The Friendship List - by Susan Mallery

I loved, loved, loved this book. It hit close to home for me. My best friend was widowed young, and I can relate to Ellen’s feelings of frustration with Unity. I know what it feels like when you try to be super supportive of someone you love dearly but are totally frustrated with their way of thinking about a situation that you’ve never experienced. At first, I thought that Ellen was going to be a timid, pushover because of her inexperience. I love that she came into her own and completely snagged Keith. The friendship list between Unity and Ellen is epic, and so much fun. I can totally see myself and my friends doing this. Loved it, read it twice, might read again. The epilogue was great, I love when a book has one.

“There were times when friendship was a two-way street and times when it went only one way.” This is my favorite quote of the book. It reminded me that sometimes we have to put away our thoughts or feelings for a moment to let a great friend get theirs out. Especially now. We are all experiencing new, different, and difficult times that none of us expected. Sometimes we just have to listen and support. I think Susan captured this perfectly. Ellen and unity are both in crossroads at their lives that both are scared to cross. They decide to make a list and help support each other in ticking those accomplishments off their list. I’ve always loved lists and feel accomplished when being able to make a big check beside a challenge on the list. Unity and Ellen both feel this way as well. Each check mark that is made helps them to push themselves for the next one. Learning and growing together! Susan Mallery always captures amazing characters that draw you in and have you wishing the best for them while also hoping the book doesn’t end! This great summer read is no different!

Oh my, this was SUCH a good book! I have been reading every book authored by Susan Mallery for years and this is, hands down, the BEST book she has ever written. It spoke to me on all levels. It was like Susan reached into my mind and pulled out all sorts of thoughts and feelings that I have had at different times in my life and wrote about them. Although Ellen and Unity are a bit younger than I was when I was at the point of being "stuck" in my life, believe me, I certainly could relate to their difficulties. I understood what they were going through. I could also understand the reactions of Keith and Thaddeus regarding their growing relationships with Ellen and Unity. I enjoyed the character of Dagmar and would love to see a book about her life. The high schoolers in the story were authentic as was their relationship with their parents, coach and teacher. Even Thaddeus's friends, Freddy and Lela, were great characters. The whole story checked all the boxes for me, I just loved it!

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.

I love, love Susan Mallery books! When I buy her books I don’t even need to read what this book is about if she wrote it I want to buy it and read it. I tend to read her books slowly because I don’t want the book to end. Two live long friends create a list of challenges that they both needed to complete and the winner gets a trip to the spa. I loved how Ellen and Unity pushed themselves out of their comfort zones. That’s what best friends are for. The Friendship List is a great book and if you enjoy this book I highly recommend you checkout her Fool’s Gold and Happily Inc series.

The friendship list is a good book to read about friends who have been through some life changing things in their life and were stuck for so many years. I really liked how the friends made a bucket list and the steps they took to improve their lives and meet the items on the list. Ellen is a single mom and Unity is a widow who lost her husband in the war. Although this is a great read, I had a hard time emotionally connecting with the characters like I have in other books that Susan has written. I would recommend this book to anyone as Susan is an amazing author.

Is this book good? Well yes it is. How good? I have now given two people copies of this book and it just came out. I can’t wait to get an audio version to hear if Tanya does as good of a job that I heard in my head. We all have something stopping us or hanging us up in life. Now I want but fear a friendship list. What would I dare myself to do Another wonderful stand alone book by Susan Mallery. Dare yourself to read this book. You will be glad you did.

I love Susan Mallery books and this one didn’t disappoint. The Friendship list is about two friends who are trying to get back into the dating world after several years and some trying circumstances. The bucket list they created helps them to get back into the swing of things. I really liked the characters and their story lines. It was easy to understand their point of view on things, even if I didn’t always agree with them. There were a lot of funny moments in the book that made me laugh out loud. The Friendship List was a very fun and easy read and I think I finished it in three days.

Susan Mallery wrote another fantastic book! I loved the theme of two friends challenging each other to stretch themselves. They grew and ultimately found love along the way. We all can be “stretched”now and then! It was a good reminder for myself. I would recommend reading this book.

Ellen and Unity have been best friends since forever. Now in their mid-thirties, the women are forced to acknowledge an unpalatable truth: they’re stuck. Ellen has been immersed in raising her son, Cooper, alone, and working. That’s all she’s done for the last seventeen years. When she overhears Coop tell a friend that he can’t go away to his dream school for college because his mom needs him too much, Ellen realizes she has to make some changes. Unity’s been a widow for three years. Everyone keeps badgering her to move on, but she’s fine with where she’s at: living in her dead husband’s childhood home and sleeping in his bed. She’s got her business and her friends at the local “older adults” housing development. She’s just fine, thank you very much, but she wants to help Ellen. Unity comes up with a list of challenges that will force both of them out of their ruts. They’ll wear bikinis in public. Get a tattoo. Sing karaoke. Unity proposes the project to make Ellen feel that Unity is trying to move on, but she has no intention of actually changing in any ways that really matter. Sure, she’ll go indoor skydiving with a nice man, but there can never be anything more between them. The friendship between the women is genuine. They have a big fight at the beginning, but then are able to work through it. The two male love interests are great characters. Ellen’s story line is friends to lovers with her coworker and Cooper’s coach, Keith. Keith could be a little over the top in his reactions and interactions with his teenage daughter, but it was still entertaining. Thaddeus is the perfect romantic hero: tall, dark, handsome, charming, and rich. Unity knows he’s special and worth trying to change for. If only she could. Of course, Susan Mallery is one of my favorite authors and this book is as good as I’ve come to expect. I enjoyed it a great deal and I’ll buy a copy for my friend who loves her, too. ------------ I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but it did not induce me to review it, favorably or not.

This is my new favorite Susan Mallery book. It could be that after the continuous 2020 drama, or recent weighty (but important) reading choices, I needed a hopeful, fun, uplifting story. I liked these characters SO much and loved the plot set-up. Two friends challenge each other to step out of their comfort zones and shake up their lives. The book also includes discussion guide and two recipes. As a member of Susan Mallery’s review crew, I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A great book about 2 friends, who find out they need to step outside their comfort zone and move forward with their lives. It was a quick read and another Susan Mallery favorite stand alone novel.

This was a lovely, easy read. I finished in well under 24 hours which will always earn an automatic 5 stars. A quick read means the story drew me in and refused to let me go. The two main characters were immediately likeable, and as the supporting characters emerged and developed, I found myself rooting for each of them to be successful. I loved the interactions between Keith and Lissa, I felt that relationship was truly genuine. The backstories were sufficiently told to help understand their actions. It was also a joy to see Unity and Ellen come to terms with themselves and realize the changes the had to make to move forward. Many people have a taken steps to move forward in their emotional journeys. There were a few shortcomings, but nothing huge. I desperately wanted more Dagmar! I also wanted more of the story involving Ellen's parents. Both Ellen and Unity bear emotional scars that originated from them, yet a fully rounded conversation as to why is never had. I felt like how Ellen and Unity were affected by Ellen's parents and their actions, I might have had a greater understanding of Ellen and Unity. Finally, I had a slight issue with the conflict between Keith and Ellen. There was a striking lack of effective communication between them which I felt belittled them as adults, educators, and parents. As a whole, this is an endearing tale of personal growth that most readers can relate to.