Three friends, Army wives, were rocks for each other during deployments, returns from deployments, and children being born. Until something happens and they parted way, two of them not talking to each other. The third brings them back together when she has surgery and needs their help with recovery and her daughter.

I love the dynamic of these ladies. Their friendship is one that withstands time and even when they lose touch when an SOS is sent, they show up. I like that they call each other out, protect each other, and stand strong in their beliefs. Even when things are tough, they come together, putting aside their differences and help each other out.

The different timelines gave me a better understanding of the life they lived while in the military, the way their husbands were involved in their lives, and how they ended up where they are now. I have a bigger appreciation for the spouse who is not military, the way that they had to step up at home and must keep things in order all on their own. It is almost like being a single parent. Life is never easy, but military life has added challenges.

I've been meaning to read one of Tif's books before now. When I saw this one, the cover full of books and about a book club, I just knew this was the one that I ineeded to read. I loved it!

In a Book Club Far Away has a close, supportive trio of women friends who vow to be there for each other, if and when they receive an SOS. That's how these three women finally come together after so many years on the outs—one of them sends out an SOS and the other two come running.

Regina, Adelaide, and Sophie are all interesting characters, each with their own personalities and quirks. It was fun getting to know each of them and to see how they all got to where they are today.

This was a beautiful story of the power of friendship, and forgiveness, with caring characters dealing with everyday problems, as well some deep-rooted misunderstandings. Watching the women be there for one another was a wonderful thing. When women support women, anything can happen.

And if you are in need of more fantastic books to add to your TBR list, there are numerous title mentioned in the book that would be great to read.

I highly recommend In a Book Club Far Way for a great escape read. I know you will get lost in this amazing story, just like I did.

A cute book about female friendships!! I will say, this book was a bit hard to get into at the beginning. But, once I got ~25% of the way in, it really picked up. Storyline was cute, a little bit different, and had a nice ending. Would recommend!

One of my favorite themes is friends who become family. Like families, friendships can be complicated and this story did a nice job of exploring the complexities of female friends who are as close as family.
Adelaide, Regina and Sophie bonded over book club a decade ago. At the beginning of the story we learn that there was a falling out that led to the breakdown of the friend group. In the present, each woman is dealing with an internal struggle, and when Adelaide sends an SOS, her friends come to her aid, no questions asked. Slowly the readers learn about the events leading up the friendship rift, and each perspective from the past is shared.
This was my first book by Tif Marcelo. I enjoyed the writing and the storyline and would be interested in reading more by this author.

Eight years ago, Adelaide Wilson-Chang, Regina Castro, and Sophie Walden were inseperable. Stationed at Fort East, they bonded when their partners were deployed and helped each other through every struggles those few months. Then something happened that caused a rift in their relationship, and the group hadn't been the same since. Now, these three women find themselves together again - Adelaide requires emergency surgery, so she tricks Sophie and Regina into both coming to assist during her recovery, and with care for her daughter, while her husband is stationed abroad. Lines were crossed in the past, and faith and trust has been broken and destroyed, but is one week enough time to rebuild some of the time lost to betrayal?
*content warning for discussion of miscarriage*

I really didn't know what to expect going into this book. We are settled into present day, but when the three reunite we are blast into the past to relive what happened on that military base eight years ago. I really enjoyed the structure of this book - typically with dual timeline, it will alternate every other chapter, during seven of the eight parts, we are allowed to explore each perspective in the present first, while then reliving the past with each of the women (part eight is the only section told entirely in the present). I have to appreciate the care that went into exploring each of the three women - Adelaide, Sophie, and Regina all have their individual issues and concerns they are trying to address and overcome throughout the novel, and I never felt confused as to whose perspective I was following (I will say sometimes I mixed up their partners, but they are off page for most of the book so that may have been my fault). Regina, the only single mother of the bunch, is struggling to figure out what to do with her catering business that she loves but isn't bringing in enough money - Sophie, mother to twins, is feeling more and more like she is a single mother trying to take care of everything while her partner is constantly traveling for work - Adelaide, who brought the three together once more, has been harboring guilt over the rift in their friendship, and is scared to allow people she trusts to help her in a time of need. There is a large focus on holding a grudge and misplaced anger in this novel - Regina hasn't spoken to Sophie ever since the incident that caused her to lose trust in her friend all those years ago. It highlights just how much that anger, even if it is misplaced, can harm a frienship and harbor resentment, even unintentionally. The women lost almost eight years of their lives to this feud, years that could have been spent supporting each other through tough times like they had in the past. It was honest and real, and I really liked the conversation it started about evaluating those grudges to see if they truly are worth the resentment.

While I did overall enjoy my experience reading this book, I did have my issues. I found the ending to be a bit rushed - in part eight, an extremely important piece of information is revealed to the reader (that I personally did not see coming, and am not sure others have picked up on it earlier or not), and that leaves only a few chapters for the issue to be resolved and the book to end. I feel like for the importance of that information, and the impact that it ultimately had on our main leads, I would have liked their internal monologues and thought processes to be explored a little more. And I think my main critique of the book is the book club aspect itself. I know it was primarily established as a way for the main characters to be introduced, and that first session garnered great discussion, I found the book club meetings sprinkled throughout the rest of the novel to be a bit underwhelming. I wasn't sure exactly why one wanted an entire trip to New York City, or an escape game, and sometimes the meeting were cancelled and nothing was disccused anyway. I understand that it wasn't the focus of the book, but it at least should have felt important, and for me it didn't. Or at least I would have liked the final "book club," the one Adelaide makes Sophie promise her and Regina will participate in during the present timeline, would have been better explored or explained. It is mentioned a few times when the women pick up to read the book, and they compare how much they've read in comparison to the others, and then at the end it's all wrapped up in just a few paragraphs. The book was chosen specifically because it mirrored what was going on in their lives, so I just wish that parallel could have been better established throughout the course of the entire book, instead of rushed at the end.

In conclusion, I found myself charmed by Tif Marcerlo's writing and connecting with each of the characters in different ways. I can't wait to read more for this author, incuding a new YA release from her late this year. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Gallery Books, for the e-copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I was so excited to get an ARC of this book because while I do not live on base, my brother and his family do. From the stories I have been told about life on base and how things are almost "sorority" feel I couldn't wait to get my hands on what I knew would be drama! I love stories told from multiple pov's and I also like stories about friendships and how human emotions can divide people. The writing was clever and I thoroughly enjoyed this.

My overall impression? Underwhelmed. I went into this book with high expectations because I absolutely loved The Key to Happily Ever After. In a Book Club Far Away follows three women who meet on an army base and bond over book club. A fight tears apart two of them and a major health scare brings the three back together after ten years. The story is told from all three points of view, and I felt the character development was superficial. I didn’t feel like
I really knew the women in this story. The book also jumps from the past to the present and it almost seems rushed, and I was frustrated as I felt I was missing information. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good book, and I recommend the read to everyone who loves a fast read, but it’s just a one time read for me.

Friends, family, friendships gone array - Army Wives. Didn't really hold my interest, although I did appreciate the strong female roles. Thank you #NetGalley#GalleryBooks

Genre: women’s fiction
Rating: 📚📚📚.5 (rounded to 4 for Goodreads)
Pub date: April 6th, early release through BOTM in March

Regina, Adelaide, and Sophie leaned on each other through Army wife life - their rule was, if you get an SOS, you answer it immediately. They bonded through their book club, but something tore them apart. Years later, Adelaide sends out another SOS, bringing the group together in the hopes of mending old wounds.

Things I liked:
📚The books! Each part of the book covers one of the books the women read in book club, and it was fun to see how the books tied into the story.

📚Dual timeline - I know some people don't like these, but I love getting a look back at the past!

📚Female friendship - I love reading stories about women supporting each other through hard times, so this was right up my alley.

My reason for giving this 3.5 stars is the pacing - it took a bit too long to get to the big reveal, and then the resolution was pretty fast. More consistent pacing would have brought this up to a 4 star read for me. But I still enjoyed the book - it's a good women's fiction read that will remind you to be thankful for your friends!

Thank you to Gallery Books for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Review posted to Goodreads and Instagram on 3/31/21.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sometimes, the third time really is the charm, and that is the case with In a Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo. My first two attempts with her work weren’t bad, but I didn’t fully connect to the characters, even if they worked on a conceptual level. Yet, this concept, about women bonded by their book club, spoke to me, even if other aspects, like that of a military wife and mother, were outside my lived experience.

Adelaide, Regina, and Sophie are all intriguing characters with complex inner lives which I was drawn into as the story unfolded. There was also this big question around why Regina and Sophie stopped speaking years ago, even though each maintained a friendship with Adelaide, which I felt was well-explored and foreshadowed through the back-and-forth between past and present. The struggles of being a military spouse are also well conveyed, and how it can often feel like you’re not really able to depend on anyone, even your husband, during tough times, and that serves as a strong source of common ground for the three women.

I also really liked seeing the role the book club played in their friendship and their lives. It really bonded them; and bonds them again as they come back together. And I liked the fact that their book choices were so varied. From nonfiction (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) to romance (His at Night by Sherry Thomas), they read broadly, and I enjoyed how this reflected in the themes of the story. The latter is particularly interesting, as while I haven’t personally read it, it reflects the author’s experience as a romance reader and author (her early books were more romance leaning) and her existing connections to the community. Some not in the know would pick up Fifty Shades (there is a reference in there) or some other popular title as a first romance for their characters, but this one reflects a deep level of thought on her part.

This book is deeply emotional and heartfelt, and really resonating with me as a book lover and providing insights into the lives of military families which I only had peripheral knowledge of in the past. While I did have some minor issues with it, like feeling the ending was a bit rushed, I enjoyed it overall and would recommend this book to others who love heartfelt women’s fiction or books about books (and book clubs).

This was a quick read that gave me new perspective on the struggles of military families and how that lifestyle can both create amazing bonds and throw wrenches into strong friendships and relationships.

Tif Marcelo is a veteran US Army nurse and a military spouse, and her love and appreciation for books and military spouses and dependents is evident throughout this novel. The friendships and military culture described felt authentic. Several books are quoted and supplement the story.

The story is told through a non-linear timeline about a multiracial group of military spouses as they form a book club that helps them form lasting bonds and get through hard times. Appreciated that various perspectives were represented: Dual military couples, long-term/unmarried partners, and spouses of high ranking officers, men with active duty wives.

It explores chosen family (deep friendships), struggles of marriage and parenting, finding purpose, loyalty and trust, loss and survival, and love and dating while also managing the interruptions of deployments and homecomings of an active duty spouse.

While this book covers some hard topics (loss of friendship, miscarriage, divorce), it still felt light. The ending is sweet and happy, and I don’t feel like enough books make you feel good (especially outside of the romance genre).

After reading this, I understand the sacrifices of military families better and have a greater appreciation for them and for my chosen family.

This is the story of three women, Adelaide, Regina, and Sophie - military wives/partners - who become each other's chosen family. It is a story of strong female friendships in the midst of the chaos of spouses/significant others' deploying, with each of the friends struggling with something - raising twins, infertility, an unplanned pregnancy, and a needed surgery. No spoilers, but the three friends get past a rift in the friendship between the two of them as well as a divorce and come out stronger. I enjoyed it and recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this so badly, but the characters seemed one dimensional and the pacing felt off. I think this had a lot of potential, but needed more revising and would have benefitted from being shorter and more focused.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy.

This book is about three friends who have a "fallout" and come together again after 10 years. I don't read a lot from this genre, however, I did enjoy it. I did feel the story was way too long at times. I also felt then end was a little rushed.

The central characters in this book are three women who had been as close as sister’s until an act of betrayal broke them apart. A sudden emergency suddenly brings them together, and the rest of the story has them working through their own individual issues, as well as the one that caused the split. All of the women have a connection to the Army, either directly or as a spouse. I’m a Navy brat, and I found the military aspect to be interesting and familiar. The deployments and the resulting difficulties of long separations were spot on, as were the close relationships of those left behind. Military communities tend to be tight-knit out of necessity, and the author, who is an Army veteran, captures this beautifully. The women struggle to come to terms with their past, and then this process is completely upended when a big secret is revealed close to the end. This caught me totally off guard! I liked these women, and I was rooting for them, but they definitively had a lot to overcome. No spoilers here, so I won’t reveal how the book ends, but it is a great read. Thank you to NetGalley who provided me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for my review copy.
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I have been holding on to this title and pulling it out....multiple times. I am unable to get through the first chapter. It is not the writing or the subject per se.....it is just not working for me. I have so many books on my bookshelf dying for attention. I have decided to put this one down.
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I received a free electronic ARC of this novel from Netgalley, Tif Marcelo, and publisher Gallery Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. This book is a great example of life as it is lived by our military families, an outline of what it means to serve - which has to include everyone in the family, the by-yearly cross country or out of country moves, the stress of loving a soldier, the uncertainty of making plans for next week, next year. It is also an interesting and exciting tale, told very well, about women and how they support one another, often against their better judgment. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Regina, Adalaide, and Sophie, visiting them in their world, learning what is important to each of them, and seeing what they are willing to give to help one another. This is how the world is supposed to work.

This book is about friendships, found family, and finding yourself and what you really need. The author's life experience as a Military spouse enriches the story and gives it a feeling of a memoir. Can't wait to share it with my podcast audience.

Ten years ago, three army wives met through a book club on base. They became fast friends and dependent on each other as there husbands are deployed. When scandal hits one of them feels betrayed by another and cuts off that relationship. They have since moved on to other cities and different lives, but when Adelaide sends out an SOS to Sophie and Regina, they both hurry to get to her side. Each not knowing the other would be there. When Adelaide asks them to read one more book while she recovers from surgery, will they go along with it, will they both stay? As the past story unfolds we find out why the relationship is broken, but is there more to the story or will Adelaide’s attempts for reconciliation cause more damage?