How far would you go to protect a friend? And how can you tell who your friends are? Really are…or maybe they aren’t.

After Lizzie’s destination wedding to Dan is cancelled, she and the rest of the wedding party travel to France for what they think will be a relaxing getaway. They are wrong. Within hours of their arrival at the luxurious Oratoire de St. Eris, and after a night of wild partying (someone had to drink all that champagne), a threatening note is found and the rings that were to be used by the bride and groom have disappeared. Lizzie’s friend Anna and Effie are convinced that Dan has followed them to France to harass and possibly harm Lizzie. But the truth is far more evil than they could ever imagine.

The Wedding night is a light thriller and a quick read. Lizzie, Anna and Effie are well drawn characters and the plot twists are surprising. That said, this would have been a 5 star read with better editing. The story is too long and tends to drag. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Harriet Walker for this ARC.

This was a cleverly crafted plot, although a little unrealistic. I liked the premise and some of the characters but the ending left me wanting another outcome.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received this book via ARC from Netgalley. Many thanks to Netgalley for giving me this opportunity.

So I eagerly anticipated reading this book as I enjoyed the author's prior novel (The New Girl). I was intrigued by the premise of a group of friends gathering in a French country house to have a 'free holiday' out of the ashes of their friends canceled wedding plans. Secrets and drama are abound... or at least I thought so..

Once I started the novel I noticed about a third of the way through that the story line was dragging punctuated by flashbacks, which is fine. However some of the sentences were grammatically structured in such a way as to force me to go back and re-read them, sometimes more than once to make sense to me. The author also enjoyed using 'big words' frequently, some of them proved very archaic.

While e end of the novel was unique and it did have a twist, I was actually quite relieved to have finally finished the novel.

Note to publisher: As this book is not published yet, I'll need to add my review to Amazon.com once its published (Amazon doesn't allow reviews on pre-published books.)

Effie, Anna and Lizzie forged a strong bond of friendship during college that has endured through the ensuing years, although careers, marriage and motherhood and a secret shared by only two has strained their connection. The focus of the story is the pending nuptials of Lizzie and Dan, but in the week leading up to their destination wedding they call it off and cancel all the arrangements. In the aftermath, the three friends plus a few extras decide to take advantage of the reservations and the scheduled time off, each one hoping to reclaim a deeper sense of self in the process. However, once the group arrives things begin to unravel quite rapidly, exposing a somewhat sinister element leading to a psychological game impacting the entire group. The suspense is generated by the gradual revelation of clues as to the identity of mastermind behind the game, but a subtle thread keeps things off balance.

The story is told in alternating chapters showcasing the perspectives of each of the three friends. The timeline jumps back and forth from the past to the future, which at times feels a bit disjointed. The characters are not particularly engaging nor sympathetic and one is downright abhorrent. I did find the story held my interest and the momentum that built over the last half of the book made it hard to put down. The conclusion was believable, but not as satisfying as I would have liked.

My thanks to the author, Random House Publishing - Ballantine, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

I wanted to love this one, it seemed like a great beach read plot--making the most of your canceled wedding--but it was flat flat flat. I didn't care about anyone, it wasn't suspenseful and it didn't make a lot of sense. It read like they pulled popular plots out of a hat and tried to hurry to write a best seller. We need authors to stop shoehorning in "suspense" and accept that some books are better as a best friends novel.

Lizzie and Dan call off their wedding a week before the big day in South France by sending the family and friends an email saying they were cancelling it. The friends decided to go anyway since they couldn't get their money back and all had taken off time from work. I had a hard time believing anything in this book and it was a DNF for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

I consider The Wedding Night by Harriet Walker a light psychological thriller...little bit of suspense, but just enough to keep the reader interested. The characters in the book feel like real people with the same flaws and hangups that people carry in their own lives. A few characters were unlikable, but that is ok in this type of book. The premise of the book is that two of the characters call off their destination wedding, but the entire bridal party (sans the groom-to-be) travel to the idyllic location anyway for a week of vacation. What results are the suspenseful episodes, leading the reader to stay glued until the final page. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this ebook. I am hoping it will be a success.

4-5 stars, while I do think this could be an easy 5 star, it is written quite uniquely and likely very British, making it a bit harder fir USA readers to understand 100%. I still found myself completely glued to the pages of an Unique, well developed story, with amazingly developed characters! I had to find out who was doing what and with who, at times. A fast paced, unputdownable story, which is guaranteed to give you some wonderful twisty turns, chilling chills, thrilling thrills, and gasp worthy shocks! Highly, highly recommend!

A rather complicated story involving a group of friends and the secrets between them. Once I could keep the characters straight and could follow the threads of the story, told in flashbacks, I did enjoy the book. Although I kept thinking how much easier it would have been for everyone to just tell the truth from the beginning! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an early copy of The Wedding Night. I almost stopped reading this book a few times because of the writing. It was very hard to enjoy throughout almost the first half of the book because of the run-on sentences and so many descriptions in a sentence. I am very glad I did stick with it though because I loved the characters. Towards the end of the book from 75% on, it was very fast reading, the way I like to read books. It was a really good plot and I felt I was there with the characters. If you can get past half the book with this writing, stick with it because it really does make you smile at the end.

Overall, I would not consider this a thriller. There were some moments of suspense but the plot seemed to drag over and make those moments underwhelming. The sentence structures were over-written, and I’m sure there are some grammatical errors in terms of constructing a sentence or paragraph. Most sentences felt long winded and it was difficult to read or understand what I had just read.

Compared to other thrillers I have picked up in the past, I wouldn’t consider this one. Maybe if the sentence and paragraph structure were simplified a bit it would be easier to read. The ending was happy, but I was overall disappointed in the entirety of the plot- I was expecting a lot more from this book based on the title and synopsis and cover.

This was a solid 3.5-star read for me. The story initially had such great promise but it fell very short for me in the end. One of the male characters in the book was a complete creep - it was obvious who from the beginning - and he basically gets away with being a creep, with no repercussions. It would have been a bit more exciting with some vigilante-style justice for him.

Otherwise, there were a few different storylines going on here. None that really felt finished. I liked it enough ... but it could have been excellent with some different twists of the story!

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

This was such h an interesting book! Wasn't anything I didn't like!
The characters. Felt real! The setting. Amazing! That plot. Incredible!
The way this author wrote was so good! It held my attention and kept me glued to the pages

The Wedding Night by Harriet Walker is a psychological thriller about the ways people go to hurt other people. Though this didn't involve murder or a mysterious disappearance, I would say that it still lives up to the thriller genre classification. I read this in one night, fascinated by the characters and the flashbacks, trying to understand the whole story. The story revolves around Lizzie and her friends, who provide most of the narration, as they continue to take the trip to Lizzie's wedding venue after it was cancelled. Lots of drinking is involved on the "wedding night" and the next day, the friends wake-up to little recall as to what happened the night before. The story moved at a clipping pace and I continued wanting to know what happens next! I really enjoyed the ending and thought the author resolved all the storylines in a timely manner. I would gladly recommend this to all thriller fans and would read future novels from Harriet Walker!

The wedding night was not what I expected, it was so much better! It was like watching a crazy train wreck reality show that you can’t peel your eyes from. Lizzie and Dan were getting married at a luxury villa in France. Effie and Anna were Lizzie’s college friends and were anxiously awaiting the nuptials. They were all excited to get away and celebrate. But what happened on the wedding night? It is not what it seems. Everyone was hiding something and Lizzies secret was the most shocking of all. Do these friends really know each other as well as they thought? The ending was SO satisfyingly delicious!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Lizzie ends her engagement a week before the. Wedding. Her friends and her decide to go to France because the wedding is paid for. Lizzie has a secret that she doesn't want anyone to know. I enjoyed the characters in this book.

Ugh, this book wasn’t for me. Lizzie and Dan abruptly cancelled their wedding letting their wedding party and friends know via email. The wedding party all decided that they would still go on the trip to get away from their lives and convinced Lizzie to go along. Odd things begin to happen and they suspect Dan is behind them.

The writing was long winded, and it seemed like the author was throwing out bizarre words like candy because she could. Frankly, it was extremely hard to understand and follow. The chapters were 1 of 3 girl’s perspectives, but it wasn’t written in first person so it was confusing at times.

I also would not categorize this as a thriller. There really wasn’t anything thrilling about it. It was boring, actually. Maybe it was because I found it hard to understand?

The ending was a happy one. So it did have that going for it. Otherwise, I would not personally recommend.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This was the first book I've read by this author so I was very excited to read this. I liked this book but didn't love it. The description and cover drew me in but I found myself struggling at times with big words that I felt were really not necessary. At times throughout the book I found myself re-reading sections as I was a tad confused. I did finish the book and was surprised by the ending but it was just so - so for me. I would definitely give the author another try.

At last Lizzie is marrying the man of her dreams. Everything is set up the guests have been invited. The venue,the food, the drinks, everything is ready. Her friends are so excited for her. Then they received a text. The wedding has been cancelled. What has happened? Nobody knows. When her friends decided to meet at the venue anyway, time off being already scheduled,they are in for a surprise. Lizzie is not the Lizzie they know. She is sad, depressed, and not talking.
I was given this book to read and review by the publisher through Netgalley.
The book definitely keeps you guessing, what is going on. Just when you think you have figured it out, it goes in an another direction. Worth reading!!

When Lizzie and Dan call off their destination wedding, Lizzie’s friends decide to go to the venue with Lizzie anyway on a small vacation to ease the disappointment of the cancelled wedding. Shortly after they arrive, it’s clear that someone has other plans for the group. I loved the premise of the novel, but the story unfolds very slowly, with extended descriptions and flowery prose. There is a lot of soul-searching by the characters that seems to take over the story, and the plot loses steam and gets lost amid all the self inspection. The book does have its moments, it was just a little too meandering for me. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.