When Kate first sees Tully as she's waiting for the bus to take her to her first day at a new school, Kate thinks Tully's the coolest girl in the world. Kate is a shy, insecure rule follower, and Tully helps her to come out of her shell and take chances. Both girls need a best friend, and the bond they form is strong enough to last a lifetime. Hannah's (On Mystic Lake ) 16th novel explores a friendship that spans three decades and the different paths Kate and Tully take. Tully's ambition to be a journalist brings her all the way to network anchor and beyond, while Kate finds love with a man who first had been smitten with Tully. The women have their problems over the years, stemming from Kate's insecurities and Tully's willingness to sacrifice anything for her career, but in the end their friendship endures when it matters. Hannah captures the feeling of the 1970s and 1980s, exploring some serious issues as well. A tearjerker that is sure to please the author's many fans; recommended for popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/07.]—Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

Hannah (On Mystic Lake) goes a little too far into Lifetime movie territory in her latest, an epic exploration of the complicated terrain between best friends—one who chooses marriage and motherhood while the other opts for career and celebrity. The adventures of poor, ambitious Tully Hart and middle-class romantic Kate Mularkey begin in the 1970s, but don't really get moving until about halfway into the book, when Tully, who claws her way to the heights of broadcast journalism, discovers it's lonely at the top, and Katie, a stay-at-home Seattle housewife, forgets what it's like to be a rebellious teen. What holds the overlong narrative together is the appealing nature of Tully and Katie's devotion to one another even as they are repeatedly tested by jealousy and ambition. Katie's husband, Johnny, is smitten with Tully, and Tully, who is abandoned by her own booze-and-drug-addled mother, relishes the adoration from Katie's daughter, Marah. Hannah takes the easy way out with an over-the-top tear-jerker ending, though her upbeat message of the power of friendship and family will, for some readers, trump even the most contrived plot twists. (Feb.)

Adult/High School –Tully Hart, vulnerable and abandoned by her mother, meets Katie Mularkey in 1974, when they are both in eighth grade. Katie, feeling unpopular and underappreciated, is drawn to dramatic, bold, and beautiful Tully, while Tully is attracted to the loving and stable Mularkey family. After spending many wild and fun times together and sharing their deepest thoughts with one another, they pledge "best friends forever." Readers will follow the friendship for 30 years and will identify with the intense loyalty and unconditional love that Tully, a successful television personality, and Katie, a stay-at-home mom, have for one another. This changes when Tully betrays and humiliates Katie in a way she cannot forgive. Until their reconciliation, they are both bereft and feel the loss of their friendship sorely. Though Tully's character is somewhat shallow and stereotypical, her larger-than-life personality is compelling, and the story flows well. At times melodramatic, this novel about the friendship of the two very different women and its themes of betrayal and reconciliation will keep readers turning the pages. You might want to recommend a box of tissues to go along with this tear-jerking, yet hopeful book.–Jane Ritter, Mill Valley School District, CA