I enjoyed this book primarily because of its unique mix of romance and women's fiction. A lot of time was spent developing two central romances, the first between single parents Ellen and Keith and the second between widow Unity and wealthy bachelor Thaddeus. However, to me the most important relationship in the book was the lifelong friendship between female leads Unity and Ellen. I really loved the way they always supported each other and that they acted like sisters as much as best friends. They rarely fought, but when they did, they missed each other so much that they couldn't even go a full day without making up.
Unfortunately, when the story began Ellen and Unity's strong friendship actually seemed to be holding them back from moving forward with their lives. Neither was willing to push the other out of the rut they'd fallen into, and as a result, Unity remained mired in grief over her husband Stuart's death three years earlier and Ellen hadn't dated since her teenage son, Cooper, was born. It wasn't until Ellen accidentally overheard Cooper making plans to give up his dream of going away to college to stay home with her that she realized something had to change. The Friendship List was born out of Unity's determination to help her friend figure out a way to convince Cooper that she could make it on her own, and the story really took off from there.
Unity and Ellen's competition to complete the items on the list was a lot of fun, and it was a great motivation for each of them to finally get of their comfort zone. Not all of the challenges were easy, however, and Unity really struggled with anything that meant letting go of her old life with Stuart. Fortunately, her love interest, Thaddeus, was very patient with her as she worked through her grief, and after a few false starts, Unity finally realized that she was ready to take a risk on love again. Ellen and Keith also had to overcome several obstacles as they transitioned from friends to lovers, but I enjoyed their banter and it was very easy for me to cheer them on to their HEA.
Overall, "The Friendship List" was an enjoyable read and I recommend it for all fans of contemporary romance and women's fiction. I look forward to seeing what Susan Mallery writes next!
*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
Ellen and Unity have been best friends basically since birth, but they couldn’t be more different. Unity married her childhood sweetheart just after high school and became an Army wife, moving from base to base…until her husband's shocking death in the line of duty leaves her a widow. Grief-stricken, it’s time for Unity to come back home to Ellen—the only person she can trust to help her rebuild her life. But Ellen has troubles of her own. Boys never seemed to notice Ellen…until one got her pregnant in high school and disappeared. Her son is now 17 and she’s wondering what to do with herself now that he’s heading off to college and he's literally her entire world.
But now that Ellen and Unity are reunited, they’re done with their stale lives. It’s time to shake things up and start living again, knowing that they'll always have one another to lean on. So they create a list of challenges they have to accomplish--everything from getting a tattoo to skydiving to staying out all night. And whoever completes the most challenges is the winner. But with new adventures and love just around the corner, there’s no such thing as losing…
Read an excerpt from "The Friendship List" here!
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