The Friends We Keep

February 15, 2016
Three friends provide encouragement to one another in Mallery's second installment (after The Girls of Mischief Bay) in her Mischief Bay series. The a seaside town in Los Angeles County, Calif., is home to Nicole, Gabby, and Haley. Gabby is mother to five-year-old twin girls, Kenzie and Kennedy, and 15-year-old stepdaughter Makayla. When unforeseen circumstances threaten to prevent her from going back to work after the twins start kindergarten, Gabby and her husband, Andrew, are in total disagreement. Hayley wants nothing more than to be a mother. Despite weakness from miscarriages, she is convinced that she and her husband, Rob, can be parents if only she can get one more chance at carrying a pregnancy to term. Nicole, reeling from a divorce, is not thrilled when her son, Tyler, wins a contest that enables him to meet the creator of his favorite books, Jairus. But things become more complicated when Jairus and Nicole hit it off. Gabby, Haley, and Nicole are down-to-earth real women with whom readers will be able to identify, and Mallery successfully balances each story line. The women's stories and the depth of support they provide one another make this an engaging read to be savored all the way through.

February 1, 2016

The latest novel by popular women's fiction author Mallery (The Girls of Mischief Bay) is an intersecting tale of the ties that bind and strangle. When her twins enter kindergarten, stay-at-home mom Gabby is elated about her return to work and the freedom it promises. The best-laid plans start to unravel when her stepdaughter delivers shocking news that leaves her marriage and her career dreams in the lurch. Meanwhile, her best friend Hayley is devastated by the continuous failure of the fertility treatments that threaten both her bank account and her romantic relationship. Fitness instructor Nicole's husband walks off to pursue his Hollywood dreams, and she is forced to renavigate life and the possibilities of finding love again. All of these women, who meet over freezer meal workshops, hope to simplify their lives, but the complications build by the minute. VERDICT This is at heart a novel about the relationships among women, friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, and stepchildren, with a strongly woven romantic subplot. For Mallery's fans and readers of light women's or romantic fiction.--Julia M. Reffner, North Chesterfield, VA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.