3.5- I love a good friendship story and this was exactly that! This felt very relatable as it was about middle-aged women and their journey of friendship through the years. Many of the characters' storylines about their marriages, work/life balance, and raising kids all felt relevant to my life, keeping me turning the pages. While I did find myself wanting the book to wrap up sooner than it did, I overall really enjoyed it for an easy, pool-side read this summer. Pack it for your next beach trip and you won't be disappointed. Thank you Harlequin Publishing and Net Galley for letting me get a sneak peek at this one!

Fans of the cult classic movie ‘Now and Then’ who then grew up with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants will love Tired Ladies Take a Stand. An ode to continuously learning about one’s self and needs at all ages, Tired Ladies depicts female friendships while celebrating the differences, flaws, and strengths of each individual character. I found myself invested in each of the titular ladies’ struggles and enjoyed figuring out their wants and needs alongside them.

Fern, Emma, Carolina, and Andi are a group of women that have been best friends since their 20s. Fern writes a memoir about their youthful endeavors during their year of YES and doesn’t change her friend’s names. Fast forward to present day, Andi is a lawyer struggling with parenting a teenager, Carolina’s work/life balance is on the rocks, Emma is newly divorced and planning her daughter’s wedding, and Fern has been approached about a movie deal for her memoir. Now, they all get to learn how to say NO!

This book was a really fun, enjoyable read. I love stories that focus on female friendship, especially while navigating adult life and all the complications that come with it, therefore making this a great fit for me as that's the heart of this book! I liked how Gretchen Anthony weaved so many relatable topics into the women's stories and always came back to how this group of friends handled them together.

With so many moving parts and points of view, I sometimes had a hard time keeping up, but it always seemed to resolve itself in due time. If you like stories from multiple POVs that are interconnected, you'll love this!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. If you are a tired lady, you should probably read this!

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Gretchen Anthony for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read if you love..
Multiple interconnected threads
Lifelong female friendships
Learning to say no
Reminiscing on all the fun of your youth
Books that feel like real life

… and also if you’re curious to learn the rules to a game called “Buy Me A Drink BINGO”

Review will be posted on all socials closer to pub date

Fern, Andi, Carolina and Emma have been friends for twenty years. Their lives have changed since their twenties but they have maintained and celebrated their friendship. Andi is passionate and wants to save her abused clients while her husband and son have problems at home. Carolina runs marathons to manage the stress at work. Emma is planning her daughter’s perfect weeding, while Fern…Fern has just has had her book “Smart Girls Say Yes” optioned as a movie. She wrote this collection of essays years ago but it has now been popularized by the TikTok generation. There’s one problem. Fern used her friend’s real names in her essays and there were some potentially embarrassing moments. And how does Fern deal with this problem? She doesn’t tell them. She knows that she will have to but that doesn’t happen until there have been there have been physical injuries, MeToo moments, revelations, tough decisions and more.

Tired Ladies Take a Stand is a quick, fun read that will appeal to all women. We all want to have close friends who will love and support us. We would all like the friendship Fern, Andi, Carolina and Emma have. And who wouldn’t want to play “buy Me a Drink BINGO?” 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Gretchen Anthony for this ARC.

The essays that Fern writes about Carolina, Emma, Andi and herself whether running down the street in wedding gowns or dancing in a vineyard makes me want to be friends with them. Yes, the essays did refer to them as their actual name and did cause a source of embarrassment, but as Andi correctly states when it is optioned as a movie, that they lived it. They are lucky they did and retained such strong friendships. Through hardships with family such as divorce in Emma's case, Carolina literally running herself into the ground and Andi's constant exhaustion due to her nature of her work, they supported each other. Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Chandler as a token member of the group. This is a hilarious read and I certainly would welcome a sequel Highly recommend.

“Tired Ladies Take a Stand” by Gretchen Anthony was an engaging and delightful read. It is a story about the deep and lasting friendships of women who met in college and have now reached the age where they realize the importance and value of really being there to support each other. For all of us who have reached a certain maturity, this book reminds us of all the years we spent saying Yes to make everyone else happy, family, work, marriage and friendships. Ultimately the women in the book realize that for themselves and each others future happiness learning to say No gives them the strength to deal with the challenges and joy of the years ahead..The characters are wonderful, the writing heartfelt and honest. I really enjoyed reading this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.