Member Reviews

Happy Pub Day to this little gem!
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For the Love of Friends, Sara Gooman Confino
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Lily, our main character, is a bridesmaid in 5 weddings at the same time!! And she handles it exactly as you’d imagine! Lily is relatable, funny, and truly the star of this book!

Read this if:
- you enjoy reading about a thirty-something just trying to find her way
- you’ve ever been a bridesmaid and had to endure bridezillas, catty bridesmaids, and/or judgy mother-of-the-brides
- you like the idea of a romance beginning from notes on the side of a Starbucks cup
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Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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Serving as a bridesmaid in five weddings over a two-month period is taking its toll on Lily. She loves her friends, but she's constantly setting aside her own feelings to make their big day special. To blow off steam and raise some money to offset the wedding expenses, she starts an anonymous blog. She's more than a little snarky, but after ten years as a science writer, it feels good to express herself and put her talents as a storyteller to use. After all, no one will ever trace the blog back to her, right? Right?

This book is an absolute delight. Lily is a fun character, and her observations are hilarious. With five weddings, the author has to juggle a LOT of characters, but she does a good job with his. I also really enjoyed the romance subplot. Sometimes in chick lit books, the romance gets lost, but not in this one.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

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This book was read thanks to NetGalley, NetGalley didn't interfere with the review.


I requested because the summary gave me 27 dresses vibes, and I was wrong.


IT IS BETTER!!!

The author handled the narrative voices so well, that I enjoyed every single moment of it, even when it wasn't suppose to.

Our protagonist goes to a path of discover herself and helping herself to be happy with their partners and I related to that.


I highly recommend this book, enjoyed from the start to the end.


The bloging part make me laugh, loved from the start to the end.

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This book!!!!! I blew through this amazing story in a few days because I couldn't put it down. It's voicey and hilarious, but also so full of heart. Lily is snarky and funny, and she fiercely loves her friends and family. I loved going on this journey with her through the ups and downs of being a bridesmaid in five weddings and dealing with bridezillas, mean girl bridesmaids, overbearing mothers, and a hilarious grandma - and ultimately finding her passion in the process. Bottom line: I need this to be a romcom on Netflix right now!

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You know any kind of wedding type of book, I’m there. Especially when it’s realistic on the high standards of getting married and having kids and having “the perfect American life” by like.. 24. Pretty sure I was still eating lunchables and forgetting to take my vitamins. Hell, I’m 32 and I STILL forget that. Sara Goodman Confino’s For The Love of Friends is a hilarious and brilliant read that I’ve been missing in my life!

Lily girl, you’re welcome in my friend group at any time. Being in 35927 weddings myself, I get you, I feel you. I think I loved this book because it was SO relatable! I found myself saying, “OMG YES!” so many times because been there done that, but it’s always so hush hush because it’s taboo (for a lack of better words) for society.

I love different mediums in books, and the emails, blogs, etc. were the best to add insight and keep the story flowing. This is such a good book and I want y’all to grab it if you’re a NetGalley person, because it’s a “read now”. I was kind of intimidated because it seems like a little thick, but just clocking over 360 pages, I could have read 100 more and still given it a 5 🏃‍♀️. Thank you so much @sara and @iaterick for the gifted copy and coffee mug! For the Love of Friends is out tomorrow so grab it y’all! Okay

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Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure if I quite want to attend any weddings, much less get married myself after the trials and tribulations of Lily Weiss, but that won't stop me from raving about this book.

From the outset, Lily Weiss is in a bit of a pickle. She's been cajoled into being a bridesmaid at five weddings (FIVE), and what's a girl to do in that situation other than turn her experiences, which range from the annoying (such as disagreements over the color and style of the bridesmaids dresses and overbearing mothers) to the truly bonkers (such as a bride demanding she dye her dark hair to match the other blonde bridesmaids), into a blog? A blog that goes viral. A blog that lands her in hot water with all five of those brides, as well as with perfect gentleman and groomsman Alex, whom Lily has been developing a "strictly platonic" relationship with throughout the course of the book only for there to be real feelings there in need of addressing.

This book has it all: drama, snark, and a truly relatable heroine. The strengths in this book speak to Confino's prowess as a writer: it would be so easy to render Lily as this one-dimensional character, but no, she's complex, and nuanced, and knows when she's sabotaging herself (which this reader, who is particularly adept in self-sabotage, can appreciate immensely.) And Confino's character building doesn't stop with her heroine! The brides are from all walks of life, and speak to the variety of female friendships there are; there's a sister, a sister-in-law, an office friend, a best friend, and a college roommate. You can almost see Confino ticking off the boxes, but it doesn't read like a laundry list at all, it feels organic. There's backstory there, there are real relationships there. And another thing I liked about this book is that it doesn't have a strictly happy ending. Yes, Lily is forgiven by most of the brides, but one of them decides to cut ties. Life doesn't always happen the way we'd like, and sometimes friendships end, close ones, ones we've clung to for years.

In sum and in summation, Confino's book is the perfect summer read, an absolutely charming roller-coaster ride through the obstacle course that is wedding season. I finished it in one sitting, it was that addictive. Once you're in, good luck putting it down for anything.

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This was such an superb amazing read! I laughed so many times and basically read it in one sitting. It was so funny, light - had some touchy subjects and they were handled pretty good in this chick-lit and i loved how the main character had such character development, sucked up and fixed her wrongdoings. Plus the best man was such an awesome guy! The story development went along nicely, had a comfortable pace and let us get to know all the characters in a timely manner - so it was easy to know who was who and not get confused. So all in all, so good!

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I loved this book! It was absolutely full of people behaving badly, not the least of which was Lily. This definitely has some over the top bride moments (and thankfully the weddings I’ve been in have had brides much less demanding), but I could remember the stress and expense of a single wedding in a year, so could fully feel for Lily juggling five! I did cringe a bit at how thinly veiled her identity and those of her friends and family were. Still, it was so much fun to read about while waiting for disaster to strike!
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Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and entertaining read - hard to believe this is a debut! The story is very relatable, looking at the excesses of the wedding industry with lots of hilarious snark, but also touching on some deeper issues like friendship, relationships and self-image. Looking forward to reading more from this author!

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Where to start? For the Love of friends is a laugh out loud, fun story. Lily, the main character, is so real, you’d almost think the author is writing about bits and pieces of your own life.

I can’t express in words how much I truly enjoyed this book. It covers family, friends, the ugly side of people, redemption and love.

I recommend this book as one of my favorites of the year. WTG Sara Goodman Confino!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Sara Goodman Cofino for the opportunity to read this book for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

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Lily is a 32-year-old PR professional who’s fairly content in her life. She likes her job enough, her nights and weekends are full of fun-filled events with friends, etc. etc., but she can’t help but feel like something’s missing. The feeling starts snowballing a bit with the engagement of one friend, and then it’s like a domino effect. Her three closest friends, plus her younger brother and sister, are all getting hitched. Lily’s expected to be a bridesmaid in all five weddings, and all within the span of two months. As the costs start piling up and compounding, Lily starts an anonymous blog as a way to bring in some potential side hustle money. For months, she documents the craziness of planning weddings, showers, bachelorette parties, plus wedding/bridesmaid dress shopping, etc.

One by one, the friends turn into bridezillas, and some of the other wedding party members are even worse! Their behavior was so cringeworthy I legit wanted to throw my Kindle across the room and tell Lily to disown her entire friend group and several family members. There were a ton of funny parts, and the slow-burn romance was fun to watch develop but...whew! Prepare to be a little outraged on Lily’s behalf. It made me grateful my bridesmaid days are LONG over. ;)

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a digital review copy.

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This was such a fun book !!! I relate on a personal level to Lily, in regards to going to about a million weddings all at once! I wish we had more blog posts, but overall it was a fun story, and even though the ending was predictable, that’s what makes it, in my opinion, the perfect romcom !

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Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of For the Love of Friends in exchange for my honest opinion.
The premise of this book is completely relatable for many women - Lily is asked to be a bridesmaid/maid of honor in the weddings of three of her closest friends, all occurring within the same 6 weeks. But then her younger brother AND her younger sister announce they'll be getting married in the same timeframe, too! And of course she will be a bridesmaid for both of them!
Lily throws her sass into an anonymous blog about the pre-wedding shenanigans to air her grievances. Some of the entries will have you laughing out loud!
This one comes out Sunday 8/1, and I recommend checking it out - not your typical wedding-related romcom!

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For the Love of Friends was a very entertaining read.

It follows the story of Lily, a single 30 something who is asked to be in five different weddings taking place over the span of a few months. Two of those weddings happen to be for her younger siblings. As she struggles to juggle all of the different weddings, she is also struggling to manage her bank account. Her grand idea? To create a blog as an outlet for her frustrations, and also to hopefully make a few bucks to help fund everything.

She writes about the groomsman she slept with the night of her best friends engagement party, the wicked bridesmaids she has to put up with for her coworkers wedding, and the all controlling mother of her college best friends wedding. What could possibly go wrong?

The only thing keeping her sane is her new friendship/budding romance with a different groomsman from the same wedding party as the one she already slept with.

As the weddings creep closer her blog gains more and more attention until suddenly everything spectacularly blows up in her face. (No surprise there!) All of a sudden she is alone and left to deal with the aftermath of her decision to air everybody's dirty laundry.

You'll have to read for yourself to find out how everything plays out. Does anybody even want her in their wedding anymore? Does she get the guy?

Now for my personal thoughts. I thought this book was a really quick read. I found it entertaining and fun, especially because I am now at the age where I am attending multiple weddings each year. I can't imagine the stress of actually having to be in them, let alone five at the same time! The beginning of this book confused me a bit because there were so many names and I struggled to keep the weddings separate in my mind. It became easier as the story progressed. I do wish there had been more blog posts, or that more of the story was told in this format. We would read the scene of what happened, then we would see Lily retype the same story in her voice for the blog. I appreciate this book having only one narrator. In the beginning I really felt for Lily, but by the end I started to dislike her more. (She would agree with this statement too.) A good reminder that everyone makes mistakes, and that there is usually more to the story than we can see.

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*thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

“Always the bridesmaid, but glad I’m not the bride?”

Lily, the protagonist, is a great friend which is how she ends up being a bridesmaid in 5 different weddings all around the same time. But with weddings come some headaches so she decides to create an anonymous blog to vent out all her frustrations.

I absolutely adored this book!! I inhaled it in under 24 hours, and if I hadn’t had to go to work I definitely would’ve read it in one sitting. The writing is addictive.

This book was funny, cute & overall a super enjoyable read. I loved the main character, Lily. She was funny, snarky & felt real. Watching her delve through all of those weddings and blog about them was hilarious! Honestly, as someone who got married about a month ago & was in a ton of wedding boards, many of those situations Lily found herself in are very realistic, believe it or not.

And Alex!!!! Ugh I love him with my whole heart. He was funny and I loved his chemistry with Lily. I adored their back and forth dialogue so much and absolutely loved their friendship.

I honestly didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did, but it’s easily a new comfort read of mine! If you love the movie 27 dresses, I think you will enjoy this book! It’s obviously not the same as the movie, but the vibes are somewhat similar & it’s even referenced in the book!

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Lily is in 5 weddings in 6 weeks. Three friends and 2 siblings! To relieve the stress of it all, and her mothers nagging comments to catch up to her friends and family, Lilly starts an anonymous blog to vent her frustrations. But when it becomes popular can she keep her anonymity and will all 5 weddings go without a hitch? Or will friendships be forever changed?

I found this book so entertaining. I loved that each bride was very different from each other. There was the bride who didn't really want a wedding, a lux over the top bride, a quiet bride marrying her brother who she isn't really friends with at all, her too young sister, and to top it off her best friend. I did think it was a little long and some of the bride commotion could be cut down. We get it being in a wedding is crazy, being in 5 is crazier and of course she doesnt have enough money etc etc etc. But I loved the blog style of writing and the relationship her friendship blooming with fellow groomsman Alex. I also enjoyed that Lily was possibly meant to be plus sized? Overall I enjoyed this read. 3.5 stars.

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Review of For The Love Of Friends by Sara Goodman Confino:
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Lily Weiss works in PR and is a writer yet for the past ten years, she has been working in a job that just doesn’t suit her other than to pay her bills. Lily is also single and tends to sabotage any relationship she gets into. She has also agreed to be in five weddings, all within the same season. Five weddings where she doesn’t get a plus one because she’s single, and where she has to deal with not only the brides, but their moms and witchy bridesmaids. So what does one do when you can’t vent about your friends to your friends? Start an anonymous blog detailing all the wedding nightmares of course! Passive aggressiveness at its finest. But when secrets don’t stay secrets for long, how long before it all implodes in Lily’s face?

I’m calling it. Snarkiest Book of 2021 right here. I laughed out loud so much, I was crying at times. I even repeated passages to my husband which got a little laugh out of him. And oh man did I connect with the characters. I had to keep reminding myself they are fictional and no one actually made Lily (also fictional) change her appearance to fit into a bridal party, or any of the other chaos that ensued. When Lily was seething but not putting her foot down, I was seething with her. The romance in this is absolutely perfect - predictable but perfect. The writing was addictive; I couldn’t put this down. It was snarky but not overdone and those blog posts… ahhh.. perfection! Can we also make note that I want to be Lily’s grandma when I get old?! She is a hoot. This is a perfect beach or summer read if you’re looking to round out your August TBR. And if you’re a bride that has done anything in this book - get lost.

Thank you @SaraConfino, @Netgalley, and @LetsTalkBooksPromo [#partner] for gifting me with a complimentary copy! This book is out now!

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I absolutely love some good wedding drama and this book did not disappoint. A really fun story and quick read that you're sure to enjoy.

5/5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

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I requested For the Love of Friends because it is set in Maryland, where I live and who doesn’t love a familiar setting. I was excited to find that Sara is also based in Maryland.

The story follows Lily as she finds herself in 5 weddings happening over 2 months. She starts an anonymous blog as a place to vent her frustrations in a safe place while trying to earn money for wedding expenses.

I was hooked after the first couple of pages. Lily’s blog is harsh but so are some of the situations she finds herself in as a result of the brides or bridesmaids. It is also funny because some of these situations are just too much.

All the situations help Lily grow and figure out a few things about herself and her changing relationships with her friends and siblings as a result of thier weddings. There is a love interest but he is friend-zoned right away, which also helps with her growth.

For the Love of Friends will be released on August 1. Pick it up and take it to the pool, the beach or to the mountains. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, drew me in and hard to put down. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

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