This was a stellar debut novel! WOW. I love the focus on friendship and family and learning the lesson of starting over after loss.

The characters in this book were all so loveable. You really saw them develop and flourish as things progressed. I would highly recommend this one!

A woman who wants nothing to do with love or friendship finds both in the unlikeliest ways in this hilarious and heartwarming debut by Kerry Rea. 

This book was non-stop and had my emotions all over the place. Princess effing Sparkles will be my new melt down name for sure. I am pretty sure I would burn the world down if I found my fiance in bed with my best friend a month or two from the wedding.

Willa is having a coffee trying to meet up on a date when Maisie sits with her and begs her to 9pretend to be her friend and will pay her so her fiance thinks she has friends. I mean I think that's how I met some of my friends) Which turns into a more long range situation that includes her being a bridesmaid.  She also has a enemies to lovers thing going with the best man. 

But Willa keeps running into her ex best friend - seriously just break up with people and grow up- don't go behind their backs. You lose people. And everyone is depressed and broken and now trusts no one.

Willa was a successful blogger and she just couldn't write anymore at least the content she wrote was not upbeat and positive. In the process of this fake friendship she learned to trust people and got a new friend and learned to love and trust herself again. Which helped her be able to write again.

And I loved that she lived with her sister. She was hilarious. My sister would probably not let me live with her but would definitely judge the hell out of me with the sweetest smile on her face.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Thank you berkleyromance and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

I added The Wedding Ringer to my TBR in March of 2021. There was nothing about the book description that stood out to me, but it seemed like it would be an okay book and something different than what I had been reading at that time. I think I liked the idea of the main character being a former blogger/influence that had lost everything and was trying to make money. But really it was a book about so much more it appeared and it took me COMPLETELY by surprise in how much I ended up loving it.

The Wedding Ringer is about Willa Callister, a once successful blogger that appeared to have it all right down to the perfect fiance. That is until he caught he cheating with Willa’s best friend. Suddenly Willa is single, living with her sister, and trying to keep it together. For someone that once had perfect credit she is now trying to pay her bills anyway she can even if it means working for her sister’s company as Princess Sparkleheart. And then on day while getting coffee Willa meets the whirlwind that is Maise Mitchell. Maise needs something and Willa is the one that can help. She needs a bridesmaid for her wedding and she is willing to pay. Soon Willa finds herself thrust into Maise’s life and immersed in planning the perfect wedding for a stranger that is somehow becoming a friend. And with wedding planning comes the hot doctor Liam Rafferty. As the wedding starts to unravel Willa must decide how far she is willing to go for a friendship she never saw coming.

There was something truly amazing about The Wedding Ringer. On the surface it is a romance book between Liam and Willa, which don’t get me wrong, was super swoony. But it was about so much more.It was about friendship and picking yourself up when your world is shattered by the people you trusted the most with your happiness. It is about moving on and finding love and trust. It was about family you were born into the family you end up with. It was about opening yourself up even if you are doing everything in your power to protect yourself from getting hurt again. Those things right there are what made reading this book the most perfect experience and one I want every one to have.

Basically The Wedding Ringer was everything I wanted in a book and didn’t know I wanted it. It was filled with such loving, supportive characters that were there for one another. It’s a book that took my completely by surprise and that I wanted to hung when I was done because it just felt magical. It’s a book that you will definitely want on your shelf. Get a copy today!

This has much more emotional depth than the preview blurb would have us believe. It’s not a simple enemies to lovers romance, but a story of friendships lost and friendships found. Willa, a successful lifestyle blogger, faces the worst heartbreak when she finds her best friend in bed with her fiancé just six weeks before her wedding. It throws her into a deep depression resulting in the loss of her job, her female friends, and her trust. However, when Maisie finds her in a coffee shop and begs her to pretend to be her friend and bridesmaid, it begins a journey of healing and believing that her heart can be trusted. When she finally gives up the idea of running from her heartbreak and chooses to embrace her family and new friends, she realizes that this new Willa is one worth sharing with her loved ones and her large social media following.

Love interest Liam is a wonderful book boyfriend. He’s gorgeous, compassionate, successful, and honest. Despite her hesitancy to trust her heart and her instant dislike of him after he laughs at her humiliation at a birthday party, he manages to crash through her defenses and have her start to believe that she can have a second chance at love.


The supporting cast of characters, including her sister Sophie, sister-in-law Glory, precocious nieces, feisty octogenarian neighbor Ruthie, and even Maisie’s monster-in-law, Mrs. Forsyth, add color, humor and balance to this heartfelt and endearing story of female friendship and romance. A worthy debut!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Six months ago, Willa lost her fiance, her best friend, and her job. Willa finds herself accepting a job as a professional bridesmaid. Even though it is the last thing that she's looking for, Willa finds love and friendship.

Willa's journey to regain her footing after being blindsided by friends is humorous and relatable. Willa's progression and her bond with Maisie, the bride, are some of my favorite parts of the book.

Secondary characters in The Wedding Ringer were terrific. Her sister, her sister's partner, and former brother-in-law make up Willa's unconventional family. Their support, along with their gentle nudges (and not so gentle ones!) to help her start over, is heartwarming. And I adored Liam as Willa's love interest. The banter between them and his sweetness were my favorite aspects of their relationship. Even though I wish Willa and Liam's romance had a more prominent role, it makes sense it was secondary as the book focuses on Willa's overcoming obstacles in life.

The Wedding Ringer is a beautiful story of friendship, family, and love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the digital copy of this book.

Well, this is a romcom that I could get behind! Whenever I read a romance novel, I think to myself, “When is someone going to add something else to the story so that there’s more than just a love interest that we’re focusing on?” This book brought it for me!

Not only was there a dreamy enemies to lovers trope going on, but there was a big focus on the love of family and friendship. That sounded really cheesy but I don’t know how else to describe it. I thought it was a fresh take on your typical romcom story and honestly, the friendship between Willa and Maisie was what kept me invested above all else.

I loved Willa as a main character. She was honest and hilarious and very real. Maisie was an unbelievable sweetheart and I wanted her to be my friend in real life. And the men in this world were all so sweet and lovely (except for Max of course, who is scum).

This was a refreshing read for me and one that I really enjoyed! A review will be posted to my Bookstagram account and will also be posted on Amazon and Goodreads.

I received a gifted galley of THE WEDDING RINGER by Kerry Rea for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

THE WEDDING RINGER begins with Willa a woman down on her luck. After finding her best friend in bed with her fiancée, Willa has been reduced to living in her sister’s guest bedroom and dressing up as a princess to work birthday parties for spoiled little girls. She’s lost touch with her first passion, writing. When Maisie busts into the coffee shop Willa is sitting at, desperate for someone to pretend to be her friend for the sake of her fiancée, Willa is desperate enough for a little supplemental income to say yes.

Maisie is getting married and is afraid to admit to her husband-to-be that she doesn’t have any close friends to serve as bridesmaid, so Willa winds up taking on the job as a ringer. When Willa meets the best man Liam, the animosity is instant. Not only did he witness her biggest humiliation as a birthday party princess, he continues to rub her the wrong way. Of course, there’s always more to the story and soon things between them are taking a turn for the better.

This book was a lot of fun! It could be called an enemies to lovers romance, but the enemies part is over with fairly quickly. Still, there is some fun banter and relationship building. The pair have some funny moments as they try to support the somewhat mysterious bride and her doting groom.

I really enjoyed seeing Willa’s support system in action too. Willa is taking on this fake bridesmaid job as a way to get on her feet and move out on her own, but in the meantime she has a pretty awesome relationship with her sister and her sister’s wife and family. Seeing the way the friendship bloomed between Maisie and Will and the way each was dealing with their own mental health and the secrets from their past was great as well!

THE WEDDING RINGER is out today! This was a really fun read I would recommend!

I tagged this comedy-of-manners as well as romance though it's really more of the first than the second.

The substrate of this often funny, colorful, insightful and easy read is female friendship. Willa is totally down on her luck, having a lonely pity party when she is accosted (there is no other word for it) by Maisie, and hired to be her bridesmaid.

Is this a thing? It seems to be a thing. This is the third fake bridesmaid story I've read this year.

Anyway, though Maisie and her sweetie Finn are one thread, and Willa meeting Finn's bestie Liam, and coming together with him (no, how can that be a spoiler, this is a romance), the real focus of the book is on Maisie and Willa's friendship, on their families, and the romance fits in around that.

I read this book straight through on an insomnia night, enjoying it mightily, especially the epic fail of Princess Sparkleheart.

Really a fun book with a ton of heart.

From page one, Kerry had me. I laughed so many times and all the while I was sucked into Willa's backstory of heartache and downward spiral. The character arc and the romance are so well done.
Willa has sought refuge within her sister's own happily-ever-after. She's wallowing after finding her best friend and her fiancé weeks before they were to say "I do". Willa goes out for a coffee date and is instead bombarded by the buoyant and desperate bride-to-be, Maisie. She agrees to be Maisie's paid bridesmaid in order to escape Columbus and start over elsewhere. Between the best man, whom she hates to love, and Maisie, Willa finds the will to more than simply exist.
I loved this book so much and know it will be one I'll want to re-read in the future. I adored the themes of friendship and the importance of family. Fans of The Secret Bridesmaid and For the Love of Friends will definitely enjoy The Wedding Ringer.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

You know you've hit rock bottom when you were once a popular lifestyle blogger and journalist and now perform at children's birthday parties for your sister's event planning company! Willa Calister once had it all - friends, a successful career, a fiancé and a positive outlook on life. But things come crashing down when she catches her ex-fiancé in bed with her best friend just six weeks before their wedding.

Sent into a deep depression, she loses her job, erases her entire existence on social media, and shuns friends and men forever. Willa wants to get out of town to start fresh, but she needs to save money in order to do that.

In walks, Maisie Mitchell. Willa meets her after a chance encounter at a coffee shop. Maisie offers her $200 to pretend to be her friend while at the coffee shop. Needing the money, Willa agrees and thinks she won't see Maisie ever again. Maisie then shows up at her house with a proposition: she'll pay her $5,000 to be a bridesmaid at her wedding. Willa wants nothing to do with weddings and doesn't want to be Maisie's friend - but she reluctantly agrees because she really needs the money. Plus, Maisie intrigues her - on the outside, she appears put together, but she thinks there's more to her underneath the surface.

Much to her surprise, Willa and Maisie form a friendship and she realizes that she actually cares about Maisie. It also doesn't hurt that one of the groomsmen, Liam Rafferty, is a hot pediatric doctor. Not only do these two things put a dent in her exit strategy, Maisie has a secret from the past that may derail the wedding.

I adored this sweet and charming rom-com. Actually, most of the story is about Willa and Maisie's friendship so I would call this a friend-com! I thought the story was great - a lot of the story does deal with Willa's depression and grief but all the humorous bits help balance everything out. The book is downright funny! There is a bit of romance but it's only a small part of the book which includes a "closed door" scene. I wish that the plot included more of Liam but I get that this book is really about friendships. I loved seeing Willa heal - it was so inspiring! I didn't particularly love Maisie's secret (I wish it was something darker) but I don't think it detracted from the overall story.

Thank you, NetGalley, Berkley Pub, and Kerry Rea for providing the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Willa was a popular blogger and journalist until she discovered her fiance and best friend in bed together. With her wedding cancelled, she retreated to her sister’s house where she has been hiding out since, that is when she’s not donning a flamingo-pink ballgown to appear as Princess Sparkleheart at kids’ parties.
One day, at a local cafe, she comes across Maisie, who’s desperate for her to pretend to be her friend in front of her own fiance, Finn. And this leads to her being paid to be her bridesmaid.
With an awesome cast of characters – from the sweet bride-to-be to the sweep-you-off-your-feet groomsman Liam, this was a wonderfully heartwarming debut about friendship, weddings and bouncing back.

The Wedding Ringer by Kerry Rea is a cute and charming read with a fun and engaging storyline. The Wedding Ringer is such an enjoyable read!

I don't know what it is, but romance books that take place at weddings or utilize wedding parties are always so much fun for me. and The Wedding Ringer was no different. There's a lot of humor and situational awkwardness that drives the story forward and keeps the pacing quick. And seeing Willa growing to connect with others again after the cheating/betrayal fiasco from her previous relationship was great.

I wanted to love this book but it was too much women's fiction for me. Willa's character was sweet and I enjoyed her but I needed the romance to come a lot sooner. Thank you Berkley for this book in exchange for a review.

A delightful read!

I’ll admit it was a bit slow to get into, and I’m not usually interested in stories that begin with “down-on-their-luck” social media influencers. But by the end I did love Willa. She had a great journey.

This is not a rom-com. Maybe a platonic-com? While there is a romantic element, and it does center around a wedding, the core of the story is definitely about Maisie and Willa becoming friends. It had the same will-they won’t-they tension you’d see for a romantic couple, but with a friendship instead. They made a great pair, and their struggles and challenge of making and keeping true friends as an adult was so relatable.

The writing was a bit slow at times; I feel like the inciting incident happened a bit too late. But I did enjoy the style of prose a lot. There were some lines that really made me laugh out loud, (like being jealous of the dog for being allowed to pant).

Willa Callister never expected to walk in and find her best friend and fiancée in bed six weeks before her wedding day. Devastated she’s now staying with her sister and her wife in their extra bedroom. Once a successful blogger she can no longer write to her followers and she’s broke. She makes a little cash dressing up for children’s birthday parties. One day while sitting at a coffee shop a woman sits down named Maisie, Maisie begs Willa to pretend to be her friend, she doesn’t want her fiancée to know she doesn’t have any real friends, Maisie then offers Willa money to be her bridesmaid. Needing the money Willa agrees, and as her bridesmaid duties go on,she starts to care and form an actual friendship with Maisie, and a potential romance with the best man Liam and his gorgeous smile. But when a secret from Maisie past threatens could threaten the wedding Willa is soon facing her own past and looking at what true love and friendship mean. Five stars. This book was the perfect romance and friendship. I loved all the characters and Willa and LiaM were amazing five stars!!

Reading THE WEDDING RINGER by Kerry Rea brought absolute joy to my heart!

As much as this story was a romance and had some funny bits, it was so much more about the friendship between Willa & Maisie. I mean if a random, chaotic woman approaches you in a coffee shop to pretend to be her long-lost friend while her fiancé stops by, would you go along with it?

I know for a fact I would because it's literally straight out of your typical 2000s rom-com.

I could go on and on about what exactly about this book made me fall head over heels in love with it. But I think it’s better if y’all take the leap and just go for it. Just know it has some amazing friendships, the cutest kids are involved, and the love interest is a wholesome pediatrician - it also starts with our MC dressed up as Princess Sparkleheart for a birthday party.

That should be more than enough to entice you! 💖

Willa used to have it all - the perfect boyfriend, an amazing best friend, and a successful career as a blogger. Until she caught her boyfriend with her best friend and that perfect life fell apart. Now she performs at children’s birthday parties. One day she meets Maisie, who offers to pay Willa to be her bridesmaid. As bridesmaid duties go on, they start to form a real friendship AND Willa starts to fall for the best man, Liam.

This book was so fun! One thing I really appreciated was that outside of the romance, this book really focused on the importance of female friendships and Willa’s journey of self-discovery. Willa’s growth was beautiful to watch - how she went from someone who felt completely lost and broken, to someone who was willing to get let people in and knew her worth was incredible. The importance of family was also profound, and I loved Willa’s interactions with her nieces. I would have liked a little more romance, but otherwise this was a gem of a book.

Oh Willa. Her life has taken a bad turn, but she keeps herself in that lane for way too long. I know there is no time frame to get over finding your best friend in bed with your fiancée, but she wallowed in her pain. But with all this wallowing she finds herself in laughable situations over and over again. Dressing up for kid’s parties does not go as planned. Being a bridesmaid for Maisie had me laughing out loud so many times. The good thing is that by keeping herself busy has brought her around to finding ways to be happy again.

I enjoyed how understanding her sister is while still pushing her to get out of her funk and start living again. I laughed at all the self-help books that were left around all while Willa was having no part of it. The nieces were sweet and so true to how little ones are that I felt like they were exactly what Aunt Willa needed.

The Wedding Ringer is a sweet and fun book. I laughed many times and shook my head at Willa just as much.

I have flown through this book! It is an easy contemporary romance to get lost in, and while it's a little lighter on the romance and heavier on grief/depression and figuring out how to pick yourself back up, it definitely had some laugh out loud moments, snarky banter, and fun side characters. I wanted more Liam and Willa, but overall really enjoyed this book!