I requested to read “Wedding Season” as I loved its premise, and I wanted a non-Valentine book to read over Valentine weekend. The timing of reading the book was perfect as I am just about to head to Great Britain, where the novel takes place.

Freya was dumped by her fiancé, Matthew, the day before her wedding (in a broom closet, of all places). Unfortunately, she is dumped at the start of the wedding season, which culminates with the wedding of her dear friend, Ruby, to Leon. Fortunately, Ruby and Leon provide plenty of support to Freya. Her friends design a series of challenges to get Freya through all of those weddings.

Katy Birchall tackles this subject with plenty of humor. Many women would face this situation with plenty of self-indulgence so you have to admire Freya. Her heart is broken, yet she powers through what could be a horrific spring and summer with plenty of aplomb (okay, maybe not). Overall, I thought the author did an excellent job of bringing a fresh perspective to the jilted bride storyline.

Thank you Katy Birchall, Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to give this an early read.

I was really impressed with Katy Birchall's The Secret Bridesmaid; especially how my perspective of one of the characters changed over the course of The Secret Bridesmaid.

In the Wedding Season the main character is dumped the day before her wedding. That year is packed with a boatload of weddings and hen-do's; how will she get through it when her breakup is so fresh and raw?

I really liked Leo and Ruby's plan of "How to Survive the Wedding Season". This was really brilliant ... and fun.

There is one thought that I couldn't get out of my mind while reading The Wedding Season. Regardless of whether or not someone you were with for 12 years decides to "not marry" you the day before the wedding (or even 12 minutes before the wedding); some things are still be considered assault. Wanker or not.

Thank you to NetGalley, Katy Birchall the author and publisher St. Martin's Press / St. Martin's Griffin New York for the opportunity to review The Wedding Season in exchange for an honest review. Publication date 03 May 2022.

Honestly, I didn't like The Wedding Season quite as much as I liked The Secret Bridesmaid. But if another book by Katy Birchall becomes available, I'll look forward to reading it.

Freya is dumped by her fiance days before the wedding.
This is the story of how she survives it and thrives thanks to good friends. Entertaining and amusing.

I love this book and I wish there was a 4.5 stars option! Truthfully, I felt like we could of been looped in to some of the elements a little earlier than the middle of the story but it builds very nicely upon each other. The characters are perfect and I wish I had friends that would be there for me just the way Freya's are! A great quick read and one I would read again, 100%! Only thing I wish is at the end of the book we could follow Freya to her next chapter! :) Birchall gets a A+ on my end!

It took me a little while to get fully invested in this novel. I enjoyed Freya, but at first I felt as though I could not relate to her. Somewhere around 30% in felt my emotions shift. I began to enjoy Freya's adventures in The Wedding Season and wanted to see what would happen next.

Also, we all need friends like Freya's! She is one lucky lady! 😍

I loved this book so much. I love the way Katy Birchall writes! I’ve read her other book The Secret Bridesmaid and this one was just as good! Freya is about to get married, have her perfect wedding to her perfect fiancée and then have a summer full of her friends weddings. Until her fiancée breaks off the wedding the day before in a cupboard. So now she has to spend the summer heartbroken, humiliated, and alone at all her friend’s weddings. The way her friends and her family rally around her to make sure she is okay and taken care of is so sweet. She has such a strong support system, it is so heart warming. Freya is also hilarious. Listening to her inner monologue made me literally laugh out loud so many times. Her group of friends are also just as funny! Freya’s best friends make her a list of tasks to do at each wedding, to step out of her comfort zone, live a little and most of all keep her mind off of Mathew. In doing all of those things she is able to learn new things about herself, carry those things into her new life and be happy. I loved every second of this book. I hope Katy Birchall keeps writing because I will happily read everything single thing she writes.

I received an ARC if this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and I cannot wait for this book to be out in the world!

This book was an absolute delight! It's a liiiittle slow to start, but picked up and held my attention about 5 chapters or so in.

The emotional journey and growth Freya experiences was heartwarming, the budding romance was charming, the tone of the writing was witty and quirky, and I enjoyed it all. This book is categorized as romance but, considering the fact that the primary focus is Freya's healing after the end of a 12 year long relationship, I'd say it leans towards fiction a tad bit more. Unless you look at it as a Freya learning to and falling in love with her newly found single status, then I guess you could still call it a romance (haha).

Now I've said it before and I'm going to keep saying it: I love when books establish good, supportive friendships between the main-character and their friends. So much. I need these kinds of relationships in my life. Add in the British writing and charm? I'm a goner.

Overall, this was a very solid book I'd recommend to friends who are interested in romcoms with a good amount of heart that focus on character growth.

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 e eddings in one summer, her friends devise a series of challenges as distraction. Freya Scott is getting married.

This story was really fun. It certainly exceeded all my expectations of the book. I loved following Feya's trajectory, and this slow burn - I have no words to describe this couple, I let out so many excited screams. I really loved the book, one of my favorite novels as of now. Excited to read more by Katy Birchall


arc kindly provided by netgalley via hodder & stoughton

Katy does it again!! Honestly, this is the book I didn't know I needed right now. I am just getting out of a long term relationship myself, and I am learning to do all the things over again just like Freya. Additionally, I ALSO have 6 weddings coming up this year that I will be going to solo, so Freya's journey really helped me. I thrive in situations knowing I am not alone, and hearing my thoughts echoed on Kay's pages, truly made me know I am not the only one who is / has gone through these things and felt this way.
Right off the bat, I love that this story was more of a journey of self healing and self-discovery than a romance. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the romance part, but the journey Freya goes on is so much more realistic than her jumping into a relationship again so soon after a 12 year one. I loved her wedding season tasks, and I thought it was such a perfect way to help Freya focus on something other than her lack of husband at all these weddings. It made it fun and surprising for the reader, and was great to see Freya go out of her comfort zone.
I gave this book a 4.5 and the only thing that kept it from being a 5 for me was the dialogue between the characters sometimes. Occasionally, the conversations left forced and not natural for people who have been friends for as long as they have. Otherwise, this book was incredible and I can't wait to see what Katy comes up with next!

Thank you to the publisher, natgalley, and of course, Katy herself for gifting me this copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is IT, this is maybe THE wedding-based romcom. Freya is about to get married, until her fiance dips before the day of their wedding. Of course, it isn't that simple, Freya has several other weddings to attend over the summer so she can't just sit around and mourn the loss of her relationship (and wedding!). That isn't to say that the end of her relationship is glossed over - Freya mourns throughout, which adds a necessary element of realness to this. She's sad and she's allowed to be, even with her friends supporting her throughout. It's hard not to root for her as she heals and overcomes this betrayal of trust - which makes the slow-burn romance even more satisfying to get to. This was SO so good.

Freya is dumped by her fiancee the day before her wedding. Her wedding also happens to be the "kickoff" to the wedding season. She has seven more weddings to attend over the summer. She knows that she will be the one everyone is talking about and she also needs to find a way to move on from her broken heart. Her friends suggest a series of challenges to be completed at the weddings. For example, at one wedding, she must be the last one dancing. As the summer goes on, Freya learns that she might be better off with the failed nuptials and has a new shot at love, She also learns a lot about herself along the way.

I really enjoyed this book. Not only did it have the second chance at love, but Freya also had her second chance. She learned that she was fabulous as she was and not to apologize for herself. I loved the wedding challenges and how everything came together in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy!

The Wedding Season was fantastic! I really adored this book! It as pretty unique to start off a rom-com in such a heart-breaking way, but it really got me hooked and rooting for Freya! The book was funny, clever, heart-breaking, heart-warming, and so well written! And everyone should be so lucky to have the kind of friends Freya has! The romance was a little on the lighter side, but I actually didn't mind that and found the ending to be really satisfying. Jamie was a wonderful love interest and his scenes with Freya were really charming. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of, if not my absolute favorite, rom-coms I have ever read. Author Katie Birchall writes with wit and humor that surprised me in the best way with how funny the book ended up being.

Freya is the girl who has it all: great friends, supportive family (for the most part), and an amazing fiancé. That is, until the aforementioned amazing fiancé bails the day before the wedding, with no explained reason other than Freya is too “together.” With the upcoming wedding season approaching, and Freya a broken-hearted mess, her friends assign her tasks to help her get through the seven weddings of the season.

I particularly liked the “surprise” romance. It is a slow burn, and to my surprise, contained very little sexual content, which I actually enjoyed.

Freya is a character you love to love and love to root for, and I think that this is a quintessential romcom for any readers of the genre. A bit cheesy – but at the end of the day, it makes the story all that much sweeter.

Four stars! Thank you to NetGalley and Katie Birchall for this ARC. :)

The Wedding Season was a great read for me. There are so many things that I liked about it and did not want the story to end. First, I was impressed with how well the breakup and mourning of the main character, Freya’s, twelve year relationship was written. It is not something that can be gotten over quickly and the author did that situation justice. Also, I doubt there has ever been two better best friends than Ruby and Leo. Supportive without being smothering I s a tough to get right, but everyone needs a Ruby and Leo in their life. The story is about Fraya’s journey of healing and the tasks for each wedding felt fun and reasonable as a challenge. This story is a slow burn because we are spending most of our time seeing Freda heal. At the same time a relationship built in truth and trust is slowly developing with hope for the future. The one character that I was not initially sure about was Freda’s mom. I read every interaction with her as if she was Shelly Long playing the mother in Modern Family. A little flighty and self absorbed.

While this is a rom com with plenty of funny moments it has a lot of depth as well. I can see my self rereading this one.

Thank you St. Martin Griffin and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

It’s an absolute 4 stars read for me. The main character was so fun, relatable and entertaining to read about, almost like I was living vicariously through them. I enjoyed it so much!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the digital ARC!

I liked this book.

A quick gist: The day before Freya's wedding to her partner of 12 years he decides to break up with her in a broom closet (A jerk move if I do say so myself). Unfortunately, this is also the season that many of her other friends are getting married, so to seem okay she and her best friends make a list of things (out of her comfort zone) for her to do at each wedding to take her mind off of Matthew.

I think Matthew was a huge jerk to her this entire book. The way he treated her and the way that he handled everything made me so angry and upset on Freya’s behalf but because of it we got to see a lot of good character development from her. I really liked how she focused on herself and called out Matthew for his rudeness to her. I enjoy books where the main characters focus on themselves and their own personal growth before anything else because I’m a strong believer in self care and self love. I also enjoyed the moments between her and Jamie and I really liked the dynamic she had with her friend group. I also liked the inclusion of lgbtq+ relationships. At times this story felt a bit rushed and I didn’t love some of the things that happened within the story but I did like this book overall. It was a very quick read (Overall It took maybe 4 hours with breaks to read this), however I probably won’t read it again just because it’s not really something I’m interested in rereading.

I was excited about the premise of The Wedding Season but was left under amused. The characters were relatable but it was quite drawn out and ended up being too slow for me.

I’m a sucker for a pretty cover. I’m an even bigger sucker for sticky sweet romance books. I’m a biggest sucker for heroines whose lives fall apart and they work towards finding themselves in addition to love. Lucky for me, The Wedding Season has all three components.

At the start of the novel, Londoner Freya is dumped by her fiancé the day before their wedding at her childhood home. Embarrassed and in disbelief, she’s unsure how she’s going to face the next seven weddings she is expected to attend over the following three-four months. Her best friends, Ruby and Leo, give her an out-of-character task for each event to help her not think about the ex-fiancé, what should have been their wedding, and their romance in general. As Freya completes each task, she meets people and does stuff that help who help her remember who she is without the the relationship she’d been in for over a decade.

At the start, I felt disconnected from Freya beyond the usual establishing-a-character distance. She was analytical, stuck in her expectations, and displayed a lack of humanity when Matthew dumps her. Slowly, as she experienced the five stages of grief for her relationship, I got to know Freya more and found the initial reading of her to be her armor against hurt. She’s so different from me as a person and yet I found her every thought and action to be more and more relatable as the wedding season continued- be the disbelief the relationship is over, drunken ramblings to strangers, or growing confidence.

While this story is solely Freya’s time to shine, Katy Birchall writes a supporting cast of characters who manage to enhance Freya rather than take the limelight away from her. Ruby and Leo are friends I wish I had; Isabelle and Niamh are the childhood friends turn adults everybody wishes they had; her father and brother are the support system any body would be lucky to have. Even Matthew and her mother, two characters she has continuing tension with, are written to where even if you don’t like them as people, you enjoy how they prompt Freya to action. Above all, the hero to Freya is the my favorite from the story, as Jamie is far from the perfect leading man but shows why he does not need to be. He’s messy and opposite to Freya on the surface, but the underlying connections and similarities they find had me grinning ear to ear.

The tasks Freya are challenged to complete are themselves tame and cliche, yet reading how she plays into or against expectations for each one makes The Wedding Season. Put them against the beautiful setting of a wedding and you have a comedy that balances the pain Freya feels else where.

The Wedding Season has all the makings of a contemporary romance hit. Several events, each alike in purpose but different in execution. A supporting cast of characters who feel like somebody you can call up at any time. A fleshed out world that feels like reality. But, most importantly, it is lead by a flawed heroine and hero who you want to root for wholeheartedly.

I loved this book! It was an easy read and many times I laughed out loud. The main character was a lovable person and I loved her journey through this book. The family and friend dynamic of the book was also something I enjoyed. A cute read!

Ahh i finished it one single sitting it was that good and really cute. I laughed, cried and had so much fun reading it. But, I find the beginning quite slow for me. However, the characters were so relatable and entertaining, that I almost didn’t know that I’m about to done with it. So, it’s a 4 stars read for me.