Book Review: A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan

Most Anticipated Romance by Buzzfeed, PopSugar, and E! News When Harry Met Sally meets 500 Days of Summer in A Guide to Being Just Friends, a playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It. "Sophie Sullivan’s writing feels like a warm hug.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of The Ex Talk 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 up 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? "A joyful, swoony romance full of heart and humor!" —Sarah Adams, author of The Cheat Sheet

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My Review:

Nope. It’s not over yet. I refuse to believe it. We may have seen the last Jansen brother paired up, but I still have so many questions; about their family, about San Verde, about the cast of characters that have loved and supported the Jansen couples all the way through. I’m also kicking myself for not having gone back and read that first book like I promised myself I would. I think it’s safe to say that this book still makes perfect sense without it, but I also think I was correct in my assessment of the previous book that I was missing some context around the dynamics between the brothers and their relationships without that first installment. I really liked Hailey and Wes. They’re adorable, they’re awkward, they’re emotionally wounded, yet they’re the missing pieces that fit each other’s puzzles. It was interesting to me that one of the big lessons of this book was a similar message to what I took away from the previous one: asking for and accepting help is a strength, not a weakness. Though, this one upped the ante by including: opening your heart and life to love, while scary, is also a strength. I really enjoyed this book. I laughed and I learned. I just feel like the Jansen family story isn’t finished being told yet.

I received a complimentary advance copy of this book through NetGalley.