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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Thought this book was really cute, but more of a one time read for me. Before reading, I didn’t realize this was book three in the “series” though I didn’t really miss out on any information and it didn’t take away from the read. Friends to Lovers trope and absolutely perfect for someone looking for a sweet, hallmark style romance.
This is the first book I've read/listened to by Sophia Sullivan, and I enjoyed the premise. Of course, a woman and man can be "just friends." Can they, really (wink wink)?
Haley is a woman designing the life SHE wants after a breakup. She wants to live life and run her business on her own terms. She is no damsel in distress.
Wes is a father figure to his younger brothers, and his nurturing spirit fuels his desire to help others. Make their lives easier and save them from struggling. He does this while putting his secret dreams on the back burner.
I won't say more so as not to spoil the story (I'm not fond of spoilers).
If you identify with either character, you will enjoy this book. I had the audio version and was thoroughly entertained by Haley, Wes, and their salad-eating friends. For this book, I recommend audio for the dual narration!
I received an advanced copy of the book for an honest review.
Haley is a woman designing the life SHE wants after a breakup. She wants to live life and run her business on her own terms. She is no damsel in distress.
Wes is a father figure to his younger brothers, and his nurturing spirit fuels his desire to help others. Make their lives easier and save them from struggling. He does this while putting his secret dreams on the back burner.
I won't say more so as not to spoil the story (I'm not fond of spoilers).
If you identify with either character, you will enjoy this book. I had the audio version and was thoroughly entertained by Haley, Wes, and their salad-eating friends. For this book, I recommend audio for the dual narration!
I received an advanced copy of the book for an honest review.
Hailey was kind of getting on my nerves with how independent she needed to be but I loved their friendship. Such a sweet story.
Confession: I didn’t read the first two books in the series. I got this as a NetGalley ARC. I love it so much that I’m buying the other two and reading them even though I have a fat stack of TBR books glaring at me for doing so. I loved it. I totally vibe with characters who’ve been badly hurt but still believe in love. Both characters appealed to me— Hailey for her work ethic and refusal to quit chasing her dreams and Wes for his hard outer shell meant to protest an unhealed heart. This is a beautiful friends to lovers story that made me laugh more than cry and was an absolute joy to read.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
A Guide to Being Just Friends is a super cute, mostly closed door romance.
You’ll love it if you enjoy friends to lovers, characters who are against falling in love because *reasons*, entrepreneurship, found family, great siblings, and more.
It also reads well as a standalone for being the third in a series. While I have the first two books on my TBR, I read this one first and didn’t feel lost at all.
I adored Hailey and Wes’ story and look forward to enjoying more books from Sophie Sullivan!
Note that I received an advanced reading copy of the book, receipt of which did not impact my review.
You’ll love it if you enjoy friends to lovers, characters who are against falling in love because *reasons*, entrepreneurship, found family, great siblings, and more.
It also reads well as a standalone for being the third in a series. While I have the first two books on my TBR, I read this one first and didn’t feel lost at all.
I adored Hailey and Wes’ story and look forward to enjoying more books from Sophie Sullivan!
Note that I received an advanced reading copy of the book, receipt of which did not impact my review.
A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan was no exception to this rule. In this dual-POV contemporary romance, our main characters are Hailey Sharp, the plucky, optimistic and hardworking owner of By the Cup, a to-go salad shop, and Wes Jansen, nerdy, reserved, (kinda) secret billionaire who, seconds into meeting her, accuses Hailey of not being herself. He's there for an online date, which Hailey slightly resembles, and he's convinced that she's his date but is trying to flee--which she isn't, making sweet baby angel Wes look like a total jackass. You know, a perfect meet cute.
They meet again and realize that they have things in common and good chemistry, so they decide that they should be friends, and take any pressure for more off the table...that way they can be friends with no expectations. They jokingly make a "Guide to Being Just Friends," which they regularly refer and add to along their road to becoming actual best friends--even when they can't see that they're each other's besties, we know it!
What follows is a cute love story peppered with pop-culture references and enough graphic depictions of food that you'll be salivating for a salad and chocolate cake--and enough drama to keep you engrossed while maintaining relatively low stakes. Wes' brothers and their girlfriends take to Hailey, because let's face it, she's sunshine personified and (most) everyone loves her. Hailey is fiercely proud and independent, which I love, but there were moments that I wanted to scream at her. Girl, let this man spoil you if he wants to!
The only real complaint that I have is that I wish a particular character (which I won't name because SPOILERS!) had gotten theirs--either a punch in the face, or realizing what an idiot they were, or, preferably, both.
I'll be honest: I requested this book via NetGalley because of the title and cover, and only after starting the book did I realize that it's actually part of a pseudo-series. I say pseudo because it doesn't seem like these books have to be read in a specific order, but so far the "Jansen Brothers" books have each apparently featured one of the Jansen brothers and their love story. This book definitely made me want to go back and read more of Sophie Sullivan's work, because I know it will have me high-pitched squealing just as much as this story did.
As far as the audio-portion goes, I have no complaints about either of the narrators--they did an excellent job representing the characters and showing their ranges of emotions.
This was a lovely, quick, and low-stakes rom com that I recommend!
They meet again and realize that they have things in common and good chemistry, so they decide that they should be friends, and take any pressure for more off the table...that way they can be friends with no expectations. They jokingly make a "Guide to Being Just Friends," which they regularly refer and add to along their road to becoming actual best friends--even when they can't see that they're each other's besties, we know it!
What follows is a cute love story peppered with pop-culture references and enough graphic depictions of food that you'll be salivating for a salad and chocolate cake--and enough drama to keep you engrossed while maintaining relatively low stakes. Wes' brothers and their girlfriends take to Hailey, because let's face it, she's sunshine personified and (most) everyone loves her. Hailey is fiercely proud and independent, which I love, but there were moments that I wanted to scream at her. Girl, let this man spoil you if he wants to!
The only real complaint that I have is that I wish a particular character (which I won't name because SPOILERS!) had gotten theirs--either a punch in the face, or realizing what an idiot they were, or, preferably, both.
I'll be honest: I requested this book via NetGalley because of the title and cover, and only after starting the book did I realize that it's actually part of a pseudo-series. I say pseudo because it doesn't seem like these books have to be read in a specific order, but so far the "Jansen Brothers" books have each apparently featured one of the Jansen brothers and their love story. This book definitely made me want to go back and read more of Sophie Sullivan's work, because I know it will have me high-pitched squealing just as much as this story did.
As far as the audio-portion goes, I have no complaints about either of the narrators--they did an excellent job representing the characters and showing their ranges of emotions.
This was a lovely, quick, and low-stakes rom com that I recommend!
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Romance books without any spice should be illegal