Thank you Harlequin Audio for the ALC and KCCPR, #partner, for the advanced copy of That’s What Friends Are For in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: MIRA / Harlequin Audio
Published: February 3, 2026
Summary:
In this poignant and hilarious story inspired by TV’s beloved The Golden Girls, bestselling author Wade Rouse celebrates love, aging, finding your people, and the art of impeccably timed one-liners.
Theodore Copeland has created a fabulous life in the desert oasis of Palm Springs, where he shares a fabulous pink mid-century home with three fabulous friends: Barry, a former actor still clinging to his youth, his hair, and the memory of the dream role that killed his career; Ron, an uprooted Christian from the Midwest with a big heart but no one to give it to; Sid, who, after coming out late in life, has never found love. Teddy is the caustic, unspoken leader of “The Golden Gays”—the foursome’s monthly drag tribute to The Golden Girls. Despite their foibles and bickering, they have turned their golden years into a golden era.
But the harmony of their desert enclave becomes a carousel of emotional baggage when Teddy’s estranged sister, Trudy, shows up on their doorstep, her dramatic teenage granddaughter in tow. While Teddy keeps Trudy at arm’s length, she manages to wheedle her way into the lives of the Golden Gays, until the real reason for her visit is revealed and the secrets they’ve all been keeping from each other unravel faster than a hastily stitched hemline.
A novel that gives thanks to “old” friends, That’s What Friends Are For proves that while family may be the tie that binds, it’s the chosen family that truly keeps us together.
My thoughts:
Sometimes you pick up a book at just the right time, and I seemed to do that with this book. It was the giant hug I didn’t expect wrapped up in a story that is full of humor and tenderness.
This book hits all the feels — and I mean all of them! I laughed, I shed a few tears, I got angry and I felt happy. This book shows both the best & worst in humanity and how sometimes it’s not blood that makes a family but the people who show up again and again. The characters are so refreshing and original and have definitely won a spot in my heart.
There is so much to take away from this book, messages that are just so timely and ones that hit me hard and will stay with me. Thank you Wade for writing this book, a book you were meant to write.
Audio thoughts:
I started this in print but quickly switched to audio and am so glad I did. The narrators — Daniel Henning, Joel Leslie, Art Brown and George Newbern — were exceptional, giving our leading men the distinct personality that they deserved.
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