This book was very good! I loved the setting and the characters! I would definitely recommend and I’m excited to read other titles by this author!

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot - there are reviews like that out there already if that's what you are looking for.

I liked the premise of the book - reuniting old friends - and was intrigued to learn why their close-knit friendship group had shattered. Interestingly there was much more to it than three of the group realised - until now. Without giving anything away, Morgan needs the help of her old friends to find the father of her teenage son.

I enjoyed the intrigue, the road trip was fun and the settings appealing (I knew some of them). However there's a
twist and it eventually becomes clear that not everyone was being as truthful as they might be...

This is an enjoyable light read, but with more substance to it than I expected as it deals with issues like single-parenthood and wondering where you came from.

This is the first book I've read by this author, but I see she has a back catalogue so will read more.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

*This would have been a 5-star for me but I guessed the twist!

Firstly, thank you to Net Galley and Boldwood Books for the ARC.

This one was a 3⭐️ read for me. I was really intrigued by the blurb and I was excited to give it a read. However, it was an average read for me. It did take me a bit of time to get through it because I wasn’t fully invested, but, it wasn’t all bad, which is why I gave it a middle rating.

I think the characters were crafted really well and authentically. I think there are elements of these characters that we, as readers, could relate to. The characters brought forward their vulnerable sides and that brought the plot to life.

Ultimately, this book was a bit slow and the big reveal, which was very shocking, was also very disappointing. This particular secret, for me, invalidated the rest of the plot, rendering it pointless. Yes, it was nice to see the group together, unravelling everything that went wrong back in the day and trying to mend the broken bond between them, but I think the secret was revealed a bit too bluntly and at the wrong time.

I think some would really enjoy this book. There were elements of this book that I did enjoy, but the good and the bad balanced each other out, leaving me with a neutral feeling towards this story.

Morgan, Paige, Emily and Tiff, four best friends until the night of their Prom. Hugo Black reveals some shocking secrets and following the row that ensues the girls fall out and don’t speak again.
Fast forward 18 years and Morgan puts out a request in the High school newsletter in an attempt to find her friends. She needs help finding the father of her 18year old son Olly. She has kept him a secret all this time but now Olly wants answers. Can the 4 friends reunite and track him down?

I totally enjoyed reading this title. What were the secrets that tore the girls friendship apart? Can the overcome their betrayal and can the find Hugo after all this time?

All four have had their struggles and none of them are convinced a reunion is a good thing. However they do agree to help Morgan for 1 week and then they will return to their lives and forget they were ever friends!

The characters were believable and I enjoyed getting to know them as they were and as they are now..

This was my 1st book by this author and I have already looked up and put some previous books to catch up on

Highly recommend

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title and to introducing ,e to another fantastic author

When we were friends is the story of four girls who were best friends while at school but as is often the case, a major upset causes the girls friendship to rupture with each vowing never to speak again. Fast forward 19 years and Morgan realises that she needs to reach out to her old friends for help.
For me this book was far too light and fluffy, even though it had some interesting elements to it. They all had their secrets, but to get to the nub of the story was painfully slow. The characters are now on the wrong side of thirty but but in my opinion they were behaving like moody teenagers. The premise of the book is good but it fell a bit flat for me. Many thanks to #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for my copy. I would give this book 2⭐️

Four friends create a Secret society where the truth tell each other everything no secrets. But do they really keep that promise? We fast forward when they are now grown women, and they need each other again. Will they forgive each other and help the one woman that needs their help?
This is a story about friendships, betrayal, forgiveness, and mystery and secrets.
A Journey worth reading

First thing I will say is that this book has much more to it than just old friends who fell apart. This book explores betrayal with lots of mystery surrounding life-altering secrets. There is also lots of amendment, reconnecting, healing and forgiveness.

Something I really enjoyed about this book is the characters. They felt so authentic and interesting. I liked the way that we got to know them as adults and also their teenage selves. I felt that aspect was done well.

Something I didn't enjoy is when there were some parts that felt unnecessarily repetitive. It got a little bit boring at times. I felt like it was meant to draw suspense with there being moments where a secret is about to be revealed and then something prevents that, but to be honest it just agitated me.

Overall this one was a good read. It does have some heavy themes, but also lots of drama and reconciliation.

This was an interesting read and i have to be careful not to give spoilers but when the reveal happens i was very disappointed in it. Four friends fell out as teenagers over a boy and now they need to reconnect and hash out old secrets.
I was really hooked with the story in the beginning but when the guy is eventually found i was disappointed in one of the characters. I don't think i could have been as forgiving. This is a story about reconnecting and how keeping secrets can have painful consequences that are hard to heal but true friendship can overcome anything.
I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF this book. I just wasn't invested in this book. I gave it a good shoot, but no, not for me...
Thanks to Netgally

Morgan, Paige, Emily and Tiff were best friends at school. They met regularly as a secret society  in a disused classroom to try to unravel and solve the mysteries and inustices of their classmates.

However, when they expose one ofthe popular boys as a two timer he seeks to sabotage their friendship by turning the girls against each other and  they have a spectacular fall out at their high school prom.

Twenty years later Morgan puts an advert in the school alumni newsletter to try to get in touch with her former friends. However, are they stillnthebdame people that they were at school and have they got over the hurtful comments from the prom?

An enjoyable and emotional light read about the bonds of childhood friendship... with a few twists!

When We Were Friends is a story that draws you in and you can't put it down until all is right in the world! Four teenaged BFFs share everything with each other and even create their own secret society. They are so close and have no secrets from each other ----or do they? After a devastating falling out at their school prom, the four girls go their separate ways vowing to never see one another again.
Fast forward nineteen years and one of the girls - now a grown woman - needs the help of her old friends to find the father of her now teenaged son. This is a great story of friendship and honesty. Can old friends forgive their youthful mistakes and move forward or do the wounds go too deep for repair - and do they really need each other after so many years?
The story grows on you as the author reveals the secrets and heartaches that each woman has carried and tried to bury.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the arc in return for an honest review.

A close school friendship is ruined in a single evening when Morgan, Paige, Emily and Tiff find out that they have been conned by Hugo, a boy that they felt was special to each of them. Fast forward 19 years and Morgan reaches out to her previous friends to help find Hugo, who is the father of her son. They agree to reunite with this search the only purpose for the reunion, but there are more secrets that come to light and threaten the friendship again. A great read for those who value the friendship of other women.

Morgan is living a life contrary to what she wanted as a teen. Being a single parent to a nineteen-year-old is exhausting. Things get worse when her son, Olly, is determined to find his father. Morgan hasn’t even revealed his name. Olly continues to persist, and Morgan has no choice but to reach out to her three friends and ask for help, even if they have been estranged for years.

Paige, Emily, and Tiff are leading their own lives, happy yet unhappy. They have different reactions to Morgan’s request. After all, the best friends hurt each other and broke apart. Will this be their chance to reveal the secrets, apologize, and heal? However, the four friends have to deal with many truths before they can move on.

The story comes in the third-person POV of the four main characters in neatly marked chapters.

In school, Morgan, Page, Emily and Tiff were all inseperable best friends until the leavers school prom where it all fell apart. Morgan, unknown to her friends, left school pregnant only her knowing who the father was. Her son is now 18 and Morgan needs to find his father so seeks out her old friends for help. In order to get their help though, many fences need to be mended. I did think the book started slowly but it did soon pick up momentum and it was a really good read. Each chapter is written from the point of view of one of the four girls. I did thoroughly enjoy it so thank you Netgalley for a chance to read and review this book. girl's

The title lets you know this is gonna pull on your heart strings and ficus on the most important friendships and question if thwy can be rebuilt.
The premise is quite simple. A boy conbed tge 4 of them at their prom many years ago and destroyed their friendship. However years later we duaciver one of the friends had a son by that boy and he niw wants to find his father. So she asks rhem to help her.
Throught this girls trip we are treated to snippets of secrets from the oast and present told rhrough adult eyes. We kearn that your heart still believe in friendship despite the tears and baggage.
I found this a nice easy enjoyabke read about life drama and acceptance. The people who really know us always conbect despite tge years wtc. I would recommended this to anyone who wishes things were different in their past or dreams of rekindling an old friendship. All character gave a voice and its bkended and tild in a great way.
Thank yoy netgallery and publisher and author fir a very emotionally enjoyable 5 star read.

I absolutely loved this book! The author has a knack for creating the most real characters that you feel like you're in the story with them. The 4 women from The Secret Gifts Society are no exception. I really enjoyed meeting them.

This is plenty of drama and tension here, too. The story is full of teen angst, relationship struggles, and grown-up worries. Each subject that is touched upon is done so with great care and sensitivity.

Overall, this is probably my favourite book from Samantha Tonge so far!

Summary
Morgan, Paige, Tiff and Emily were the best of friends. They even formed a secret group that they dedicated to helping others using the gifts each one had; logic, kindness, empathy and sixth sense. That all blew up on prom night when Hugo revealed secrets and embarrassed them all as revenge for a 'case' they solved that got him in trouble. It's now over 18 years later and they haven't seen or talked to each other since, until one of them put a coded message in the alumni newsletter. Reunited, they all reluctantly agree to help Morgan track down her son's father. But all four women still have secrets they've kept from that time and now.

Review
This book had great moments and parts that weren't. It started slow for me. I enjoyed the idea of the story, but whenever the story tackled their school days and The Secret Gift Society, it felt so juvenile and cheesy, especially when they were adults. I wanted more closure at the end with Hugo and the women and why he did what he did. There was some backstory given and it made you feel empathy toward him, but also, not a good enough excuse for what he did? The bomb halfway through was truly shocking and was when the story really began picking up for me. The ending felt abrupt because it felt like there was so much more we could have learned or been told about that was brushed under the rug or forgotten about.

This is such an emotional story that really drew me in. It’s the story of four school friends, Morgan, Tiff, Emily and Paige, and their ‘Secret Gift Society’ that they formed at school. Each girl brings her own ‘gift’, and each girl has her own part to play. Things are not always as they seem, and things come to a head on the night of the school prom, resulting in a fractured friendship. Nineteen years later, and each girl has travelled along her own path in life. Morgan is a single mother with an 18 year old son who wants to know the truth about his father. Morgan has no choice but to contact her former friends for their help. But will they help her? Can you ever go back?
This is an emotional story about friendship, secrets, lies, and women empowering women. It’s beautifully written, with a great cast of characters that I easily engaged with, and a storyline that I really enjoyed. Recommended.

With the promise of mystery, secrets and old friends reconnecting, I was excited to get started reading.

I was happy that the friends reunited again after such a long time, although it wasn’t straightforward at first, and I think the author did a great job at portraying that reconnection so realistically.

There wasn’t a dull moment which meant the pages practically turned themselves, and we even got a plot twist or two to keep things interesting.

You can tell by the title that friendship is absolutely central to the story. Four school friends, mow grown up and estranged, come together to solve a mystery which shocks them each. Dredging up memories from the past, you see how they all had secrets at the time and in fact, have secrets now, which gradually percolate to the surface. Each of the characters are quite different in personality and talents and it is interesting to see how their lives have panned out.

Family is also linked into the story, in all sorts of ways, not always good. The girls, as school friends, had a tight bond but it is surprising how quickly that seemed to dissolve. One of the points of the story is to see how resilient friendship can be. You soon realise that people had different motives for their behaviour and often were trying to protect themselves. Teenage insecurities around behaviour and appearance were so important at the time. I did find that there are several genuinely surprising elements to the story and one huge shocker of a secret which I had not seen coming.

In short: highly recommended for well -drawn characters and an entertaining plot.