This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with debut novelist Sally Blakely, author of Friends to Lovers (Canary Street Press).
About the book:
Best friends Joni and Ren have been inseparable since childhood. So when Joni moves across the country for her job, the two devise a creative way to stay in touch: they’ll be each other’s plus-ones every year for wedding season, no matter what else is happening in their lives. It’s a tradition that works, until a line is crossed and the friendship they once thought was forever is ruined.
Now Joni is back at their families’ shared summer home for her sister’s wedding, and she’s determined to make the week perfect, even if it means faking a friendship with Ren—and avoiding the truth of why they have to fake it in the first place. How hard can it be to pretend to be friends with the person who once knew you best?
But as sunny beach days together turn into starry nights, Joni begins to question what her life is without Ren in it. And when the wedding arrives, bringing past heartaches to the surface, she’ll be forced to decide if loving Ren means letting him go, or if theirs is a love story worth fighting for.
This conversation has been edited for time.
About Sally:
Sally Blakely studied theatre, media arts, English, and education at the University of Montana. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, or making far too many playlists. She lives in Montana with her husband. Friends to Lovers is her first novel.
Mentioned in this episode:
Classic romantic comedies written and directed by Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede (Clarion Books)
Sally Blakely recommends:
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine Books)
The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers (Graydon House)
It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (G. P. Putnam's Sons)
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron Books)
Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch (Berkley)
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (William Morrow)
Silverborn: The Mystery of the Morrigan Crow (and the entire Nevermoor series!) by Jessica Townsend (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Lauren Korn recommends:
Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely (Canary Street Press)
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (Penguin Random House)
Back After This and Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (Ballantine Books; Penguin Random House); listen to Lauren’s TWQ conversation with Linda here!
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (William Morrow)
Novels by Emily Henry (Berkley; Penguin Random House)
The Actor by Beth Hunter McHugh (Riverbend Publishing); listen to Chérie Newman’s TWQ conversation with Beth here!
The Summer I Turned Pretty, a limited TV series based on a young adult trilogy by Jenny Han (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Friends to Lovers reads a bit like The Summer I Turned Pretty and Plus One, a film starring Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid)
Romance films and rom-coms, too: When Harry Met Sally (speaking of friends-to-lovers!), Princess Bride, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed and The Wedding Planner, almost everything directed by John Hughes, Love and Basketball, Pride and Prejudice, Harold and Maude, The Apartment, Moonstruck, and many more! (Does Casper count?)
Lauren Korn is looking forward to:
Heart the Lover by Lily King (Grove Press)
American Fantasy by Emma Straub (forthcoming, April 2026; Riverhead Books)
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The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer, editor, and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Montana Book Co., located in downtown Helena, Montana, since 1978, offering new books for all ages, vinyl records, and community activism. For delivery in Helena and shipping online, visit mtbookco.com.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
Funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. Many thanks to Humanities Montana for supporting The Write Question since 2008.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
