Very sweet story! Thoroughly enjoyed. Would recommend for friends looking for best friends to lovers, and fans of books about weddings. Very summery vibes. Very appropriate release date for summer romances.

What an endearing book! Joni and Ren’s story arc was beautifully crafted and I found myself cheering for them to have a HEA.The other characters were also well thought out, and the setting of a wedding brought out emotions that couldn’t be explored otherwise. Parents’ expectations, sibling love, personal turmoil, concerns about the future, etc. were all handled with aplomb.

Overall great read, and something I’ll recommend to others.

4.5 ⭐️’s

Friends to Lovers is a story about…friends to lovers! Joni and Ren have been family friends for their entire lives, intertwined and connected in all ways possible. But now it’s been two and a half years since they spoke, and they have to act normal for the family wedding at the shared beach house.

This book was addicting to say the least. I devoured the last 50% all in one go. I’m a sucker for a friends to lovers but not so much a fan of the second chance trope. I can say, however, that this second chance was done really well and I was not beyond frustrated at the characters!

Joni and Ren have a believable love, the side characters brought some great additions to the story, and it was just the giggly, kick your feet, rom com that i was needing!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the arc of this novel prior to the publication, in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this 🥹 definitely giving Emily Henry vibes!!!! I’m usually not a huge “friends to lovers” fan but something about the cover and description made me request this arc and I’m so happy I got it!! Loved this writing style, the beach house setting, all the weddings, the family/friend group, the dual timeline.. ugh everything. Yes, it’s predictable but also heart warming and feel good. Kinda what romance is all about tbh. I needed this one after a long slump 🩷

A sweet, quick read that I enjoyed immensely. Perfectly built tension, palpable yearning, all of the best parts of the friends to lovers trope. For fans of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely is an adorable and well-written second chance romance following the protagonist, Joni, and her ex-best friend, Ren, as they meet again for a wedding. Joni and Ren are best friends and when Joni moves across the country for work, they decide that they will be each others plus-ones to all the weddings they are invited to in an attempt to see each other more. Eventually, there is a falling out and they stop speaking, but when Joni’s sister gets married, she invites both of them to stay in the family house.

The plot of Friends to Lovers is predictable in the best way for a beach read rom-com. There were not many moments where I was super surprised by what happened, but I love that when reading a romance. The plot did pull me in and I found myself rooting for the characters to rekindle their friendship. I feel like some of the side characters could be characterized a bit more, as I felt like they were just there as opposed to actually seeing them as additions to the story. Some of them did have small backstories and personalities, I just would have loved to learn more! Additionally, the dual-narrative writing style worked very well for this story and was executed in a way that made it easy to understand and added to the story.

The characters of Joni and Ren were very well-written and I felt like I knew them and why they made the decisions they did. Their friendship was explained well and heartwarming. It felt very genuine. I found myself rooting for them the entire story and was very satisfied with the ending of the story.

Overall, I would rate this book 3/5 stars. I really did enjoy it and loved the way the protagonists were written. The writing style was also easy to follow and the dual-narrative writing added to the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a sweet rom-com beach read for this summer.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved this book! It was the perfect mix of angst and hope and I couldn’t stop reading it.

I loved going back to read about the different weddings they went on and then going back to the present just made the story so much better.

I loved the sibling dynamics and how close the two families were.

This book had wonderful angsty vibes and I couldn’t put it down! I loved it.

So cute! its like an Emily Henry book but even more adorable.

joni and ren have always been best friends since they were little kids and their families are very close. they has always been so much chemistry but, both have been too afraid to act on it until one night two years ago. that night ruined their friendship and joni moves as far away as she can. fast forward and joni sister stevie is getting married which means they will be forced to interact with each other. this was such a cute romance book that totally gave me emily henry vibes!!!

forced proximity/ friends to lovers for sure!

Overall: 3.75⭐️ (Rounded up for GoodReads)

A cute story with one of my favorite tropes. There were a few technical things, like the different timelines that could’ve worked a bit better, but overall weren’t too distracting. If you’re looking for a cute rom com type story with a beach vibe then I think this book might be for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely was a fun read in my favorite trope friends to lovers.

In this book that has flashbacks to their whole relationship, we explore Joni and Ren's friendship and their vow to always be each other's plus one and the evolution of the friendship to true love.

I loved both main characters and rooted for them the whole time - there wasn't a time I didn't want them to get their happily ever after.

This was a great book that I'll happily recommend friends looking for something to guarantee a good read and a happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

What a read!! This sits at the same table as People We Meet on Vacation and Love and other Words energy. Friends to Lovers falls into my favorite category of childhood friends to lovers to strangers to friends to lovers with time skips and beach houses.

Joni was a frustrating yet relatable character while Ren reads as a classic, good natured book boyfriend. The time skips allow the reader to build the relationship between the two while generating the mystery between what happened if everything prior to this wedding weekend was perfect. I do feel like maybe the story could've moved at a slightly faster pace but there was enough between the side characters and main storyline to get me through.

Overall I enjoyed this story. Beyond a romance it's a book about growing up, learning to navigate being an adult and focusing on your career, family dynamics, and a bit of mental health. Great read, best of luck on release!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC.

Overall a cute friends-to-lovers read. Joni and Ren’s story was cute. I found the timeline changes to be choppy. It didn’t feel like it flowed as well as I hoped. I found Joni to be frustrating but was glad to see her growth in the end. I would definitely read another book by the other.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a super fun, flirty, and summery read. With a dual timeline, this book looks back at all of the weddings that best friends Joni and Ren go to together as each other’s plus-ones, while the current timeline is prepping for Joni’s sister’s wedding. If you like Emily Henry and Carley Fortune, this is for you. You are sure to fall in love with Joni and Ren!

☀️ “I love him too, still, I know. I never stopped. I don’t think any amount of space or time could stop me from loving him.”

☀️ “You’re it for me, Joni, and maybe there’s some day down the line where that isn’t true, but it hasn’t come yet. No matter how hard I’ve tried to will it. And the truth of it is that I’d rather be alone than with someone else. Maybe there’s something sad in that.”

🩵 friends to lovers (of course! 😂)
🩵 awesome song references (ie, Mr. Brightside and Closing Time)
🩵 it was always you
🩵 dual timeline

(will post to my bookstagram closer to pub date)

Joni and Ren have been the best of friends since childhood. Their parents share a cabin and they spent every summer together. When Joni moved across the country, they decided one way to stay in touch would be to be each others' "plus one" for weddings. And that worked out fine until they got romantically involved after which they never spoke to each other again. Like ever. But they hid that discord from their family and now the families are coming together for Joni's sister's wedding and they have to be together and act like nothing is wrong. I like romances with deep seated tension of mutual attraction, but I get so frustrated when the two people involved JUST DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER!

Also this book went back and forth back and forth in time which got a little tedious. At some point I was just feeling "tell me what caused the rift already!"

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the advanced reader copy

This was a sweet friends to lovers story with two nice main characters. Given how many romance/rom-com novels that get published each year this novel didn't hold my interest because there wasn't anything new happening in the pages (no real twists or fresh takes on characters, plot, setting, etc.). This might be a great book for someone just entering the world of reading romance/rom-coms but this one didn't rise to the level of sustaining my interest.

I absolutely adored this book. Sally Blakely’s Friends to Lovers is the perfect blend of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation and Happy Place.

I was so blown away by her writing style, character development, and general vibes she was able to cultivate in the book. I absolutely loved the entire dynamic of families, and I thought it really helped elevate this book to a five star read.

More than that, I of course was so charmed by Joni and Ren. Throughout the book, I had moments of visceral emotions where I could feel the tension between Joni and Ren, as well as the overwhelming love and care between them.

Genuinely, I am so so impressed by this debut book, and I cannot wait for what Blakely writes next.

This is the first book by this author that I've read and it will definitely not be my last! I devoured this book and it was definitely bittersweet when it ended. I loved everything about this book from the friends to lovers, second chance romance, all the angst and tension and love for one another, and I was rooting for these two to end up together.

Joni and Ren have been the best of friends since they were kids but lines and crossed which ultimately ends in them not speaking for 2.5 years. They are reunited at Joni's sister's wedding and old feelings resurface.

This was the perfect fun, summer read!!

If you liked Emily Henry’s “Happy Place,” you’ll love this book! After a falling out, life long friends Joni and Ren are reunited at Joni’s sister’s wedding, where they are forced to face their feelings for each other.

What a wonderful debut novel! Blakely skillfully weaves Joni and Ren’s history and the present together with dual timelines. Each chapter that takes place in the past is centered around a wedding they attended together. I thought this was such a unique approach to dual timelines and it also made their connection seem so real.

I would have loved if there were also some chapters from Ren’s perspective. Loved the inclusion of a playlist at the end! This was such an amazing debut novel—I really cannot recommend it enough. Can’t wait to buy a physical copy and I’m looking forward to seeing what she writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ren and Joni have been friends through elementary, high school, and college. Still friends, he is her plus one to weddings. Ren is devoted to Joni, it takes time for her to realize Ren's importance to her. Ren is so patient and kind, always trying to help Joni through her trials. Joni needs Ren to stay centered. As issues come up in life, this story stresses the importance of being honest and communicating. Great love story and story of friendship, with fun loving cast of characters.

Sally Blakely's debut novel is a triumph. This friends-to-lovers story explores the complexities of recognizing what's right in front of us. Joni and Ren, lifelong best friends, venture into romance, only to see their once unbreakable bond shattered. After two years of estrangement, they are reunited for a wedding. This book evokes a full range of emotions, with well-drawn characters and a vivid Oregon coast setting that practically lets you smell the sea air.