I love love loved Friends to Lovers! You'll fall in love hard with MMC Ren and FMC Joni, their storyline was enthralling and I was cheering for them from the very first page. Their family dynamics were also very relatable. This isn't my typical go-to genre, but this was such an engaging read from start to finish, I highly recommend it!

Thank you, NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for the ARC!

An absolute gem of a read! Consider me a Sally Blakely fan!!! Blakely’s style is warm, engaging, and beautifully captures the complexities of friendship, as well as the vulnerability that comes with falling in love with someone you’ve known for years.

Joni and Ren were childhood best friends who made a pact to always stay in each other's lives through all the ups and downs of adulting—by being each other’s wedding dates. But after a line is crossed, they aren’t even sure how to be friends anymore. The emotional rollercoaster of navigating new romantic territory that follows is so well done, and I couldn’t put it down!

I’m always a fan of dual narrators, and Blakely nails it here. The alternating perspectives between Joni and Ren really allowed me to connect with both characters on a deeper level and made their journey from friends to strangers (if you could ever be strangers again!) to lovers even more impactful.

Friends to Lovers is a sweet and memorable romance that reminds readers that love doesn’t always come from the place you expect. It's a perfect read for those who are looking for a story filled with warmth, humor, and the kind of love that blooms unexpectedly.

The history between Joni and Ren makes every moment they share feel so much more meaningful, and their journey was a beautiful, heartfelt experience from start to finish.

I can’t wait to see what Sally Blakely writes next!

Thank you so much Sally Blakely, NetGalley, and publisher for the arc!

This book was a fun, easy read. Joni and Ren are so cute together. Being one another's plus one kept them coming together when they (best friends) were living so far apart. I enjoyed the time jumps from past to present. I also like the story being told from Joni's point of view. The music being intertwined was also a fun part. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC for my honest opinion.

This book was incredible! From start to finish, I was completely hooked. The writing was beautiful, the characters felt real and well-developed, and the story kept me engaged the entire time.

This book has been such a quick and easy read. I love how the author describes the settings and the emotions that are taking place. They are so vivid and relatable. This is a dual timeline novel, but it is written effortlessly so that the timelines do not get confusing. However this timeline keeps you guessing and intrigued about what happened and is happening. It was hard to stop reading at times. The friendship between the FMC and the MMC was so beautiful and it was cute that they promised to be each others plus ones since the FMC had to move away. I love me a forced proximity trope. I laughed various times throughout the book as they try to fake their feelings around their family during her sister's wedding. Their love is undeniable and the tension can be felt as soon as they see each other again. The friends to lovers trope is not my favorite because it sometimes frustrates me. We all believe they will end up together at the end, and there are so many instances where the reader is like, "Do it already". However, due to all of the events that happened, that never crossed my mind. The ending and the epilogue was so cute!

Wow! What a stunning debut novel!

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is perfect for anyone who loved Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation or Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After.

Joni and Ren are best friends, and when Joni plans to move across the country, they make a pact. They will always be plus ones to weddings to ensure they still see each other.

Told in past and present timelines, we slowly unravel the reason Joni and Ren have been estranged for two years, after one wedding night gone wrong.

I devoured this. Also Ren’s *forearms!!* iykyk

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for this ARC! I was provided this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"I’m just someone who’s been in love with my best friend since forever and can’t get over it.”

Ren and Joni have been thick as thieves since toddlerhood. Their friendship is one that comes once in a lifetime, but life moves fast, and careers pull them in opposite directions. They vow to always be each other's plus ones as their friend group marries off. When a line gets crossed, everything goes sideways. What could bring them back together after years apart? Is their friendship worth saving? Is there something more to their soul tie?

With some of my favorite romance tropes like forced proximity, friends to lovers, and reunions, this book takes the reader on a whirlwind romance. Friends to Lovers is a single POV with dual narratives, jumping between the past and the present. The tension that Blakely infuses into the book is palpable. This is the kind of romance book that scratches at your soul.

The novel sucked me in right away. Excellent pacing that keeps reader engaged. The setting is beautifully detailed, the main characters are well developed and show great growth through the story. I was aching for both of them and rejoicing with them throughout my reading. I loved the quirky side characters, and the volley between past and present is a fun way to expose the true love story of Ren and Joni. There were a few parts that I had to reread, as the back and forth did get muddled. I'd love to see clearer transitions in the timelines through chapter headers. That is truly my only critique for this novel. I found myself looking for any free minute to pick the book up.

Overall, Friends to Lovers is an incredible debut book for Sally Blakely. I will definitely be purchasing a hard copy when it releases. I'm excited to see more from this author!

This was such a fun read. I love the friends to lovers trope. I loved experiencing their friendship and history The playlist on top of it made me feel all the feels. Definitely will be tuning in for any other books by this author.

This is a very adorable and fun book! This will be such a fun summer read. I loved the characters and their storyline, I loved the tropes as well. I loved the back and forth and how the story progresses!

i could not get into the story i'm so sorry. the fmc was so annoying to me & the pacing just didn't feel right unfortunately. i do appreciate netgalley for the arc! just might have been not the right time for me. stilll check this one out if you enjoy friends to lovers :)

You give me this (happy place) and this (people we meet on vacation) and I give you a ✨PRINCESS (FRIENDS TO LOVERS BY SALLY BLAKELY)✨

I cannot even begin to explain how much this book means to me and Jodi and Ren are all I really want in a friends to lovers!!! I will scream about this book forever because everything was just PERFECTION!!! The wedding trips, forever plus ones, the WANT, the little moments, THE REASONS, everything about this just made me want to stay glued to Ren and Joni and I just can’t function after meeting them. They were perfect. Miss Sally Blakely. You are an icon and I’m in love with this book. Who knew words on paper could make me feel this way🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

Very very cute and fun book! I had a good time reading it and devoured it pretty quickly. It had a good balance of sweet rom-com, while also having some lines that felt so real and emotional. POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD: I would say that my only issue with it is just that it felt like there were some plot lines that never got fully developed- for example there was so much foreshadowing about Leo's family that seemed to just go nowhere. Overall super fun read that I'd definitely recommend

I loved this book so much more than I thought it would. This second chance romance/friends to lovers story was so amazing and I couldn’t put it down. I loved the different timelines and watching Ren and Joni’s relationship evolve. Beautifully written, thank you for the ARC.

All the tropes, all the feels, so much tension and history you couldn't help but route for them. If I had to find a complaint, I would say I wanted to hear more about Joni and Ren's lives together. But for a debut author, this was so good. I look forward to whatever she writes next.

Friends to Lovers had me hooked from the beginning. I loved getting to know Ren and Joni and slowly learning about their friendship and what caused a wedge between them. It was hard to out this book down because I just kept wanting more!

Friends to Lovers is such a heartfelt, beautifully written debut. From the very beginning, I was pulled into Joni and Ren’s story—and I didn’t want to put it down. Sally Blakely does a fantastic job of weaving together a dual timeline and a full cast of characters without ever making it feel overwhelming. Everything just flows so naturally.

This is one of those books that quietly breaks your heart and puts it back together again. I loved that it wasn’t about perfection—it was about showing up, even when things are messy. That theme came through so clearly, not just in their relationship but in Joni’s personal growth as well.

And then there’s Ren—his love for Joni felt so steady and honest. One line from him just stayed with me:
“I think I’m always going to be waiting for just five minutes of you loving me like I love you.”
That one hit hard—and it says everything about this story.

I feel so grateful to have received an early copy through NetGalley. This is a debut I’ll absolutely be recommending and rereading. I’m really excited to see what this author writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, I really appreciate it!

Okay, so this book’s trope is obviously in the title— so I already knew what I was in for! Although, as I disclosed when I hit 50% in my reading…I just…did not feel anything very strongly for either of them. I really wanted to like both of the characters a lot more and I couldn’t! I feel horrible, especially due to other reviews really loving them.

I do think the plot/storyline was fun and different. Oh man, I love a good unraveling of everything during a family member’s wedding. Kind of live for that sort of drama..I will not lie to anyone! I actually think that was my favorite part of the book. I do think the mom was a bit overwhelming and did not need to repeat something like that out loud TWICE, but I digress. All the drama of everyone spilling their secrets was fun! I love fun.

Lastly, I do love the use of playlist and music throughout this book, but wish it was a little more enhanced? I’m not too sure, like I loved reading about it in the beginning with the playlist and everything, but maybe a little more would have helped. Maybe, I’m just being slightly picky.

Oh and— “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat” by Del Water Gap might be an excellent addition to them (for some reason it’s the song that popped into my head).

Thanks again for the opportunity to read this romance beforehand.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If The People We Meet on Vacation and Happy Place had a baby, it’s would be this book. It has always boggled my mind when people don’t like the friends to lovers trope. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Ren is so cool and charming and just casually sexy. Joni is like so many women and I related to her in so many ways, namely in her issues with anxiety, being in her own head, and wasting time on her one true love. This book made me laugh, made me cry, and made me see something of myself. Well done.

This book was just so wonderful - heartwarming, hopeful, romantic. I am usually not a fan of “friends to lovers” or “flashback to before” or “second chance” tropes and yet…. I am so happy. Friends to Lovers will be receiving a coveted spot on my “lovely love stories” Goodreads shelf. I would definitely recommend this to romance fans looking for a summer read.

5 stars. ARC provided by Canary Street Press via NetGalley.

Ok, I ended up giving this a second chance after initially giving up on this and I am glad that I did. I ended up loving it!