This is the book that every girl dreams of! It was just so darling from start to finish. I absolutely adored the main characters and their sweet story of love. Phenomenal book. It'd be a fun book club one!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of "Friends to Lovers" by Sally Blakely. This story is a heartwarming and enchanting romance that packs an emotional punch straight to the heart. The story revolves around two best friends who have shared everything except the most important truth — their love for each other. Blakely’s writing shines with humor, emotional depth, and genuine chemistry between the protagonists. The slow-burn romance is perfectly paced, making every small moment between the characters that left sparks flying.. If you enjoy a sweet, well-written friends-to-lovers romance with Joni and Ren as relatable characters and a well deserved happily-ever-after, this book is a must-read. An excellent debut novel, can't wait for the next one. Highly recommend for anyone who loves stories about love blooming from friendship!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

What a great book!! It had me hooked from page one! I couldn’t put this down. I finished it in one sitting. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. This was a first for me by this author but it will not be my last!!

THis was a cute book. It was a typical romance book. It definitely gives hope to all that are in the friend zone.

This books is best described as a perfect mashup of The Summer I Turned Pretty and People We Meet on vacation. Ren and Joni have been best friends since before they could walk, or at least they used to be best friends. Back at their families jointly owned beach house, Joni is forced to deal with her and Ren’s unresolved issues. Dual timelines lead up to Joni and Ren’s falling out while in the present they’re finally dealing with the aftermath. What caused Ren and Joni to stop speaking and will they find their way back together?

This book is all kinds of cozy. This book feels like a hug with two super close and loving families, childhood best friend, and friends to lovers. Not to mention Ren is the sweetest golden retriever boy you could ask for. I tore through this one!

Friends to Lovers
Dual-timeline
Forced proximity
Family friends
One bed 😳

If you liked People We Meet on Vacation or The Summer I turned pretty you’ll likely love this one! Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wish I had this chance to rate different parts of the book, because I have feelings all across the board.

MMC- 5 stars. I adore him. Copy-Paste Ren into all my books please.
FMC- 4. I didn’t mind her. Liked her even. But, she was another woman who won’t communicate.
Friends to Lovers trope: if done well, this can be great. If done poorly, this can destroy a book. Trope execution - 5 stars. This trope usually has two people who deny attraction long past what is realistic, which takes me out of the story- but this felt real and passionate and painful which pushed and pulled throughout the entire thing.
Story itself- 10 stars. Chronologically, their story is beautiful. Family friends since toddlerhood, partners in “crime”, forced proximity, close calls, wedding dates, jealous partners, shared beach house bedrooms, secret fights hidden from family, all add to make the plot a constant roller coaster. Unfortunately…
TIME JUMPS. Zero stars. I hate the back and forth. If this was written chronologically I would have loved it and high fived a million angels.
Nevertheless, I will be fair- I read this in one long day and was hooked, despite the time jumps. I’ll remove my outlier lowest rating. So if you don’t mind time jumps in your book and friends to lovers is your jam, I HIGHLY recommend this book- because it was otherwise perfect.

The first thing that caught my eye when I was scrolling on NG, was obviously the title. Who doesn't love friends to lovers? and when I got it I had caught a bad case of reading slump, so it took me a little time to actually pick this one up, but my good it was was this a really good debut, like I had to search the author to check if it was really her first published book.

I have to say, however, I don't think I'd include this in the romance section, but on the contemporary one, because even though it is a romantic story, and it is clear the main characters are going to end up together, it also deals with a whole lot of angst and sadness more suitable for contemporary rather than romance.

This book was beautiful, but oh boy was it sad. Anxiety leads this plot, and the female main characters life, so if you struggle with mental illness, I'd say be aware of it before you pick this one up.

The plot was good, and I have to say so were the main characters, but at times, I found myself getting frustrated with Joni, not because of anything other thatn she was so stubborn, and unwilling to accept any type of help, when it was obvious everyone around her wanted to help her, going as fas as pushing them all away. Ren, on the other hand, he was great, extremely sweet and too understanding, because if the person I've clearly been in love with for a long time does the same thin Joni did to Ren, I'd been out of there ages ago.

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin and the author, Sally Blakely, for giving me the opportunity of readiing this e-arc.

This has been a productive year of great novels by debut authors for me, and “Friends to Lovers” by Sally Blakely is another one to add to the list.

I’m a sucker for the friends to lovers trope; especially when it’s done well and the progression into romance seems natural. I also liked the flashbacks woven throughout, showing us glimpses of Joni and Ren’s relationship through the years. I appreciated the representation of the anxiety angle, though our FMC was frustrating at times and I wanted to shake her. But our MMC Ren was the perfect golden retriever.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

I’m so glad I requested this as an ARC. Admittedly, I’m a big fan of friends to lovers and dual timeline tropes and this book did not disappoint.

This story follows Joni & Ren, two childhood best friends that make a pact to be each others plus one to weddings when one of them moves across the country. The present day timeline is the FMC’s sister wedding where they have to pretend to still be friends for their families sake after a 2 year estrangement.

The writing was really beautiful and emotional and I was rooting for these two to finally get past their hang ups and be together. You could feel their love and chemistry for each other from the start.

Looking forward to reading what comes next for this author.

I'm obsessed. I wish the title was more catching so more people knew this was legit amazing. 5/5 stars. It was such an emotional read. The writing style is very unique, but also very beautiful and developed. You not only see the story unfolding but you FEEL everything within the pages. The characters are also written well and I loved both the main characters and how they grow individually, but also how their romance developed in their past and now current as it has well written flash backs that only add to the depth of the story. The driving plot itself is simple but I think that it helps not take away from the romantic story being told.

I was so enthralled in the story, I would have finished in one night if I hadn't forced myself to take melatonin to get some sleep. I woke up in the morning to finish it though! A romantic ride through time that had me hooked.

Also it helps I'm from the area in the book and that was awesome too.

The unique writing style was absolutely refreshing too. It's nice when a book strays away from the cliche sentences in lots of romance books. It helped me feel connected to the characters in a more meaningful way. I'd pick up any future books from Sally Blakely and recommend to all of my romance followers to grab a copy and read it when it's out!

Okay, this is going to be a kind of bipolar review, because while I liked the book and I like the story, I didn’t like it as a romance. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the relationship between the MCs and I was rooting for them from their first interaction on page, but I think the book spent too much time being sad.
The premise was good and the book was well written. I really liked the MCs, even if I thought the FMC was being ridiculous at times, but I also really understand anxiety and bad brain moments. I think some of the side characters could have gotten a little more fleshing out, because some of them read a little as if this was apart of a series of standalones, with the same cast of characters, and that we already kind of know them a little. If that makes sense.
I related a lot with how anxiety can convince you that everything will go terribly if you put yourself out there and take risks and how your brain can sometimes be your own worst enemy. Even if I did want to shake Joni sometimes lol.
I wouldn’t call this one super spicy. It’s not closed door, but it doesn’t go into DETAIL, if you know what I mean.

Ren is an absolute sweety and he can do no wrong.

I’m not really sure I would call this one angsty, more so really sad. Idk, maybe it’s just me, but I want to feel happy at the end of a romance, not sad. Even with the HEA, there was so much sadness beforehand, that I wasn’t even happy at the HEA. I think maybe don’t wait until 97% before the happiness starts…

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️Random notes from my read: CAN BE CONSIDERED SPOILERY⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

* A part of me hates these books that trickle in details of what had between the leads to make them not friends anymore, but I also really like them 😩
* It kind of feels like he’s loved her this whole time and she’s just been pushing him aside and hyper focusing on her career
* “It doesn’t matter what we did, we were together, Joni”. 😭😭😭
* I already don’t like amanda and we haven’t even met her
* Well that was a little abrupt
* Holy call out at the reception dinner. Was that even necessary?? Terrible therapist
* Wooooow, Joni. Douche move
* I’m so confused at 91%. I honestly have no clue what the conclusion of that conversation even was. Like…it sounds awful and sad and yet her thoughts are hopefully after and I feel like I’ve missed something
* She’s acting like her acting as if she has to handled everything alone is OVER, as she actively drives away from those who love her to….figure it out on her own. Just…what?
* Man, she’s got a lot to make up to this boy
* I seem to be in a pattern of reading books with the sweetest MCs, and FMCs that I want to throttle
* Never even meet Amanda and I still dislike her


Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC and allowing me to provide my honest review