Review: Love, Just In

Title: Love, Just In

Author: Natalie Murray

Publisher: 3rd January 2024 by Allen & Unwin

Pages: 460 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Contemporary Romance 

Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

In the vein of Emily Henry's You and Me On Vacation , Love, Just In is a friends-to-lovers romance with all the tropes that romance readers love best.

Sydney TV news reporter Josephine "Josie" Larsen is approaching 30 and coming dangerously close to failing at life. Lost in a vortex of other people's career milestones, engagement parties, and baby showers, Josie is perennially single, abandoned by her globetrotting family, and invisible to her boss - except for the one time he tuned in while she was mid-panic attack on live TV. As a punishment, Josie is shipped off to cover another reporter's six-month leave at a regional bureau in Newcastle.

But Josie has more waiting for her in Newcastle than yawn-inducing stories about bicycle lane protests. The city is also the domain of Zac Jameson - her best friend since high school. This should be a happy turn of events, but Zac has barely spoken to Josie for the past two years. Not since his fiancee tragically died in his arms in a car accident and he left Sydney to try and cope with his grief.

Now thrown back into each other's lives, Josie and Zac have to navigate their neglected friendship and secret attraction to each other while struggling with their careers and mental health.

Hilarious, sexy and heart-warming, this is the perfect romcom to sit on the shelves alongside Emily Henry, Sally Thorne and Ali Hazelwood.

My Thoughts

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray (comes out 3rd January) is a wonderful contemporary romcom. In fact, there is much more to this tale than its bright cover and promise of friends-to-lovers trope. Of course one always appreciates some steamy romance but to have some real in-depth, realistic issues addressed was a real game changer in my appreciation of this book. 

‘It’s time to admit that my life isn’t made up of a series of adorable little ducks sitting in a perfect row. My ducks are injured and losing feathers, and one possibly has a bung eye, but that’s OK. That’s me, stumbling through life.’

Both Josie and Zac fit the bill as leading characters with the quick witted banter and fun encounters but it is balanced beautifully with some much heavier topics which bring a real credence to this book. Written from Josie’s point of view, readers are presented with the long term history of this friendship and how the feelings of both evolve over time. I really did like the ‘Colleen Hoover-esque’ epilogue from Zac’s POV which I thought was a winner. 

‘… anxiety can affect anyone, anywhere - even when you’re doing something you love.’

So apart from all the romcom elements both Josie and Zac bring individual trauma’s to this friendship. That brings depth to these emotional connections with both elements of joy and sadness. For many, these traumas could be triggers, however, I found the love and honesty to be refreshing and encouraging. Some of the issues covered include health and cancer scares, living with anxiety and grief.

‘I need to stop thinking about what I’ve lost and start thinking about what I’ve found.’

All up I found Natalie’s book to be a truly thoughtful and a well considered narrative - a perfect balance of friendship and love, anxiety and honesty. This is a contemporary romance you will want to try and find yourself happy that you did. 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.