For Keeps

by Natasha Friend

[Sam@WLABB]

Friend caught my interest with The Other F-Word, and absolutely won my heart with How We Roll. For Keeps is another solid Friend book. I am not sure what I was expecting, but I inhaled this complicated story.

Josie had a pretty good life. She had a wonderful bestie, who pushed her and supported her. She had a mom, who she loved and knew loved her back. However, she was always missing a piece of her history and maybe even a small piece of herself, because she had never known too much about her dad. Fate brings her paternal grandparents into her life and her "dad" soon follows. Pieces of the past are revealed, and it seems that not one person involved knew the full story. This part of the story really hit me in the feels. I was able to understand the pain of both Josie and her mom, and even emphasized with her dad too.

There are a lot of relationships, which hit some snags in this book, and I thought Friend did a great job helping Josie navigate them. Friendship, family, and romance are all explored, and I enjoyed getting to know Josie, while she got to know more about herself.