What a lovely women's fiction story! I originally entered this novel thinking it will consist of romance, but I feel like it fell more on self-development and discovery (which makes the book EVEN BETTER than I expected!) I love how Sophie learns to live her life in the spotlight, and not in someone else's shadows. I hated her ex-boyfriend Daniel, the way he would "technically" call her boring and unoriginal. Cordelia would have to be one of my favourite characters, because she despite being a member of a higher social ranking, she never used that title to be a brat. Underneath it all, she is a caring, humorous person who will stand up for those she cares about. Her story involving the overdose was so heartbreaking :( The way she helps Sophie take risks and teaches her lessons like not caring about what others think made me love her character even more. And of course, HOW CAN WE FORGET TOM????? We all love a guy who owns estates and yet also drinks juice right out of the carton HAHAHA. Definitely a wonderful read!!

This is a sweet story of Sophie who has turned a passion, being a bridesmaid, into a profession: helping brides organize their wedding and being their bridesmaid. There is lots of intrigue in this one and at the heart of this story is a fantastic cast of characters. Each of the main characters gets some great development and you really care and want the best for each them.

The story really picks up when Sophie takes on a high society bride who wants nothing to do with her. She signs an NDA so she cant share what I going on with her family but refers to them in terms of the Devil Wears Prada which was hilarious. This story is a great mix of fiction and comedy. There is a tiny bit of romance here with an initial attraction but it really never makes it off the ground and is definitely just a side-storyline. If you’re looking for a romance here this one isn’t it but a great story of female entrepreneurship and friendship? Then absolutely pick this one up!

Sophie and Cordelia have such an interesting road to working together and friendship and its definitely worth the adventure to read and get o know these two characters. I definitely recommend this one to my women’s fiction lovers! This would be a great summer read!

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

I don’t know if it’s the change in season or what - but I want all the romance right now. I read quite a few in April…and definitely see that trend continuing into May (starting with those from Netgalley!).

Did you know a part of the wedding industry includes business that allow you to pay someone to be your bridesmaid? True story. And, THE SECRET BRIDESMAID by Katy Birchall capitalizes on that industry. Sophie Breeze is a professional bridesmaid; she helps her brides plan, manage family expectations, and so much more. When she lands the society wedding of the year, with the diva bride to match, she has her work cut out for her.

Part romance (let’s just say the bride has a cutie brother!), and part love letter to female friendships, and part comedy, THE SECRET BRIDESMAID was everything I wanted in a weekend, poolside read. It was sentimental, laugh-out-loud funny, and great for anyone that loves wedding-centric stories.

THE SECRET BRIDESMAID is out tomorrow, May 4! Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC to review!

CW // drug abuse

I can't believe anyone gave this anything les than 5 stars - I loved this book sooo-o much! It hit all of my chick-lit buttons - yes there was romance but who really cares when you have such an awesome character as Sophie. I couldn't put this down and read it all in one sitting!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin"s Griffin for the arc of this title. All opinions are my own.

One sentence review: I loved this fun book that provides a voyeuristic look at what it takes to put on lavish, society weddings and adds some romance into the mix to keep things interesting.

Are you someone who checks the internet for pictures of the latest society weddings? If so, this is the book for you! The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall is a behind the scenes look at wedding planning, the outrageous ideas people come up with for their weddings, and also throws a little romance in for fun as well.

Sophie Breeze is a professional bridesmaid. Her job is to step in and do everything she can to support a bride and make her wedding planning go as smoothly as possible. She gets a huge break when she is approached to work the wedding of the year. Only problem is - the bride wants no part of it. And so the fun begins!

I really loved this book. It has some great characters and the different anecdotes from the various weddings Sophie is working on kept me so entertained. If you are a fan of wedding shows - this is the book for you!

I will say that the romance in this book is not the main storyline. The focus is definitely on Sophie, her job and relationship to the difficult bride, Cordelia.

That aside, I loved the book and think it would make a fantastic beach read for the summer!

I’ve been really lucky lately to find funny and lovely romanctic novels. The Secret Bridesmaid is one of these great finds.

I really liked Sophie despite her being a little naive from time to time but she is a truly lovable character. Cordelia at first is a real piece of work and I couldn’t help but dislike her. So it was a surprise when by the end of the book I loved her too.
Tom is Sophie’s live interest. He is nice and sweet.
But this book is mostly about the relationship between Sophie and Cordelia, how they become the best of friends after countless arguments and Cordelia’s initial dislike of Sophie.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this novel , it was funny and sweet and our main characters is just so loveable. I read this the weekend of one of my good friends wedding so that was the perfect read. I love the focus on friendship and family . The theme of forgiveness and non romantic love. I really love the inclusion of the email and text message, they make the story so much more interesting.
.
Synopsis : Sophie is a professional bridesmaid, she works with Brides to help them bring their vision to life and to to create a seamless wedding day. When she’s presented with the opportunity of a lifetime to be the bridesmaid to a very important family, she quickly realize that she’s in over her head and the bride may be out to get her.
.
This was a very cute story. I love the pranks and the banter between Sophie and Cordelia .

A fun romp with laugh-out-loud moments. This is more chic-lit than romcom but there is a romance thread. Sophie is a secret bridesmaid; she is basically a personal assistant to a bride, running errands, making sure everything goes right, etc. It leads her to some interesting, strange and funny moments. Especially when her latest bride is determined to get her to quit (her mother hired Sophie).

Friendship and opening one’s self up to new possibilities and relationships are issues that drive this story but they do not weigh down the story. This is a light-hearted, lift-me-up novel that leaves you with a smile on your face. A great summer read. Or on a rainy day. Or when you need a smile or don’t want anything too serious. Well, pretty much a good read anytime. Who doesn’t want or need more laughter in their life.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest opinion.

The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall is the story of Sophie Breeze, a professional bridesmaid whose goal is to help brides through the stressful wedding process while keeping her identify a secret from guests (and sometimes even the groom!).

Sophie is great at her job and she takes on a well-known client who is very demanding and wants nothing but to get rid of Sophie. To do this, the client makes outrageous demands to attempt to get Sophie to quit. This book was delightful! It was a very quick read that frequently had me smiling. Telephone and email exchanges between Sophie and different wedding vendors were sprinkled throughout the book, and I found myself laughing out loud at them! I enjoyed the hoops Sophie tried to jump through to please the brides and I loved the evolution of Sophie's relationship with Emily. While there was a romance story line woven throughout the book, it took a back seat to Sophie's attempts to please and befriend the demanding bride. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This did not affect the contents of my voluntary review. All opinions are honest and my own.

This book had me laughing out loud! I read this in a day and could not put it down. Was very fun and easy read. Would highly recommend.

This was fun book. You had the help of a bride maid helper/planner. Good concept. Liked this book. Hooked on this story from the first chapter.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

The Secret Bridesmaid, contrary to the branding/categorization on NetGalley, Goodreads, and other places, is not a romance. It’s rom-com adjacent…I got strong “The Wedding Planner, but British” vibes from the premise, but the romance is very muted in the book. So, it’s perhaps more of a humorous women’s fiction?

But once you can adjust your expectations, this is a good book. I love Sophie, and she really has a gift to be able to deal with the brides and their families and the intense demands they want (even if it leads to awkward mix-ups with vendors)! I could also empathize with her “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” feeling, and how she had been burned in the past by jerks.

I really liked seeing the relationship between Sophie and Cordelia evolve. It started off as purely professional, and not without animosity, as it was actually Cordelia’s mother who hired Sophie, with Cordelia actively working to sabotage her by revealing a half-truth about who Sophie is. But eventually, the two bond, and revelations about Cordelia come to light that put their relationship to the test.

There’s also Cordelia’s brother, Tom, Lord Dashwell, who Sophie grapples with feelings for, but wants to remain professional. I wasn’t really won over by the romance; there’s nothing wrong with it, but I felt there wasn’t enough page time to really get me invested in their relationship.

This book is enjoyable, and while it is yet another victim of the weird trade paperback cross-contaminating romance/women’s fiction marketing scheme the major publishers are doing, if you don’t go in expecting a full-on romance, and are prepared more for Sophie’s story as a bridesmaid-for-hire and all that it entails, you’ll enjoy it.

The Secret Bridesmaid is a little bit romance and woman's fiction. For me, the real focus though was the friendship between Sophie and Lady Victoria. I loved how they warmed up to each other over the course of the book. I love Sophie as a main character, her antics, and her growth as a character. This book was definitely a fun romp!

4.5 stars

Sophie Breeze is a professional bridesmaid. She’s there for a bride leading up to and during her big day for whatever she needs, big or small. And when she’s tasked with being a bridesmaid to Lady Cordelia Swann, a seemingly spoiled, ill-tempered, snobby aristocrat--who she admired in her teen years, no less--she’s determined not to let Cordelia get the best of her. Not only is she faced with outrageous demands from Cordelia, but she also has other brides to attend to (many with their own strange requests), deal with other people’s expectations and assumptions about her (in particular her jerk of an ex), and manage her growing feelings for Cordelia’s sweet and charming brother, Tom.

The Secret Bridesmaid was hilarious. I smiled and giggled my way through this book, sometimes even laughing til I had tears in my eyes. I shed some actual, emotional tears too because there were some genuinely heartwarming and beautiful moments. The concept of this book was so much fun and it was executed so well. I loved watching the progression of Sophie and Cordelia’s relationship, and I enjoyed Sophie’s relationship with her cousin/best friend, Cara. It was also fun getting to see some of the things Sophie did for other bridesmaids, and the correspondences between chapters had me laughing myself silly. I do wish there’d been a bit more focus on the romance - it is a romantic comedy, after all - but the book was just so good, I can’t even really complain that it took a bit of a backseat.

The Secret Bridesmaid is highly entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny, and touching. It was an absolute delight to read from beginning to end, and is without question one of my favourite books of 2021 so far. I’d love to see it turned into a movie or even a mini-series.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. I can never resist a great story set in one of my favorite places to visit... Great Britain! It's a bigger bonus when the story is a laugh out loud, squirt wine out your nose, and pee your pants romp (THOSE SWANS!!!!!)! While there is a bit of romance in The Secret Bridesmaid, it really is only a side story to the relationship between a bride who doesn't want her bridesmaid (and will do anything to get her to quit!) and the bridesmaid who will do anything to not quit. What could possibly go wrong, LOL? If you're looking for a fun friendship read complete with British accents, an unusual sort of cat burglary, and some swan whispering, this is the book for you!

Harlequin Junkie Top Pick!

I have been eagerly awaiting this book from the moment it was announced and let me tell you it blew my expectations right out of the water! The Secret Bridesmaid is quiet possibly the best book that I have read this year! I loved every second of this hilarious romcom/chick-lit novel with all of the zany antics that Sophie has to get up to all in the name of being a good bridesmaid.

Sophie was just amazing, I loved that we got to see her grow stronger and more confident as the novel progressed. With so much going on in her life she always made time for the people important to her all while balancing her role as bridesmaid to different needy brides. I have to say the Chewbacca one takes the cake for me, I would absolutely pay to attend a wedding with a Wookie in the bridal party!

Cordelia Swan was a complete treat! Fighting to get Sophie to quit every step of the way with all her outlandish requests was just comic gold. That entire swan scene was just hilarious! Though I will say from all the relationships formed throughout this novel Sophie and Cordelia’s was my favorite, I loved watching these two build their friendship even though it didn’t start off very smoothly. I liked that even though Cordelia was so hard on Sophie she actually helped push her out of her comfort zone. As for our boy Tom Lord Dashwell, he added the perfect amount of hottie royal and sweet romance. I loved that they both acted super dorky around each other but in the cutest way possible.

This novel so desperately needs to be made into a Netflix movie and asap! The Secret Bridesmaid was the perfect mix of hilarious wedding antics, sweet budding romance and a crazy new friendship. This laugh out loud, unputdownable novel is an absolute must read!

The reason I picked this book up is because the blurb sounded fantastic, like a movie I would enjoy, and it was a “read now” on Netgalley. I feel like it was meant to be because I haven’t read a book that has really made me laugh in awhile and I loved this one from start to finish!

If you are big on labels for books and are looking for a romance, this wouldn’t be it. The romance is a very, very minor thing but it was just the right amount for this particular book. Even though it was minor it still made me giddy from their first introduction. What this book does focus on, and does well, is friendship. It isn’t the best between Sophie and Cordelia from the beginning but I do like the progress of their relationship and the fact that Sophie never gives up even when times get tough and Cordelia can become a bridezilla. It made for a lot of laugh-out-loud moments!

Sophie and Cordelia also go through a lot of personal growth as well. Sophie has ex-boyfriend issues and remains consistent with her life and adds no pizazz to it. Cordelia has a rough past, paparazzi, and no friends unless you count her family and fiancée. I did like that both have family they can talk to and that they are present. The minor characters were great additions to the plot and I liked getting to know the ones that did have some bigger parts.

There are interesting formats like emails and text messages to really understand Sophie’s job as a bridesmaid. It was fun to read them and they were quite comical, haha.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and would recommend for those looking for a funny book that isn’t heavy with the romance.

I'd watch the movie, but I wouldn't have picked this book for myself. Based on the description, I thought this would be a light, playful rom com - which is just my style. It's actually chick lit with a touch of romance, with only a handful of interactions between our couple and just one or two kisses. Think 27 Dresses or Bridget Jones (minus any scenes where the heroine spends more than 5 minutes at a time with her guy), and that's the general vibe here. The writing is solid and the tone is upbeat, but I definitely wouldn't call this a romance.

The story follows Sophie, a woman who has attended so many weddings that she's now a professional bridesmaid. People hire her when they need help with their wedding: filling out the wedding party, making plans, or just getting family members wrangled. Her newest job promises to be a trying one, and the difficult bride is just the start. There's also Tom - the unattainable, sexy, brother of the bride - to deal with, and while Sophie might like to dream about kissing him, he doesn't know anything real about her.

While this really wasn't for me, the writing was good. I enjoyed the low angst feel, and there's plenty of comedy. Had there been more scenes with Tom and some genuine interactions between them, I would've liked this more. Unfortunately, he knows absolutely nothing real about Sophie until the very end, and what he thinks he knows only scratches the surface. There are WAY more chapters without Tom than there are with him, so he's really an afterthought. Without that romantic element, the storyline definitely drags. It's not a short book, and you'd have to be loving the comedy for it not to feel incredibly long. It felt very long to me. This wasn't a win for me, but I'm sure chick lit-lovers will enjoy it. I received an early copy and am voluntarily leaving a review of this lighthearted comedy.

Sophie Breeze took her love of weddings and became a professional bridesmaid. (I have actually heard of this being an actual job and have now directed some of my friends to look into this as a career as they would be perfect.) In addition to helping brides with the planning of their special day, she provides a sounding board for them to vent to, cry to, or just talk to no matter the time of day. It actually is a very fun idea for a career, but it would be difficult to try and keep track of which name I was using for each bride and to remember that I am there as a professional and not an actual friend. Although Sophie has multiple clients in this story, the main plot focuses on her being hired to be a bridesmaid for Lady Cordelia Swann, who happens to be reluctant to keep Sophie on the payroll.

Sophie must become Emily Taylor for her new role as Cordelia’s bridesmaid and the antics between the two were highly enjoyable. This story is full of tons of outlandish requests and great banter between multiple characters. Cordelia has a hard exterior, but there could be more to her than meets the eye and Sophie is determined to crack the code. The two of them were a delight as it was nice to see their relationship evolve and to get to know the behind the scenes real life of Cordelia who has her public presence and her real one.

While there is a romance element to this story, it is definitely a side story in favor of Sophie and Cordelia’s relationship while Cordelia’s wedding draws near. I do wish that there was a little more to Sophie and Tom getting to know each other with just a little more interaction as they were cute together and I just wanted more. Their attraction to each other was obvious and there is a budding relationship, but I wish there was more as it was a lot less of a romance story than I originally thought.

The email and text exchanges featured in this novel made me laugh out loud more times, than I could count. I have been in multiple group chats where everyone chimes in with their own questions that could easily be answered if they read the opening text. I have also had customer service exchanges that, although not the exact ones as Sophie, were very similar vibes. There are many times that you just can’t help, but laugh as, even if these don’t occur every day, there most likely has been at least a moment where you have been in these types of exchanges.

In addition to Sophie’s professional life, the story explores her personal life. She has an ex-boyfriend that broke her heart a year ago. Not only is he around in some way since they share a core friendship group that hangs out every once in a while, he is now getting married to another woman. Sophie starts to question her romantic life and her general choices along the way. While Tom as a love interest does play some role in her emotional journey, I appreciated that a lot of it has to do with Sophie’s internal growth.

Overall, this was an entertaining read. It is predictable, but it was a captivating read that the reader enjoys going along for the ride even though they know the ending. I liked that the characters were in their 30s, but there were times where they felt a little younger. It did not bother me at all, but it was only an observation. All of the characters were very enjoyable and even the brides that appeared briefly were very amusing. The story’s pacing was great as it was a quick read, even though it was longer in length. This is a story that puts you in a good mood, as it was compelling with moments of humor and heart. It was my first novel by this author, but it will certainly not be my last!

**I want to give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Griffin, for a review copy of this entertaining and enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Sophie has dealt with many challenges in her unique career as a professional bridesmaid but Lady Cordelia= well, she's a whole new kettle. Cordelia's mother hired Sophie and she's not happy about it. Sophie does her best to keep things on an even keel, even as Cordelia does rotten things and even as she feels an attraction to the very off limits Tom, Cordelia's brother. Then Cordelia's BFF (not!) schedules her own wedding for the same day- very bad for big society- and Cordelia finds Sophie quite useful. This is as much about Cordelia softening - she's been burned by people who want something from her- and building a friendship with Sophie as it is about the romantic back and forth between Sophie and Tom. I adore Sophie and I warmed to Cordelia, who grows a lot. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's funny (there are some lol moments), it's light, it's charming, and it makes for a good read when you want a rom-com chick lit sort of read.