This is a love story told from two people's perspectives. Ava works as a barista. Finn enters a coffee shop and catches sight of Ava. He wants to complete his bucket list. The two form a friendship in a very convenient way. There is more to life than just friendships and everything else.

The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone is a charming and heartfelt romance about Ava Monroe, a cynical barista, and Finn O’Callaghan, a cheerful traveler. They embark on a summer friendship with no strings attached, but as they explore London together, their bond deepens unexpectedly. Stone's debut novel is a delightful blend of humor and emotion, perfect for fans of contemporary romance.

This was a wonderful, character driven romance. I will be (im)patiently waiting for the next book that Georgia Stone writes.

"The Friendship Fling" is dual POV between our main couple Ava and Finn, but we spend the majority of the time with Ava. They are the grumpy x sunshine trope done incredibly well. Ava is guarded and blunt and Finn is silly and talkative but neither are annoying or fall into stereotypical acts.

Their relationship has PHENOMENAL progression. We see the depth of their emotions progress and learn them as they do. This is the farthest thing from insta-lust/love and I am so grateful for that. The emotions feel real.

There are some harder topics in this story as well, so take note of the trigger warnings in the author's note before jumping in. I think they play into the overall plot well and don't deter from the laugh out loud humor.

Rated 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

This book was alright and I was expecting great. I'm giving this book 2.5 stars because it felt promising for the first 25ish pages....then everything just sort of...fell apart. I couldn't tell you anything of note that happened until about 76% of the way through this book because all the scenes just felt the exact same.

Our FMC, Ava, is just plain mean and grumpy. And not in the grumpy x sunshine way we all love. I grew tired of her (and her 'banter') rather quickly. It's okay to be nice!!

Our MMC, Finlay, refuses to give up! I'll give him that. If you have to go to a woman's place of work just for her to talk to you she probably doesn't want to date you. He was the sunshine in the story (if you can call it that) but it was rather dull to me.

This whole novel fell a little flat for me. This book did give me a few good laughs- but when it came down to it the real plot didn't start until 3/4ths of the way through. This book did remind me of my short time in London- and man, I REALLY need to go back.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Perennial for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

For me, my biggest struggle was getting into this book. The characters (Ava and Finn) were flat even from the beginning. I just couldn’t connect with them.

The first 30% for me also dragged. I didn’t really care about the people coming into the coffee bar where Ava worked, and she kept going on dates with guys she met online…which seemed weird because she doesn’t want to be in a relationship. She wanted to hook up and got mad when the guys had bad personalities. If you really want a hookup, be honest from the start and I’m sure he’ll stop talking.

I don’t know…maybe it’s just me. I see a lot of great reviewed for this book which makes me feel like I missed something.

Also, I got the “yuck” with Finn and his mom in chapter 6. I’ll leave it at that.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

I received this arc from Harper Perennial through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!!

This was one of the cutest books ever! I’m absolutely obsessed with Finn, the mmc, as he is the biggest golden retriever ever and the sweetest human being. I love that he and Ava have opposite personalities but they still fit perfectly together in a perfect example of the “reverse grumpy x sunshine” trope. A lot of this book was set in a cute coffee shop in London, which gave it the cutest and coziest vibes ever and it was perfect. I really enjoyed this and I definitely recommend!!

Ava strives to control every aspect of her life. She’s cynical, blunt, and has no interest in relying on anyone, which is why she has a no-strings-attached policy for her relationships. Other than her best friend Josie, Ava keeps people at a distance. But then a new guy, Finn, shows up at the coffee shop where Ava works. He needs a London local to help him complete his bucket list before he leaves the city, and Ava promised Josie she’d try to make new friends, so the two of them strike a deal—a temporary friendship, just for the summer. But as the end of summer approaches, Ava realizes she may have cared about Finn more than she planned to.

I read this ARC assuming I’d picked up a cute and easy romantic comedy, and while there is plenty of romance and comedy in the story, I was pleasantly surprised to find carefully handled heavy topics, depth, and wonderfully believable dialogue. I wish I could have stayed with these characters longer. I loved this story.

Thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the eARC.

4 🌟

Thank you Harper Perennial and NetGalley for my ARC.

This was a heartfelt, cute and summery romance. It’s not your typical grumpy sunshine (spoiler, she’s grumpy — like so grumpy — and you need sunglasses to be around him). I enjoyed the personal journey the FMC goes on and thought the side characters added great depth. It felt like getting to spend a summer in London with friends!

I love absolutely everything about this book. I will definitely reread it. I love Finn and Ava so so so sooo much. And I love Georgia Stone for creating them and letting us all in on their story.

Loved this! friends with benefits is such a great trope and this book did it so well. I will be checking out more from this author

I LOVED this, Down to the cover and everything in between. the romance was too sweet. two dummies after my own heart

I really wanted to like this one especially because it has such high reviews but it fell flat for me. I felt that characters banter often aired on the same of mean instead of funny and was not cute flirty but just aggravating. They also didn't seem to have much of a plan for their life and were very adrift. This book was not for me but many people did like it

3.5 ⭐️

hmm i wanted to love this one so bad because, between the cover and blurb, this sounded absolutely perfect and right up my alley but there was something…distant? almost? about the writing that i can’t quite put my finger on and i feel like this would sometimes take me out of the story. solid romance nonetheless and i *did* enjoy my time reading it!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!

I really enjoyed this book! It had a good balance of humor and heart. A good representation of what it feels like to find and figure yourself out in your twenties. I also love London so that’s always fun. Would recommend to a friend!

Barista Ava keeps her life self-contained. When her flatmate challenges her to make new friends, customer Finn becomes a convenient excuse to pretend she's doing so. But when globe-trotting contractor Finn convinces Ava to spend the summer with him doing his London bucket list before he moves, little does she realise this might help her learn how to properly live again.

Beautifully written, The Friendship Fling is a sparkling rom com set during London summertime. I loved Ava and Finn's banter and their slow-burn transformative friendship. Ava was spiky with so many walls up, stuck in a rut after a family challenge left her giving up her ambitions out of guilt. Finn was an utter sweetheart who I wanted to hug him. Always personable hoping someone would pick him after being essentially abandoned by his workaholic parents who never put him first.

With its strong characters and plotting, I easily devoured this book in one sitting. Georgia Stone manages to convey a slow-burn romance in a way that never felt laboured or boring. I had a major book hangover afterwards and an urge to book a flight to London. I hope someone makes this a movie (and keeps it set in London).

Thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really liked this book! It’s realistic, funny, and heartwarming. The MCs have great banter, and their relationship made sense. I really enjoyed it!

This was such a cute and fun read! I really enjoyed the characters and it was such a fun idea! Plus London?? Love.

I love a good "let's spend the summer and hang out but not fall in love" when it's painfully obvious that those two have fallen hard for each other and The Friendship Fling is pure romcom perfection that will have you packing your bags to the next flight to London.

Finn and Ava are the quintessential grumpy and sunshine expect she's the black cat and he's the sweet cinnamon roll hero. Their banter and dialogue? So charming and witty and swoony! I love how this book gives you such a wanderlust for London. exploring the city with friends, falling in love, its so cozy. There's a lot of lovable side characters that you wish get a book, Finn and Ava have such a realistic romance where its there, its sometimes messy, timing can be finicky but when its meant to be, things will fall in line. This book will literally leave you feeling warmer than a cup of tea and have you smiling so hard. It's such a cozy soft romance that I adored! A must read!

I know that a lot of others enjoyed this book but I can’t say I totally love it. I was in a bit of a reading slump when I received the ARC from NetGalley, so I’m sure that played a factor. Both MC’s were ok, they just weren’t characters that I really felt like I could connect with. Just because it wasn’t my favorite recent read, doesn’t mean that it won’t be perfect for someone else ◡̈

3.5/5 rounded up.

This was a super cute and well-paced rom-com!

Banter, set in London, likable and real-feeling characters, and a slow-burn!

I can see Emily Henry fans enjoying this book, especially because of these characters. They feel like real people, they're messy and have their own personal problems, but are still charming and likable.

I would definitely recommend this one! I will FOR SURE be keeping my eye out for more Georgia Stone books.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up