For The Love of Friends By: Sara Goodman Confino ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amazon.ca | GoodReads

This is a delightful easy summer read. Lily Weiss is thirty-two, single and much to her mothers disappointment has no marital prospects. On the flip side it seems everyone around her has found love and are getting engaged. Lily is thrilled for them all and as any good friend/sister would she happily agrees to be a bridesmaid in all five weddings. Yup, you read that correctly, Lily is in 5 weddings all in just over a months time span. 

We start out being introduced to Lily after she wakes up with an instant feeling of regret in a hotel bed next to a mystery man who happens to be a groomsman in one of the weddings. This is the first of many hurdles she must overcome in order to see all 5 brides to the alter. Knowing it would only complicate matters she decides not to find out the mystery mans identity.

Being in 5 weddings is understandably a lot of work and a large time commitment. As such the weddings take up a lot of the storyline of the book. There are several key supporting characters ranging from over controlling and out of touch bridesmaids to Lily's grandmother who is living her best life. This gives way to some truly laugh-out-loud moments.

I thought the author did a remarkable job creating five different wedding scenarios, each with its own complications. We see Lily struggling to cope not only with the time commitment of being in five weddings but also the financial strain that comes with it. Some brides are easy going and others give into the pressure of creating the perfect wedding no matter the cost. 

For The Love of Friends is addictive (I read the majority in just one sitting), entertaining, heartwarming and hilarious. This is the debut novel from author Sara Goodman Confino and throughout the book she brilliantly writes about bridal drama, friendship, family relationships and expectations. As one would expect Lily tries her best to make sure every bride is happy with how their wedding is coming together while trying to balance her work, chequebook and of course her own love life. Lily doesn't always make the best decisions and at times have to own up to her mistakes. The question is, will Lily herself find her Mr Right or will the mystery man from chapter 1 get in the way?

From the Author:

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? Even if her own love life is…well, she’d rather not talk about it. To keep her sanity, Lily needs a safe place to vent.

And so her anonymous blog, Bridesmania, is born. The posts start pouring out of her: all the feels about mom-zillas, her vanishing bank balance, the wicked bridesmaids of the west, high-strung brides-to-be, body-shaming dress clerks, bachelorette parties, and Spanx for days, not to mention being deemed guardian of eighty-eight-year-old Granny (who enjoys morning mimosas in the nude) for her brother’s destination wedding.

So far the blog has stayed anonymous. But as everyone knows, few things online remain secret forever…

When all is said and done, can Lily help all five couples make it to happily ever after? And will her own happy ending be close behind?

Home Is Where You Are By: Melissa Grace ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amazon.ca | GoodReads

You cannot help but fall in love with Liv the leading lady of Home Is Where You Are, she is as sugary sweet as the delights she whips up in her Nashville based cupcake shop. A recent divorcee in her late 30's Liv has all but given up on love but even more so on the woman she once was thanks to her sleezy ex-husband. Until one faithful night she meets front man Jaxon Slade of Midnight in Dallas when her friend insists Liv come out for a girls night instead of staying home with her feisty cat Mama. The connection is undeniable ... I mean who didn't dream of being swept off their feet by a sexy soulful rockstar!

This is such a feel good book and after the year we've had (bye bye 2020!) we can all use a sweet love story. One of my favourite things about this book is the age of our lady in love. It is refreshing to dive into a book about a mature woman finding love. Melissa beautifully mixes in storylines of hardship and real life issues which tugs at your heart strings. Does the past ever truly stay in the past?

This is Melissa Grace's debut novel and it leaves me really excited for what is to come. I cannot wait to read the 2nd book in this series, I am not ready to let go of these characters yet.

From the Author:

Olivia Sinclair left her dreams of a music career behind, along with her hopes for love and a family. With her husband having left her for more fertile pastures, she’s content to focus her energy on her thriving bakery, a new home, and an ornery rescue cat named Mama. That is until Liv’s best friend drags her to a concert where she meets the handsome (and much younger) frontman of the popular band, Midnight in Dallas.

Jaxon Slade is looking for a little inspiration. Up against a deadline, his ability to write music has escaped him. But when he meets Liv backstage, all of that changes. Jax is instantly captivated by her witty sense of humor and effortlessly beautiful voice. As the two grow closer, he begins to see a future with Liv by his side. All he has to do is convince her that their connection is worth the risk.

But when Jax suggests taking their relationship to the stage as a duo, fame makes some of the most painful details of Liv’s past public, testing her belief in their relationship and herself. Liv must decide between being the woman the world and her ex told her she was, or choosing the woman she was always meant to be. Home Is Where You Are, the first in the Midnight in Dallas series, is a story of love, friendship, and the family we choose.