Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely: Review

My heart cries for missed love. I am a sucker for second chance romance and friends-to-lovers romance. This is the first book by this author and she totally nails it. My heart was breaking and swooning so often!

Check out my review and thoughts on this upcoming release below!

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely
Publisher: ‎ Canary Street Press; Original edition
publication Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1335014245

SYNOPSIS:
Best friends Joni and Ren have been inseparable since childhood. So when Joni moves across the country for her job, the two devise a creative way to stay in touch: they’ll be each other’s plus-ones every year for wedding season, no matter what else is happening in their lives.

It’s a tradition that works until a line is crossed and the friendship they once thought was forever is ruined.

Now Joni is back at their families’ shared summer home for her sister’s wedding, and she’s determined to make the week perfect, even if it means faking a friendship with Ren—and avoiding the truth of why they have to fake it in the first place. How hard can it be to pretend to be friends with the person who once knew you best?

But as sunny beach days together turn into starry nights, Joni begins to question what her life is without Ren in it. And when the wedding arrives, bringing past heartaches to the surface, she’ll be forced to decide if loving Ren means letting him go, or if theirs is a love story worth fighting for.

Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely Review

I admit it. I am a total sucker for second-chance romance and friends-to-lovers romance. I have had a guy as my best friend for so many years and it is hard to be without him sometimes. He knows everything – the keeper of the memories and a million laughs.

So when this book hit my hands, I could not stop reading. My heart was breaking on one page only to smile and laugh at their antics on the next as they tried to act normal around family. A permanent plus one for weddings, they cannot help but be together, especially at her sister’s wedding festivities.

This author loaded in the angst as we are tossed back and forth between today and the past as we learn what broke them. It seemed like it took forever to get them back together and not having a conversation made it worse. Plus family stress and craziness didn’t help much either!

I loved so much about Friends to Lovers. Ren is a sweetheart and his love for Joni made my heart break. I wanted to shout at her so many times!

Blakely could have made this a 5-star for me if we got a longer together story. I hate that we only get one chapter or so. We go through so much with them, why can’t we celebrate the swoon and love for a bit longer???

For a first book, this is an awesome story, especially for those who love second chances and friends-to-lovers romance. I will definitely keep this author on my radar for more!

4 STARS!!

Disclaimer: Chris has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free ebook so she could evaluate and use it for this post. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.