I loved this book because it has everything: colourful and lovable characters, lots of intrigues, laughs, sorrows. One of the things that Lisa Jewell always does so well is to drip feed a small amount of information at a time when it comes to character development so we find out something about one character and then the story moves on to find out whats going on with another character so you have to keep turning the pages and reading on to find out how that information fits with the story and how the other characters are going to react to that! We get to know each family character, the good the bad the ugly and insight and the hidden agendas behind this family dynamics.

The first Lisa Jewell book that I read, I really enjoyed but the more that I have read from this author, the more talented I have seen her become! It was an easy read and I felt quite sad after it ended because I liked the characters and wanted to know how their lives continued. One of these brothers was REALLY REALLY dumb and it made me crazy but at the end he sorted everything out, thank god! Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who has been published worldwide in over thirty languages.The “friend” is a mysterious lodger who works to help the brothers who all have problems in their lives.

The only criticism I have of A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY, is that a bit of the information about pregnancy was slightly inaccurate (such as she states that the pregnant character was unable to take any medications, not even Tylenol or a cough lozenge).This refreshing look into the inner workings of brothers is a huge leap forward and something I was thrilled to see.

The character for whom the book is titled appears so infrequently the first half of the book I kept wondering why he is even in the story. He was with his high school sweetheart for years until he meets a woman at a bar and decides to go off to Australia with her. Tony's struggles with weight and his role as oldest brother cause him to evaluate his life in multiple ways. Its unlike the other books of hers that I’ve read and is a go to author for me, as it’s listed as contemporary fiction and romance. With barely ten pages to go everything is going perfectly and gets tied up witb a neat bow just as Gervase decide's to disappear from the London family home.

It's only when a new person walks in and stirs things up that you really see how 3 grown men handle life, love and family.

He makes love to Ness that night and professes his love, but in his head, it was just something he said not something he meant. The book knits all these stories together and it leaves you with a warm feeling about being part of a family.Their parents have a new lodger, Gervase—why is Bernie, their mother, so keen to give this unsavory waif a home? So he sells his business, but not before giving Ned a high-paying, important job and tells him to stay in his flat while he's gone. But, with the release of her new work "A Friend of the Family", she goes beyond her previous talent and moves into the higher talent ranking of Helen Fielding and Marian Keyes. Sean was once a spoiled little brother, who hits it big with his first book, and he has the perfect girlfriend. Brothers Tony, Sean, and Ned had the perfect upbringing, but now that they are grown up, real life is starting to get in the way.