Such an adorable, funny and heart-warming story. A true Bride Wars meets 27 Dresses story! Sophie works as a professional bridesmaid which basically means, she is hired to help the bride with anything and everything! I loved the relationship for Lady Cordelia and Sophie. It was such a nice journey of love, friendship, trust and acceptance. Sophie as the narrator is hilarious. She has the perfect sarcasm and witty comments to match those of Cordelia's. The arc of the characters and how their friendship fosters is believable and relatable. The two characters are so dynamic and it was refreshing to see how Sophie navigated the 'bridezilla' by persevering and never giving up! And of course there is the matter of the ex-boyfriend and the hot brother of Cordelia with "sexy arms." It's definitely a quick and comedic read and keeps you hooked from the very beginning! If you love romantic comedies or want a light, comforting and heartwarming story about friendship, this is it! Thank you @stmartinspress @katybirchallauthor and @netgalley for my advanced reader’s e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

The thing about weddings is that they make everyone a little crazy, which made this book a roaring success. I was laughing out loud at the antics and THE EMAILS, oh the emails. The idea of a bridesmaid for hire isn't a new one, but this book had a completely original take that made me fall in love with it. If you love love, this one's for you.

*Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

This was such a cute cute cute story! I loved it right from the beginning. It immediately shows you what a delightful read it's going to be! It's funny and filled with lovely characters that will make you laugh and want to be friends! I loved the romance and the friendship throughout the story, and I think this is perfect for readers that enjoy a good chick-lit!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This was so entertaining & left me with a huge smile! Sophie is a bride's best friend - a professional bridesmaid that can handle any wedding disaster, all while not letting on that she has been hired by the bride. I really enjoyed the interactions with Sophie & Cordelia; in the end, you could see how much they had grown in their friendship. I loved seeing bits & pieces from some of the other weddings that Sophie was involved with. I read this in one sitting & can't wait to read more by Katy Birchall.

A hilarious story that I loved from start to finish.

I liked the plot of the story and found it to be original and refreshing. The main heroine in the story is such an amazing character but I loved that the author jam packed this book with so many other beautiful characters that you couldn’t help but love!

I love that one of the main underlying themes of the book is friendship and how important that bond is!

The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall Is the perfect balance of hilarious, engaging, and satisfying. The heroine, Sophie Breeze, has created an unusual but very much needed role as a professional bridesmaid. This leads her into secretly supporting brides in all aspects of planning and especially damage control on their wedding day, For those wedding guests looking on, they would never know she has not had a long standing friendship with the bride. In most cases her help definitely saves unexpected wedding drama. This aspect of the book is laugh out load funny. Text messages and email chains have you rolling in all the behind the scenes work Sophie is doing.

Sophie comes to the attention of the Marchioness of Meade to support her daughter in the society wedding of the year. The problem is Cordelia has no desire to be helped and what ensues tests Sophie well beyond anything she has done before. I will not provide spoilers but the book is less of a “rom com” and more of a true exploration of the hardships and glories of female friendship. It is not an easy road to navigate and Birchall has done this masterfully.

Sophie will become the best friend you wish you had as you stand in awe of the excellent way she manages her demanding entrepreneur career. Cordelia will be the one you love to hate but all is not as it seems there either. There are also fantastic minor characters that add much to the masterful storytelling.

Birchall is a new author to me, but she will be one to add to my ever-growing list. I truly loved this book, it tugged at my heartstrings, had me laughing, and kept me guessing. I was provided a free advance reader copy from St, Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review on Net Galley. The opinions shared in this review are my own.

***I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalleyOpinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*** Sophie Breeze is a professional bridesmaid. It’s her job to be hired by brides to be the best friend they never had and to help coordinate their wedding days. She’s recently been hired by a very well known British, aristocratic family to help coordinate their daughter’s wedding. She’s thrilled to have this opportunity and it could do wonders for her career but there’s just one problem. The bride is an absolute spoiled diva! Can Sophie navigate all of the outlandish requests and keep her wits about her in order to pull this off? I throughly enjoyed this book! It had me laughing out loud. I really enjoyed the characters and the tension between Sophie and the bride. I was cheering for Sophie and her determination to pull off this big event. Definitely put this on your list to read when it publishes May 4, 2021!

I REALLY liked this book!! One thing to note is that I feel like it's a little miscategorised as a romance. While there are definitely romantic threads in the story, the central relationship of this story is between Sophie and Cordelia. I absolutely loved watching them become friends as Sophie gained Cordelia's trust. I really appreciated how considerate the background was with building why Cordelia was so afraid of being vulnerable. I also loved seeing Cordelia's and Johnathan's sweet relationship in the beginning of the book contrasted against Cordelia's cold demeanour.

Another one of my favourite parts of the book was when at the end of the chapter, there would be email or text snippets about Sophie's other weddings she was working. Some of the bride's were absolutely hilarious!

4/5 stars! This book is definitely more chic-lit than romance, but I was very pleasantly surprised!

Cute story about a job that should be the real thing. Being a bridesmaid for hire, sounds too good to be true. This was a ute rom co that was light and fun!

I loved this book about this woman who is secret bridesmaid for her job. She wears costumes , colors her hair and overall helps the bride out. She gets the job of the century and finds romance and does impossible tasks to win her friendship. She helps a couple get back together and has a new friend. Great romance and loved the friends and parents.

This was a delightful chick-lit read! I felt like it was a blend of 27 Dresses meets Wedding Planner with a Devil Wears Prada vibe. I absolutely loved everything about this book from the character development to the clever and hilarious dialogue.

Sophie is a professional bridesmaid. She created this job herself because she wanted to support each bride, but not feel like she was taking over control of the wedding planning process. Many brides also want to keep her services quiet so she pretends to be best friends of the brides she works for. She is a lovable, honest, and genuine character that you root for the whole way through. Sophie makes a big break in her career by bagging a high profile client that is her biggest challenge yet!
This book is set apart for me because while there is a little bit of romance in this book, the real relationship development is between Sophie and Cordelia, her most challenging bride yet.

I loved this book so much and definitely will recommend it! Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Birchall enchants with a secret for-hire bridesmaid who makes your wedding perfect in the guise of an old friend. However, when she is tasked with aiding a notorious, noble socialite who doesn’t want help, Sophie will have to find the strength to follow through. It does help the bride’s brother is kind of cute...

I agree with several of the reviewers who have said this story is more about the growing friendship between the two main characters than a romance. Usually, I’m not all that fond of stories where the main character is deliberately hiding something from the love interest, but that really was a minor part of the story.

In a switch on what has become a trope about the wedding planner who falls for a family member of the bride, Sophie has created her own profession. She pretends to be a bridesmaid so that she can help the bride. In this case, the bride is a wealthy member of the nobility, Lady Cordelia, who is quite a nasty piece of work. She resists Sophie’s role in her planned wedding when her mother hires Sophie to pretend to be her friend and help her out with the wedding. She does everything possible to sabotage Sophie’s job and Sophie just responds with friendliness and kindness. It’s not until Sophie starts standing up for herself that Cordelia starts to respect her.

And there’s the handsome brother in the background who seems to fall for Sophie for no particular reason other than there has to be a romantic interest in a romance novel.

Even though the whole plot wasn’t very realistic, it was still a fun read.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

I was hoping this book would prove to be a quick-read with a fun engaging romance story. At first, it appeared to be everything I had hoped. The premise was appealing. The characters believable and the conflict of the story clear from the start. But after reading half way through, I was disappointed to see not much plot development besides the gradual affinity increasing between two female characters. I was still not sure where the story was headed. I wish the pace of this book had been more quick and more action packed.

The Secret Bridesmaid was such a fun escape into a couple of different worlds. Initially, you get introduced to Sophie’s world as a secret bridesmaid, and later, you get introduced to the world of the rich and famous as Sophie is hired to work with the daughter of a noble family. The only problem is that this bride, Cordelia Swann, wants nothing to do with Sophie or her work.

I found Sophie to be highly like able - quirky, down to earth, genuinely caring about those around her. Cordelia was a little harder to get a handle on, but I think that was intentional. Early on she’s tough to root for, but the author does a good job of letting you see glimpses of her true self through those around her. It’s just enough to keep you from turning on her entirely. While there is a romantic love storyline in this book, the real love story is between Sophia and Cordelia.

The book is a little slow to start, but once it picked up a few chapters in, I flew through it. I was so sad for it to finish and to have to leave this fictional world and these characters. All in all, I highly enjoyed this one and recommend it as an entertaining read.

The Secret Bridesmaid is a great romance novel that follows a quirky young woman as she deals with the blue bloods of England. It bring in believable back stories and real emotion when it comes to looking back on relationships with partners, family, and friends. I would happily read this again and would suggest getting it for your next weekend book. #Netgalley

This was just so friggin cute!!! Though, I should say from the start that this book was less of a romance and more of a ‘womance’. Basically, it was more about a friendship than anything else. The romance really was even mentioned only at the 50% mark and then it took off into something only at the end, but well.

The book is about Sophie Breezer who is a professional bridesmaid. Why a professional bridesmaid and not a wedding planner? Because some people are just more comfortable hiring a bridesmaid than a wedding planner. Sure, okay. Maybe? Anyway, she’s a ‘glass half full’ overtly optimistic and wanting to please everyone sort of gal (reminded me of Katherine Heigl in 27 Dresses) and she gets the client of her lifetime - Lady Cordelia Swann.

Well, rather Lady Cordelia Swan’s mother who wants Sophie to be, problem child - Cordelia’s bridesmaid to help her through the process. So, really this is about Sophie and Cordelia’s relationship and how they become friends.

It was a really cute read though. Laugh out loud in parts and sweet and wholesome. I really grew to love the characters and was invested in their friendship and them as people. The plot may have been a little obvious, but it was still enjoyable to read with Birchall peppering in some fun banter and episodes to chuckle along with.

Definitely recommend it for people who like to read about friendships or for a read that feels like a cute hug.

You know what I love more than a sweet love story? A sweet friendship story. And this book delivers.

The plot was fantastic - a professional bridesmaid?! So fun!
The characters were LOL funny.
The depth of the characters was spot on.
The romance was adorable.
The friendship was the best part though.

Absolutely loved this story. Five stars hands down.

What a fun read! The Secret Bridesmaid was such a fun romance, with enough plot twists and surprises to keep things interesting, and I love the concept of a professional bridesmaid. I really enjoyed this, it was a quick read and I think it'll be the perfect addition to everyone's beach or pool tote this summer.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader's copy.

Absolutely loved this book - full of laughter and laugh out loud funny moments - a real feel good book for just about any time right now as we all need to escape the reality of life at the moment! This book is the perfect tonic and I guarantee you will enjoy it as much as I have. Will definitely look out for more from this author and would like to thanks netgalley for an arc in return for my honest opinion.