I loved this book! The story was so fun to read and the plot was very well thought out! I would highly recommend this book!

Joni and Ren. Best friends since the age of 3. Each other’s Plus One. Until that distinct line is crossed. Back at their families’ shared beach house for Joni’s sister’s wedding, REN and Joni have a chance to fix what has kept them apart for two and a half years.

Oh. My. Gosh. I could not put this book down and did not want it to end. It was a wonderful start to a new year. Sally’s writing is so beautiful and evokes such emotion. I call it now, she will be the next Emily Henry. Add the incorporation of so much great music, I may have read my favorite book of the year.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a…friends to lovers romance, particularly fans of authors such as Emily Henry, Josie Silver, and Kate Clayborn who really know how to write emotions and leave you breathless.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This fun debut by Sally Blakely is a perfect beach read!

The story centers around a stop motion film creator named Joni and her best friend, an A & R rep named Ren. I think this is more of a second chance romance than just friends to lovers. There is miscommunication, fear of rejection, and flirting galore! So much to enjoy. RAJ forever, if you ask me. The story is engaging and entertaining; however, the mixed timelines messed with the continuity for me. Sometimes Joni's anxiety was difficult to ascertain her thoughts and made following her confusing. Overall, I will be recommending this to any friend of closed-door romance.

Thank you to Sally Blakely, NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC! All opinions are my own.

If Happy Place, People we Meet on Vacation, and The Summer of Broken Rules had a baby!

Joni and Ren have been best friends literally their entire lives and when Joni leaves Oregon to pursue her dreams in NYC, they decide that they will still connect every summer to be each other’s plus ones at weddings they’re invited to. But something happens that alters their relationship and they don’t speak to each other for two and a half years. Their silence has been kept hidden from the rest of their families, but they are pushed together at their families’ joint lake house when Joni’s sister is getting married.

This story was cute and jumped between the last few summer weddings and the present tense! I am a sucker for when books are dual timeline and you have to read the whole story to find out why the characters had a falling out (very PWMOV and LAOW coded). I’m also such a sucker for slowwww friends to lovers storylines and this book completely delivered!

Big, big fan!

🏖️ childhood friends to strangers to lovers
🏖️ small, coastal town in Oregon
🏖️ wedding setting
🏖️ dual timeline

Very solid debut from this author. I’m not usually a fan of the friends to lovers trope but I feel like this one was done very well.

Ren and Joni have been friends since they were little. Their families are friends as well and they even share a beach house. After Joni moves to nyc, they make a pact to be each others plus ones to various weddings to keep their friendship alive. It’s pretty obvious what happens next.

Although the story is very predictable, the writing really kept me in it. I really felt all the yearning and pining. The dual timelines were fine for the first half but I wish the flashbacks would’ve ended sooner (or just less weddings, at least 2 of them seemed unnecessary). It became confusing especially since I didn’t read it in one setting. Also they were so cute together and I wish I could’ve gotten more happiness from them and a little less angst and tension.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trading for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very sweet romance novel, and I enjoyed reading it. Ren and Joni were both likable characters. The book drug a little towards the end, and I didn't love the side characters.

**spoiler alter** This review is based on an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review This review may contain spoilers.

This book is the perfect summer rom-com. I absolutely loved the story as a whole, but I especially enjoyed the way the author developed such a believable history between the main characters. The balance between the lifelong friendship and the currently troubled dynamic kept me turning the pages. Each flashback had me wondering what could have led the characters to where they were in the present.

The romantic chemistry between the leads was undeniable, and the way their past and present intertwined added so much emotional weight to their story. I also loved the setting of the story and found myself wanting to join these families at their beachside retreat.

The story was far more than just a romantic comedy. It had me laughing and crying as the characters navigated through deeper emotional themes that were reminiscent of an Abbey Jiminez novel. Blakely’s writing is witty and heartfelt, drawing readers in with clever dialogue and vividly painted scenes.

I am blown away to learn that this is Sally Blakely’s debut and will definitely be purchasing the stunning sprayed-edge edition of Friends to Lovers when it is released this summer.

I went into Friends to Lovers knowing that I'd likely love it as it has all my favorite tropes: friends to lovers, dual timeline, forced proximity, ocean setting. But I wasn't prepared for how much I'd really love it. Joni and Ren are childhood best friends since they are 3. Their families are best friends and vacation every year together at their shared house. But when they become estranged after a weekend together, they keep it from everyone not to ruin anything between the families.. for 2.5 years. However, once they are back in each others orbits due to Joni's sister's wedding, they can't stay away from each other and slowly start rebuilding what fell apart. Alternating between past and present timelines that eventually meet up, I couldn't put this book down yet I didn't want it to end. The pining between the two characters is top notch and I loved that there wasn't any other relationships preventing them from being together, rather just figuring out their own feelings. The supporting characters all felt important as well. I could've read 500 more pages of Joni and Ren being together. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. Fans of Carley Fortune and Emily Henry will absolutely love Sally's writing, which stands well on its own. Can't wait to read more from her in the future!

I really wanted to love this book because I’ve seen so many reviews compare it to Emily Henry. Sadly there was too much miscommunication on the fmc part and the time line was so choppy one moment we were in the past and the one second later in the present it was a little hard to follow.

The book itself was really cute and I had a great time reading it I just wanted a little more from the book!!! from the moment we saw they weren’t friends anymore I could already tell what had happened so when it was revealed I wasn’t really surprised at all.

Thank you netgalley and the hive (Harper Collins) for the arc 💕

"Friends to Lovers" is an engaging and heartfelt debut novel by Sally Blakely. Featuring well-developed characters, sharp dialogue and compelling relationship dynamics, it’s a story that keeps you invested throughout -- tugging at your heartstrings all along the way. The main couple is genuinely endearing, making it easy to root for their journey.

As a debut, it exceeded expectations and delivered an emotional depth that both surprised and resonated with me. Fans of Emily Henry, Annabel Monahan or Katherine Center will likely find this book a perfect addition to their reading list! While the pacing felt slightly prolonged in parts, it’s a minor critique for an otherwise strong novel that I’d wholeheartedly give four out of five stars. Many thanks to Sally Blakely, NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

Friends to Lovers was such a fun read! I was drawn in by the synopsis and this story did not disappoint. The writing is beautiful and nostalgic, the relationships and settings were so vivid, I struggled to put the book down because I wanted to stay in the world Sally Blakely created. I have a major book hangover now and will be thinking about Joni and Ren for a long while.

Heads up for readers - the synopsis described this a dual narrative, but it’s exclusively told from Joni’s POV. The book does jump around in time, which is an effective tool for telling this story, but it’s not dual POV. I don’t think it would have been as engaging as a dual, but wanted to set expectations from the start.

Readers that love second chances, swoony MCs and the nostalgia of youth and friendship should give this a shot.

It was way too slow for me. I just couldn't get into it because it seemed like the pacing and beats of the book were so off.

This was really very cute, and I understand the comparison to Emily Henry. A little schmaltzy, and the leadup to the big reveal took a little while longer than it probably should, but the characters were good and the setup was really very charming. Would definitely like to go back to the Oregon coast soon as a result as well. 4.25 stars rounded up.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley.

A warm, and beautiful depiction of my all time favorite trope. Friends to Lovers, reminded me so much of People we Meet on Vacation in all the best ways! Fans of Emily Henry and Carley Fortune will love Sally Blakely’s writing. Loved this one and would love to see more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of "Friends to Lovers" in exchange for an honest review.

I really tried to like this book but I am putting it down at 60% read. I feel like this book is 98% unnecessary banter between characters and not much plot. When I asked myself "what has actually happened so far in this book?" I felt like I could sum it up in less than 3 sentences.

The storyline lacks interesting enough things to keep this reader's attention. I only kept reading to find out what the "big terrible thing" is that they did but I don't feel like I can keep dragging through the silly banter long enough to care. Some things about the story aren't believable (like, the main characters sharing a hotel room with a "friend" of the opposite sex when each of these characters are in a relationship of their own- and commenting on how the other person's significant other could be so "insecure" about the situation. I can't think of anyone in their right mind who wouldn't be a little insecure about their boyfriend choosing someone else as their plus one and sharing a hotel room with that girl at the end of the night - someone who they're comfortable enough with to zip in and out of clothing, without a second thought).

Timeline/layout for interchanging timelines is confusing. It bounces between "X years ago" and a day of the week (ex: Tuesday/Wednesday/etc) as the modern day timeline. It would be less confusing for each timeline to state the year in which things happened. I didn't know what was going on until I was 20% of the way into the book and by the time I figured it out, I was too frustrated to go back and reread it all to make sense of what happened.

There were also weird grammatical errors, which could just be my kindle because I don't see it on anyone else's reviews. But anytime there was a word with an "FL" in it (ex: flag, flashlight, flight, briefly), there would be an odd space/multiple spaces between the F and the L and it was distracting me from the story. (So it would look like: f lag, f lashlight, f light, brief ly).

Again, I really tried to like this book enough to get through it but I just don't.

This was a cute debut romance that I had fun reading. It wasn't anything super special or unique, but those who love the friends to lovers trope will like this book. I think Sally Blakely has promise and I would read another book from her in the future. I loved the playlist included at the end and referenced throughout the book and it drew me into the story more. The time jumps were a little choppy for my liking. Maybe it was how the chapters were organized but that pulled me out of the story a few times. Overall an enjoyable read, perfect for fans of Emily Henry or Carley Fortune.

My interest was immediately piqued when I read the description for the book and it surpassed my expectations. The summer I turned pretty was my favorite series growing up and this felt like a mix of that plus Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation in the best way.

Stayed up until 3 am to finish this book, it was that good. I Started it this evening and then couldn’t book the book down. Read it through from beginning to end without stopping!

The writing was absolutely beautiful. Some lines felt like poetry. I love the depth Blakely gave everything from the relationship between the two main characters to the setting of thr book to the multifaceted side characters. 1000000 stars. I feel like this might be one of my favorite books of 2025!

Thank you to the author and to Harlequin Trade Publishing for access to an advanced reader copy! Friends to lovers is by far my favorite trope, so I was especially eager for Sally’s book with the same title.

Long time friends Joni and Ren decide to be each other’s plus ones for weddings to ensure they get to see each other in-person after Joni moves to New York. One of their wedding meetups takes an unexpected turn, leading to them not speaking for over two years until they are reunited at both of their families summer vacation (their moms are best friends!).

I’ve never read a friends to lovers romance that navigates the sheer joy and simultaneous terror that arises from realizing you are in love with your best friend like Sally so beautifully does. I felt the magnitude of admiration Joni and Ren have for one another which made the second chance element of this story all the more compelling.

There is such a tenderness and protectiveness between them that shows in the playlists he creates for her, the matching tattoos they share, and him offering to talk until she falls asleep after she admits to enjoying him sleep talking in the past :’)

This is a beautiful love story with relatable elements on giving so much weight to career and what that does to ourself, our health, and our loved ones. As a reader in my late twenties, I related to Joni and her love and prioritization of work and couldn’t help but question my own priorities after reading.

I highly recommend this book and I’ll leave you with a teaser - Joni and Ren’s romance is best described by Joni’s sister in the book: “You two are each other’s center in this way that doesn’t just happen.”

Friends to Lovers is a sweet low stakes novel that is true to its title. The book shined brightest in its depiction of anxiety and the aftermath of devoting you life to your job only for the job to let you down.

The romance didn’t work as well for me, if only because 95% of the plot could have been resolved with one real conversation. I think I would have liked this more if the flashbacks had shown their frowning love and let you fall in love with them instead of building to a “mystery” that was obvious after the first couple of chapters.

This book is perfect for a light comforting read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 Stars

Joni and Ren have been best friends since they were little kids. They spend every summer with their families at their shared beach house and would call each other pretty much every day. They were each other’s go-to wedding dates until they suddenly stopped talking for 2.5 years. When Joni’s sister’s wedding brings them back together, they’re forced to pretend nothing has changed because their families still think they are best friends who call each other every day, all while exploring their feelings for each other again.

This was a sweet, easy summer read. I liked the alternating timelines that gave insight into their history, and I love that Ren fell first.

I did enjoy this book, but I couldn’t rate it higher because it felt very similar to other friends-to-lovers romances. It lacked that extra spark or unique element to set it apart. That said, I appreciated that their falling out wasn’t due to any big betrayal, which was refreshing.

Read this if you’re a fan of childhood friends-to-lovers, second-chance romance, guy falls first, forced proximity, dual timelines.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Sally Blakely for providing me with this ARC!