Cole and Laila Are Just Friends by Bethany Turner

Adelaide Springs Love Stories #2

Rating: 3/5

Spice: 0/5

Plot: 3/5

Primary Genre: Romance

Trigger Warnings: Mention of terminal illness, abandonment, alchohol/prescription drug use, death of a family member/parent

Favorite Quote: Who knew romantic comedy was such a brutal sport?

Blurb:

Cole and Laila have been inseparable since they could crawl. And they've never thought about each other that way. Except for when they have. Rarely. Once in a while, sure. But seriously . . . hardly ever. Cole Kimball and Laila Olivet have been best friends their entire lives. Cole is the only person (apart from blood relatives) who's seen Laila in her oversized, pink, plastic, Sophia Loren glasses. Laila is always the first person to taste test any new dish Cole creates in his family's restaurant . . . even though she has the refined palate of a kindergartener. Most importantly, Cole and Laila are always talking. About everything. When Cole discovers a betrayal from his recently deceased grandfather that shatters his world, staying in Adelaide Springs, Colorado, is suddenly unfathomable. But Laila loves her life in their small mountain town and can't imagine ever living anywhere else. She loves serving customers who tip her with a dozen fresh eggs. She loves living within walking distance of all her favorite people. And she's very much not okay with the idea of not being able to walk to her very favorite person. Still, when Cole toys with moving across the country to New York City, she decides to support her best friend--even as she secretly hopes she can convince him to stay home. And not just for his killer chocolate chip pancakes. Because she loves him. As a friend. Just as a friend. Right? They make a deal: Laila won't beg him to stay, and Cole won't try to convince her to come with him. They have one week in New York before their lives change forever, and all they have to do is enjoy their time together and pretend none of this is happening. But it's tough to ignore the very inconvenient feelings blooming out of nowhere. In both of them. And these potentially friendship-destroying feelings, once out in the open, have absolutely no take-backs. If When Harry Met Sally had a quippy literary love child with Gilmore Girls' Luke and Lorelai, you'd get Cole and Laila. Just . . . don't tell them that.

The Good:

* If you like the witty banter and pop culture references of The Gilmore Girls, you’re sure to love large portions of this book

* If you love the Luke and Lorelai characters of Gilmore Girls and their will they/won’t they, slow burn friends to lovers romance, you’ll like a large portion of this book

* I do enjoy that the characters are in their late 30’s, a lot of the pop culture references were relatable for me.

* Bethany has the ability to craft a romance without spice and still make it interesting

The Meh:

* I have a hard time finding the premise of this book to be believable. For Cole and Laila to be as close as described in the book, to their point that they have sleepovers as adults, it seems unnatural that Cole wouldn’t have ever had at least a fleeting romantic or even conscious sexual thought about Laila much sooner than the age of 39. I mean, have you met pretty much any man? On the flip side of the coin, the plot alludes to Laila being interested in Cole and just not saying anything. I don’t know anyone who could have feelings for someone for 25 years and say absolutely nothing.

* While I enjoyed the witty banter, this almost felt like I was reading a sitcom script. I think I might have enjoyed this more if I were watching it as a movie rather than reading it.

* While I can appreciate a good slow burn, the unrealistic cluelessness of these two left me feeling frustrated at times.

* This could be taken as an homage to the Gilmore Girls or just a remake of the Luke and Lorelai storyline of the Gilmore Girls because it is very similar with the pop culture references, the banter between Cole and Laila, etc.

Bottom Line:

This is a sweet closed door romance. The plot was well crafted and if you’re craving a trip to NYC this might help quell that craving for you. The main characters are well written, there’s also an extensive list of side characters that are really well written. A lot of the characters are endearingly quirky. You’ll probably like this if you enjoyed Friends and/or The Gilmore Girls.

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