4 ⭐️ // If you’ve ever been heartbroken, this book will remind you of the emotion rollercoaster you took while processing your grief. Thankfully, around 35% into the book, the story isn’t as sad, even though it still has its moments. I mean, what a journey! I can’t imagine dating someone for TWELVE years and having them bolt the day before the wedding…

This book is not for readers looking for a lighthearted story. But while there were plenty of heartbreaking moments, there were lots of laughs and “happy tear” moments as well! I’m glad I went into this book “blind” (besides reading the description), and the author’s writing style was very enjoyable!

Read this book if …
💔You’ve had your heart broken
⌚️You’re always on time
🪴You consider yourself a plant person
🎰 You always pick “dare” when playing “truth or dare”
🇬🇧 You like books set in the U.K.

TW: broken engagement, grief, strained parental relationship

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A Goodreads review will be posted shortly, and an Instagram post with an inspired music playlist will be posted within a week.

I thought this was a cute book! It wasn’t as romcom-y as I was expecting, but it was a cute story about friendship and finding yourself.

Read/Listen If You Like:
🇬🇧 Books set in the UK
❤️ A Pragmatic MC
💔 A Story Starting with a Break-Up
❤️‍🩹 First Heartbreak Aftermath Story
🥇 Random Challenges

Book Review:
This book is a reason I love going in blind to books. I had no expectations for this, which made me love it even more.

The story starts with Freya’s fiancé calling off their wedding which was to be the first of a series of weddings of different people in their lives, ending with Freya’s best friend’s wedding. When her wedding is called off her and her friends make a plan for her to make it through The Wedding Season on the heals of her wedding being called off. The series of challenges for each wedding did just as they hoped, helped her make it through wedding season and take steps towards healing from the end of her 12 year relationship.

Along the way, Freya begins to learn more about herself, build stronger relationships with her friends, and repair relationships with her mother. This was a journey of coming out stronger more so than a romance book.

I really enjoyed getting to experience the ups and downs after a significant heartbreak along with Freya as she got to experience all the stages of grief and moving on.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC of this book! I am so thankful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release!

Freya Scott thinks she's living the dream...that is until her boyfriend of 12 years breaks up with her in a broom closet the day before their wedding. He tells her he needs space and shuts her out without really explaining himself. thoroughly. If that's not bad enough, she has 7 other weddings to attend this year! Her 2 best friends who happen to be engaged to one another and are the final wedding she'll attend this season come up with a "Wedding Season Challenge" where Freya has to complete the task of their choosing - like being the last one standing on the dance floor and running naked down the hotel hallway!

My favorite part of the book was the way all of her friends and family scooped her up and cheered her on through what could have been the worst wedding season of her life. I laughed out loud throughout the book and imagined the likes of every favorite British actor/actress playing the parts of each character in the book. I adored these characters and was sad to see the book end!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader's copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

As someone who just got married (and to a Matthew) and is always considered the "put together" one, I really felt like I related to Freya. Matthew, her long-term boyfriend, and now fiancé, decided the day before their wedding that he did not want to get married anymore...but to make it worse, Freya has 7 other weddings to attend that summer. She is devastated (rightfully so) and her friends come up with this idea for her to complete challenges at these weddings that are designed to distract her. Along the way, she meets new people, does crazy things. and really does distract herself from what should have been.
I loved the writing and will definitely add Katy Birchall to my must read list.

Pros: This British rom com (a PG-rated, enemies to lovers trope) is light and charming, and I think it would make such a fun movie. My favorite part of this book is the role that the friend characters played in the setup of the plot—after a woman is dumped the day before her wedding, her friends create a list of challenges for her to complete as distractions at the seven weddings she attends in the weeks after. Reading this book made me jealous of a British wedding season where it’s easy to pop over to France or Ireland for a wedding weekend and that weddings closer to home are held in castles.

I switched back and forth from the audiobook and kindle versions of this book and thought both formats were great.

Cons: None really. This book was just what I was expecting (in a good way) from the genre.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read and listen to this book.

I’ve shared this review on Goodreads and StoryGraph.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I went into this book expecting a romance and it was anything but…had I gone in knowing it was more women’s fiction, maybe my rating would be higher. I thought we’d get more romance, but sadly there wasn’t much.
This book started out very slow for me. It took me some time to get into it…after the break up between Freya and Matthew, the story stalled. I loved Freyas friendships and the to-do list for wedding season was fun. But I would have loved to see more of the events take place, rather than just have a recap of the events from Freya (like the stealing of the traffic cone).
Finally, I want more Jamie!!!! The banter and friendship between Freya and Jamie was adorable so I would have liked to see more attention to the two of them.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but the writing style and lack of romance didn’t work for me.

It was a really great idea, I just don’t think it’s the type of book for me. I was hopping for a really light hearted romcom and was surprised at how sad it was.

Freya is making last-minute preparations the day before her wedding, when her fiancé pulls her into a broom closet and calls off the wedding. The. Day. Before. Freya then must pick up the pieces from her failed almost-marriage and re-enter her life as a single woman. It might have been a little easier to handle if she wasn’t obligated to attend several weddings that year. Her best friends decide to issue a challenge for each wedding in order to help her get over her ex and move forward.

This is as much a story of healing as it is one of growth. Freya has so many emotions to tackle while simultaneously bearing witness to others’ wedding days. She has a such a strong support group in her friends and manages to connect with new friends along the way.

The Wedding Season has it all: laugh out loud antics, sweet scenes, heartbreaking moments. I honestly couldn’t put this down once I started. I enjoyed it so much and will be recommending The Wedding Season to friends.

Special thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for a free ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Cute story!

Description
Four Weddings and a Funeral meets The Wedding Party in Katy Birchall's The Wedding Season: when a recently jilted bride is forced to attend seven weddings in one summer, her friends devise a series of challenges as distraction.

Freya Scott is getting married. Her wedding to Matthew, her long-term boyfriend, is the first of eight in her calendar this year, and as someone who prides herself on being meticulously organized, Freya is intent on making it the perfect day to remember.

But when Matthew calls things off hours before they walk down the aisle, Freya’s entire life plan goes up in smoke. Humiliated and heartbroken, the last thing she wants is to attend a summer of other peoples’ nuptials on her own.

Fortunately, her friends have an idea: together they devise a series of outrageous challenges for Freya to complete at each event, designed to distract her from Matthew and what might have been. From getting stuck in an old church bathroom and needing to be rescued by the vicar to making out with a barman at a French chateau, Freya realizes that despite herself, she might just be having fun.

By the time the final wedding arrives, she will discover that the road to a happy ending sometimes has unexpected detours, that “I do” is only the beginning––and that perhaps her own love story isn’t over just yet.

I ended up DNFing this book around 40%. The main character felt like she was one note for me and wasn't evolving, and the plot was moving very slow. I ended up feeling like I wasn't very concerned about the ending, I felt like I loved and cared about her best friends more than her story. There first few chapters were really good, but then the story just staled, and we were just dwelling for more than 1/4 of the book. It felt like it needed a new character introduction sooner, or something to update with the MC considering the way the book is described.

If you like a slow burn, with antics to try to revive your broken heart then do give this book a chance. I am absolutely sure that there are others that will feel differently than I do. It is NOT A BAD BOOK! It just isn't for me.

This book was absolutely charming and such a fun read!! I loved that most of the book is about Freya coming to terms with the breakup and becoming a stronger person and less about finding a new relationship. That felt a little more real and honest than had they broken up and 2 chapters later she had a new man.

I also adored her friendship with Ruby & Leo (and all the other gals). It was nice to see a book depict a function friendship without drama and fallouts.

Solid 4 stars!

*ARC Review*
The Wedding Season, by Katy Birchall
Pub Date: May 3, 2022

I really liked the premise of this one. Freya, who usually has everything planned and under control, gets dumped by her fiance the day before their wedding. Freya's wedding was supposed to kick off "the wedding season"- eight weddings in six months, which she now has to get through as a single lady instead of a newlywed. Her best friends Ruby and Leo come up with a list of challenges to complete at each event, as a way to distract herself with crazy dares and try to have a little fun along the way.

I think the book did a really good job of showing how Freya dealt with all the complex and conflicting emotions that come in waves after a major breakup. For anyone who's been through it, it sucks bigtime. But the book is filled with messages of hope and being able to find a way to move forward.
I love how Ruby and Leo have her back the whole time, and the rest of her friends support her even through their own "hen dos" and weddings. There was a romance arc in the story, but I honestly think Freya and her new love interest just seemed a little awkward and abrupt, without a whole lot of chemistry. I would've liked to see more of their relationship develop at the end, or in an epilogue.

Overall I think this was a fun, light read with a different plotline than typical romances/romcoms.

Read this if you like:
💍 Weddings!
💍 Awesome friendships and friends who aren't afraid to make a scene to show their support (definitely some LOL moments in there!)
💍 Light reads where the romance arc isn't the main plotline

This was a sweet story about a woman named Freya who was dumped by her fiancé, Matthew, the day before her wedding, after being together for 12 years. OUCH!

Just recently I had listened to The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall, and I liked that one. I think I gave it four stars?

But I absolutely LOVED The Wedding Season. I loved going through Freya’s heartbreak with her and reading about how she grew as a person with the help of her best friends, Ruby and Leo, and her family. She had such an amazing support group to get her through “wedding season.” I think that’s what I liked most about this book the besides the budding romance. I laughed, cried, and smiled. I can’t wait to recommend this book in my book club!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press & Net Galley for the ARC!

This just was not for me. I wasn’t expecting such a heavy emotional read based off of the cover and blurb.

I did push through, however, and I will say that the author is very talented and I enjoyed the writing style a lot.

I found this utterly charming. A wonderful summer read for anyone needing a smile and a bit of hope in the romance department. Fully relatable and engaging characters. I really felt everything Feyre was going through. Wonderfully written and left me happy and content in the end.

Freya is unceremoniously dumped by the man she has been with for twelve years a mere day before their wedding. She barely knows how she is going to make it through the week, let alone the seven other weddings she has to attend that year. That is until she is given a series of challenges by her two best friends that she at each wedding to help distract her as she mends her broken heart. Torn between holding on or moving on, Freya is forced to confront her true feelings and decide which path is the one for her.

This was a charming and heartfelt story about a woman coming into her own again. It’s about friendship, family, and romance.

Katy Birchall writes characters you can’t help but root for. You want to hug Freya, you want to shake her, and you can’t help but cheer her on. There is a whole cast of delightful characters that help make the journey even more enjoyable.

I did have a couple issues that bothered me throughout the book. It felt very much like reading someone’s diary. I think the author intended to make it feel like Freya was speaking directly to the reader like a friend, but it made me feel really removed from the story. Like being filled in about something after it happened by someone else. And there was a distinct lack of descriptions of both people and their settings.

The Wedding Season was just the read I was hoping for.

I just finished The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall and was enchanted throughout. Talk about a feel-good rom-com with likable characters and a quick and seamless storyline! Freya and friends were the type of people that any reader would enjoy being friends with. The setting being equal parts London, the English countryside, and exotic destination wedding locations ensures that the reader will delight in the gorgeous scenery and locales without ever even leaving their couch. Although this wedding season begins with heartbreak, time and a string of loyal friends, coworkers and family members, help our main character mend her broken heart and heal old childhood wounds, all the while, leading her to self-discovery and maybe even new love. Thank you NetGalley for this wonderfully refreshing advanced eCopy.

When Freya's fiance breaks up with her the day before her wedding, she doesn't know what to do as her plans for the rest of her life collapse. Worse, she is facing a summer full of weddings. So her friends come up with a series of challenges for her to complete at each wedding to keep her mind off the breakup. This was such a sweet read, but it was not what I was expecting. This book focuses mainly on Freya learning to get through the breakup and regain her confidence. And it is a fantastic plotline and very enjoyable to read. But I tend to like lighter romances with more of a romance plotline. There is a romance plotline (outside of the breakup), but it is very much on the backburner for most of the story. So while I enjoyed reading this book, I am not sure it was the book for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katy Birchall for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Wedding Season is a super cute read involving Freya who was left at the altar so to speak, just a day before. by Matthew who she has been with for 12 years.

In this hilarious rom-com, Freya's friends give her a "to-do" list to complete by the end of the spree of weddings she is due to attend. Will so find love again?

I found this book to be light-hearted and fun!