Book: A Guide To Being Just Friends
Author: Sophie Sullivan
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audio copy.
Kristen’s Review:
Hailey has opened her own salad shop called By The Cup. She is new to the area so she didn’t know many people. I loved how excited she had gotten whenever she got a new customer. You see how truly grateful she was.
One day she went to the bakery next door for her favorite brownie and coffee when a guy, Wes, comes up to her thinking she is a blind date that he was waiting for. One thing led to another and they became close friends.
I enjoyed seeing their friendship grow from Saturday night grocery shopping to playing video games.
Hailey is a very strong woman who will not ask for help from anyone. I felt bad at times for Wes because he was just trying to show his affection to her in many ways, and all of those ways were helping her, so to see how upset she got with him over it was sad.
In the end, this is a perfect friends-to-lovers story with the feeling of belonging.
I love the little family she created with friends who truly had her best interest at heart. You will be rooting for her salad shop to grow and you most likely will crave a salad while reading this. The Santa salad sounded amazing!
This is part of a series, however, it can be enjoyed as a standalone. There are other books that follow the other Jansen brothers which I will be sure to check out!
Final Score: 4/5
Brian’s Review:
A Guide to Being Just Friends is a story about two friends Hailey and Wes. Hailey and Wes become friends and decide they both need to stay friends. Throughout the story they start to have feelings for each other and start to doubt their pact to be just friends.
I did not dislike the story but it was just very generic. There was nothing in this book that makes it stand out in a crowded market of romantic comedies. The characters and story are all passable but they just don’t blossom into anything truly memorable.
As for the narration, Stephanie Willing does a great job at bringing Hailey to life. Her performance was the best part of the book. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Timothy Andres Pabon as Wes. A good narrator doesn’t just read to you, they perform for you. Pabon will only just read to you, with very little emotion.
If you like romantic comedies then you should check out A Guide to Being Just Friends, but if you are looking for a memorable story then you may need to keep looking.
Final Score 3/5
Kristen's Book Korner 
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