*Thanks to Netgalley and The publishers for providing me an arc in exchange of honest opinion.

Actual Rating : 3.5 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and that's something considering I try to keep romantic books at arm's length. Jo Lovett's 'Just Friends' features real characters dealing with seemingly simple but 'made complex by lack of communication' issues struggling to balance work and personal life. Despite being deeply in love with each other, their relationship starts to suffer due to their personality differences. Matt tries to be an open book to Lilly, sharing tiny and important details with her and expects Lilly to do the same. Unfortunately, it's hard for Lilly to confide in others about her weaknesses and distress due to mortifying childhood experiences. She had severe asthma and frequently needed medical attention as a kid causing her parents to withdraw from her as they couldn't handle the pressure. Lilly's loving grandmother took her under her wings and provided her not only with proper care but also love, affection and respect; made her feel no less than other kids on the street. Lilly longed for that sense of normalcy. So, as a grown up she tended to avoid the sensitive topic and everything else that might cause other people to be sympathetic and treat her differently. She breaks up with Matt out of nowhere following an emotional overdrive after her grandmother's demise ( Matt had it coming. He was absent too much) and comes face to face with him again ( Matt managed to get married and divorced as well in that interval) after eight years at Tess's wedding in Greece. Both of them are caught off-guard and keeps meeting each other unwillingly. As tangled web of memories keep surfacing, they reflect on the past individually to see what went wrong and what could have done to prevent the situation. Will they give themselves a second chance?

The story is told from Lilly and Matt's points of view giving us a better understanding of their struggles and ideas and also contains flashbacks. The first fifty percent of the book was delightful! It was hilarious, comforting and heartfelt. The best part for me was the friendship between Lilly, Aaliyah, Meg and Tess. They had a tight-knit friendship and could rely on each other in all circumstances. It was refreshing to read because these types of dependable bonds are hard to form and harder to maintain as adults while carrying burdens of responsibilities and undergoing sudden changes. The second fifty percent was a bit of disappointment. The story was dragged out and felt repetitive multiple times. If it weren't for the fact that the second half could be better, I would have gave the book an easy 4 star. But don't let my rating sway you. It was a great read and you should give it a try.

Just Friends was just okay for me. It was cute and heart-warming, as described, but the writing just wasn’t for me. It definitely wasn’t bad, but there was more telling and less showing than I generally enjoy and the dialogue seemed a little stilted. I very much appreciated that the characters were in their thirties and that they weren’t picture-perfect thirty-something year olds, either. 3.5/5 for me.

A fun, engaging and warm romcom. This is just the tonic for either a grey winter’s day, or perfect as a book for a holiday in the sun!
I really enjoyed this story of seeing Lilly and Tom work their way through the awkwardness of being at a wedding together and then needing to work out how a holiday romance can translate to real life- for the second time.
I was absolutely rooting for them to realise they were made for each other and for Lilly to stop running away from her feelings!

Despite my 3 stars rating, this was a sweet story? The setting was good for me.

I liked the romance and the pacing (tho sometimes was very slow and I had a hard time trying to go through some chapters), it was an interesting read and very quick read.

However, I did have some struggles when I read the book.

The dual POV chapters were okay, but my problem was how repetitive things become. Also, Lily and Matt's relationship ended 8 years ago, and in between these years, you could easily think that they changed a lot, they became mature, but sometimes it didn't seem so. They were like teenagers again and it was tiring.

I hate miscommunication, is the worst trope ever and my least favorite, so, I was constantly rolling my eyes whenever this happened.

Otherwise, the book was okay? Look, I still don't know how to describe this bittersweet sensation that the book left me. I did have high hopes and it gave me Mamma Mia vibes, but at some parts Lily and became exasperating and I was trying so bad to not to dnf.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advance read.
Lily and Matt broke up 8 years ago but meet up at a mutual friends wedding in Greece. There begins a slow burn will they won't they romance. I enjoyed this title and I giggled along with it. I liked the main characters and couldn't wait to see how the story unfolded.
I give this title 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a very sweet romance that makes me want to pack up and move to Greece.

Matt and Lily dated for eight months almost a decade ago, and Lily broke up with Matt because… reasons. Matt went on to marry- and divorce- someone else… but did he really just love Lily the whole time?

Lily hasn’t seen anyone serious in the last decade. She is going to be SO fine seeing Matt at this romantic vacation destination. Yup.

Thanks to Bookcouture, Jo Lovett, and NetGalley for the ARC! This book is great for rom com, will they won’t they fans.

I will say this book didn't do much for me! I usually love second chance romances but this wasn't it!
Even tho it did hook me in from the beginning, it didn't last long and I was contemplating to either DNF it or continue and I carried it on but.. let's just say I didn't enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley, Author and bookouture for giving me the chance to read this book for my honest review! This was definitely a rom-con. Had me giggling a few times. It’s a novel about the right person but the wrong time set in Greece. The main characters were Lily and Matt. But you also met their friends and some family. It’s definitely a slow burn and maybe a little dragged out here and there but I enjoyed it!

📚Book Review📚
Title: Just Friends
Author: Jo Lovett
➡️ Swipe for description
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
CLEAN
🇬🇷 Greek Destination
🧟‍♀️ Bridezilla involved
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻 Second Chance
🕒 Time jump
🔥 Slow Burn
👥 Dual POV
PUB DATE: Mar 14, 2022

After dating for 15 months and breaking up, Lily and Matt are finally reunited 8 years later at Lily’s best friends destination Wedding (who’s also Matt’s Cousin). Upon reuniting, sparks reignite between the two. Lily is determined to avoid him, and Matt’s determined to find out what caused their break up, which was never clear.

Things I didn’t like:
▪️Lily kept repeatedly questioning why Matt was there since he wasn’t close friends with the groom, Tom. He wasn’t 8 years ago, and now he is. Oddly she expected everything in Matt’s life to be exactly the same as it was 8 years ago.
▪️The repetitiveness
▪️The story dragged out and kept going off on odd unnecessary tangents
▪️Tess turning into a major Bridezilla. Why turn a character we are supposed to like into someone hateful?
▪️The flash back was out of left field. It upset me when I found out the reasoning behind why Lily broke it off with Matt. It’s 8 years later and she’s still acting the same. Zero character development.
▪️That Lily was actually hurt and angry that Matt got married a year after their split that SHE caused. It didn’t last, but what was she expecting? She really wasn’t grasping the concept that people move on and change after so long.

I really loved the premise of the story at first and it had several humorous wedding party shenanigans, but then took a nose dive. I honestly struggled to get to the end of this book and skimmed to the end. I didn’t see anything in their relationship that was worth saving. Honestly, I felt like screaming, “RUN, MATT …RUN and save yourself”. 😂 This book missed the mark for me. It did receive several high ratings, so I definitely encourage everyone trying it for yourself. Books will always hit differently depending on different factors for different people. What isn’t my cup of tea, may be someone else’s dream book. Thank you to @netgalley for providing me with this #ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lily is fine. Really, truly, she’s ok. She might have to attend her best friend’s wedding with the ex-boyfriend she never got over, on a gorgeous Greek island that’s so small it’s impossible to avoid him, but she is determined to be friendly. And Matt, too, is completely and utterly fine. Lily may have broken his heart, but he moved on. And surely they can be amicable, as this week is about his best friend’s wedding too? So he will be civil, stay out of her way as much as he can, and get on with the celebrations. But then the wedding comes under threat, and Matt and Lily are thrown together in the efforts to save the day and – yet again – sparks fly. What happens when you try to repeat the past though? Can a holiday romance turn into a lasting love, for the second time? Or are Lily and Matt destined to remain just friends, forever?

'Just Friends' is a charming, heartwarming read brimming with emotion and it will make you fall in love with Lovett's characters. The read got off to a strong start as it is mainly set in Greece, any book set in Greece captures my heart so I was looking forward to getting stuck in. The plot is good, there are not any surprises but as I have said I thought it was charming and it kept my attention. There are moments of laughter and sadness and all of it was well captured.

Reading this I really got the sense that Lily's group of friends are tight, they all have very distinct personalities, some are more annoying than others but they certainly all bring something to the book. Matt's friends are less fleshed out which I did think was a shame, there are chapters told from Matt's perspective so I think it would have been nice to see him and his life developed a bit further. Lovett did succeed in making me fall for her characters and I was rooting for them the whole way through.

'Just Friends' is a joyous read that will put a smile on your face.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy.

Lily and Matt are both on a tiny Greek island for the wedding of their best friends, which sounds like a perfect recipe for romance, but it’s not – they abruptly broke up 8 years ago for no real reason and haven’t seen each other since. But when every possible thing goes wrong during the week of the wedding, they are forced to team up once again to make sure the big day goes off without a hitch. Will the forced proximity allow them to rekindle a flame long ago extinguished or will they agree to let the past remain the past?

This fluffy and sweet rom-com was such a light and fun quick read with relatable characters and an IDEAL setting. I mean, a wedding on a Greek island?? Sign me up. From start to finish, you’ll be asking yourself “will they or won’t they?” as simmer in the slow burn. This book plays on the “right person, wrong time” trope, which might be my favorite of all romance tropes. Though at times, I felt that the narrative was a bit too drawn out and dragging and I occasionally found myself a bit bored, this book makes the perfect beach read for your next vacation!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Review will be posted to my instagram, @bookedandbb, on 2/16/2022

📕 REVIEW: Just Friends

⭐: ☆☆☆ / 5
👩🏻‍💻 Author: @jolovett
📃 # Pages: 313
🗓 Pub Date: 14 March 2022

Okayyyy, I really wanted to love this! The description sounded amazing and despite reading other reviews I wanted to give it a go and see for myself.

Synopsis

'Just Friends' is a novel about right person, wrong time. Matt and Lily dated for 15 months 8 years ago and are being reunited at a wedding on a small island in greece. A good read if you are looking for something short and sweet!

There were definitely some good parts to this book, but for me personally I found it to be quite drawn out, things that could have been simplified felt like they took a page or more to be explained.

*I would just like to thank @netgalley @bookouture and @jolovett for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review🌻

Is it finally the right time for them to take a second chance in love? Or are they destined to remain friends for a lifetime?

This was a fabulous romantic read. The characters were entertaining. They were a quirky group of people with relatable flaws. This wedding truly brought the best and worst in them. It wasn’t just some kind of irritating family drama, but also, the comedic disaster magnets that these characters attracted made the progression of the story hilarious during the whole wedding holiday they had in Greece.

The author developed a slow burn theme throughout the book, because the two main characters struggled in miscommunicating about what they truly feel deep within them. It was a “will-they-won’t they” that kept me hooked in the story. It was a good thing that there were dual POV’s. It had helped me to understand their personal emotions. This book conveyed the importance of honesty, value of communication in a relationship and how childhood memories could impact in our adult life.

“Love probably wasn’t enough on its own if you couldn’t communicate the way your partner wanted you to.”
Overall, I’d recommend this book for readers who are keen of wedding themed romance comedy novels. FYI, this is the second book that I’ve read written by the author. I like it better because it’s simpler and lighter to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and its publisher, Bookouture for sharing me an ARC in exchange of my honest opinion. It was an enjoyable read.

I don’t often read rom-coms, but I definitely enjoyed this one! This was a cute book and a perfect binge read for Valentine’s Day! Great characters, great character development, funny and witty dialogue. I liked the issues in the book and felt that they were very relatable to real life situations. Kept me guessing for the whole book as to if the couple would end up together or not. This was my first time reading this author. I will definitely look for more of her work in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and also the publish for an ARC of Just Friends.

OK, so if you like really, really cheesy romantic novels that are best made for Hallmark movies, then this book will be the one for you.

Lily and Matt used to date each other until they broke up eight years ago. Now, they are both reunited once again at their mutual friends' wedding. The two try in vain to avoid each other but it seems that destiny has other plans...

To be fairly honest, I did enjoy the first half of the story. The story is told from both Lily's and Matt's perspectives, sharing their own version of the event. I also like the backdrop of the past, when Lily and Matt used to be the couple and what led them to the break up. There were actually some funny parts in the book that made me crack down.

But those were the good things. The second half of the book was so boring, completely unreliastic and predictable--we do know that Lily and Matt will get back together. So my rating to this story dropped from the four and a half star rating to a three star unfortunately.

But, this is actually an enjoyable and funny romance books--good if you are into cheesy Hallmark movie type books. Worth three stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

I really enjoyed the pace of this book, kept me hooked from the second chapter!
The characters were fun and each had unique personalities to make them really stand out, honestly think that Meg was my favourite character, I mean who wouldn’t want to fall in love with a gorgeous Greek chef??
One thing I will say is that I really wanted most of the main romance to happen on the island and it’s was slightly anticlimactic when all the problems were solved AFTER the holiday and the wedding.
But all in all, would definitely recommend to any romance reader who loves a happy ending!

Just Friends follows Lily and Matt, two exes who find themselves attending the same wedding on a small Greek island. This was a quick and easy read. I absolutely loved this book. It was right up my alley, a slow burn second chance romance with hilarious moments. And I loved the way the author handles a few sensitive topics.

I loved the whole sequence about the wedding in Greece, I mean who doesn’t like reading about a wedding in a beautiful location with hilarious moments and a mix of delicious tension with your ex, right? The writing is amazing. Overall, I loved the book but I think it got a bit too slow for a while there.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5

slow for me. i usually love a second-chance romance, but this one felt like it was missing something.

#netgalley

*thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Everytime I think about Greece, especially a greek island, I am reminded of mamma mia (I absolutely love both movies), so, reading Just Friends made me think of a deep desire of mine, that includes goes to a beautiful island and meet, or in this case, fall in love again by the love of my life.

Matt and Lily are two great persons who genuinely love each other, but clearly had some things to work out. And it was so good to see that they had grow in those eight years apart! I found them very relatable! The friendships, especially Aaliyah, were something that I loved, but Tess and Meg bored me a little by being very self-centered. Even if I got that both were stressed about a lot of things. There were also some parts that were too descriptive and ended up becoming tiring (but that's my personal opinion), so, that's why I'm not giving it 5 stars.

Anyway, it was a really good history, with a lovely plot and such a lovely main couple. I loved Jo's writing (this is my first book from her) and I fell in love with Lily and Matt with Abba's songs being the soundtrack, so, I absolutely recommend this great, funny and light romance!

Just Friends starts off a few days before a wedding on a Greek island. Lily, our protagonist, is bridesmaid to the bridezilla and finds out that her ex, Matt, from eight years ago is also attending the wedding. Seeing as the island is small, it makes it impossible for them to ignore each other and they are forced to think about why they broke up all those years ago when they had been so in love. This is a second-chance love story with dual POV that was entertaining most of the way.

At the beginning of the book, I felt like it was a cross between the movies Bridesmaids and Mamma Mia. One disaster after the next kept happening with the days leading up to the wedding while Lily was impossibly trying to hide from her ex-boyfriend. I loved how even though they had been broken for eight years, their feelings for each other never completely went away. The tension throughout the first few days was amazing and had me rooting for them all the way through.

Now for what I didn't love. At several points in the story, Lily's friends were not just annoying but actually unsupportive and self-absorbed (except for Aaliyah). It was a minor thing so thankfully I forgot about it quickly. I was actually loving the story until after the wedding actually happened. (minor spoilers ahead) Once Matt and Lily sort of reconciled, I feel as if all the tension and chemistry sort of died down. Back in London, the story started moving slowly and they had the same miscommunication (my least favorite trope) that they had when they dated previously. It was all resolved in the end, but it did take me out of the story a bit and I didn't nearly love it as much as the first half of the book. I'm also not very fond of fiction books mentioning covid but that is my own personal preference. There was also a random mention of Donald Trump which felt laughably odd.

All that being said, I generally enjoyed this and I could see this being a Hallmark movie. If you're looking for a second-chance romance with a Greek vacation then this might be for you.