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Just Friends #1
Friend Zone
Alice Brown fell in love with Jack the day she moved into her freshman dorm. Problem is, she’s been stuck in the friend zone ever since. After another meaningless breakup, she’s ready to confess her feelings to Jack.
Jack Sullivan has mistaken friendship for love once before and has vowed never to do it again. A varsity sports player, he’s determined to enjoy college with no strings attached.
Peter Wells is Jack’s best wingman. He enjoys his popularity as team captain and when he meets Alice, he’s ready to steal her heart.
When Jack sees Alice and Peter together, jealousy hits him hard. But will he break his vow to never date a friend?
Meet new characters and catch up with old ones in the second book in the Just Friends series.
Friend Zone is part of the Just Friends new adult college romance series. Reading order:
Book 1 - Let’s Be Just Friends
Book 2 - Friend Zone
Book 3 - My Best Friend's Boyfriend
Book 4 - I Don't Want To Be Friends
Jack Sullivan has mistaken friendship for love once before and has vowed never to do it again. A varsity sports player, he’s determined to enjoy college with no strings attached.
Peter Wells is Jack’s best wingman. He enjoys his popularity as team captain and when he meets Alice, he’s ready to steal her heart.
When Jack sees Alice and Peter together, jealousy hits him hard. But will he break his vow to never date a friend?
Meet new characters and catch up with old ones in the second book in the Just Friends series.
Friend Zone is part of the Just Friends new adult college romance series. Reading order:
Book 1 - Let’s Be Just Friends
Book 2 - Friend Zone
Book 3 - My Best Friend's Boyfriend
Book 4 - I Don't Want To Be Friends
279 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 8, 2018
340 people are currently reading
4670 people want to read
About the author
Camilla Isley
54 books2,927 followers
Camilla is an engineer who left science behind to enter the whimsical realm of romantic fiction.
She writes contemporary rom-coms. Her characters have big hearts, might be a little stubborn at times, and love to banter with each other. Every story she pens has a guaranteed HEA that will make your heart beat faster. Unless you're a vampire, of course.
Camilla is a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She's a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn't want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.
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Happy reading ;)
Amazon
iBooks
GooglePlay
B&N
Kobo
You can get it at all retailers or read it free when you join my Readers' Group...
join here -> www.camillaisley.com/freebie
Happy reading ;)
February 8, 2017
All of my reviews can be found on www.novelgossip.com
Actual rating 3.5/5
I loved the first Camilla Isley book I read, Love Connection so when I saw she was releasing a new book that was slightly different I was intrigued. LC focused on adult relationships whereas Friend Zone was about a group of college aged young men and women trying to navigate dating as well as friendships and school. I don’t read a ton of NA books but I have to say that I really liked this one!
There are several narrators here, but the chapters are clearly labeled and it didn’t take me long to work out who was dating who and who lived with who. The two main protagonists are Alice and Jack. Alice has been in love with Jack since they met, but Jack is a player and he pushed Alice firmly into the friend zone straightaway. When Alice decides to try and forget about her feelings for Jack she starts dating his close friend and teammate, Peter. Of course Jack being a typical, clueless guy gets jealous and starts wondering if he should’ve dated Alice when had a chance.
All of the characters here are attending Harvard and there’s a good mix of personalities and backgrounds. You have Alice and Jack who are both majoring in chemistry, Madison and Haley are Alice’s roommates and do computer coding and literature, respectively. Jack’s friends are mainly athletes, then there are a few chapters from Alice’s ex boyfriend Ethan and his new girlfriend Rose. It sounds like too much, but I promise it wasn’t confusing especially as they all interact with each frequently making it easy to establish their connections. I think that’s actually what set this apart from a typical story where friends turn to lovers for me. There were many side stories and relationships to follow and it kept me engaged.
This was a really lighthearted and fun read, I’m all for some drama and they way they were hooking up and breaking up constantly made for some juicy scenes. Alice and Jack exchanged cute and playful banter that made me go awww, out loud a few times and I couldn’t help but root for them to figure it out and date each other already! Overall it was a cute and entertaining book that I read in a few hours.
Actual rating 3.5/5
I loved the first Camilla Isley book I read, Love Connection so when I saw she was releasing a new book that was slightly different I was intrigued. LC focused on adult relationships whereas Friend Zone was about a group of college aged young men and women trying to navigate dating as well as friendships and school. I don’t read a ton of NA books but I have to say that I really liked this one!
There are several narrators here, but the chapters are clearly labeled and it didn’t take me long to work out who was dating who and who lived with who. The two main protagonists are Alice and Jack. Alice has been in love with Jack since they met, but Jack is a player and he pushed Alice firmly into the friend zone straightaway. When Alice decides to try and forget about her feelings for Jack she starts dating his close friend and teammate, Peter. Of course Jack being a typical, clueless guy gets jealous and starts wondering if he should’ve dated Alice when had a chance.
All of the characters here are attending Harvard and there’s a good mix of personalities and backgrounds. You have Alice and Jack who are both majoring in chemistry, Madison and Haley are Alice’s roommates and do computer coding and literature, respectively. Jack’s friends are mainly athletes, then there are a few chapters from Alice’s ex boyfriend Ethan and his new girlfriend Rose. It sounds like too much, but I promise it wasn’t confusing especially as they all interact with each frequently making it easy to establish their connections. I think that’s actually what set this apart from a typical story where friends turn to lovers for me. There were many side stories and relationships to follow and it kept me engaged.
This was a really lighthearted and fun read, I’m all for some drama and they way they were hooking up and breaking up constantly made for some juicy scenes. Alice and Jack exchanged cute and playful banter that made me go awww, out loud a few times and I couldn’t help but root for them to figure it out and date each other already! Overall it was a cute and entertaining book that I read in a few hours.
October 29, 2018
Friend Zone (Just Friends #1)
Background
I like rom-com. I like love stories. I like them clean. But every 'romantic book series' that I have started in past three months, and there are million, mind you. They all have the same basic problem. Romance means getting naked as soon as opportunity strikes.
Anyway, this time, for reasons I can't explain; I got two books of the series on same day. And this is a combined review for both - sort of.
Review
Plot is about a few characters.
Rose and Tyler are childhood friends. Tyler has a girlfriend Georigina (Gigi). Gigi's brother is Ethan. Ethan is going out with Gigi's friend Alice. Alice's roommate is Madison... I am dozing off... but wait, let me finish this review.
The first book was Rose and her relationship with Tyler and Ethan.
The story continues with Alice this time as she has the same twin relationship with Jake and Peter. But the story remains the same.
A half 🌟 only for how she brought the two tracks book 1 and book 2 together. Cuz initially it feels like both stories are in parallel universes.
Enough said.
Verdict
2.5 stars. Don't bother if your likes and dislikes are like me.
Background
I like rom-com. I like love stories. I like them clean. But every 'romantic book series' that I have started in past three months, and there are million, mind you. They all have the same basic problem. Romance means getting naked as soon as opportunity strikes.
Anyway, this time, for reasons I can't explain; I got two books of the series on same day. And this is a combined review for both - sort of.
Review
Plot is about a few characters.
Rose and Tyler are childhood friends. Tyler has a girlfriend Georigina (Gigi). Gigi's brother is Ethan. Ethan is going out with Gigi's friend Alice. Alice's roommate is Madison... I am dozing off... but wait, let me finish this review.
The first book was Rose and her relationship with Tyler and Ethan.
The story continues with Alice this time as she has the same twin relationship with Jake and Peter. But the story remains the same.
A half 🌟 only for how she brought the two tracks book 1 and book 2 together. Cuz initially it feels like both stories are in parallel universes.
Enough said.
Verdict
2.5 stars. Don't bother if your likes and dislikes are like me.
March 20, 2024
I think this is one of the most bizarre book I’ve read. I honestly cannot decide if I liked it or not. This was another free book on Apple Books so thought I’d give it a go.
It was described as a friends to lovers but then spent half the book giving me random POV’s. Honestly, I think there was 8 different POVs in this book and 7 of those were unnecessary. I was so tired by the end of this book. Between the actual “friends to lovers” couple, all the conflict happened in the last three chapters and then they made up and got together.
I always find with these free books, there is usually a reason it’s free… It wasn’t boring but it didn’t exactly have me gripped😭 I think I need to go back to acotar
It was described as a friends to lovers but then spent half the book giving me random POV’s. Honestly, I think there was 8 different POVs in this book and 7 of those were unnecessary. I was so tired by the end of this book. Between the actual “friends to lovers” couple, all the conflict happened in the last three chapters and then they made up and got together.
I always find with these free books, there is usually a reason it’s free… It wasn’t boring but it didn’t exactly have me gripped😭 I think I need to go back to acotar
August 1, 2020
Why do I do this to myself?
July 20, 2025
this book was very MESSY.
September 12, 2024
1.5 star 🌟
The only reason this is getting any stars is because the beginning was great! It had potential, typical romance, some tension and jealously. Unfortunately, the author started to loose me around the 40-50% mark.
I really liked the FMC, the MMC was eh. He didn't have as much depth as the FMC.
What I did not like was the author wrote about 6 other SIDE CHARACTERS. I think only 30% of this book was about the main couple. WHY?? At 90% I wanted to just quit. I WISH I DID. The love confession was lacking in every aspect.
I'm pissed I didn't DNF
The only reason this is getting any stars is because the beginning was great! It had potential, typical romance, some tension and jealously. Unfortunately, the author started to loose me around the 40-50% mark.
I really liked the FMC, the MMC was eh. He didn't have as much depth as the FMC.
What I did not like was the author wrote about 6 other SIDE CHARACTERS. I think only 30% of this book was about the main couple. WHY?? At 90% I wanted to just quit. I WISH I DID. The love confession was lacking in every aspect.
I'm pissed I didn't DNF
March 2, 2024
Extremely immature New Adult protagonists
Alice and Jack have friend-zoned each other ever since they first met during their freshman year in college. They are currently juniors, and during the entire past two years, promiscuous Jack has been having sex with an endless string of college girls. Whenever he gets tired of his latest fling, he avoids any semblance of integrity by dumping her via ghosting. Meanwhile, Alice has been longing to become Jack's girlfriend this whole time but has settled for providing him with uncomplicated, platonic, confidante companionship. Unlike Jack, she has not been promiscuous, but she has had several different boyfriends with whom she has been sexually intimate.
In the opening scene of this novel, the day has at long last arrived that both of them have suddenly become romantically unencumbered at the same moment. Alice decides she's tired of the status quo and grabs Jack and kisses him, as her opening salvo in a quest to become his significant other. Jack rebuffs her by claiming that he doesn't want to mess up their friendship with sex. Alice races home to wail about her huge disappointment to her two roommates, who are her BFFs. With their emotional support, Alice comes up with a callous plot to date a fellow basketball player on Jack's college team, solely in order to make Jack jealous. Unfortunately, her victim is not made privy to the fact that she doesn't care about him. Because this isn't a fake dating plot, Alice doesn't make a fake dating arrangement with him and ultimately fall for the poor guy. Which is sad, because almost anyone would be an improvement over Casanova Jack.
I personally find it extremely difficult to enjoy a novel that is advertised as a romance when the two main protagonists are immature and amoral. Jack is a misogynistic narcissist, whose entire approach to women, including Alice, is to take what he can get, with no sense that anything is required of him other than allowing women to adore him. Alice is a toxic combination of ridiculously naive dreamer and egotistical user. She is naive in her nonsensical assumption that she has the one "magical vagina" in the world that is capable of transforming manwhore Jack into a happily monogamous mate. She is egotistically callous in her plan to use another human being to further her selfish plan to play mind games with Jack.
I obtained the audiobook version of this chick-lit romance for 99¢ through Chirp. Unfortunately, the narration is so painfully plodding, I had to set the speed multiple notches forward to help me struggle through to the end of this book.
Alice and Jack have friend-zoned each other ever since they first met during their freshman year in college. They are currently juniors, and during the entire past two years, promiscuous Jack has been having sex with an endless string of college girls. Whenever he gets tired of his latest fling, he avoids any semblance of integrity by dumping her via ghosting. Meanwhile, Alice has been longing to become Jack's girlfriend this whole time but has settled for providing him with uncomplicated, platonic, confidante companionship. Unlike Jack, she has not been promiscuous, but she has had several different boyfriends with whom she has been sexually intimate.
In the opening scene of this novel, the day has at long last arrived that both of them have suddenly become romantically unencumbered at the same moment. Alice decides she's tired of the status quo and grabs Jack and kisses him, as her opening salvo in a quest to become his significant other. Jack rebuffs her by claiming that he doesn't want to mess up their friendship with sex. Alice races home to wail about her huge disappointment to her two roommates, who are her BFFs. With their emotional support, Alice comes up with a callous plot to date a fellow basketball player on Jack's college team, solely in order to make Jack jealous. Unfortunately, her victim is not made privy to the fact that she doesn't care about him. Because this isn't a fake dating plot, Alice doesn't make a fake dating arrangement with him and ultimately fall for the poor guy. Which is sad, because almost anyone would be an improvement over Casanova Jack.
I personally find it extremely difficult to enjoy a novel that is advertised as a romance when the two main protagonists are immature and amoral. Jack is a misogynistic narcissist, whose entire approach to women, including Alice, is to take what he can get, with no sense that anything is required of him other than allowing women to adore him. Alice is a toxic combination of ridiculously naive dreamer and egotistical user. She is naive in her nonsensical assumption that she has the one "magical vagina" in the world that is capable of transforming manwhore Jack into a happily monogamous mate. She is egotistically callous in her plan to use another human being to further her selfish plan to play mind games with Jack.
I obtained the audiobook version of this chick-lit romance for 99¢ through Chirp. Unfortunately, the narration is so painfully plodding, I had to set the speed multiple notches forward to help me struggle through to the end of this book.
August 14, 2024
(3.5 stars)
i won’t lie…this was also a hate read
[this entire series was a hate read].
idrc for either of the characters, i liked how we got diff povs from the girlies. would’ve loved to see more of the other girls but i understand this was mostly centered around the fmc and her man. very entertaining and easy to read.
i won’t lie…this was also a hate read
[this entire series was a hate read].
idrc for either of the characters, i liked how we got diff povs from the girlies. would’ve loved to see more of the other girls but i understand this was mostly centered around the fmc and her man. very entertaining and easy to read.
July 5, 2024
absolutely not. the only reason I even finished this is because mama didn’t raise no quitter. she did, however, raise a btch who will complain about how bland this was. (also, this should’ve been called the book of the pick me’s because OH MY LORD were they annoying)
May 7, 2024
One big fat steaming pile of miscommunication
March 10, 2018
A friends to lovers love triangle with no cheating. This book was everything! The characters and emotions felt so real... I loved following the story from both Jack and Alice's POV.
Alice has had feelings for Jack since freshman year, but she's been stuck in the friend zone ever since. And if you've ever been "in the zone" you know how hard it is to watch your friend date... and how easy you wish each and every one of his reationships won't last... This is Alice for the past two years! But now she's just been dumped and Tyler had just dumped his latest fling so she's determined to not let another day go by without confessing her feelings to Jack. The only problem is she doesn't realize how scarred Jack is from another friendship-turned-relationship gone wrong... and so a series of epic misunderstandings begins... And they all felt very real... My eyes were glued to the pages I had to know what would happen next! The story kept evolving with so many twists and plot turns I hadn't seen coming, but the ending was SO satisfying... Also halfway through the new leading love story for the next book in the series is introduced and I must say I can't wait to read it.
I have to say that I didn't notice until the end that this was a second book in a series... but that didn't reduce my reading experience. Now the only problem I have is id to go back and download the first book in the series
or go on and read the next one
. I think I'm jumping right into book three because I want to know what will happen with Madison and Haley and the gorgeous Williams brothers...
I found this book in the friends to lovers lists and since I already liked the author I gave it a try. Seeing the author's review I found out you can get it for free via the author's newsletter signing up here: http://www.camillaisley.com/freebie
Alice has had feelings for Jack since freshman year, but she's been stuck in the friend zone ever since. And if you've ever been "in the zone" you know how hard it is to watch your friend date... and how easy you wish each and every one of his reationships won't last... This is Alice for the past two years! But now she's just been dumped and Tyler had just dumped his latest fling so she's determined to not let another day go by without confessing her feelings to Jack. The only problem is she doesn't realize how scarred Jack is from another friendship-turned-relationship gone wrong... and so a series of epic misunderstandings begins... And they all felt very real... My eyes were glued to the pages I had to know what would happen next! The story kept evolving with so many twists and plot turns I hadn't seen coming, but the ending was SO satisfying... Also halfway through the new leading love story for the next book in the series is introduced and I must say I can't wait to read it.
I have to say that I didn't notice until the end that this was a second book in a series... but that didn't reduce my reading experience. Now the only problem I have is id to go back and download the first book in the series
or go on and read the next one
. I think I'm jumping right into book three because I want to know what will happen with Madison and Haley and the gorgeous Williams brothers...I found this book in the friends to lovers lists and since I already liked the author I gave it a try. Seeing the author's review I found out you can get it for free via the author's newsletter signing up here: http://www.camillaisley.com/freebie
April 4, 2017
I loved this book even more than the first one in the series and I'm glad this time even if the author had me sweat about it a couple of times... it kept me on my toes until the end... can't wait for the next book to come out!
April 10, 2018
I had mixed feelings with this book.
At 15% I was about to stop reading it. But there’s something in this book that wants you to know what’s about to happen with the characters. I think I finished it because of curiousity and not excitement.
At 15% I was about to stop reading it. But there’s something in this book that wants you to know what’s about to happen with the characters. I think I finished it because of curiousity and not excitement.
September 22, 2024
My brain feels like the consistency of mashed potatoes
May 28, 2024
Took me back to the cringe WattPad days.
Was it bad? Yes.
Was it a mess? Yes.
Did I read all of it? Yes.
Lowkey was rooting for Peter. Author did him dirty.
Was it bad? Yes.
Was it a mess? Yes.
Did I read all of it? Yes.
Lowkey was rooting for Peter. Author did him dirty.
February 16, 2025
Ik heb zoveel te zeggen over dit boek en echt bijna niks erover is goed
May 10, 2024
⭐️: 2
💬: i have no idea what soup these people were drinking BUT THE AMOUNT OF DELULU that was being passed around???? half the time i had to remind myself that these characters were in their 3rd year of college/university.
also the multiple POVs were slightly confusing because everyone sounded the same (if that makes sense). every single character acted so childishly. if this was a book about a bunch of high schoolers then MAYBE i would have rated it differently…
it also felt too disney. Alice and Jack got a happy ending EVEN AFTER they didn’t speak to each other for almost half the book???? like what????
anyways, see y’all in the next review 🫡
💬: i have no idea what soup these people were drinking BUT THE AMOUNT OF DELULU that was being passed around???? half the time i had to remind myself that these characters were in their 3rd year of college/university.
also the multiple POVs were slightly confusing because everyone sounded the same (if that makes sense). every single character acted so childishly. if this was a book about a bunch of high schoolers then MAYBE i would have rated it differently…
it also felt too disney. Alice and Jack got a happy ending EVEN AFTER they didn’t speak to each other for almost half the book???? like what????
anyways, see y’all in the next review 🫡
July 7, 2017
Swooning! This was the perfect friends-to-lovers story!
It was super clever how in the beginning it seemed like a completely different story from book 1 but then all the pieces locked in perfectly with one another. Beautifully done...
I'm book-lusting already over the next story...
It was super clever how in the beginning it seemed like a completely different story from book 1 but then all the pieces locked in perfectly with one another. Beautifully done...
I'm book-lusting already over the next story...
August 19, 2023
So much drama… but it was somewhat entertaining.
April 28, 2024
what in the wattpad
December 4, 2017
Alice has been secretly in love with Jack since the moment she met him. Alice and Jack became best friends and Alice has accepted the fact that this is all she and Jack will ever be. When she and her boyfriend brake up Alice decides that it's time to stop playing around. She makes a move on Jack, but he rejects her and walks away. Alice tries to get back to where they were before, only that isn't as easy as she thought it would be. She doesn't know that her kiss did more to Jack than he's willing to admit. Is Jack ready to step out of his comfort zone?
Jack has been burned by love in the past and he's determined not to go through anything like that ever again. Jack is not blind and he has always seen how gorgeous Alice is, but he never wanted to take it to the next level before their kiss. At a party Alice meets Jack's team captain and they start dating. Jealousy is eating Jack alive and he can't deny his feelings for Alice any longer. Will he be too late now to do something about what's in his heart?
Alice and Jack truly are best friends. They're so comfortable around each other and I liked reading about that. They're standing side by side and are weathering the storms together. It was clear from the start how compatible they'd be as a couple. I love the way Camilla Isley connects the remaining dots of the stories from her first Just Friends book in Friend Zone. I always like to read up on characters that I've previously been introduced to. Camilla Isley never disappoints with her lighthearted romantic novels. She is an experienced and skillful writer and has written another fun and sweet story that I highly recommend.
April 3, 2025
This book I enjoyed more than the 1st, but there was still a lot going on between the characters. Alice, Ethan's ex from book 1, loves her best friend Jack, but after trying to kiss him and getting rejected, she ends up dating his best friend Peter to make him jealous. They ended up breaking up after a bad spring break trip, though. Madison and Hailey are Alice's roommates, and Madison and Alice attend Georgiana and Tyler's wedding from book 1. There, Rose and Ethan catch Tyler cheating on Georgiana with Madison, but they all decide to keep it a secret because Tyler wants to be a good dad and a good husband. When Alice got back from the wedding, Jack professed his love for her, and she finally got the guy she's wanted all this time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2017
I loved the second installment in the series even more than book 1. Maybe because this time . Anyway, the way the two stories intersected and became one towards the end was pure genius! I also loved the sportish theme with the male leads all being part of a Basketball team.
May 26, 2024
Lost a star for the insane amount of POVs...I thought it was great from just Alice and Jack. We did not need Rose, Tyler, Madison, etc.
And it lost a star simply for the fact that it seemed as though every chapter had to mention Peter's "striking blue eyes."
That's it. Those are my thoughts. Opposites Attract was MY FAV out of these two.
And it lost a star simply for the fact that it seemed as though every chapter had to mention Peter's "striking blue eyes."
That's it. Those are my thoughts. Opposites Attract was MY FAV out of these two.
June 10, 2024
I've nothing to say about this book except that, This was CHAOTIC and silly! 😂😂
And Why every single character in the story has a POV chapter? 😂😂
And Why every single character in the story has a POV chapter? 😂😂
July 21, 2025
*1.5* solely for the three quotes I highlighted ‘cause they were too good to ignore. Everything else didn’t work for me.
January 19, 2025
the ten thousand different characters are confusing and it takes the focus away from the main characters to the point they only get together in the last chapter
May 9, 2024
Easy read. Weird subplots that seemed a bit random. No spice not even pg spice really. Dragged on a bit and then suddenly ended with a to be continued which i hate lol.
September 10, 2024
this would've been so good if there wasn't so much of the side lore 😭💔 ik it was teasing for the next book but it was all too much
Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews