12 novels about female friendship in honor of Galentine’s Day

A wonderful exploration of four friends who lived in a group home together and formed a found family they dubbed The Invisibles. But when tragedy strikes after high school graduation, they go their separate ways ... until circumstances bring them back together fifteen years later. It's their chance at a do-over, but each must decide it’s worth the risk. This novel offers terrific insights on friendship, as well as how the secrets we keep from ourselves and others impact us and our relationships. More info →

This smart contemporary romance series follows a group of seven friends in Chicago, whose relationships blossomed thanks to Knit Night. They rally around each other no matter what's going on and their relationships continue to be a priority even as they each fall in love. In this installment, Janie, a walking fact machine, runs into Quinn, a walking dreamboat, on her very worst day. What follows is a fun and funny romance between an unlikely couple. Penny Reid's characters have distinct personalities and quirks and it's delightful watching them grow individually and as a group as the series progresses. You'll wish you could join this friend group in real life! (Heads up: the first two books are closed door, but the series is considered open door after book 3.) More info →

This is the first book in the Chance of a Lifetime trilogy, about three friends whose lives are changed after they go in together to buy what turns out to be a winning lottery ticket. This installment centers on Kit, a steady scientist who, because of her peripatetic childhood, wants to use her winnings to create a home for herself and develop roots in her community. So when Ben shows up in his role as a recruiter to entice her to leave it all behind and move to Texas... well, it's a disaster. But as they keep talking, their connection grows. I loved watching Ben and Kit work through their respective baggage over the course of the story, and the large cast of well-developed secondary characters give this series life. (Open door.) More info →

I devoured this fun and thoughtful romance. After witnessing many live-tweet moments on Twitter over the years, Farrah Rochon decided to turn live-tweet-gone-viral into a fabulous rom com premise. Samiah Brooks catches her three-timing boyfriend after seeing a live-tweet of him on a date. When the three "girlfriends" Samiah, London, and Taylor go viral, they meet up, become best friends, and vow to focus on their single selves by not dating for six months. With her newfound free time, Samiah pours herself into developing her passion project, a friendship app. Just as her dream app starts to take shape, she meets Daniel Collins, a charming coworker who might be perfect boyfriend material. Steamy, smart, and centered around friendship: London and Taylor get their own books in subsequent series installments. (Open door.) More info →

Set in the 1960s, the publisher aptly compares this epistolary novel to 84, Charing Cross Road. When L.A.-based Joan writes a fan letter to Camano Island, WA columnist Imogen to thank her for her column in a Pacific Northwest-based magazine, enclosing a packet of saffron and a recipe, a lasting friendship is born. The women become pen-friends, exchanging letters that move from the topic of food to books to the troubles (and occasional triumphs) of their personal lives. This just may be the gentle, feel-good novel you're looking for. More info →

This sprawling saga and 2022 MMD Summer Reading Guide selection featuring two octogenarian protagonists reads like a 19th century novel. Agnes Lee and Polly Wister have been friends their whole lives, growing up alongside each other in Philadelphia Quaker families and summering together in Maine. Agnes is beloved by the world as a bestselling children’s author, but not a living soul—including Polly—knows she also pens the popular and critically praised Franklin Square series. Polly knows Agnes sees her as a pushover, especially when it comes to her family, but Polly never lets on that she's wiser than her friend gives her credit for. When an enterprising (and nosy) young editor begins pestering Agnes to write a memoir, she sets in motion a chain of events that tests the women’s lifelong friendship, and threatens to expose the long-buried secrets each has carefully kept from the other. More info →

Abby Jimenez has been an auto-read author for me for several books now. Here we meet Emma and her best friend Maddy, who move around working as travel nurses, never staying in the same place for more than three months. But then thanks to the internet, the nomadic Emma starts up a relationship with Justin, whose circumstances mean he can't leave Minneapolis. It's obvious to the reader this is going to end in heartbreak, but it's an Abby Jimenez novel, so surely they'll find a way through it ... right? I especially appreciated the strong sense of place: Abby is known for incorporating real places and businesses into her books, and I googled so many Minneapolis locations! If you want to read more about Maddy’s journey, she gets her own romance in the novella The Situationship. (Open door.) More info →

I’m a sucker for a Jane Austen adaptation, but even so the Wahala author’s decolonial reimagining of Mansfield Park surpassed all my (high) expectations. May’s update spans two decades from the late 1970s to the late 1990s and moves between Lagos and the U.K. (with an important scene set at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics). This emotional tale is by turns humorous and gutting: I read it with my heart in my throat. There’s so much to appreciate here: a coming of age story, a scathing social critique, and a love story of sorts about a life-defining first cousin relationship. You need not have read Austen to enjoy this retelling, but a skim through the plot summary wouldn’t hurt. More info →

Cross The Holiday with Sliding Doors and you’ll get a sense of Harbison’s adult debut. After a disastrous thirtieth birthday party, Meg books a getaway to the quaint Irish village where she had once dreamed of moving. That’s when things get weird: everyone seems to know her already. She has an apartment and friends and a hot ex who’s none too pleased to see her. Most shocking of all: in this version of her life, her best friend, who died in a car accident just before college, is alive and well. So why isn’t Meg happy? Harbison asks important questions about choice, contentment, and what makes for a meaningful life. I found it utterly unputdownable. (This was our August 2025 selection for Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club .) More info →

This coming-into-middle-age novel follows four Black women navigating the tumultuous years from their twenties to their forties in New York and L.A, from 2008 to 2027. Flournoy describes herself to be fascinated by group dynamics, and here she portrays the complex and ever-shifting friendships between these four “chosen sisters” as they make their way through the “wilderness”—the unclear path each woman must navigate as she finds her way in work, love, and life. Read this 2025 Fall Book Preview spotlight title for the expertly drawn character development and the nuanced exploration of female friendship, gender expectations, romantic entanglements, class concerns, caregiving, and the evolving dynamics of city life. More info →

When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Prince Edward Island decide to adopt an orphaned boy to help them on their farm, their messenger mistakenly delivers a girl to Green Gables instead—a feisty 11-year-old redhead named Anne Shirley. She brings compassion, kindness, and beauty wherever she goes; she's a hopeless romantic, committed to her ideals, and guided by pure intentions—though that doesn't keep her from completely upending Marilla and Matthew's quiet life. When you think of Anne, you might be tempted to think of Gilbert Blythe and no one else. (I understand.) But this beloved classic introduced scores of girls to the idea of a "bosom friend" through Anne’s lifelong friendship with Diana Barry. Through the story, we learn about the gift of finding a kindred spirit and how to be a good friend across one’s lifespan. Countless girls dreamed of finding their own Diana—and perhaps were lucky enough to do so—after reading this series. More info →