AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “THE FRIENDSHIP LIST is a must. Susan Mallery is at the top of her game.”–Fresh Fiction “Mallery beautifully illustrates the power of female friendship and the importance of reaching for one’s dreams. This irresistible, heartfelt story will appeal to romance readers and women’s fiction fans alike.”–Publishers Weekly “The Friendship List is a sassy, … Weekly
“The Friendship List is a sassy, sensuous tale about two women who discover their femininity for the first time.” –New York Journal of Books
“Best Book of August 2020.”–CNN.com
A witty, heartfelt and irresistible story about two best friends determined to help one another shake things up and live life to the fullest in a summer that will change them forever.
Susan Mallery, #1 New York Times bestselling author of California Girls and Sisters by Choice, has delivered the perfect escape about the power of female friendship and the importance of making your dreams come true.
Single mom Ellen Fox couldn’t be more content–until she overhears her son saying he can’t go to his dream college because she needs him too much. If she wants him to live his best life, she has to convince him she’s living hers.
So Unity Leandre, her best friend since forever, creates a list of challenges to push Ellen out of her comfort zone. Unity will complete the list, too, but not because she needs to change. What’s wrong with a thirtysomething widow still sleeping in her late husband’s childhood bed?
The Friendship List begins as a way to make others believe they’re just fine. But somewhere between “wear three-inch heels” and “have sex with a gorgeous guy,” Ellen and Unity discover that life is meant to be lived with joy and abandon, in a story filled with humor, heartache and regrettable tattoos.
Don’t miss The Summer Getaway by Susan Mallery where one woman discovers the beauty in chaos in a poignant and heartwarming story about the threads that hold family together.
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Will my love for Susan Mallery’s books ever cease? I highly doubt it.
If, a BIG “IF”, that ever does happen, I will have about ¾ of a 7ft bookshelf
to fill back up. Anyways…let me get to gushing about Ellen ad Unity’s story now.
First, I am not only jealous of their luck in finding thoughtful, funny and good looking men.
Butt for their even better luck in finding their friend soulmate.
To have someone who is there for you anytime you need her. Even if her world is falling apart too.
Her words maybe be tough to hear, but always full of love and support.
Both, Ellen and Unity, had come to a standstill in their lives.
Because of this, they decided together to make a change. One, due to fear. The other for moral support, chose to challenge themselves our of their comfort zones. Who knew that a challenge between friends would change bother of their lives in such wonderfully drastic ways.
From the highs to the lows, I happily enjoyed joining them in their journeys.
I look forward to Susan’s next book.
And of course highly recommend this book.
Please note, I have voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC copy of this title.
Happy reading!
Rating 5 stars.
This may come as a shock to some of you, but Susan Mallery is actually a new-to-me author. Sure, I’ve heard of her. I’ve actually even borrowed a couple of books from the library in the past. Unfortunately, they went back to the library unread for one reason or another. I even have a boxed set on my Kindle of her first four Fool’s Gold books. Now, after reading this story, I know those books will be bumped up on my TBR. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
I related to both Ellen and Unity in different ways. These are some strong women with major weaknesses. They’re both stuck. These women have a beautiful friendship, and while that is a wonderful thing in many ways, it also keeps them stuck since. Unity can see that Ellen has to expand her bubble and break some of the rules that are a holdover to the way her parents raised her, but doesn’t realize her friend is in a rut. Ellen knows Unity is being held captive by her grief, yet doesn’t realize that Unity is also trapped by those same rules. The idea for the friendship list is one sided on Unity’s part, she wants to help her friend out but truly doesn’t see that she needs help, too. Once they both dive in, there are a lot of truths they have to deal with.
In addition to this being a story of two lifelong friends finding themselves, it’s also a love story. I enjoyed reading the bits about Keith and Thaddeus just as much as the rest of the story. This is the most spoiler-ish thing I’ll say in this review, and it’s not really a spoiler. I wasn’t sure how all of the relationships would turn out since this book is classified as women’s fiction, but I got the HEA I’m always looking for and I was overjoyed by that fact. These men are some of the most kind, patient, and understanding humans. Not just with Unity and Ellen, but in general. Thaddeus is wonderful with his aunt and his friends. We don’t get to know him as much as we get to know Keith, but from what I read he is definitely a catch. Keith is an amazing father, although he’s a bit paranoid and too tough on some issues. It all comes from a place of love and concern. (There is one particular issue I have with something he makes his daughter do daily. I get where he’s coming from, but it’s way out of line in my mind.) It’s very apparent that both of these men are fixers. That is why Keith has issues with his daughter that are unexpected for him. When there’s a problem he wants to jump in and fix things without slowing down to really listen to what’s not being said.
The cover of this book is eye catching and fun, but does not represent this story at all. I was expecting Ellen and Unity to spend a lot more time doing these things together. It was surprising that the actually spent more time on the phone with each other than being together in person. That may well have been by design. Like I said, these two are stuck in the beginning of this story. And their friendship helps them stay stuck. By them each having to take their own journey without the other one physically by their side, I think they learned a lot more about themselves.
I had a lot of fun with this story. The teenagers and senior citizens helped to brighten things when they’d get more serious. Because, as much fun and love that this story contained, it also had a lot of deep emotional issues that everyone needed to address.
I’m a huge romance fan and loved that aspect of this story, so I cannot wait to read a book by this author that is actually touted as a romance. She wrote great chemistry in this story so I’m sure it’ll be even better.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
Changes. We all must live through them and most of us don’t really appreciate the benefit that changes can bring.
Ellen, former teen mom, is now a teacher. She thinks she’s content with her spot on the planet. At 34 she’s been a parent for half of her life. Her son, Cooper, is changing his mind about colleges weekly, and Ellen isn’t sure what to do when she overhears her son’s thoughts on leaving home.
Unity, a widow for 3 years after the love of her life is killed in combat, is a senior citizen in a 34-year-old body. She’d rather hang out with the seniors she does handyman work for. She feels like she’s had her shot at love and doesn’t want to go through the grief that love brings.
Unity can’t stand that Ellen is stressing over her son. Ellen keeps telling Unity she needs to get out of her senior citizen mindset. Their disagreement leaves them making a list of tasks to do over the summer, to get each of them out of their self-inflicted slumps.
As the tasks are taken on, both women realize they are more than they think they are and need to move forward and take back their lives. A fabulous Women’s Fiction novel. I love the writing of Susan Mallery. Well thought out characters, plots, and clever twists.
The Friendship List by Susan Mallery
Ellen Fox and Unity Leandre are the best friends and who the book is about.
Ellen and Unity are best friends who support each other but decide that they both need a change and that the best way to make the changes is to make lists and see who gets the most done on the list and they will treat the other to a weekend at a spa.
Ellen is raising her 17 year old son Cooper on her own and has been friends with Keith Kinne who is raising his 17 year old daughter Lissa. They go on 10 day college tour and one thing leads to another and they are making love and hiding it from the kids. When they get back home he says everything has changed and that he wants a real relationship love and marriage they have issues to work through to get to their happily ever after.
Unity is grieving the lost of her husband three years ago and needs to move on with her life.
She meets Thaddeus Roake while at her friend Dagmar’s house and they start dating. He asks her out and she starts dating him but is still in love with her dead husband and she has lots of issues to work through but she does work through them and makes changes in her life. They work their problems out and have a happily ever after. I really enjoyed this book that showed a bunch of things about relationships and friendship. Hope that anyone who reads it enjoys it as much as i did.
Wow. What a read. Susan Mallery always makes me find love and life so much more interesting. This is one of her women’s fiction books that makes you look at life, choices and relationships in different lights.
Absorbing, touching, and sweet!
The Friendship List is a heartwarming, engaging story set in the small-town of Willowbrook that takes you into the lives of Ellen, a single mother who has spent the last seventeen years taking care of her son and is finally ready to spend a little more time on herself, and Unity, a young widow still struggling with the loss of her husband and the all-consuming grief that is preventing her from moving on.
The writing style is witty and light. The characters are multilayered, quirky, and endearing. And the plot is a heartfelt, delightful mix of friendship, family, introspection, parenthood, sorrow, support, forgiveness, love, loss, drama, community, and new beginnings.
Overall, The Friendship List is a sophisticated, sensitive, romantic tale by Mallery that once again highlights her innate ability to delve into all the psychological and emotional dynamics between friends.
I was of two minds going into this book: on one hand I was excited because I seem to like Susan Mallery’s standalone books or her shorter series. On the other hand my oldest will be a senior this year and I read to escape, not be reminded that my heart is going to crack into a thousand pieces soon. But I am really glad I read this! I could not put it down and would have gladly read all night if I didn’t have to get up early the next day.
I loved Ellen and Unity’s friendship and actually I really appreciated all the relationships that were in this book. They made me jealous I don’t have any people like that in my life! But Ellen and Unity have stuck by each other through so, so much and have really supported each other, even when they realized they were enabling the other to stay stagnant, they supported each other through the next steps. They were hilarious and real and sweet.
I appreciated Unity’s growth through the book, even if I had a hard time seeing eye to eye on some of her stances since the death of her husband. Thaddeus was so beyond perfect! He was just so kind and understanding and present to Unity and he was a great rock to support her and push her without actually pushing her to live again. I loved their story! But Ellen and Keith…They started out with such a great friendship and I can kind of understand where he started seeing her differently after she kind of pulled a ‘She’s All That’ on him, but I didn’t see where Ellen flipped the switch. It was he’s her friend, then she drinks a little too much and she wants to kiss him. There was no real in between or internal struggle like Keith was having. Then how she acted, it was almost the complete opposite of how she was in the beginning. I mean I get they were trying to grow and be different people, but it felt like she slid backwards and became immature and irritating. She and Unity had their only fight because she felt like Unity belittled her feelings and didn’t support her when she was upset, but then did the same thing to Keith when he was upset about his daughter and even said why aren’t you over this yet?!! Then seemed unnecessarily upset they couldn’t have sex. It really felt more like she wanted the easy parts of a relationship without the relationship, like he does stuff for her and they have sex. But then seemed to wonder why Keith could be upset about being used and have his feelings not be taken seriously. I get that she wasn’t used to being in a relationship, but she is used to being a compassionate human being and there are things you can recognize even without dating experience. I’m rambling, but I just didn’t like how Ellen changed.
But this book is worth the read because there were so many interpersonal relationships that were a balm to my stressed soul and the writing is superb, even if I don’t like some of the characters.
I loved this book! This one takes friendship to a new level. I am deep into getting ready to move into a new home and I read this one in an afternoon in between painting and working on the backyard and just needed to find time for me and really kept finding time for ME. Two friends who make lists and challenge each other to get out and live life. Ellen and Unity challenge each other to not only step out but to wake up. This one made me leave the paint to dry in the pan and I didn’t mind it. I recommend it to all. Definitely a great beach read or just a great read for any time.
I love, love Susan Mallery books. There are very few authors that I can buy their and not find out what the book is about, if Susan Mallery wrote it I know I will enjoy it. I tend to read her books slowly, I don’t want the book to end. I spread this book out over 5 days. Ellen and Unity, lifelong friends create a list of challenges to complete and the winner gets a trip a spa. I love how Ellen and Unity pushed each other out of their comfort zones. That what best friends are for. The Friendship List is a great book and if you enjoy it I highly recommend you checkout her Fool’s Gold and Happily Inc series.
Single Mom Ellen Fox, and her best friend since grade school, Unity Leandre create a list of challenges to push each other out of the rut their lives have become.
Ellen wants her college bound son to have the best college experience and realizes that she is holding him back. If only she can get out of her comfort zone and prove to herself and her son that she is enjoying life.
Unity pushes the list idea on to Ellen even though she doesn’t want to change anything in her life. She is in love with her deceased husband and living in his childhood home…what more could she want? After completing some of her list, she realizes that she hasn’t been living life at all and that she is going to have to dig deep to make the changes and find the happiness that she deserves.
This is a heartwarming story of two woman who are just existing…and then find the courage to make life altering changes to find what really makes then happy.
I enjoyed the humor of Susan Mallery and her ability to write characters that are so true to life. This is a story that you can read again and again and still laugh and cry with these characters.
Another fun story from Susan! It will make you laugh out loud and shed a few tears. Makes you realize the lives of young single Moms and young widows can be vastly different from young married couples! Has some really funny lines!
Really liked this book. Ellen is a single mom with a son and Unity is a widow. The two have been friends for years and they decide to make a list of things they want to do. They let each other know what they have done. I found myself laughing at times with this book. It is a good read.
Positively one of the most loving and challenging stories that chronicles the journey two friends embark on to make changes in how they live their lives.
You can’t help but be inspired and cheer on single mom Ellen and widow Unity as they face major life tweaks while facing what past incidents may have kept them from leading a fuller life.
An absolute must read that helps to realize that shaking up the routine can lead to wonderful surprises!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book.
Can Susan Mallery write a bad book? I don’t think so. I haven’t read one yet. Her latest book the friendship list was a a stand alone novel. It was another outstanding book about friendship, heartache, personal growth and moving forward.
Two friends Ellen & Unity have been friends since they were kids. When Unity’s parents died in a car accident, Ellen’s family took her in so she could stay out of the foster care system.
Once adults Unity married her high school sweetheart. The only boy/man she had ever had a relationship with. He joined the army and she traveled with him when she could. They made the decision to wait until he was out to have children. Perfectly laid plans don’t always go the way we want them to. Stuart, Unity’s husband was killed. Unity moved into the house he grew up in and continued on with her life, but it was the life she had lived with Stuart.
Ellen had gotten pregnant when she was seventeen. The father was never in the picture, had signed over his parental rights in lieu of child support and Ellen raised her son on her own. Her parents helped her out until she could get out on her own financially. But with that help there were always conditions and rules. When she moved out of her parents home she swore she would never do that to her son. Her love would be unconditional.
Both Unity & Ellen realized they were rather “stuck” in their lives. Neither was really living, but mainly existing. Ellen was living for her son and her son was worried to leave home to go to college. Unity was still very married to her dead husband, so much so that she still had his clothes hanging with hers, slept in his t-shirt and in his bed and in his house that he grew up in. He had been gone for 3 years and she was still “married” to him. She couldn’t move forward.
The list was born from them deciding on things they should do to bring them out of their comfort zones and that would help them move forward as well as grow personally. So they wrote the lists and began. What they found while doing the things on the lists shocked them both. There were ups and downs, tears and laughs but the way they came out on the other side was perfect.
I loved Ellen, she was so much fun. I like Unity, but part of her got on my nerves, I understood her grieving, but I don’t think she was that great of an actress to have fooled everyone into thinking she was doing okay. She needed help dealing with everything that had happened to her and yes her 2 closest friends tried but I think they might have been able to do more. She may have rejected it, but I’m not sure. I loved this story so much, the friendships, the relationships that formed, the kids it all worked together so well. There were tough spots, things that had to be dealt with, and there was heartache from them. In the process they were able to find humor, personal growth and so much more. I haven’t said much about this book, I really don’t want to, you HAVE to read it. Another wonderful book by Ms. Mallory.
Another winning book by Susan Mallery. Ellen and Unity have been friends since they were young, and their bond is stronger than ever. When they got mad at each other, it didn’t last long. Their friends and family are great. They are not perfect people, but that’s what made this book interesting and thoroughly enjoyable. Read The Friendship List, you will not be disappointed!
Ellen and Unity have been best friends all their lives. Now, as grown women, Ellen is close to sending her 17 year old son off to college and Unity is still grappling with the death of her husband 3 years before. When Ellen overhears her son talking about not going away to college because he’s worried about her, she takes it as a sign she needs to get her life in order and show him she’ll be fine. At the same time, Unity’s geriatric friends are convinced her life has stalled and she needs a swift kick to get going. Together, the two women draw up their own lists of things to do in order to breathe life back into their lives. They just don’t expect the directions the lists take them in.
I adore books with long-standing female friendships, so this was right up my alley. As soon as I was invited to take part in the blog tour, I knew I had to do it. I could see myself in both women just by reading the description, so passing on this book wasn’t an option. I’m so glad I did because, while it wasn’t perfect, it was a ton of fun, super easy to read, and a wonderful distraction.
The Characters: Two Best Friends
The cast of characters in this book is quite diverse, from high school students preparing to apply to college to the geriatrics Unity works with in the local senior community. I adored all of them and thought they were all brilliantly done. The young ones felt young and naive and the old ones felt both spry and like they had definitely been around the block more than once.
My favorites were, of course, Ellen and Unity. Lifelong friends, they know each other inside and out. But knowing someone that long also comes with knowing each other too well. I loved how they both supported each other, danced around serious topics, and forced each other to face the truth. I wish more of the book had put them together, but Ellen spent most of it on the road with a bunch of high school students, which was, honestly, a lot of fun. Mostly, though, I loved just how messed up both of them were and how their histories contributed to it, from Ellen’s teenage pregnancy to Unity’s early widowhood. I loved that it always seemed like one or both were about to unravel at the seams and that they were making mistakes left and right, but owning them.
In contrast, the love interests, Keith and Thaddeus, are remarkably put-together and know what they want. I loved seeing them be the ones pushing for something, making demands of Ellen and Unity. They were absolutely brilliant love interests and well-matched to each lady. I must say I think I adored Keith a little bit more, but he was really just that much more fun. I loved the sections told from his perspective; they really tickled me. In contrast, Thaddeus was much more proper, but still a man. I really enjoyed how cautious Unity made him and really kept pulling for him the whole book.
Around this quartet were a handful of other fun characters. Like Ellen’s son Coop who sees things as him and his mom against the world. He really melted my heart and is probably what every boy mom hopes her son will be as he grows up. It was so clear to see his love for and embarrassment of his mother, and fun to see him switch from overprotective son to normal teenager. I also loved Dagmar, Unity’s geriatric friend, who was just full of so much color and life it was impossible for me to not look forward to seeing more of her. She understood things so well and really cared about Unity. She was so much fun, and I hope to be like her when I’m her age.
The Setting: West Coast
The Friendship List takes place in Washington and up and down the West Coast. Being an LA native myself, I really enjoyed this book as it took me to places both familiar and foreign. It also made me long for the beach and Disneyland.
Since Ellen is on the road doing a college tour with some high school athletes, their coach, and the coach’s daughter for most of the book, there’s a lot of travel between the small Washington town they live in and San Diego. I got a general feel of Southern California, more so than Northern California and Oregon, so it felt familiar and had me wishing for more. Overall, it wasn’t really overwhelming, more interesting with just enough to offer a vague sense of setting.
I did love the small town near Seattle that the characters lived in. I didn’t get a real idea of what it looks like, but I liked the feeling of the small town that wasn’t too small. There was a nice general sense of community, especially in the senior community Unity spends much of her time in. I liked that it felt small enough to feel cozy, but big enough that it could contain the walking messes called Ellen and Unity.
The Plot: Getting Life Back on Track
This was a fun, yet serious story about two messed up women in their early thirties trying to get their lives back on track because the people around them are worried and think they need to. The Friendship List moves at a great pace, introducing the characters and their problems early on and then guiding them along their journeys to a new chapter in their lives. Some of it did feel a bit slow, but, overall, it felt like it moved organically and at a smooth pace.
This book starts off as fun and games as neither woman seemed terribly serious about their respective lists, but then they started accomplishing things and it started to snowball into the big things they had hoped to avoid. I loved reading along as they slowly spread their wings and fell into their journeys. I did want to shake at least one of them at least once, but it was fun to read about them dancing around each other and their emotions. As much as it was fun, it was also quite serious as they dealt with the dark, heavy things that had been clouding their lives, and I thought the balance was really nice.
Harlequin epitomizes romance, so I was expecting romance to play a heavy part in the book. I did not expect the guys’ perspectives to come in so heavy. I felt like I heard from them just as much as from the women, which was interesting and fun as the few romances I have read usually lean more towards the women’s perspectives. I was a little confused at first when the guys dropped into the story, but quickly figured out they must be the love interests, and for which woman. It was fun to hear so much from them, but my favorite part was that it was the guys who were so self-assured and the women who were so messed up and had to do the relationship fixing. It was a nice reversal.
If I have one complaint about The Friendship List it would be the end. I felt a few things had completely fallen by the wayside even though they’d played an important role in getting the story started. It was a little disappointing to realize something felt left out, but I’d also become so involved in the characters’ lives that I didn’t notice until I’d started writing this review.
Overall: A Fun, Easy Read
Overall, The Friendship List was a fun book. It was easy to read and had some really great moments. I adored the characters and enjoyed the setting, but my favorite part had to be the role reversals. It felt almost timid, but then the women slowly became emboldened and it just made sense that they had to fix things. This was a fun, easy read with some seriousness thrown in.
Thank you to Justine Sha and Harlequin for a free e-copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
What a book! Witty, sad, romantic, sexy. Nice relatable characters and interesting, relatable story lines. Ms. Mallory has written another best seller.
You will laugh and cry and laugh some more in this emotional book that tugs at the heart. Teenagers and adults are both struggling to find themselves while addressing issues in their past. I stayed up all night reading this book, it was that good!
Ellen Fox is happy with her life; she enjoys her job, has some great friends, and loves her son. When she hears her son saying that he can’t leave her alone making going to his dream college impossible she not only feels guilty but worries that she won’t be able to fix the problem. She realizes she must make him see that she will be okay on her own if he leaves. She turns to best friend Unity for advice. Unity has her own set of issues that she needs to deal with so she comes up with making a list. They each must make a list of challenges to push them to step out of their comfort zones. The list starts out as a way for them to push each other to do more but ends up being a.true lesson in friendship. Follow along as.these two women brave their way through experiences that neither thought they would ever have. I laughed, cried, and smiled the whole way through wishing I had a friend that would push me forward the way these two did for each other!
Every time I open the cover of a book by this author, I think it can’t get any better but it does. She has a way with words that make you rethink your own life sometimes. Romantic fiction typically has a HEA ending but not always. And even when it does, it certainly isn’t predictable and that is what this author brings. She tells real life stories through her books and you cry with, laugh at, and cheer for the characters. And sometimes you don’t even like them! Another excellent read!
I received an ARC from the author for an honest and unbiased review.