First I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. For the Love of Friends introduces us to Lily Weiss. She is 32 and single and her life apparently is now revolving around weddings! She has to be a bridesmaid in 5 weddings in 6 weeks! This is a 'social media' romcom that totally brought me joy! Lily kinda loses her way in the book but I was cheering for her to make some good choices and find herself!

This book was so good!
It dabbled in a little bit of everything!
Sort of coming of age, romance and more!
I loved the love interest and I found the main character to be super independent and amazing!

I LOVED this book!!!! I laughed so hard out loud so many times. I definitely would recommend this to rom-com fans, romance fans, and comedy fans. It really has it all. The characters were so over the top, but in a very believable way (especially if you've ever been a bridesmaid)! I felt like Lily was actually a relatable for me. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

FOR THE LOVE OF FRIENDS by Sara Goodman Confino follows a thirty-two-year-old woman named Lily who’s a bridesmaid in five (yep, five) different weddings over the span of two months. Equipped with an anonymous blog, she tries to survive the drama.

I absolutely loved this book! It had a ton of petty drama, mean girls, friendships, and love. I found the character of Lily to be extremely relatable, and even when she said inconsiderate things, I couldn’t help but be on her side at least a little.

This book was crazy and fun, and had me actually laughing out loud. While I did guess the twist at the end from the very beginning, I still felt fulfilled in knowing I was right.

The only reason this book is getting 4 stars is that there were a couple ignorant comments made in the first half that left a weird taste in my mouth. Nothing that impacted the overall story, but stuck with me nonetheless.

Despite that, I’ll definitely be purchasing my own copy of this book because it met all of my standards as far as contemporary romances go!

Publication Date: August 1, 2021

*** special thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Posted to Goodreads and The StoryGraph: 02/17/21
Posted to Instagram (Bookstagram): 08/01/21

I loved this! A very enjoyable romance with a well-rounded main character whose supporting characters were also written well. I also enjoyed the humor in the book.

It's set in the area where I live, so it was fun to look for the various hints to location.

I enjoyed this book. The main character was fun, relatable, messy, and made a lot of bad decisions, but it was very fun. Loved the twist at the end, and the romance was very cute.

I enjoyed this book. The writing was good and the plots fun and entertaining. Maybe I'm too old now though to thoroughly enjoy young brides and their maids even as fun as these were.

I really enjoyed this! I found Lily's character very relatable and just overall thought the banter was entertaining. Overall, it felt like a story we have read before but it was light hearted and easy to spin through that I don't regret picking it up.

Lily weiss has a very busy year ahead. She has just been asked to be bridesmaid in five, yes five, weddings the following summer. One for a work colleague, one for her college room mate one for her oldest best friend, and annoyingly, both her younger brother and younger sister. Which means she will no doubt have to dodge a barrage of nosey questions about her non-existent love life from well meaning family members.
Being in the wedding party involves a lot of expense. The dress, the shoes, the bridal shower, bachelorette party and now, quite horrifyingly, the chemical hair straightening treatment, spanx, minimiser bra, eyelash extensions and even botox. Times five, Lily's bank balance is going to take quite a beating for the sake of keeping others happy. Not forgetting the interfering mother in law, overbearing mother of the bride, the stepford bridesmaid from hell, the non-existent best friend and the wonderful (but off limits) groomsman.
What better way to vent about all the craziness that happens when you're involved in five weddings, than an anonymous online blog, telling a warts and all saga of all the over the top behaviors and demands. With just a few exaggerations thrown in.
Let's hope this blog stays anonymous because I'm sure the brides won't be very thrilled to read it....

What I liked best about this book was Lily's energy. She is full of life even though she doesn't see herself that way. She has a great group of friends, a loving family and she is able to reignite her old passion for writing. Even when things get super awkward, she manages to find the funny side. I feel like we all know a Lily. That friend who somehow gets herself in the strangest situations and has the most amazing tales to tell. That to a stranger would seem completely made up, but her friends know that this type of thing is a regular occurrence.

I found the plot very predictable. It follows a tried and tested method that has been seen many times before, however this is because it works. I was still utterly gripped. I finished the book really quickly because I didn't put it down until I'd finished.

I really enjoyed this read. It was so laugh out loud funny in places. It pretty outrageous but still believable.
I can really see it being adapted for the big screen.

I loved this book! It was heartwarming and strong. It was exactly what I needed with everything going on in the world! A happy little escape!

This book was not for me and I could not recommend it to anyone either.

From the start the tone is trying too hard and it does not get better.
The protagonist was unlikable, not as funny as she thinks she is, judgmental, immature, and it is near impossible to feel bad for her or relate to her in any way. She makes one bad decision after another, and it's not like they are unavoidable either, just a mountain of irresponsibility and "woe is me". Maybe if she was likable it would have been a fun read.
I could not wait to finish this book and was disappointed with the ending as well.

While this book did have some uncomfortable topics, I still really enjoyed it. I loved Lily and the blogging aspects of the story. I enjoyed that I was surprised quite often and that the story took turns I didn't expect. And a good wedding drama is always fun!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a great light read for the beach or Sunday afternoon load-shedding. However, the amount of body shaming in this book is unbearable.

Lily's blog is funny and I love all the movie references throughout the book. Lily's character on the other hand is utterly selfish, mean, and sometimes plain whining. In the end, she does somewhat of a redemption arc.

The thing I appreciated most about this book is the fact that they show the lengths people with mental illness go through to hide it from the world. We don't always know what our friends are going through.

I think this book is a cross between Bridget Jones Diary and 27 Dresses. I would recommend people with eating disorders, issues with body image, and dislike of body shaming stay clear of the novel.

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!

Such a fun read! I'm a suspense/thriller author & reader but I do like the occasional light-hearted read featuring comedy, friendship, and wacky life moments. The book played out like a movie in my mind: part Bridget Jones' Diary, part 27 Dresses, part Bridesmaids. I can't even fathom being in more than one wedding a year let alone five over the course of a few months. Plus, with every one of the brides' demands and more complicated requests from the bridesmaids. I really enjoyed this book from debut author Sara Goodman Confino! This needs to be romcom movie please!

For the Love of Friends is about Lily, a 32 year-old woman who was asked by her close friends and siblings to be a bridesmaid in a total of five weddings, all of which are taking place within the span of two months. All the planning for these weddings inevitably causes misunderstandings and drama within her friends and family. Lily then decides to run an anonymous online blog to share her frustrations and experiences in attending all of these weddings.

I wanted to read this book because I expected it to be a light and fun read, and it didn't disappoint me at all. It was enjoyable and I liked the writing style. I especially loved how well-written the main character was. I grew to like Lily because she was flawed and relatable -- the type of protagonist that reader is able to connect with and would be interested to read about. I also enjoyed the slow-burn romance and adored the love interest.

However, I think that one of the weak points of this book is that the supporting characters felt very one-dimensional and wasn't really given as much depth.

I also hated the contents of the blog that she ran. I'm sorry to say this but they were just so cringe-y and embarrassing to read and seemed like something written by a raging teenager instead of a grown woman.

I think the biggest problem I had with this book was the constant bodyshaming. I felt uncomfortable and it made reading this a bit harder.

So, it's February, I'm the singlest I've ever been (thanks global pandemic!), so what to do? Reaching for a feel-good romance seemed like a pretty good idea. And, not going to lie, it was.

I absolutely loved this book. I didn't think I would, since I had read something with a similar premise a few months back (secret blog, that kind of blows up and all that) and I hadn't actually loved it - I think I gave it a 2/5? For the Love of Friends, however, was a true delight. I genuinely loved Lily; she felt so real, so fully-fleshed out, and so well-rounded, it was hard not to root for her. Was she perfect? Fuck no, but I didn't want a perfect protagonist: I wanted to see a full, proper person, one that can sometimes be insensitive, and snarky, and self-centered, but is fundamentally good at heart. And that's what Lily gave me.

As for the romance? Oh my god, the romance. I could talk about this for days!! Lily and Alex had such an amazing chemistry and such an excellently-built banter I couldn't help but swoon. Alex wasn't perfect either and I don't think he was intended to be the swoon-worthy, perfect type of guy; he, just like Lily, felt like a normal, real person, someone you might actually meet and fall in love with (can you tell I'm feeling single as fuck yet?). I only wish we had gotten to see a bit more of them, as it was a bit of a slow burn romance. I certainly liked the ending, and I am praaaying for a sequel. Is it too early to speak of a sequel? I don't think it is.

And now, for the actual brides. All the Bridezilla moments were so fun to read, and I genuinely laughed out loud at certain points. I think Confino was very clever in the way she set out the layout of the book, as Lily's blog posts gave us a more caricature-like version of the brides and a more stereotypical depiction of events, while the actual narrative let them breathe and fully expand into actual people. Sure, Lily's posts, in all their exaggerated madness, were a lot of fun to read, but I thought it was very interesting to see the actual narrative and how the events played out and then be able to compare it to the version Lily put into her blog. This comparison was not only interesting to read, but also showed a side of Lily that was perhaps a bit insensitive and a bit too self-absorbed, and it certainly helped create a view of things that wasn't as one-sided. I also thought the resolution was quite realistic, despite being a bit cliche; again, the characters acted like normal human beings, definitely not perfect, but certainly human.


Overall, a delightful read that may send me down a romance rabbit hole. Oh well...

Lilly is smart, successful, and an all around “good catch,” if it weren’t for the fact that she manages to sabotage all of her relationships even before they can really even become relationships. But more important to Lily, she’s a good friend. Such a good friend that over the course of six weeks, she’ll be standing up as a bridesmaid in five different weddings. So when money gets tight and Lily decides to see if she can make a little side money blogging about her brides and co-bridesmaids, things really start to get interesting and Lily ends up having to take a hard look at exactly what type of good friend would write some of the things she’s published. The funny part of reading this book is that I thought I had checked out something different, so as I was reading and none of the characters names/jobs/locations were matching up with what I (thought) I had read for the book description, I realized my error---but what a happy accident! This book was exactly what I didn’t even know I wanted: light-hearted, funny, lots of description on the character’s and the fashion that goes along with all weddings. Even though this is not my usual genre for reading, I found it hard to put down and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Special Note: Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! Super cute and easy, fun read. These are the kind of books I'd love to see turn into a romcom (my favorite movies ever). Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - Lily had to have seen it coming that her blog would be found. The only thing I wish to have had more of is the love interest. But overall, such a fun read!

This was a fun rom-com read!

Lily is 32 single (to the dismay of her mother) woman who finds herself in a pickle when she ends up being a bridesmaid in 5 different weddings that occur in the same 6-week time span. She's drowning in weddings, so she creates an anonymous blog to vent her frustrations. Will she survive the wedding day shenanigans? Will she finally find Mr. Right? Or will her blog cost her everything?

All in all, this was cute. There were a lot of fun characters (the grandma and Alex stick out) and some crazy wedding situations. But at it's heart, this is a book about friendship. After all, that is what gets Lily into being a bridesmaid at 5 different weddings. I really enjoyed how important friendship is to this story. Also, I loved the literary and pop culture references. I really was not expecting a lot of them, but they were so enjoyable.

If you're looking for a sweet romantic comedy with a lead who does make mistakes (and has snark in spades), give this a read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC of For the Love of Friends!