Sneak Peek: Friends to Lovers by Sarah Blakely
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I’m grateful to have received an advanced reader’s copy of Friends to Lovers via NetGalley!
The Sneak Peek
Joni and Ren’s mothers met in college and became best friends — the kind of best friends who buy a vacation home together with the dream of raising their families together and having a special place they could summer along the Oregon coast.
Well, their dreams came true and more when 3-year-old Joni decided Ren would be her best friend… and that he did. They did everything together, even college. Through life’s ups and downs, the whirlwind of post-grad life and settling into adulthood, they stood side by side together.
Until Joni received a job offer for her dream job at her dream company in NYC… and suddenly, she’s off to the other side of the country without her lifeline, Ren. In an effort to stay in touch, they promise to be each other’s plus-ones to weddings— it’ll give them bonus reasons to see each other outside of family vacations and holidays. But the real world has other plans, and their daily conversations grow shorter, their texts lose context and the wedding weekends soon become their annual meet-up. Until at one fateful wedding, things go too far and their relationship is changed forever.
Now, two-and-a-half years later, Joni and Ren are back in their families’ vacation home for her sister’s wedding. They’re forced to share a room and fake their friendship as to not let their families know they haven’t spoken in years.
What Victoria Loved
VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5
Once I started, I couldn’t stop.
This is where young love hurts… when you’re fearful, hesitant of losing what you have that you get in your own way and settle for what you think is the right thing to do instead of risking pain and loss — only to face it all anyway. Because when you deprive yourself of that love, you’re still losing. But being brave and taking the leap could mean you have everything to gain.
Sally Blakely struck that chord perfectly. Friends to Lovers is exactly why I struggle with the combination of friends to lovers and second chance tropes. It just feels like someone has ripped my heart out and keeps squeezing it until it’s about to burst. I could actually feel the hollow ache in my chest reading the flashbacks, and it made reading the present-day chapter that much harder.
The tension between Joni and Ren from the flashbacks and present day was subtle yet absolutely painful. With each wedding that passes in the past, we’re given a clearer picture of the impact time and distance has had on their relationship— and you can already guess how they ended up in their current situation. AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS DIVE INTO THIS BOOK AND LOCK THEM IN A ROOM AND TELL THEM TO CONFESS IT ALL.
It’s painful, yet heartwarming. And the promise of an HEA got me through this book because I was so desperate for Joni and Ran to finally get the ending they deserve.
I love how interwoven the families are. How in-sync and perceptive the siblings and parents are, how Ren and Joni can fall back into themselves despite their years apart. I have this dream of owning a home where my best friends and our families gather. A home that’s home to everyone we love. And I love so much how this cozy Nancy-Meyer cottage along the Oregon coast is the setting for this story. It’s picturesque but obviously also so loved and well-worn, how could anyone resist falling in love?!
Pre-order your copy of Jilted (Amazon) and read with me!
Favorite Scene
“I’ve always been on the run, trying to get somewhere. But since I met you, the only place I want to be is where you are. It scares the crap out of me, and some days I’m not sure if I’ve lost my mind for feeling this way or if I’ve finally figured out the meaning of life.”
- JILTED by Vi Keeland
Similar Reads & Recommendations
THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY: Wild and Wrangled (Rebel Blue #4) by Lyla Sage (Amazon)
This second-chance romance is a redemption for a first-love that was too big at the wrong time. Lyla will draw you in and tug at your heartstrings, planting seeds to pull at your curiosity, lure you into craving answers to understand how a love so seemingly big went so wrong. All while simultaneously weaving Cam and Dusty’s past and present, into the most tender and heartwarming romance.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5
CHILDHOOD LOVE, NEAR AND FAR: Powerless (Chestnut Springs #3) by Elsie Silver (Amazon)
A childhood friends-to-lovers romance that brings together a hockey player and a ballerina. Although their friendship was never a secret, they did drift apart as they got older. But when Sloane suddenly finds herself unable to walk down the aisle, Jasper (the man she’s secretly loved her entire life) is there to rescue her. I’m a fan of this entire series (so you can start from Book 1), but this stand-alone was a cute one! There’s mutual pining and that courageous jump from friends to something more.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5
SECOND CHANCE AT THE LAKE: Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (Amazon)
Every Summer After is a beautifully written nostalgic love story that spans six years and one weekend when Sam and Percy are forced to face how their big young love fell devastatingly apart.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5
“WEDDING DATES”: Jilted by Vi Keeland (Amazon)
Wedding journalist and ex-pro rugby player (seeking to start a US expansion team) meet at his friend’s wedding. After a memorable encounter, he pitches a series for his dad’s magazine that would require Sloane to cover all of his friends upcoming weddings… because he wants to spend more time with her. It’s witty, quick, and steamy.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 3/5
BY THE AUTHOR: This is Sally Blakely’s debut; but she’s made it on the automatic TBR list!
Until the next chapter!
xo, Victoria
P.S. Craving more books featuring these sub-genres, tropes, and themes? Tap the links below.
