Funny, sweet and light - The Secret Bridesmaid is a perfect summer read. The concept was original and Sophie was such a likeable main character. And love the cover!

Absolutely loved this book - so funny and entertaining and a really novel storyline! A little predictable at times but overall I really enjoyed it and will look out for more from the same author! Thanks to netgalley for an erc of this lovely book.

Sophie is a professional bridesmaid - she gets hired by the bride to help her on the many tasks for the wedding. She loves her job and she is really good at it!

Until she gets hired by Lady Cordelia’s mom. Cordelia doesn’t want Sophie’s help and does everything to make her life difficult to make her quit.

Will she succeed?

Sometimes you just need a feel good, light read and that is exactly what this is. I read this book in one sitting and I hardly realised that I’d been sat reading for hours until I had finally finished it. I would definitely give it a 4.5 stars overall.
We follow Sophie Breeze, a professional bridesmaid which is like a wedding planner but doesn’t take over and instead makes sure the bride is completely involved with all of the decisions but has a supportive bridesmaid to lean on. Sophie set this up as a business after her and her ex-boyfriend broke up after 8 years together, completely surprising Sophie.
Sophie is extremely likeable, and I found that I had so much in common with her - she is my age, has different things in common with me and looks at life the same way. Which made it a delight to read. She was also very down to earth and very funny, meaning that sometimes I actually properly laughed at some of the situations that she was in (running down the street in a Chewbacca outfit was my personal favourite!) and I think that’s what made it so enjoyable.
I find Katy Birchall’s writing very similar to Beth O’Leary’s, so if you’re a fan of her I would definitely give this book a try! I can’t believe that this is her first adult novel, it’s not obvious at all from the writing. I will be on the lookout for her future work.

I am not the biggest contemporary book reader and have been trying to dip my toes in. So i requested a Netgalley Arc of The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall and I was approved so I like to say a big thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for allowing me to read this amazing book.

Our main character Sophie Breeze is a professional Bridesmaid who I thought was an amazing and funny character but when you put her together with Cordelia the Bride from Hell there is alot of laughs to come by and even I hate to admit it scenes where I actually cried. Katy's writing was electrifying even the small mundane emails and text messages gave this book another edge to it. I am not going to divulge anything else about the book but would say just read it along with the audio book and you will have a great time. For these reasons I gave it 4 stars.

I really liked this book. It was a really good concept I could see someone doing this as a proper job. I really related to the character and the good thing is it was not a predictable story line. I thought it was going to go another way but it didn’t. While I was reading this book I could really see this in my mind as a film even the actors. Yes it is a romance book but not a slushy one. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good book

Sophie is a professional bridesmaid hired by women to help them get through their wedding day. When the Meade family hire Sophie things take a sour turn, the bride doesn’t want a bridesmaid let alone a hired one, but as Sophie and Cordelia get closer a beautiful friendship emerges. Hilariously funny this book is a great read.

I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great concept for a romance book - weddings! secret identity! rich people! - and Birchall delivers a lovely little easy read. You fall in love with the characters and find yourself wishing you were at some of the weddings. Easily done, as Birchall adds little snippets of email chains throughout to give you an idea of the stress of wedding planning!

I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in a long time, this is such a funny and poignant romantic comedy.
it literally was for me laugh-out-loud. Sophie's is a hire out bridesmaid and her life is already complicated when she is offered a chance with a celebrity aristocratic wedding. The problem being the future bride who thinks the last thing she needs is a paid-for friend. Just a fabulously funny and entertaining read for any time

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Really cute romcom with some hilarious moments.
I loved the side stories that got popped in at the end of chapters to do with Sophie's other clients. The Star Wars Wedding sounded a hoot.
I loved the settings, Dashwood just sounds stunning.
The characters were all great and Cordelia's transformation from guarded, prissy nightmare to best friend full of love was so nicely done.
Of course the story was predictable - that doesn't make it a bad thing. Why mess with a winning formula.
I really like the writers style. Full of warmth and humour. I'd love to read more by her.

What a great idea of a job to be a secret bridesmaid hired by the bride to do the little things, or big things that make the bride's perfect day. Sophie Breeze has been a successful professional bridesmaid but has not had the best love life at the same time as her boyfriend derides her work. she is then employed by an ex-actress, now a Marchioness who wants her to organise and guide her daughter Cordelia to the altar. But that is when Cordelia a rude and difficult girl makes it clear that Sophie should not be there and goes out of her way to make life difficult. This is a "laugh out loud" book, as there are many incidents when Sophie has to dress inappropriately or do things that the bridezillas want to make their day perfect. Add into the tale the complication that Sophie falls for Cordelia's older brother Tom and that is made even more difficult when news leaks out about the bride. How this story ends is just perfect, but the how is not something I wish to share as you will need to read it yourself to find out. Perfect!

This book was very enjoyable and it had funny bits in it and certainly had a nice ending.

Sophie is a professional bridesmaid who is hired by the bride to help with most things for their wedding and Sophie makes sure it runs to what the bride wants. She ends up being hired for a socialite wedding where she encounters a lot of problems caused by the bride will she be able to win the bride over.

I would recommend this book and would read more of the author.

Absolutely loved this book!
It made laugh, it made me cringe and made me want to shout but all in the humour with the book!
It was a brilliant novel from a new author to me but I will definitely be looking out for her again
Highly recommended
Thank you to netgalley, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion

First off, I do not think that this is a sustainable job. I start with this abrupt statement because the entire review hinges on what I thought of as the core idea in the story. I do not think a secret bridesmaid would work permanently because, after a point, there would be an overlap in the guests/families/photographs. How would it even be possible that an intimate person in the wedding group would never be invited again for another family occasion?
Despite my feelings on this idea, I really enjoyed the book. Sophie is just a little bit shy of being an actual doormat. She stands up for a few things but is willing to do just about anything to ensure others are happy. If this reminds you of the movie 27 dresses, its close but takes a very different approach to the whole thing.
The writer has skill and kept the entertainment level high. I liked Sophie throughout the book. Her relationship with her family and immediate friends was refreshing. Even her ex and the way that turned out seemed realistic.
Sophie is tasked with being a secret bridesmaid for someone who doesn't want a paid friend. This is Sophie's toughest challenge yet, but she gives it her all. I liked the dynamics and even the romance meant for Sophie, even if it is not really a focal point.
The humour and emotions were on point and liberally scattered amongst the rush of events in the narrative. There's even the odd format change of texts and emails to give an almost complete picture of side events and increase the levity.
I would recommend it to anyone on the lookout for a light read with a few emotional moments and a good growth arc for the lead protagonist.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This is exactly what I was looking for!!! I really loved this unique take on a romance story. Of course, it was predictable. I didn't expect it to be anything but. I expected the 'twist' or at least part of it where they would fall out with each other and then her true identity revealed only for it all to come together in the end blah blah blah but the execution of it was really well done. I loved Sophie and Cordelia together and found myself really smiling at some of their exchanges. I enjoyed the extra additions of the emails and messages for wedding related things too, some were so funny!

I believe this is Katy Birchall's first adult book and I know I'll be coming back for more. Fingers crossed she writes more because she has a knack for it!

Well written and definetly laugh out loud moments., mixed with sad and sometimes emotional
Takes you on a feel good journey with mixed feelings about the characters involved. Overall I enjoyed this novel wouldobe a sequel to find out how theirjbes progressed.

Well what can I say. I loved it. The concept, the characters, the story, the email interludes.

It was a really well written book with a great sense of fun.

Who wouldn’t love a secret bridesmaid. Wedding planner meets friend and shoulder to cry on. Sophie Breeze is the woman to help make your wedding day come to life. But is this latest wedding project a step too far and with her first love also due to get married what will happen next for Sophie Breeze.

One of my fav books of 2021. Highly recommend.

Thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this great book.

I had high hopes for this story. When I requested a copy from NetGalley I was imagining our protagonist to be a bit like Jane in '27 Dresses', but getting paid for her dedication.

Sadly, I just... well, honestly? I just didn't get the point of it all being a secret. Am I missing something? There's a rather simplistic explanation right at the start that some people like to make out that they're capable of planning everything themselves, but without the stress (basically the same as buying a takeaway/ready meal, then pretending you cooked it yourself from scratch). And that's fine to some degree. After all, we've all pretended to be more capable on occasion. It might even have worked here, had the main wedding in the story been an average affair. But it's a society wedding. The sort of wedding that screams bragging rights for having THE best of everything, including wedding planner. I don't know, it just didn't work for me, and once i'm frustrated with the entire concept, I find it even more difficult to engage with the story. As such, I just didn't really enjoy anything after that. Giving two stars because I did finish it, I just didn't really care much about it.

(Reviewed on Amazon UK but awaiting moderation)

I loved the secret bridesmaid and really want it turned into a movie or comedy/drama as I laughed, I felt for them and I really wanted to keep reading to see what happened next.
It was unexpected as I thought the concept had been done but actually this felt fresh, funny & I devoured it in a day!!

Many thanks to the Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an Arc version of this book.

I thought that it was ok though the idea was original. I struggled with the concept because I felt for the lead character having to be a bridesmaid to a woman who was so rude.

Although I wasn't able to get through the whole book on this occasion I may come back to it at another time.