Category Archives: Friends Like This

Behind the Story: Friends Like This

I have an obsession with friends-to-lovers stories, and stories about close-knit friends in general, which is where the idea for this story came from. I wanted to write the friends to lovers romance that would make my heart happy and the friend group I wish I’d had.

Keep reading for more about the inspiration for the people and places of Friends Like This…

The Characters

Aaron
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Aaron with bright blond hair and an infectious smile. He was my first baby crush and BFF. 
No, I’m not writing to you as Rae McKinley. From ages 4-6, I had a sweet little boy in my life named Aaron (not Cooper) who was the inspiration for the Aaron you read about in Friends Like This. He moved away before first grade and I haven’t seen him since, but when I started dreaming up this best friends to lovers romance, I remembered him. Of course, the resemblance stops at his features and the way he made my 5-year-old heart feel.
Sarah and Mackie
Mackie’s calm, sure of herself, slightly raunchy, and take no bullshit personality as well as Sarah’s protectiveness and willingness to cut someone for Rae were both inspired by my real-life close friend, Laura. 
Joel
I grew up going to a tiny private school. My class sizes were small and everyone was close and there tended to be more boys than girls. While Joel isn’t inspired by anyone specifically, when I was thinking back to some of those friends, I realized he has some qualities in common with one of my former classmates, Mike, who definitely annoyed me and playfully teased me the way Joel does with Rae.
Miles
Miles is one of the most fully fictional characters I’ve ever written. He’s nothing like anyone I know and I can’t think of any public figure or character like him. I just heard his voice in my head and saw him so clearly.
Rae
If you ever wanted to dig into my psyche… well, Rae is a pretty good look at that. She’s essentially a bolder, more extroverted, and slightly more dramatic version of me. We’re both enneagram 9s, love spy shows, and cry at everything. 😉

The Friendships

As mentioned before, from kindergarten through sixth grade, I went to a little private school with very few people in my class. Because of that, we were all fairly close. That was a piece of the inspiration for the close friendships these characters have, but rather than those friendships fading as mine did, I chose to have them grow into something deeper and more complex—something I wish I would have had. Their friendships were also inspired by my middle and high school years living right near downtown and spending all summer running between my best friends’ houses and having fun.

The Locations

Ida, NY is a fictional town based heavily on my hometown of Owego, NY. Like the six main characters in this book, I lived right near downtown. Several of my closest friends lived on the same block. There was a bakery on the same block, and we spent plenty of time going back and forth between each other’s houses. Rae’s house was inspired by my own, while Aaron’s was inspired by one of my close friend’s. Certain restaurants like Marion’s and The Pit are also inspired by actual locations—but that’s more the aesthetic than the food. Oh, and speaking of food. If you hear the characters mention spiedies, those are a real thing authentic to the Binghamton area of NY. You learn more about them here.

The Card Games

Like Rae and her friends, I spent many many nights up late playing Nickels, Bullshit, or Spit. And many afternoons. Mornings. Any time, really. It’s what my friends and I always did when we were together. And yes, one of my friends and I always teamed up to cheat at Bullshit. You can learn more about the card games below.
Nickels
Spit
Bullshit

The Music

If you haven’t listened to the playlist for Friends Like This, you can find it here. However, if there’s one song that gives me all the Friends Like This feels, it’s Old Friends by Ben Rector. His entire album, Magic, captures the nostalgia that I feel when I’m in the Friends Like This world incredibly well.

Have you read Friends Like This yet? If not, make sure to grab your copy and fall in love with Rae and Aaron and their best friends & the entire town of Ida.

Friends Like This

WIP Wednesday 7/14

This week’s work in progress teaser is from a short but fun middle school chapter during which an important nickname that will be frequently heard throughout the entire series is born. 

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet! 

Do you have a fun or sweet nickname? Have you ever given a nickname to someone else? Let me know in the comments.

As always, like and subscribe for more teasers and behind the scenes. You can also follow me on Insta @bethanymonacosmith

WIP Wednesday 7/7

This week’s work in progress teaser is from a chapter all about how much middle school sucks.

Buuuut it’s a whole lot better when you’ve got five best friends who have your back. Especially when one of them is your person, your best friend in the whole world, who happens to be a sweet, swoon-worthy boy who’d do anything for you.

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet! 

As always, like and subscribe for more teasers and behind the scenes. You can also follow me on Insta @bethanymonacosmith

WIP Wednesday 6/30

Here’s another snippet of my work in progress, Friends Like This. It’s all about the fear and uncertainty of maybe falling in love with your best friend.

This story revolves around Rae and Aaron and their four other best friends, growing up in a small town– Ida, New York. Fun fact: this story is set in the same town as Freaking Love and there’s some fun character crossovers.

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet!

Thanks for reading!

As always, like and subscribe for more teasers and behind the scenes. You can also follow me on Insta @bethanymonacosmith

Work in Progress Wednesday

For the next few weeks I’ll be posting some fun quotes from my biggest work in progress, Friends Like This, the first book in a series about a group of best friends growing up in a small town.

Of course the central arc revolves around two of the best friends and their will-they-or-won’t-they friends to lovers romance.

This story is not inspired by my life but is heavily nostalgic and inspired by where I grew up and fun I had growing up in a small town.

Friends Like This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. It’s set in the same town as my new Kindle Vella project, Freaking Love, and there’s some character crossover.

I decided to share some quotes from this to let you know what I’m working on and hopefully get other people as excited about this project as I am. If all goes according to plan, I want to release the first two books in the series next summer!

Hope you all enjoy!

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