Bingo Square: Friendship (three women become friends after they discover they were all dating the same man)
I was debating between using this one for Money! or Friendship but realized I had a few other decent choices for Money! among both books to be reviewed and books to be read so Friendship it is!
Samiah Brooks is successful in her career, she owns her own home, and she has a killer wardrobe. The one thing missing on her check list – the guy! The most recent guy she has been seeing, Craig, is fine but he isn’t exactly causing any butterflies. She is pissed off when she discovers that he is not on a date with another woman and has also been dating a third woman, but she isn’t heart broken. Craig only had success with any of these three women because they felt pressure to have a partner, and because it’s slim pickings in the Austin dating market. However, they decide to find the positive in this situation, and become friends. As part of that, they decide to take a break from dating, and focus on themselves.
Samiah decides to use this time to take an idea she has had an for an app and build it during the time she would normally spend dating. Of course, as soon as she makes this decision, she finds temptation in the form of Daniel Collins, a new hire at her company. While Samiah resists, her new friends are actually incredibly supportive (their pact is about finding happiness after all).
Of course things can’t be quite that simple – as kind and intelligent as Daniel is, he has secrets that he can’t share, and after Samiah’s last dating debacle, he is even more worried about betraying her trust and her ultimate reaction. His motives are for his deceit are good and it is out of his hands but it doesn’t mean it will be any easier to overcome his lies when he can finally come clean.
Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable story without any unnecessary drama – for the most part, the characters talk it out, the women are supportive of each other and I am very much looking forward to the other women’s novels (especially Taylor) – Daniel’s secret keeps it from being conflict free, but the people in this book are all adults with full lives – finding that one person is simply the cherry on top of it all.
