Gerri can't decide what's more devastating: learning her rock-solid marriage has big cracks, or the anger she feels as she tries to repair the damage. Always the anchor for friends and her three angst-ridden teenagers, it's time to look carefully at herself. The journey for Gerri and her family is more than revealing—it's transforming.
Andy doesn't have a great track record with men, and she's come to believe that for her a lasting love is out of reach. When she finds herself attracted to her down-to-earth, ordinary contractor—a man without any of the qualities that usually appeal to her—she questions everything she thought she wanted in life.
Sonja's lifelong pursuit of balance is shattered when her husband declares he's through with her New Age nonsense and walks out. There's no herbal tonic or cleansing ritual that can restore her serenity—or her sanity.
Miraculously, it's BJ, the reserved newcomer to Mill Valley, who steps into their circle and changes everything. The woman with dark secrets opens up to her neighbors, and together they get each other back on track, stronger as individuals and unfaltering as friends.
My Thoughts: I was not sure how to rate this book. It took me a while to read it. I kept putting it down and not picking it up for another few days. However, I was eager to learn the fate of the characters so it made me determined to finish it. Now that I am finally done after two months, I am scratching my head not knowing if I liked it or not. So after one week of finishing this book, I will attempt to describe how I felt about Four Friends.
The first few chapters were a little slow, but the story began to pick up towards the middle. I was trying to picture the types of friendship that the four women had with each other. Each had their own little story with dark histories and they were able to support one another. The book mostly followed Gerri, but the other three women were also focused on. And I have to say, these women had such rotten luck! They were great examples of people not being perfect. Their drama really drew me in into the story.
Even though this book was about the four women, my favorite character had to be Bob. Bob became the love interest of Andy. Andy was recently divorced from her second husband who was ten years her junior. Andy was only attracted to young hot men with sculpted bodies, so she was not expecting to fall for her handy man, who was the complete opposite of the men Andy dated. Bob was absolutely adorable! He was sweet, loving, and caring. He had such a good heart. I enjoyed reading every scene that he was in and I was very glad that Andy fell in love with him. He might not have been "hot" and was much older, but he was the perfect partner that a woman could ask for.
Now, why did I have a hard time rating this book? Well, it had to do with the topic of infidelity and how it was handled. Gerri kicked her husband out of the house after finding out that he cheated on her a few years back with a younger woman for two years. Though the affair was old, it was still a painful subject for Gerri and of course it changed the way she viewed her husband Phil. This was what drove me mad: Gerri was pictured as the nagging, cold hearted wife while Phil was portrayed as a poor husband who was treated wrongly. Yup, Phil was romanticized even though he broke his vows while Gerri was turned to a villain because she was being menopausal. This was what the message sounded like to me: You should not be blamed for having an affair that happened years ago, especially since you have not done it again. It's her/his fault for finding out that you had an affair. How dare they try to make you the bad guy! Grr!!! Needless to say, this message did not sit well with me.
Overall, this was not a terrible book. I enjoyed reading the dramas that each of the characters had, and I especially loved reading the scenes with Bob. Unfortunately, I did not like how the affair was treated. It left a bad taste in my mouth.. I rate this book:
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