This was such an interesting read and delved into many different issues which I enjoyed. The characters were very complex and diverse. They were ‘real’ in that they had many faults and made mistakes throughout the story.

This novel is based around a successful social media influencer, Jo and how she is struggling to navigate her life. I found Jo quite difficult to connect to as some of the decisions she made I found challenging to understand. That said, I think it made the story more interesting and the character more complex. I loved the character Mal and his role in supporting the FMC.

I enjoyed how the story touched on current issues such as racism, privilege and trauma. However at times it felt like there was too many themes in the book and perhaps one of two would’ve been better to explore in depth.

The POV was also quite jarring at times as it went from first to third person when characters POV switched and there were a lot of unnecessary past reflections that disrupted the flow of the story.

Overall a solid read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a really fun contemporary romance that while it may seem like a fluffy love triangle romcom, it does tackle some heavier topics around race/racism and mental health. With that in mind, please check the trigger warnings if this is something that may affect you.

I had a lot of fun reading this book and found that Obuobi expressed herself really well. I didn’t know a lot going into this one but I adored the character art and knew I needed to know more. I was gripped within the first chapter and found the vibes were immaculate, the characters were well developed, and the love triangle didn’t make me want to pull my hair out (they usually do).

I definitely recommend giving this book a read.

Strong female lead - check.
Love triangle - check.
Engaging and thoughtful author voice - check.

I had a fun time with this read! I am a strong advocate for the love triangle trope and the way Shirlene structured it was so believable and easy to support. There were times where I found it hard to understand the appeal for Ezra but as the antithesis to Mal, I understand why certain elements of his personality were portrayed that way - he made some DUMB choices but we've all been there Jo.

I wasn't sure how I would enjoy a book that was strongly centred around the digital age/social platforms but found it wasn't focused on in a shallow way which helped me still get out of my "too much like real life" brain.

I did feel like it was a little predictable but maybe because the author chose to grow the relationship in a comforting and soft way so therefore there was less overall tension, and there were strong themes to pull in in addition.

Overall I think it was a good read, but check the triggers in case you have issues with mentions of racism/slurs, depression, suicide, anxiety, and death. I can't rate it 4 stars but 3.5 for sure.

When I read the book’s description I was excited. I’m all for a love triangle. Though the book is well written and I enjoy the characters, it lacked the love triangle vibe. It focuses mostly on one relationship with the 3rd person thrown in randomly. It’s still an enjoyable love story and it hasn’t put me off reading any future stories by this author.

I cannot quite put this book into words, though I understand that’s the whole point of a review. This was one of those books that you (and by you, I mean me) finish and all you can articulate are the excellent vibes. Especially if I don’t want to spoil any of the plot points.

I loved Jo and Mal, both individually as people and for each other. They seemed like cool people that I’d like to add to the friend group. The whole Adelman family thing was super weird, but you needed that in there to add the tension.

Anyway, the vibes were high and I enjoyed every minute of it.

CN for big mental health struggles and the toxic side of social media.

Thanks to #NetGallery and publisher for a copy of this book.

Genre: Romance MF
Format: Digital
POV: Dual
Tropes: childhood friends, love triangle, medical influencer, family drama, mental health struggles.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Age suggestion: 18+


** this isn’t part of the review for the story, but the format that this was provided in isn’t super user friendly. Not being able to change the font size in the background colours makes it super hard to read for people who can’t read tiny writing. **

I loved this book. Jo was such an interesting, complicated character. It's not easy to write someone who has such depth and comes to life so completely. And the writing voice itself is so well done. Funny, heartfelt, smart, deep.

I usually don't like the love triangle trope, but this one won me over and was resolved wonderfully.

Will definitely read more by this author!

This leans toward contemporary with romance for me. The story follows the unapologetic Dr Josephine Boateng, a medical doctor with an online presence as Dr Jojo, her hustle that supports her study and lifestyle. She has been tied to her best friend, Ezra’s family for some time and when she finally realises that her affection for Ezra is more than platonic, the ship has sailed. All is not lost as author, Malcom Waters enters the picture.

I loved the deliniation between, Jo, and her online presence. She made a choice to being in the public eye as a means to an end. Her preferred content leaned toward information and not hiding her smarts or her fashion sense. Yet perception, misconception, and the reality of living life in the shadow of a online presence was shown on the page. I found Jojo grappling with the expectation to live her best life as established for her audience and the best life of truth to herself to be powerful. Through this, the author weaves a nuanced experience of depression and the complexity of living with episodes of mental ill health.

I liked the characters. I enjoyed and was invested in Jojo, Mal and Ezra. This is also a really I interesting exploration of relationships, both romantic and platonic, and how they evolve, grow, warp and change.

I was struck by the consistent pacing throughout with the last 30% packing the heart punches. This made the book easy to read and stay engaged with.
I eagerly look forward to more from the author
My thanks to NetGalley, Hachette and the author, Shirlene Obuobi for an Advanced Reader Copy. All thoughts, opinions and grammar errors are my own.

Between Friends and Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi is a well-written modern romance that not only has all the romantic vibes and spicy scenes you want but gives you plenty to think about and reflect on as it tackles important topics like mental health, race, class, privilege and gender.

The novel follows Jo (or DrJoJoBee), a currently not-practising doctor and social media medical influencer who is in love with her long-time best friend Ezra, a very wealthy nepo-baby and rising star. Deciding it is finally time to try and get over Ezra, and find a romantic life of her own, she meets debut writer Malcolm - the first man who has sparked her interest enough to look away from Ezra. But it soon becomes unclear whether her unrequited love for Ezra is as unrequited as she thought.

One of the many great things about BFL is the deliciously nuanced love-triangle that never felt tropey or overly-dramatic. I at first didn't see the appeal of Ezra who came across as a privileged, fboy who was careless over Jo's seemingly obvious feelings but he had a redemption towards the middle and end of the book and it made Jo's angst over her choice compelling. Malcom on the other hand is a straight up, capital M, Man. With baggage of his own but the emotional intelligence earned from it, he was a great example of a man who owned his vulnerability and was a good counterpart to Jo's strong, independent nature.

The chemistry between the characters isn't completely jump-off-the-page but you can understand why these characters are drawn to each other and I was invested in how it would turn out. The spicy scenes were hot and felt realistic. The crux of this book is learning how to love someone fully and how to let yourself be loved fully. I enjoyed how all the characters had to learn this in various ways and it made their story arcs satisfying.

I thought the author balanced the heavier topics with nuance and sensitivity, and I enjoyed the representation of depression, social anxiety and suicide and the exploration of race and privilege that gave this book more meat on it's bones.

I'm excited to read more from this author and I'm going to pick up her On Rotation.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for providing an e-ARC for my honest review.

Mal and Jo are two great characters, made all the more realistic with their imperfections. Jo is definitely a strong female who struggles to reveal her true self whilst Malcolm struggles make him all the more endearing as a character. The characters of Ezra and Prudence are cleverly handled, as their flaws are evident to the reader without making them override the storyline. An interesting read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Jo, Mal and Ezra!

I really enjoyed this book. The story for the main characters is so well written. I was hooked after the first few chapters.

The love triangle trope was written perfectly.

After not reading for some years and this being my first arc it was a great story and found myself happy for the characters storyline’s and how they evolve and play out through the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the way it was written had me smiling! I enjoyed the way the characters were written.

This social media themed book made me laugh seeing the reality .. the way friends were formed and lovers were made.

I would totally recommend

3.5 rounded up!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette AUS/NZ for the arc in exchange for an honest review. When I first got given this book, I was expecting to read a cringey love triangle, however Shirlene Obuobi has proved me otherwise.

Between Friends and Lovers follows the journey of Dr Jo, stuck between her feelings between two men - her best friend, Ezra and a writer she meets, Malcom. I loved the flow of the plot and the unexpected third act was well written and made sense. I loved Jo's character and the development from start to finish - she is a strong and independent FMC who overcomes conflict and struggle through the book. I also liked how the book switched between Jo's first person perspective, and Mal's third person perspective - something which is quite uncommon in the books I've read!

A let down for me was that I felt Ezra and Jo lacked any "chemistry" in their friendship, the whole plot was reliant on them being best friends but while reading I didn't really feel like they were friends, although it may have been intentionally. I feel even in the present parts of the book, there was something lacking between Ezra and Jo, although the point of the book was that Jo was in love with him. I feel like Dahlia and Jo had a good friendship, but it was very lacking in terms of Ezra and Jo.

However, I did love Malcom and I was rooting for him and Jo the whole book! This book isn't like a normal love triangle (especially where the FMC gets with one character and then goes and kisses the other - yes i'm referencing TSITP and MLWTWB), and I enjoyed the maturity within the romance and the characters.

tropes:
- STEMinist romance
- found family
- friends to lovers
- high society
- celebrity

*Please check TWs before reading this book {racism, parental neglect/alienation, depression, suicidal ideation}

I was really in the mood for a romance novel, specifically one where the whole book wasn't just some possessive guy calling the gal 'baby' for 350 pages. Between Friends & Lovers really delivered!

Between Friends & Lovers follows non-practising doctor Jo, her best friend Ezra and debut author Mal. From the start I was cheerleading for Mal, a fun, mature character (something usually unseen in romance novels) who had emotional intelligence and actually understood some of the nuances of love and emotion. I liked Jo's grappling with life - social media, purpose and family.

What let this book down was the relationship between Ezra and Jo. Just because you keep telling the reader they're best friends, that doesn't necessarily mean they believe it. I think their connection could be stronger in the present, as it seemed to only reflect on the past. This may have been purposeful, but I didn't buy it.

I thought the third act conflict was pretty good and unexpected, and I was constantly cheering for Mal and Jo to get their happily ever after.

I really enjoyed Obuobi's writing style - there were enough words that made me want to google their definition, without being esoteric! It wasn't just your usual romance writing, and it didn't feel cliche. I'll definitely be picking up more of Obuobi's writing in future!

Thank you NetGalley for this eArc!

The greys pick me choose me love me line was a favourite early on and the sleep paralysis demon named daisy, loved it!
I loved the maturing from crush love to mature love that you fight for and choose over and over again no matter what happens.
This book made me giggle at times and the character development was on point.
Starting with heartbreak, I really thought it was going to be that cliche friends to lovers, but the fact it wasn’t made the story so much better, the connection was natural and unforced, the dialogue flowed and that Dr Jo was a self sufficient woman both doctor and influencer showed the realities of modern life.

This is 3 stars round up from a 2.75 stars that I gave personally and on StoryGraph

I did not enjoy this book until about page 300. I just don’t enjoy jealousy being the primary conflict for 300 pages.
Additionally, I don’t get people who are afraid of commitment so it made me so frustrated when Jo was going on about “but idk if I’d be a good gf” okay babe but you’ve been doing that already for 100 pages!!! 
I understand objectively where her fear of commitment and love comes from but from a subjective standpoint it just annoyed me. 

The ending is sweet though and i appreciate that Mal can stand up for himself. It’s the same kind of 3rd act conflict as in The Flat-Share and Mal handled it so much better than the MMC in the flat share. 

Jo is a “strong” “independent” woman. I quite enjoyed her career related internal struggle and conflict. 

Overall, becuase I didn’t enjoy the majority of this book and felt the chemistry between the two characters was a tad awkward for part of the book, I could not rate any higher. I was going to rate 2 stars but the final 50 or so pages did bring it up.

Gosh I loved this story, a refreshing and nuanced take on the love triangle trope.

The description pulled me in, despite not being a particular fan of love triangles. The author did a wonderful job of eliciting tension and intrigue without villainising any characters, and establishing a deeply romantic relationship. The story had true depth, and handled subjects of race, mental health, gender and relationships with refreshing pragmatism, sensitivity and reflexivity.

The switching between Jo’s first person POV and Mal’s third gave such an interesting sense of perspective. The depth of relationships -friendship, romantic, family, and found family, were deftly explored. I particularly loved the shades of Mal and Jo’s characters - discovering the humanity underneath Jo’s bravado and the confidence and conviction beneath Mal’s gentle demeanour.

One of my favourite books of the year so far, and one I’d highly recommend.

Thank you Hachette Australia & New Zealand and NetGalley for this audiobook. Opinions expressed are my own.

Between Friends & Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi is not normally a book I would read with the whole love triangle approach but I have to say that I did enjoy this book. Well written and characters were easy to get to know. Thanks for the e-ARC

Thanks kindly to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book but it wasn’t my favourite. This novel follows the love life of former doctor and influencer Dr Jo - as she navigates the aftermath of expressing her feelings towards her longtime best friend and developing feelings towards a newfound friend. It does a decent job at traversing themes of racism, particularly the experience of African American folks, identity politics, as well as the realities of medical practice in the US.

However I just found the love triangle not compelling enough? I had expected that the story would at least convincingly explore the option of a relationship between the protagonist and her best friend - even for a little bit. This may come across as an odd comment, but I found the actual storyline unusually pragmatic, honest and annoyingly refreshing. Certainly not what I’d expected when I picked up the book hoping for some escapist fantasy. And while there are points of tension that seek to challenge her developing relationship, I personally feel none were quite legit enough to rock the boat.

Overall a nice read from the author, and a good fit for those after a slightly left field approach to a love triangle romance.

A slow burn, love triangle romance that was definitely worth the wait!

Jojo, Mal and Ezra - you hooked me... Eventually! In the opening few chapters, I was unsure if I would like the characters enough to enjoy this book, but boy I was wrong. They all grew on me. Jojo is a Doctor and social influencer: smart, enigmatic, slightly burnt out and hiding one huge secret. Mal is a top selling debut novelist: he's quiet, self reflective, persistent, and has off page gone through his own growth arc. Ezra is a hot shot actor: he's vivacious, sexy and does care for Jojo. What I thought Obuobi did exceedingly well in this story was create a love triangle where there was no real enemy. Ezra's redemption arc was compelling, raw and felt honest.

Another triumph of this book was the manner that big, heavy topics were dealt with. Depression, anxiety, addiction, suicide and emancipation are just some of the big topics, and Obuobi handles each of these with grace, honesty and accuracy. It was her portrayal of these that was a real winner for me in this story.

I shall definitely be recommending this book to friends. Thanks NetGalley and Hachette Australia and New Zealand for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for my review.