Book Review - Just Friends by Holly McCulloch

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Title: Just Friends

Author: Holly McCulloch

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Competition Win

Publisher: Corgi

Publication Date: 4th February 2021 

Rating: 4 Stars

It's easy to put someone in the friend zone. But what happens if you change your mind?

Bea isn't happy. Desperate for a change, she looks to her friends for inspiration. Every single one of them is paired off, perhaps that's what she needs too.

So, she starts dating again. But everywhere she goes - amid the hilarious and scarring dates - there's Peter. Good old, oddball Peter, her closest friend from university. He's always been firmly in the friend zone but something's happened lately - he seems taller, more handsome and suddenly making him smile is Bea's favourite thing.

But how can Bea possibly risk their friendship? And how do you even go about taking someone out of the friend zone? What if Bea and Peter were only ever meant to be just friends...

A story that will have you giggling off and on throughout the book. 

Bea is just hopeless, she can't see the blatantly obvious in her own life, but then who ever does realise the obvious when its staring you in the face.  She has a few close friends but isn't always in the mood for socialising, which I could definitely identify with, but also seems to be a bit of a people pleaser when it comes her friends and work. 

She isn't particularly happy with her job, she has a sideline too which she does enjoy but hasn't really done much with at least initially and suddenly decides she needs to stop acting happy and try to be happy. 

So she starts dating with some very amusing results.  Watch out for a second date, some chilli and a large amount of discomfort, it's hilarious! 

I really enjoyed seeing her various exploits, and the book is written in short chapters which makes one more chapter syndrome a lot easier to keep reading! This a a very enjoyable debut,  and well although you can possibly guess the ending from the blurb  / title or just very early in the book, the journey to get there isn't that smooth, and even I started to doubt it would conclude the way I wanted.  

Plus it's just an entertaining read in between, so why miss out on something that can easily take your mind off lockdowns and pandemics! I'm already interested to see what Holly McCulloch writes next and look forward to reading it.