Life is hard, but friends make it better.

Jackie Turner has never felt so invisible. As a top performer, the forty-eight-year-old is shocked when she's passed over for a promotion at work. Has she become irrelevant? It's a bitter pill, but she vows to keep her disappointment to herself as she travels back home to Minnesota for her thirty-year high school reunion. She deserves this unspoiled time to reconnect with her oldest and dearest friends.

Their special friendship kicked off at summer camp when five young girls bonded over butterflies, a troubling accusation, and a simple craft project. They dubbed themselves the Kaleidoscope Girls, and not even their turbulent high school years could tear them apart.

They promised to stay close, but life can thwart even the best of intentions.

Decades later, Jackie realizes she needs her lifelong friends now more than ever. Who better to turn to for advice on navigating the highs and lows of midlife? Her career feels stale, her nest is empty, and her father is fighting a battle he can't win. She needs a fresh start, and together with the rest of the Kaleidoscope Girls, Jackie will hit the road and experience what it feels like to have fun again.

Experience the magic of female friendships in Better with Friends, the first book in The Kaleidoscope Girls women's fiction series. Let Kimberly Diede, best-selling author of the popular Whispering Pines series, give you a glimpse into the early years and bring you along as the next chapters unfold for these five amazing women. Their future journeys will be even richer, thanks to old friends.

Let the Kaleidoscope Girls remind you that the best is yet to come.

Whispering Pines: A Novel (Celia's Gifts Book 1)