Best Friends Forever

Celine has been working hard for the past few years to build up her business, and just as she’s starting to find success her life falls apart around her. Her husband drifts away and then leaves her, which would be bad enough, except she’s facing a personal health crisis as well: breast cancer. Now Celine needs the help of her lifelong best friend, Lauren, to face her cancer and hold things together for her young daughter.

Fans of Kimberla Lawson Roby’s previous novels will love Best Friends Forever, a relatively short novella that focuses on the importance of friendship. Despite the short length of the book, Roby does a good job of giving the character of Celine depth and background; readers have a decent understanding of her family life, her friendships, her career, her morals. Readers will, of course, be entirely on Celine’s side as she struggles to deal with her cheating husband, although many will identify with her desire to patch things up for the sake of her daughter. In some ways, Celine’s cancer plays a backseat to the strength of her relationship with Lauren, although the appointments, surgery, and radiation treatments are an important part of the story, too. This is a quick read that will keep readers engaged until the truth comes out at the end.