Book Review: Friends Don’t Fall In Love

Friends Don’t Fall in Love by Erin Hahn ~ 336 pages ~ to be published on October 17th, 2023 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Goodreads Synopsis:

Lorelai Jones had it a thriving country music career and a superstar fiancé. Then she played one teenie tiny protest song at a concert and ruined her entire future, including her impending celebrity marriage. But five years later, she refuses to be done with her dreams and calls up the one person who stuck by her, her dear friend and her former fiancé’s co-writer and bandmate, Craig.

Craig Boseman’s held a torch for Lorelai for years, but even he knows the backup bass player never gets the girl. Things are different now, though. Craig owns his own indie record label and his songwriting career is taking off. If he can confront his past and embrace his gifts, he might just be able to help Lorelai earn the comeback she deserves―and maybe win her heart in the process.

But when the two reunite to rebuild her career and finally scratch that itch that’s been building between them for years, Lorelai realizes a lot about what friends don’t do. For one, friends don’t have scratch-that-itch sex. They also don’t almost-kiss on street corners, publish secret erotic poetry about each other, have counter-top sex, write songs for each other, have no-strings motorcycle sex, or go on dates. And they sure as heck don’t fall in love… right?

What I Thought:

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and [publisher] for this ARC!*

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. 🥰

Erin Hahn always knows how to pull me in and make me love her characters! Lorelai and Craig are so much fun, and so is their love story! Also, it is set in Nashville, which is always a sure fire way to my heart.

After reading Built to Last (read my review for it here), I knew that I wanted to hear Lorelai’s story. She was such a fun side character in that book, and I knew she deserved to have her story told. Then, as Friends Don’t Fall in Love went along, we started to encounter characters from another favorite Hahn book of mine, You’d Be Mine (read my review for that one here), and I got so excited!! I love when authors connect the worlds of their books in a seamless way. Seeing Annie and Clay in this story was like getting to catch up with old friends. I also love that the crossover was between one of her YA novels and her newest adult novel. ❤️

Getting to see Lorelai and Craig move through the novel, and see the beginnings of their friendship, was such a fun ride. I love a good friends to lovers story, and this certainly delivered. Their friendship was lovely, and seeing them slowly (oh so slowly…maybe a little too slowly…) figure out their true feelings was a delight, while simultaneously a bit frustrating.

The musical storyline was so much fun for me. I lived in Nashville for 14 years, so I could perfectly envision everything in this setting. The way that the music scene in Nashville functions was so accurately portrayed here, and I loved getting to get an “insiders peek” into the process behind the music. I’ve been on that side, and it felt very true to life to me.

If you like a good friends to lovers story, with some country music behind the scenes mixed in, all taking place in one of the best cities in the world, you will love this book!