Just Friends

by Robyn Sisman

Thirtysomethings Freya and Jack have been “just friends” for more than ten years. Of course, they’ve had their differences. Freya doesn’t approve of Jack’s taste for student teeny-boppers from Planet Bubblegum, and Jack has problems with Freya’s utter scorn for human frailty–especially his own.

So when Freya, dumped by her lawyer boyfriend, moves temporarily into Jack’s apartment, tensions simmer. They reach a boiling point when Jack agrees to act as Freya’s Significant Other at her step-sister’s society wedding. Now, old friends, best friends, just friends, are fighting like cats and dogs.

Bestselling author Robyn Sisman has written a sexy, hilarious novel about that eternal struggle to find “the one”–the one for now and the one forever!

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Friends To Lovers

393 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Suzie Quint · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really? He slept with her sister? Her arch-enemy? And I'm supposed to forgive that? Maybe the heroine can, but I can't.

[Shannon Stults · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers one of my favorite concepts in romantic literature: the best friend guy. He's like my all-time favorite guy. I had so much hope for this book, which was probably my downfall. Not that the book was bad, but I had such high hopes for it and it turned out to be simply an "ok" book. There were moments I laughed, of course, but I feel like I would have done o few things differently. Not to mention a few particular things that had me wanting to throw the book across the room, some things I would not have easily forgiven if I was one of the main characters. And as for Jack, he seemed like a cool guy, but I just don't thing I really fell for him like I do most of the other leading guys. And don't even get me started on the ending. Artistically I can admit that it was kind of brilliant. But as the girl craving romance and final happily-ever-after scene, I was so frustrated I wanted to rip my own eyes out.

But still, not a bad book. :)

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terus terang untuk segi cerita sih sebenarnya tidak jelek2 amat namun aetelah episode Jack ML dengan Tash adik tiri Freya.... [image error]
Langsung ilfil banget-nget ama Jack.. Bayangkan!! Sebagai laki2, sudah ga becus cari duit, juga ga bisa mengontrol selangkangannya... watdepuk!!! [image error]
Masalahnya bukan soal Jack ML dgn Tash, tapi inilah yang namanya mengkhianati kepercayaan seorang teman..ilfil banget d ama tipe co ky gini. Sepintas terlihat co baik2 namun ga bisa mengendalikan libido sama aja dengan penjahat kelamin.. ini tipe co yg meresahkan dan tidak bisa dikagumi. Bukan karena dia playboy, tapi karena tipe co spt Jack itu tipe yang childish.. menyalahkan seluruh dunia (kecuali dirinya yg benar)... Bayangkan alasan wkt Jack disembur Freya, Jack mengatakan dia dirayu Tash... Haisssss [image error]
Cape d.... [image error] Amit-amit!! Jangan sampe dpt co ky Jack d... [image error]

[Ririn · Rating 1 out of 5]

mari kita pertanyakan dulu tentang cover yg dipilih oleh gpu ini... kayanya yg menyetujui/memilih cover ini ga baca bukunya... karena kedua tokoh utama dalam buku ini berambut pirang -_-;; terlebih lagi, tokoh ceweknya (Freya) potongan rambutnya pendek seperti laki2 -_-;; jadi siapakah 2 org dalam cover inii??

berbulan2 yg lalu, saya membaca novel Perfect Strangers by Robyn Sissman yg lumayan saya suka. tapi sepertinya keputusan untuk membeli buku Just Friends ini adalah suatu kesalahan >_< kedua tokoh utamanya menyebalkan, yg cowo doyan daun muda (serem aja membaca deskripsi dia yg naksir sama anak didiknya di kursus *shudders*) tokoh utama cewek sangat jablay, beuuh... tp understandable because she doesn't want to end up alone! (hey, I get it!) tokoh cowonya digambarkan ingin menjadi penulis terkenal tp buktinya agak syok juga waktu ayahnya yg kaya raya memutuskan untuk menghentikan uang sakunya *_* wadehel... cemen banget ni cowo.

ok di bagian akhir (hampir), akhirnya ni cowo melakukan kesalahan besar yang membuatnya tidak termaafkan (oleh saya sebagai pembaca) - what a prick. dia tidur dengan adik si tokoh cewe karena ditolak minta bobo sama si cewe. LOSER. he's abit drunk, but that's not a reason for being anasshole. not to mention that the sister is a total biatch.

in the end: if you like a loser as a main character (the male one) this is for you.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look at your circle of guy friends. Could the love of your life be standing right in front of you and you don't even know it?

That is what this book is all about. It's a lighthearted novel about a girl with a group of friends and a problem with finding the guy whose right for her. She has two good girlfriends and a best guy friend, all of whom are close.

Througout the book, you'll follow her and her friends as they experience situations that have most likely happened to you or your friends. It is a good book that you can relate to and you are constantly asking the question: Who will she end up with??

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack and Freya. Freya and Jack. Well, Jack = a jerk, scumbag and Freya = a confused, nit-wit. I liked the book all the way up to the last 100 pages, when Sisman developed the main characters into people I couldn't admire or find appealing. Especially Jack- blech! Although the premise of the story is for Jack and Freya to fall in love (blah, blah, blah), as I was reading, I was like "No, no, no, I don't want these two together". I felt Freya could do much better than Jack, ESPECIALLY after he slept with her evil stepsister just before her wedding. And Freya's weak woman complex, wanting Jack to take a hike, and then crying and loathing after him for days on end (after the way he treated her- yuck). Let's just say for such a "match made in heaven" situation that the author was trying to allude to, this is not how I envision people who truly love one another treating each other, and thus closed the book whole heartedly believing their relationship wouldn't last. Despite all this, the book held my interest much more than other chic-lit books I've read.

[Tory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Classic, predictable chick-lit.

What really annoyed me about this book was the mix of English and American phrases. It was about an English girl living in America, and all the Americans in the book spoke like English people.

Understandable if the author was British and hadn't spent much time in America... but she's American. She might live in England now, but surely she isn't so out of touch that she doesn't know how American's speak. And if she is? Then an editor needed to point that out. As an American who's lived in England, that sort of thing drives me absolutely nuts.

[Teressa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t remember the last time I read a chick lit book and the characters were so unlikeable. This book lost me after the “hero” did something that in the real world would be unforgivable. The fact that it was then wrapped up in the usual chick-lit pretty little bow ending was laughable.

[Susan Prosser · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriousely her SISTER?! And she just forgives that? No way lost me strait away wen that happened

[Michelle French · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were very few parts in this book that I actually got into and truly enjoyed. Overall this book was a disappointment.

[Penny G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Rom-com at its mediocre best.

[J Jahir · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars


pues por fin lo termino. es el primer libro del año, y mientras que lo iba leyendo y hasta ayer que pude terminarlo, me di cuenta que aunque quisiera el libro no iba a poder acabarlo para fin de año, sobre todo porque había mucho de la historia que lejos de que fuera cierto número de páginas, requería algo de atención para seguir las historias. Ahora bien... ¿me gustó? Sí.

En goodreads le he visto malas críticas y un pntaje no tan alto, pero a mí no me lo pareció. Incluso me entretuvo, pero al mismo tiempo tampoco voy a decir que me encantó; ya es bien dicho que la historia es sencilla, tiene algunos clichés y carece de otros que incluso para el año en que fue publicada la historia aún no se daban con tanta fuerza en el romance que nació después de publicarse 50 sombras de Grey. un cliché que al meno sí le vi, es el que tiene el género chick-lit: una protagonista muy, muy independiente, pero frustrada porque no le iba bien en el amor. Esta situación hace que tras romper con Michael, su novio, ella busque dónde vivir, así que le pide ayuda a Jack Madison, un renombrado escritor que estaba en paro y que conocía a freya desde hacía 10 años. Aquí vamos tras la típica historia de "vivo contigo, no nos llevamos y discutimos por todo" y no parece que las cosas cambien, pero a lo largo de la novela vamos observando la evolución de los personajes.

No sé si me caían bien o mal, tenía opiniones encontradas: por un lado Freya, que arrasaba con sus fantasmas del pasado, se comportaba a sus 35 años como una chicuela adolescente y daba a mostrar una imagen de no haber superado sus complejos, viviendo con rencores hacia su padre y madrastra, además de tornarse muy hiriente cuando quería, pero por otro lado la entendía, pues tampoco la pasó muy bien con Tash (esa chiquilla me sacó de mis casillas al conocerla), el tener que padecer la muerte de su madre y la decisión de su padre por casarse de nuevo. Jack, por otro lado, podía tornarse bastante orgulloso, aunque empaticé un poco más con él, y a su manera ayudó a Freya. a pesar de eso, lo lleva de una manera que nos hace reír en algunas escenas: cuando caen por error en una sexshop, cuando jack iba a afeitarse con una navaja / rastrillo que había usado freya, cuando Freya quería tener sexo con Bret y se les arruina el momento por jack al llegar con una caja de pizza ); otras emotivas y unas más, tristes. yo por ejemplo no esperé que Freya echara y tratara de una manera tan hiriente a Jack después de que la hijueputa de Tash le dijera que había follado con ella. las palabras que le dijo hasta a mí me pegaron en mi kokoro
sin duda, el final fue lo más bonito, y claro, lo que ya espera uno: freya y Jack... juntitos jeje. pero la diferencia es que te lo deja abierto, para que tú imagines qué sucede en la escena final.
sí la recomiendo si te gusta reír un poco, emocionarte con una historia romántica, y si quieres alejarte un poco de lo que es más actual en el género. por cierto, no hay tantas escenas eróticas, ni tan explícitas. hasta el estilo del autor me gustó.

[Amanda Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an unsung masterpiece within the "chick-lit" genre. Do certain parts test the limits of what is believable? Well, yes, but it is fiction! And it all works. There are so many "scenes" in this book that are legitimately laugh-out-loud funny and the two main characters are really endearing. I think it would be a cute movie, and at one point I'm pretty sure it had been optioned but I don't think anything ever came of it. Anyway, I recommend it for anyone who likes a good "When Harry Met Sally" type romance.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the back the book made me think about this movie with Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman, where they become fighting roommates and then perfect soulmates. The book was better than I expected. There was honest character introspective, which is always nice from a book with a pink dress on the cover.

[Lucia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible,si lo termine de leer fue por que dentro de mi en algún lugar recóndito imagine que podría mejorar ... pero mejor me olvido de eso.

[Paulína · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting this to be dumb fun, but it was just dumb. Both main protagonists got on my nerves in their own way, but I don't think I've ever disliked a male love interest as much as I did Jack in this book...

[Neha Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Undoubtedly one of the worst books I have ever read. In which parallel universe were these two losers in love?
The FMC is a cold, selfish b***h whilst the MMC is a lazy, pathetic, slut of a man.

They were never in love and I doubt they were even friends.
The book dragged on with unnecessary descriptions about everything (I skim read these parts)..
There was no need to call out every ethnicity and even if the author was doing it, she should have been more tactful. Chinese or Korean? Arab or Indian?
Please do your research, these are not the same people. ‘Two white faces’ in a crowd of black people…
Pathetic

And dear author (who sadly is no more), please stop referring to feminism on every page. Your ladies were anything but feminists and I don’t like people who cause ill repute to feminism by representing it the way it has been done in this book.

I had taken this book from the library else I would have set it on fire.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro es bueno, aunque sentí que me tarde un poco más de lo normal para leerlo comparado con otros del mismo género.
De vez en cuando me sacaron de quicio los personajes, todos jajaja sí, todos...
Empezando por la hermanastra de Freya, y terminando con los protagonistas.
Como quiera, me gustó el final.

[Tamara Claessens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need to remember that Sisman is just not my thing.

Over half of the book feels introductory to me. Then it gets exciting. And yes, things need to go awry before we can finish on a high note. I know. But then the end feels like a far fetched romcom. Seeing however, that nearly 8 thousand ratings gives the book an overal rating of nearly four stars, Sisman is just not my type of writer.

[Tahia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give it a 3.5 rather than a 3, but a good book! Took a while to truly get started but is a fun story about some thirty-somethings. I liked the contrasting settings of New York and Cornwall, it was fun to read about. I find the characters are all really flawed which makes it more interesting actually, and I really enjoyed all the different points of views. There were a few plot twists that happened that made me feel uncomfortable, but I know that it’s just for the plot. It’s a thick little book that was a fun read to be honest but some of it felt a bit too much so the rating is lower.

[Liz McSpadden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet love story

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Not a bad book but a little dry and dusty. I don't know how else to explain it (that's a lie, of course I can explain it I'm just not going to).

Both characters are self-absorbed, isolated selfish people who can be both cruel and gentle. They are flawed to the point where at first you don't know if you like them or just hanging out with them. Sort of like the people you only hang out with at a bar but the minute you are summoned to their house for dinner you hesitate.

Yeah.

Jack is a writer and I connected with his character - the selfish playboy 'dillente' that he is - and less so with tough as nails, art house manager Freya, who is an emotional ice sculpture with storms swirling inside her so hard they threaten to subsume anyone who comes close.

Jack and Freya are friends and have been for about a decade and their relationship, like their memories are bittersweet. When Freya gets dumped by her boyfriend she moves in with Jack until she gets back on her feet. Ok. That makes sense but not a day in are they bickering and fighting and the reader is left wondering how in the hell were they ever friends? Are they friends because of history or because they truly like each other?

The rest of the book is pretty much like that until the scenery changes from NYC to England and then with the change of scenery comes new perspective. Jack has been completely cut off from his allowance, Freya is forced to attend her step-sister's wedding (whom she can't stand and frankly I can't either) so both are a little raw and sore but somehow they manage to get along in this situation of pretending to be lovers than they ever had in being friends.

The reader then wonders if the fighting is due to the familiarity and comfort of friendship is chafing due to the fact that they both have feelings that have grown outside of that box.

Until Jack commits an unforgivable act. Then the rest of the story is about how these two people were so close but because of their defenses and self-imposed issues have blown the one thing that could have kept their silly little lives afloat in this crazy mixed up world.

On top of that there is another betrayal, less shocking because the author didn't have the good sense to leave two chapters out of the book, several revelations and some maturity.

I don't think this book is particularly romantic but instead focuses on the bittersweet aspect of a relationship that really only two options left for it. To part of take the next step.

It's a good Autumn in NY read. The descriptions weren't bad but I got the feeling that Sisman might not have spent enough time in NY because instead of feeling vibrant, gritty, slightly gross and amazing it seemed like a sketch or a watercolor. Pretty foundations but no solid form on which to stand.

However, decent read. If you see this is in a bargain bin or on the bookswap take a second.

[Anastasia Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Menceritakan tentang kisah sepasang sahabat, Freya dan Jake yang mengaku keduanya hanyalah teman biasa. Iya, hanya teman biasa, sampai Freya diusir keluar dari apartemen kekasihnya, Michael--si pengacara ganteng. Dan Jake tak sengaja bertemu gadis itu di jalan. Terlunta-lunta, mencari tempat tinggal, lantaran tempat tinggalnya berada bermil-mil jauhnya di tanah Britania.

Jake dengan serta-merta menawari gagasan itu, agar Freya menumpang di apartemennya dulu, hingga gadis itu berhasil mencari tempat tinggal yang baru. Hanya dua minggu, menurut perjanjian. Dan Freya menganggap itu ide yang gila, kendati ia menerima tawaran Jake dengan perasaan yang serba salah.

Freya benci mantan kekasih, maupun semua kekasih Jake yang dianggapnya picisan. Bisa-bisanya sahabatnya itu memilih gadis-gadis muda untuk dikencani, alih-alih ia iri dengan dirinya yang jomblo dan dibuang pacar di malam yang dikiranya sebagai malam pelamaran.

Novel 'Just Friends' bukan menghadirkan tema baru dalam pernovelan chicklit, hanya saja dikemas dengan agak menggemaskan. Tentu dengan latar belakang kedua tokoh yang unik dan mernaik. Jake--si penulis muda--sepertinya akan berhasil menarik perhatian pembaca wanita. Ditambah dengan keahliannya merangkai metafora, tentunya menambah menarik konsep cerita. Namun sayangnya, ada beberapa poin minus yang dihadirkan di penghujung plot klimaks, di saat para pembaca mungkin mengir bahwa cerita tersebut akan berakhir 'wuah', nyatanya, tidak terlalu seperti yang diharapkan.

[Elley Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a couple of true misfits: Freya, a career woman in her mid-thirties that just can’t seem to get her act together, and Jack, a best-selling writer who can’t sit down and actually write. Freya keeps trying throughout the book to be some sexy, flirty young thing, at the same time wanting her boyfriend, Michael, to propose and dreading it. She doesn’t know what she wants, and I think that’s something that speaks to every devourer of chick lit. And then there’s Jack – poor, hopeless Jack – who blames the world for his inability to sit down and focus on writing his next novel. Distracted by “teeny-boppers from Planet Bubblegum” and filled with his own self-importance, Jack’s head is too full of himself for any creativity or passion for his novel to fit in there.

Just Friends has a positively delicious blend of sexual tension, almost connections, misunderstandings, sudden realizations, and hurt feelings. Freya and Jack keep coming so close to finding something meaningful, to discovering things about themselves that would help them break free of the traps they’ve built for themselves, but they keep turning away from the truth. I cried for them and my heart broke for them, and in the end Robyn Sisman comes through in true chick-lit style and there’s a happy ending for all.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story about Jack and Freya - two people living in New York who have been friends for ten years or thereabouts. The book follows similar themes to When Harry Met Sally e.g. can men and women ever be Just Friends or will something always get in the way?

The characters were surprisingly three dimensional for a chick lit novel. Jack is a playboy who chases after women that he has no need to commit to, but a lot of his actions are driven by trying to win his millionaire father's approval and also by the frustrations of being an author who has written one successful first novel but is struggling to complete the second. Freya is, on the surface, a rather cold and distant woman but beneath the surface is still an awkward girl who is desperate to show her family that she has achieved much by having headed to New York alone.

I liked the characters and I liked the eventual ending where - surprise, surprise - everything ends up working out for the best. Along the way there were a few things that were either contrived or a little shocking, but overall I found this a good read and I thoroughly enjoy Sisman's style of writing which is rather like watching an episode of Friends.

[Jazmín · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sinceramente me gustó mucho, fue entretenido pero creo que podría haber sido un poco más corto. Se me hizo un poco largo.

Por ejemplo, Brett me resultó un personaje innecesario y olvidable y le dieron muchas vueltas a lo mismo para que termine en nada con respecto a él.

O el casorio de la hermanastra de Freya. Muchas vueltas, mucho dialogo con el viejo para nada, no aportó nada a la historia, lo único que hizo fue demostrar que el padre es un bodrio.

Me exasperaban las decisiones de Jack, me ponían nerviosa porque no podía creer que sea tan estúpido Y que además Freya lo perdone tan rápidamente. Eso capaz me hizo ruido también.

El final me encantó, típico final romántico donde todo viene bien hasta que pasa algo que separa a los personajes y el lector piensa que no hay chance de que estén juntos, pero al final era todo un mal entendido y terminan todos contentos y felices.

En sintesis, entretenido y con un lindo final. Pero olvidable.

[Meredith Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to give this book a mixed review. The premise is conventional, but one that I often enjoy - good friends find out that they can be more than friends. The author goes about it in a very roundabout way, however, spending a good 3/4 of the book establishing the characters and their lives. Frankly, the first part of the novel dragged. Finally, when the plot livens up and you are excited to read what happens next, the novel ends! Nevertheless, the characters are believable and likeable, with the female protagonist's British background giving the viewpoint a particular flair that I enjoyed. A light read, perhaps, but at almost 400 pages, not a quick one! More chick lit than true romance.

[Sami · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out to be a simple chick-lit, but then decided to become clever. Felt like the author was trying too hard, and after all the drama I would have liked to see Freya and Jack actually spend some time together as a couple.

Very 90s, but points for cleverness and wit. Three stars.

[Ivette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solo amigos fue un libro que me puso contenta un fin de semana, una lectura fácil y rápida para disfrutarse si se quiere salir de la rutina diaria. Es un poco lleno de clichés, lo que hace que la lectura también se vuelva muy predecible.

[DeliaC · Rating 3 out of 5]

hasn't everyone gone through their chick lit phase? this one was better than usual. at least the female character wasn't a total neurotic freak.