This was a cute, light best friends to lovers book. Cole and Laila have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They grew up in a very small town in Colorado together. When Cole’s grandfather dies and didn’t leave him the family restaurant, Cole decides to try out NYC for a couple weeks. Laila joins him on his trip and they realize that they may be more than just friends when they face the possibility of not living near one another anymore.

I think this would’ve been a cuter story had the characters not been 39. It seemed a little unrealistic that they’ve been best friends almost 40 years and neither seemed to have much dating background and yet they never thought, hey, I actually like this person more than friends. They also seemed incredibly immature for their age.

There were SO many pop culture references which was fun to start with but then it just got to be too much. It was cool how often they talked about Gilmore Girls and the characters had brunch with Milo Ventimiglia.

Overall, if you like best friends to lovers, this would be a fun quick read.

The male narrator was great in this book too!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook.

📚 Cole and Laila are Just Friends by Bethany Turner
🎧 Format: Audiobook
📕 Genre: Romance
📖 Read: June 2024
✨ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

”What if, just for one day, we pretend we don't have a lifetime of history and shared memories?”

‧₊˚✧ Tropes ✧˚₊‧
ꕥ Friends to Lovers
ꕥ Slow Burn
ꕥ Forced Proximity
ꕥ One Bed
ꕥ Fake Date (the most fun fake first date ever)
ꕥ Witty Banter
ꕥ Dual POV
ꕥ Closed Door

I am a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope so I was excited to listen to this one.

This was such a genuine, heartwarming story. It was so much fun to read. Cole and Laila were both enjoyable characters. Talon David and Andrew Eiden really brought the characters to life through their narration.

This book takes place mostly in New York. I had originally thought it took place in a small town but I ended up really enjoying their time in the city. I’m usually not a huge fan of books with a lot of pop culture references, but I didn’t mind this one. The date Cole planned for Laila’s birthday was everything!! It made me want to visit New York one day.

Overall, super cute, delightful story.

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Thomas Nelson and Bethany Turner for this audiobook. This is my voluntary, honest review.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and Thomas Nelson Fiction for providing me with an advance listener copy of this heartwarming and delightful book!

"Cole and Laila are Just Friends" by Bethany Turner is an absolute gem. This charming novel captures the essence of a lifelong friendship teetering on the edge of something more. Their banter made me feel all the same emotions of my first watch through of Gilmore GIrls.

Turner's writing is both witty and heartfelt, drawing you into the cozy world of Adelaide Springs, Colorado, and the bustling excitement of New York City. As Cole grapples with a family betrayal and contemplates a move to New York, Laila's support and secret hopes for his stay reveal the depth of her feelings.

Their one-week adventure in New York is filled with laugh-out-loud moments, tender realizations, and the perfect blend of humor and romance. The story beautifully explores the complexities of evolving relationships and the unspoken emotions that can change everything.

"Cole and Laila are Just Friends" is an incredibly endearing read, perfect for anyone who believes in the magic of best friends discovering they're meant to be more. Bethany Turner has crafted a delightful, feel-good story that will leave you smiling long after the last page.

I would delightfully recommend this novel or audiobook to anyone that needs a light hearted romance or just simply needs a happy ending.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio version of this title in exchange for my review.

This was a cute, light hearted rom-com story.
Friends to lovers, clean, light and fun.

Cole and Laila have a life long friendship and seem to be perfectly happy with being just friends. I find that believable, It is a little less believable that they don't consider a relationship before age 30. It seems like at times when they were dating people and in relationships, jealousy would have popped up.

But, maybe not. This a younger generation than mine, so maybe it isn't as unusual.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. The setting was described enough, and the character description was well done. I enjoyed getting to know the characters.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 "really liked it"

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes. Cole and Leila have a fun and easy relationship, bantering comfortably over everything and are very supportive of each other, maybe more supportive than they are to themselves. They’re sweet and funny and are pretty like able. I love the the plot of the two of them in New York and this book was well read, my preference was to Leila’s narrator though I didn’t dislike Cole’s.

What didn’t work for me: the age. These two are 39. I can empathize with Leila’s nod towards aging (a back injury, plucking the coarse stringy grays that start popping through) but the maturity level of this group felt much more like they were at least a decade younger. There’s no way they had gone this long being best friends without testing the relationship option. And the fact they’re comfortable testing out a job move and taking time off without worrying about health insurance or rent money as they work in a bar?


Also while I enjoyed the banter and I’ve seen every single one of the romantic comedies and sitcoms they reference - there was a bit too much of it. I get it, the Friends apartment complex is cool, but do we really need to see the street name multiple times and keep hunting for ugly naked guy’s apartment? I get it, that’s Leila’s thing and she and Cole have their quirky personalities. Just maybe a notch or two down please.

Overall, a cute and clean romance with feel-good vibes. This was an early copy given in exchange for my honest opinion- thank you, NetGalley.

Cole and Layla have been friends for most of their lives. When the restaurant Cole owns and Layla works at is sold, their upheaval takes them to New York. Layla tags along with the intent to return to Colorado. This pair of friends begins to ponder life without each other and take a chance on “what if” their relationship should be more than friendship.

This story is told in dual POV that works very well. The unique points of view and humor carries through and is enjoyable. Cole and Layla are in their late 30’s- which is great, but I feel like their personalities and maturity is actually 25ish years old max.

This seems slow at the beginning to me as the author introduces the relationships and characters. Cole and Layla are in a situationship and halfway in love from the beginning- the way their relationship functions and the support they provide each other is that of a couple that isn’t having sex. So it wasn’t a great leap for that relationship to change and it wasn’t very defining for the characters either.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review. A simple and fun love story of friends to lovers. The story may have been unique but the book as a whole is one that probably won’t make a lasting impression on me.

Cole and Laila are Just Friends by Bethany Turner is such a fun read! This book is for you if you enjoy the friends to more trope, great banter, humor, fun movie and TV references, and likable characters! I really enjoyed everything about this story.

I loved both Cole and Laila! Cole is the “always there for you,” “completely comfortable with” best friend. Laila is fun and spunky and I just loved everything about her. Their contrasting personalities made me love their relationship whether they were just friends or more. They were so compatible. Their first date was so fun and one of my favorite moments in the book! The humor was spot on. I also loved catching up with Brynn and Sebastian who were the main characters in Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other. If you haven’t read their story, while these are easily read as standalone’s, I recommend reading it first because you get to know the town and its residents.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were perfect for the characters! They added so much personality and fun to this story! I highly recommend it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. This is a clean read. 4 stars.

Okay so this book annoyed me. How can you get to your late 30s early 40s and not realise you’re in love with your best friend? Like surely all your ‘best friends’ would have intervened and told you years earlier.

I kind of kept reading because I love New York.

I love a good best friends to lovers trope and this one hit the ball out of the park. I thought it was a meaningful story and it felt relatable in a way that I could imagine the book in my head and that helps me connect with a book. I can see this being popular at my library, so I will definitely recommend it for circulation!

Cole and Laila have been best friends just about forever. They tell each other all their secrets and know each other's most embarrassing moments. They ALWAYS have each other's backs and they are always there for each other. This is just the way it's been. Never more than the best of friends. Until they aren't. Until Laila has dreamt of Cole wanting more and Cole has dreamt of having more but they're best friends so they both just keep their mouths shut and continue on with life the way it always has been.

After the loss of his grandfather Cole decides to make some big life changes that include moving away. Laila is devastated. How can she support her best friend in a decision that will take him away from her? She decides she must because that's what best friends do.

I really enjoyed this best friends to lovers story. I know some people have complained that they must have known and how they are nearly 40 and never considered being in a relationship. I don't know, I felt their story was genuine. Plus with the added bits of information found while reading the story it really does make sense.

I highly recommend this if BFF to lovers is your jam.

Oh my goodness! I loved this adorable story! Cole and Laila have this amazing connection and as I began listening to this novel, I wondered how things would change for them. And I simply loved the way the author handled their relationship both as friends and then as something potentially more. I am not kidding when I say that the moments where they begin to move into a possible romantic relationship are so wonderfully swoony and sweet all at the same time, because these two mean so much to each other already.

The story is packed with such fun moments around New York City. The sites they visited from famous romcom movies makes me want to go on my own tour doing the same thing. And even though there are so many fun and silly moments that Cole and Laila share, there are many deep and heartfelt moments, too.

This book comes after Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other and I definitely think that this story is even better having read the other book first, however, it is easily enjoyed as a stand alone, too. I listened to the audio book version and the dual narrators did a fabulous job with the voices.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I love this story so much. The development between the 2 main character as to best friend to lovers. They realized they can't live without each other and everything they went through. I did enjoy the pop culture reference through out the story esp their little adventure in NYC it just felt relatable.

Cole and Laila are Just Friends by Bethany Turner is the sweetest friends-to-lovers rom-com ever!
Cole and Laila have been best friends their whole lives in a small Colorado town. After Cole's grandfather dies and sells the diner Cole loves out from under him; Cole is left trying to start over at thirty-nine. He has an opportunity to start a new job at a restaurant in the big city but there is one problem he'd have to leave Laila behind.
Laila is an adorkable waitress who has worked beside Cole in his diner. She likes her small-town life, cats, and her best friend Cole.
Right from the bat these two had couple vibes and were touchy-feely in a way that platonic friends are not in real life. No one in their lives believes it either. the story mentions a lot of rom-com favorites like You've Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally. Their trip to New York is adorable and nostalgic. This book would appeal to other millennials as they discussed all the shows and movies I grew up with.
I laughed so hard in parts it had me in tears.
This book had dual POVs and the narrators did a fantastic job relaying the character's emotions.
Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this audiobook. This review was written Voluntarily and all opinions expressed are my own.

This was my first Bethany Turner book. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, and I became invested in the story after learning about the characters. This book was a happy, feel-good story and was a great light-hearted read.

Loved this book so much I requested it on audio, and I loved the narrator too! This series will have you smiling all the way through (this is the second in the series). I can’t wait to read what comes next from Bethany Turner!

Cole and Laila are just friends is a s sweet story of best friends facing betrayals and the challenges of life together. They’re inseparable, but when Cole is offered an opportunity that will mean he has to move to New York what will Laila do? Her home is in Adelaide Sprongs, She decodes to spend a week with Cole in New York and they slowly realize what’s important and that sometimes the person you’ve been looking for has been there all along. Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

Cole and Laila are Just Friends is the third Bethany Turner book I've read/listened to. She writes well, and her characters are likeable. And obviously, there is a huge market out there for "sweet" and/or "clean" romances. My problem with this volume was just how incredulous the premise was. Two best friends have spent their ENTIRE lives in close proximity. They're both physically attractive heterosexuals. The set-up would make perfect sense to me if Cole and Laila were in their late teens or possibly early twenties. But they are thirty-nine and forty!!! Come on!! Due to a complicated plot twist involving characters from Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other (no need to have read this book to catch up in this one) and family contortions, Cole and Laila temporarily relocate from their postcard perfect hometown in the Colorado Rockies to Manhattan. Ms. Turner has fun with an abundance of popular culture references (making me want to tour NYC with her as my tour guide), but the idea that the different backdrop, along with one night having to share a bed (even though they've supposedly slept near each other multiple times in the past), suddenly makes them aware of each other's allure was just too ridiculous for me. Holy Cow, Batman! (Because of course, these two don't use strong language, either.) So my review is mixed. I like Ms. Turner's writing, I enjoy much of her setting, pacing, and banter, and her examination of complicated family relationships is beautifully embedded into the story. But I finished feeling like I'd spent a day eating only cotton candy, even though parts of the fair ground had serious exhibits. Rounding up reluctantly to four stars.

ARC Review
I wish this had been advertised as a series. I understand the couple in this one was different that the previous (Brynn & Sebastian), but I have not read that book and felt completely diconnected starting this one. Had I known it would be like an interconnected standalone, I probably wouldn't have gotten the ARC without reading the first book prior. I feel like that can be pretty confusing for a lot of readers if it's not blatantly advertised as the same world. So, unfortunately, I decided about 25% in that I would be DNFing for now. I don't believe in rating books I DNF because I don't think that's fair to the author if I can't judge the whole book, so I will not rate on Goodreads, but for the sake of Netgalley/the author/the publisher still getting my thoughts, I'm giving it a middle of the road 3 stars.

This is a book about lifelong friends who in just about four decades never realized they loved each other.

Their friendship is well-developed and the side characters are entertaining. The banter is great and the restaurant plot is interesting and well done.

I think my biggest criticism, and the reason that this one didn’t hit for me, is that these characters are nearly 40… and they read as confused 20-something’s. I wish there was a bit more maturity somewhere in here, something that showed me that these characters were forty without telling me. Previous serious relationships, or previous marriages? Stronger careers? I just couldn’t get it out of my head that they were as old as they were.

I also got a bit frustrated by the fact that EVERYONE around them knew how they felt, and they didn’t. In forty years, they’d honestly never had that discussion? No one ever asked them? This is all part of the age disconnect for me. It’s one thing for twenty-something’s to have this revelation with friends. It’s awkward when it’s mature adults with friends who’ve known them forever and the topic of their feelings for each other have never been discussed.

The love revelation also comes out of nowhere. I’d have liked more tension, more small moments that built to those big ones.

Overall, I liked it, I just wish a few things were different that may have put it over the top for me.