A Great fun rom.com great characters a unique story about a professional bridesmaid helping brides and finding love.

What a fun laugh out loud romantic comedy! I loved reading Sophie and her adventures as a professional bridesmaid. I was a bit thrown off at first by how much I disliked Cordelia, but as the novel went on she grew on me. I enjoyed Sophie and Tom’s relationship and would have liked to have even more of that in the book, but overall I greatly enjoyed The Secret Bridesmaid!

The Secret Bridesmaid is about Sophie, a professional bridesmaid (aka wedding planner/emotional support), who gets hired to work her magic on Lady Cordelia Swann's wedding, which would be great... if Cordelia didn't resent Sophie's presence. Hijinks ensue, some miscommunications, and lots of character development. While this is a romance, I think the best parts are the platonic love between Cordelia and Sophie as they push each other to become better people.

There were some confusing time jumps, but overall the book was light and really enjoyable to read.

Overall, I'd give it a 3.75/5.

I really enjoyed The Secret Bridesmaid. I love the idea of a bridesmaid for hire and the main character Sophie has taken her skills at planning and talking down bridezillas and turned it into a profession. If you love weddings and wedding planning, you will really love this book. The story follows Sophie as she lands the biggest and meanest bride of her career. She is determined to make it work and does whatever it takes to win her over, including a very funny scene where she tries to learn to be a swan whisperer. The Secret Bridesmaid made me laugh and cry and it is a perfect beach read.rs I love,

A thoroughly enjoyable British rom-com with an engaging premise. It made me laugh out loud a few times. The perfect pandemic read (if you can pretend that it's taking place in an alternate 2020/2021.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for a good rom-com, weddings, and anything London. This book had all threes! I fell in love with all the characters as the book progressed. I found myself laughing out loud at parts and smiling at others. This is certainly a feel good book if you need it.

The one thing I could do without are the little email and text exchanges regarding Sophie's other business as a hired bridesmaid. I think some people will love that aspect and seeing more into what crazy tasks someone might have to deal with, I just felt that they weren't necessary to the story and so I skipped most of them.

Overall I was a big fan of this book, and loved Sophia, Cordelia, Tom, and Jonathan. Safe to say this is a solid, happy romance if you're looking for one.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this book, but actually found it easy reading. Wedding planners would be very interested in this portrayal of a classy do. I don’t think there was a need to pepper it with bad language, but that seems to be acceptable in most adult literature. I think this book is aimed at 18-40 age group. A classic Chick Literature offering.

A female main character running her own business, a female friendship as the center focus of the story, plus some amusing wedding premises (Chewbacca bridesmaid anyone?) and it's a recipe for an entertaining read. I loved all of the funny wedding bits for all of the brides Sophie works for and I enjoyed the friendship that developed with her and Cordelia. The Tom storyline felt like a bit of an afterthought, and I got really tired of the Daniel arc.

Overall, really entertaining, and definitely reads like it should be a movie!

Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher through Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

I requested to read and review this book for free from St. Martin's Publishing. The setting for this story is in Europe. It has romance, comedy, mystery. The characters Sophie, Cara, Tom, Cordelia and a few others are great. You can feel the chemistry through the book. So many emotions felt in this book in a good way. This is for any type of reader! Who can trust? What is real and what isn't? What a unique position Sophie has! This is a great book to remember to be true to yourself and what you want in life!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book; I very much appreciate it.

Professional bridesmaid is such an interesting concept === and I was amazed to Google and find out they really do exist! I enjoyed this story, but it really was more of a story about friendship and personal growth rather than the rom-com I expected. The story had a fun premise and was nicely paced, but I didn't feel the romance between the hero and heroine. However, the friendship angle was exceptionally well done and nicely transitioned from almost-enemies (and very unlikeable) to friends and sympathetic characters.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a fun read! Enough drama and tension to keep you hooked, enough lightheartedness and sweet moments to soften it. It did go a bit beyond the realm of believability in a few instances (the Chewbacca incident, the swans), but overall it was an enjoyable contemporary romance. I do wish there had been an epilogue though!

This book was brilliant. It was what I didn't know I wanted and needed in a rom com/general fiction book. I think I was expecting just a predictable rom com, more focus on the rom, and it wasn't that, but also I'm glad that it wasn't. This book was funny, it had me laughing out loud, and gasping at some parts. It was engaging, entertaining, and in some parts deep (ok, semi-deep, but still). I loved it. I really enjoyed the friendship between Coredelia and Sophie and enjoyed Cara has a secondary character. Also, the asides about Sophie's other brides were hysterical. It was the right amount of smushy-ness.

The highlight of my reading this year so far, and I can't wait for others to get to enjoy it. It was such a gem, turning the classic haters to lovers trope on its head. I'm sad that I've finished it, but now thinking about starting a new shelf of books that I should re-read in a few years to get to re-experience as if new.

4 stars

After interacting with several bridezillas - or at least extremely stressed out brides - in her own life, Sophie makes the wild choice to become a secret bridesmaid. Only the bride and Sophie know the truth; that they are not long-time friends but instead in an employer/employee relationship. Drunk uncle? Torn dress? Missing portaloos? Sophie has it covered for you. When Sophie is hired to do an extremely high profile job for a well known but extra difficult client, she meets her greatest challenge yet.

Where is the romance in this description, you wonder? Exactly. I really enjoyed this read, but you should come to it because you want to know more about Sophie, her hilarious interactions with these various brides and weddings, and her growth over time. Yes, there's a dash of romance in here, and it's pretty cute, but it's absolutely a side dish.

Recommended with the caveat that you're getting, in my opinion, women's fiction versus a more traditional romance (which for me is a bonus). Save the date on this one!

Cute, funny and a perfect weekend read! This book is lighthearted and fun the whole way through. It will make you laugh at some of the situations the characters get into.

A very fun and enjoyable read! The wedding shenanigans from Sophie's job brought a lot of humor, and I appreciated the focus on friendship and loyalty. The romance was very sweet, and I wish we'd seen more of it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read an ARC of The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall. It was so good, I started and finished it in one day -- and that's saying something, considering I have three kids!

Sophie was a detail-oriented PA to businessmen until she served as bridesmaid for her cousin and was so wonderful at it that she decided to perform the function for other brides, for a fee. Sort of like wedding planning, but the bride was able to feel more in control.

One day, she gets a referral to a surprise client, someone who can pay big money and open the gate for Sophie to more brides she can charge a premium for her services. The catch is that the client is the mother of the bride, and the bride wants nothing to do with the arrangement, leading to Sophie's biggest challenge yet.

Sophie is excellent at her job and up to the task, though the bride throws all manner of curveballs. Ultimately, while Sophie does have a love interest, friendship ends up being the heart of the book, and I'm hopeful for more from Katy Birchall!

Sophie is one of those people that would do anything for anyone. She would bend over backwards to help a friend. These qualities inspired a job of her being a professional bridesmaid. She is there to deal with all wedding drama that brides should never have to think about. This job comes so easy to her until she gets a new, royal client. Lady Victoria, the Marchioness of Meade, decides to hire Sophie for her daughter Cordelia's wedding. Cordelia does not agree with her mother's decision. This leaves Sophie is an uncomfortable predicament.

Katy Birchall does a great job of making Sophie's character so lovable. While she is hated by the bride, you are rooting for her to succeed as Cordelia tortures her throughout the wedding planning events. The story is funny, with a few emotional scenes that will leave your heart full. This book had me smiling the entire time I was reading it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was wonderful. It is not your typical romcom. It's a creative, yet realistic, idea for a story. I know how wedding planning goes and how stressful it can be so I really appreciated that all of that was conveyed in this story. While there was romance in this, it is also the story of friendship and finding yourself. I finished this in less than 24 hours because but grabbed my attention. I really enjoyed this one. Pub Date: May 4. 2021

The Secret Bridesmaid was my first book by Katy Birchall, and I have to say that I was impressed with the way this book held my attention despite not just being a heavily romance book. Though there is romance in this book for sure, but it actually focuses much more on the lead female character, Sophie as well as the different friendships around her. I loved how quirky and solid Sophie was as a female character. The parts of her alone this book were very quite entertaining themselves. Even though I didn't mind the plot not being too focused on romance, I do wish there was more romance because I planned out so many moments between Sophie and Thomas. They were cute together and I just wanted more of them.
That's literally my only complaint from this book that why wasn't the focus on Sophie and Thomas because if it was then this book would have turned out to be a total hit for me though I do have to say I still liked it.

The Secret Bridesmaid focuses on Sophie. Our MC see’s the best in every person and situation, is incredibly organized and a lover of all things “love”. It makes perfect sense for her job to be a bridesmaid for hire. As a Renaissance woman she encompasses the roles of: personal assistant, wedding planner, hype-man, mediator and confidant.

When Sophie gets the opportunity of a lifetime to work with one of the most well known families, it was a no brainer to agree. However, as soon as she began her first meeting with Lady Victoria and her daughter, Cordelia things take an unexpected turn.

Without a doubt I can say this will be one of the books that I’ll find myself recommending. It had a bit of everything: humor, romance, adventure and so much more. Overall, Sophie reminded me of the best qualities I find in my inner circle.. I found myself laughing to the point of tears on several occasions and can’t wait to reread.


Lastly, a special thanks to everyone at NetGalley and St Martins Press for this arc.