Olive and Noah both left Sunrise Cove after high school and tried hard not to look back. Former high school friends, they each had their reasons- but they were both a big part of those reasons. Now they've come home to help Noah's twin sister (and Olive's best friend) Kate deal with her own crisis, and they'll have to work together to make that happen.

"Better Than Friends" is a second chance romance where the first time never quite got the chance it needed and there's a lot of emotion and a lot of baggage Noah and Olive need to get through to see if they even want to take a chance with each other. Because while the crazy chemistry between them has only gotten stronger with age, so has the stubbornness keeping them from talking through things. Olive feels guilty for leaving, but also afraid to trust anyone getting to emotionally close. Noah feels the stress of having to be always perfect for his parents and not seen by anyone-except Olive. But a few lousy relationships have convinced him he's not the relationship type and is better off alone. Olive knows if she goes for a relationship, the guy better be all in.

Olive, Noah, and the secondary characters are complex and in turns humourous and humanly lovely-flaws and all- just as you'd hope for in a Jill Shalvis book. The pacing was a little slow and the book maybe a little longer than it needed to be- it took Noah longer than it should have to get himself together and the end dragged a little. But overall this was a good book, about family and friends as much as romantic love and second chances for family as well as romance.

I received a DRC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

BETTER THAN FRIENDS – Jill Shalvis
A Perfect 10
Sunrise Cove Series
Avon
ISBN: 978-0063353381
January 21, 2025
Romantic Comedy

Sunrise Cove, California – Present Day

Olive Porter’s parents were unconventional in their childrearing methods, which meant she was mostly left with her beloved grandmother in Sunrise Cove. Olive became “adopted” by the Turner family next door, especially becoming friends with the twins Katie and Noah. In fact, Olive had a crush on Noah, but it was like she was off limits for him as he only treated her like a sister. On the night of their high school graduation, Olive accidentally ran over Noah, ruining his potential baseball career. She fled Sunrise Cove shortly after, only returning occasionally to see her grandmother and Katie. But she is back for a few weeks as Katie needs her after her husband was seriously injured in an accident that also injured Noah. Of course, Noah is also staying at Katie’s house, which means the two run into each other. Sparks fly, but can anything happen between them when Olive still feels guilty for ruining Noah’s potential baseball career? Are Olive’s feelings for Noah unrequited? What she doesn’t know is that he has always had feelings for her but her “hands off” demeanor, and their friendship, give him pause. Will things change now that they are living under the same roof?

As always, Jill Shalvis delivers readers with a fun tale filled with unconventional characters and real-life situations. You won’t be disappointed reading BETTER THAN FRIENDS, the latest in her Sunrise Cove series. Olive’s parents are modern-day hippies living off the grid. She hated that life, so she ended up living with her grandmother. In school, she was the “odd one” who was constantly bullied, but it was her friendship with the Turner twins that kept her afloat. Katie was her best friend and Noah was her protector, even though Olive always told him not to bother. After the accident, she couldn’t face him and went away to school. She has a successful career as a PR person and in fact, ends up doing some work locally while she is in Sunrise Cove. Noah and Katie’s husband, Joe, were special investigative agents for the National Park Service. While chasing a suspect, they crashed. Joe is currently in a coma, while Noah is on sick leave, not wanting to admit he is still in pain. But he can’t hide anything from Olive. She is as intuitive as ever when it comes to Noah. It’s clear to readers that these two belong together but stubborn pride keeps them apart.

In BETTER THAN FRIENDS, you will laugh, and you will cry at the antics of Olive, Noah, and everyone else around them. Olive refuses to accept Noah’s help. But then, he won’t admit to her if he’s in pain. They are perfect together. But the past, specifically the accident, drives a wedge between them. Can they make it work after all? They dance around the attraction which burns fiery hot between them, and you know it’s only a matter of time before they give in. When Olive needs help, it’s fitting that only Noah can help her. Will she accept? BETTER THAN FRIENDS will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens to Olive and Noah.

BETTER THAN FRIENDS is a mix of “friends-to-lovers” and “enemies-to-lovers” as on any given day Olive and Noah are one or the other. It’s a perfect and fun tale—and a big reason why I’m giving it a Perfect 10. Enjoy the ride when you grab a copy of BETTER THAN FRIENDS.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

This book is part of the Sunrise Cove series, but can be read as a stand alone. I haven't read all of the books in this series, but Iook forward to reading the others. I love Olive and Katie's friendship, but little Joey is a hoot. This is a book about second chances, friendship, romance, and healing. If you're looking for a cozy romance to read this winter I recommend this one.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

3.75⭐
.75🌶️
Tropes/Themes: small town, forced proximity, second chance, it’s always been you, flashbacks, coming home, snarky banter, slow burn, one bed.
Dual POV 3rd person

So despite a confusing beginning, I really enjoyed this story. It was kinda hard to follow at first but it quickly sucked me in. And despite being the 6th book in a series, I didn’t feel overly lost or like it was missing a lot of backstory. Sometimes books say they’re standalones but in reality there’s a lot of backstory with the side characters from previous books. This was not the case. I’ll be honest since I’ve never read this author before I didn’t really want to commit to reading 6 other books without knowing if I like her style 😅 It also had a lot of snark that made me happy.

I did get kinda annoyed with Olive and how stubborn/independent she is, but that’s probably the point of her character so I get it. And I’m not really a pet person so I got tired of all the interactions between the dog/cat. I also wish there had been more backstory to the drama with Noah and his job- it seemed thrown in at the last minute.

But as I said I got sucked into the story pretty quick, and I’m adding the previous 6 books to my TBR

Good opening to get the reader interested in the story and characters. But I found some of the beginning chapters to be a bit confusing. Either felt like details were missing or the same detail and background story was repeated in subsequent chapters which didn’t make a lot of sense.

There were some small timing details that bothered me like two things happening at once or back to back that didn’t make sense and pulled me out of the flow but it was very minor. Usually just have a more critical eye for ARCs :)

At 30% in I really did get sucked in and couldn’t wait to keep reading on, on what happens in the story. I want the love Olive and Noah have!

I loved the dual POV - Sometimes they can be a little cliche but in this story the perspectives were insightful as well as the flashbacks and added a lot of value to the story.

I was so glad with the authors decision to have Amy tell her husband’s secret about asking Olive to leave and not making Olive do it.

This story made me want more romances with a national parks ranger / detective agent MMC

I didn’t realize when requesting that this was in a longer series of books, but it definitely read as a standalone which was great.

Olive is returning home to Sunrise Cove. Unfortunately, Olive isn't back in town for happy reasons: her friend Katie's husband was injured on the job and is in a coma. Olive and Katie grew up right next door to each other, considered each other family, and Olive even fake-dated Katie's twin brother, Noah. Katie's husband Joe happens to be Noah's partner at the National Park Service, so things are a little complicated and stressful. Noah and Olive didn't end on good terms, and Noah is definitely holding a grudge. What he doesn't know is someone else is to blame for their breakup 14 years ago. Misunderstanding and pressures in their past have led them to where they are, but can they get a second chance at romance?

Jill Shalvis in an instant-buy and read for me and the library. She has a knack for creating interesting, lovable, and funny characters and stories. The description of the book is a little misleading, but other than that, I have no complaints.

If you're a fan of Sheryl Woods you will LOVE Jill Shavis! Clean, romance with lots of angst and a bit of spice! You won't be able to put it down! Thank you to NetGalley, Jill and one of the best publishers Avon!

What to Expect:
⭐ Second chance love
⭐ Best friends Brother
⭐ Forced proximity
⭐ Small-town romance
⭐ Protective Main Character
⭐ Clean romance

My Thoughts:
I hate to admit this is my first book by Jill and I am so bummed I didn't not about the goodness of her stories!!! What I love the most is this isn't just an average slapped together plot surrounded by romance and sex. It has a plot. There is a deeper storyline and other characters that add to the story with a touch of sex that fits where it is appropriate.

Main characters Olive and Noah grew up as neighbors and friends. In high school they find themselves in a life changing situation that finds them completely pushed apart. After a tragic accident involving her best friends spouse and Noahs partner at work, Olive finds herself back home thrown in to supporting her friend, her family, and most of all being close to Noah.

This is a beautiful story of two people finding each other again. Getting a second chance at finding themselves individually in their home town but also finding each other. It's a story of healing, forgiveness and family. The plot is well written and the main characters well developed. You will fall in LOVE with the secondary characters! Little Joey is absolutely hysterical! Too smart for his own good.

Synopsis:
When Olive Porter’s off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all.

As a special investigative agent for the National Park Service, Noah’s used to living under intense pressure. Or he was until he got injured on the job. Now unhappily recuperating at home while being smothered by his loving but nosy family, he’d love nothing more than a good distraction.

So when Olive shows up looking like a million bucks, he has to do a gut and heart check. Because nope, no matter what, he can’t fall for her again, the woman who once blew up his entire life and never looked back. How ironic then that his own personal hell (Olive) is also his ticket out of town. The question is, will the risk be worth the reward?

I was excited to read the newest installment of Jill Shalvis's Sunrise Cove series, but the story wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

Olive met her best friend Katie and became part of their family as a teenager. She had a crush on and a fake relationship with Katie's twin brother Noah as a senior, When Olive inadvertently caused an accident that resulted in Noah losing his baseball scholarship offer, his father implied that Noah would be better off without Olive. Olive left and stayed away for a decade until she returned to Sunrise Cove to help Katie when Katie's husband--and Noah's partner--fell into a coma.

The sparks between Olive and Noah just really didn't spark for me. There was so much back-and-forth and not much chemistry between the two. The plotline involving Olive's parents didn't really pan out except for giving Olive and Noah a "just one bed" night. The most interesting character was actually Katie, and I would love a story about her and Joe!

The writing was, as usual, strong. The story just wasn't for me. I will definitely read the next book that Shalvis releases!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for an eARC. Opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed Noah and Olives story. They met when she was 14 and moved in next door to he and his sister with her paternal grandmother. Katie and Noah were twins and Katie became her best friend but when a serious accident resulted in ending Noahs hopes of a future in baseball, Olive left for college. They meet from time to time over the years when she comes home to Sunrise Cove, but it's not until Noah and his brother in law, Joe are in a job related accident with injuries and Katie asks for her help that she returns home. The attraction is still there but they need to wade through the quagmire of their lives to determine what the future holds. Throw in her missing parents, a feisty and inquisitive 5 year old, and meddling family and you have a story you're going to want to read.

Although I received a free ARC from net galley and the publisher, all thoughts expressed in the review are my own.

I enjoyed the overall story and loved the found family trope that Olive had with the Turner family. What I didn’t like about it was how back and forth and indecisive Olive and Noah were. Noah drove me crazy and was such a man baby. There was also way too many plot points in this story - a past accident/injury, family drama, coma, childhood/second chance love, neglectful parents, lost parents, job issues, etc, I couldn’t keep up and it made the story go all over the place. This is the only book I’ve ever read by this author, though, and I would definitely give her other books a chance as I’ve heard good things about her.

She returns to help a friend but finds more than she expects

As a teenager Olive Porter left her unconventional parents behind and moved to Sunrise Cove to live with her grandmother. Next door was the Turner family, twins Katie and Noah and their parents. Katie became her best friend...."misfits unite"...was their motto....and Olive became part of the family. Noah was her first crush, but everything changed the night of the accident that changed the course of Noah's future and sent Olive running away to make a life for herself elsewhere. Olive and Katie are still best friends, albeit via long distance, but Olive and Noah have never regained the close friendship they too once shared. Guilt, ego, fear of commitment....all that and more have kept them at arm's length from one another. When Katie's husband (and Noah's partner in the Investigative Services Branch of the National Park Service) is left in a coma after a high speed car chase gone wrong, Katie begs Olive to return to Sunrise Cove to help with her young son Joey as Katie tries to hold things together; Olive readily agrees. But the antagonism between Olive and Noah is a constant problem, as is the fact that her parents can't be reached. Olive has worked hard to leave her ill-clad weirdo teenage self behind to become a well put-together and successful business woman; coming back to Sunrise Cove reawakens her old insecurities. It also is hard for her to pretend that she ever stopped loving Noah when the two are living in close quarters, while Noah is battling his own demons about being back in the family home that he had had to escape to forge his own path in life. Will the two of them be able to make peace with their pasts, and is there a way forward for them together?
Better Than Friends is the seventh in author Jill Shalvis' Sunrise Cove series, but can easily be read as a standalone. Two people who hurt one another badly when they were teenagers have moved on and created new lives for themselves, but each has struggled with relationships. Their shattered friendship also impacted Olive's bonds with the Turner family, and the reasons for what happened are slowly revealed over the course of the story. With family and friendships intertwined in a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business, current circumstances are forcing Olive and Noah to face one another and the mistakes each has made over the past dozen or so years. Each has reason to mistrust love and is certain that happily ever after isn't in the cards for them. But with the adorable Joey, Holmes the aging Basset Hound who is mending his own broken heart by adopting a sassy stray kitten who's decided to move in, and the nosy, nagging family that want both Olive and Noah to find love (preferably with one another) rooting them on, maybe the time has come to open their hearts to what awaits those brave enough to take a chance. A smart feisty woman, a protective but broody man, and the possibility of second chances make for an enjoyable read. Fans of Ms Shalvis' other books as well as readers of authors like Susan Mallery, Samantha Chase and Nora Roberts will enjoy this latest love story. My thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyage for allowing me early access to Better Than Friends in return for my honest review.

This was such a sweet book. I would definitely recommend to any romance genre fans! There were so many romance tropes happening and I loved them all.

FMC Olive and MMC Noah fake dated and caught feelings back in high school but an accident tore them apart. Fourteen years later, another accident brings them back together again.

Things I loved:

Second chance
Best friend’s brother
Shared trauma
Forced proximity
Miscommunication
Fake Dating
Satisfying epilogue

The characters are adorable, the humans and animals. Olive is going back home, just for a visit, and the first person she (almost literally) runs into is Noah. Isn't it enough that she ran over him years ago. It seems that no one is going to let her forget it. Olive left suddenly and it hurt the people that cared about her. She is making a good living in London now. Noah still doesn't understand why Olive left with hardly a word to anyone. He has closed off his heart, but his mom keeps hoping he will get married and have grandchildren for her. He doubts that will happen. Olive's parents have left her alone for so many years and doesn't see anything wrong with that. They let her just be herself. Is that neglect on their part? Olive and her BFF Katie have always been different, but Noah never cared that she was different. If Olive and Noah would just open up and be honest with each other, they might just clear up some misconceptions. Will either of them open up their hearts?

60/100 or 3.0 stars

This was a fun romance that was able to have some complexity within the characters that I enjoyed quite a bit.
I liked reading about the characters and this only took a few sittings to finish it, since I wanted to know how this would end. The cover is awesome, and that combined with the description is why I requested the book. I have seen the author's name around, so that was also what caught my attention.
I am glad I was able to read this, as I will definitely check out other books by this author in the future!

Olive and Noah parted years ago under circumstances Noah was unaware of and he’s held a grudge against her ever since. But she’s back in town and needs his help and, try as he might, he can’t resist.

I loved this story! A sweet second chance story, with close friendships, meddling family members, missing family members, humor, sarcasm, and bantering.

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

Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis is the 7th book in the Sunrise Cove series. Jill Shavis writes small town romances. Her ability to make the characters so realistic, likable and fun always makes her writing enjoyable. I love how her novels are always full of interesting storylines.

Olive Porter comes home when her best friend needs her. Realizing her bestie needs her support, Olive stays even when her ex is added in the picture. To top it off, Olive’s wanderlust, off the grid parents seem to be missing.That means, Olive has to ask her ex Noah Turner to help her.

Noah is home recuperating from an accident. He is struggling with his best friend in the hospital in a coma, which he feels guilty for. He is being strangled by his family and now helping Olive find her parents

Olive and Noah spark off each other. You can feel the tension between them while reading! The best part is that both of them manage to be clueless about so much to do with each other. Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis is a fun, flirty goodread.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

When her best friend's husband is injured on the job, Olive returns home to support her and she is forced to confront her past while also finding her future.

It was great to be back in Sunrise Cove. Once again, Shalvis crafted a story filled with humor, family, friendship, and emotion. What I found most interesting was that I felt the romance was front and center in this book.

Olive and Noah met at fourteen when she moved in with her gram and became best friends with Noah's sister, Katie. A lot of time was spent filling us in on the what transpired in the past between them and what had kept them apart for so many years. I will admit that their push and pull frustrated me a bit, but it was well worth it. I love that they pined for each other for so long and that they STILL carried a spark for one another. When they were together, everything just seemed right. They were a healing balm for each other and brought them calm.

Friendships and found family dominated in this book. First, there was an amazing life-long bond between Katie and Olive that 6,000 miles could not weaken. Their relationship was built on being true to themselves, and it was easy to see how well they understood each other. Though we didn't get to see as much of it, I also loved the bromance between Noah and Joe. Another long friendship where they literally trusted each other with their lives. There were a few subplots, here and there, but it was the romance and friendships that really captured my heart.

Overall this was another hit for me. As with all Shalvis' books, Better Than Friends made me smile and laugh while it filled me with warmth. There were these moments of pure joy along with so many sweet and tender moments which simply made me a happy, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next Shalvis book.

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this second chance/sister’s best friend. Olive and Noah grew up together but towards the end of high school they developed feelings for each other. After an accident, Olive left and both were left with broken hearts. Now Olive is back to help her best friend after her husband was in an accident and Noah and Olive need to figure out not only how to be in the same house but to resist the feelings that never went away.

#7 in the Sunrise Cove series, Jill Shalvis has written a wonderful addition to her series. I have read these books out of order and it hasn't mattered in my opinion.

An accident in their senior year of high school puts a bar between these two best friends, Noah and Olive. Noah's twin sister, Emma, is Olives best friend. Even though Olive and Emma keep in contact, Noah and Olive lose contact over the years with bitterness and misunderstandings being the main reason why. Years later they meet up again after an accident that puts Emma's husband in a coma. Noah and Olive are thrown together and makes them take a look at their past and what they want their future to be. Very strong female character representation, second chance romance and family drama with forgiveness are the main themes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jill Shalvis and Avon Books for allowing me this eversion arc in exchange for my opinion.

Want a sweet second chance romance that is laugh out loud funny with light spice? This is the one for you! This book finds Olive returning back home after her best friend's husband suffers an accident and questioning what she really wants in life.

She and Noah were forced apart as teens by tragedy and find another tragedy pushing them back together. The banter between these two had me laughing out loud at many places. Olive is also a badass who has overcome a difficult childhood to be a brilliant woman in her field. The idea with the roaches for the zoo? Brilliant!

I did feel like the back and forth between Noah and Olive went on for a little longer than it should have but ultimately, they end up finding their HEA.

This book also finds both Noah and Olive healing their relationships with their family and coming to grips with the choices their parents made. All in all, this was an enjoyable read and if I'm looking for a feel good romance with minimal spice, I will be going back to Jill's work in the future!