The storyline is good however there is so much detail included in every interaction with every character. Due to this, I found it didn't flow too easily and took me longer to read than I normally would.

If ever there was a cautionary tale of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, or choosing your bridal party with the greatest care … then this must be it! Weddings are meant to be happy occasions and the weeks leading up to the BIG event is supposed to be filled with happiness and excitement, aren’t they? Apparently … not always …

Wow! Caitlyn must have chosen herself THE most unlikeable bunch of women to be in her bridal party. As they depart from Leeds for her hen weekend in Dublin, the author wastes no time in making it very clear that there’s no love lost between most of this clan, for one reason or other, and most of them don’t even want to be there. And even Caitlyn herself isn’t quite what you’d expect from a bride. She’s hardly the happy, blooming person you’d expect. Sure – the reasons are revealed, the more you read (and you absolutely won’t be able to read this fast enough so you can figure out what’s really going on here!), but in just the first few chapters I wanted to just shake her!

Jen the Chief Bridesmaid (as she repetitively reminds everyone) is doing her best and is probably the best of a bad lot. Karen is Ben’s (the groom) mother, and together with Michaela, his sister and Lucy, his teenage daughter, they reminded me of a coven of witches! They were downright mean about everything and directed all their venom at Caitlyn. However, as we got to know Ben during the story, he doesn’t exactly come up smelling of roses either and one wonders why on earth Caitlyn has stuck around so long. She’s been through a rough time, having come through treatment for cancer, why on earth does she want to work so hard to be part of a family of such awful people?

Then there are Caitlyn’s own sisters, Emma and Annette – both equally annoying for different reasons. Annette keeps making backhanded nasty comments and Emma is as sweet as a chewed up toffee – nobody that sweet is ever genuine! Mari and Adele seem to be there to make up numbers. They’re both newer friends of Caitlyn’s, but again, not particularly nice ones, and they don’t seem happy about being included. And then there’s Shelley, who, like Jen is one of Caitlyn’s oldest friends and who should be thrilled her friend is marrying the love of her life. But for some reason she’s just plain miserable. And poor old Jen (did I mention, she’s the Chief Bridesmaid?) is desperately trying to keep it all together – and it’s only the first night!

Maria Frankland has created characters who make you appreciate the good people in your life! Your close friends and family: the ones who you love and value. And by throwing them all together into one space, making the reader squirm a bit at how uncomfortable the cat-fighting and backstabbing in those first few chapters all gets, she sets the perfect scene for a murder. You know it’s coming, but who will it be, and who did it?

As the chapters unfold, each told from the different characters’ points of view, shocking secrets will be revealed, but who has a secret worth killing for? It’s excellent, well-paced, edge-of-your-seat, page-turning stuff that doesn’t let up for a minute! And oh, so clever! I highly recommend it!

I think this is the third book I've read by Frankland and yet again she comes up trumps with a highly addictive, fast paced thriller, that I absolutely loved.

It's well plotted and as you'd expect from a bridal party of women, there's going to be plenty of drama, bitchiness and very soon one of them will be no more.

Twisty isn't the word, and just when you think that's as good as its going to get, along comes THAT twist at the end!

An enjoyable read, with both book and author highly coming recommended.

When a bachelorette party turns up with the bride dead, it’s going to be a thriller.
I thought the bride was too subdued to be excited for the upcoming marriage, in fact no one seemed excited for the upcoming nuptials except Jen, the main narrator, but I felt her enthusiasm was contrived too.
The story lets readers dive into each of the party’s personalities and they’re all an interesting bunch.
A cheater, a brat, two disgruntled friends, and two sisters who really don’t seem to interested in what’s happening.
I wasn’t surprised with how certain elements of the story turned out.
Next time, just skip the party and perhaps even the marriage.

Where do I start. What an absolute amazing book this was.I was totally gripped from the beginning until the end. the twists the turns just like a rollercoaster. You just do not know what’s gonna come next .Absolutely fantastic. I would highly recommend this book to everybody to read and look forward to reading more from this author going forward.

Definitely a five star book from me.I’ve so enjoyed this book so much I can’t wait to read more. This is a must book to read. Absolutely outstanding ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I discovered Maria Frankland earlier this year, and for sure she is becoming one of my favourite authors. Great psychological thriller book that keeps you at the edge of your seat. I read this over a weekend.

Thank you @Netgalley, @Bookouture and @MariaFrankland for my free copy. My opinion is my own!

As with all other Maria Frankland thrillers that I've read, this read was great! I enjoyed it very much and LOVED the surprise ending! Definitely was NOT expecting that at all! It was a very fast read and held my interest the whole way through!

After battling cancer, Caitlyn is having a getaway hen-do aka bachelorette party. In attendance is her atrocious future in laws - mother and sister, her future teen step daughter, two sisters and a couple friends along with her bestie, Jen. After a long and revealing night, the bridal party wake up to the dead bride to-be. Some in the bridal party are hiding terrible secrets and one is a murderer, possibly.

As an investigation ensues, all secrets are revealed and the murderer unveiled. HUGE TWIST at the end that will leave you SHOCKED!

Absolutely brilliant. So very suspenseful and packed with twists. Once I started this, I just had to keep reading. Just wow!

Ten women, including the bride-to-be, Caitlyn, were spending time together in a rented apartment in Italy for a hen party. However, Caitlyn was found dead, and one of the remaining women is definitely responsible for her murder. They are all about to be questioned by the Gardis unit. Will the Italian police be able to find the murderer before another woman loses her life?

There is no shortage of drama as the women are questioned in a nearby apartment in the building. Some are unfriendly. Some are even catty. They all want to leave and go home. That is not about to happen. At least not before the killer is identified. Written with multiple POVs, this intriguing book will most certainly keep you guessing. Any one of the women could be the killer, and it is definitely one of them. With surprising twists and turns, the reader will certainly be trying to ascertain the killer’s identity, making this a well-written, exciting book.

Of course, there is a crime to be solved, and there are secrets, lies and more proving to be the case. With those factors, finding answers is certainly not easy. Even though there are characters easy to hate, there is no doubt that readers will be just as drawn to this story just as I was.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Wow what a book, full of twists and turns. I didn't want it to stop when I started to read it. Fast paced brilliant book.

A slow story but that’s not a negative thing, the tension builds with every chapter to an ending that was a good twist, the plot was original with none of the characters being particularly likeable.and anyone of them could have been capable of being guilty.

This is a fun twisty thriller book! I enjoyed the storyline and thought the writing was very good. I liked how the story was being told from the different friend’s point of views. The middle did get a little slow for me, but quickly picked up again with an intense and unexpected ending!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A whodunnit with a twist... or three.

Catelyn is getting married and she has quite a group of women with her to celebrate her hen party, but what happens when someone doesn't make it?

A story full of jealousy, hidden agendas, cattiness, threats, drama, and secrets. The characters were a diverse group, which made it hard to make guesses, much like a traditional whodunnit plot; each with their own possible motives. This one was a pretty quick read, and at about halfway through I was thinking, "When is the 'totally gripping' part going to come?" Just when you think everything has come to light, there's more in store, which is what took this from a 3-star to a 4-star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for another opportunity to provide my feedback on another thriller!

Caitlyn is soon to marry Ben. She has been through a difficult recently as she is recovering from treatment for cancer. But her friends and siblings have insisted that she have a hen party in Dublin. They are a party of 10 and have rented an apartment for the weekend. They plan to have lots of laughs, play games, and, of course, drink lots of bubbly.

The following morning, one of the ten is found murdered. The Irish Garda are called in and each person is questioned separately in a room. That’s when some secrets and true feelings start to come out. From this questioning, can we discover who murdered this person and why?

This story is one of utter betrayal to a lovely young woman by the people she thought loved her best. While the one murdered gets her revenge, it’s how she get that revenge in this mind-boggling ending that makes the book. Don’t miss this one.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Bridal Party by Maria Frankland is a quick read that will keep you guessing until the end.
This book sucked me in pretty quickly and kept me questioning everything.
It was a brilliant read, perfect amount of twists, likable and unlikeable characters.
The writing keeps you tense as you see vulnerabilities everywhere.

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I've never read anything by this author before and really liked the sound of this book. The story line was unique but unfortunately I struggled with it quite a bit. I didn't really like any of the characters who all behaved so unrealistically and I didn’t care that much for them. It did however have a good ending although it was very unexpected and this did redeem it slightly!

The Bridal Party is a solid three star book. At first I had trouble keeping all of the characters straight, but they soon took on their own personalities and became for identifiable.

Unfortunately once the author disclosed who the deceased was (which came as no real surprise), the book plateaued. The remainder of the book takes place with each chapter detailing the police interview of each character. Since they all more or less tell the truth, this leaves each chapter providing the same information give or take a few details. The plot never really progresses until the suspects are arrested and the book concludes by revealing who killed the victim and why. I feel the conclusion is what saved The Bridal Party from being a two star book.

Thank you to Bookouture for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#netgalley
#thebridalparty

A Hen weekend set in Dublin - this sounds seriously fun!! With these Hens however....not so much!

From the outset it is clear that this is a seriously miserable group of women. Caitlin, the bride-to-be brings with her friends from her childhood, university and work friends, a neighbour, alongside 3 women from her future husbands side. The first night of the weekend away see's tension, a topic atmosphere and a fair few heated arguments. Come the morning, someone we be found murdered in their bed! This is a bit of a whodunit, a bit of a police drama, and a bit of a a psychological thriller.

All in all a decent read, but not my favourite from this amazing author - just too many thoroughly unlikeable characters!!

My thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for an advance e copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Friends? Enemies? Who knows when ten friends embark on a hen party but only nine survive. Oh my! Interesting plot, characters and a gasp-worthy twist!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

In the beginning it was a little bit hard to keep up with all the different characters, but once you got into it and got to know everyone it was much better. I really enjoyed how the book was set up, with all the different points of view. That way you gradually got to know every character and you learnt more about each of the women's lives as you got on and some secrets start to come to light.

I liked the ending very much and I did not see it coming, it was a nice twist.