Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO!
Here are the rules:
We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or element of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type.
And no more than two sentences as to why.
Just One.
And our theme this month?
Friendship in Romance.
What is your favorite friendship in a romance novel?
Your challenge: Name one book that you recommend that fits this type.
JUST ONE! NOT A LIST. ONE. One recommendation.
Any genre, but just one rec!
What romance friendship is your absolute most favorite?
Ready, set, GO!
Sarah: One of my favorite recent romance reads includes many different forms of friendship: Season of Love, by Helena Greer. There are supportive friendships between older women and between them and a younger character, some of which are also within the community of addiction and recovery support.
My favorite of all of them is the very tight friendship between Miriam and Hannah, who are also cousins, which adds some nuance to the amount of teasing.
Claudia: I’m going to go with the friendships between the characters in Mary Balogh’s Survivors’ Club series. We were talking about it the other day as a good representation of disabilities in historicals and they look out for each other throughout the books.
Sarah: Oh, that’s a really lovely recommendation and series. What one book or friendship in particular?
Claudia: Oh right, we have to choose one!!
I’ll go with Only a Kiss, which features the only woman in the “club.”
Elyse: I have to go with the friendship between Luc and Alex and Mitty from Boyfriend Material because it’s hilarious while also incredibly sweet.
Tara: I really enjoyed the friendship between Zinnia and Charmaine in A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow.
Lara: I don’t have a rec, but I do have a new item on my to do list: pay more attention to the friendships in the romance novels I read.
Amanda: I think One Last Stop might be my choice.
I remember some great themes of found family and community building, especially for characters who struggle with anxiety and isolation.
Ellen: Ooooh, lemme noodle on this.
What about you?
What friendship in romance is the one you love most?
ONE REC. JUST ONE.
Ready, set, go!
I enjoyed Nora Roberts’ Bride Quartet books – four women, friends from childhood, set up a business together so they work, play and find love together. The men are also mostly friends, so you have the support systems.
This carries through in other books – in Tribute, the men are friends – the main hero has friends since they were children; same for The Obsession. It’s nice to read about the men being friends outside of romantic relationships.
The bestie trio in Jasmine Guillory’s The Proposal. Those girls are super supportive of each other!
There are lots of series that come to mind, especially some that are listed here, but I’m going with my gut reaction and picking Awk-Weird from Avery Flynn. I won’t give away too much of the plot but there are three female best friends at the center of it and the way they come together for each other is friendship at its best.
I’m going to second the Survivor’s Club and Wallflowers books, but since they have already been mentioned, I’ll add the Cousins O’Brien trilogy by Nora Roberts. Two of the 6 MCs are siblings, and a third is a distant cousin, but there are deep bonds of friendship between the 5 Irish characters, which extend to the American cousin before the end of the first book. I’ll nominate the middle book, Shadow Spell, as the one with the strongest focus on the various friendships (and a friends-to-lovers romance.)
Just gonna add that the “found family” trope is fantastic for strong friendships, in romance as well as other genres. (I’d put the Survivor’s Club books in this category, as well as the Spoiler Alert trilogy. And Lish McBride’s A Little Too Familiar, which no one has mentioned yet.)