“[…] because that’s what loving someone is. It’s sharing the tiny, stupid, mundane things about your life, because they’re everything to the people you love.”
― Haley Pham, Just Friends

Just Friends by Haley Pham is a swoony second chance romance that had me on the edge of my seat. Told in dual timelines, readers are privy to the magic and pain of first love. The author dives deep into grief and how it changes from person to person. Other themes in this book center around second chances, how dreams can change, and how people can feel like home.

Blair and Declan were inseparable growing up. They knew each other better than they knew other people. When in high school, their friendship turn romantic, but before it can develop into something more, one moment destroys everything. Their incredibly close friendship and budding romance ends in heartbreak and silence.

Four years after this disaster, Blair has come back home to Seabrook. Her great-aunt Lottie’s health is in great decline, so Blair is there to help her mom and great-aunt with whatever they need. To help money wise, Blair gets a job at a local coffee shop. At her interview, she is surprised to see Declan is the manager. She discovers she still has feelings for this boy she lost. As the two keep crossing paths, old wounds pop up, secrets come to light, and sparks of romance are back. The two must decide what type of future they want together, be it friends or something more.

“What is love if not the desire to be there during someone’s lowest moments? What use does it have if we refuse to let the people closest to us share in our suffering when it matters most?”
― Haley Pham, Just Friends