Our summer reading theme this year is All Together Now so we're sharing some of our favorite friendly titles. You've got a friend in these reads!
The Books of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
Lisa Wingate brings to life stories from actual "Lost Friends" advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold off.
Louisiana, 1875 In the tumultuous aftermath of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now-destitute plantation; Juneau Jane, her illegitimate free-born Creole half-sister; and Hannie, Lavinia's former slave. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following dangerous roads rife with ruthless vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and eight siblings before slavery's end, the pilgrimage westward reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the seemingly limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope.
Make Friends with Murder by Judith Garwood
Morgan Reeves isn’t the type of person who routinely deals with dead bodies. She’s a freelance-writing ultra-feminist who can’t keep a relationship alive because she fears growing too dependent on the men with whom she’s having the relationship.
As the book opens, she is in the process of kicking her latest boy toy to the curb. She has drawn an assignment to write about wineries in California’s central valley area. It is while touring a winery for her first writing assignment that she opens a door and finds a corpse in amongst the wine barrels. Worse still, the guy appears to have died as a result of pesticide poisoning. If word gets out that the vintner is using pesticide-saturated grapes in his wines, the winery is history.
Just Friends by Robyn Sisman
Thirtysomethings Freya and Jack have been "just friends" for more than ten years. Of course, they've had their differences. Freya doesn't approve of Jack's taste for student teeny-boppers from Planet Bubblegum, and Jack has problems with Freya's utter scorn for human frailty-especially his own.
So when Freya, dumped by her lawyer boyfriend, moves temporarily into Jack's apartment, tensions simmer. They reach a boiling point when Jack agrees to act as Freya's Significant Other at her step-sister's society wedding. Now, old friends, best friends, just friends, are fighting like cats and dogs.
Bestselling author Robyn Sisman has written a sexy, hilarious novel about that eternal struggle to find "the one"-the one for now and the one forever!
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Addie Downs and Valerie Adler were eight when they first met and decided to be best friends forever. But, in the wake of tragedy and betrayal during their teenage years, everything changed. Val went on to fame and fortune. Addie stayed behind in their small Midwestern town. Destiny, however, had more in store for these two. And when, twenty-five years later, Val shows up at Addie’s front door with blood on her coat and terror on her face, it is the beginning of a wild adventure for two women joined by love and history who find strength together that they could not find alone.
Friends in High Places by Marne Davis Kellogg
Kick Keswick, once a jewel thief living an exciting double life, has now retired in simple luxury to the south of France. But when an old enemy resurfaces, threatening to expose the countless fake jewels Kick had carefully substituted during her years of secret theft, she is ready to act.
Back in London, Kick finds herself with more employment than she bargained for at a company whose status is much more precarious than she'd thought. Her enemy, in disguise, circles ever closer. And a young nun comes to Kick with a mysterious jewel-encrusted figurine, and a story of greed and murder.
To balance on this high wire, Kick must sneak into an upper-crust wedding in the Italian Alps, break into an ancient castle owned by a very modern murderer, and do it all with her customary panache, style, and grace. Can she keep one step ahead of the most seductively ruthless foe she's ever encountered?
Forever Friends by Lynne Hinton
Come Back to Hope Springs, Where Friendships Last a Lifetime The women of Hope Springs Community Church have weathered some pretty fierce storms. Now their friendships are tested again when one of their own is leaving. Join Louise, Jessie, Charlotte, Beatrice, and Margaret for a farewell that Hope Springs will never forget.
Darkness, My Old Friend by Lisa Unger
After giving up his post at the Hollows Police Department, Jones Cooper is at loose ends. He is having trouble facing a horrible event from his past and finding a second act. He's in therapy. Then, on a brisk October morning, he has a visitor. Eloise Montgomery, the psychic who plays a key role in Fragile, comes to him with predictions about his future, some of them dire.
Michael Holt, a young man who grew up in The Hollows, has returned looking for answers about his mother, who went missing many years earlier. He has hired local PI Ray Muldune and psychic Eloise Montgomery to help him solve the mystery that has haunted him. What he finds might be his undoing.
Fifteen-year-old Willow Graves is exiled to The Hollows from Manhattan when six months earlier she moved to the quiet town with her novelist mother after a bitter divorce. Willow is acting out, spending time with kids that bring out the worst in her. And when things get hard, she has a tendency to run away--a predilection that might lead her to dark places.
Friends and Enemies by Susan Oleksiw
Mellingham's Chief of Police Joe Silva has his hands full when the Mellingham High School Class of 1969 holds their twenty-fifth reunion.
Not every member of the class is looking forward to the gathering. Eliot Keogh is returning to his hometown to find the person responsible for sending his father to prison on a false charge. Becka Chase, on the reunion committee, is distracted because the husband of her best friend Mindy, Vic Rabelard, is trying to revive their long-dead affair. She fears her husband will find out and leave her.
The reunion has barely begun when Mindy Rabelard disappears, and Vic is found near death, apparently the victim of some strange toxin. Chief Silva will have to travel back twenty-five years and fit together a series of interlocking events to figure out what's going on in the quiet coastal village of Mellingham.
A Friend of Family by Marcia Willett
Picking up the story of Kate Webster and Cass Wivenhoe that began with First Friends, A Friend of the Family (published in the UK as Thea's Parrot) tells the tale of one of their friends, Felicity, a married woman who has been dallying with George, another mutual acquaintance. When Felicity is widowed, everyone expects George to pop the question. He does, but to the astonishment of Kate and Cass, his intended bride is not Felicity. With her usual generous helping of tears and laughter, Marcia Willett again provides her fans with a treat to be savored.
Between Friends by Kristy Kiernan
Thanks to modern reproductive technology-and the gift of her friend Cora's eggs-Ali Gutierrez is the mother of a fourteen-year-old daughter. Now, yearning for a second child, Ali asks Cora's permission to use another of the frozen embryos that have been stored away in anticipation of this decision. But Cora has a secret that could not only change Ali's plans for the future, but tear apart her life right now.
To the Land of Long Lost Friends by Alexander McCall Smith
In the latest book in the widely beloved No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Precious Ramotswe takes on a case for a childhood acquaintance and finds that family relationships are always a tricky proposition--even for Botswana's premier female detective.
Mma Ramotswe has reconnected with an old friend who has been having problems with her daughter. Though Precious feels compelled to lend a hand, she discovers that getting involved in family affairs is always a delicate affair. The young woman appears to be involved with a charismatic preacher. But are his ministrations entirely of a godly nature?
Elsewhere, Charlie is also struggling with a tricky matter of the heart. He wishes to propose to his girlfriend, Queenie-Queenie, but he's struggling to come up with a bride price that will impress her father. When Queenie-Queenie's brother offers to help by giving him a job, the offer may not be quite what Charlie expected.
As always, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni will offer wise counsel, Mma Makutsi will weigh in with her opinions, and Mma Potokwane will be there with her welcome fruit cake. But in the end it will be up to Mma Ramotswe to reflect on love, family, and the nature of men and women in order to resolve family dramas and remind everyone about all the good things they have in life--so many, in fact, that it would take far too long to count them.oral sense to get to the heart of the matter.
The Best of Friends by Susan Mallery
In high school, studious Jayne Scott and wild child Rebecca Worden became unlikely best friends—a tie that endured even after Rebecca fled her family to live overseas.
After Jayne’s mother passed away, she became part unpaid assistant, part surrogate daughter to the wealthy Wordens. But now, ten years later, Rebecca is coming home to L.A. to cause havoc for Elizabeth, the mother who all but rejected her. And Jayne finds herself pulled deeper into the Wordens’ complicated family dynamics—especially when Rebecca’s brother, David, returns as well.
David is the man Jayne always wanted and knew she could never have. But when he gravitates toward her in spite of Elizabeth’s protests, her vow to escape the family’s shadow is put to the ultimate test. And as lies are shattered and true feelings exposed, Jayne must decide where loyalty ends, and love begins. . . .
Marriage Between Friends by Debbie Macomber
First comes friendship… Back in high school, Maggie Kingsbury and Glenn Lambert were close friends. But after that, life took them in different directions. Now they meet again—as maid of honor and best man—at a wedding in San Francisco. Maggie and Glenn reconnect as friends but discover that their connection goes far deeper than just friendship. Twenty-four hours later, they're married, too! They begin to create a brand-new world for themselves, based on White Lace and Promises.
And then comes marriage! Lily Morrissey decides it's time to find a husband, preferably a wealthy one. It's a strictly practical decision, and she enlists the help of her best friend, Jake Carson, in the Great Husband Search. That's when Lily's feelings for Jake start to change. Because they're Friends…and Then Some.
Did we leave out any of your favorite Friendly titles or stories about friendship? Let us know! We love to hear from our readers on any of our social media pages.
As always, info and images are courtesy of other web pages, such as WV Reads, Goodreads, Google, etc.