After a cancelled flight and a one-night misunderstanding 😂, two travelers realize they’re headed to the same destination wedding. As reluctant travel partners, will they make it to the wedding on time, and more importantly, will they come out unscathed? 🏰

I 👏🏻 LOVED 👏🏻 THIS 👏🏻 BOOK!!! 🥳 Perfection. No notes! Laugh-out-loud funny. A stellar meet-cute. A chef’s kiss 🤌🏻 of a one bed hotel room scene. A ton of realistic emotion and depth. A well executed road trip element with fun chapter headers that counted down to the wedding. Ahh! 🥰 I’ll be surprised if this one doesn’t land on my top 10 for 2025! Such a great debut novel! (Okay, my one teeny tiny critique is that Ada should have gotten Jack’s tiny slice of pizza tattooed on. 😝)

My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for a complimentary advance copy of this eBook, out 1/28/2025.

Ada is unemployed and broke. She has her reasons, but the last thing she wants to is to attend her sister Allison’s wedding. Why Allison decided to marry in London escapes Ada, but she is on her way there. Maybe once she makes it to Ireland, she can talk Allison out of getting married.

What Ada is about to experience is a long series of unfortunate events, and that begins with her being bumped off her flight, and then picking up the wrong suitcase. That suitcase belonged to a complete stranger named Jack, who also got bumped from his flight. Oh, the fact that Ada is broke? She has no idea how she’s going to find a place for the night considering she is literally counting pennies. Despite their dire circumstances, they strike up a conversation and discover shared experiences of hardship. Jack offers to let Ada stay at his hotel until they can catch the next flight.

She just wants a hot shower and a comfortable bed. He expects more. Even so, Ada never feels unsafe around Jack. There is an attraction that is instantaneous between the both of them, but Ada is on a break from her long-term boyfriend, the last thing that she wants is to hook up with anyone. It may only be a matter of days to the wedding, which, by the way as it turns out, Jack is on his way as well! Yes, her sister is marrying his best friend, so it only makes sense that they travel together.

Will their attraction simmer throughout the time it takes them to get to Ireland or will it completely fizzle out? While their traveling faces more than one issue, Ada can’t help but to ruminate of her stagnated relationship even though she empty and unfulfilled. Whether Ada and Jack end up going the distance with their attraction is just one question they experience as the hours wind down as the wedding gets closer and closer. This wonderful debut story is rich with emotion and delivers a wonderful conclusion. 

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Read this if you like:
•a debut
•only one bed
•travel romance

This book was laugh out loud funny. I love both of the characters. I love their vulnerability & their growth too. The audio was a delight. Thank you Berkley

loved this book so much! the writing is so good and the characters are top tier. i loved jack and ada. the plot is also so much fun and unique to anything ive read in a while!

Thanks to @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for the free e-ARC and to @prhaudio for the ALC.

An excellent romance! I loved Ada. She was the perfect main character. The impossible situations she found herself in drove the plot so well. I thought the tension between Ada and Jack was so well done. So much chemistry. Lots of “will they or won’t they” moments. And the spicy scenes were worth waiting for.

The setting of various non touristy towns in the UK and Ireland was so interesting. And all the modes of transportation they took added a lot to the story.

The characters had so much depth. There was a lot going on in their personal lives and that played into the story so well. No spoilers, but the ending was perfect.

The narrator did a great job with this one and really conveyed the emotion the characters were feeling.

Overall I’d say this was exactly what I’m looking for in a romance and I recommend it for anyone looking for a great romcom.

Maid of honour Ada is heading to her younger sister Allison’s wedding in an Irish castle. Their relationship hasn’t been so good lately, ever since Ada cautioned her about rushing into marriage.
Since Ada’s tattoo shop went out of business, she’s rather cash-strapped. Now the budget airline has cancelled her flight from London to Belfast and she meets another stranded passenger, Jack, who is also off to a wedding.
After spilling all her doubts about the rushed nuptials and the horrible things she’s heard about the best man, Ada finds out Jack is indeed going to the very same wedding – and IS the best man. But teaming up with him may be the only way she can make the wedding on time.
This was a fun read, with plenty of banter and chemistry as a series of obstacles are thrown in Ada and Jack’s way as they make their wedding dash. Fully entertaining the whole way, it’s a promising rom-com debut.

This was SO good. Between the travel mishaps, the reasons they were both reluctant to get together, and their opposition to the wedding, this book works unbelievably well. I enjoyed it enormously and can't wait for more.

Wedding Dashers by Heather McBreen is a charming and highly entertaining debut romance novel. When a case of mistaken identity leads to a near one-night stand, two wedding guests find themselves stranded and compelled to journey together to their intended destination. The story masterfully combines all the ingredients of a great romantic comedy: sharp, witty dialogue, undeniable chemistry, and two irresistible protagonists who had me hooked from the very first page.

There’s something about a messy romance between messy people that feels all the more rewarding in the end. While this romance didn’t give me butterflies, it did make me feel happy and hopeful by the end, and I’d definitely recommend it to any romance readers.

A fantastic romcom! I haven't had so much fun and laughed so hard in a while.

Ada and Jack were hysterical. They're witty and sarcastic which is my type of humor. Ada and Jack are such great characters too. Think green flags. They are compassionate and communicate. How awesome is that? They have fantastic chemistry too. Plus we get to travel along with them while they try to make it to a wedding in Ireland. I found the travel shenanigans to be entertaining.

A wonderful romcom book that's good time! Fans of Planes, Trains, and All the Feels by Livy Hart will devour this.

This one did not work for me, unfortunately! I love the premise and the cover, but I struggled to connect with the writing style. I am not this book's ideal reader, but I'm glad I gave it a shot!

This was my first read of 2025 and I absolutely LOVED it! Wedding Dashers is everything I love about road trip/forced proximity romance. The tension! The banter! The slow burn! What a great debut, I cannot recommend this romance highly enough! An easy 5 star read.

My only complaint is I think the book deserves a much better cover than it received!

This is one of those books where I couldn’t connect to either character and didn’t really find either one of them likable. That doesn’t mean this book is bad but it is just not for me. The premise of the main girl being the maid of honor and the main guy being the best man is what drew me into this book to begin with. I liked how each chapter was counting down until the main event. You got to feel like you were along for the journey with that little aspect. Throughout the book you could feel the lust the characters had for each other but they lacked chemistry in my opinion. It’s hard to root for them when Jack would say a lot of things that screamed red flag to me and Ada just lacked depth. This was not for me but I would still read books by this author in the future.

4.5 delightful stars - A road trip romance done right!

Road trip stories can be hit or miss for me, but this one nailed it with the perfect mix of hilarious hijinks, witty banter, and heartfelt moments. I was so hooked, I devoured the entire audiobook in one sitting and it made my workday fly by!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

What a fun, steamy debut from Heather McBreen!

Plot
28 year old Ada is experiencing the worst of travel woes en route to Ireland for her younger sister's wedding, where Ada is the maid of honor. Cancelled flights, expired hotel vouchers, pennies in her bank account... and on top of that she's "on a break" (a la Ross and Rachel) from her boyfriend of 8 years. She's basically walking bad luck. But things are looking up when she meets a man named Jack in the hotel lobby (see above expired voucher) who, as it turns out, is also trying to get to an international wedding where he's going to be the best man.... I think you can see where this is going? Yes, yes, surprise: they're going to the SAME wedding! Jack's best friend Collin is marrying Ada's sister Allison. After an almost one night stand that Ada was hilariously oblivious to, the pair awkwardly, begrudgingly, fitfully make their way to Ireland together Planes, Trains and Automobiles style.

Review
I am feeling incredibly conflicted over this book. I really enjoyed certain aspects but it also featured one of my least favorite tropes in all of literature. I hate hate HATE when one (or both?) of the main characters are actively in relationships at the beginning of the book. Although Ada and her long-time boyfriend are technically "on a break," they are decidedly NOT broken up, and Ada is still insistent that she wants to be with him even past the halfway point in the book. I was increasingly exhausted as the book went on at Ada's inner monologue but honestly, maybe I'm the problem? It's quite possible that I'm just too hyperaware of this trope and it might not bother another reader as much as it did me. I just couldn't get past the fact that we're 58% through a romance book before she actually breaks up with her boyfriend.

Character-wise, I felt like neither Ada or Jack was specifically well developed. Ada had her moments but for the most part, I feel like we really know nothing about Jack. I'm sure that's largely in part to his I-hate-love-bad-boy-you-can't-hurt-me-if-you-don't-know-me-player persona, but even by the end I just didn't feel that tug of understanding for him. Their reunion after the third act breakup was SO adorable though, and I couldn't stop smiling. Despite all I've said before, I really DID like Jack and Ada together. They had great banter and I loved seeing them come together instead of apart despite all the travel failures and stress. I just wish I cared more about them each individually instead of only rooting for them as a couple.

McBreen's voice really shines in this book. Truthfully, this was the bright spot for me. I loved the writing style and the detail and care with which she wrote the settings in this story. It was simultaneously whimsical and vivid and hilarious and infuriating, and so well done that I felt like I was trudging through the airport or running to catch a train or eating pizza in bed right along with Ada and Jack. I flew through this in just about 24 hours and overall, I did enjoy the reading experience. I would definitely read more from this author in the future because I'm intrigued to see what she may do with some tropes I enjoy and some characters I'm more connected to.

The best romance books involve both people becoming better versions of themselves. In Wedding Dashers, Ada and Jack both have very satisfying character arcs. I was rooting for them as individuals and for them to get together. This book was an unexpected delight.

This book was hilarious from beginning to end, and there's nothing I wouldn't change about it. It's full of banter, tension, and not only is it a perfect rom-com but it's also a great coming of age story.

This was a super fun forced proximity travel romance with a great meet cute that sees Ada and Jack trying to get to the same destination wedding in Belfast despite a number of obstacles along the way. With a case of mistaken identity, only one bed, deeply emotional conversations and tons of chemistry, I really enjoyed this debut and highly recommend it for fans of books like Off the map by Trish Doller or Maya's laws of love by Alina Khawaja. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review! (It was also excellent on audio read by my very favorite narrator, Brittany Pressley)!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you #NetGalley for an arc of The Wedding Dashers in exchange for an honest review.

🧳 Forced proximity
🧳 One bed
🧳 Opposites attract
🧳 Fake relationships
🧳 Grand gestures

Started off 2025 with wrapping up such a great read! The Wedding Dashers was McBreen’s debut novel and it was super entertaining.

Our MCs Ada and Jack were written with such a complementary dynamic. There’s great banter between these two. We also get a good grasp behind what makes these two tick which is always something I look for. While these two find themselves in some wild situations I think it adds such a great charm to the story. There are heavy topics so worth checking over the trigger warnings.

TW: Loss of a parent (off page), divorce, abusive relationship, and alcohol consumption

I couldn't love this book more if I tried! McBreen's writing is gorgeous and the chemistry between Jack and Ada shines through the pages. Highly recommend!