Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. My Best Friend's GirlDetailsGoodnight, Beautiful FREE Shipping on orders over . DetailsThe Ice Cream Girls FREE Shipping on orders over . When Kamryn Ryn Matika gets a call from college friend Adele Del Brannon, she reluctantly heads to the hospital where Adele is dying of cancer. The two had been odd couple friends (working-class Ryn is black, posh Adele is white) while attending Leeds University, but their friendship did not survive Del's admission of an affair with Ryn's fiancé Nate Turner, which also ended Ryn's relationship with Nate. The affair did result, however, in the now-five-year-old Tegan, and Del has called Ryn to ask her to adopt the adorable girl. Ryn agrees, but must face down Del's stepmother, Muriel, to do it. She finds surprising help from new boss Luke Wiseman, who, after meeting her unceremoniously, loves Tegan (and eventually Ryn, too), but the return of Nate, who doesn't know Tegan is his daughter, promises to reopen old wounds.
A beautiful friendship that pulls on your heart strings...| My Best Friend's Girl is a 2006 novel by Dorothy Koomson. The book is based around a woman called Kamryn Matika, who finds out her best friend, Adele, is dying of cancer. Adele wants Kamryn to adopt her five-year-old daughter, Tegan after she dies. The book deals with themes of death and grief, innocence and forgiveness. The title is drawn from the 1976 song My Best Friend's Girl by The Cars. Kamryn Matika is a thirty-two-year-old national marketing manager for a department store, who lives in Leeds. On her birthday, she receives a card—not a birthday card—from her former best friend, Adele Brannon, which says that she is in hospital and she is dying. Kamryn is reluctant to see her. Two years previously, she discovered that her partner and her best friend conceived a child together three years earlier. Kamryn had vowed never to speak to them again. However, she visits London anyway but when at the hospital she discovers that Adele has terminal cancer and is going to die soon.
She is shocked when Adele says that she wants Kamryn to adopt her daughter Tegan. Kamryn thinks about it and reflects when she met Adele in university for a couple of hours before she goes to collect Tegan from Adele's father and step-mother, who have abused and neglected both Adele and Tegan. They let Tegan go as a) they would be glad to see the back of her b) Kamryn had threatened to phone the police. Tegan is somewhat quiet and is rather scared, but Kamryn reassures her everything will be ok. In the hotel room, Kamryn is shocked to see how much abuse Tegan had suffered at the hands of her grandparents. Kamryn decides to stick to a plan: bath, food, bed. This actually works in a bizarre way. A few days later, Kamryn receives a knock on her door to say that Adele had died during the night. This shocks Kamryn and she tries to tell Tegan but she refuses to believe it. A few weeks later, Kamryn and Tegan move back up to Leeds. At first, there were issues such as they don't know what shampoo to get for Tegan.
Kamryn is under suspicion as she is a black woman with a white child. Kamryn once forgets Tegan and leaves her at a play group while she is having dinner with her new boss, Luke. The next day, Luke comes round and Tegan asks him to come to the zoo with her and Kamryn. Kamryn and Luke become closer and then they become lovers. Just as they are settling in, Kamryn's former partner (and Tegan's father), Nate, comes back on the scene. Kamryn tells Nate about his daughter, to which he is now becoming used to even helping with her sixth birthday party, which goes badly wrong when Tegan has an allergic reaction. In the hospital, Kamryn and Nate share a kiss which is seen by Luke, resulting in a massive break-up between him and Kamryn. About eighteen months later, Luke meets up with Kamryn and Tegan in a café and seems to have forgiven Kamryn. Tegan is now Kamryn's adopted daughter and says that they are going to get a cat. Kamryn Matika - Kamryn is thirty-two and lives in Leeds.
She finds herself in a difficult situation with adopting Tegan. Kamryn is very self-conscious due to being bullied because she was larger as child, teenager and a young adult and it causes her to be rather hostile towards men. At the end of the novel she is legally Tegan's mother. Adele Brannon (formally Lucinda-Jayne Adele Hamilton-Mackenzie)- Kamryn's best friend of fourteen years and Tegan's real mother. Adele formally dressed like a nerd and spoke in a posh accent as her family is upper-class. Her mother died due to complications after Adele's birth and suffered abuse from her father and his new wife for years. She had Tegan after she slept with Kamryn's fiancé, Nate. As a result, Kamryn did not speak to her for two years. Adele had terminal cancer so she died early in the novel. Luke Wiseman - Kamryn's boss and later boyfriend. Luke was a product of a teenage pregnancy and was taken into care at a young age. He sees Tegan as his own daughter and is rather protective of her, especially when Nate (who is Tegan's biological father) arrives.