For the Love of Friends was definitely a wild ride through a wedding-world rollercoaster. The writing was awesome and the story was very engaging but I can't get past certain aspects of the book. I wouldn't think twice about giving this a solid five stars if it didn't feature so much body shaming and the nasty way some characters talked about each other, specially the main character regarding her little sister.

Sara Goodman Confino's 'For the Love of Friends' is a simultaneous mixture of heartwarming hilarity and scathingly real reflections on what wedding mania can do to formerly rational people. Lily is 32, terminally single and nowhere near ready to take the walk down the aisle. Unless you count her turn as bridesmaid in five weddings over the course of six weeks! To vent about the the wedding madness descending upon her close friends and family, Lily starts an anonymous blog 'Bridesmania', not holding back on what she really thinks of proceedings. I am sure you can see where this is going!

I loved following Lily through all of the ups and downs of wedding prep. Sometimes, she could be harsh in her assessments of the brides and their families, as well as self-centred, but often I did not blame her for the over the top, sarcastic blog posts. To be repeatedly criticised for her weight, hair colour, height, eyelash length, forehead wrinkles, nails... It was draining to read, especially when her best friend joins in with the criticism. For women to turn into such awful friends for the sake of uniform bridesmaids and a few photographs... it is utter madness and Lily gets swept along it the wave of unrealistic expectations and the pursuit of the 'perfect day'.

Alongside the five weddings, I loved Lily's growth, anchored in her friendship with Alex. It was good to see her manage to find more genuine companionship and support when it seemed like all her friends were drifting away from her. I also appreciated how not everything was tied up in a neat bow. Lily had to suffer loss in order to learn from her experience.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend for any fans of romance or reflections on the nature of life and friendship. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love some wedding drama and this definitely delivered! 27 dresses is also one of my favourite movies and this definitely had the same kind of vibe about it.

I really liked Lily as the protagonist, she was very funny and engaging and I also loved Alex aswell, however a lot of the side characters involved with the weddings were the worst so I feel Lily’s pain that she had to deal with these people and honestly some of them should be thankful they only got a few blog post written about them!

I wish we got to read more of the blog posts she wrote because she kept mentioning she wrote them but we only got to actually read a few of them, which were always really snarky and funny, especially as the blog was supposed to be a main feature of the story.

There was loads of drama, misunderstandings and a slow burn romance that I loved seeing develop over the course of the book. Overall, I really enjoyed it!

This was a great palate cleanser to recover from some previous hard-hitting works that I had been reading. It was entertaining and absorbing although predictable (which isn't a bad thing!).
The dialogue was crisp and entertaining.
I read it very quickly and the ending was satisfying.
The main selling point was the emphasis on relationships and friendships between women - the dynamics and complexities that are tested in pressured conditions such as a wedding....
Perhaps the only thing at times was the number of weddings and therefore active characters made it a little hard to follow what was going on - it was difficult to keep track of who everyone was and their connection to the main character!
Definitely a good holiday or rainy/ snowy day read!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! The main character is asked to be in 5 weddings in one summer when 5 important people in her life all get engaged. Crazy brides, mothers, and bridesmaids cause the experience to be less than fun, and she begins an anonymous blog to vent her frustrations. The writing is funny and has a few unexpected twists as the story progresses. A fun beach read!

I absolutely LOVED this novel!!

It had a 27 dresses vibe, but with only 5 weddings that just so happens are all within 6 weeks of each other! I can’t imagine the stress of that in real life! 😅 To cope, Lily starts an anonymous blog describing the ins and outs of all of the brides and their wedding planning to let off some steam, and hopefully make a few bucks to help pay for all these weddings. As the bridal party chaos ensues over the year, her blog continues to pick up traction, and she begins to feel confident in her writing again, revealing maybe a little *too* much of the behind the scenes in all aspects of her life, or at least what she thinks is going on...

If you’ve ever been in a wedding party, it’s relatable in the most hilarious ways. It was a bit predictable at times, but adorable, nonetheless! Highly recommend!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review! The book comes out August 1st!

First off i loved this book
I laughed and cried and laughed some more plus it was a nice switch from the book i just read
I loved the characters, the friendship and the plot so well written and paced and made me stay up late finishing. That's saying a lot.
What i didn't like was that it had to end.
Anywhos it's safe to say this book has earned a spot on my Recommended list forever.

Thank you, NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lily is a bridesmaid at her two siblings' weddings. She is also a bridesmaid at three of her friend's weddings. The problem, all five take place over a five-week period of time. Lily has no wedding experience, and she just can't quite seem to handle the prewedding issues, with needy brides, and backstabbing bridesmaids. What can a girl do?

God, I am not very big on stories with wedding craziness as a premise but this was amazing. Like I could totally see it playing out like a movie in my head. Plus, it's hilarious. like laugh-out-loud hilarious.

This was generally okay. Lisa is a great character and I felt like she was very relatable. I wish there was depth.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one, so fun and I could totally relate to the wedding craziness. It is the type of fun (even through the ups and downs) book that I needed to read right now. I feel like I could foresee the ending a bit, but it was still an enjoyable read through and through.

For the Love of Friends was so much more than I expected, the characters were brilliant, the ending was really heartwarming and I enjoyed reading it.

I've absolutely loved "For the love of friends". It had been so long since I laughed out loud with a romantic book that I didn't think I would anymore. However, I could barely stop grinning since the first chapter of the novel. Sara Goodman Confino's writing is clever and funny and Lily's story has a really original setting and development (even if there were a couple of cliches within the plot twists). I was loving it so much I couldn't put it down until I finished it.

I specially liked the way Goodman defined her characters, how Lily grew from the first page to the last one and how she actually recognized her mistakes—something I'm not so used to see in this kind of books.

I did have a couple issues with the book: how body positivity leaves (and actually insults) skinny women and how the romantic interest reacted to learning what had happened in the first chapter of the book. I don't think they're strong arguments to not read the book, the way they are portrayed at least, but they're worth mentioning.

For the Love of Friends by Sara Goodman Confino is a sharp and hilariously relatable novel about the business of weddings, the toll they can take, and the lengths one exasperated bridesmaid will go to for the love of friends. Lily Weiss is such a great character. She is fun to read about and also so much more relatable at multiple levels. The concept of Blog about weddings and bridesmaid and etc is so much fun and full of drama. I really would want to see this book turned into a fun movie like bride wars or something similar. Bridesmania is her blog's name. I enjoyed reading it, definitely pick it up if you are looking for a hilarious and fun chick lit, romance novel.
___

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for the eARC!

This is a wonderfully funny story. Lily Weiss is in trouble. She is a bridesmaid at her two siblings' weddings, both younger than her. She is also a bridesmaid at three of her friend's weddings. The problem, all five take place over a five-week period of time. Lily has no wedding experience, and she just can't quite seem to handle the prewedding issues, with needy brides, and backstabbing bridesmaids. What is a girl to do? How about starting an anonymous blog to vent and maybe make a little money to offset the outlandish expense of being in five weddings.

I enjoyed this book all the way through. I felt for Lily so much and was impressed with how much she did for her friends (even when they maybe didn't deserve her). If you have ever been to a wedding, been in a wedding party, or just want to laugh, this is for you!

Highly recommend. Thank you, NetGalley for the Arc. This is my honest review.

Wow what a ride! Loved the story of Lily and the five weddings! Anyone who’s ever been part of a bridal party can totally relate to the madness and unique time where crazy is almost acceptable! The story is set in New York but quite honestly it could be anywhere! I loved Lily and her honestly, I laughed out loud, cringed and felt like I was with her all the way.

I was drawn to this story for the wedding, friendship, and anonymous-blog-exposed elements, and was not disappointed. This novel made me want to call my friends.

This is a must-read for anyone planning a wedding or anyone who has been involved in the planning of a wedding. As someone who is currently both a soon-to-be bride and current bridesmaid, I found this novel very relatable. The story is witty, interesting, and heartfelt. This book is perfectly paired with a mimosa and pedicure.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-ARC copy.

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.

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.

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.