have been best friends from the time they were babies and now that they both are 39 is the first time in their lives that they must live apart . When Cole grandfather died the dinner he owned and Cole was the chef has already sold it to a company and now he is lost . He has an offer to work with a famous chef in New York and he consider it . Laila is heart broken with the news . Cole asks her to spent the next 10 days in NY without him asking her to come with him and her asking him to stay in Adelaide Springs . What happens when he starts seeings her like a woman for the first time in his life ? Will they risk their friendship for something greater ?
I received this book from netgalley and the publicer as an ARC . Thank you . All thoughts and opinions are my own .

Such a great read. I didn't realize it was book #2 in the series.. A fun romcom which made me laugh out loud - witty banter, steamy - perfection. Off to read book #1....

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely adored Cole and Laila! Having said that I will say that had I read Brynn and Sebastian first I probably would have followed along better than I did. The banter between Cole and Laila is hilarious and I love the many movie and tv inside jokes that they had between. I found myself broken hearted for Cole as he navigated the hard journey of what comes next when the only thing you know is being taken away from you. As for Laila, I was comiserating with her over terrible eyesight and glasses that were out of style but you want to hold on to. Cole and Laila not only found themselves on an adventure in New York but on the edge of their lives changing forever. I simply could not put this book down.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson--Fiction for the advance copy of this book. The opinions in this review are mine alone.

This book was incredibly disappointing and I really took a lot for me to finish. I didn't find either of the characters endearing and the dialogue between them felt stunted and forced. This felt like a bad take of Virgin River.

This was a little bit of a slow starter for me, but there was a lot of pop culture that was fun for me to read about. I actually stopped reading at one point and turned on “You’ve Got Mail” to refresh my memory so I could catch the references. It wasn’t very believable to me that Cole and Laila were nearly 40 and never really thought about a relationship together, but it was a cute story of friendship without any spice.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

You’re trying to tell me these leads are supposed to be almost 40 years old?? Cole, ok maybe, but flighty, spacey, insufferable Laila? I did not see any charm in this story or how suddenly these friends flip a switch. It also didn’t feel fleshed out how and why the friends were apparently huge daytime talk hosts but split time in a Colorado mountain town? They’ve been together since they were young but decided to wait to get married until now? The wedding wasn’t even needed to start the book so that felt like an unnecessary and unexplained plot device. The shitting on New York was also unnecessary as was the random addition of the very real Milo? Really nothing in this worked for me, personally.

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

Cole and Laila have been friends forever (seriously, like 30 years) until one day, life forces them to look at their relationship in a new light, and while considering what life would look like without each other in it every day, they consider that maybe they aren't "just friends" as they originally thought.

I’m not sure what it was, but I just didn’t connect with either of the main characters or their friends. After reading, I did learn that this is book two in the Adelaide Springs world, so although it is said to be able to be read as a standalone, maybe having the context of that book would have been helpful in connecting with the characters.

I love a dual-POV romance, but the chapters shifted from first to third person, and it felt a bit disjointed. It also was very heavy on pop culture references, which tends to take me out of a storyline. It took until about 60% for me to feel invested in their story.

I did like that Cole and Laila were a bit older than your typical romantic leads (closer to 40) and thought their relationship was very comfortable. The way their relationship unfolds into something more (well-paced albeit slow) felt appropriate for their characters.

Overall, if you like a friends-to-lovers romance with zero spice and no third-act breakup, I think you would enjoy this!

I am rounding up to 3 stars. I received a complimentary copy of this book, and the opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

No surprise here - Cole and Laila are just friends. Friends who have grown up together in their small town and have worked together for 20 years in their adult lives. Laila is just waiting for Cole to catch feelings, but Cole is completely clueless until his entire world is turned upside down. This change necessitated a trip to New York City, where their friends Brynn and Sebastian live. In the course of living together and exploring the city, a switch flips for Cole and he wonders how he has never seen Laila like "that" before. But while contemplating a long-distance move and a career change, could there be a happily ever after? You won't be disappointed to find out.

The synopsis for this books sounds wonderful, i just sadly wasnt enjoying reading. did not finish at 27%

Cole and Laila are Just Friends is a guaranteed book love! Turner writes with such emotion and humor. Cole and Laila are two halves of the same coin. They know it, and yet they don’t understand it. Until they start to realize it. Then the chaos ensues. Watching them go from friends to more was perfect. The uncertainty, the questions, the tension all built up to some of the best conversations and dialogue. These two humans LOVE each other and watching them discover it was so much fun. I had a hard time putting this one down. I loved seeing other characters from previous books and how they support them (not required to enjoy this one, but certainly brings a lot of enjoyment if you have read about Brynn and Sebastian). I absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a fantastic, clean, rom-com.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for this ARC!

So, this was a wonderful surprise!!! When i first saw the cover on NetGalley, I was thinking that this book would be different in a bad way, but it wasn’t. I enjoyed the reading a lot, for its banter, a bit of slow burn (for at least 20 years) all the jokes and references. I confess that in some scenes I was a bit lost because I didn’t watch the movies that were mentioned, but it was not so bad.
Laila and Cole are really funny and have so much chemistry that I was dy!ng for them to be together. A lot of lessons were learned too. I really liked the way the author wrote about some subjects, especially Cole’s grandfather being someone who could not communicate his feelings so well. It felt very personal haha!
Anyways, I really recommend this book if you like/are searching for a history with friends to lovers and slow burn, a little bit of found family, as well as references to pop culture (especially Gilmore Girls!!) and New York! Also, I loved the exchange between first and third person, because it was news to me.

Some quotes I really loved:
“My grandma Hazel always told me that big, life-changing events come in threes.”

“I guess it’s just that I’m thirty-nine years old, and I suddenly don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my life. And I want to blame other people for that. Somewhere deep inside, I’m wishing I could blame other people for that. But I have no one to blame but myself.”

“But it’s hard to let yourself want anything when you’ve spent your entire life just counting your lucky stars for what you have.”

I really enjoyed reading Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other so I was already excited for this one and I ended up loving it just as much!