Fun, Clever and Sexy: Read Our Review of Not Here to Make Friends by Jodi McAlister

She’s the reality TV villain everyone will love to hate. He’s the producer tasked with making it happen. What could go wrong? Not Here to Make Friends is a hilarious, heartfelt rom-com for fans of The Unhoneymooners.

Reality TV producer Murray O’Connell is the showrunner for reality dating show Marry Me, Juliet, and that means he’s the boss: he controls the cast, the crew and the story. Until Lily Fireball turns up.

Lily is everything viewers love to watch: she’s feisty, dramatic, and never backs down from a fight. Her villain narrative should be easy to pull off, but Murray keeps getting in her way. Because before she was Lily Fireball, she was Lily Ong – Murray’s best friend – and he’s determined to stop her blowing up her life on television.

As the season unfolds, Lily and Murray go head to head. Lily just wants to have some fun with her role, and Murray just wants to film the show he planned. Why won’t she listen to him? And why can’t Murray focus on the job, instead of the woman he thought was just a friend?

Jodi McAlister has truly outdone herself with this one! The Australian author and academic – who legitimately studies romance for a living (more on that here) – made her foray into adult rom-coms with Here For The Right Reasons and Can I Steal You For A Second? Each book recounts a different romance from the same season of Marry Me, Juliet. Not Here to Make Friends is the grand finale – and it truly is spectacular! Fans could not hope for a more satisfying close. It’s also a cracking standalone for first-time readers, who will no doubt be racing to get their hands on the first two titles to devour next.

This instalment is told predominately from Murray’s POV, on-set in the present day. It’s interspersed with flashbacks from Lily’s POV, which gradually, tantalisingly fill us in on all the baggage of their long-term relationship. Both characters are fierce, fallible and impossible not to fall in love with – however infuriating their self-sabotage might be at times! McAlister plots the perfect will-they-won’t-they narrative arc: they set each other alight, but are they destined to be friends, frenemies… or lovers?

This heart-fluttering rom-com is a total page-turner. As if the romance isn’t enough to keep us reading, all the chaos of the reality TV show and the shenanigans that the complex cast of characters get up to – despite Murray’s best efforts to keep them in line – will have you flying through the chapters. It’s very clever, and a whole lot of fun.

Not Here to Make Friends is obviously going to appeal to fans of shows like The Bachelor and Love Island, but it’s also a fantastic read for those of us who are a little more… cynical, shall we say, about the whole production. McAlister threads razor-sharp social commentary into every element of the storyline, with behind-the-scenes insights highlighting all sorts of issues that pervade reality TV and real-life romance alike: sexism, racism, homophobia and performativity – both on- and off-screen. A far cry from the smoke and mirrors of the TV set, this is ultimately a story about authenticity and being true to your heart.

If you’re after total escapism with plenty of substance, look no further. Not Here to Make Friends is a fast-paced, feel-good rollercoaster of a read that’s fun, fierce, sweet, sexy, immensely clever, and dripping with wit, all at the same time. It’s a satisfying rom-com – with claws, teeth, and then some. I had a ball reading it.

Buy a copy of Not Here to Make Friends here.