When Harry Met Sally meets 500 Days of Summer in A Guide to Being Just Friends, a playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It.
"Sophie Sullivan’s writing feels like a warm hug.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of The Ex Talk
Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.
Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.
When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike up a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.
What could possibly go wrong?
Romance
Publication Date: 17 Jan 2023
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Advance Praise for A Guide to Being Just Friends:
“Sophie Sullivan crafts a warm, sweet-as-brownies love story in A Guide to Being Just Friends: with found family, a hopeful, determined heroine, a starchy hero, and the risky question ‘What if adding romance to our already-great relationship makes it even better? What if it makes us fall apart?’ this is a slow-burn friends-to-lovers with lots of heart and kindness.” - Sarah Hogle, author of You Deserve Each Other
-
“Sophie Sullivan has written a love letter to friends, to entrepreneurs, and to found families! A Guide to Being Just Friends is a joyful, swoony romance full of heart and humor! An absolute delight to read!” - Sarah Adams, author of When in Rome and The Cheat Sheet
-
“Sullivan writes love stories of characters who feel like friends―this wonderfully sweet romance is no exception. This is the perfect friends-to-lovers story, instantly relatable and completely charming.” - Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of The Roughest Draft
My Review:
📖Book: A Guide to Being Just Friends
⭐️Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✍🏼Author: Sophie Sullivan
📚Genre: Romance
🗏 Pages: 336
💕Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Found Family
⚠️Warnings: Body Shaming, Toxic Relationship
🔖Readability: 4/5 italic font is used
🥇First Line: "Salad paid the bills."
Things to expect:
✨Slow Burn
❤️Friends to Lovers
✨Meet Cute
This was the slowest, most extended, dragged Friends to Lover book I have read this year. I was engaged until a third of the way through, and I just wanted them to get over themselves already. I might not have been in the mood for this; the body shaming just felt off. I think this could have been better without it, and it made me feel a little icky while reading it. I love Sophie Sullivan, and of course, I have purchased my copy of the book, but I will only be reading it once and putting it in my little free library for others to enjoy.
Thanks to St Martin Press for the advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.



PRINT LENGTH PAGES
AVERAGE REVIEW RATING
PAPERBACKCOST
E-BOOK COST
AUTHOR
SOPHIE SULLIVAN is a Canadian author as well as a cookie-eating, Diet Pepsi-drinking, Disney enthusiast who loves reading and writing romance in almost equal measure. She writes around her day job as a teacher and spends her spare time with her sweet family watching reruns of Friends. TEN RULES FOR FAKING IT is her romcom debut novel, but she's had plenty of practice writing happily ever after as her alter ego, Jody Holford
PUBLISHER
St. Martin’s Press has a long and respected history of publishing a solid and varied list. We are dedicated to publishing emerging new authors, and offering a fresh perspective on classic genres, while maintaining a diverse and interesting range of books. Our strength is derived from a dedication to solid publishing of many books, while consistently producing the occasional blockbuster. The vast majority of our hardcovers are published in paperback through our internal paperback lines.
Let's Get Started!
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When Harry Met Sally meets 500 Days of Summer in A Guide to Being Just Friends, a playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It.
"Sophie Sullivan’s writing feels like a warm hug.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of The Ex Talk
Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.
Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.
When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike up a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.
What could possibly go wrong?
Romance
Publication Date: 17 Jan 2023
-
Advance Praise for A Guide to Being Just Friends:
“Sophie Sullivan crafts a warm, sweet-as-brownies love story in A Guide to Being Just Friends: with found family, a hopeful, determined heroine, a starchy hero, and the risky question ‘What if adding romance to our already-great relationship makes it even better? What if it makes us fall apart?’ this is a slow-burn friends-to-lovers with lots of heart and kindness.” - Sarah Hogle, author of You Deserve Each Other
-
“Sophie Sullivan has written a love letter to friends, to entrepreneurs, and to found families! A Guide to Being Just Friends is a joyful, swoony romance full of heart and humor! An absolute delight to read!” - Sarah Adams, author of When in Rome and The Cheat Sheet
-
“Sullivan writes love stories of characters who feel like friends―this wonderfully sweet romance is no exception. This is the perfect friends-to-lovers story, instantly relatable and completely charming.” - Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of The Roughest Draft
My Review:
📖Book: A Guide to Being Just Friends
⭐️Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✍🏼Author: Sophie Sullivan
📚Genre: Romance
🗏 Pages: 336
💕Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Found Family
⚠️Warnings: Body Shaming, Toxic Relationship
🔖Readability: 4/5 italic font is used
🥇First Line: "Salad paid the bills."
Things to expect:
✨Slow Burn
❤️Friends to Lovers
✨Meet Cute
This was the slowest, most extended, dragged Friends to Lover book I have read this year. I was engaged until a third of the way through, and I just wanted them to get over themselves already. I might not have been in the mood for this; the body shaming just felt off. I think this could have been better without it, and it made me feel a little icky while reading it. I love Sophie Sullivan, and of course, I have purchased my copy of the book, but I will only be reading it once and putting it in my little free library for others to enjoy.
Thanks to St Martin Press for the advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


PRINT LENGTH PAGES
AVERAGE REVIEW RATING
PAPERBACK COST
E-BOOK COST
AUTHOR
SOPHIE SULLIVAN is a Canadian author as well as a cookie-eating, Diet Pepsi-drinking, Disney enthusiast who loves reading and writing romance in almost equal measure. She writes around her day job as a teacher and spends her spare time with her sweet family watching reruns of Friends. TEN RULES FOR FAKING IT is her romcom debut novel, but she's had plenty of practice writing happily ever after as her alter ego, Jody Holford
PUBLISHER
St. Martin’s Press has a long and respected history of publishing a solid and varied list. We are dedicated to publishing emerging new authors, and offering a fresh perspective on classic genres, while maintaining a diverse and interesting range of books. Our strength is derived from a dedication to solid publishing of many books, while consistently producing the occasional blockbuster. The vast majority of our hardcovers are published in paperback through our internal paperback lines.
Let's Get Started!
Subscribed to my notebook!