Are there books that feel both new and nostalgic to you? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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That was The Secret Bridesmaid for me! This book was new in that I haven’t read anything quite like it and nostalgic because it felt like a bunch of my favorite romcoms became friends and decided to hang out together. Think the Wedding Planner (which I watched a gajillion times growing up) meets the countryside of the Holiday, with a little Notting Hill romance thrown in. This book was fabulous! Thank you to St. Martins Press for the gifted copy of this book!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Sophie is a professional bridesmaid. This means she not only 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 at all the weddings she's hired for, but she also seamlessly plays the part of long lost friend of the bride rather than that of trained professional. When she's hired to be a part of 𝙩𝙝𝙚 celebrity wedding of the year, she finds herself confronted with a difficult bride, a swoon-worthy brother, and another elite wedding happening on the very same day!
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For me, I loved this book for so many reasons. Some of them were the minimal steam (it felt refreshing and like old school romcoms), the emphasis on female friendships, the amazing familial bonds, and the total boss mode of Sophie! She knows how to get things done and get them done well. The behind the scenes moments of wedding planning are also very funny and REAL with all the details and time-consuming logistics. The add-in of email exchanges between Sophie and the vendors are also hilarious! There were several moments where I actually laughed out loud at the commentary and dialogue. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I highly recommend this book if you're in the mood for a light-hearted romance set in London (and the English countryside) that's a "feel good" page-turner guaranteed to cleanse your palate! I enjoyed every minute of the wedding chaos!

I really enjoyed The Secret Bridesmaid. It was different from the typical romances that I read. Even though, this wasn't all romance. I really loved Sophie's character. I liked how she befriended Cordelia. I loved the romance bit, but wanted a little more out of it. Overall, this was a cute read.

I picked this one up on a whim - new to me author; interesting premise; possible diamond in the rough....

Um. Nope. This one didn't work for this reader and I HATE THE BAIT AND SWITCHEROO in the genre classification of this story at NG. This is NOT a romance novel. It has romantic elements (very very very very few poor reader (and PS, they're poorly done)); it's more a story of two completely opposite women becoming friends.

I only sort of liked our principal character Sophie - a wedding planner masquerading as a bridesmaid in order to keep her identity and mission a secret. OOH! THE INTRIGUE. THE THRILLS. So, like, um, who cares if you call yourself a planner or a bridesmaid and why are people keeping the use of one or the other a secret? Planning a wedding is a total headache. If you can afford a wedding planner, why wouldn't you use one? READER. STOP JUDGING PEOPLE WHO HIRE WEDDING PLANNERS. THEY AREN'T WEAK. THEY HAVE FEELINGS, TOO. STOP BEING WEDDING PLANNER JUDGING DICKS. FFS. Is that isn't actually a thing? Are you doing this? FYI, you're a jerk and Sophie is coming after you. Not. This novel is a weird take on the wedding industry.

Then there's Cordelia, the client/bride/kinda a bitch frenemy Sophie is hired to help. She's mean. She's rude. SHE'S MISUNDERSTOOD. Spare me. She wasn't nice to Sophie - a stranger who bends over backwards to help her at the behest of Cordelia's mom. Cordelia has trust issues. I feel you girl. It's been a rough road. But you are straight up not nice and I didn't like you treating doormat Sophie like that. Meanwhile, your fiance is an absolute dreamboat who for some reason looks the other way when he knows you're being an ass because it's a protective measure. Yep, didn't get this combo platter of personalities either.

And then there's an oddly shoehorned instalust romance with a person we never spend any time with and remains an ENIGMA. Again, the intrigue. LOL. And an ex who's your stereotypical a-hole and jumped from your eight year romance into an engagement in a hot minute. Nice.

I didn't really like this as much as I thought I did.

Characters are odd; relationships are vague; story should be called "The Doormat Who Convinced a Kinda Nasty and Not Nice Person to be their Bestie and HEALED THE WORLD WITH KINDNESS and Fell for a Playboy Who Probably Fell in Love, Too."

Go for it reader.

I really liked this book a lot!! Cute characters, unique concept, and lovely ending, of course. I will be seeking out some other books by this author because I definitely laughed out loud on more than one occasion and that is a bit rare for me these days!!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book from the moment I started it! It’s about a woman named Sophie who has decided to be a professional bridesmaid. A professional bridesmaid helps the bride through the wedding planning process, holds her hand, and takes her calls when everything seems to be going wrong. Sophie assumes another name, and everyone thinks she’s an old friend of the bride.

She is asked to help the bride for the “wedding of the season “. Unfortunately, the bride doesn’t want her and sets ridiculous tasks so she’ll quit. I couldn’t wait to see how it all worked out!
I highly recommend this book, it’s funny and a great read.

I absolutely loved this book. I was immediately captured by Sophie and her job and her life. I loved her passion for weddings but not as a wedding planner but as someone who’s there for the bride to assist and make her less stressed about the planning. She’s there to make the experience enjoyable and take items off the bride’s plate. I also loved how supportive her family and cousin were about her change in careers. I hated her ex-boyfriend and thought she deserved so much better. I hate that she wasted so much time on him but I’m so glad she found someone else and bettered herself in the process. Cordelia was something else. I hated her throughout most of the book but when you find out more about her past, it doesn’t give her excuses, but I can see why she acted the way she did. I’m glad she came to her senses. I think what I loved most about the book was that it was focused more on friendship than romance. There’s definitely romance involved but I was more interested in the friendship! Highly recommend!

What a lovely book! Sophie is a wedding planner in the form of a bridesmaid, there to fulfill the wishes of the bride and be there for her when needed. When she is hired for the wedding of Lady Cordelia she soon finds the bride will do everything to chase Sophie away. Stubbornly, Sophie navigates her way towards winning Cordelia over, learning more about herself doing so. And then there is the brother of the bride, Tom, who doesn't know about her being a secret bridesmaid.

Really enjoyed this book and the British setting. It is a mingle of romance and chic lit with entertaining characters.

The Secret Bridesmaid was fun and charming. Sophie is a professional bridesmaid, I thought this was a unique and fun way to be a wedding planner, without being a wedding planner. She's excellent at her job, managing brides and making sure they have the wedding they've always wanted. She ends up getting a big contract for a society wedding with a nightmare bride.

Cordelia is less than ideal, but I really liked her (though it took a bit). I thought how everything went down for planning the wedding was necessary for both Cordelia and Sophie's development, and I couldn't have been happier for how everything worked on in the end.

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#thesecretbridesmaid
#kaybirchall
#NetGalley published 5/4/21
#StMartinsPress
#stmartinsgriffin

Let's start by the fact that I have no idea what genre this #arc belongs in other than #womensfiction. And I hate that! It's like telling a boy he can't play with dolls. 🤦‍♀️

This book is a comedic look at #weddings, #bridezillas and #relationships in general. It's not a romance as one would expect from just the title and cover. The main character doesn't even have interaction with the guy until after 50%. Thus, it's #notaromance. At the end of many chapters there is either a conversation spoken or through text/email about some wedding something. Most of them amusing. Thus, a #comedy.

Whatever genre it decides it wants to be, I loved it. I was amused the whole way through. I kept wanting to pick the book back up and it is so lightly written that it was easy to read. I even told my husband about a few parts and he loved the concept. (not that he'd pick it up🤷‍♀️) I would in a heartbeat read more of this author's books. According to Goodreads, she has 14 books. Not including the ones in German or in a collection.

Sophie is not a wedding planner but a literal secret bridesmaid. So one that helps you with your wedding plans versus running the wedding planning. She does whatever you need/want her to do. Wear a costume. ✔️ Change your hair. ✔️ She'll do it. She does agree to do some outrageous things to keep her brides happy. Come be a fly on the wall. It'll be fun!

#realisticfiction
#genrebending
#bookstagram #booknerds #bookworm #booklover #bookdragon #readalot #ilovereading #inkdrinker #bookrecommendation #bookreview #booknerdigan #bookish #booknerdbookreviews #bookaddict #bookaholic

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of The Secret Bridesmaid! I actually just got asked to be one of my best friend's maids of honor, so this book was so timely, especially since I've never been in a wedding before and I've only ever been to Indian weddings! This book was so fun and I definitely think that this should be on everyone's summer reading list!

The Secret Bridesmaid 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Matrimony meets mayhem in a modern British romcom about a young woman charged with pulling off the biggest aristocratic wedding of the year––and the misadventures that ensue.
Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job.
As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is hired by London brides to be their right-hand woman, posing as a friend but working behind the scenes to help plan the perfect wedding and ensure their big day goes off without a hitch. When she’s hired by Lady Victoria Swann––a former model and “It Girl" of 1970’s London; now the Marchioness of Meade––for the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is.
Of course, it’s not ideal that the bride, Lady Victoria’s daughter, Cordelia, is an absolute diva and determined to make Sophie’s life a nightmare. It’s also a bit inconvenient that Sophie finds herself drawn to Cordelia’s posh older brother, who is absolutely off limits. But when a rival society wedding is announced for the very same day, things start to get…well, complicated.
Can Sophie pull off the biggest challenge of her career––execute a high-profile gala for four hundred and fifty guests in record time, win over a reluctant bride, and catch the eye of handsome Lord Swann––all while keeping her true identity a secret, and her dignity intact?
Heartwarming and hilarious, The Secret Bridesmaid celebrates the joys (and foibles) of weddings, the nuances of female friendship, and the redeeming power of love in its many unexpected forms.

I freaking loved so much about this book! Sophie was such a great and relatable character and I loved that her job was to be a professional bridesmaid! I'm surprised that no one at any of her weddings has recognized her yet, especially because I can't imagine that the wedding world is that small and if most of her business is coming from word of mouth, then won't there be people who go to multiple weddings in a friend group or something? But anyway, not a big deal- it's not like I'm looking to make that my job or anything (heck, I can barely figure out a dress for my friend's wedding, so doing that more often as like a job sounds terrible for me). As soon as Lady Meade said that Cordelia might be difficult, I was so excited to see what kind of hijinks she would get up to/what hoops she would make Sophie jump through, and man, I was not disappointed at all! I loved all of her over the top demands and how hard Sophie worked to try and make them happen (peacocks suspended from the ceiling??). I also liked how along with all of this going on in her professional life (in her cupboard office), Sophie was also dealing with her most serious ex-boyfriend getting engaged and sending her a wedding invite (who even does that?) and showing up at things that their friend group was at. I was not a fan of Daniel's at all. I loved Jonathan- him and Cordelia seemed to have such a strong relationship and I loved that. I also really liked Tom- his relationship with Cordelia reminded me of my relationship with my brother! Overall, this book was not only a super fun rom com with a lot of great comedy in it, but it also was really great in terms of friendships and relationships and the trials and tribulations that come with those. It was a super fun read and I highly recommend it!

This one was funny and I loved the main character but I was expecting this to be a romantic comedy and instead it was much more about female friendships, and the ridiculousness of big society weddings. I thought there was a ton of hilarious parts and pranks. Cordelia was awful but I loved her character development. I also loved the dynamic of Tom and Sophie but their relationship seemed like an afterthought.

The Secret Bridesmaid is a delightful romantic jaunt through the life of an enterprising young professional who takes on a huge project, and bites off a little more than she can chew.

Sophie Breeze has an unusual job, but it’s also a secret. Since managing her cousin’s wedding freak-out, Sophie has become a professional bridesmaid, harnessing her passion for weddings into a lucrative career, arranging details to keep brides from stressing out too much and keeping the peace between family members. Sophie isn’t a wedding planner; she is there to be unobtrusive but ever-present as the couple deals with the stress of such a big event. Not only is Sophie great at her job, she loves it. While incognito as a friend of the bride, Sophie gets to make weddings go off without a hitch, and be a part of celebrating love.

Even though she’s surrounded by wedded bliss, Sophie is a little caught off-guard when she receives an invitation to her ex’s wedding. Her boyfriend of eight years was only single for a few weeks before he started dating his now-fiancée, which makes Sophie feel incredibly insecure. It’s then that she receives the referral of a lifetime: a former client recommends Sophie’s services to the Marchioness of Meade. The Marchioness’ daughter, Lady Cordelia Swann, is engaged, and her nuptials promise to be the event of the century. The only problem? Cordelia doesn’t want Sophie’s help, and seems determined to do everything she possibly can to drive her away.

Despite Cordelia’s machinations, Sophie does her best work, only slightly distracted by Tom, Cordelia’s very hot, very off-limits brother. There are a million reasons she can’t get involved with him; topping the list is that he doesn’t know her real name, or her real job. Despite that, Tom seems to be showing interest, and Sophie is conflicted between her duty to her reluctant client and someone who seems to really see her.

This book is a really fun, engaging read, and while it certainly has romance, I personally would put it more in the women’s fiction column. The focus of the narrative is on Sophie’s emotional journey, and love is a part of that, but not the center. The real conflict in the story is based around Sophie’s self-worth, and her finding value in herself. Even though the romance is Sophie and Tom’s, the main relationship in the book seems like it’s between Sophie and Cordelia. Cordelia is a very interesting, complex character and she’s fun to read about. Their antagonism is interesting, but Cordelia’s vulnerability is even more poignant. One of the greatest strengths of the book is how well fleshed-out the characters are; even minor characters are distinct and have clear characterization. Another is the dialogue. The banter is top-notch, and the places where email and texts are incorporated work really well. These interstitials give the reader a great sense of time passing, as well as a clearer window into Sophie’s work, which is fascinating.

The only thing that bothered me is that the book is being marketed as a romance, but it really doesn’t feature that much of the main character and her love interest. It’s a great read, but the true focus of the story isn’t Sophie falling in love, it’s her job and interpersonal relationships.

The Secret Bridesmaid is a great novel about weird weddings, unlikely friendships, and love. I highly recommend it, with the caveat that the main romance is fairly low-key.

Overall a cute story with a large focus on friendships, trust, and romance. Sophie is a professional bridesmaid who assists brides in all wedding related planning, while also playing the role of a longtime friend. When she gets hired on as a bridesmaid for Lady Cordelia, Sophie faces her toughest assignment yet.

A Secret Bridesmaid is a fast paced read and a perfect book to get you out of a reading slump.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Breeze, 31, is a professional bridesmaid. Having been a bridesmaid numerous times, she has seen first hand all of the decisions and plans that must be made in planning a wedding. She knows that lots of brides don’t want a wedding planner to take over everything for them, but just need a bit of help with some details. That’s when Sophie steps in and working with the bride, is the perfect support helping her with the countless tasks.

Sophie had been with Daniel for 8 years when he told her one day that he didn’t love her anymore and is now engaged to someone else. Now, he has even invited her to his wedding which she promptly sends her regrets..

Lady Cordelia Swann, 30, is the daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Meade, one of the oldest, wealthiest, aristocratic families in Britain. Sophie has been summoned by the Marchioness to be Cordelia’s secret bridesmaid and help with her wedding of 400 guests. Sophie is thrilled and this will be the largest wedding she has done. Ah, but Cordelia is well-known for her bad temper. When Sophie meets her, the young woman is rude and tells her she does not want Sophie’s help, but her mother, the Marchioness, insists. Going by the name, Emily, she begins her most difficult job yet in helping to plan a lovely wedding for an irritable bride.

I loved Sophie! She is a hard-working, determined young woman who is still susceptible to getting her feelings hurt. The antics she gets into with Cordelia’s wedding are funny and just proves this young woman does not give up. The book made me want to keep reading and reading more about her story. I just didn’t want it to end. So many laugh out loud episodes along with some that made me want to cry. The perfect book from this perfect bridesmaid.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Almost a gender-bend of the Wedding Ringer but with a romantic ending.

I adored this book! It was so sweet, and we had small glimpses into other weddings that she helped at the end of almost every chapter. This gave me an insight into Sophie, her business and why it was so important,. It really added to the charm and won me over.
It was just a little too clique at times, and for a little, the main character bothered me, and even when we came to understand Cordelia, I really fought myself to like her.
Overall, it is an easy read to wrap yourself up in and enjoy with some surprises that I really found funny.

The Secret Bridesmaid is such a gem. It's classified as a romcom, but I would call it more chick lit or women's fiction with a hint of romance.

Sophie Breeze is a professional bridesmaid, hired by brides to pose as a friend, but actually helps them with all the details of their wedding. She's hired for *the* wedding of the year, but the bride is an absolute diva and is making Sophie's job miserable.

I laughed out loud more times than I can count while reading this. The main story follows Sophie navigating Cordelia's wedding, but there are snippets of the other wedding's she's working and the hijinks / problems / challenges were HILARIOUS.

Sophie is such a sweet character. I love how focused the plot was on her personal development as well as her friendship with Cordelia and her cousin, Cara.

I recommend this book for a fun, light, heartwarming escape!

Such a delightful book!
Sophie Breeze is an ‘official’ bridesmaid. She’s the person who fixes all problems, finds the elusive ‘thing’, calms the waters and makes the wedding day perfect....all with a smile.
She’s excited to be hired by Lady Meade, for her daughter Cordelia’s wedding. This will be the high society wedding to propel her business into those circles.
I loved this book, the characters were wonderful and not at all what you expected. Basically I found it to be so refreshing to have believable characters, with normalish lives. Cordelia obviously starts off being the bride from hell but as the book progresses, your perception of her changes and reasons for this are revealed.
This is a great rom com, chit lit book if your looking for those sort of genres. There are scenes that had me laughing out loud, reminiscent of the letter/diary entries in the Bridget Jones series.
Such a feel good book focusing on friendship with a little romance that doesn’t over take the story.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

The Secret Bridesmaid was such a fun and entertaining read, I loved every single moment of this book! Not only does it have so many comical moments, but it’s also a brilliant and different approach towards the difficulties in planning weddings.

Sophie Breeze is a hired bridesmaid, technically speaking, a professional who is hired to be a bridesmaid for the bride and her job is to help with errands regarding the wedding planning. She is to manage all sorts of wedding crises and at the same time, pretending to be best friends with the bride and be their bridesmaid. And most importantly, Sophie is the best ‘bridesmaid’ that you can find and hire. She’s professional, knows her job well; a perfectionist, dedicated to making each wedding perfect and she’s not one to back down from challenges. When Lady Victorian Swann or more commonly known as The Marchioness of Meade hires her to help with the wedding of the year, it’s her time to shine. Yet the bride-to-be, Lady Cordelia, the Marchioness’ daughter proves to be as difficult as everyone says her to be and sets to make Sophie’s life a living nightmare, Sophie might need a bit more than her professionalism to help her with this one. The timing also doesn’t seem to be perfect when she finds herself constantly drawn to a Lord Meade, Cordelia’s charming and gentle older brother. Things got even more complicated when a rivalry announced their wedding on the same date…everything couldn’t have gotten any worse for Sophie.

First of all, this idea of a professional bridesmaid is so intriguing, and Birchall has also included some crazy email exchanges at the end of chapters that Sophie has with clients, some will fill your eyes with tears of laughter (trust me on that). The majority of the book is basically about true friendship, and also with a little bit of romance and flirtation on the sidelines. The main focus of the story would definitely be the dynamic between Lady Cordelia and Sophie. Lady Cordelia is not an easy person to get along with, simply speaking. She doesn’t have any friends to be exact, and you can imagine the people’s shock when they learnt about her ‘best friend’ Sophie’s existence. As if it couldn’t get any complicated, Lady Cordelia thinks the idea of Sophie pretending to be her bridesmaid is absurd and does everything in her power to humiliate Sophie in order to get her to quit the job. To her dismay, Sophie is not a quitter and she never runs away from a challenge, no matter how the irritating bride-to-be tries to make her life miserable.

On the bright side though, Lady Cordelia does have a very charismatic older brother who is single and occasionally flirts with Sophie. Undoubtedly, she likes the attention but she is also aware that this flirtation could potentially jeopardise her job and reveal her true identity.

As Sophie and Cordelia spend more and more time together and gradually open up to each other (not without any disasters and conflicts of course), a spark of friendship starts to form between the two women but yet true friendship does not come easy. I won’t say more so as not to spoil anything but a secret from the past emerges and determines to haunt the present and things get more and more complicated which will test the loyalty of their true friendship. In the course of time, it is evident that Cordelia is not entirely what she looks like on the outside—a woman who has been spoiled all her life, but rather, she has been betrayed by some of her closest people which causes her to close up and never trust anyone easily. She acts like the Ice Queen (bringing Elsa in here literally) without a care in the world. Watching Sophie gradually penetrate that thick barrier of ice surrounding Cordelia and them slowly becoming friends is so warming and touching, and I can say that it is better than any romance plots. This book does not emphasise heavily on romance, but more importantly, the friendship between two equally strong and independent women.

On a side note, the relationship between Cordelia and her fiancé and the romance between Sophie and Tom (Cordelia’s brother) are both so sweet and endearing. After hearing the news that her ex-boyfriend is getting married only a while after their breakup, Sophie was suffering deeply but thankfully, her job with being Cordelia’s bridesmaid helped her get through it and find new love as well.

Overall, you would definitely want to have this adorable and lighthearted read on your shelf just so you could have a laugh over the crazy wedding requests any time.

I received advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. This book tells the story of Sophie, who works as a professional bridesmaid, doing all tasks and errands to make the bride's life easier. She is hired by Lady Victoria Swann to be her daughter Cordelia's bridesmaid, and Cordelia is NOT happy about it. Cordelia gives Sophie lists of nearly impossible challenges, and Sophie is determined to accomplish them. This book is funny, but it also has lessons about the importance of friendship. I enjoyed the book thoroughly and recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read! If you are a fan of Sophiie Kinsella, this book is for you!

4.5 Such A Giggle Stars
* * * * 1/2 Spoiler Free-A Quick Review
Oh, how I love it when I read something that lives up to the blurb and hype. This was a winner from start to end. Witty, human, and caused me to enjoy myself fully while reading it.

Very straightforward, Sophie Breeze has been the perfect bridesmaid for all of her crew. She has it down to a science. She is organized, charming, understanding, and really is the bridal whisperer. Her cousin had experienced Sophie's talent first hand and in a moment on the phone after a miracle conversation calming her, she tells Sophie she should do this as a professional. Be there for brides as their bridesmaid, someone in their corner during this stressful time.

Well, Sophie does it and she is having a start of a successful career. The trick is that she shows up as someone the bride knows, not for hire, so she is anonymous. Perfect. The bride has someone looking out for her, a "rock" who will make sure the stress is taken over. This way a bride can actually enjoy the event and experience.

This all ramps up onto steroids when Sophie is recommended to Marchioness of Meade. You see the mother of the bride has a daughter who is getting married and it will be THE Wedding of the Season. The only problem is that the bride-to-be is someone who wants No Part Of This At All. Her rep and who she pretends to be is the "I Don't Care About Anything and You Are No One" attitude. She is the definition of resting Bit#h Face. Cruella has nothing on her...but not really because she may be crusty on the outside...inside she is a marshmallow.

We are there through every task Sophie gets sent on, no matter how ridiculous. We see how things are going and her cousin and others know she is working on a wedding from hell but not who it is...NDA clause.

There is so much to enjoy about this book and you can't lose with this. Perfect to relax with.