Sophie is a profesional bridesmaid. Brides pay her to pose as a friend so she can provide a bride the support she needs with the planning, lead-up, and on the wedding day (I don't understand why she has to be in people's weddings to do this?). Sophie has been focusing on her career since her long time boyfriend broke up with her a year ago (and recently became engaged) because she was too "safe". And then Sophie gets the chance of a lifetime, when the mother of high society bride hires Sophie to help pull off the wedding of the year. Can Sophie overcome an epic bridezilla who resents her presence and pull this off? Also there are sparks with the bride's handsome brother.
This book was cute, though like many people in the book I don't see why Sophie has to be in all of these people's weddings instead of just an attendee? I'm very concerned for her business model when she ages a bit more and young brides don't want a middle age woman in their wedding. I also wouldn't go in to this book expecting lots of romance, the romance is more a side plot. The main story is definitely Sophie and Cordelia.

Let me start out by saying that this isn’t your typical rom-com novel. It’s a light read but it has depth and breath to it that other rom-coms typically don’t have. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. I was entertained the entire time and wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Sophie is a professional bridesmaid. She’ll pretend to be your BFF throughout the entire wedding process in order to make your day magical. Think the movie Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez but Sophie is seriously invested in her brides. In comes the drama of a high-end wedding and ultimate bridezilla which will ultimately open a new avenue into her bridesmaid business. She just has to get the bridezilla married. Easy to do, right?

This novel was humorous, witty, and a fast-paced read! A must read for anyone who wants a different perspective on the most important day of a girl’s life.

Sophie is a wedding expert whose job is to become part of the bridal party and do whatever the family needs, from small errands to full-blown wedding planning. Her most important task is to manage crises that occur during or before the wedding, such as a drunk groom or missing “luxury” port-a-potties. When she is hired to become a bridesmaid for the difficult daughter of a Marchioness, Sophie encounters her biggest challenge yet, and possibly a romance.

“Sophie is a professional bridesmaid.” Just that much of the description of this hilarious British romcom had me hooked, and I had to know more. This is such a fun book. The idea of a professional bridesmaid is intriguing, and the author will have you chuckling with some of the crazy email exchanges Sophie has with clients. We learn a little bit about British nobility, but this is mostly a book about friendship, with a nice little romance to boot. This book takes us from humor to heartbreak and back again, with a lot of wedding hijinks thrown in. You will laugh aloud, and maybe even shed a tear, while reading this delightful book. Fans of romantic comedies, friendship reads, and weddings will enjoy this book.

The Secret Bridesmaid will be released on May 4, 2021.

I received a free copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

I chose this book because the premise sounded so fun. A secret bridesmaid? It’s made me wonder if there is such a thing? And if there isn’t, it’s brilliant. There needs to be.

Then a secret bridesmaid for a royal family, doubles the fun.

The book lived up to its fun filled premise with lots of surprises and witty banter. A quick, light read that won’t let you down, and will put a smile on your face. The perfect kick of to Spring.

Fun, fun story. Tricky to pull off, but betting somewhere, someone actually DOES do this for a living. Think this would make a great movie! I would defintely watch it. Will recommend this book for sure!

Sophie is the professional bridesmaid, literally, and she takes her job very seriously. Her job is to make sure the wedding goes all according to plan, but her latest wedding puts up some roadblocks. From being attracted to the bride's brother to a rival wedding. She has to balance it all and if anyone is up for the challenge it's Sophie. With this being the wedding of the year and if she perfects this wedding she will solidify her future in being a professional bridesmaid.

This is a great romcom that I read through fairly quickly. I loved all of the characters and watching them interact in the author's world. The idea of a professional bridesmaid piqued my interest and the author did a great job developing this story line. I look forward to reading more from this author and highly recommend this book. I wish there was a sequel because I really loved the characters.

Sophie is super organized! She is passionate about weddings and the best bridesmaid around. When she assists her cousin Cara with her wedding, Cara suggests she become a secret bridesmaid: someone who pretends she knows the bride well enough to serve as a bridesmaid but is actually at the beck and call of the bride. Sophie has some really crazy wishes she has to fulfill, but her biggest challenge is when Lady Meade hires her to help with her daughter Cordelia’s wedding. Cordelia has a fit. Given she has no friends and did not intend to have a bridesmaid, she knows no one will believe she even has a friend. Lady Meade insists she use Sophie to make sure the wedding goes off without a hitch. Sophie’s experiences with brides are so funny and unusual, but what she must go through with Cordelia is life changing. Great book, wonderful characters. This book is funny and poignant, showing what it means to be true to self, family, and friends.

A Challenge Too Far....?
As a professional bridesmaid Sophie is used to a challenge but finds herself perhaps having bitten off more than she can chew with her latest assignment. Can Sophie rise to the occasion whilst still keeping her identity incognito? Amusing, lighthearted romcom with plenty of awkwardness and chuckles along the way. Some guaranteed escapism.

This is a romance novel with a twist--the real romance is a friendship that develops between Sophie (a bridesmaid-for-hire) and Cordelia (a prickly, high-society, bride-to-be). Secondarily (WAY secondary), Sophie and Cordelia's brother find love.

Both women have been betrayed by loved ones--Sophie by an ex-boyfriend, Cordelia by people she considered friends--and so both are working on regaining self-esteem and trust. I liked the growth of the friendship a lot. There were some very funny parts, especially with the emails and message from other brides to Sophie.

I found the main plot (bridesmaid-for-hire) implausible. As much as she tried to differentiate the job from that of a wedding planner, she is basically a......wedding planner. The idea of a bride having someone she doesn't know as a bridesmaid just to help with wedding details strained my suspension of disbelief. Also, there is a whole bit about how she can't tell anyone she's been hired and has to sign an NDA because Cordelia is famous. But won't all her OTHER brides see the wedding pictures and be be able to tell the tale?

The book was enjoyable and fun, but the central flaw in the plot is difficult to overlook.

This was cute and had potential. Sophie is a professional bridesmaid. I thought this was really interesting. I liked the plot, the romance was lacking. The author could have upped the romance part a bit. I did like the friendship aspect. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Plot: This was so good! The idea of a secret bridesmaid was so fun and unique. I laughed so much while reading it! It reminded me of Sophie Kinsella's books, which is one of the best compliments I can give. I loved how female friendships played such a big role in the book (more so, I would say, than the romance.), which is something that I always appreciate. And I also liked the romance!

Characters: All of the characters were wonderful! Each one felt fully developed, and they all had such different, entertaining personalities.

The Cover: I like it!

Overall: I loved this book! I stayed up far too late reading it, because I wanted to know how it would all end, and it was worth it! I absolutely adored this book, and I can not recommend it enough. And I truly hope we get a sequel, because I would love to spend more time with all the characters from the book! Overall, I highly recommend reading it!

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher.

This not your typical romcom story! It’s about Sophie who is a professional bridesmaid and goes to help out brides @ there weddings! Was an easy read and finished in one sitting.

This was a fun book to read with the well written storyline and characters that were very likable, believable and very engaging which made this book a very enjoyable and entertaining read!

Great story of learning to trust and move forward with your life after betrayal and heartbreak. Cordelia is famous and almost lost her life from an overdose. Sophie is a down to earth good girl who works as a professional bridesmaid. Cordelia helps Sophie step outside her comfort zone while Sophie helps Cordelia find the courage to open herself up to friendship again.

This book was such a charming read. Even though the characters skewed a bit trope-like and the plot has a lot of holes, I enjoyed escaping into this world. Katy Birchall has a knack for descriptions and dialogue that made Sophie and the members of Cordelia's family feel so familiar. My only criticism is that the text and email interludes between chapters felt a bit distracting and started to take away from the overall story. Other than that, it was a great rainy weekend book.

*2.5 STARS*

Description: Sophie Breeze is the girl you hire when you're not too inclined to hire a wedding planner but you still need help organizing your wedding. Everyone loves having Sophie around, she nice, friendly and a problem solver. Her life might not be how she wanted - her ex of 8yeras remarries before she even goes on a single post-breakup date and he has the audacity to invite his, but hey - work is going Great. Enter Lady Cordelia: hers would be the wedding of the century, but she refuses the help Sophie was hired to offer and instead tries to make her quit by being the most annoyingly diva person in history. But in the midst of trying to pull Cordelia's wedding off, her identity secret from the bride's handsome brother, Sophie and Cordelia spark an unusual...dare she call it... friendship?

My Thoughts:

Stuff I liked
>Sophie's inner monologue was very funny
>I like the peek into her other weddings
> The cover for the book is very pretty

Stuff I didn't like
- anything that had to do with Cordelia annoyed me beyond measure (I understand that is is the antagonist, but it is very difficult to brush aside the things she says or does once they become friends)
-the love-subplot felt, at best, out of place (there was no chemistry between them and they didn't contribute anything to the story so for me it makes no sense why they were ever paired up together)
-I didn't see why Sophie needed to "sass it up" or why it was such a big deal in the story. Was she not worthy being the main character if she wasn't sassy? (this is my personal opinion)

Bottom line: It was an OKAY read. I have to confess that past the 50% mark I had to push myself to finish it since it got increasingly annoying and uncomfortable (again, Cordelia's bullying took two starts off this rating). It was fun for a while and then it wasn't but hey, maybe I wasn't the target audience.

I loved this book! It was heartwarming and strong. It was exactly what I needed with everything going on in the world! A happy little escape!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Sophie who lives in London is a full time bridesmaid. She makes it her job to assist the bride any way she can. Her newest client is going to require a lot of work to pull off a society wedding. I enjoyed this book.

First time reading a book by this author and i loved it . A very beautifull story . I loved all the weird things Sophie had to do for the brides . I liked how she handle the crazy orders Cordelia put her do . The only thing i missed was that i would like more scenes with Tom and Sophie .
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is a delight. I really enjoyed how the format kept changing — regular prose, emails, dialogue, WhatsApp messages... all these different formats give you a real sense of everything going on. There were several moments when I started laughing out loud while reading with some of the hilarious wedding prep situations. And I just absolutely loved the entire story. Sophie is the perfect professional bridesmaid, and her biggest challenge yet with Lady Cordelia was such a fun read! Highly recommend.