At first I thought I wasn't jiving with this book because I am not a mom but then I decided this book just wasn't for me. I didn't understand why the main character, Fallon was so adament about trying to keep friendships with these awful ladies. It reminded me of a bad desperate housewives. I also felt that different aspects of the story didn't flow well together.

I do think the book showed that social media can be brutual and cause serious damage to relationships. Also that true friendships stand the test of time and there are relationships that are not meant to last.

"𝘈 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, '𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮.' 𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨."

This book... brought a lot of feelings out for me.

Friendships have always been something that I've struggled with, and I've had my fair share of friendship breakups. I have personal experience with people who are supposed to be friends who have just stopped talking to me although.

And now that I'm a mom, I'm experiencing a whole new phase of friendship changes. I've had to do a lot of work to be okay with all of this, and still struggle with it at times.

Making more time for me and Matt, and doing things for myself has also been things I've been working on lately. So, this whole book was like reading about my own life, just a few years in the future.

Thank you Annie, @alcovepress and @netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

THE FRIENDSHIP BREAKUP is available now! ❤
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This was the kind of book that will make you laugh, then cry, then laugh some more. I loved it! I adored Fallon and reading her journey through adulting.

Fallon Monroe is a 40-year-old soccer mom with a great husband, an adorable seven-year-old, the hot flashes of menopause, and a chocolate business she’s trying to get off the ground. Aside from spending extra time in the freezer aisle at the grocery store trying to cool off, she does okay. Not great, like those moms who can be full makeup and clean clothes at school drop-off, but okay. Until her friends cut her off.

They had been a solid group of friends. Well, they were still a solid group of friends. Fallon just wasn’t invited to hang out with them anymore. Her former best friend Beatrice stopped answering her texts and taking her calls, and Fallon doesn’t know why. So Fallon decides to win her back.

She decides to try a tea party, but the plans for that fizzle out. But her plans for the Mexican Fiesta are strong, with plenty of margaritas and tacos for everyone. There is a mariachi band, there is a piñata filled with tequila, there is broken glass on the dance floor, flying cactus, and an ambulance. When Fallon wakes up in the hospital, having passed out at the party, she is told that she is overly stressed and needs to take better care of herself.

While trying to get her chocolate business going is difficult, Fallon thinks that it’s her friend ship problems that are causing her the most aggravation. She decides to go the the therapist that helped her and her husband back when they were having some problems, and she ends up taking a look at all her relationships and how her thoughts about her friendships are taking a toll on her mental health. As she realizes what she wants in a friend and what she doesn’t, she learns how to be a friend to herself first.

The Friendship Breakup is a sweet reminder of how much female friends matter in modern life. It’s told with warmth and lots of humor, with good friendships and toxic friendships and one hairy, clumsy male stripper with a knack for showing up at the wrong time. It’s smart and encouraging and gives female friends the story line that usually goes to romantic relationships.

I think we’ve all heard that friends come for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. We’ve all been hurt by those we thought were friends but who turned their backs on us when we needed them. The Friendship Breakup is a study of friendship, the ones that last and the ones that don’t, and the feelings that come with the new ones, the old ones, the toxic ones, and the ones we depend on for our sanity. This one is a chocolate covered treat, but there is substance under that candy coating too.

Egalleys for The Friendship Breakup were provided by Alcove Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.

If you love a little mama drama, check out 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗨𝗣, which reminded me of some of my favorite mom-coms like the 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘮 series and 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. There need to be more books that focus on female friendships, and this one will make you laugh out loud, tug at your heartstrings and leave you craving chocolate. Congrats to the lovely Annie Cathryn on her delightful debut!

Thanks to Alcove Press for the copy to review.

This mom-com debut novel is about almost 40 year old Fallon, a suburban mom and wife trying to start her own chocolate business, whose local best friend Beatrice suddenly gives her the cold shoulder and taking their other friends with her. Fallon keeps trying to figure out what happened and win her friend back, while also turning to older friends and trying to make new friends, all while also juggling her marriage, daughter, and attempt to get her career going.

I loved this book's focus on friendship among adult women, which I think is such an important part of life, but one that is often given short shrift in fiction. I was rooting for Fallon the whole time, though I definitely wanted her to either confront Beatrice more directly, or kick her to curb sooner, because who needs a friend that acts like that? And it was a quick engaging book, such that I read the whole thing in one day!

This book was so much fun to read and relatable! As a SAHM I was instantly connected with Fallon. I look back in time when I was part of a "mommies group", not available to me now that I relocated to rural Maine, and I too experienced many similar petty cliques with people I didn't jive with.

Additionally, I genuinely adored Fallon's true friends and the journey that she experienced to discover herself.

🐚 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 🐚
3.5 ⭐

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀: infertility, toxic friendship

I had mixed feelings until I could give this book a rating.

This book shows how hard it is for adults to make friends, how messy parenting can be, but also how hard it is to maintain your relationship with your partner. These are the issues Fallon is going through.

At first, Fallon tried her best to repair a friendship she had with the other mothers in the town, friends who didn't even bother to include her. Although at the beginning I was tired of how much she tries and doesn't notice that those "friends" don't care much about Fallon, and that they are more for gossip, but eventually I came to like her.

Eventually, Fallon finds her happy ending in another town, with the friends who really stood by her and with her family - husband and child.

It's not a book for everyone, maybe that's why I didn't like it so much, but maybe those who went through it, understand Fallon better than I did.

Thank you Annie Cathryn, Alcove Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Friendship Breakup is a refreshing take on what it’s like to be a mom in suburbia and is aptly referred to as a “mom-com!” It’s highly entertaining while addressing topics
Such as family and friendships as well as betrayal and breakups.

I can relate to Fallon as I’ve had a few friendship breakups in my adult life and while they were not fun, it was a reminder that some friends are in your life for a reason, some for a season and some for a lifetime.

This is the heartfelt, life changing story that will have you thinking about the characters long after you’ve turned the last page. I have this story 3.5 stars rounded up.

The Friendship BreakUp follows Fallon. A suburban, stay at home soccer mom who is trying to create her dream job of owning a chocolate store. Add in a mean girls cast and the chaos of life and the scene is set to show that reality is never as perfect as you see on social media.

This books is an emotional story with twists of heartbreak, crazy antics and self reflection. Making and keeping adult friends is hard.

I have experienced friendship break ups. I’d be willing to say that a friendship breakup is equivalent to a significant other breakup because you are mourning the person who you would be eating your feelings and helping you feel better if it were a partner.

Wow, I did not like this at all. Aside from the lackluster writing, the first 70% of the story was bland as can be with the last 30% being over the top. I truly did not understand why Fallon even wanted to be friends with these women who clearly wanted nothing to do with her. They seem like incredibly shallow women that aren’t worth fighting for. Every single character in this book is overdramatic, petty, and childish. I just can’t see how Fallon claims to be so close to these women when they don’t even talk honestly about their lives, and can’t communicate when things get rough. There is also some misogyny that goes unchecked that I certainly could have done without. I’m usually all about suburban mommy drama books, but this one was just way too ridiculous to get on board with.

I always enjoy when a book makes me laugh out loud. This is a fun read even if it's full of drama. Friendships can be hard and this story highlights the ups and downs of friendships and how some friendships may only be for a season. This is definitely a "mom-com" as we follow Fallon's story as it touches on her marriage, her parenting, her friendships, her career, and how her past impacts her relationships.

It's a witty and funny read with a bit of heart too!

3.5 stars

Is there a genre within a genre that you love?

If “mom-com” is a thing, I am here for it.

The Friendship Breakup is a mom-com about Fallon, a mom of one, trying to launch a chocolate business from her home while simultaneously being iced out by her mom crew in the neighborhood. Fallon is vulnerable and flawed and so real in her not-so-glamorous persona. Once I got past my irritation at her getting her daughter to a soccer game late (grrr), I found myself totally loving and rooting for Fallon. She was caught in a calamity of catastrophes that had me smiling and giggling. I applauded her strength and her resilience. And I loved the look into adult friendships as it all felt very realistic and honest. And entertaining. Always entertaining. Life is stressful and this book was so perfect for me to get lost in.

The Friendship Breakup was such a quick little binge read. It delves into female friendships, mommy friendships, etc. I loved the idea that friends are friends for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I’m fortunate to have a really good and large group of female and mommy friends (despite not being a mom myself) and that’s not without a little drama from time to time! I enjoyed seeing the interworkings of these neighborhood mom friends. I am always here for a little bit of neighborhood drama.

4.25⭐

Featuring ~ single 1st person POV, debut, mom-com, mama drama

Fallon & Beatrice has a falling out and thus sets forth the mean girls being terrible to each other.

We encourage our children to make new friends, but then in turn the mom's have to be friendly to each other too. It can be hard and a lot of aspects of this book were relatable. It had many fun and, also, emotional moments. I liked that she had her own chocolate making business and how that developed over the course of the story. I liked the idea of a friendship finder app too ~ is that really something?

Overall, a very good debut. I look forward to what Annie writes next.

Side personal note ~ in the last chapter Fallon worried about the results of her genetic testing. Although, there wasn't much detail surrounding it I am so happy that the author raised this topic. I, myself, had this same testing done a few years ago and, unlike Fallon, I did test positive as a carrier for the BRCA 1 gene. What that means is that I had over an 80% higher chance of getting breast and ovarian cancer than someone that does not carry the gene. I say 'had' because I chose to have preventative surgeries to reduce my risk. Of course this means that my child has a 50% chance of being a carrier as well, but I can only pray that the gene stops with me. Anyway, I thought I'd share that little tidbit in order to bring more awareness.

My sincere thanks to Annie Cathryn and Alcove Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my unbiased opinion of it. in the following review.

Fallon can't understand why all of a sudden her friend group has been ghosting her. She is hurt and really wants to mend these friendships. In the meantime, she is also working on expanding her chocolate making business and being a wife and a mother.

I was initially really interested in this book, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. The "friendship breakup" part of the story reminded me of middle school or junior high. These women were so mean and petty. While I can understand initially wanting to save the friendship, I didn't understand why Fallon kept trying after being treated so badly. Some situations were supposed to read as funny, but I didn't think they were all that humorous. That being said, I was more interested in the adoption storyline as well as the relationship between Fallon and her husband. I wish the friendship stuff had taken a back seat and there would have been more development in those arcs because they saved the book for me.

Adult friendships are a complicated thing that few people are good at and even fewer understand. I don't have children, but I do know that mommy friends who have gone through all the joys and hardships of motherhood with you are a valuable resource that is hard to let go of. So I have a lot of empathy for poor Fallon Monroe as she suddenly finds herself ousted from her long-time neighborhood friendships without any explanation and a lot of enmities.
Mother of one precocious little girl, married to a very handsome and successful doctor, and getting her dream company off the ground, Fallon seems to have a perfect life. At least from the outside. But what people don't know is that she works hard for everything she has and everyone in her family has put a lot of effort into getting to where they are today. Things get harder when Fallon's mommy friends begin to ghost her and exclude her from activities, sometimes even being actively aggressive and offensive towards her. Fallon can't figure out what's wrong and she's desperate to keep those friendships, but is it what's best for her?
A series of misadventures and clashes show the work that Fallon puts into everything and the true colors of those around her, so it's obvious early on to the reader that it's maybe better for Fallon to shift her focus. It's the emotions and memories attached to those friendships that keeps Fallon trying her hardest to figure out what could have happened and that's incredibly relatable. It's just the fact that she lets people walk all over her that maybe makes it not as fun to read as I suspect it was supposed to be.
In the end, I appreciate the great messages and how things are worked out so that Fallon figures out what she really wants and needs in her life, but the desperation and letting people walk all over her made it so that I could never really get into the story.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the early read!

So this was very white suburbia, but I ended up enjoying where Fallon was at and her growth to finding out that it's okay that friendships have a season. I really liked Mel and Avery and was sad that they were more side characters, but I'm glad that Mel was a positive point in Fallon's suburb friendships and helped her with entering the chocolate contest and getting an actual storefront for her business.

I'm also glad that Fallon's husband did admit that she had a lot to carry with being the SAHP and doing her side business. It was weird that he got so upset about Fallon being on a friendship app and was concerned about keeping up appearances.

3.5/5 starts

This is a relatable story about miscommunication, self awareness, and all the thrills of getting older. Friendships that last 7 years should last forever but as Fallon and her friend Beatrice are approaching this milestone, Fallon feels alone and abandoned by her friends. This is labeled a mom-com but it raises the concept that you never know what battles someone may be facing so be kind and don’t jump to conclusions. I enjoyed the connections to this story and how I related to the age group of these characters.

3.5 stars

I debate a lot on this one's rating because although I didn't like some of Fallon's decisions like how long she willingly played along with Beatrice's childish games 😮‍💨 and childish behavior and the fact that Maya was more mature than most of the women in this book and she's 7! will tell you how frustrated I was with that part of the plot, I did relate to some of Fallon's struggles and I loved that even though it took her some time, she grew up in herself.
Also Max. I love Max (and Maya Jambalaya!!!) If my SO is not like Max then I don't want them. He was supportive successful sweet and in touch with his feelings and on top of that FREAKING HOT?!?!?! where do I sign up for a husband like that!
I love Fallon's marriage and family relationship. It felt real and it was my favorite part of the book.
I like books where the main character is older than 30 and I feel that even with some things that I didn't like, this was a solid book. Definitely, one I'll be rereading in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.