These two books are part of the same collection from Sara Goodman Confino and I was so beyond lucky to read them back to back! For the Love of Friends was published in 2021 and She’s Up to No Good will be officially released on 8/1, but you can get the ebook now with Amazon First Reads!
In For the Love of Friends, we follow Lily who is asked to be a bridesmaid in five weddings within a two month span, including the weddings for both of her younger siblings. I know this sounds very 27 dresses (Confino even references the movie in the book!) but it was honestly so different. The character development for Lily was absolutely remarkable. Each of the friendships explored were so unique- we had the little brother, little sister, work best friend, childhood best friend, and college best friend. Tell me those are all the same relationship for you and I’ll be impressed! On top of that, we also get sone insight into Lily’s career and her passions through it all.
What I loved most about both of these books was the little bits of humor throughout. While I wouldn’t call them humorous fiction, the author does a great job of making you laugh and smile. Not a single one of Lily’s blog entries detailing her journey as a bridesmaid was dull. If that blog really existed, I would probably be following it!
Now fast forward to She’s Up to No Good. She’s Up to No Good centers around Lily’s newly separated (but not divorced! That is not final yet!) cousin and their shared grandmother. Together, Jenna (cousin) and Evelyn (grandma) return to Grandma’s hometown of Hereford, Massachusetts because Grandma has “business to take care of” though she won’t tell Jenna what that business is. The novel alternates between present day Jenna and flash backs for Grandma as she reminisces on her journey to finding love. This one was both humorous and serious, and honestly just gave me so much hope.
I gave each book 4 stars, but legitimately wonder if I might be lowballing it. Confino is definitely one of my favorite authors of 2022 and I hope we get another book from her soon! But don’t rush it- we want quality in our quantity.
Happy reading, friends!