Last word first: Heartbreaking and sweet, if a little predictable in some ways. Recommended reading.

Synopsis: Kamryn and Adele were best friends for years, right up to the day Kamryn found out Adele had slept with Kamryn's fiance. Broken-hearted, Kamryn ditches her friend, her fiance and her former life and does her best to forget. And she thinks she's succeeded, when Adele's dying request for Kamryn to adopt her daughter brings it all back to the surface. Tegan isn't just Adele's daughter... she's also the daughter of Kamryn's former fiance, though he is unaware of it.

My thoughts: There are two things that just make me fall apart - dying mothers and abused children. (That's actually a lie. There are many things in books I find tough to deal with, but those are biggies.) This book serves up both within the first 80 pages.

You'll have guessed already what happens, so I don't really feel like I'm giving you a spoiler when I say that Kamryn (Ryn) decides to adopt Tegan, Adele's daughter. Adele passes away fairly early in the story, though her presence continues to be felt throughout. Ryn has been adamant that she never wants children, so it's both funny and sweet to watch her trying to be mummy to a heartbroken five year old.

Precocious Tegan adds to the fledgling family by adopting Ryn's boss, Luke. The one problem is that Luke really doesn't like Kamryn very much. And in order to finalize the adoption process, Kamryn has to contact Tegan's biological father. Also known as Nate, the man who broke her heart that she hasn't seen since.

I want to emphasize that while there is definitely a strong romance component to this book, the story is more about the relationship between Ryn and Tegan. And to a lesser extent, about Kamryn coming to terms with herself and her past. The story didn't have a whole lot of surprises (though I didn't expect it to end exactly the way it did), but it was highly enjoyable. ( )

i read this after leaving my sisters, a newborn nephew and my other nephew and neice and read it on a long coach journey feeling all sorry for myself, I think the man sitting next to me must have thought me slightly over emotional as it kept making me burst into tears.

It pulls on all the heartstrings; dying best friend, cute daughter of dying best friend abused by monster grandparents, gallons of guilt. I enjoyed reading it because it was a wallowing book and a bit different to usual 'chick lit' though the classic will she choose the 'obviously right for her' man or the 'man who broke her heart' ends up to be the main crux of the story.

I found the first half Ryn and Tiga's developing relationship and how they dealt with their grief and new life together more probabable and interesting than the second half 'complecated love story.' Ryn's new boss first hating her then turning into the perfect father, Nate her ex conveniently living in Leeds turning up in John Lewis'.

In all it was different enough from the usual 'chick lit' and made me cry and kept me gripped for three hours plus. ( )

I truly enjoyed reading this book. Initially I was quite hesitant as I thought it might get draggy and boring but my curiousity got the better of me. This is a new kind of chick-lit as it deals with real issues such as death, adoption and even racial differences. It made me smile and laugh and cry and think a lot. A refreshing read. ( )

This was a brilliant read, had me in tears at times and made me think about friendship.

What would you do if your fiance and your best friend had had an intimate night, only once, years before you accidentally found out but you were only a couple of months away from marrying him? What would you do if you found out that that one night produced a child whom you had unknowingly loved unconditionally because you believed that your friend was alone in the situation? What would you do if, two years later, your friend was dying and asked you to adopt her child after she was gone but you never ever wanted children of your own? Well hopefully this scenario hasn’t and won’t happen to you but in “My Best Friend’s Girl” by Dorothy Koomson, it happens to Kamryn Matika.

I LOVED this book!! I picked it up at the base PX a week ago and finished it last night. It was well paced and told in first person from Kamryn’s point of view. The characters popped off the pages and into my imagination right from the start and the plot had great twists and turns that took the characters into some situations that I never envied. Now, during the dating chapters of my life I have experienced the devastating feelings of being cheated on. The first time I was young and afraid of losing him so I turned a blind eye but in my mid-twenties I let him have it. Then I met the hubby and was worry free and very happy and have been for seven years now (four of which have been in marital bliss). But for a life to come out of one night of weakness would have been the worst.

Kamryn makes great decisions, is a tough lady and is very believable. She had built a sturdy life for herself post-her world ending, and was content with never seeing or speaking with the people who had ripped her heart out of her chest ever again. It’s funny how things happen for a reason though. She learned that she was capable of raising a child, loving them unconditionally even though every time she looked at their face she saw her best friend and her fiance.

Though I have never been to England the author did a great job of describing the settings so I was ready to hop on a plane and have dinner at this one restaurant and make pizza with the kids class in another. I wanted to hang out in Kamryn’s flat and go to the park and play on the jungle gym. There are dark moments in the book that made me catch my breath with the severity of what was happening to the character but of course the day was saved… thank goodness.

If you are looking for a quick but substantial beach, weekend, week or commuting on the bus/subway because gas prices SUCK, read than this is the book for you. If you want to get to know some characters that are appealing and have some depth, than this is the book for you. ( )