Customer Reviews

Between Friends

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a wonderful story about the bond of friendship between two women, Ali and Cora. When Ali is unable to have children, Cora steps in and donates her eggs so Ali and her husband, Benny, can realize their dream of having a child. The result? They have a healthy little girl who they name Letitia Makani (nicknamed Letty). Fifteen years later is when this story begins. Ali has decided she wants to have another child, using the rest of the eggs that Cora donated to her But, unbeknownst to her, Cora is headed home to Naples, FL, and she has a secret that will change the course of Ali's life, as well as the lives of Benny and Letty.

This is an incredibly well-written, emotional story that completely engrossed me from beginning to end. Told in alternating viewpoints, Ali, Cora, and Letty give us a different perspective on the situations that happen in the story. I love books that are told in this fashion. When they are written well, it adds another layer to the story, without confusing the reader. Kristy Kiernan masterfully weaves these voices together into one cohesive unit. It was very well done. I really loved the way this book was written. I feel that if the story was told from only one perspective then I would have lost something - that special spark that made the story so amazing and heartfelt.

To say that I was shocked at some of the events that happened is a huge understatement! I didn't see some of those things coming - at all! I'd suggest that you keep a box of tissues nearby because you will be crying your eyes out, just like I did! This book is so engaging and deals with very sensitive issues. Due to my personal experiences with infertility, I could relate to Ali, one of the main characters. She was meant to be a mother and her best friend, Cora, allowed her to live her dream. The relationship between these two women is amazing and beautiful. They are as close as sisters and always there for one another, no matter what. I loved both of these characters. I loved everything about this story and am anxiously awaiting more books by this wonderful author!

In Naples, Florida Ali will always be grateful to her friend Cora who donated the eggs that enabled her to have a child. They became headline news with the miracle of modern reproductive technology. She and her husband Benny the cop love their fourteen year old daughter Letty, but now Ali wants a second child. She plans to persuade Benny and then talk to Cora, who has just come home after a teaching gig in Puerto Aysen, Chile.

However, Cora has just learned something about herself that will end Ali's plea for her to undergo the ordeal again before it begins. She must find the courage to explain to her BF that she suffers from Polycystic Kidney Disease, a genetic disorder that means dialysis rather soon and she fears Letty might inherit the diseases from her. Meanwhile Letty tired of being the miracle child is seeing Seth, a nasty teen with demands on her.

The relationships between the four prime players especially the two BFFs keep this character study from becoming a soap opera though it is a tearjerker. The lead four are fully developed to the point readers will hope for a second miracle. With a late unexpected twist, fans will enjoy Between Friends while waiting for the results of Letty's PKD tests.

Harriet Klausner

Friends since childhood, Ali and Cora are each other's confidants and shoulders to lean on when the going gets tough. They are also joined together by an unusual bond: when Ali and her husband Benny were having trouble getting pregnant, Cora donated her eggs and is the biological mother of their 15-year-old daughter Letty. Letty always knew the truth - thanks in part to the framed magazine excerpts about the arrangement - and having children of her own has always been the last thing on free-spirited Cora's mind.

Diagnosed with a potentially fatal hereditary condition, Cora returns to the States after teaching seminars across the globe and dreads the difficult conversation with her best friend. Ali has a revelation of her own: she has kept the remaining embryos frozen and is finally ready to try for another child. Overshadowing their dueling news is Letty, whose reckless behavior lands her in hot water time and time again. The incidents have Benny reeling and drive a wedge between the couple, with Cora stepping in to pick up the slack and provide the support that Letty so desperately needs. Are three parents too many or is it just what Letty needs to survive her difficult adolescence and emerge unscathed?

"Between Friends" by Kristy Kiernan hits all the right notes - it's dramatic without being overly so, it's heartbreaking without being sappy, and above all, it's unpredictable. Sixty pages from the end, I was convinced that I had the rest of the novel figured out. I could not have been more wrong. Kiernan's talent is most apparent in her ability to create characters and situations that are true to life, and in life, there isn't always a perfect ending.

I got this book for Xmas. I enjoyed reading it and liked the story and characters till the very end. Then it was tied up in too neat a story line for me--unrealistic I thought.

I loved this, I read it in about 3 days. Then passed it on to a friend who read it in 1 night! Very good story and an ending you don't expect.

I thought this was a great book with well-developed characters. I also appreciated that it didn't end up perfectly wrapped witth a big bow. It was a realistic and heart-felt read that I will gladly recommend.

I picked up Between Friends on a quiet Sunday evening and took a break at page 99. The book is interesting, engrossing and very real, both in the portrayal of a lifelong friendship between two women and in the situations with the teenager that bonds them together as family. I finished this immensely satisfying book the next day. Consider me delighted to have found a new author to follow.

WOW - friendship, family, love, pain, joy - this book has it all and more! Kristy, you are amazing...

Sharon Smaldone

NC

Ali and Cora are the best of friends. The type that will do anything for the other. When Ali and her husband, Benny find out they can not conceive a child, Cora comes to the rescue and helps then have the baby they so desperately want. Now that the child is a teenager, Ali is feeling the yearning of wanting another child and there are frozen embryos that could be used to have another child. However, Cora has a secret that could change all of their lives forever.

I am a pansy when it comes to books about friendships. This one I loved! The story is told from three different viewpoints, Cora's, Ali's, and Letty's, Ali and Ben's teenage daughter. It was very interesting to read the story through three very different set of eyes. This story took turns that I did not see coming. This is a book about friendship, mother/daughter relationships and marriage. If you like a good girlfriend story, give this a try. I think you might just like it. It's a very quick read and I had a hard time putting it down.

Between Friends is the first book I have read by this author and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books!

The reason I chose to read it is because one of the main characters, Cora, has PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease). I do too. It's a genetic disease that is not that well known to the general population. Anything that I can find on it to read about, I eagerly grab at! The author did her research, quite thoroughly.

The book quickly draws you in with it's myriad of plots. So much happens over the timespan of a few weeks (but not too much to be overwhelming) to Ali, Benny (her husband), their daughter, Letty and Ali's best friend, Cora.

I highly recommend this book!