*Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for an ARC of this book!*

I LOVED Sally Blakely's debut novel "Friends to Lovers". A slow start turned incredible finish - one that I didn't want to end.

Joni is the perfect complicated main character who isn't sure what she wants or what she's going to do next. Joni's indecision and self-doubt made her relatable and easy to picture. I also loved that Ren, while being a perfect book boyfriend, was realistic in his own struggles with hitting life's goals.

This book was People We Meet On Vacation meets The Summer I Turned Pretty meets Happy Place and I absolutely adored it.

Wow. I could not put this book down. It takes alot for me to love a romance book, and since this is my favorite trope, I had high expectations for this book. And holy moly, it lived up to every hope I had. Joni and Ren have been friends for so long, and the yearning that I could feel between the pages was so real it gave me butterflies. This book is told from Joni's perspective, and it flips back and forth between time, leading up to the moment where it all went wrong for their friendship. This book was quickly added to my five star reads!

thank you to netgalley and publishers for letting me read this before the pub date!

this book reminded me of happy place and people we meet on vacation it was a very much summer read which I wished I read in the summer. it was predictable and it was frustrating at times because im like you both are in love with each other CMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also i know this was a digital arc but the format was also throwing it off for me

Get ready for your next favorite romance because this one is bringing ALL the vibes of Happy Place, Same Time Next Summer, and The People We Meet on Vacation! A huge thank you to @NetGalley and @CanaryStreetPress for the chance to read this adorable, slow-burn gem early. 💌

Set against the dreamy backdrop of a family wedding at a beach house in Portland, Oregon, this story follows Ren and Joni, lifelong best friends who’ve promised to be each other’s forever-plus-ones. But when one unforgettable wedding weekend has Joni rethinking everything, we get swept into a dual-timeline journey through their past and present.

This one has all the romance tropes we love:
✨ One bed
✨ Fake relationship
✨ “Does he? Doesn’t he?” tension
✨ Plenty of family drama to keep things feeling close to the chest!

If I had one note, it’d be to dive deeper into the family dynamics—there’s such a strong supporting cast that left me wanting more. But overall, this was such a sweet, entertaining read that I can’t wait to grab a physical copy of when it hits shelves!

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.