My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: A Guide to Being Just Friends (Jansen Brothers, #3)
Author: Sophia Sullivan
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 1/17/23
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Categories: Romance, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Series, Contemporary
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
A playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It
Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.
Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.
When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.
What could possibly go wrong?
Content Warning:
I’ve done it again where I requested a book not knowing it’s part of a series! But that’s okay, I felt like you could read this one without reading the first two. Here’s what I thought:
+ If you like friends to lovers and slow burn romance, you will like this one. Hailey and Wes start off on the wrong foot but right away start to be friends. Their friendship grows and they get to know one another as Hailey tries to build her salad business. And eventually they get a happily ever after.
+ It’s a clean, easy, sweet romance.
+ There is a great chemistry between the large cast, and yes it’s a large cast because there are two books before this one. Hailey is new in town but Wes and his brothers and their other halves really start to welcome her into their circle.
~ It started off good but I just wanted more and I got a bit bored. I need a little steam.
~ As I mentioned, I went into this book not knowing it’s book three. And though it felt like a standalone – I wonder if reading the first two would alter my opinion about this book? Not sure.
Tropes: new girl in town, friends to lovers, slow burn
Why you should read it:
- you like a easy, sweet friends to lovers romance, a slow burn
- you read the other books in the series
Why you might not want to read it:
- it’s the third book in the series
My Thoughts:
This one didn’t work for me, but I know it will work for many romance readers who love the friends to lovers trope. Also if you like a slow burn with no steam, this one is for you. I don’t think I’d have requested this one if I knew it was book three, but I think it reads fine as a standalone.
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 
This was my least favorite of the 3.
I wrote this is my review ~
Book 3 in the Jansen Brothers series ~ fine as a standalone, but our characters from book 1 and 2 make quite a few appearances, so it’s nice to know their background ~ not essential to the story though.
I wish I knew there were books before this one before reading it lol.
Oh wow, it’s crazy that it was the third in a series. It sounds like a sweet series.
I always find myself requesting arcs in a series I’ve never read when I’m on NetGalley. I’m trying to do that less, but for some reason I never find it in the description if it’s part of a series. 😆 I guess I have to stop being lazy and maybe look up the title beforehand before requesting!
Oh, I had no idea this was a series! Good to know before putting it on my TBR. Sorry to hear that it didn’t entirely work for you though. I hate when romances (or, well, books in general) are boring! 😅
I wish the descriptions on NetGalley would be more specific about a book being part of a series lol…I have one more arc that is a 3rd book in a series 🤦🏻♀️ and I may have to refuse to review it because that one is a historical fantasy I think…I would think I need to read the first 3 books!