Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely
If you’re like me and have been inundated with People We Meet on Vacation content in anticipation of the upcoming film adaptation, you’re going to absolutely love this take on the friends-to-lovers trope! Emily Henry set the bar high, and Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely succeeds in reaching it.
We take a journey through the lives of childhood best friends and perpetual platonic wedding dates, Joni and Ren. They’ve known each other forever — their mothers also lifelong best friends — but have had a falling out.
Love Blooms at Family’s Shared Summer Home
As the story progresses, we learn they haven’t spoken in two and a half years after a mysterious event on New Year’s Eve, but their families — with the exception of Joni’s sister — are in the dark. Now it’s time for the biggest wedding — Joni’s sister’s — and a reunion in which they have to pretend as if all is well.
I didn’t have a clue what went down between them and immediately felt pangs of sadness at the emotional distance in their first interaction after nearly three years.
Friends to Lovers jumps from the wedding week in present day back to various weddings Joni and Ren attended together in the past, painting a picture of two people so close they can communicate without words, but who keep missing the signs that this very well could be more than friendship.
As soon as I thought “this is it! They’re going to wake up and act on the sexual tension!” something or someone intervened and we were sent back to present day. The missed connections were maddening in the best way.
Throughout Joni’s sister’s wedding week, we get to know an entire cast of characters. Between both families who share a coastal Oregon beach house and the friends they’ve met along the way, there’s no shortage of teasing and banter born of years of inside jokes.
A Romance Novel with Emotional Depth
In the midst of all of this, there was a bit of a coming-of-age struggle for both of our main characters. Ren is working a job his parents and girlfriend deem unimpressive. Joni has been fired from her dream job and is too afraid to tell her family.
Joni’s therapist-mom constantly taking the temperature of her mental state threw me right back in time — conjuring up memories of masking emotions to keep the people around me happy. Seeing as this comes up in the book more than once, I’m guessing it’s not a unique experience. Those of us who have loved and sometimes hated therapy will relate heavily to this dynamic.
All the tension between our main characters and their families culminates in a hilarious rehearsal dinner scene that will surely have readers laughing at the absurdity of the alcohol induced honesty. I could easily picture this acted out on the big screen.
Logistically, I love the format of this book and the short chapters. It felt like I was flying through it and gave so many natural stopping points for reading breaks. Between this, the banter and the fun family dynamics, I was never bored. Truly a great summer read!
About Sally Blakely:
Sally Blakely studied theatre, media arts, English, and education at The University of Montana. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or making far too many playlists. She lives in Montana with her husband.
