The Wedding Season is a heartfelt read and full of dry humor and wit. It did begin quite slow and was difficult to get through the first quarter of the book as Freya struggled with the fall out of a broken engagement and was enveloped in feelings of self-pity and sorrow. But, bolstered by her loyal and hilarious friends, and eventually a meet-not-so-cute with a new love interest (not that this is necessary), she discovers that the only thing that matters is how she sees herself. This may be better categorized as women’s fiction rather than romance, though I did love the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers relationship unfold, and the ending left me smiling all day.

The Wedding Season has an interesting plot structure - our main character is dumped, by her fiance, in a broom closet at the venue for their wedding the next day. It also happens to be during the same period of time most everyone in her friend group is getting married, so she will be attending 7 weddings in the coming months. However interesting the setup is, the pacing just seemed off to me and events occur too late. Her friends never list off all the red flags of her past relationship, the romantic lead isn't introduced until around the 100 page mark, her realization moment comes from her absentee mother, the sit down with her ex is anti-climactic and I wasn't sure that at the point it occurs in the story it was strictly necessary. I have othe quibbles, but I won't belabour the point.
The highlight for me was Freya suggesting a curse where the cursed person would keep falling in wells, and it just struck me as hilarious - I imagine that scene of Sideshow Bob and the rakes, but sub in a surrounding of unexpected wells.
Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with an arc for review, and I highly recommend Birchall's The Secret Bridesmaid.

“The Wedding Season” by Katy Birchall is a romantic comedy.

We meet Freya who is figuring out which way is up for her wedding the next day when her fiancé Matthew calls things off … in a broom closet. Unlike a thriller, where Freya would be planning revenge (though Freya does have a few fleeting thoughts of this), Freya turns to her friends (bless them!) and over some drinks, they come up with a plan (consider it a to-do challenge list) for Freya to survive her own wedding season (a number of weddings are planned that summer).

I needed a light fluffy book after some of the more heavy ones I’d been reading and this fit the bill perfectly. This book is more about healing - healing after a break-up, healing family, healing to get yourself whole again. It’s also about showing how strong a person can be emotionally and how, even though it hurts, moving forward, self-analyzing, and dealing is important. That Freya had great friends really helped - they love and take care of her and always have her back. So, it wasn’t as light and fluffy as I expected, but it was better. Some might say that there wasn’t a lot of romance, but I found the amount to be perfect for this book.

The Wedding Season was so witty and fun that I found it difficult to put down. The characters are so charming and honestly having it set mainly in London just made me so happy. I found myself rooting for Freya and wanting to cheer on each win she had. Really enjoyed this!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Reading about all these weddings made me nostalgic to a time where I could attend weddings. Weddings are beautiful and wonderful and I miss them so much. I loved this book. I loved Freya and her inner monologues, how she’s worried about falling apart in front of people out, she’s trying to hold it together, how she is very loyal to her friends, her sense of humour, and how much she grows in the book. I loved Jamie and Iand how he was a bit all over the place and how he helped Freya through the season. I loved Freya, Ruby and Leo’s friendship and how close they are with with each other and how they support each other. I think the challenge that they gave to Freya to get her through the wedding season was fantastic, hilarious a and a great story. And just like in a previous book by this author, I loved that all the romance is happening slowly and a bit behind the scenes of Freya growing and healing. It is still there and beautiful but the focus of the story is Freya and her healing process, her discovery of what comes after. It is a great story.

So much laughter! This is the fun weekend read you didn't know you needed. There was so much about it that was relatable that made it extra enjoyable. You won't be able to put the book down.

Note: Thank you to Netgalley & publishers for allowing me access to this arc in exchange for an honest review! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I'm trying to read as many romance novels as possible in February. I was beyond thrilled when I was given access to this arc. I LOVE a cheesy rom-com without excessive spice, and this book certainly delivered. The romance parts of the book are a slow burn, but it adds to the story in a cute way, and overall, I think this was a good read!

“I seem to have stepped into a romance novel. And it is magnificent.”

The Good Things
1. The story, overall, is fantastic and definitely fitting of a rom-com!
2. I laughed A LOT. My kindle-highlights are four pages long! This is definitely a funny and quotable book, and I'm here for it.
3. Katy's best friends are amazing and so supportive. I find myself seriously lacking in the friendship department after reading about them!
4. The cover is adorable and fitting for a romantic comedy! My eyes are drawn to it immediately. Even the UK cover is cute (see the photo above). 


The Bad Things
1. The first 22% of the book is chalked full of the main character wallowing in self-pity. This type of drama is great for a movie, not-so-much for a book. I needed a little bit more action to fill those pages.
2. Some parts of the book contained a LOT of dialogue, which can be really annoying to read.
3. A few parts were a tad bland and seemed to drag a bit, but for the most part, the story flowed well!

Overall, I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy a good rom-com.

This book was everything!! I laughed a ton and cried as well! Freya is such a relatable character and I absolutely adore her and her whole friend group. This was a painful slow burn rom-com a tad bit predictable but I can look past that because it was just so darn cute! Our main character Freya is getting married and the day before the wedding her fiancè breaks it off and Freya has to endure the rest of the wedding season while going through her break up. Her best friends come up with a plan to get her through with tasks she has to complete at each wedding which lead to some hilarious moments. Definitely worth a read if you love cute, clean rom-coms.

I could not put it down! It was an emotional roller coaster from the first chapter. On one page, my heart was broken and the next I was laughing out loud. Such a great book! I would recommend it to everyone!

The Wedding Season was a suggested/ highlighted title from Net Galley and I am so happy they did, this was a new author for me and this novel is fantastic! Freya's fiancé Matthew breaks up with her one day before their wedding after 12 years together. Freya is certain they will reconcile and soon starts to remember many of their happy and loving times together. As the summer progresses the wedding season commences and Freya starts to to remember some of the not so happy times and wonders if the break up was justified. During the wedding season Freya's best friends help her navigate the eight weddings she needs to attend by setting a challenge at each occasion. The Wedding Season is funny, clever and engaging, a brilliant read!

Great book on healing pass hurts, friends and being brave to do things out of your comfort zone.. A funny sweet read.

Quite possibly the best rom com I've read in recent years. And it was actually comedic, get that!.

The plot:
Freya gets dumped the day before her wedding. Sucks cause she has 7 weddings to get to in the next 5 months. Her 2 bffs get creative and make her a list of challenges to complete at each wedding.
Sounds fun and interesting right? Well it definitely was! Watching her complete the tasks at each wedding was so fulfilling and fun!

Characters:
Freya is such a relatable character. I enjoyed her being the mc. I loved watching her grow in just a few months.
Her friends ruby and Leo were the greatest and goal friends.
All her other girl friends were savage and great as well.
Her dad was the cutest.
Her brother was so fun and I wanted to know more about him haha and that peacock debacle.
Jamie, I mean swoon. Happy face.

Y'all don't wanna miss this one.

I actually enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I couldn’t put it down, stayed up for most of the night binging it. Freya is such a relatable woman and her sarcasm was hilarious. I loved the humour and light- heartedness. However I will say that this book was advertised as “romance” I wouldn’t necessarily consider it a romance novel cause Jamie&Freya seemed like a minor plot in the grand scheme of things lol. It was more of a novel on how to get over a breakup. I enjoyed it nonetheless :) definitely recommend to someone wanting to pick up a cute&fun read

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martins Press for the arc of this book…all thoughts are my own!

I loved this book so much!!!! It was such a fun book! Although it is marketed as a romance it is a woman’s fiction story with a romantic subplot, but i still LOVED this story!
It was a great story about learning who you are in the face of heartbreak and life changes! Freya was such a relatable character!

Freya was all set to marry her fiance, who she's been with for twelve years, in her dad's backyard, when he pulls her into a broom closet for the sole purpose of breaking it off. Freya and Matthew's wedding was the first of EIGHT that they were scheduled to attend that summer. Now she's got seven to go to on her own, and has to figure out how to survive it! Her best friends, who will end the season with their own wedding, devise a plan to give her tasks to complete for each wedding, so she can focus on that instead of her heartbreak over Matthew. This was going to be a long summer...

This book was a delight. It's almost an anti-rom-com, considering the breakup that happens five seconds into the book. Freya spends her summer finding out who she is without the man she expected to spend her life with. There's silly moments, tugs at the heartstrings, and moments of sheer joy. I laughed out loud not just a few times throughout this wonderful book, and had a great time reading it. I definitely will be recommending it to friends who love a good rom-com story!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. I thank the author and publisher immensely for this opportunity!

This book was pretty fun! It was cute, flirty, and charming at times! I love how Katy Birchall is always bringing the wedding magic alive in her novels while also teaching you a lesson. This is so much more than a romance book. You see the main character go through a great load of emotional growth as she heals after a big heartbreak. I really loved all of the supportive bridesmaids in this book and all the fun weddings they get to experience throughout this book. It is a slow burn and it dragged a bit, but by the end of it, I felt content and happy.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The Wedding Season! It feels fresh and contemporary. The book had me hooked from the line "He took the tupperware. What the f***." I laughed out loud - and I rarely do that.

A couple things stood out to me about this book: one was that you didn't mean the love interest until a quarter of the way through the book. It's much more about Freya's inner journey than her new possible relationship. I'd also flag for interested readers that this romance is clean. I don't care either way usually, but I found that refreshing in this case.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for th is ARC!

This was the best contemporary romance I have read in quite a while. I teared up, I laughed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Freya is broken up with (in a broom closet) the day before her wedding and now has to make it through a summer of friend's weddings after the ruin of her own. Her best friends set her to a series of tasks to help distract her at each event, and they are hilarious.

I loved all of the characters, besides Matthew, in this book. Freya is so strong while also being so awkward. Jamie is adorable and I loved their banter. Ruby and Leo are amazing friends to Freya and are so funny.

Freya's personal journey was so refreshing and it was lovely to see her find herself again, repair her relationship with her mom, and take risks she wouldn't have taken before. The whole plot of this book was engaging and sweet.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book. What a treat!!

I loved this book. It was well paced; the characters were well developed and it was just delightful. The story was full of laugh-out-loud moments intermixed with angst and personal growth. It was one of those books that I simultaneously wanted to ready it quickly to see what happened, but also wanted to read it slowly so it wouldn't end.

I now need to find more books from this author !!!

Somehow I both raced through this charming British rom-com and yet did not want it to end! It was witty, fun, insightful, and heartfelt in its more serious moments. Freya is jilted by her fiance the day before their wedding, and though she might want to nurse her broken heart, she has to attend seven more weddings over the summer. How is she going to get through this? Well, her wonderful best friends assign Freya an out-of-character challenge to complete at every wedding to take her mind off her problems, and from there, hilarity ensues. I adored the relatable Freya. Her growth and character development felt authentic, and her journey was both satisfying and fun. She was an endearing main character willing to celebrate her friends/family at their weddings right after her shocking break-up. The secondary characters were quirky and lovable, especially Freya's best friends Ruby and Leo. The dialogue between them all is witty, and there are some hilarious moments. And while there is a sweet slow-burn romance, I loved that a central focus of this story was healing and self-love and opening up to life's possibilities. I enjoyed the plot and liked Katy Birchall's conversational and engaging writing style. Highly recommended! Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.