It was a quick read and it did have its moments which kept me reading it. There were a lot of characters in it, sometimes too many in my opinion, but I found Lily and Max interesting and likeable. Lily has 5 weddings in six weeks and during this time she has to reevaluate some of her relationships with friends, family and work. I just didn't like the way the book flowed with the blog and the multiple characters but that is just my opinion. I would recommend it as a light hearted and fun read for those who enjoy 27 dresses, Bridget Jones and wedding type of books. Although this wasn't for me I would try another book by Sara Goodman Confino in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this galley in exchange for an unbiased review. I got about a third of the way through this book and am stuck there. Having read the other positive reviews on here, which I always find helpful, I may well give it another try. It's not badly written, but despite having had years myself when I attended multiple weddings, I am struggling to relate to Lily. I don't know why she is so snarky about her little sister wanting to get married in her twenties, or why she makes mean comments about her future sister-in-law's shyness - and even as a people-pleaser myself, I struggle to agree to why she'd agree to any of this in the first place. Yes, other people's weddings can be a pain and even stuck in pandemic-land I don't miss having to go to them that much - but I don't have a strong sense of who Lily is or what she wants and I feel like she spends a lot of time kvetching! But I'm still in the mood for wedding summer reads, so I might give it another hour or two to see if it takes off.

As an unmarried 32-year-old woman I feel personally attacked, but in the best way possible. For the Love of Friends was hilarious, heartfelt, and honest. I felt connected to Lily because she was so relatable - she was me. She is funny, quick-witted, snarky, and vulnerable. Her struggles are ones that we all face and the way she handles them are not unlike the way that I would.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone that has felt pushed aside or the second best. Maybe you will see a little bit of Lily in yourself too.

I absolutely adored this book. Mainly because of the character owning up to her mistakes and knowing that she was in the wrong. Also the author did a good job in talking about soical anxiety and the fat shamming.
If you are looking for a fun summer read then this book is for you.

This book was exactly what I needed. Big fan of this debut author. Lily is a bridesmaid in 5 weddings within a matter of time Two of which are siblings. Lilly needs to get things off her chest about the ridiculousness she's being forced to do for each bride, so she creates a blog. Obviously she gets caught has to deal with the fallout. I look forward to the next book this author writes. There is romance involved but its not the main focus.

3.75 stars and highly recommend.

This was such a perfect romcom! This is a great quick, cute, funny, loving book!
And I devoured this book! I loved the characters they were spot on and very enjoyable to read!
The writing was done so flawlessly. Wonderful book

3.5 / 4 stars from me.

32 year old Lily Weiss works as a science journalist -- a job that earns her significant respect from her parents but has her feeling less than fulfilled. The novel focuses on her experience navigating the FIVE bridesmaid roles she has agreed to; all five weddings take place within weeks of one another and are preceded by various dress fittings, parties, bridal showers, etc. Its all, understandably, a significant source of stress for Lily as she has to juggle her various roles and the whims of multiple brides, their mothers, other (SNOBBY) bridesmaids. To vent, Lily creates an anonymous blog, Bridesmania, on which she posts periodic updates on her bridesmaid experiences.

I found Lily was to be very likeable, funny, and entertaining. I was able to guess how the story would end up (and I surprised myself by guessing the exact details of a key twist). Nonetheless it was a fun read and not full of rom-com literature trope.

I fell into the book quickly and the plot kept me engaged at a good pace, It was a fun, light read.

This book satisfies my recent itch for light rom-com novels. It has a similar appeal to titles I've read by Sophie Kinsella and Mhairi McFarlane. I didn't like it as much as Emily Henry or Beth O'Leary's novels but it was worth a read.

*An e-copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Classical rom com in book format kind of books that can be related to the famous movie 27 dresses. I thought this was right up my ally. Unfortunately, I was not too impressed. I do not know if it was me just being just overly harsh on the main character, but I had a hard time liking her or feeling even an ounce sympathy towards her from the beginning.

She insists that she is okey being single while still feeling deeply offended that her younger sibling dare to get married before her. Simultaneously, she does not even try to date? If I were her sure, I would be concerned for her sister getting married in that situation, concerned not writing on the internet that there is zero chance she is actually getting married. Her friend said “That’s so cute! They’re looking for a dress like she’s actually getting married?” while she answered, “It’s like a toddler playing dress up.” Her sister is 24. I understand concern, not bitterness and jealousy. You think she is immature while you constantly make bad decisions and are really rude to people. It is not very becoming to be that jealous of your sister. Like the things she wrote about her sister was pretty damn terrible and was coming from jealousy. And how can u be bitter about being alone when u do not date?

Making fun of your future sister in laws shyness is also an extremely nice quality. From someone who can be very she themselves, especially around my boyfriend’s family I thought it was just mean spirited. And do you think it will make her less shy around you now? Or will she just be even more closed up around you? Yes, probably the last one.

The blog was pretty mean-spirited right from the start, she even admits that if anyone founds out, she will be in zero weddings. How many people do you know that are going to be a bridesmaid five times in two months? And two are for her younger siblings? Who is going to search for wedding blogs? People who are planning weddings. It is not going to be hard for anyone to figure it out who she is for anyone who knows her. So, my sympathy for her is pretty low and I do not think her money problems is an excuse either. Especially not when you buy a salad for 28 $.

She seems to be an excellent friend to her friends in a lot of aspects which I enjoyed, but it also confused me. She seems like she knows the right from wrong and how to be a good person which makes me frustrated when she acts like such a terrible human being. If I ever found out that my friend wrote those things online about me and my family? I would never speak to that person again. Some things are actually private. Maybe you do not want the entire world to know your relationship with your mother is. So how can you do that to your family and closest friends? Somehow, I kind of think it was worse that she knew that what she was doing was bad. I know you should not judge a book for the standards of real life necessarily, but I just think that she wrote such horrible things.
I also feel like so stereotypical that all problems come from other women. The mums are horrible, the sister in laws is all horrible (like seriously all of them), sisters are all horrible, and the other friends are horrible. Cannot like some of the problems from a wedding not involve a woman? I do not think it was one likeably women character in this entire book.

I understand that she has a redemption arc somehow, but I do not know if I think she deserves it. And the sad thing is that I otherwise think I should have loved this book. But the problem is I do not really like anyone in this book except the love interest. The premise was super cute and the love interest nice, but I did nit want the main character together with the love interest. The main character felt way to mean for me to actually root for her to have a happy ending. If she would have been less mean I think this could have been a five-star read. Like a bit less bitter on her younger sibling that dares to get married before her. Like seriously? They cannot have their own life? I would be so mad if I had an older sister that thought I cannot get married just because she is single? I mean there is enough conflict without her having to be so mean to her sister and new sister-in-law. So just make her an ounce more sympathetic and less mean I think this really could have been a five-star read for me. Because I liked the writing style and the premise and could definitely try another book from this author in the future. And if you like rom coms, I do not discourage you to pick up this book, I can really see that people will love this book. But, if you have a hard time with a bit mean spirited main characters, you can probably pick up another book.

I really liked this. As someone approaching an age where this life is a reality it really made me laugh. I thought some of the characters could have been redeemed a bit more but overall I loved it.

Thank you NetGalley, Sara Goodman Confino and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of for the Love of Friends.
Lily has her hands full during her summer. She has been asked and accepted being a bridesmaid in five wedding.
Lily does a good job of doing everything she was needed to do to accomplish this huge feat. The love she has for her family and friends shines thru while I was reading.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a light read that will make you feel good.

This book was an unexpected surprise, The synopsis didn't seem too interesting, but I'm a sucker for illustrated covers so I gave it a shot. I was instantly hooked by the first page and that says a lot considering it takes a while for me to get into a book. The writing in this book was very well written, which was much needed because the books I have been reading prior to this have driven me up the wall with tacky writing and cookie cutter characters.

What I really enjoyed about the book is how human the character were. They had normal jobs and had normal human personalities. It really is so refreshing when the love interest in the book is not a jerk and actually has character traits besides being attractive. I know most people would expect that, but oh boy, the books I have read have made me want to smack the guy then the girl for putting up with a person with ZERO personality.

The only caveat I had with this book is that it did feel like it drove a bit in some parts, but in the end it was a really light, fun read.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it would be a light, easy read but I found it really gripping and ended up reading it in less than 3 days! I found a lot of it very relatable, and while the end was a bit predictable I found myself willing the happy ending to happen. I would have like to see some resolution with characters Caroline and Sharon, but it was more realistic to end as it did.

For The Love of Friends is he book equivalent of every wedding rom-com I've ever watched. Full of hilarious stories that only the always a bridesmaid never a bride could tell, this book definitely had me laughing out loud. Sara Goodman Confino was able to create strong character development and real growth for Lily..

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book. This cover is very deceptive in the sense of yes this has a person writing a blog (hence the cover I am sure), but there is a lot more wedding talk than what I expected. Because of this, there are a lot of instances of body-shaming, forcing plastic surgeon, family drama, and overall backstabbing more than once. I appreciated what the story brought in the sense of there is a variety of weddings, budget struggles, and family dynamics presented as well as a bonus romance in the backburner. I also appreciated that there was a blog aspect added to it however, it felt a little annoying especially when the main character boasts about how much money she was making (I understand for some people they are able to do that, however it felt unrealistic as someone who writes a blog). I also hated the ending with that sense of deception with the romance (if you know you know) because it is number one deceptive and number two because it is predictable. Of course this is someone who reads a lot of women's fiction/romance and for new readers this may not be predictable but that is just me. Overall, this was a very entertaining book in the sense that there's so much craziness you just can't look away, however, I think there is so much that I would have changed as far as this book goes. Because of these points, I have to give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

This was a cute, fun, chicklit novel, wherein Lily, our main character, who has to be in five wedding parties over one summer (including the weddings of both of her younger siblings) has to learn to navigate her work life, her friends, and her family through this time, and causes her to evaluate some of her relationships.

Overall, this was a quick and fun read.

Well, I never thought I would say that, but I'm glad that this book is over. I just couldn't accept this main character personality, her lack of confidence, the ways she sabotaged herself and the worst part, the terrible cast of side characters.

The concept was nice and it called my attention because of the resemblance to the movie 27 Dresses, which is one of my favorite rom coms. In here, we had a woman in her early thirties, bound for a mid life crisis, who was stagnant at her job, going through motions, but who would go to the end of the Earth to help her friends and relatives in their most special day, by being the best bridesmaid ever... FOR FIVE WEDDINGS!

Again, nice concept, with a promising chance of being a story of someone redeeming themselves, I thought... but no!
It could have worked better if Lily, the main character, wasn't a person whose life was controlled by what people thought of her. The constant need to pleasure people in here was insane. She lacked confidence, allowed herself to be body shamed constantly by friends and family, who btw, were totally disrespectful to her and she still insisted on pleasing them and saying yes to everything, even when she was clearly, completely uncomfortable.
Just no for me! I'm sorry.

I don't want to sound too harsh or roast this book, because I do respect the effort that the author has put into it and how hard it must be to have your work out there to be analysed and criticized by people. However, I just couldn't put up with this whole thing of being submissive to people who are selfish and simply don't give a damn about your feelings and necessities when you are trying your hardest to help them.

I kept reading though, and I'm glad I did, because the book did have its funny moments, two of them being Lily's friendship with Alex and her blog, where she would wittingly get her feelings off of her chest, even if anonymously.

I'm totally up to give Sara Confino another chance in the future.This one though, was not my cup of tea.

“Of course, the story of how I got here starts well before the events of Megan’s engagement party. I could take the David Copperfield approach and begin with my birth, but then we would be here for way too long and you would completely lose interest before I got to the juicy stuff, like sleeping with an anonymous groomsman and going viral for being the world’s worst bridesmaid. So it’s probably best to start with the basics.”

Lily, a self-described “32 year old spinster” with no prospects in sight, suddenly has agreed to be the bridesmaid in 5 weddings. Lily’s relationships with the 5 brides varies from best friend to longtime work friend, but that doesn’t stop any of them from pushing her to the edge and spurring on her creation of a blog about all the brides and associated wedding details.

The story goes on to detail all the trials and tribulations of her bridesmaid experience through her blog (which was set up anonymously). Lily’s voice is hilarious, witty and had me laughing out loud more than once! The story is fast paced, filled with romance, friendship and family. It doesn’t take long to get through as you’ll struggle to put it down! The perfect book to unwind at the end of a long day with a glass of wine (or martini)!

For The Love of Friends is a fun and engaging read about the trials and tribulations of Lily who has five weddings to attend over one summer. It has laugh out loud moments and moments where I nodded along to myself in agreement about Bridezillas and well meaning, but interfering family members. I knew what was going to happen early on, but as I was rooting for Lily, it didn't matter. The book is an easy going, escapist read, which kept me interested. There were moments where it did drag a little, but overall it was good.

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫/5

This was my first NetGalley read and y’all, I absolutely loved it!

This is a story of Lily and love. Lily is the eternally single, snarky and jaded girl who ends up as a bridesmaid in 5 weddings at the same time, two of which are for her younger siblings. The opening scene is her sneaking out of bed at a hotel with a guy she doesn’t want to wake up before her walk of shame after one of the engagement parties. Problem is... she can’t tell which groomsman it is.

This book might have hit a bit close to home for me. 😂

“My name is Lily Weiss, and I am my mother’s worst nightmare. In other words, I am a single, thirty-two-year-old spinster who lacks even a hint of marital prospect and is therefore increasingly unlikely to provide her with the grandchildren she wants yesterday. Or, as I like to spin it, I am a fabulous career woman who refuses to settle for anything less than true love.”
-I’ve definitely said this many times.

Did I have the whole book predicted quickly? Yes. Did that bother me at all? Nope!

Things I adored about this book:
1) Alex
2) the Starbucks message cups were absolutely the cutest thing ever! (Future husband, takes notes)
3) Alex asking his Tinder date about books!! (She doesn’t read? K bye.)
4) Reference to Goldschlager in college 😂 (and who doesn’t know what jager is??)
5) and lots of memories about being a bridesmaid in my friends weddings!

Things I didn’t like.... 🤷🏻‍♀️
There was a moment (purposeful of course) where you wanted to hate Lily and ho she act. I loved it, but being that Lily is basically me, it made me feel a bit self conscious. 😳😔. But I think that giving a reader “feels” is the sign of a good author, so take that for what it’s worth.

Regardless, this book is wonderful and releases June 8, so add it to your list of books to buy this summer!

Thanks NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the book!!

Thank you to #lakeunionpublishing and #netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It was well written, witty, page-turning, and poignant. It was not just a chick lit ditzy book but accurate and heart warming. I honestly don’t think I’d have been as patient with the bridezillas as Lily was. I did NOT think she was the worst bridesmaid ever but the best!

I’ve been a bridesmaid several times and was never asked to get Botox or change my hair color or wear shape altering undergarments or go into major credit card debt just to be a bridesmaid. I got SO angry at some of the scenes in the book and actually thought Lily apologized to her friends too much without a lot of reciprocity.

I’d love to be a friend of Lily’s!