A delightfully comforting romantic comedy about friendship, trust, and growing together
—Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
Gouda Friends by Cathy Yardley
When Tam comes home early from a work trip to find her boyfriend in their bed with his ex, her entire life starts to crumble right before her eyes. So without anyone to turn to, Tam calls her long lost best friend Josh with their emergency code word to ask for help.
📖 Couldn’t Put It Down 🌱 Character Growth 🍃 Easy Reading 👯 Friends to Lovers
- Genre: Romance
Book Review
Sweet, cute, funny, light, fun, encouraging, delightful, adorable
Gouda Friends is an absolutely adorable romantic comedy. It’s full of cheese puns and reconnecting with your long-lost friend group and your long-lost best friend. All of this together makes for such a comforting read, perfect for your cozy romcom moods. Romance books are the best when they’re not entirely about romance and Gouda Friends truly finds that balance because it feels mostly about friendship, trust, and helping each other grow. But it definitely doesn’t leave out the sweet romance!
When Tam gets sent home from a work trip early, she comes home to her shared apartment to find her long-term boyfriend in bed with another woman. After leaving their previously shared apartment, Tam has nowhere to go, so sitting alone in a diner she calls her long-lost best friend with their old “my entire life is falling apart” emergency code word. Without missing a beat, Josh buys her a flight back to Ponto Beach to stay with him for a much-needed vacation.
Gouda Friends is about so much more than romance, it’s about finding yourself with the help of those who love you. It’s about listening to yourself about your needs and learning how much that benefits you. When Tam goes back to Ponto Beach to be with her long-lost friend group, no one misses a beat and they accept her with open arms, even though she hasn’t spoken to them in years. It’s the perfect comfort that so many readers need when they feel like everything is lost because sometimes we need a reminder that the answer has been there all along.
The way that all of Tam’s old friends help her try new things is just delightful. Each friend is able to show Tam what they do so she can get out of the rut that she’s been in. It’s so sweet to see how easy it can be to help a friend in need and how easy it can be to experiment with where you want your career to lead you. Gouda Friends is a wonderfully comforting on top of an adorable best friend to lovers romance.
Gouda Friends is a sweet romantic comedy full of cheese jokes and friendship. Romance shines bright when it incorporates other comforting elements into it and Cathy Yardley does a wonderful job balancing it all.
