This book was absolutely charming! I adore the friends-to-lovers trope. It’s such a sweet and cozy romance.

Friends to lovers, timeline jumps, late to the party love, personal strife - all things that makes this book enjoyable! I loved the way this book made me laugh, my heart slightly squeeze and make me root for Joni to “get it together lady!”. The premise of being each other’s plus one is adorable and laid a great foundation for the timeline jumps.

I enjoyed the yearning, tense, and fun takes on the sweet and tender moments. I don’t love the miscommunication aspects of this book, but could absolutely understand the need at times. Overall - a great read to have you rooting for another fictional couple!

I couldn’t get into it. I didn’t care about the characters. The writing was good but I just didn’t enjoy the story.

Awww the loved friends to loves trope and also second chance trope combined.... Can it get any better. The family feels and the best friend feels all wrapped up in one adorable book. Was such a quick sweet read with some drama. Absolutely enjoyed this book and can't wait to have a physical copy for my shelf.

Thank you Net galley for my arc of this book!!!

**Book Review**

This book beautifully captures the warm, fuzzy, yet complicated and confusing emotions of falling in love.

I saw so much of myself in Joni—her struggle with equating professional success to self-worth and her journey toward trusting her own feelings resonated deeply. She’s a beautifully flawed character, making her growth all the more compelling.

Ren, on the other hand, is such a lovable character. The way he patiently and passionately loves Joni through life is truly perfection. His unwavering support and quiet strength made him a standout in this story.

At times, the miscommunication in their relationship frustrated me to the point where I almost considered not finishing the book. But in the end, it was love that kept me invested—the love that had always surrounded Joni and, most importantly, the love she was finally learning to give herself.

This was an emotional, heartfelt read that perfectly captures the complexities of love, self-growth, and second chances.

I really enjoyed the story of Ren and Joni and the family plot line as well. The dual timelines kept the plot line interesting. I find I dont love when there is miscommunication between characters so that is why I took a star off. Other than that I enjoyed the book and would recommend to a friend!

There were moments of this that I enjoyed, but said simply, I just wanted/needed more. I wanted some more depth to Joni and Ren, so I could root for them harder. I wasn't fully invested in them until the end, and I wish that would've been more present throughout. I did like the inclusion of some wedding songs throughout, and while simple, I wish that thread would've been more of a thing throughout because that humorous add was a good balance to the serious stuff. I do love a friends to lovers, so did like that as a general premise. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this July 2025 release.

I adored this book so much! Best friends since childhood, Joni and Ren agree to always be each other’’s plus ones to weddings, until one night changes everything. Fast forward 2 1/2 years later and they are forced to reunite at their families shared beach house for Joni’s sister’s wedding.

I loved how the story continuously switched from past to present and how we got to experience Joni and Ren as best friends, and how inseparable they were. The tension, the forced proximity, the angst, I loved it all! Not to mention that Ren is absolutely perfect and my heart broke for him so many times with how vulnerable his character was. You can't help but root for this once in a lifetime kind of love story.

If you enjoy second chance romances with lots of nostalgia, yearning, and emotions, then this book is for you! Thank you to Sallly Blakely, NetGalley, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read this lovely ARC.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It is always a bit of a gamble with a new author, but I really loved this book. Sally Blakely did a wonderful job creating believable and lovable characters. Despite the immaturity and flaws of the female main character, I was rooting for her to figure it out because she was a likable and good person. The writing was solid. The plot was great. It definitely needs another couple rounds of edits though. The chapters were hard to follow going back and forth. I think labeling the past chapters with their year would have helped. And more than just "Tuesday" for the present. A year would have helped as well. There is a weird thing where the letter "f" was disconnected from the rest of the word. Overall, this is a solid romance that I will recommend to friends.

I love a good friends to lovers second chance romance book. I loved every second of this one. It was so well written and it pulls you in from the first chapter. I can’t wait to read more from Sally. I love my romance genre and finding an author that can make you laugh and cry all in one book is perfect.

Ok, so I was so excited for this book. I love discovering debut authors and was hoping Sally Blakely knocked it out of the park. And friends to lovers is my favorite trope so hopes were high! But, this book was sooooooo People We Meet On Vacation coded, it was frustrating. PWMOV is my favorite friends to lovers story.

Best friends. FMC has a work crisis. They decide on a tradition that will ensure they continue to see each other when they live in different states. Tradition is messy for their respective significant others. SOMETHING happens between them and they don’t speak for a couple years. AND THEY’RE EVEN REUNITED FOR A FAMILY WEDDING.

I liked the tension and relationship between Ren and Joni, but unfortunately I found the similarities between Friends to Lovers and PWMOV so distracting it took away from my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you, Canary Street Press and NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I loved the story between Ren and Joni! It was fun to see how it all played out throughout their friendship into being more than friends. I enjoyed this book!

4 stars ⭐️ Friends to lovers (obviously), second chance romance and forced proximity. What more could you want?! This book was a joy to read! It gives major Emily Henry vibes which I love!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to finish it at this time, as it wasn’t the right fit for me right now. I truly appreciate the chance to read it and wish the author all the best!

P.S. I may pick it up again in the future, who knows but as of right now it was a no for me.

I absolutely adored this book! A big congratulations to Sally Blakely on a wonderful debut book!

This story is about Joni and Ren who have been best friends since they were three years old. They have a bond like no other until something pushes them apart and they don't speak for 2 years. Joni returns to her family's beach house for her sister's wedding and will be seeing Ren for the first time since that one unforgettable night that tore their friendship apart.

This book gave me all the feels and I absolutely could not put it down. The connection between Ren and Joni is the perfect mix of innocence, flirtatiousness, honesty, respect, true love and admiration. They have this deep, unspeakable bond that I could not get enough of!

I am giving this book 4.75 stars. I would have liked a little more spice but understand if that isn't within the author's writing style. I was also hoping for a few more chapters once Ren and Joni finally got together as I wasn't ready to let them go!

I’m going to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of going back and forth between timelines the shift tends to take me out of the immersion of the book that being said I love second chance romance it’s one of my favorite tropes if done right which in this book it was done right .

Absolutely adored this book and everything about it, I highly recommend picking up a copy and reading it .

Thank you Netgalley Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press

📖 Book Review 📖 I never experienced the friends to lovers trope but thanks to Sally Blakely, I had a front row seat to childhood friends’ Joni and Ren’s beautifully heartfelt rollercoaster ride. Friends to Lovers follows the story of family friends who vow to be plus ones to all the weddings but a falling out leads to two and a half years of not speaking (which is the equivalent of an eternity when your parents own a beach house together). The stakes are high as they reunite for a seaside wedding at their beloved beach house for her sister’s wedding. Spoiler alert: this beautiful book will have you rooting for love and happily ever afters.

The title says it all - if you like this trope and faux relationship thrown in this is a messy fun wedding week to observe as you root for the couple to overcome their past.

I think I may be partial to the friends to lovers trope, but I have read this book twice now and I absolutely loved it.

Joni and Ron have been friends forever. Even their families are friends, so much so that they own a beach house together. For the last 7 years, Joni and Red have been each other's "plus one" at every wedding they were invited to, but 2 1/2 years ago, something happened that destroyed their friendship. They haven't spoken for 2 1/2 years, but now Joni's little sister, Stevie, is getting married and they are bored to confront whatever happened.

The book is told in alternating time lines that jump between the week leading up to Stevie's wedding and a wedding that happened in the past. Obviously, the two are going to wind up together, but going back in time, you wonder how Joni didn't notice that they have loved each other for years. Theirs is a friendship and a love that people yearn for and they really do complete each other.

While full of familiar trope moments, McHugh manages to make this love story feel special and creates a group of friends that we all wish we had.

I requested this from NetGalley on a whim and loved it. Obviously the first requirement is to enjoy a good friends to lovers trope, which I do.

The story plays out between two timelines: childhood friends attending weddings as each other's plus-ones over the years, and then the now-estranged friends in the present day, sharing their families' beach house (hello, forced proximity) during the week leading up to a family wedding. We are given a few chapters in each timeline, driving towards the reveal of what caused their estrangement, which we know to be something that happened at a wedding on New Year's, 2.5 years prior.

A little bit You and Me on Vacation, a little bit Where the Heart Is.

A few things that gave me pause, being an Oregonian, were the references to the Oregon Coast seeming to be a warm weather destination, and a small mention of a postcard of the Burnside Bridge which made me Google whether postcards of what is probably the least photogenic bridge in Portland even exist (they do, on Etsy). Things that are possible and that I could get past, but which made me wonder whether the author had ever been to Oregon.

Overall I would describe Friends to Lovers as feeling very nostalgic, and I couldn't put it down.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!