This was such a fun read! The author did a great job with the characters, especially the main character, Lily. I found myself getting frustrated on her behalf with all the various demands from all the brides (not to mention some of the “suggestions” made to her by other bridesmaids). This book kept my attention with the plot and the humor. I look forward to reading future books from this author!

This book kept me engaged and entertained. The story is fun and relatable. Being a bride that had to deal with rescheduling her wedding because of covid, I could relate to how ridiculous some things become.

While I don’t think I completely connected with the characters and sometimes found them borderline unlikable, I still really enjoyed this as a whole.

This book is super cute! Also, it made me hope to never ever be a bridesmaid if this is really what our friends turn into when they get married…eek! Reminder to self: if I ever get married (Lily and I are two peas in a pod here haha) do not do any of the things Lily’s friends do!

Seriously though, this book is hilarious but also emotional. Lily is a bridesmaid in FIVE weddings! Lily is also single and her mother won’t let her forget it! If Lily could just find a way to love herself enough to let someone love her she might still get that happily ever after all her friends have after all!

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? To keep her sanity, Lily needs a safe place to vent. And so her anonymous blog, Bridesmania, is born.

For the Love of Friends is a typical summer read- everybody knows that summer is the best season for weddings and everybody knows it's impossible to survive being a bridesmaid in five weddings over two months without some major damage to one's sanity.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Thank you so much to the author, Sara Goodman Confino, the publisher, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for giving me an e-ARC to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge sucker for fun illustrated covers and For the Love of Friends did not disappoint. The story goes on about a 32-years old woman, Lily Weiss, who became a bridesmaid in 5 different weddings. She writes about her experience being a bridesmaid on her blog, Bridesmania, to receive some extra cash to pay for all the wedding stuffs, until she goes viral.

The book has a similar vibe to the movie, 27 Dresses. It was cute, funny, and lighthearted as well as emotional on the right parts. The book really tells the reality of being an adult and I can really feel the frustrations that Lily felt with each wedding that I feel like wanting to bash some of the brides’ (and other bridesmaids) head.

I like how the author portrays family relationships in this, on how we thought each of our sibling receive special treatment when we’re all just have different problems and struggles. And even though, our parents can be a bit overbearing, in the end, they always think about what’s best for us.

I really enjoyed this book that I finished the book in one sitting. It’s a perfect book to read in the summer. Recommended for anyone who love to read romcom.

Funny! Romance from debut author (who I'm now following and anxious for any subsequent books! Keep writing!)

Longer review to follow. Too many Laugh Out Loud moments to count! Really loved the grandma!

Lily agrees to be a bridesmaid in 5 weddings that all occur within a couple months. Wow. That would be stressful, how would you pay for all the expenses. hmmm ... maybe a blog would be an outlet for the stress? If it were kept anonymous, what would be the harm in that? Bridezillamania ensues. This was such a fun easy read!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Sara Goodman Confino and publisher for the opportunity to review For the Love of Friends in exchange for an honest review.

Oldest of three, 32-year-old single Lily Weiss has been asked to be a bridesmaid in 5 weddings over the course of 6 weeks - her work bestie, her BFF, college roommate, her future sister-in-law and her perennially “dumped in mud, comes up roses” baby sister. Between nightmare dress fittings, horrible co-bridesmaids, wedding emails and monthly newsletters, douchy groomsmen and truly insane requests/demands from bridezillas, Lily’s had it with these brides and weddings and needs to vent to someone. But who? Everyone she knows is connected to a wedding… so she starts an anonymous blog, Bridesmania, which becomes her safe place to rant on the insanity that is her life. How far will Lily go, and how much can she take, for the love of these brides?

Oh man, did I laugh reading this one. It’s so flipping funny. These brides are beyond crazy. There’s definitely creative license taken here (I hope) with the nightmare level of the brides, bridal parties and weddings in general, and I’m here for that entertainment. It’s a bit Bridesmaids and 27 Dresses rolled together, hand over the popcorn.

There’s also a cute blossoming romance that develops with some really swoony Starbucks love notes - heck yes!! You sort of know where this is one going, but the ride along the way is hysterical, charming, the best type of awkward. The story grabs you from the first page with a hilariously “yikes” groomsmen encounter and carries on to be a quick and enjoyable read, perfect for the end of summer/wedding season.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Lake Union Publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What an awesome summer read! I really enjoyed this book so much. Lily was a great main character. I loved the way that she developed into a better person. I found myself laughing out loud in many parts. Someday, my husband will learn not to ask me what, when I am laughing during a book. He never gets the short answer. He hears about the entire book! Lol! The writing was a lot of fun! I look forward to more books by this author!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars from me! I think all romcom lovers need to read this!

Relatable, sassy, honest and straight shooting! This book captures you and totally sucks you in with its honest emotional dive into a bridesmaid’s world. Sarah Confino writes with such strength about the challenges of family and friends and their relationships with her as they enter the mania of wedding land. Reading this book was a blast! It reminded me of my times as a bridesmaid and made me think about my own behavior when I was the bride and ponder on how much drama I may have created for my bridesmaids. Ironically, this book is kind of a “what not to do” as the mother of the bride for me personally which I will take note of when my own children get married. You really cannot wait to see how each wedding is going to turn out and how relationships will be handled as they go through this tumultuous experience. Lily is a champion and you feel for her as she tries to process and accommodate unrealistic expectations of other people in these five weddings and remains hopeful for her own happiness one day. This story is so exciting that I had to borrow my friend’s audiobook version so I could continue to listen to the story on my drive when I had to put the book down and get behind the wheel!

I don’t know why, but sometimes I’m just drawn to these fun illustrated novels. This was a book that I requested from @netgalley solely based on thinking the cover was cute and light. There were so many relatable things in this book from my own experiences as a bridesmaid and a bridezilla. One of them being I got Botox a month before my own wedding for the first time. I liked the friends-to-lovers trope, but I was a little disappointed that there was literally no steam in it. I’m ok with closed-door books, but this was not even closed-door. Besides that, I think this is a great read for the pool/beach!

Thank you to @netgalley for the digital ARC copy of this book. It was published on 8/1, so def check it out!

For the Love of Friends is what I'd consider a mostly light-hearted summer read. While the book's protagonist, Lily, did tackle a few of the difficult subjects that women face in their lives, it was all handled in a humorous-sometimes delightfully snarky-way. Lily has some great insight into what makes her friends tick, and after a serious miscalculation in blogging about those insights she is forced to turn that lens on herself. I really enjoyed the humor in this story, which helped to keep the book from getting too dark in terms of the catty bridesmaid and bridezilla interactions. The romance is definitely not the priority of the story, but was slow-burn and very sweet. I love a great friends to lovers relationship.
If this is what we get from the author's first book, than I'm looking forward to the stories that are shared next.

This book was hilarious and so much fun!! I love weddings, but I can’t even imagine being in 5 weddings during one summer and Lily’s blog of keeping it up with it was absolute perfection. We’ve all come across a bridezilla or two!

But despite all the laughs, this story still had plenty of heart. It’s about friendships, family, and falling in love!
Romcom lovers this one is for you!

A lighthearted, chicklit read, this followed a girl who doesn't know quite how to say no to her friends. Between the disasterous wedding party requests and the really sweet romance, I found myself really falling for this one. Would recommend.

I was captivated from the beginning to the end by this beautifully written book. A thirty-something woman, not married and accidentally involved in five marriages at once, is our protagonist. Through helping others with their lives, she begins to lose her own. So for the sake of getting even and making some money, she creates a blog, and as predictably happens, things go downhill quickly. Despite the author's wonderful voice, she managed to mix the funny bits and the serious ones without getting too over the top. My favorite aspect of the writing was the style. In comparison to what I had expected, it was very realistic! My favorite part of this was the body positivity. I really liked the mother and daughter relationship, and how the relationship seemed so different between family members. Among the siblings, each thinks that the other is being favored, while the other thinks the first is being favored, all at the same time. I found it so realistic that everyone had such a distorted opinion! The romance was wonderful in this novel! I was so surprised at how different it was from what I had anticipated! Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future. The book is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a good romance novel that is full of laugh-out-loud moments, enjoys wedding drama, accurate mother-daughter relationships, and romance that sneaks up on you as the story goes along.

Can you imagine being in five weddings in one summer?! In this hilarious novel, that’s exactly what happens to Lily Weiss. With three of her best friends and two of her siblings planning their weddings, Lily creates an anonymous blog as a way to vent about all the things she’s dealing with.

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There were a lot of people to keep track of - brides, bridesmaids, parents of all parties, and groomsmen! But by the middle of the book I had it all figured out.

I laughed, I cried, laughed more and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this one!

I loved the character growth, the friendships, how the author wrote about the misunderstandings and also the forgiveness.

I can’t wait to read more books from this author!

We have Lily, a single woman in her thirties, who ends up a bridesmaid in five different weddings that are all happening over a six-week period. It's a lot for her to handle and she can't really say no. She suddenly feels left out and all the wedding dramas are not really helping her and her bank account. So she starts an anonymous blog she called Bridesmania where she rants and vents about her bridemaid experiences.

Lily is a very complex character. I liked that she's witty, sarcastic, and funny. But there were also a lot of things that I hated about her. Like how she treats her little sister who is also one of the brides, and her future sister-in-law. I also didn't like the way she trashes her friends, family, and other people on her blog. Sure they are horrible and exasperating but she's not really any better than them. I could relate to her when she can't say no to her friends because I'm also like that. But I wouldn't let them dye my hair blonde because my dark hair will not stand out in their wedding pictures. Also, how naive is she to believe that no one will ever find out about her blog? Online for everyone to access and read? The characters that I genuinely liked were Lily's grandmother, her father, and the love interest. The majority of the characters are just mean.

I thought the writing is very engaging. This book is really heavy on body shaming which got quite difficult to read at times. There were also some scenes that made me furious. I really liked the chemistry between Lily and the love interest. I enjoyed their slow-burn romance and their moments together so it's a shame that we didn't really get a lot of it. I was okay with the predictability of the story and the redemption arc, but there were some issues that felt unresolved for me.

This wasn't a light read in my opinion but it's a quick and entertaining read nonetheless.

Disclaimer: Thanks to the publisher and author for providing a free digital review copy via NetGalley. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.

I did not expect to fall in love with this book as much as I did! This book was very fun, relatable and sweet. I couldn’t put it down!

I absolutely fell in love with the characters, they were so easy to connect with. Lily made so many mistakes, but it never made me dislike her. Alex was definitely favourite - what a hero! The only thing I would change about this book is the amount of diet culture talk - I wouldn’t mind if this was toned down a bit. I also didn’t like that whenever we found out about Alex’s past trauma, it was swept under the rug very quickly and never brought up again. I found it a bit predictable at times, but I didn’t mind at all - it felt very comforting.

This book was overall very funny, light hearted and an amazing summer read. I stayed up all night to finish it! I absolutely recommended this.

This book is just the perfect summer read! Lily was such a great protagonist and she was so easy to relate to. The writing in this novel was also incredible, such a nice style and I didn't want to put the book down. The plot lines all wrapped together despite having so much going on and it all worked out nicely. This book has a special place in my heart.

Oh, God! Picking this one up has been one of my best decisions this week.

The reality of Adulthood hits Lily like a train when she is invited to 5 weddings at once. Her younger siblings have life figured out, her friends are getting a house and moving on with life. Basically, everyone is doing grown-up, adult things except Lily, who drinks martinis until she gets blackout drunk at parties. In between all this drama, she starts a blog "Bridesmania"

But what would happen if everyone found out about her blog?

I love the character of Lily. I like how snarky she is, and doesn't take everything seriously. At the same time, she loves her friends, is determined and passionate, and has a great sense of humor.

The book was engaging. I finished the whole thing in a day, despite having a family event and exams going on.

I adore Alex. He is such a sweet and caring guy.

Overall, the book is awesome. Would highly recommend picking this up.

Thank You Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the e-ARC of this book.

Y’all, this book straight up made me smile!!!

It’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon vicariously living through Lily’s life. On the surface, this is a story about one woman overcommitting to being in 5 weddings at once. It’s told through a blog about all the ridiculous trappings, expectations and costs that come along with being a bridesmaid now that we live in the Pinterest/Instagram era of life events. But it is about so much more.

It’s about family dynamics and expectations as you grow into adulthood. It’s about friendships - how to show up honestly in them. And about how even good friends may not know the things each other is struggling with at any given time. It’s about miscommunications in dating and breaking passive aggressive tendencies and other unhealthy habits. All of this is wrapped up into a delightful rom com with a friends to lovers trope and snarky wit about family and the “bridezilla” industry.

I especially loved the role that coffee played in Lily and Alex’s friendship and flirting given my personal love of coffee and that all my first dates with my husband were over coffee.

I was rooting for Lily all along as she is just so charming and flawed in such relatable ways.

Highly recommend this one for fans of Abby Jimenez and Emma St Clair.