I don’t read a lot of rom-coms, but, after reading Bad Luck Bridesmaid, I will certainly be making an exception for debut novelist Alison Rose Greenberg.

I have a feeling that Alison is probably a super fun person to be with, because her book is full of wit and snark and all things laugh worthy. I can only assume that her sense of humor shines through in Zoey, who is everything a modern female character should be. 💗

If you’re looking for a way to amuse yourself by the pool or in the Arctic tundra where I’m currently located (with 5 inches of new snow and still snowing hard) Bad Luck Bridesmaid just might be it!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review! Link to post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CY17PmJLDyH/

Zoey Marks can't decide how she feels about the institution of marriage.

It doesn't help that she had a front row seat to not one, not two, but three close friends pulling a Runaway Bride and breaking off their engagements in the midst of their wedding celebrations.

This book isn't really a rom com --- its a true celebration of what happens when women confront hard truths and choose their own course for their lives, even when the journey is messy and conflicting and complicated and hard.

Zoey was so relatable to me and I loved her growth throughout this book! If you like strong heroines and strong writing, you'll enjoy this one.

While this book was not my glass of Zinfandel, I can see that it may appeal very much to others, perhaps those younger than I.

F-bombs abound! A lot of hot sex, but not so much that this can be considered erotica.

All I could think of when I read this book was that it was the 1980's all over again but in reverse. Instead of the men not wanting to get bogged down with love and permanent relationships, now women (well, at least our MC Zoey!) didn't want to be in that position. Women are now being hard-@sses in their roles as business owners. Let the good times roll, as it were.

I am reading this book with the hope that it will stop being one long angsty monologue and evolve into something a little more absorbing. The idea of a bridesmaid being bad luck at weddings is good and had a lot of laughter potential, but that is not the path this author chose.

Minor Spoiler-don't think of this book as a romance. If you do, you will be disappointed.

* ARC was supplied by the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin, NetGalley, and the author.

This was an easy read and enjoyable, but not one I was super invested in. I felt like the pacing at the beginning was fast. Around 25% of the way in, I felt like so much had happened and was curious if it would continue like that. Luckily it didn’t, and I felt like the last half was better. I’m sure a lot of people won’t like the ending because it’s not what you would typically expect. I didn’t love it or hate it, but thought it was a nice way to wrap up Zoey’s story.

I went through a few years where I was constantly a bridesmaid in multiple weddings. It's always a fun time for the most part but every bride has different expectations for what they need from you... and it's super expensive. I was SO burnt out on weddings and bridesmaid duties by the end of 2019. During that busy bridesmaid period of life, I generally refused to read books involving weddings or bridesmaids.... and now that it's all over (including my own wedding last year), I'm down to read these books again. And thank god, because I usually liked them!

BAD LUCK BRIDESMAID sold me from the beginning. Three weddings as a bridesmaid, three friends who didn't make it down the aisle. Zoey is convinced she's the reason for these failed weddings. After all, she's never cared about finding love and commitment from someone. She even turns down her great fiance when he proposes. Cue the regret. During an overseas wedding that her ex, Rylan, will be at, she determines THIS bride will make it down the aisle, and hopefully she'll figure out what the hell is wrong with her.

This was truly a bizarre reading experience. I was pretty addicted to it and loved the first half of the book. Once she gets to Ireland after breaking up with Rylan though... things went off the rails. I will be the first to tell you that imperfect, messy characters are totally fine by me. People make mistakes and usually I can understand. I generally did for this one. However, the ending really threw me for a loop. It's really hard to discuss without spoiling everything but I will just say: don't go into this thinking it's a classic romance or even romantic comedy. There are some amazing parts and very fun writing (I'd definitely read this author again!) but seriously... embrace the mess and take the romance label with a big grain of salt. 


All in all... I mostly liked this but I also kind of hated it. It was a quick read from a new author I'm interested in reading more from, but I'm glad I had skimmed a couple of reviews and knew to lower my expectations a little bit.

DNF @50%

The first ⅓ of the book was told in the past and it was kind of weird. I can't really describe why other than to say that it felt different from the rest of the book. I got very invested in Rylan and was hoping for a second chance romance but then he has a date for the wedding and there is another guy entering the book and it just gave me an off feeling so I skipped and read a few chapters at the end.

I liked Zoey and appreciated that this was about her journey and being true to herself (which you should always be), but I guess because there was so much of Rylan in the beginning and they were so cute together it felt disappointing that there was no second chance. That ending was pretty brutal to me. The second half of the book (starting with when they were in Ireland for the wedding) felt very different in tone as well.

At times Zoey annoyed me, but I also get being up inside your own head. Part of me wishes I had hung on and powered through, but I know myself to know I would have been just as disappointed in the ending.

Thank you for the opportunity to review, this just wasn't the book for me.

This was an excellent rom com that alternated between being steamy, hilarious, and quite sad. The main characters have amazing chemistry and banter, and the real winner of the story is female friendship, and we love to see it. This book will make you think a lot about love and also society’s expectations for women to conform to wanting to get married and have children. CW: infertility.

This one just didn’t do it for me. I wanted more growth from the characters. I felt like they all started and ended the book generally the same people even if we learned a bit about them along the way. I couldn’t get into this. The characters were just not likeable enough. The premise had promise but the main character was trying to make everything about her. When clearly it was not. Yikes. This was was just okay in my book.

Thank you @NetGalley and @SMPRomance and @MacmillanAudio for my copies of the book.

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.

Bad Luck Bridesmaid was a fun and sweet romcom that I really enjoyed! After a series of friend’s engagements end before their walks down the aisle, Zoey Marks realizes the problem just might be her - is she a cursed bridesmaid?! Zoey has all but sworn off committed relationships, but then the unthinkable happens and she falls in love. Soon, she has one more shot to prove she might not be the jinx and a walk down the aisle with the one might be in her future after all.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved reading Zoey and Rylan’s falling in love montage and seeing all of the flashbacks during their time apart. The author did a wonderful job of crafting a beautiful scene and her descriptions made you feel like you were really there with the characters. I loved the message of knowing your self-worth and loved that the main character (and her friends) didn’t settle for anything less than they deserved. Finally, I really enjoyed all of the pop culture references - as an aging millennial I too remember the thrill of getting Romeo + Juliet from Blockbuster.

If you love rom coms of yesteryears I would definitely recommend checking out Bad Luck Bridesmaid! Thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy.

Ohh ok, so this was a quick read. I liked the heroines personally and her idaf attitude but she also had me really frustrated. She none of her brides had made it down the aisle and considered herself bad luck. On the other hand it was relatively in the fact that some women just don’t want marriage. Love, yes. But they don’t need marriage. There is no shame in that. I guess the back and forth and and what happened with Ryland when he was with some else really brought it down for me. I still enjoyed some aspects about it.

After being a bridesmaid at 3 of her friend’s weddings where none of them end up actually getting married, Zoey has a negative view towards marriage & turns down her boyfriend Rylan’s proposal. 3 months later, she is asked to be a bridesmaid at her best friend Hannah’s wedding, where Rylan will be in attendance as he is Hannah’s cousin.

This book started off really strong & I really enjoyed it, but it went a little downhill in the second half. I really hated Rylan and I was getting annoyed with Zoey at certain parts of the book, she was definitely selfish & a bad friend at points! Overall though, I was invested & wanted to know what happened next!

This book is not a romance, so I would not go into it expecting a romcom, this book is definitely better classified as women’s fiction.

Zoey Marks is skeptical about marriage. She wants to wake up every day and choose to be with someone; she doesn’t need a marriage telling her this. After meeting the perfect man and him getting down on one knee, they are both left heartbroken.

I really loved this unconventional love story. The “bad luck bridesmaid” aspect was super fun. All three times that Zoey has been a bridesmaid, the bride didn’t make it down the aisle. I really appreciated Zoey’s free spirit. She stood up for what she wanted and didn’t bend to fit someone else’s mold. Zoey grew exponentially from the beginning to the end, and she stayed true to herself in order to find her own happiness.

I loved the writing — it felt like the words were flying off the pages as I read. Bad Luck Bridesmaid is a quick, witty, unconventional love story full of heart.

Bad Luck Bridesmaid is a fairly dismal look at love and future and marriage. Full disclosure, i have been married for 13 years so maybe I am not the target audience for this book. Zoey has been in 3 weddings and none of them have actually made it down the aisle, and now she has found a great man, fallen in love and but refuses to get married no matter what. I just could not connect with her and her decisions, I was just frustrated and the ending just was infuriating. Again though, I dont think I am the target audience for this.

I received a digital ARC via Netgalley from the Publisher though all thoughts are my own.

This is the story of a young woman named Zoey who truly thinks she's bad luck as a bridesmaid because she's been a part of two weddings and so far, she hasn't seen any of them make it down the aisle.

When she meets her best friend Hannah's cousin Rylan, she finds an instant connection with him and is certain that this guy could very well be her kind of forever. At first, all seems well and things are going along smoothly. When Rylan initially talks about getting married, Zoey states that she's not ready for that kind of thing yet and asks that they talk about it later.

After Zoey's third attempt at being a bridesmaid results in another failure to get the bride down the aisle, she's convinced that there must be something wrong with her. When Rylan pops the question the day she gets back from a disastrous weekend, she is thrown for a loop and she soon finds herself questioning everything and whether there truly is something wrong with her not accepting his proposal and breaking his heart.


When she finds herself being a bridesmaid once again, this time to her best friend Hannah, Zoey is determined to get her down the aisle one way or another, turn her luck and just maybe win back Rylan in the process. The journey to get Hannah down the aisle is full of surprises, heartache, adventure, laughter and a chance for Zoey to see that may be she's really not a bad luck bridesmaid after all.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm so glad how things turned out in the end! Highly recommend!

Trigger warnings: cheating, temporary homelessness, break up, some fighting

I was hoping for something sweeter and a bit of a happier ending than I was given here. I wasn't a fan of the romance in this or really reading from Zoey's POV, which is unfortunate since it is from her perspective.

This book was both hilarious and heartbreaking. From one moment to the next, it made me want to hurl it across the room and then grab it back and fiercely hug it to my chest. It wasn't an easy journey to take, but I'm so, so glad that I did. I wish I had this book when I was in my 20s and 30s when I was certain that I knew nothing for certain. Will absolutely read anything this author puts out in the future.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun rom-com about a failed bridesmaid named Zoey. She was a bridesmaid for 3 of her friends who never made it down the aisle. She blames herself and believes that she is cursed. So much so that it effects her own love life where she refuses to walk down the aisle herself.

This story does have some funny moments, which you would expect. I just wish there were a little more on the romance side for Zoey.

If you are looking for a light-hearted romance then I would recommend you pick this one up.

I feel like I don't want to be a bridesmaid at all. From all of the movies, I have seen and the books I have read so far, being a bridesmaid does not look so fun. I already know the main character is going to be in a world of pain while she is a bridesmaid.
Zoey is tired of being a bridesmaid for the past years. Everyone is getting their happiest day except for her. It's not her lack of trying. She was just scared of commitment. And it does not help that she is going to see her ex, Ryan, again.
I feel like I was lied to. This is certainly not a romance book. It's more of a women's fiction book. And it's fine that it is. Just be honest about it. I would have not felt so disappointed about the lack of romance in this book.

Congrats to this debut author!
This is a complicated book. On one hand it is a romcom and on the other hand there are a lot of serious moments.
The main character, Zoey, had me alternating between liking her and being totally confused by some of her thoughts and ideas. She is a strong independent woman which I really liked. Zoey was very stubborn in believing she brought bad luck to brides and this idea clouded many of her other ideas. Rylan was a great character but he also was determined in his beliefs.
This was a compelling and well written book. I was definitely interested in seeing how everything turned out. I look forward to more from this author.

After finishing Bad Luck Bridesmaid by Alison Rose Greenberg, I'm torn about my thoughts and emotions. Zoey blames hers for being a trainwreck with forever love. She has been the bridesmaid for three of her friend, and 0/3 were successfully married, and Zoey blames herself. Rylan is the love of Zoey's life, but when he proposes, she cannot commit to marriage because she's "bad luck." Zoey is very dramatic throughout the book. There were moments I honestly had enough of Zoey, but then her friendship with Hannah kept me hooked. I loved their complete support and endearing bond and friendship throughout. Overall, I'm not sure it was the romance I was looking for, but Zoey and Hannah did give me some laughs.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Griffin, for my ALC/ARC for an honest review.