Just Friends (Nashville Is Calling #3) - Madison Wright

Book Synopsis: Hazel Lane is ready to date again.

After finding her boyfriend cheating on her a year ago and thus severing her last ties to LA, she moved across the country to be closer to friends and family. While she pieced her life back together, dating was the furthest thing from her mind. But now she’s ready to jump back into the shark-infested dating world again. And to avoid bad dates with men who think Crocs are acceptable footwear or guys who like to talk about their exes a little too much, she has a plan. She’s going to ask her best friend, Alex, to set her up on blind dates, and she will return the favor.

Alex Bates is in love with his best friend.

When Hazel moved to Nashville last year, he was more than happy to wait on her while she worked through her breakup. He just thought that when she was ready to date again, she’d see who was right in front of her. And yes, she did see him—as the solution to finding her soulmate. Hazel may have a plan, but Alex does too. His goal isn’t to find his one true love during this experiment, it’s to convince Hazel that hers has always been there waiting.

With each date, Hazel’s plan gets fuzzier and fuzzier, along with her feelings for her best friend. He’s too important to risk losing, but what if he’s the one she’s been looking for all along?

Can they stay just friends, or will that little issue of love get in the way?

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This is hands down my favorite book in the series! I highly recommend reading the first two books in the series before starting this one. While it can be read as a standalone, I still advise reading in chronological order to get the full picture and understand the backstories for each of the characters.

Just Friends has a friends-to-lovers trope with a closed-door romance theme. Normally I don't read a lot of this trope, (mainly because it is hardly ever done well.) In this case, Madison Wright did a really spectacular job with this book.

I really loved this story because of the dual POVs and how we see Alex and Hazel interact with each other. There's an easiness and comfortable banter that goes between the two of them. I spent the whole book rooting for them and I think that you will too.

I read this on Kindle Unlimited, but will be purchasing the Kindle version to own forever.

Rating: 5/5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐