He’s Just a Friend. J. Nichole. 2019. Not the Last Page. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.]
I’m a sucker for a good buddies-turned-bae romance, and He’s Just a Friend is exactly that. Brooklyn and Josiah have been thick as thieves since they were kids. They’ve held each other down through the good and the bad, but have never taken it any further. They’ve batted away the usual comments about them really wanting to be together, but that changes when they both find themselves single at the same time.
For her part, Brooklyn is still pining away for Marcus, who broke up with her out of the blue. She’s convinced that at any moment, he’ll call and be ready to jump back in with her for good. Josiah, however, is a barely willing participant in his new relationship with Alana, whose high-maintenance ways are a constant source of annoyance.
Brooklyn and Josiah, however, have an obviously comfortable rapport that demonstrates their care for each other; it seems obvious to literally everyone except them.
With this book, I felt that the author made it easy to love Josiah. He’s a genuinely good guy who wants to keep the people around him happy and cared for, even if it means he has to make sacrifices to do so. Conversely, it was harder for me to get attached to Brooklyn. She has a lot of emotional hangups, and sometimes it seemed like she wasn’t putting in effort for herself or those around her. She has a lot on her plate dealing with her father’s death, her mother’s inability to move past the death, and her thriving hair salon. She’s got an independent streak a mile long, and has yet to find a good balance of when to ask for help. Even so, Josiah was incredibly patient with her as she worked through her issues, which made me root for his happiness more than anything.
I have to give a nod to some peripheral characters, specifically Skylar and Tony, who round out their friend group. They both serve as moral guides Brooklyn and Josiah, respectively, but they also give a lot of comic relief throughout the book. For her part, Skylar seems to be a watchdog over Tony and Josiah’s dating lives — no woman is welcome. She and Tony also seem to have tension in a “you hate each other too much not to be attracted to each other” kind of way, despite some hinting around her sexual preferences. I’d love to see a book with them at the center.
Overall, I give this quick, comforting read my recommendation. The characters are both realistic and relatable, and the story itself pulls you in. This was my first time reading this author, but I’m definitely checking out some of her previous works soon!
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