Despite me thinking this was a rom-com I was very pleasantly surprised at the depth of topics covered here.

I loved that our gal Zoey is a bad-ass boss bitch, who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go for it! I loved the Jewish representation and her friendship with her bestie.

Despite being a self-made marketing genius and amazing best friend, Zoey Marks is an absolute disaster in the bridesmaid department. So far, she’s 0 for 3 in getting a bride down the aisle. It’s a curse that’s made her terrified of what her own romantic future holds. She turns down a proposal from her seemingly perfect boyfriend, only to be reunited with her ex at his cousin/her best friend’s wedding a few months later. If Zoey can successfully get her BFF down the aisle, could she change her own destiny?

On paper, Rylan is the perfect boyfriend, but ultimately, I just don’t feel like there was much of a future for them. Maybe I’m jaded from my own past failed relationships–I always had similar feelings about not wanting to settle down or get married, and I forced myself to settle into long-term commitments when my heart just wasn’t fully on board. (And going back for more after a breakup because I was afraid of being alone!) When I met my husband, it was the kind of insta-love that makes me cringe to read about in stories–IYKYK, right?! I’d vowed to be single and childless forever. (More than a dozen years and three kids later, I’m singing a different tune.) Having that perspective helps me spot red flags in storylines all too well now. It was abundantly clear that Zoey just wouldn’t get a HEA if she ended up with Rylan, so I don’t think I could fully root for them to be together. I really enjoyed Zoey's personal journey, and being able to grow in some areas, and resolve to remain authentic to herself in others.

While there are some heavy themes and plot points along this journey, there are also so many parts that made me laugh out loud! It almost gave me Sophie Kinsella-ish vibes in some areas. She’s an all time favorite author, so that’s a huge compliment to Greenberg’s writing style! Thanks so much to SMP Romance and NetGalley for a free digital review copy.

If you’re looking for something fun and spicy, Bad Luck Bridesmaid is for you!

Zoey Marks is cursed. She’s 0-3 when it comes to being a successful bridesmaid who successfully gets her bride down the aisle. She starts to think she’s cursed in love period. This brings her heartbreak and her own failed would be happily after. Which is bad, awful truthfully.

Then comes wedding number four. Her best friend’s wedding. This will take her to the beautiful castle and face to face with the one whom’s heart she broke. She will to whatever it takes to get bride number four down that aisle, even if it means warfare with a cute best man.

Along the way, is a journey to self discovery and personal growth for herself and those around her.

This is a cute and spicy rom-com, and a great read. I really enjoyed it and look forward to more of the author’s work in the future!

I would love to give my thanks to the publisher, Alison Rose Greenburg, and of course Netgalley for the chance to read and review this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was much more than I expected! This was more than just a rom com, it was a journey of personal growth that was fantastic to witness. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Zoey grow as a person and learning the power of self-acceptance. Similar to Katy Birchall's writing, this book was more than just a love story. The love story was important, but there was so much more about the main character's journey other than falling in love. I'm a sucker for chick lit where the romance isn't the only storyline, and Bad Luck Bridesmaid surely delivered! I'll update with my full review & link when I post on IG, but I encourage all of my friends to read this one!

I had read a few reviews prior to requesting this one so I knew it was more chick lit than romcom. If I would have thought it was a romcom going in, I would have been bummed. I liked Zoey sometimes but did give her a fair amount of eye rolls. I think it was more her journey of finding herself. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

Bad Luck Bridesmaid is a smart, funny, slightly steamy, and very entertaining read! Zoey Marks is a woman who is determined to be independent in business, life and even love, which means she sometimes acts against her own best interests. She is a serial monogamist, ending things with potential partners, before anything gets too serious--but then she meets Rylan and her rules get pushed aside as she wonders if he could be the "one"? She also is a bad luck charm as a bridesmaid in the the weddings of three of her friends, none of whom make it down the aisle. Her best friend Hannah's (and Rylan's cousin) wedding is next--will the curse continue? I absolutely loved Zoey and getting to know all of her friends, special places in New York, her outlook on life. The book is very descriptive with placing music and food and fashion within the scenes, so it is easy to become immersed in the story. What I felt was lacking in the story, however, was a real sense of who she was with her family, WHY she was having so much angst about commitment, and WHAT did she really envision as an ideal relationship? Also, so much of the book is built on Rylan being the most absolute perfect boyfriend, it is hard to resolve what happens with their relationship. It would have been better for more depth as to reasons why or character flaws or unfortunate circumstances than pure indecision and hunches. Also I loved the ending of the book, but I just wish that some of those dots had been connected to help the reader understand HOW she got there so abruptly and so soon (what will a new relationship for her look like? Again, what is it that she is looking for?). I heard that this book is being made into a movie and that is AWESOME as that is one that I will absolutely watch, but I really hope the issues I mentioned are resolved in the movie because if they had been addressed in this book, this would have easily been a 5 star for me.

This one ended up not being for me. I was really intrigued by the idea of a bad luck bridesmaid who curses the brides whose weddings she's in and while I found the aspect of the story interesting, the rest of it didn't do a lot for me. The characters were a little blah for me. I liked Zoey but only at certain parts of the book. The rest I could have done without I also felt like the story was advertised as a rom-com but it did not deliver in that aspect. It was far more a journey of self discovery and I just wasn't really in the mood for that.

2.5 stars

I really wanted to love this book and thought for sure, based on the synopsis and other reviews by bookish friends, that I would yet it fell very, very flat for me. I almost DNF'd to be honest because there was nothing about Zooey, the MC, that I liked at all. She's got to be one of the most selfish protagonists I've read about. Seriously, I get that she's anti-marriage and all that, blah, blah, but it was so far-fetched for her to think just because she hated the idea of marriage that she was bad luck as a bridesmaid, especially to her friend who realized last minute that she didn't want to marry a man--kinda gross of the author to make calling off a wedding because the bride realizes she's a lesbian into something the bridesmaid tries to claim as *her own* fault. I was pretty done with the book at that point because who does that? It really didn't get any better from there, in my opinion.

Yet, I'm clearly in the minority here so be sure to check out all the other reviews of readers who loved BLB more than I did.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

-Review posted to Goodreads on 1/25/22

Zoey Marks has never thought of herself as the type for a forever love, and when her third time being a bridesmaid for a friend results in a third time that the wedding doesn’t happened, Zoey worries that she is rubbing off on the brides, dubbing herself Bad Luck Bridesmaid. When her otherwise perfect boyfriend of 2 years proposes the day after the third failed wedding, Zoey turns him down, and both she and Rylan are heartbroken. When Zoey’s best friend Hannah announces that she is getting engaged and wants Zoey to be her bridesmaid at a destination wedding in Ireland (where Rylan will be in attendance, no less), Zoey decides that if she can do everything in her power to get Hannah down the aisle, Zoey herself will then embrace marriage and be able to get Rylan back.

As several other reviewers have noted, you need to go into this book knowing that it’s not a standard romcom with a HEA. Unfortunately, I have trouble getting into books when I don’t like the main character, and I was just not a fan of Zoey or Rylan either one. It did have its funny moments and its sweet moments, but overall, the book was just OK for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

So first off this is not a romance or anything under romance. This is chick-lit or women's fiction. So going in with that you might get a different view but its a bit of all over. Its more of growing of women int the story- friends- trying to decided if she should get married and all that. I keep hoping it would get better but the last bit was all over the place.

I think they tried to do a bit of an HEA at the end but umm, no.
The narrator did a good job

This is a 2.5 but maybe if the publisher did it in the right category it would be different

This is not a rom-com! So that's the first thing you should know. The illustrated cover makes it look like one, but it is actually chick-lit. There is good banter and some steamy scenes, but this book is more about Zoey's growth and journey as a 31-year-old who doesn't know if marriage is for her, and we get to really see how she grows and is true-to-herself in this book.
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I felt like this could have gone several different ways, and I was able to guess correctly how this one ends. It's not your typical HEA, so just go into this book knowing that. I did get emotional at parts and I did 😭.
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Thank you @smpromance for the ARC, and to @netgalley for the eARC and audiobook ARC! I ended up listening to this on audiobook, and thought that the narrator (Sarah Naughton) did a great job!

2.5 rounded up to 3 stars

Bad Luck Bridesmaid is a humorous and unconventional debut romcom with a witty and very unconventional heroine.

What appealed to you the most in this story?

I really enjoyed the parts dealing with friendships and mother-daughter relationships.

How did you feel about Zoey’s character?

Okay…I really really wanted to like her, but she was just so darn unlikeable throughout the story, and I couldn’t connect or relate with her at all. Personally, I did not like the way she would hurt people while determined to live life her own way. She really was downright cruel to an absolutely wonderful guy. I also could not get on board with her being so successful with her career while making multiple bad decisions in her own personal life.

If you have issues with the f-word, please note that it is used frequently in this story.

How was the romance?

The leading man was just so amazing and wonderful, but Zoey was just horrible.

How was the pace?

This was a steady paced story. I did get a bit bored with Zoey spending the majority of the story trying to figure out how she ultimately feels about marriage after declaring that she will stay single for her lifetime.

Do you recommend this book?

I know there are readers out there who will truly enjoy this book. However, I just could not connect with the plot or mean and selfish main character.

Thank you to St. Martins and NetGalley for a gifted e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Zoey definitely marched to the beat of a different drummer. And she was TERRIFIED of marriage. That was on her no-no list. It definitely led her into some interesting situations especially when she meets up with Rylan. Someone even she says that she never saw coming !
One person that she has been a lifelong friend with is Hannah. That is someone who really gets her even though they are also different in some of their personalities.
There is plenty of emotions to the story and the people had depth to go along with their challenges. However, this story just didn't grab me even though I have to say it did have some humor in the story. Which I do like having in a story. In fact at least once I actually did laugh out loud.
I'm sorry author but the ending didn't really do it for me either.

I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley. And these are my honest opinions about it.

Thanks so much to the author, Netgalley, and St. Martin's Griffin for the gifted advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. { partner } All opinions are entirely my own. All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

TW: infertility

I would like to start off by saying that I did not dislike this book. I tend to rate books 4 and 5 stars more often than not (I know it makes me not a great book blogger and kind of predictable and I'm working on it, but it's not my fault that I know what I like and that that's what I read) so this being a 3 star read for me may come across as having disliked it, which is not the case. What I think the issue was here for me was in how this book was advertised.

Let me explain. Look at the cover, and read the description, and if you're like me you're expecting a second chance romance of epic rom-com proportions. I was expecting something along the lines of Made of Honor, with a last minute effort to win back the person you love leading to zany mishaps as she trips down the aisle, and eventually a declaration of love and running off into the sunset.

What I got instead with this book was a young woman's story of self discovery, and self acceptance, and self love. Which I love! She's a career focused woman who has never thought that marriage was for her, and she's going on this quest of sorts to see if she can turn that idea around or if she's been right all along, and she's doing it all with a few really kick ass female friends by her side.

I think that if I knew a little bit better what to expect from this book when I went in, I would have really loved it and had a 4 or 5 star rating. The characters were really strong and interesting to read, and I love the journey that she went on throughout this book. But I personally would have read this book at a different time, if I knew then what I know now. I'm such a mood reader that I tend to pick up different types of books when I know that I'm in need of something along those lines - I'll pick up a fun contemporary romance when I'm stressed or emotional and need something on the lighter side to pull me through a tough week, and I'll pick up a more serious chick-lit like this when I'm in a bit clearer of a headspace and can really soak up everything that it is telling me and teaching me. Simply put, I picked this book up at the wrong time for me.

All of that to say, I will probably revisit this one down the road now that I know better what to expect, and it could become my favorite read for that time. Just not for this one.

Overall I would recommend this book to folks who enjoy both contemporary romance and chick-lit, because it does have some aspects of both. Rylan, the male lead, is HOT, and there are some incredibly steamy scenes in this one. Just be prepared for both genres, and a total rollercoaster of emotions, and I think you'll be just fine! I think the perfect way to read this book would be with your feet up and a beautiful view, glass of wine optional.

This had the perfect blend of comedy and seriousness to it. But to me it was about Zoey's self realization. I thought that she showed growth throughout the whole story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for access to the ARC for this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Judging from others who have reviewed this novel, I think I may be in the minority in my feelings. But, in my opinion, it's important to show all sides.

There was a lot to like about this book - a main character who bucks societal norms, works to get where she wants to be in the world without sacrificing herself for it, and maintains close friendships with others.

But, maybe it's because romance isn't my typical "go to" genre, but I had a hard time liking Zoey. On paper, she seems great, but her approach to people and the way she talked to people really got to me after a while. I was mired down in the first 40% of the book because it felt like I was watching someone self destruct and take down everyone around her at the same time and not exactly feel bad about it. Around the halfway mark things picked up for me, which given the plot at that point in the book was a little surprising. It was nice to show a situation where someone's happy ever after doesn't come true in the way they expect or want it to and they thrive anyway.

All in all, a solid read but not for me.

This was a DNF for me, unfortunately.

The story was kind of a train wreck and all over the place, and the characters were really unlikable.

This fun book is a quick and enjoyable read. A perfect book for the winter blahs Those who love weddings will want to read this book.

Zoey Marks: “Complicated women. We sure are fucking magical.”

Zoey Marks is a mess. She has been a bridesmaid multiple times and turned down a proposal. When her best friends gets engaged and asks Zoey to be a bridesmaid, she accepts and decides that she's done with her constant bad luck. Zoey plans on going to the wedding in Ireland then getting her ex back. Because it is absolutely what she wants and needs...right?

While Zoey seemed disastrous at times, many times, you couldn't help but feel her internal pain and struggles. Her development throughout the story wasn't pretty or how one would think it should be-she was messy and real- which is refreshing. Bad Luck Bridesmaid is humorous, witty and at times spicy, but it is not your typical romance. I feel readers would classify it more towards women's fiction.

I truly enjoyed this debut novel and will be listening to Taylor Swift for the rest of the morning.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

This book was okay. I thought I would love it but I found myself wondering. I struggled to read this book because I couldn’t focus on the story. I think I might try to read this book again. We will see.