Wow this was an absolute gem!

I loved the slowly blossoming friendship between Finn and Ava, two total opposites that just work so well together. Finn’s endearing charm and golden retriever energy against Ava’s grouchiness is just a delight to read. This is a slow book in the best way, where we just spend time with the two MC’s as they get to know each other and slowly fall in love. There’s some underlying heavier storyline (including illness of a sibling).
I adored this so much. What a beautiful book!

4.5
Ooohh my, what a book!
“The Friendship Fling” is one of the rare books where it is exactly what the marketing is promising it is and we love that.

Writing, pacing, characters and the development of the relationship were all *very* nicely done!
It has the perfect mix of funny and emotional.

Finn is sooooo nice, an actual ray of sunshine, and Ava is soooo grumpy. It’s like someone took me & my grumpy self and put them into a book.

The book is written in dual pov but I’d say about 80% were from Ava’s pov.
I do have to say I was missing Finn’s pov chapters on two occasions.
One, when he met his dad in London and then another later on in the book when he was in San Francisco. I do think both of those moments were pretty big parts of his character arc and development, so I would have loved to read about them as they were happening rather than being told in hindsight about them.

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that this is supposed to be a series and if so, I have a good guess who the next book will be about and I’m excited to read it!
And if not, I’m still excited to read more from this author.

This book feels like sunshine after hibernation. If it were a pastry, it’d be a still-warm and gooey cinnamon roll with crispy edges and extra frosting, but only right at the middle.

If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I love an unreliable narrator. Ava is self-aware enough to know she’s avoidant but so content in that, that she hardly notices all of Finn’s noticing as they unravel together. And Finn, well…

I loved this book and I don’t want to be done.

The vibes: black cat and golden retriever, a city break in your favourite place, friends to lovers, sunshine and a perfect cup of coffee. A secret stash full of Kit Kat chunkies, and a sunny autumn day in London.

Friendship fling builds on the very title… it shows you how Ava and Finn become friends and to start with it feels like this will be all it will ever be but the banter between the two and deadpan wit particularly from our surly Ava is what races you towards the end of this ultimate slow burn.
Not being a huge fan of the guy being the ray of sunshine usually but there something about Finn being such a golden retriever that works for this debut from Georgia Stone that makes it such a fun happy emotional read.

I received this book as an ARC and provide an honest review.

If you're looking for a typical romcom then this is the book for you. It took me a while to warm to both Ava and Finn but after a few chapters, I ended up loving them both. I normally don't like friends to lovers but Finn was so loveable and Ava was so relatable that I flew through the book. It is a bit of a slow burn on the romance part but I think it made it better as it was spread over a summer so it didn't feel like it was all happening really quickly and you can see their relationship develop into something. The banter between Finn and Ava was so fun to read and did make me laugh. Is the book a bit predictable? Of course but isn't that what you want in a book like this? If you're looking for an easy read or a holiday book, I would highly recommend it. I can't wait to read another book by Georgia.
I was lucky enough to get this as an ARC so thank you Hodder & Stoughton and Georgia!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7493365585

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for giving me the opportunity to read this eARC.

I loved this book. As much as it took a little bit of time for me to connect fully to both MCs, once I did they quickly became two of my favourite MCs. And I struggled to put the book down.

The opposites attract/ grumpy/sunshine aspect was a win for me with the deadpan witty banter between them having me laughing many times.

The reason I rated it as I did, was because this book made me cry and emote the whole way through and any book in my mind that can do that should be highly rated in my opinion.

I felt strongly for the characters and in each one I could see aspects of myself in them which helped me connect even better.

Overall this book is very well written and very much worth a read for anyone looking for a slow slow burn which pays off in spades.

This heartfelt friends to lovers romance will keep me coming back to read it again in the future and will be patiently waiting for more from this author.

Finally, some dry, deadpan, witty humour that's right up my alley.

Finn and Ava's dynamic was hilarious, his absolute warmth and sunshine personified, to her seemingly cold and mean self. I loved the London bucket list, that was fun.

But truthfully, I didn't find this romantic at all. It was just two people being friendly, without any chemistry. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if there was true emotion behind it all, and it didn't feel like a conclusion just came out of nowhere? I also found the reasoning behind their reluctance silly, and as much as I wanted to love it, this book really missed the mark.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing this eARC! 💖
This was so heartwarming and cute, but at the same time a bit sad and a lot relatable. Even though it took me a little to connect with both Ava and Finn, I ended up loving their story and their individual journeys. Particularly Ava, I think she will stay with me for a while, her inner struggles with her brother.. hit home a little too much 😭 I found interesting the concept of a fake friendship haha I'm so used to fake dating that this concept felt refreshing honestly, and also the bucket list was a fun way to have the book move forward. It is true that the pace was a bit slow but I enjoyed the story being spread out throughout late-spring to late-summer.
Also I loved the slow burn, it burned so good lol and the payoff... so worth it; and finally realistic heights!!! I don't need a man towering over the female main character all the time!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an earc for review.

So this was a 3 star for me. I really wanted to love if but somehow it just wasn’t hitting for me like I expected…

I feel like the writing is really good, however the plot felt too slow, the character’s felt like they weren’t really gel-ing together for me because they are leaning too much into the whole grumpy/sunshine trope that by 40% I honestly felt like they couldn’t turn this “friendship” into a relationship.

The FMC was the grumpy in this case and to be quite honest she felt way too grumpy and I feel like it took too long for us to discover why she is like that. The MMC is the sunshine and I really loved him and his personality, I just got annoyed that she was such a downer in the beginning on his happiness.

I also think that whilst both characters are getting to know each other there was a bit too much depth into these dates they went on when I wanted more focus on the characters rather than the places they went to. I do however understand that part of this whole locations is to maybe show off the cute places round London, however it didn’t hit for me.

Overall by the time they got together, I felt quite bored and not invested because of how slow the first half was.

This was such a fun uplifting book to read. Finn, the male main character, was full of energy and everything you need in a friend, especially a friend for Ava who is happy with her quite life.

I loved the banter between the two of them and Georgia's writing style.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the e-arc of The Friendship Fling in exchange of an honest review!

Rom-com books are sooo back, and I couldn’t be more happy. The Friendship Fling is a debut adult romance about a grumpy x sunshine duo that develops a beautiful friendship (and maybe something more…) while exploring London, but only for the summer.
This book was sweet and so funny, but it was also extremely emotional. I laughed, I giggled, I cried, and I loved Ava and Finn’s friendship with all my heart. It’s honestly an amazing debut. Can’t wait for Georgia’s next book (I was really shipping two side characters from The Friendship Fling, but I’m not sure I’m on the right track haha)

WOW WOW WOW 😭 😭😭😭

I’m honestly lost for words at how amazing this book was!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING ME AN ARC!!! I AM SO SO GRATEFUL!!!!

Friends to lovers is my fav trope of all time and I’ve read HUNDREDS of books with that trope but this is definitely in the top3!!! I can’t believe this is a DEBUT NOVEL!!!!????

The writing was so beautiful and the characters were so lovable and it felt so real and natural and ughhhhh

The authors writing reminded me of Emily Henry and Sarah Adams in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE!!!

I’m so excited to see this book get the recognition it deserves when it’s finally published!!! This author has an extremely bright future ahead of her and I’ll be honoured to say that I was lucky enough to experience her writing before her first publication!!!

I adored this one. It felt so quintessentially British without being twee – just deeply relatable and real.
Ava and Finn had great chemistry from the beginning, even as Ava continues to deny it, but I love that we got to see their relationship develop as friends first and foremost. Finn is such a sweetheart and Ava is prickly but I loved delving into the why she keeps everyone at arm’s length and then seeing her open up to the possibility of love. A great cast of characters and an entertaining plot. A fantastic debut.

Oh I really enjoyed this book, made me laugh so many times (also cry at some point).
I loved the banter between the two main characters and how different they were from each other (opposites do really attrack each other). Loved the backstories too and all the side characters, such a great group of friends.

It was great that it wasnt instant love, we got to see them become friends (really good friends that care from each other) and see it change to true love. I couldn't reccomend this book enough, it was fantastic!


Can't wait to read more books of this author!



Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great slow burn, friends to lovers romance. I loved Ava and the way she grew throughout the story and Finn was a perfect counterpart to her. I really enjoyed all their friend dates and how they slowly led to more (and the fact that it was done against the backdrop of London). This was a fun, perfect for summer, read

The Friendship Fling is a rom-com esque romance that would interest those looking for a black cat x golden retriever trope!

I personally didn’t really like the story all that much, I couldn’t connect with the characters (Finn being a little too sweet while Ava had weird reasons for befriending him). The Dual POV is something I adore in romance novels but personally it fell flat on Finn’s side since there wasn’t really anything new

A perfect wild ride of a rom com, Finn and Ava’s story is so enjoyable to watch. Finn and Ava are both struggling with their own demons when life crashes them into each other. A sexy, funny, romp around London!

I read this in two days and genuinely loved every bit of it. I am usually not the biggest contemporary romance reader but I do love a romcom and was so excited about Georgia getting trad published that I jumped at the chance to read an ARC.

The dual POV was amazingly written with two distinct voices that I absolutely loved. Ava and Finn were such fun characters both individually and together so this was an absolute win.

I also appreciated how this wasn't all fluff. The cancer story with Avas twin and Finn's familial strains were expertly handled and added so much value to my reading experience.

Also give me a guide dog any day because I was fully grinning at so many Ava-Finn conversations but the floof made my day.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC

The Friendship Fling is what happens when two wildly different personalities crash into each other’s orbits, ricocheting off the walls of their own emotional baggage. This was my fist romance novel, I was expecting something light, breezy, and packed with charm—after all, a summer in London feels like the perfect backdrop for a dreamy, messy, whirlwind fling. And Georgia Stone delivers, though it took me by surprise.

Rather than leaning solely on the swoon factor, The Friendship Fling digs into grief, self-worth, and the quiet, complicated ways we learn to love ourselves. Finn’s upbringing as a third-culture kid, constantly chasing his father’s approval, and Ava’s lingering guilt over her twin’s struggles are weighty tomes, woven in with a careful hand. However, I wished these emotional undercurrents had surfaced earlier, shaping their choices more clearly from the start.

That said, the dynamic between Finn and Ava is electric. Their banter is sharp enough to slice, their rhythm is effortless —something rarely witnessed in romance even at the best of times. But then there’s the "we are all stardust line", which made me cringe more than needed.

In all, Finn and Ava's story is a thoughtful reminder that we are enough, even when we don’t believe it ourselves.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest opinions.

I should have really enjoyed this book, considering the appealing cover and plot. However, it took a long time for the story to kick in.

The book was a cute love story, but it felt out of place for me. I couldn't connect with the characters as much as I would have liked. The story felt disjointed.

One thing that bothered me was the author's handling of Josie's visual impairment. It was never explicitly acknowledged, leaving readers to assume. If an author wants to represent a particular group, they should be explicit about it.

I also didn't like Ava's character, and her reasons for befriending Finn didn't sit well with me. Finn, on the other hand, was too sweet.

The book was supposed to be a dual POV story, but it felt like it should have just been written from Ava's perspective. Finn's character was underdeveloped, and we only knew what he told Ava in her POV.

Overall, while "The Friendship Fling" was a cute love story, it took too long to get started, and I couldn't connect with the characters.

Thank you once again for the e-ARC.