I liked the concept but the friendship didn’t feel believable at all. Evelyn seemed incredibly manipulative and not really a good person some of the time, Nora alternated between annoying as all get out, naive, and way too laid back about the whole surrogacy. Some really unhealthy relationship dynamics is several of the relationships, even between Nora and her husband (I’ve already forgotten his name) at times yet it never really felt like it was addressed. It was an easy lighthearted read and I enjoyed parts of it but unfortunately didn’t meet the mark for a recommendation or a future re-read.

I had a stone in the pit of my stomach for most of this book. I was afraid of what would transpire.
I thought Evelyn treated Nora like her pet project and was blasé with her noblesse oblige attitude. She capitalized on her surrogacy by being a media mogul queen.
I thought Nora was very naive and should have listened to Jacob more.
Ultimately, Nora gets what she wants and more, a great twist I wasn’t expecting.
It’s a very good book.

I really enjoyed The Favor. I liked how relatable Nora was and her intense desire to be closer to Evelyn. She was such a sincere friend despite how easy it would have been to use Evelyn for her money and prestige. She just wanted the friendship and closeness.
Evelyn wasn’t an entirely unlikeable character but she was very hard to like. I read with bated breath, waiting for her to do something absolutely detestable to make my feelings feel more valid. I won’t spoil anything by telling if that happened or not.
This is ultimately a story of friendship and family/found family. I think it would make a great book club pick.
I don’t normally add trigger warnings but I feel the need to note that this book does focus heavily on infertility.

I will be posting this review on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ctcu1IoL8vY/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5170107713

And Amazon

The Favor by Adele Griffin releases today 6/13/2023!!

This book felt very complex to me. It deals with the themes of intimacy (both in marriage and friendship), loyalty and trust.

The way the story unfolded kept me intrigued and wanting to keep reading. The story, the way it unfolded, definitely kept me on my toes. For a little while I was nervous that Jacob & Nora would suffer more heartbreak on their journey to become parents. Evelyn, their surrogate, a socialite and relatively unknown to them, was a real wild card. Even the twist at the end was a surprise. I would definitely put this in your TBR pile!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read this one and share my thoughts!

Delightful, heartwarming and humorous story of 2 women, complete opposites, who become friends and help each other out. One even offers to be a surrogate for the other as parenthood and the quest for parenthood has left them in debt and hopeless. i liked the fashion component in the story too.

I was completely captivated by this poignant, hopeful, and even suspenseful novel about Nora, who so wants a baby, and Evelyn, a rich customer at her vintage store, who offers to become a surrogate. The author does a brilliant job weaving together elements of friendship, family, infertility, surrogacy, and trust, as she unspools this gripping tale. Highly recommended for fans of well-spun contemporary women's fiction.

Two women who seem to have zero in common meet and both of their lives are changed forever. Evelyn is a socialite who lives her life exactly as she wants with great verve. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it certainly can make it so much easier to attain. And way more fun. She is a kind and loving soul who does good and wants to make people happy. Nora is struggling to get by with her husband with so many dreams they have yet unfulfilled. As Evelyn and Nora grow closer the lines between employer/employee and friendship blurs as does the difference on their financial status causing the lines of their friendship to be challenged. It’s a beautiful story about friendship, love and what we will do for the ride or die people in our lives.

I thought this was a good read but should definitely come with a warning label that it may be triggering for people that have ever experienced infertility. The characters are interesting if at some times annoying but I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for copy and I give my review freely

This was a fast read and I thought it was just okay. While dealing with a sensitive issue of infertility and the difficult road that Nora and her husband took to become parents, I think this felt flat. I didn't really care for the characters much. Two opposites, Nora becomes swept up in the path of Evelyn, a very rich and impulsive woman yet seems to just want to spread joy. In there relationship, I'm not sure if Nora became her "pet" or if she was a ways to a means of invoking more "likes" on her social media by pointing out all the good things or favors that she does. But how does Nora not resist when Evelyn offers to be their surrogate and thus Nora becomes totally immersed in Evelyn's world, trying to understand just who she is. Realistic? Not really. The outcome? Well, there are some surprises and not so surprises that made it just okay but a good book to read on a rainy day.

Many thanks to #netgalley #adelegriffin #thefavor for the opportunity to rad and review this book.

I loved this book from beginning to end so wonderfully written tore at my heart strings.Kept me involved turning the pages.#netgalley #sourcebooks

Who wants some richly written chick lit?? The Favor is frothy, funny and a little fuzzy.

Nora works in a upscale consignment shop and is obsessed with vintage Dior, Versace and Chanel. One day, Evelyn, a posh heiress comes in and buys enough vintage to earn Nora a month’s worth of commissions.

Nora begins styling Evelyn on the side and the two become fast friends. Nora confides her fertility and financial struggles to Evelyn who proposes she become her surrogate. The friendship gets strained over a glamorous item, which puts their relationship and Nora’s baby at risk.

If you enjoy reading about female friendships and all the trials and tribulations that come with them this book will be for you! There’s a lot of depth and snark to Griffin’s writing which I enjoyed. The tone remained heartwarming yet light, which is a balance you don’t always find in contemporary fiction.

What I struggled with was the fact that Evelyn was so quick to offer her womb to Nora. They had know each other for a hot second. I think there needed to be a bit more upfront about their relationship for this to connect.

*****SPOILER*******

I can’t believe they didn’t sign a contract??? She could have taken part of the $75K and hired a lawyer, got it done and then told her about the cape. Nora was mentally a bit weak when it came to Evelyn, which I know is the point, but her husband should’ve stepped in an locked this shit down!

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

Unexpected friendship and surrogacy and infertility. This book kept my attention and was a light read that deals with some heavy topics. I enjoyed the unexpected plot twist at the end.

Nora has wanted a baby for years and has put a financial strain on her and her husband in their attempts to achieve that goal. She still loves her husband, but she struggles with feelings of envy when everyone around her is getting pregnant. When she meets Evelyn her world starts to change for the better.
I struggled with liking Nora. I understood that she was a free spirit and loved her husband, but she kept a lot from him and acted as if his feelings didn’t matter. She even seemed to put her friendship with Evelyn above her marriage. I wish we could have had a few chapters from Jacob’s POV so we could fully understand his feelings behind everything.
Evelyn was extremely wealthy and had an air about her that was enigmatic. When she offers to be a surrogate for Nora it seemed like everything was going to work out. I didn’t like how she was offended and acted childish when Nora asked her not to travel and told her how she felt about some of her actions.
Overall, I liked this book but I wish the characters were more likable. I received an ARC and this is my honest, voluntary review.

The cover is deceiving with this one. The cover made me think it was a light book. But it delves deep into infertility, social and financial status, and friendship.

We meet Nora, who works at a vintage clothes boutique in NYC. Nora and her husband, Jacob, want to have a baby more than anything but are dealing with infertility issues. Into the boutique walks Eleanor. Eleanor is a big personality, oozes wealth, buys out the store, and next thing you know she and Nora are fast friends.

Their social status sometimes complicates this unlikely friendship. To complicate things even more, Eleanor offers to be a surrogate for Nora and Jacob. Things get a bit wild at this point, as Eleanor is still jetsetting around the world, changing appointments, and putting Nora on an emotional ride (honestly, I don't think it was on purpose - that is just how Eleanor lives her life). Nora and Jake are left wondering if Eleanor even intends to give them the baby when it arrives.

I really liked both Nora and Eleanor. They are obviously different in many ways, but at the core I felt they held the same values. Eleanor made me laugh many times during the story.

Also there's a little plot twist at the end I didn't see coming!

I also enjoyed the audiobook and narrator!

I have not dealt with infertility. If you have, might want to read up on this one before picking it up.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and OrangeSky Audio for both an ARC and ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Nora, who works at an upscale vintage shop called I’ll Have Seconds (isn’t that the best name?) has a chance meeting with Evelyn, a millionaire. Evelyn doesn’t take no for an answer when she enters the shop one evening at closing time and ends up buying thousands of dollars worth of vintage couture. Over these few hours with Evelyn, Nora finds that even though their bank accounts may mean they have nothing in common, they actually find that a friendship begins to bloom.

Nora and her husband, Jacob, live in a tiny apartment in NYC. Nora’s closest friends are Meg, her best friend from college, and her co-worker Frankie. Nora and Jacob have a wonderful marriage and live by their routines together. The only problem is that they can’t get pregnant and have depleted their bank accounts trying. Nora struggles when her friend Meg seems to have no issues with getting pregnant while Frankie and his partner have decided to go the surrogate route (which she and Jacob couldn’t afford) to have their baby.

“Her requests are like a bright silk ribbon woven through the plain cotton fabric of my day, and I’m thrilled when she’s back in town and wants to make an in-person plan.“

Nora’s friendship and business relationship with Evelyn deepens as she repeatedly hires Nora to source her some outfits, paying her large amounts to go toward “their baby fund”. When Evelyn suggests that she become Nora’s surrogate, their friendship takes on a whole new meaning and as you can imagine, isn’t without some bumps along the way.

Griffin’s raw and honest peek into the lives of a couple dealing with infertility, a woman grieving her mom, and the reality of friendships that ebb and flow were quite realistic. Her creative use of similes had me highlighting all kinds of sentences because I was thinking, “Yes, that is such a great way to describe that feeling.”

"It’s moments like this when I realize I haven’t moved past my grief at all; I’ve just hidden it, like a drop cloth thrown over a pile of broken glass."

As the novel moved along, Evelyn and Nora’s friendship started to annoy me. Neither was being honest with the other and Nora was obsessing over Evelyn’s social media posts and ignoring some pretty important real-life relationships. Evelyn was acting quite immaturely while flaunting her riches rather than focusing on being a good friend to Nora. But, when push came to shove and they both had to face the reality of their situation, I saw the reason for the drama Griffin created.

I didn’t expect to love all the vintage fashion mentioned in this novel. Living in small-town Iowa doesn’t offer many opportunities to see or experience the kind of amazing dresses, purses, coats, etc that Griffin describes in this novel. Her fashion research and a fun surprise twist at the end of the novel definitely had me swooning.

I was surprised by how emotional the novel’s last section made me. Nora’s thoughts on motherhood overwhelmed me and I had to put my Kindle down a few times to wipe away my tears and keep reading. Sometimes, it’s these last few moments in a novel that will push a book into the win category and this definitely was a win for me. Evelyn and Nora’s relationship isn’t one to model a friendship on, but their relationship served a purpose. The Epilogue was maybe my favorite section of the whole book and I was so thrilled with how Griffin tied up everyone’s story together in one special event. Stick with this one and ride out the eventual frustrations you might have with the characters because, just like in real life, we have to have the roadblocks to experience the joy.

Nora runs a high-end second hand dress shop and is just about to close up one evening when Evelyn comes in and ends up spending a lot! This begins a relationship of little favors (that are really big favors) that Evelyn asks of Nora. These favors impede on her life and her marriage with Jacob, but ones they accept when Evelyn offers to be the surrogate for Nora and Jacob. From the beginning of this story, I kept saying "no, No, NO!!!" in my mind! Cringey and uncomfortable! The ending wasn't what I expected at all, but the story kept me reading and interested.

My thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy of this e-book and to Orange Sky Audio for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

A visit by Evelyn to the vintage clothing shop where Nora works changes many lives in more ways than either of them can imagine. Evelyn has millions and spends freely while Nora and her husband Jacob are struggling with the bills from unsuccessful fertility treatments. And then Evelyn gifts Nora a Dior cloak worn by poet Nora adores. She wraps her up and starts paying Nora for things. Jacob is never happy about this but then Evelyn springs the biggest surprise-that she would like to carry the one last frozen embryo for Nora. And she does. You will feel a sense of tension here as the pregnancy progresses, that's for sure. This has terrific characters like Gabi and Meg as well as loathsome ones like Evelyn's father. And fashion, vintage fashion. This was a page turner for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Great read and remember the cape!

Actual rating 3.5.

I loved the concept of this book, and the gorgeous cover was an added bonus, but I had trouble connecting with the characters. The situations never felt entirely authentic (Nora had severe money problems and lived in a somewhat broken down apartment but she and her husband went out to eat A LOT?) and the people themselves just never engendered any kind of sympathy or empathy. Perhaps because I've never lived on the East coast I don't understand how things work (I've heard that it's a very different way of life compared to the West coast), and that created a bit of a divide, but I have to admit this was a little disappointing.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalleyy and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This book is nothing like I expected it to be. Unfortunately, for me, I had a difficult time with this. It is mostly all about fashion, so if that is something you like then this is your book. We follow Nora and Jacob who live in a tiny apartment and are struggling pay off debt. Nora works at a second hand consignment store where she is partly responsible for finding items that they can then sell. One day they have a very wealthy customer who comes in after hours and spends a ton of money. Evelyn, has money and she is not afraid to spend it. Evelyn knows that money can take you anywhere and get you anything you want. These two women start up a friendship of sorts, though it is mostly based on the fact that Evelyn has the money and is willing to sprinkle it around like fairy dust and Nora needs money.
For me this friendship just didn't feel authentic and it is clear to me by the end that it wasn't. It was hard for me to really care at all about either of them as they were manipulative and only in the relationship for what they could get from one another. By 30 percent into the book there was very little mention about the surrogate situation. Once that started to take place it changed a little and got more interesting but even with all that it was a very weird situation.
Because I did not care for the extreme amount of fashion content and I didn't really like either of the female main characters, this book just didn't fit for me.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel.

Nora Hammond works in a high end vintage store in NYC. Happily married, Nora and her husband Josh are struggling through infertility, crippling debt due to IVF and are trying not to let everyone's pregnancy/baby news bother them too much.

Late one evening, socialite Evelyn Elliot comes to the store, and she strikes up a kinship with Nora. They strike up a friendship that seems a little bit lopsided as Evelyn is beyond loaded and Nora is struggling to get by.

I don't want to give away too much, but this is an interesting portrait of women friendships, adulthood and income inequality. The Favor by Adele Griffin was well written and was a quick and entertaining red.