For the Love of Friends is a DNF for me. Haven't we as women gotten past blackout drinking and waking up with a stranger because another person you know gets engaged? To begin a book that way put me off. I tried to give the author the benefit of the doubt, but only made it to chapter 4 and stopped reading. This book was not for me.

This novel was full of twists and turns that left you always unsure of which dilemma would crop up next. The characters were all extremely likeable, and had their own quirks, traits and personalities that shone through with every word.

So fun! If someone asked me to recommend a great wedding-centric novel, it would be this one. The story brings a modern twirl to 27 Dresses with an even better vibe, realism in the BFF and romantic relationships, and the welcome presence of logic in a chick-lit story. It checks all the boxes, including giving us really likeable main characters and the fun blend of a science-minded character and the chaos of wedding world. Loved it. Bring it to the pool or beach, for sure.
Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the fun read in this ARC for a review.

For the love of friends |

Thank you @netgalley for the arc.

The protagonist Lilly Weiss finds herself being her mother's worst nightmare. But that didn't concern Lily as much as finding herself in five different weddings and being the bridesmaid in every single of them.

This was one really quick read. The wedding bells were heavy in this book. Lliterally felt like reading something out of a movie. Hilarious indeed, with just the right amount of romance. There were lots of wedding surrounded dramas which were really entertaining. Of course in situation like this we find tons of bridesmaids and groomsmen(you can guess what may happen;)The bridesmaids were really annoying seriously. There were perpetuation of body shaming and single shaming. But Lily helped her friends and herself conquer it. I loved how she always have the snarky comebacks for internalized misogyny. This really felt like a movie night rom com.

This comes out on 1st August 2021.

I was excited to read this one! I liked the idea of the concept. The main character is asked to be a bridesmaid at 5 different weddings, all in the same year. It gave me big 27 Dresses vibes. But as I continued to make my way through the book, I became slightly more disappointed. I thought the story was very dialogue-heavy, which made it hard to keep track of what was going on and I often found myself having to fill in the gaps because there wasn’t any other substance to fill me in. It almost became too much. Lastly, the epilogue was very short and almost unnecessary, considering the events of the last few chapters. Overall, I still believe this story has potential but needs more descriptive fillings rather than repetitive dialogue.

For the Love of Friends was such a cute book! Having been a bridesmaid and a bride I could easily relate to all the wedding drama Lily experiences. It was cute, sassy and just the right amount of lovey-dovey. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the arc to review.

Lily Weiss has a problem...well actually five problems. The 32-year-old is living up to the 'always a bridesmaid never a bride' stereotype by standing up in five wedding within a three month timeframe. Bridezilla mania on top of issues with her job, mother and own love life all culminate when she creates an anonymous blog sharing the details of her life with the world. But as we know nothing stays secret forever.

Omg...I loved this book so much. Anything with weddings and I'm in! I love reality tv and this book felt like an episode of Bridezilla on steroids. I enjoyed reading about the horrors of each bride and the supporting characters really rounded out the plot. The romance aspect between Lily and Alex was nice too. The only thing I didn't care for was even though several of the brides treated Lily horribly they were forgiven because 'that's how brides are'. Overall, cannot recommend this book enough!

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

For the Love of Friends was a funny and fast read! It was a bit predictable but overall I enjoyed it. It took me a while to get used to the writing style and I’m not sure how long I’ll remember it but it was definitely entertaining.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick, fun read. I found the main character to be mostly very likeable, even though she’s being snarky about her friends and family in her blog. I enjoyed the lost interest part of the story, especially the friends-to-something-more aspect, which is unusual in this type of book. I pretty much predicted the outcome of the “one night stand” at the beginning of the book, but that didn’t other me.
I didn’t get a couple things....why were her friends and family acting blameless about her blog when what she wrote was true and meant to be anonymous? I get the anger, but they should also be offering some apologies. Also, would Buzzfeed actually out the author of an anonymous blog like that? Seems pretty low considering the contents of the blog. I actually appreciated that not everything worked out perfectly for her in the end, at least not right away. Lastly, one thing I thought was a bit funny is all the praise the main character gets for the quality of the writing in her blog.....isn’t that essentially just the author calling herself a great writer, as she’s the one who wrote the blog posts in the book? That just kind of made me laugh.
Overall, I really liked this book and would definitely check out something else written by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me access to this eARC!

Lily is going to be in 5 weddings!! Thats right 5!!! She decides to start blogging about the events that unfold throughout. Although quite predictable in what would happen I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and didn't put it down until I was finished. Thank you for the read.

I tried so so hard to get into this book. As someone who worked in the wedding industry for so long, I was so excited about this title! But the narrative didn’t grab my attention and I struggled to get past the first three chapters. Unfortunately this title was a DNF for me at this time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of For The Love Of Friends by Sara Goodman Confino in exchange for an honest review of the book. Three words... I LOVED IT!

Let me begin by saying that being a bridesmaid in a wedding can be quite expensive. Having to be in 5? I can’t even imagine! Lily, the main character of this book is in 5 weddings over a 2 month time. 3 are friends and the other two are her younger siblings. She finds she needs a place to vent so she starts an anonymous blog. Let’s be honest, we can all predict what will happen, BUT it didn’t make the book any less enjoyable.

The blog posts are hysterical! The author literally took the most bizarre wedding situations and made each of the brides have one of them happen in her wedding which, of course, affect Lily so she blogs about it. While all of this is going on, she is also “just friends” with Alex, one of the groomsmen in her best friend’s wedding (who she promised she wouldn’t hook up with). Once again, predictable but enjoyable.

I found myself excited to pick up the book to read and even stayed up most of one night reading (oops). Highly recommend this one!

#NetGalley #ForTheLoveOfFriends #SaraGoodmanConfino #ContemporaryFiction #AdultFiction #ChickLit #Romance #Friends #Bridezilla #Family #Bridesmaids

Content Warning: Body shaming
While a bit predictable ; funny and romantic. I'm not big on weddings and straight romances but this one is cute. I found Lily very relatable even though I'm 25 and the youngest in my family because I've thought about writing a blog before. Otherwise I couldn't relate and didn't like most of her friends. I don't really recommend this unless you like snarky blogs and wedding drama.

Thanks NetGalley for the free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a pleasant read. I enjoyed the story, even if the characters drove me bananas - which is a good thing: they were believable, real, and complex. Deeper issues around friendship, internal battles, and love came through in an easy way.

I heard good things about this book from fellow readers/reviewers so decided to request it. This was a great little pick me up for me. It's been a few years since planning my own wedding and being a bridesmaid, so it was fun to revisit those times, although these brides and some of the family members and bridesmaids were out of control. I like the angle they took with the main character venting on her blog, and obviously this was always going to lead to people finding out about it. I do feel like, if this was real life, she might have taken greater care to conceal the identities by making the stories less obviously specific. I did get a little annoyed with our main character when she got so caught up in bashing others and not being straight up with them, however, she did redeem herself in as the plot unfolds and I really enjoyed reading this lighthearted novel. I think this will be a popular summer read, and hopefully one that doesn't scare away too many brides or bridesmaids.

Lily Weiss is her mother’s worst nightmare: thirty-two and single—the horror! She’s also a talented writer but hides behind a boring job at a science foundation. To her friends, she’s reliable and selfless, which is how she winds up a bridesmaid in five weddings in six weeks. Anything for her three best friends and two (younger) siblings, right? Even if her own love life is…well, she’d rather not talk about it. To keep her sanity, Lily needs a safe place to vent.
And so her anonymous blog, Bridesmania, is born. The posts start pouring out of her: all the feels about mom-zillas, her vanishing bank balance, the wicked bridesmaids of the west, high-strung brides-to-be, body-shaming dress clerks, bachelorette parties, and Spanx for days, not to mention being deemed guardian of eighty-eight-year-old Granny (who enjoys morning mimosas in the nude) for her brother’s destination wedding.
So far the blog has stayed anonymous. But as everyone knows, few things online remain secret forever…
When all is said and done, can Lily help all five couples make it to happily ever after? And will her own happy ending be close behind?

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The story focuses around one woman who has been asked to be bridesmaid in 5 weddings all happening in the same year. To say the brides are demanding is an understatement. From breast reductions to false eyelashes to demands are endless. Hilarious, heart felt and addictive. I loved it. (Yes I did cry at the end!!)

I adored For the Love of Friends. The writing is excellent. I laughed so hard throughout the book, winced during the cringey moments, and relaxed when some things worked out. I was Team Lily from beginning to end. She foolishly agrees to be in 5 weddings which sucks her time, patience, energy, and money. To vent she creates an anonymous blog. Her posts were hilarious. I thought some of the brides were just ridiculous and more worried about the wedding day rather than the marriage. When Lily’s secret is exposed not everyone is forgiving. I was proven right about something that happened at the very beginning Of the book. I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed a book so much.

OK read for me. I liked the main characters, but it was all a bit wordy. There was a nice twist at the end. Overall a good women's fiction novel.

I really enjoyed this book and the lol moments! Lily was a likeable character to commiserate with on wedding craziness-- I've been in my fair share of weddings too, some with more unrealistic expectations than others (but nothing as crazy as in this story). I also live/work in the DC area so I could relate to that and really picture the scenes where this happened. I would love to see companion books or sequels (maybe a prequel set in Chicago based on the sister in law?).
The writing style was cute, though could bit a bit challenging to follow at times with the formatting for the text messages.

Predictable, cute, some laugh out loud moments. Also some eye rolling moments. At first I thought Lily was going to swoop in and be the savior of all the weddings. Instead, she was the enemy bridesmaid. I didn’t see the twist at the end coming.