Friends Like These Books in Order

After her long relationship ends, Marie sets out to find sophisticated new friends and a better life. Instead, an eccentric group and an unexpectedly appealing man named Brian challenge her assumptions about what happiness should look like.

Marie agrees to host Christmas while supposedly planning her wedding. Her unconventional mother, demanding guests, quarrelling friends, and an unexpected dog turn a hoped-for peaceful celebration into a test of patience, friendship, and impossible expectations.

Wedding plans unravel as Marie struggles with her fiancé Brian's work habits and unexplained distance from his family. With a demanding best friend adding pressure, she must reconsider what a perfect relationship and celebration really mean.

New motherhood leaves Marie exhausted and convinced other parents are coping better than she is. As her old friends face troubles she has barely noticed, she must find room for their needs and acknowledge her own.