What a lovely book. I have waitressed at many weddings and witnessed some strange behaviour from Bridal parties. Sophie, the title character, is there to assist the brides with the smooth organisation of their wedding day, but more importantly being there for the bride. In the first few chapters I was laughing out loud with some of the outlandish things Sophie was asked for. She is then asked by the brides mother to help a high profile bride who is quite opposed to having help. She has to win over the bride as well as smooth the path for martial bliss. In between times she needs to deal with issues in her personal life. This is a genuinely funny book.

What a job to have! A professional bridesmaid, all those weddings but I suppose all of those problems too. Sophie Breeze is a professional bridesmaid & supports the bride with all the wedding 'things' they need help with. A must for every stressed bride every where! Has she bitten off too much when she is employed by the mother of a socialite? Find out by reading this great entertaining book. Certainly a feel good book that I really enjoyed.

This was such a delight! I honestly didn’t know what I was expecting going in but The Secret Bridesmaid surprised me by being such a charming, heartfelt and often times very funny contemporary romance!

Sophie Breeze is a bridesmaid–a professional one whose job is be there for the bride whatever. Throughout the book you get a chance to see what that ‘whatever’ can sometimes entail and it often leads to some hilarious situations (*cough*Chewbacca costume*cough*). Luckily for Sophie she gets the chance of a lifetime when the mother of a past bride puts her in touch with the Marchioness of Meade–a high society wedding that could make or break Sophie’s career. Our professional bridesmaid is determined to do a good job but unfortunately things aren’t going to be easy for her–from the bride Cordelia’s adamant refusal of her services, to the outlandish attempts she makes to force Sophie to quit, to the way she insults her at every turn, every move Cordelia makes puts Sophie through the wringer. But our heroine meets all those challenges head on and proves how brilliant a secret bridesmaid can be.

Sophie truly is a wonderful heroine, she’s such a caring individual and her journey from being a bit of a pushover, to learning how to say ‘no’ is truly an inspiring one. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments within, from problems with wedding suppliers, to other bride’s and their ridiculous requests.

To balance out the more outrageously funny moments, the book also shares some truly tender moments, along with an achingly sweet romance and a wonderful message about friendships. My favourite part in this book is the friendship that develops, it’s one that tugs on the heartstrings and I found myself rooting more for them than for the romance! (Although I will say that Tom is dreamy. Who doesn’t love a charming English aristocrat?)

If you want an emotionally moving, loud-out-loud book about friendship and romance, then look no further than The Secret Bridesmaid! The perfect book for Spring and one I highly, highly recommend.

As a professional bridesmaid Sophie is used to all sorts of demands from her "brides" but when she is hired for the society wedding of the year against the wishes of the bride Cordelia she almost wishes she could back out. Cordelia does not want a professional bridesmaid and does all she can to put Sophie off. Interspersed with anecdotes and emails and texts from other brides this is a funny rom com with really likeable characters
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is secretly hired by brides to be their right-hand woman, ensuring their big day goes off without a hitch. From wrangling rowdy hen dos to navigating last minute portaloo cancellations, there's no problem she can't solve.

So when she's employed by an actual Marchioness to help plan the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is.

Of course, it's not ideal that the bride, Cordelia, is rude, difficult and determined to make Sophie's life a nightmare. It's also a bit inconvenient when Sophie finds herself drawn to Cordelia's posh older brother, who is absolutely off limits. And when a rival society wedding is announced, things get even more complicated . . .

Can Sophie pull off the biggest challenge of her career, follow her heart and maintain her reputation - all while keeping her true identity hidden?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I LOVED this book! It made me howl with laughter in parts and tear up in others. I laughed at the emails throughout the chapters and could easily see why someone would want to hire a bridesmaid!

The perfect read whilst on the way to a girl weekend away if you love romance, friendship based novels or wedding chat - I have already been recommending this book to friends and I will definitely look out for the author in future - a full 5 star review from me!

A charming, fun, feelgood story.
Having read that the author usually wrote for young adults, I was interested to see how she tackled adult fiction.
This book is full of fun anecdotes from emails and WhatsApp chat, showing the hilarious side of preparing for a wedding, any wedding.
Well done Sophie for pulling it off, and well done Katy for the story

I absolutely loved The Secret Bridesmaid. I read it over a poor weather weekend, as I couldn't put it down. Funny, laugh out loud, with some hilarious characters and moments. A feel good, chick lit, slightly predictable, (but we need that right now) and full of friendship, love and kindness. I'd highly recommend it - a fun read.

What a fun light book. With some great characters and many laugh out loud, moments.
Sophie is for hire as a professional bridesmaid, come, wedding planner, come general dogsbody for the bride and her family. Cordelia's (the bride's) antics are hilarious as a spoilt brat whom Sophie has been hired by the bride's mother aristocratic lady Meade.

The fun, frivolity, misunderstandings and general naughtiness of this book made it a really enjoyable read for a dull wet weekend.

Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read and enjoy this book. xx

I loved this funny and charming book. It was like a breath of fresh air and really helped to take me away from all the woes in the world. I was only a bridesmaid once and I really didn’t enjoy it at all. I highly recommend this book who once a giggle. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I loved this book. It was a bit predictable but I don't mind that in a romantic comedy - it simply serves to give us something we know we'll love. The characters were fleshed out and felt real, with nuances and problems and reactions that felt both perfectly exaggerated and fantastically realistic, which is the careful balance in slice of life comedy - you want the characters to be larger than life without becoming caricature.

This is best shown in Cordelia. You know from the start that she's going to be the 'bridezilla' of the plot, from both the fact she's the entitled heiress and from the synopsis of the book - but whilst she toes the line of over the top rich bitch, it's dialled back by the Author at the perfect point. It never becomes 'roll your eyes' ridiculous.

One thing I loved about this book is that whilst romance featured, it was more in a 'letting love shine' theme, taking a back seat to the much more prominent theme of friendship. It's the one thing that really surprised me as I did go in expecting a romcom, but it didn't negatively effect my enjoyment at all - the book didn't feel lacking.

I'd like to take a moment to praise the little snippets of conversations she has with other brides. More books set in the modern age should contain snippets of text conversations - it's something that I think has potentially translated over well from her teen books; which I've not read but I remember something akin to it when I used to obsess over the princess diaries series. Seeing her cheerfully navigate Star Wars weddings and penny flute first dances with a level of professionalism I can only aspire to.

This was very fun, frothy and fantastic. I'd add this to your read on the go list, your read on the train list, the beach, the garden - it was quick and easy and super enjoyable. I'm really excited to see what else Katy Birchall has for the adult market, as this book felt like perfection.

The secret bridesmaid

I really loved this book. I read it in one long swoop. It had all the right ingredients for a lovely romance. The characters were great - good and bad! I have not read this author before but look forward to reading more of her books

Honestly I don't usually have the time to read a while book in one day but that's exactly what I did with The Secret Bridesmaid. I loved it - I used to be a huge fan of 'chick-lit' when I was younger but the ones I've read more recently have all fell a bit flat until this one. It was very predictable (but that's part of the charm of chick-lit) but I really enjoyed the characters, they felt like real people and there were some genuine laugh out loud moments - overall I loved it, a very lovely comforting read ☺️
I received this book through netgalley

Thank you NetGalley, Katy Birchall and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Secret Bridesmaid. This is my personal review.
Sophie Breeze has made a career out of being a bridesmaid! What an idea she has and being able to construct a backstory as to how she knows the brides is great! She is not actually a wedding planning, but she can surely do the job of being the professional secret bridesmaid to make the weddings a success.
The book was a fun one to read and gave me a story that is told so well. I want to thank Katy Birchall for this great book!

I found this a perfect escapism read. It was an absolute joy to read mixed with humour and angst. I loved the concept of a secret bridesmaid who was the mainstay for many a bridezilla. I would heartily recommend.

This book is light hearted and would be perfect for a holiday read - If we ever get to go on holiday again!
Sophie is a bridesmaid for hire who helps brides to be plan their wedding and ensure it all goes smoothly on the day. Then she encounters her toughest client yet ...
I did notice format issues on the copy I had but it was a ARC.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

'The Secret Bridesmaid' is Katy Birchall's first foray into writing adult fiction - and she has hit onto a winner! Sophie has a very unique job, acting as a secret bridesmaid, confidante and general point of emotional and organisational support for overwhelmed brides. Once you get past the confusion about why on earth a bride would want to hire a stranger to be in their wedding photos, instead of just hiring a wedding planner, this novel hits the right notes throughout. We see Sophie's business flourish as her services are engaged for a high society wedding for Lady Cordelia Swann. Unlike the normal gushing, grateful bride, Cordelia is a handful and determined to drive Sophie to quit. Cue hijinks galore.

The premise is so interesting, original and pulled off with a lot more nuance than I was expecting. It is pacey and fun with a thread of more serious issues woven throughout. These threads led to some highly satisfying character development from our main 'Secret Bridesmaid' and her nightmarish client. At first, I thought Cordelia was unredeemable, but her arc, as Sophie digs below her spiky exterior, is actually lovely to witness. The swoony presence of Cordelia's older brother Tom is also an added bonus!

For fans of wholesome and amusing British romantic comedies, from the likes of Sophie Kinsella and Sophie Ranald, this is the perfect read for a sunny Spring afternoon. You will be completely sucked into Sophie's world and race through the antics of our bridesmaid and her kooky clients. An easy 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A joyful and entertaining read which follows Emily's secretive career of Professional Bridesmaid. It is a varied read which includes some reading of emails too.

It is a fun and light-hearted book which covers the important themes of friendship, love and career.

I would definitely recommend this book to others.

The perfect feel good, easy read for those lovely sunny days we are starting to see more of. And maybe even a holiday soon!

Sophie is a professional bridesmaid, which at first I thought sounded great, but the reality of the Bridezillas put me off pretty quickly! She is a really likeable main character which I find is important in this kind of chick-lit read. The plot was fresh and I liked that the main relationship involved the friendship of the two women, rather than a romantic one. Intersected throughout were messages from brides and suppliers which were witty and well done.

The author has made the jump from writing YA to contemporary fiction seamlessly and this is a fab read. Entertaining, charming and light hearted - a perfect Summer read for sure.

This isn't the sort of book I often read but I am so glad I did. A sweet, story with several laugh out loud moments. Definitely recommend for a light hearted, easy to read, funny book.

This book exceeded my expectations and was a lot of fun! It's rare that a book makes me laugh out loud but this one did!

Our protagonist is a secret bridesmaid, and she makes a living helping others to plan their weddings in a low-key role. The most hilarious thing about this book, though the characters are likeable and the story progresses with good pace, is the fact it is interspersed with messages, emails and phone calls that the main character deals with on a regular basis. These are HILARIOUS.

If you have EVER been involved in a group chat or a wedding... buy the book solely for that 😂

Thanks NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!