Series: Jansen Brothers, #3
Traits & Tropes: friends to lovers, hero is afraid of emotions
Publication Date: 01.17.23
Genre/Setting: Contemporary; Southern California
Heat Level: 0
Rating: 3.5/5
Narration Rating: 4/5
Hailey Sharp has no time for anything but making her new salad shop a success. She’s focusing on nothing but her work and living her own life out of her ex’s shadow and has no time for distractions.
Wes Jansen has no interest in relationships after a few lousy first dates since he’s moved to California. As the oldest of four siblings, he remembers every detail of his parents’ nasty divorce and would much rather just find someone he likes and can enjoy spending time with but won’t love.
When Hailey and Wes meet in the oddest of ways, they strike up an awkward-at-first friendship that soon becomes very important to both of them. They just have to remember all the reasons why they can only ever be friends and nothing more.
This was a really cute romcom, but I definitely think it benefited from the fact that I mostly listened to it on audio. There was a bit of a tendency to get bogged down in mundane routine and some of the friend-zoning these two did to each other did get a bit repetitive at times. Hailey’s need to do absolutely everything for herself with zero help got annoying for me and it was quickly apparent that she had no idea how to be a friend. For me, she came off as incredibly judgmental and despite becoming good friends with Wes over a period of time, still didn’t seem to really know him on a very deep level. The just friends aspect of this story was definitely repeated a bit much, but I still couldn’t help but root for these two, despite my impatience for them to get together already. Beyond that, I was pretty disappointed by the way Wes was treated by Hailey and by his brothers. He’s always there for them and supporting their dreams and they don’t really do the same for him. I was glad to see him call them out on this, and I was likewise glad to see them call him out for being afraid of his feelings. There was quite a bit of emotional growth packed into the last few chapters of this book, but I think they made it worth the read as I liked seeing things work out with Wes and Hailey once they both learned to give a little.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and its audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3862723346
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4809573110
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