Just Friends cover art

Just Friends

Never Just Friends Series, Book 1

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Just Friends

By: Saxon James
Narrated by: Alexander Cendese, Kirt Graves
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About this listen

Roo:

Five years ago, I walked away from Sunbury, Oregon, and left my best friend behind. The move was supposed to get my life on track. I even had a list: Life-changing epilepsy surgery. Check. See the world. Check. Get over my straight best friend... Not exactly.

No matter where I go or who I meet, I can't let Tanner go. I'm back to tell him how I feel. To get the closure I need once and for all. Only now I'm here and falling for him all over again, it's getting harder to say the words. Because once I have my closure, I'll be gone. And this time it will be for good.

Tanner:

When my best friend, Roo, left for Australia, it was the worst day of my life. I thought we'd have each other always. But Roo needed the surgery so I let him go, thinking he'd come straight back. Five years is a long time.

Now he's here, all I want is to hold on tight. I need to show him what he means to me. The problem is, I'm not exactly sure what that is. My draw to him has always been confusing and different - everyone in town says so. But I struggle to understand it. All I know is I won't survive him leaving again. And I'll do anything to make him stay.

Contains mature themes.

©2020 Saxon James (P)2021 Tantor Contemporary Contemporary Romance Romance Survival
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I felt close to Roo as I had an operation from a benign brain tumour when I was 17 so I became epileptic, but I had absent seizures which aren’t as bad as full on seizures. I also had the operation to stop the epilepsy when I was like 24 and I’m also an Aussie. I haven’t had a seizure for 6 years now but the doctor said anything is possible I could even have them if I fall pregnant but only time will tell. So I know what it’s like not to have a normal life and for friends and family to break down and cry while they watch me go through the seizures because there is nothing else they could do but wait. I also have a tattoo on my wrist saying Epileptic. I almost cried listening to this book sometimes with knowing similar feelings of what Roo was going through. Loved this book thank you

Loved it

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Cute gay story. Another bad attempt at an Aussie accent but it’s only brief thankfully.

Enjoyable.

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Sexy 5 stars for this book. Really good story with the words in the exact place.

Sexy 5 stars

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I have a very large soft spot for a true Gay-For-You story. Where the ‘straight’ MC is really not interested in men per se, only the other MC. Add in inseparable friends from childhood and it’s a perfect blend. Neither Tanner or Royce (Roo) have ever formed an emotional and/or romantic connection with anyone else besides each other. Although Roo is perfectly aware of his feelings, Tanner is completely oblivious, and half the fun is watching him slowly catch up.
This book demonstrates the author’s wonderful sense of humour and comedic timing. The writing just flows from page to page and it is well paced, ensuring the reader’s attention doesn’t drift. It shifts from moving quickly along from scene to scene, to slowing down and allowing the reader to revel in the romantic and emotional passages.

Narration:
I have read this book twice. The first time was a read through only with just the book. The second time, a few months later was with the audio using Kindle’s Whispersync function. The narrators, Alexander Cendese and Kirt Graves, did an amazing job of bring Tanner, Roo, and the rest of the cast to life.
I’m a huge fan of Alexander’s and I loved his take on Tanner. He was able to portray Tanner’s energy and exuberance for life, but also his confusion and complete obliviousness in regard to Roo, but once Tanner catches up, Alexander’s inflection of Tanner’s internal dialogue means that there is no denying how he feels for Roo. Kirt Graves made Roo sound exactly like he did in my head. Roo is a quieter character than Tanner. His lifelong battle with epilepsy, especially when he was younger, left him more introverted than the energetic and outgoing Tanner. Kirt managed to capture his personality without making him out to be a depressing or ‘downer’ character. He expressed beautifully Roo’s hope for returned feelings from Tanner, but with the underlining emotion that it likely wasn’t going to happen.
For me the narration pushed this book from really, really good to absolutely amazing!

Regardless of how you enjoy this book, I’d highly recommend checking it out. It’s one of those feel good books that just leaves you with a smile on your face, and that is the absolutely best type of book!

A beautiful Friends to Lovers Story

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Tanner Everett can’t wait to see his BFF, Royce (Roo) Williams, again. The two were inseparable until Roo’s parents took him back to Australia for crucial brain surgery to alleviate his epilepsy seizures. It’s been five years and Roo is nervous about returning to Sunbury, OR, the town where he was teased abut his epilepsy and his close friendship with Tanner. He’s also nervous about coming out to his straight best friend. This second-chances / friends-to-lovers / gay-for-you romance was inoffensively pleasant and low-angst but the plot felt like it was going through the motions without much new to offer. Each chance for some drama or angst was resolved so effortlessly that it bleached the plot of colour. Tanner was thoroughly decent and likeable, but so ridiculously oblivious to his own infatuation that he seemed kind of dumb. Most readers will disagree with me, but Roo’s more neurotic personality - his glass half empty, worrying about an epilepsy relapse, disliking people’s focus on his illness, trying to fight off his forever-crush on Tanner but daring to hope - was the most real and interesting thing in this story … I could recognise myself and people I actually know in Roo. Two of my favourite audio narrators, Kirt Graves (as Roo) and Alexander Cendese (as Tanner), were well-chosen for their roles, but like many narrators, Kirt should not attempt an Aussie accent.

An interesting character but nothing else new

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Just Friends is book one in the A Never Just Friends series, a best friends to lovers MM romance with one bed trope.

Roo and Tanner have been best friends since they were 11 years old.
Roo refused to Australia at the end of their senior year for surgery. Their friendship took a hit over the years but now Roo is back.
Tanner has always been straight, or so he thought.

Two best friends, one bed and a whole lot of history.

This is definitely a fluff type of book. It’s a good read and has some great elements.

Best friends to lovers

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loved it. love all books from thsi author anyway and finally decided to start this series and it was just as good as her others.

loved it

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It was good somewhat unresolved but it was very well done i loved the characters relationship it was sooo sweet❤️

Unique

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Totally enjoyed this. I loved this bisexual awakening novel, these best friends, Tanner and Roo were so meant to be together. It was a really sweet read and I loved watching Tanner wake up to feelings he'd always had towards Roo and see them explore this new chapter in their relationship. It was interesting to see how their friends and family responded to the change in dynamics and the rest of the small town too.

the narrators did a good job bringing Roo and Tanner to life.

Totally enjoyed this

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.