Just Between Us

by Bri Stone

Witty. Sweet. Passionate. True.
Us.
My best friend and I have the cliché down to the wire. Grew up on the same block, took baths together, shared birthdays...but nothing could have prepared me for our life now.
One where I am in love with her.
I fell in love with Lorraine Dawes a long time ago. When I was young and had no clue what it meant, or what I was feeling. But I am grown now, and I have aged with a secret I am afraid will tear us apart. Being the star football player doesn't change it, and the women throwing themselves at me sure don't. Lorraine became my person and I learned to live with my secret until she crafted a Virgin Manifesto on her blog for thousands of people to read. I imagined no one thought the same thing I did.
That I could have her innocence, but never her heart.
We do things best friends shouldn't. I think things no one should about their best friend. I do things that tear us apart and I am left fighting for a way to be together.
How can I ever tell her how much I love her?

**This is a friends to lovers romance with a lot of steam and an HEA. Some content is intended for mature audiences only. This is a standalone, single POV novel.**

Genres: Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Ebooks, Contemporary Romance

Unknown Binding

About the author

Bri Stone writes page turning, skin tingling new adult romance. If she isn't writing, she is probably reading, binge watching anything on Netflix, or imaging crazy scenarios in her head that will probably never happen. When she is not cuddling with imaginary book boyfriends, she is wading through her English classes at the University of Iowa.

Reviews

[Jennifer Richey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I voluntary read this for my honest opinion and I loved this friends to lover book! Lori and Dillion are friends but do they want more? This is a new author and omg this book had me hooked!! I can't wait to read more!!

[Renee Mccleary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute friends to lovers story

These story had some cute parts but unfortunately for me a lot of parts seemed to drag on. There are some steamy scenes and I really liked Dillion. I loved that it was told from the guys point of view too. It could have used some formatting because I had a hard time following thier conversations. The ending is what ruined it for me it seemed rushed and kind of awkward.

[Crystal ( Meeka) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just Between Us!

Wow!!! This book kept me on an emotional roller coaster!! This book was sooo good!! Ugh... I’m upset it’s over.. The author should wright a part 2 to this book! What a great read!!!

[Kerry Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. I found it really slow and laborious to read and I didn't like Lori very much. The story is told from Dillon's POV which was ok but I think maybe it would've worked better from a dual POV. The editing was also very poor which I hate so overall this was a disappointment.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rounds up to 2 stars. Not outright dislike - didn't hate the characters or want to throw my Kindle, and I didn't feel like I lost brain cells or anything - but I struggled to drag myself through it, and there were quite a few things that actually turned me off.

I liked Dillon's POV, and definitely like him as a H character. Yes, he's a bit of a manwhore, but he does really truly love Lori and want to protect her. But I think Lori's view would have helped balance things out, let us know and understand her a little more. Especially at the end, when (minor spoiler) she turns him down after he confesses. As refreshing as it was to have the FTL not immediately go to lovers after confession, it would have helped fill out a lot of her coming around to giving him a try - how did she feel after she found out about his help with the internship (which was rather glossed over), how did she feel about his confession, about missing him when he pulled back, what made her change her mind - all that sort of thought. Instead, the ending felt a bit rushed, especially the epilogue, and Lori kinda felt a little bland through a lot of the book.

The biggest issues I had, and what made it actually a struggle to read at times, was the editing and formatting. It definitely had its fair share of typos and editing mistakes, but the biggest problem I had was following conversations. When it was just Dillon narrating, it was fine, but when they started living together, it was honestly hard to follow conversations. The author didn't like using "he said," "she said," and similar. Quite often, there was the quote and then the next sentence. So you ended up with things like:

"So you don't really care?" I shrugged.

Not an actual quote, but that was the type of thing. Who spoke? Did the speaker shrug, trying to be nonchalant (sometimes the case) or was the shrug a noncommittal response to the statement (also sometimes the case)? It can make a big difference to the meaning of the quote! Now imagine a whole conversation of this, without clear indicators of who's talking and who's reacting. It was honestly very difficult to follow, and I got very frustrated rereading pages just to figure out how to make a conversation make sense.

Still, free Kindle find. A good H, though I'd have liked to get to know Lori a little more. No real cheating, no intense angst (just a bit of college-age heartsick wishful thinking). A standalone with an HEA. Mostly could use some editing, some formatting, and an appreciation that using "he said" and similar is not a bad thing for one's writing.

[Aneesah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit torn about this book. At times I thought the writing was fine, I even found myself laughing out loud a few times once I got a feel for the male character's sense of humor (the entire book is told in the first person from his POV). Then there were other times--MANY OTHER TIMES--where I found the writing frustrating, juvenile, and awkward. I could go on here to cite examples but I'm far too lazy and it is 1 am so NO. Suffice it to say, I found the writing a little problematic and more than once I considered giving up on this story. But I held on IN THE NAME OF LOVE and because friends-to-lovers is my absolute favorite romantic trope. The fact that I was able to finish and neither:

A. Felt complete hatred at myself/ the author for wasting my time

nor

B. Threw my Kindle across the room in frustration

are the reasons I was able to give this book three stars at all.

I will give the author credit for not taking the cheesy, easy way out on the ending where the two BFFs realize they've both been harboring secret I-love-you-but-I-don't-want-to-jeopardize-our-friendship-with-romance feelings. Actually this was EXACTLY how Dillon felt and I was expecting (as is usually the result with FTL romance) that when he professed his feelings to Lori, she would admit she felt the same. Wrong. DEAD WRONG. This chic didn't feel the same and was actually rather cold in her response to his confession of love. The scene where he tells her and cries when she basically rejects him nearly made me cry too. I can admit that its kind of refreshing to get an atypical ending in romance every now and then.

I don't know how highly I would recommend this one but I won't completely write this author off just yet. Once I got used to her writing style, the story seemed to flow pretty nicely so I think I could find myself reading her work again but just between us, I'm pretty certain I won't be adding Just Between Us to my "to be re-read" shelf.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book which is why it’s getting 4 instead of 3 stars. Now just hold on I am aware this is a totally obvious statement but my head tells me it should be 3 because of the bits I didn’t like but my heart has won out.

Ok bad bits out first. Poorly edited - there were a fair few typos which just doesn’t fly. In all fairness this was my main complaint!
Characters - i only really connected to the main character (story told from his point of view so understandable) but Lori could have had a bit more to her.
Story - More could have been done with Dillon and his dad. I expected more from that and it kind of got brushed over at the end

Good bits - I loved the story being told by the guy. Dillon is adorable and I didn’t want the story to end because I liked him that much. He speaks to the readers in parts which I really liked. Like Deadpool but cute. I felt the emotional rollercoaster with him and I will read more from this author because her writing style was easy to enjoy.
Steamy scenes were on point
I love friends to lovers stories and I liked how this one ended a little differently but still happy.
I really enjoyed this and these are kind of books I’m in the mood for right now.

[precious nkire · Rating 3 out of 5]

...

I could finish reading this book, I stopped like 85% in though. And I’m giving this book 3 stars in stead of 5 for one reason only; I really didn’t like the female character. I just kept thinking throughout, she either knows he’s in love with him and milking the cow, or she’s in love with him secretly, or he’s just literally smack down in the friend zone territory to the point where he’s like a brother. Cus she kept doing stuff like dressing in tight tops and small shorts around him and whatever and she also is the reason they ended up have sex 4 times instead of one. I don’t know, I feel like I would have liked or at least understood the female character better if we had read her point of view too, cus sometimes in books they go back and forth each chapter with the characters sides of the story, but it was just the guys version this whole book, and it made me love his character but not so much hers. On a brighter note though, I did love how it was funny, the thoughts Dillon has, and the way he teases, etc. so I loved his character.

[Che Flaviano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realistically sweet

There are only few books that was based on the POV of a guy. It was rather cute for me - the guy narrating. At first the story did drag on till it paced on the middle part then a bit rushed till the end. I guess its reasonable being it was the story of two high school "best friends" turned to adult "lovers" story - there's no need to elaborate on the character development on the H and h. I have to admit this a more realistic story of how both people would react/reacted on each circumstance, not way too dreamy stuff and such. I would really "pin" for the Dillon.

I'm not into spoilers, but I would really recommend this book for all readers out there who loves these "friends-to-lovers" stories. And I would love to read more from the author.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[2OCC Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute friends to lovers read. I really liked Dillion and Lori. There were times they both got on my nerves but in the end they were perfect for each other. The secondary characters were great to, they helped make the main characters more realistic.


The author did an awesome job at making me fall for these characters. There’s not a whole lot I can say. It’s a pretty laid back story with lightish drama. Dillion was great. Hiding the fact he was in love with his best friend, and then everything that happens. (Sigh) The author did awesome with him. If you can’t tell he’s my favorite character in this story. Also, I loved the epilogue. It was sweet and a perfect look into the future for these characters. If you want a friends to lovers read, then this book is perfect for that. I plan to read more from this author. 4 stars. #2OCCJD

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Firstly, this is a New Adult book so aimed at a younger audience than I am, which may be why I couldn't tolerate it better. Dillon is well written enough that, though annoying at time, comes across as a lovely lad with a good sense of humour. Lori I also feel is well written enough to get a good picture of her, though she is a bit annoying but this is mostly because of how much Dillon pines after her all-of-the-time.

My biggest gripe with this novel is that it's not been put through editing or proofing. There are typos and formatting problems everywhere and the author cannot write dialogue correctly (which has already been mentioned in previous reviews.) This causes a lot of confusion when trying to follow conversations between characters. Its so frustrating as it slows down the story even further making it hard work to get through.

As it happens I couldn't make it past 60% of this book. I just couldn't.

As a reader, I find it disrespectful that an author would put out a book that's unfinished (unedited). The story had legs but the sheer amount of typos and confusing dialogue that should have been weeded out in the editing process paralysed it from the get go.

Two stars because at least the main character had a sense of humour and was written relatively well.

[Karen Galloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by Bri Stone and most definitely will not be my last. This is a really great book with a brilliant storyline that will pull you into it and you can't put it down. The characters Dillon & Lorraine were well written and they had great chemistry and interaction. Their story has plenty of ups and downs that will keep you on your toes and engrossed in their story. This book is a brilliant friends to lovers Romance and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book. I can't wait to read more from Bri Stone

[Tammie Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story very much. It was very realistic. Dillon does a great job explaining without just saying why he doesn't get more involved with the girls he sleeps with. Lori was dealing with her feelings about her sexuality and it was told in a way a lot of girls feel about it. I believe having a great friendship, being best friends with your partner is absolutely the best way to start a relationship so I could relate to the story.
The story was told in a believable way. If you enjoy reading about friends becoming lovers you will enjoy this book. I would recommend it to you.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. The only reason I gave it 3 1/2 stars instead of 4 was because it took a good bit to get to the main point of the book. Loved the interaction between the two as friends. Love the mix of family, friendship, humor, and romance in this book. I just wish it would have been more of the arguing/trying to get the other to fall in love with them/internal struggle parts!! I will definitely read more from this author!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like friends-to-lovers books and this was a good one. Dillon was very easy to fall in love with and the story was told from his single POV. I enjoyed the family dynamics with both characters and the epilogue was very satisfying. I don't read a lot of New Adult, but I stayed interested throughout. If you like that age group, I would easily recommend this book. I received a copy of this book through Booksprout and the review is my opinion.

[Tracy Lundy-Munn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just Between Us: A Friends to Lovers Romance Book by Bri Stone. This stand alone novel was a great story where the characters had lots of history. The storyline was solid and well thought out. The characters had depth, emotion and lots of chemistry. If I had one thing that I would change in this book is that it took forever for the characters to get together....but all in all a really solid read.

[Dorothy Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a refreshing and interesting take on friends with benefits and unrequited love. It was written from Dillon's male perspective, but his feelings were a often switch from the all male stereotype. Both he and Lori were two people with drama to their relationship.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Trudy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

This book is different because it is told from the guy's POV. He's loved his best friend for years and she doesn't have a clue. It just makes you feel like there might still be hope for romance in today's world. It does contain sexy scenes that make you remember what it's like to fall in love with a sexy guy.

[Jackie Ashmead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute friends to loves story. Very quick read for me. I enjoyed how they went from a friendship to love. I feel like he should of came out with how he really felt sooner, and not let it go on for as long as he did. Overall I enjoyed the story and enjoyed how they fell for each other.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, first time I’ve really read a well written romance from a guy’s perspective. Characters were great, story believable (for the most part), scenes were well done. Found quite a few errors that proofreader should have picked up on, but nothing too glaring.

[Nettie Wachacha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I love how the H and h interact with each other. I spend most of the book saying just tell her already and wanting to smack the H upside the head lol. if you like best friends to lovers books then you'll like this book.

[tiffany gorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice

I loved Dillion and Lori. The story was awesome bc it is from his point of view not hers. I like that. It was different. Some times it was hard to know who was saying what but I think it was just the e reader. Will read from her again

[Sandra Singleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book and a must read. The author writes this genre very well.I volunteered to read an advance copy for an honest review.

[Lotte Stryhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I loved this Sweet love story from his pow..
I'm looking forward to Bri Stone s next book

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, quick, steamy read.

[Kim F · Rating 5 out of 5]

I voluntary read this for my honest opinion and I loved this friends to lover book! I can't wait to read more!!

[JP Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Loved watching best friends turn into a deeper relationship! Good storyline and absolutely loved the characters Dillon and Lori!!!!

[Carol Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

This book was awesome. Couldn't put it down. I hope there's more books coming about these characters. Best friend falling in love, how can you not love reading this.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily review an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book to be very good. The plot and the characters were well thought out and developed.

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