Hi everyone.

Welcome to novel hour or Thursday lunchtime show where we gather at

12 noon Eastern time every day.

Okay.

So 12 PM Eastern time, 12 PM New York time we gather here for our live show

and we share book recommendations based on different topics.

And this week we are going to be talking all about friendship, friendship stories.

Now, if you're looking for love stories and romances, we did that last week.

So find the replay for that one.

But today it's all about the friendships.

We have bromance, we have women's fiction, we have thrillery friendships as well.

So there are lots of variety and options for you to choose from.

So we'll each individually share our books.

Three recommendations each.

But we'd love to hear from you as well.

So let us know in the comments, or if you're watching live, or if you're

watching the replay, what are some of your favorite friendship books?

So we're not gonna waste any time today.

We're gonna hop straight into the recommendations I'm gonna hop Francesca

off and Laura and I'm gonna start with my books first So my books are women's

fiction Most of them anyway, the last book Has one friend who is a male, but

it's mostly women and all the books are really categorized as women's fiction.

Okay.

So these three books are all about friendship.

Again, they're women's fiction and they'll have you really thinking about the

friends you have in your life currently.

Or friends you've had in your life at one point or another So the first book

I want to share with you is sylvia's second act by hillary yablon Now I

really enjoyed this one because this is kind of like i'm in retirement, but i'm

out of retirement So we meet a woman.

Her name is sylvia.

She is in a retirement community in florida with her husband

However, one day she walks in on the man Right with another woman.

So essentially he was having an affair.

And then shortly after that, she also discovers that not only was he

having an affair, but he lost all their money through bad investments.

Now, some women would freak out.

I know I would be one of them, but instead she sees this as

an opportunity to leave him.

She's like, Oh my gosh.

I'm so relieved.

Let's leave this man.

Now she's going to do what she's wanted to do for a long time.

But like most folks, when you find out something like this

has happened, what do you do?

You call up your friends.

So she calls up her friend, they have some drinks, and then she ends

up in an Uber the next day to the airport to go to her daughter's house.

Her plan is to help her daughter with the children.

But her daughter, on the other hand, feels like there is no way my mom

is going to make it on her own.

So she's trying to get her parents back together.

But the mom or main character decides that, you know what?

No, no, no.

I'm going to do what I want to do.

She goes back to Manhattan.

She restarts her business that she had there and she just really

wants to kind of enjoy her life.

This is where it kind of gets into the sex and the city kind of vibe.

Okay.

This woman wants to live her best life.

Um, finally.

Now her friend in florida the one who she was drinking with comes up to join her as

well So now it's like they're roomies and they're living this city life together.

Um The friend also has a story.

I don't want to get into it too much to kind of uh, spoil it But just

know the friend also has a story.

Um, and this one is just lots of fun So we have a messy affair turned into a golden

opportunity to leave the husband we have a daughter trying to get them back together,

but we have the best friend who's kind of like I'm here and we're going to live

our best life in New York in Manhattan.

So it's really fun.

Um, it's lots of laughs and I love seeing it in the city.

So I'm going to say sex and the city light.

The next book on my list is one of a different turn.

So this one is women of good fortune by Sophie Wan.

Now this is about three friends in China and they all have

different situations going on.

We have one of our characters.

Who is engaged to a man.

She doesn't want to marry.

We have another friend who's saving up her money to get some plastic

surgery because she's just not really happy with her appearance.

She really hates the way she looks.

And then we have another friend who wants to freeze her eggs so

she doesn't miss out on motherhood.

Right?

So they come up with this plan.

It's like a heist.

Remember one of them is supposed to be getting married.

Their plan is to steal the wedding money because you know, in some

traditions, it's like you, you give, um, You give the wedding, the

bride, the groom, a wedding money.

So they decide we're going to steal this money in order to get what we want.

Now it sounds a bit comedic and it is to some degree, but it also really

deals with some serious issues.

So of course it's the expectation to marry, um, and you know,

like be a dutiful wife.

What happens when a woman is a super career woman, but she

also wants other things as well.

But the thing about the heist is that it allows them to kind of

step outside of their comfort zone.

Comfort zones and we see just how up to no good they can get, um, together.

We also see how their relationships as friends thrive, but also how it struggles.

Um, and of course there's some family story behind that.

We also hear from the men a little, but again, it's more about the

women and the main driver, which is the heist to steal the money.

We see over time it become, it becomes less about the money.

But also, um, how they develop as individuals.

So this is a debut novel.

It was really fun.

And again, it's just all about celebrating friendships.

And then the last book I'm going to share with you has some

armchair travel in there as well.

Uh, the book starts off on a bit of a heavy note, but it kind of gets lighter.

So just work with me here So we have four, uh freshmen in college, right?

They're all friends.

They have different aspirations one wants to be an actor One wants to

get into law, one, um, I think was an athlete or something, and then another

one, um, you know, wants to be a mom and there's nothing wrong with that.

So anyway, they all decide, I think, no, I think three of them decided that

they wanted to pledge for a sorority.

Uh, one person does not that's a whole separate storyline But the meat of the

matter occurs when right before their graduation the most unthinkable happens,

um one of the friends because remember we're starting with a group of four

Unfortunately on our lives themselves.

And this leads to the friends spiraling.

Like they can't understand how did this happen?

How did no one see it?

That kind of vibe.

So when this one friend, um, when this happens to the one friend, they decide,

Hey, We are the trio we are the surviving friends in the friend group and we're

gonna make sure to Always not wait until things get to a certain point to

reach out to each other So they decide that this is what they're going to do.

So then now Fast forward they're in their 30s and one of the friends walks

in on their husband having an affair And she just calls up her friend that

one friend leaves, um, who wanted to be an actor, leaves Hollywood

and comes in to help her friend.

Um, the other friend.

Also leaves what he has going on and come for the friend Which in town has

something to do with him breaking up with his girlfriend, which is a whole

other story But anyways, they come they both come together for their friend

To kind of help him get through this and part of it is a getaway to italy.

So they um Go to this really nice destination, which I love reading

about in fiction, you know armchair traveling beach club kind of vibes

And we see them while they're, you know, there to support the friend,

other things come up about their life.

And we see them kind of coming together to, um, you know, be there for each other.

So we have some armchair traveling.

It starts off a bit heavy, but we get resolution in the end.

And those are my three books about friends.

So if you have any friendship book recommendations, I'd

love to hear from you as well.

But also if you've read any of these books.

I'd love to hear from you too.

So share your thoughts in the comments.

Well, I'd love to hear from my friends.

What would you think about my three books about friendship?

I have so many thoughts about your first one.

I want to read it, number one.

But my first sticking point is The Daughter.

She wants them to get back together after the husband did all that.

Like, hell no.

What kind of daughter does that?

You are a terrible daughter.

Terrible.

I'm like, that.

And also, having no faith in your mom.

Like, she can make it.

She can make it on her own.

So I was just like, no.

We don't support that.

We don't support that.

No, but it's really, really a fun read if you're just joining us.

Yes, if you're just joining us for sharing books about friendship,

so if you have any friendship books share them in the comments

About is this one.

It's just really, really lots of just really fun.

I also shared.

Um, here we go.

Good women of good fortune.

And then the last one is, um, Emily Griffin's The Summer Pact.

If you've read any of these books out, please let us know.

But also if you have any recommendations, we'd love to hear from you as well.

Now I shared books mostly about women, right?

And women kind of going through their things, but guess what?

Francesca has the bromance.

So we are going to get off here.

So Francesca can share her bromance.

books.

Yeah, actually, I really want, I was thinking about what to do

for friendships and I feel like it's expected to talk about female

friendships in books, especially I'd always talk about romance books in

general, so that's always easy to find.

But I wanted to talk about the bromances because a lot of times they can be so

epic and really build something that is as special as the romance itself.

So I have three series to pitch to you guys.

Two of them are contemporary romance and one is paranormal.

And in fact the paranormal series I think is what I would consider the most

epic bromance of all time because in fact it's like the core of the series.

But let's start with contemporary.

The first series I'm going to talk about is the wild season

series by Christina Lauren.

So this is a series that actually follows also three female friends.

So we have Mia, Harlow and Lola, and they take a trip to Vegas.

They meet three irresistible guys and they end up kind of married.

to them.

So they have these impulsive, messy relationships.

All three books are really entertaining.

There's actually four books in the series, but the bromance

is in the first three books.

So it is among the guys Ansel, Finn and Oliver.

And I think that the bromance in the series is just as engaging

as the romances themselves.

So it's filled with a lot of teasing and support.

They have a very like ride or die loyalty between them.

So in these three books, I'm just going to quickly tell you what

you can expect from all three.

We have sweet, sweet, filthy boy, which is book one.

It's about Mia and Ansel.

So Mia is kind of like a quiet, responsible heroine.

And there's a wild night in Vegas.

She ends up married to Ansel after that night.

And he is kind of charming and free spirited.

He's a French man.

And instead of annulling the marriage, she decides that she's going to take a leap

and go for spending a summer in France.

So.

She's going to Paris.

So that's kind of like a reckless decision on her part.

That really turns into exploring passion, self discovery and kind of

like learning how to bloom yourself in the middle of a bunch of chaos as well.

Then we have dirty rowdy thing, which is Harlow and Finn.

And we have, um, Harlow, which is a brash and bold kind of independent

heroine and Finn is a rugged Canadian fisherman, kind of, kind of grumpy.

He's a little bit of a grumpy streak.

And after they were married for 12 hours, they do get an

annulment and their paths cross.

Afterwards, and they kind of turn into a friendship with benefits arrangements.

Um, he's having to save the family's struggling business.

She has her own battles, and of course the chemistry develops from there.

And then we have Dark Wild Night, which is Lola and Oliver.

And Lola is a successful comic book creator, and Oliver is kind

of the Ultimate bookish, tattooed, beanie wearing, dream guy.

Um, he owns a comic shop, and their, their, their biggest marriage

was never consummated, but their friendship has been rock solid.

So, they kind of have to navigate the pressures of Hollywood, and trying

to adapt her work, and all of that.

But throughout all three of these books, Ansel, Finn, and Oliver,

have this very strong bromance.

They joke around, they push each other's buttons, and it really

offers It's kind of like a solid relationship between all three of them.

They give each other advice, and it's a friendship that I think

really adds a lot of depth to all of these stories, and it shows kind of

a support system in these romances that makes them even more satisfying.

So that is for the contemporary wild season series.

Then we have our paranormal romance, which is the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

In my opinion, it's kind of like the ultimate bromance story here.

So the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward is a long running

paranormal romance saga.

And it follows an elite group of vampire warriors that are fighting against their

enemies, which is the Lessening Society.

Each book focuses on a different romance, different couple.

And I think one of the biggest highlights of the series is the brotherhood itself.

Now, all of the warriors, for the most part, are male, and they have

a very deep ride or die friendship between all of these warriors.

They kind of our ruthless killers in the battlefield.

But I think that also their bonds have very strong loyalty, a lot of

humor, a lot of emotion as well.

So while all of them in, in general, they form this massive bromance,

there's also smaller factions within.

So the first one that I want to highlight, it's kind of the top ultimate bromance.

And it's between uh, Butch and Vicious.

So, um, Lover Revealed is Butch's book, which is the one

that I have here on the screen.

But I think that from the very first moment that these two meet,

which is in, um, Dark Lover, we kind of feel this connection

between them that really hits hard.

So Butch is actually this outsider.

He's a human cop.

He stumbles into the vampire world without knowing anything about

it, but he quickly becomes part of the Brotherhood, especially

because of his bond with Vicious.

They are like next level intense bromance, ultimate pair.

They drink together.

They fight together.

They have moments of connection that Maybe some fans thought would lead

to some romantic development, but it's just that ultimate bromance

between them that really, they connect so well in every level.

Um, also in Lover Reveal, we see that, uh, how deep Bea actually

cares for him and how much he's willing to sacrifice for him.

And then later on in Butch's book, which is Lover Unbound, we actually see Butch.

As one of the few people that really understood vicious is trauma.

So I think that their connection goes way deeper than any of the ones that

we explore in the series, which is all about raw unfiltered emotion.

It's packed with so much tension, but also with just a lot of fun.

Other bonds in the Brotherhood are rage and sadist, so that's kind of a little bit

more like little brother, older brother type of dynamic, even though they're not

blood brothers, but they are all part of the Brotherhood, and then we have wrath

and torment, which are, wrath is the king, and torment is the kind of first in

command, so they have a more brotherhood.

leadership relationship.

They've known each other for such a long time, and their relationship is

built on leadership and respect and mutual, um, kind of like the purpose

of where they're taking the race.

But throughout the years, they really connected on a deeper level.

And then there's another standout bromance in the series, which is

between John Matthew, Quinn, and Blay.

So at the time, they were the next generation.

We now have a next, next generation in the series.

But they were the next generation BAMs and they kind of like went through their

transition and their training together and they really developed a nice tight

knit bond between the three of them.

John Matthew, uh, is actually has his own limitations.

I don't want to spoil any of it.

And then there are some things that develop later on.

also between Quinn and Blake.

So ultimately, I think these are all very steamy romances, but it's not

just about the steam in the series.

One of the most important aspects of the series is the bromance itself between

all of the members of the brotherhood.

And you see that developing throughout the different relationships.

And then the last series that I wanted to talk about is also contemporary romance.

And it's the bromance book club series by Lisa Kate Adams, which is all about

flipping toxic masculinity on its head.

And proving that romance novels are just not for women, they're also for men.

So the series actually follows a group of high powered men.

There's athletes, politicians, businessmen, and they secretly

start reading romance novels to better understand their partners

and better and become better men.

In the process, so their bromance is kind of the heart of the series in this book.

It's filled with humor.

It has lots of emotional support and a lot of really funny book club meetings.

So kind of the highlights is in the bromance book club.

We have, um, a, an athlete and he's having some rocky issues with his marriage.

And they basically, I signed him to read a historical romance to save his marriage.

And all of the members of the book club, they come together

and they actually have to.

Give him kind of emotional support.

There's also lots of laugh out loud moments and hilarious moments as well

But the heroes really are there to help him become the hero in his own real life

story So I think that that connection there was really important in the second

book, which is undercover bromance.

We have a um kind of the founder of the book club brayden who is the the resident

cocky charmer of the bunch and He his um bromance or the main Friendship is with

the Russian blood and kind of that's a ride or die friendship between them.

I think it's one of the best parts of the whole book in my opinion.

So Vlad is the Himbo with a heart of gold and Mac is constantly

trying and failing to keep up with all of those ridiculous antics.

So I think that it's really fun.

Lots of chaos in that one and lots of fun.

And then we have crazy stupid bromance.

which is all about found family vibes.

Uh, the hero Noah is a former hacker.

This is a best friends to lovers romance.

The heroine is a cat cafe owner, and I think what makes the book extra special

is the club rallying around Noah.

When family drama hits really hard, I think it's all about

showing that the bromance is not just about romantic relationships.

It's also about supporting, being like the support system for each other,

which I think it really proves how much these men really care for each

other outside of their love lives.

And then the last one is, isn't it bromantic, which is Vlad's time to shine.

So Vlad the Russian, which is the goofball of the bunch,

finally gets him his love story.

And of course, it's a standout with the, uh, absolute, again, ride or

die between all the bromances and in all the friendships in this one.

So lots of fun.

They're always making fun of him too, which kind of like running

jokes and all of that, but they're fiercely, fiercely loyal.

And it really cements that the book club is.

about more than that.

It's really about family between them.

So that's the ones I think that it really is important also to see that men are

also there to have their friendships and have those deep emotional connections.

And it's not just the women's thing.

Yes, I can agree with you more.

I love the bromance book club.

That's the only one I've read, but I found it interesting.

Christina, Lauren, they have that series.

I'm just like, that's worth checking out.

That's this one.

Just in case you are joining us.

What did you think, Laura?

I really like that personnel Lauren series.

It's a spinoff from the beautiful Bachelor series.

It's the biggest getting married Vegas and actually my favorite series, but I love to

revisit just because it's just like fun.

It's, it's, it's complete opposite from what this no.

Lauren has been writing so far.

So it's definitely a high heat, it's just fun, it's just like banter,

and there's like, not just formal speech between the guys, but also

the female friendships that happen.

And there's, it's just a solid friend group.

And yes, you get married in Vegas all the time too, and you're

like, Okay, what am I going to do?

And seeing all the different paths converge and define and, Go to France!

The, the first book in France is like, Yeah, if it wouldn't be the

dream, I'd marry a French guy and just like, Spend the summer in France.

So I mean, yeah, yeah, awesome.

All right.

So if you're just joining us, welcome.

We are talking about books about friendship.

So Francesca just shared the Christina Lawrence, sweet, filthy

boy, and the series books, that one.

Um, and then lover revealed the books in those series and then the bromance book

club and the books in that series as well.

So I did women, Francesca did bros, and guess what?

Laura is going to do the thrills.

So we are going to get out of here so she can share those thriller y books

that have friendship at the center.

So I am focusing on toxic friendships, friendlies, mean girls,

a little bit in between and stuff.

All, all are related to some trips that we are taking.

So the first one we're going to go is Before We Were Innocents.

Um, this is a resubmitted pic from last year.

Um, it's basically three friends who are 18.

I think two are scholarship kids and one of them was a really rich girl.

She, the rich girl invites good friends to go to a trip to Greece,

and in the trip, she, she dies.

And everyone suspects that these two girls are, um, the murderer.

Like, they were involved in the, in the murder.

And so, ten years later, one of them, they got rich.

One of them was in isolation, just in hiding fully, like, just a private person.

And then the other one became the complete opposite.

She became, like, a motivation to speak for her, like, just really well known.

And something happens that the motivation speaker finds the person

hiding and says, Hey, I need help.

And so we see the toxic relationship, we see, try to figure out what's happening.

Um, this one doesn't have a, uh, So if you don't like those, maybe this one

is not for you, but it's a slow burn.

You have to parse through the first couple chapters just to get to the

story, but it's a pretty engaging story to go to about female friendships, but

you know, growing apart and also being in this hard life for something you

don't want to be in this hard life for and the consequences of what happened.

So that's people who understand the L vermin.

Um, the next one, we're going to go to what I call bachelorette parties.

So the next one is one of the girls by Lucy Clark.

Um, this is a pen party, or as they say in French, or a bachelorette party as they

say in the U. S. Um, it's set in Greece.

It's a beautiful island, secluded island in Greece.

Six Lucy friends, like Lucy, like some childhood friends, some yoga friends,

some girlfriend of a girlfriend.

It's basically six girls coming together for a trip to Greece

for, um, for one of the bachelor, bachelor, um, one of the bride to be.

And she, there's a murder, and we don't know who gets murdered until the very end.

So, we're trying to figure out who gets murdered, what's happening, what

secrets they have in hiding, how do they get along, and how these toxic,

loose acquaintances get together in this, like, beautiful setting that's

just, like, a shock to the system.

Um, so, I don't know.

I find that goshware parties are a great place for thrillers.

I've seen quite a few.

And we have another one, which is, um, let's go, You May

Kill the Bride by Kate Weston.

So we're going to move to a group of childhood best friends who, one

of them may have killed a bride.

So basically, they're all childhood best friends, um, and they're

essentially mean girls now.

They're frenemies, and Tamsy is getting engaged, and bachelorette party.

And now all the friends are suspect because they have secrets in hiding

and they all know each other's secrets.

So we're trying to figure out who killed who, and what the

secrets are, and how they all come together, how they get out of it.

It is the Mean Girls.

Um, some reviews said it's funny, I found it okay, uh, but you can

be your own judgement for this one.

But it's just like a fun little romp, like it's Mean Girls in a thriller.

So, um, enough human killed the bride.

Those

are amazing.

I'm a Lucy Clark fan.

So I love, so I read that one, one of the girls.

I love Lucy Clark.

I read like most of her books.

I agree.

I think bachelorettes, like those getaways, they are good

for, um, for thrillery reads.

And you see a lot of frenemies too.

I mean, you were friends before, but you know, life goes on.

You grow up, you graduate, you have to quit and impress, or you just

realize they're not good people.

Or you're giving emotional labor and they're not giving

emotional labor back to you.

So, perfect recipe to cook to honor what you do.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

All right, if you're just joining us live, welcome, welcome to Novel Hour.

We gather here every Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time, 12 pm New York time,

depending where you are in the world.

And we share some fun book recommendations.

We have a little chit chat with you all today.

I have to say you all are quiet, quiet today.

Share some of your favorite friendship book recommendations with us.

In the comments, we'd love to hear from you if you're watching live replay crew.

We'd love to hear from you as well So share some of your favorite

books romance women's fiction Thrillers anything about friendships.

We'd love to hear your thoughts.

But while we have you here, let's get into next week So we have our shows lined

up like we meant, like I just mentioned, um, each week we share books based on

different themes and next week we're going to be sharing books about black joy.

So these are all going to center black characters as the main characters and

just them having a joyful existence.

Okay.

In the books, I think we have a lot going on in the world right now, so I

think we could really do with some joy.

So I'll tune in next week for that.

Then we're going to be sharing some locked room mysteries.

I don't know about y'all, but I loved, I love a locked room mystery.

I think now also is a time of year for that.

So if you want to add some mysteries to your reading list, you for

sure don't want to miss that.

And then for the first Thursday in March, we will be sharing some

spring reading recommendations.

So spring reading guides, spring reading theme, you know, we're just

going to come with a variety as always.

So you can stack.

You're reading lists for the upcoming season, but don't worry.

We're not assuring winter out too soon But we just want you to

keep these shows on your radar But uh, yeah, I think that's it.

There's not much else going.

Let's check the chat one last time again Y'all are quiet.

But again, if you're watching the replay, please feel free

to share your recommendations with us and Join us next week.

Oh, we're going live on Monday For a gossip session.

So join us Monday at 12 noon, but then join us again, Thursday at 12 noon.

for another novel hour.

Alright everyone, take care!

Bye!

Yeah.