In Better Than Friends, Olive is back in her small hometown near Lake Tahoe to help her friend and see her grandma. And that’s it. She’s not here to see, Noah, her childhood crush and the only man she’s ever really loved. And Noah’s never forgiven her for leaving town and barely looking back. In fact, he won’t even let his sister (and Olive’s BFF) Katie even talk about Olive. But now she’s here.

Olive and Noah, better than friends, are stone walls against love—they’ve both been burned and have no interest in going there again. But they’re forced into close quarters and all kinds of situations together, and forced to confront their feelings for each other. Watching them push each other away and try to deal with the complexities of their relationship, mistakes in the past, meddling families, and life in general is fun and rewarding.

Better Than Friends uses some cliches and phrases taken from various memes that I could have done without, but overall, Better Than Friends is a solid, enjoyable read. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars, so ended up rounding up.

Available January 21, 2025. Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

Rating: 3.5
Themes and Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Proximity, Only One Bed, Second Chance, Childhood/Teenage Crush
Steam: Low to Medium
Pair With: Your favorite Lake Tahoe beverage

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