ALSO BY LISA VERGE HIGGINS
The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship
Praise for
The Proper Care and
Maintenance of Friendship
“[A] life-affirming novel…A happy reminder that life is all about taking risks.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This well-written contemporary buddy book contains plenty of depth…the premise of friends knowing you at times better than you want to admit makes for a strong tale.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Quirky, original, and startlingly refreshing, this is a novel about friends. It’s a novel about risks. And it’s a novel about dreams, what we thought they were and what we discover them to be…[Higgins is] gifted and talented…Great novel. Great reading. Great characters and plot.”
—TheReviewBroads.com
“Ms. Higgins has a sure-to-be hit on her hands in this, her first foray into mainstream women’s literature. The first thing that was apparent to me was her astonishing storytelling capability, the second was her capacity to pull some deep emotions from me while reading…a heart-wrenching tale that will affect even the most stoic readers…a gracefully flowing narrative that will transport her readers from the most exotic of locations to the mundane of everyday life…an inspiring, heartwarming, and very emotional read.”
—GoodReads.com
“A lovely novel with moments of deeply moving insight into what it means to be a mother, a wife, and a friend. Read it and share it with your own friends—you’ll be glad you did!”
—Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of The Hot Flash Club and Beachcombers
“Offering words of wisdom from a dying friend, The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship inspires us to focus on what’s really important in our lives.”
—Liza Palmer, international bestselling author
of Conversations with the Fat Girl and
A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents
“An amazing novel of love, friendship, and community. A truly joyous read that marks an impressive debut.”
—Jane Porter, author of Flirting with
Forty and She’s Gone Country
“Poignant, romantic, and funny…about the need for our closest friends to occasionally give us a shove in the right direction when we’ve lost our way. You’ll recognize yourself in these women. I loved it.”
—Claire LaZebnik, author of Knitting Under the Influence and If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home Now
“Expertly woven together by Lisa Verge Higgins…simply but beautifully written…the common thread is Rachel, who has given the best gift a friend can give—a second chance.”
—RomanceJunkies.com
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
That Weekend
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
That Weekend
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
That Weekend
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
That Weekend
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Acknowledgments
Reading Group Guide
Author’s Note
Also by Lisa Verge Higgins
Praise for The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Verge Higgins
Reading Group Guide © 2012 by Hachette Book Group
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
5 Spot
Hachette Book Group
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First e-book edition: June 2012
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The 5 Spot name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4555-1049-8
One Good Friend Deserves Another Page 27