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.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was so much fun and kept me up way past my bedtime because I could not stop reading. The Secret Bridesmaid totally gave me 27 Dresses meets The Devil Wears Prada vibes (and that was even before they referenced the movie in the book as a joke). Sophie is one of those characters who you cannot help but love. She is almost too kind to a fault but when push comes to shove, she knows how to rise and meet a challenge. Be prepared to literally laugh out loud while reading this book because it seriously reads like on of your favorite romantic comedy movies. The addition to include her emails with brides and vendors was such a fun idea and gives readers a fun insight on the things Sophie deals with as a professional bridesmaid.

I loved the development of the relationship between Sophie and Cordelia. I enjoyed the character development of both of them and that this book was not just focused on romance but on female friendships as well. that being said, go into this book understanding that the romance between Sophie and a certain male character is not at the forefront of the book. It is there and is extremely sweet and will leave you with a big smile on you face but I would say that the theme of sisterhood and friendship are at the forefront. Do not miss out on this book in May!

Rating:4.5/5 Stars

Sophie Breeze is a professional bridesmaid. What? She helps brides prepare for their big day by pretending to be a part of the wedding party. When the mother of a high society bride hires her, it would seem to be a dream - but really, it’s more of a nightmare - even if the bride does have a hot brother.

This was a fun, literal LOL read at points. There were a few formatting issues in the digital ARC, but all in all, a great read!

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity!

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for gifting me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever seen the Wedding Ringer with Kevin Hart?
This book was like that, but with women.

It was quick, funny and really adorable.
got through the book within a day, like I said, easy read.
The relationships between Sophie and all the brides is so great, and then Cordelia makes me want to smack her (Bridezilla much?), but it's like a hate to Love relationship that's too good for the ages.
Tom is adorable.
the Chewbacca Running made me laugh out loud - rare for a book to make me do that.

this was the first book by Katy Birchall and honestly, this book felt different from all the other romance novels i usually read, I loved it a lot and I think that this is going to be one of those books that I am going to have to grab a physical copy of. Going to be recommending this book to a lot of people.

Sophie (a hired professional bridesmaid) is what every bride needs! Support, advice, there when you need her, runs errands, and helps to make each bride create their dream wedding. Literally. No matter the request, this girl is there with a smile on her face. And she gets some entertaining ones! Especially when she lands a spot as the only bridesmaid for bridezilla Lady Cordelia - who does NOT want Sophie around.

Boy did this one suck me in - finished in maybe 24 hours! I loved how the story was put together - beginning to end. Hilarious and heart warming in all the right moments! There was great build up and character development. I loved how the story was mostly focused on the relationship between Sophie and Cordelia, with a little romance sprinkled in! The ending will make your heart melt!

I feel like I’m a little stingy with handing out 5 stars, but this one was just so charming. You will want to stay up late to finish this one, and then you’ll go to bed with a happy heart and a smile on your face.

Thank you Katy Birchall, St Martin's Press, and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

I loved this concept! it was so new and fresh. One of the big things that stood out to me was how the story really was about friendship and connecting on a personal level with those around you. You expected to have a romance, but that was really suck a small part of it that it allowed the real story to shine through, most authors would have used the relationship to carry the story instead of the other way around. My one issue was how it turned out on my kindle, I didn't think some scenes were spaced out correctly and got confused when the story jumped from one day to the next. Overall, I really enjoyed this book (I mean I finished in one night!) and could 100% see it as a netflix movie in the future!

The secret Bridesmaid – Katy Birchall

“Pinky Promise.”
What it’s about

Sophie Breeze is so good at being a bridesmaid that she’s made it her full-time job. She is hired by brides mostly who need help organising their wedding. She poses as a friend while making sure that everything goes perfect.
When she is hired by Lady Victoria Swann, a high society lady for her daughters wedding it seems to be the highlight of Sophies career. There’s just the tiny problem that the Bride, Lady Cordelia Swann, is not very amused by the idea of having a professional bridesmaid and tries everything to get Sophie to quit.
When a rival society wedding gets announced on the same day, Sophie is faced with the challenge to organise a big wedding for a bride that hates her in less than to months and keep her feelings for the bride’s cute brother in check.

My opinion:

The secret bridesmaid is a romcom in a book.
You should know about me that I love romcoms, weddings and I’m also a “goody-goody” like Sophie, so that was the perfect book for me. On top of that it’s a high society story and set in London. What is there not to like?
The writing style of Kate Birchall is very easy to read and SO English, which I love.

Sophie is for me a very relatable character. She is an optimist, she obviously loves weddings but she is also very organised and well yes, she’s a “goody-goody”.
Cordelia seems to be a rich girl cliché. She looks perfect, has a perfect fiancé, a perfect life and is very mean if she does not get what she wants. But that’s all it is. A farce. But as she begins to open up to Sophie you get why she is the way she is and a beautiful friendship blossoms between them.
The side characters are very likeable. There is, for me at least enough depth to them, even though it’s a fairly thin book.
What I liked most is that Sophie’s romance with Cordelia’s brother Tom is more a side plot than anything else, so it is much more a book about the friendship between Cordelia and Sophie.

One point of critique is there: Sometimes at the very end of a chapter, there would be an interaction between Sophie and a company where she bought something for a bride. The emails gave us an inside look into her life as a professional bridesmaid, but they did not add anything to the storyline, which is a little confusing.
Adding to that: there were sometimes changes of scenery without a paragraph in between which forced me to read some sentences twice to understand they were in another place. With that said, the book is published on May 4th , so I’m hoping the publishing company will change that in the final version.

Conclusion

The secret story of a bridesmaid is a book about friendship and loyalty with a tiny bit of romance. It is an easy and fun read, it is something to cheer you up and make you laugh out loud. If you do not mind reading about weddings, high society and a little drama – this is the perfect book for you.

I started reading this book and got immediately pulled in. Ended up staying up way later than I had planned and finished it in one day. Super cute and adorable. Would love to continue the story too.

This book was soooo cute! It reminded me of 17 dresses and the devil wears Prada combined! I was so invested in what was going to happen the entire time and I am glad I got the opportunity to read this early because I am in love with it.

The character Sophie is so meek at the beginning and Cordelia is the opposite of her and they somehow find a way to bring new parts of their personalities out through their friendship. I seriously love their friendship so much, their banter makes me laugh and the whole swan fiasco had me crying it was so funny.

In the end it teaches the reader that there is more to a person than what you see, you have to get to know someone and trust them in order to see what lies underneath and I think that is beautiful.

A great read.

Sophie is a professional bridesmaid, and is hired to pretend to be the bride's friend and help organise everything. When she gets the chance to be the bridesmaid at a high profile wedding, it should be a good opportunity, but the bride is a nightmare and Sophie finds herself falling for the bride's brother, who thinks she is someone she is not. What will happen when all the secrets unravel?

Sophie is a profesional bridesmaid. Brides pay her to pose as a friend so she can provide a bride the support she needs with the planning, lead-up, and on the wedding day (I don't understand why she has to be in people's weddings to do this?). Sophie has been focusing on her career since her long time boyfriend broke up with her a year ago (and recently became engaged) because she was too "safe". And then Sophie gets the chance of a lifetime, when the mother of high society bride hires Sophie to help pull off the wedding of the year. Can Sophie overcome an epic bridezilla who resents her presence and pull this off? Also there are sparks with the bride's handsome brother.
This book was cute, though like many people in the book I don't see why Sophie has to be in all of these people's weddings instead of just an attendee? I'm very concerned for her business model when she ages a bit more and young brides don't want a middle age woman in their wedding. I also wouldn't go in to this book expecting lots of romance, the romance is more a side plot. The main story is definitely Sophie and Cordelia.