This book was so cute and charming! It’s hard to believe it’s Kerry Rea’s debut novel. The storyline was fun and engaging. In the beginning of the book, I didn’t love Willa’s character and felt was really she was self sabotaging but by the end of the book, I loved her! I loved the personal growth she had throughout the book and the growing friendship between Willa and Maisie. They are BFF goals! And we can’t forget about Dr. Dreamboat, Liam. He is the perfect boyfriend! Such an enjoyable read!

Thank you Net Galley and Berkeley for an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Knowing how much I've enjoyed other Berkley romances and the premise of this one, I was instantly excited about this one from the start. And my thoughts continued to live up to that hype after I finished it, too. Here, we follow Willa, who was a successful Ohio-based blogger with a loving fiance until she caught him cheating on her with her very best friend. Now, she works as a dress-up princess for children's birthday parties but dreams of starting over somewhere new and escaping her life. But to do so, she needs money. Randomly, she meets Maisie who needs to hire a last-minute replacement bridesmaid is willing to shell out big bucks for that to open, and since Willa needs the money, it seems like a simple enough gig. Willa is thrust into Maisie's high-energy world of wedding planning into the path of the best man: the handsome and successful doctor Liam, who has sort of has a not-so-nice history with when she meets up at Maisie's engagement party. OK, so, this book! Author Kerry Rea writes such engaging storytelling that puts you right into the moment and in her head with first-person narration in this fun, indulgent rom-com. TBH, it's such a quick type of read that I don't want to put down at all thanks to its witty language and fun premise. Towards the end, there is a big, surprise twist that showcases the vulnerability and authenticity of the characters, which I liked to see. And, of course, that HEA was beyond precious and had me grinning so darn wide.

I have a hard time relating with characters who are self sabotaging. Not the book for me, but it was well written and I enjoyed the concept

Chapter 1 of this book is probably the best first chapter of any book I’ve ever read. EVER.

I was completely hooked from the start.

This is such an amazing story and it kept me intrigued from start to finish.

The only issue I had was with Maisie’s parents. It was stated that they were religious and because of their religious beliefs they were pretty much the worst parents ever. It just seemed a bit on the discriminating side towards religious persons to me. Not every religious person is that way.

Other than that I absolutely adored this story.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Wedding Ringer by Kerry Rea is a wonderful tale of female friendship that is more than just your typical romance. The story revolves around Willa Callister, who used to blog about her dream wedding with her fiance, but ended up single and barely employed. Currently, she works as a children's party entertainer, dressing up as a fairy tale princess. Since she can barely make ends meet, she thinks it's too good to be true when a stranger named Maisie pays her to be her bridesmaid at her wedding. But taking on this job potentially means opening herself up to the hurtful events in the past that caused her downward spiral. Will Willa find friendship and romance? Or will being a bridesmaid-for-hire be yet another disaster in her life?

"I never envisioned myself as a twenty-nine-year-old children’s birthday party performer, but here I am. Princess effing Sparkleheart. The effing is silent. Squeezing myself into a flamingo-pink, Goodwill-clearance-bin ball gown that itches severely, I look like a walking bottle of Pepto-Bismol.
Once upon a time, I was someone else. Everybody was. Before my idol Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the Supreme Court’s resident badass, for example, she was just a little girl from Brooklyn with big dreams and a bowl cut. Before Meghan Markle met Prince Harry, she was a B-list actress who got her start as a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal.
But unlike Ruth and Meghan, whose glow-ups transformed them from ordinary people into aspirational figures, my transformation went in the opposite direction."

As you can see in the excerpt above, this novel is laugh-out-loud funny. Willa makes jokes on every page, and it's the perfect light-hearted read. Beyond the jokes, The Wedding Ringer is a great novel of female friendship. Although this is categorized as a rom-com, the main relationship is the potential friendship that develops between Willa and Maisie. This is so refreshing compared to the many rom-coms where the female lead's relationship with the male lead takes over her life, causing her to neglect her friends. In this novel, there is basically no romance until the halfway mark, and I think it's a great decision. There are plenty of feels - both funny and emotional - and I didn't miss the romance aspect at all. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're looking for a fun, humorous book to read with your best friends, you should check out this book when it comes out in November!

I loved this book! Willa's life fell apart when she walked in on her fiancé and best friend in bed together. Since then Willa has retreated, she lost her job, quit posting on her blog, sleeps until noon, and is working as a princess for children's birthday parties.
When she gets stood up at a coffee shop by a guy, she is surprised when Maisie bursts into the coffee shop and offers to pay Willa $200 to pretend to be friends. Pretending to be friends eventually leads to Maisie hiring Willa to pose as an old friend/bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding.
Being forced out of her shell and getting back out into the world of course starts to heal Willa from the trauma she suffered. Her chemistry with Liam, a cute doctor who is also in the wedding, also doesn't hurt.
This was a super cute book that was as much about friendship as romance. Highly recommend for lovers of chick lit.

4 Stars! I liked this book. Its the debut book from a new author & she did an awesome job! I loved the characters and couldn’t help but relate to Willa, the main female character. I often feel lonely and friendless too. I wish I could meet a Maisie and become BFF’s with a group like Willa does. I wouldn’t say this book is a full on romance, more of a book about a woman going through some sheet with a touch of romance in the mix. I’d say this book was a mix of heartwarming chick-lit, semi-young adult, rom-com, HEA, all in one. I’d still recommend this book to lovers of romance though - sometimes I need a break from the 100% romance with all the ‘sexy times’, even though I do enjoy me some ‘sexy times’! I enjoyed the story and want to read more about the other characters lives. This is a new author I definitely plan to read more from!
*I received this book at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

This was a great read. It took me a couple of chapters to get into the book as the voice of the female protagonist is quite strong and her unique self throughout. She is sarcastic, hilarious, and feels deeply. All of the characters are relatable. The banter between the female and male protagonist is well done. I liked how nothing was too heavy handed and dramatic, even through some thorny issues were discussed. I also enjoyed how there was romantic love, but also a blossoming love between new and best friends. This is well done and I expect library patrons to really enjoy it.

Charming and laugh out loud funny. No one wants to find themselves dressed up as a princess and humiliated at a birthday party yet somehow, the author makes you want to do just that. Fun read!

This is a novel of personal redemption and finding your way after tragedy. But it is also laugh out loud funny. Willa has fallen apart after finding her best friend and her fiancé in bed together just weeks before the wedding. She worked as a journalist and a blogger but she loses both jobs when she falls apart. Her sister takes her in and showers her with self help books that Willa never reads. Her one goal is to save enough money to move somewhere far away where she won’t run into her ex best friend and ex fiancé. A place where no one knows her, knows she is a failure and she can start again. Enter Maisie who sits down next to her in a coffee shop and then offers to pay her to be in her wedding. With the money Maisie offers Willa can get out of town. Of course, nothing goes as planned, Maisie is just as wounded as Willa and they become friends, helping one another. There’s a love interest thrown in there as well.
I would recommend this book to my patrons.

I loved this book! Willa's life fell apart when she walked in on her fiancé and best friend in bed together. Since then Willa has retreated, she lost her job, quit posting on her blog, sleeps until noon, and is working as a princess for children's birthday parties.
When she gets stood up at a coffee shop by a guy, she is surprised when Maisie bursts into the coffee shop and offers to pay Willa $200 to pretend to be friends. Pretending to be friends eventually leads to Maisie hiring Willa to pose as an old friend/bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding.
Being forced out of her shell and getting back out into the world of course starts to heal Willa from the trauma she suffered. Her chemistry with Liam, a cute doctor who is also in the wedding, also doesn't hurt.
This was a super cute book that was as much about friendship as romance. Highly recommend for lovers of chick lit.

This is one of those books where the heroine's life is completely scattered and she's not pulling it together. There's a whole genre of books like that, and I'm not sure if it's supposed to make her relatable, be humorous, or highlight how bad things are, or what. Even when something bad happens, I'd rather that there was some balance. And the love interest was one of those enemies-to-lovers tropes, which is not my favorite. But I did finish it, which says something. So if those are your kind of book, this one is actually well done.
I did like the twist on wedding emergencies--instead of the main character needing a wedding date, she was needed as a bridesmaid. I also liked the exploration of what it means to be a good friend, and what family means.

I loved this book by Kerry Rea! She has such a charming and witty way of telling a story - I felt like I was talking with my best girl friend... and laughing.... and crying... and commiserating and and and....

After experiencing an unexpected and life altering breakup, Willa must decide to rebuild (but not before wallowing in self pity for a while first). She meets Maisie and they form an unlikely friendship as they can both mutually benefit from their relationship. When Willa meets Liam, she begins to see that there is hope for better days. Willa has to decide if relationships (both romantic and platonic) are worth the potential risk of heartbreak.

Kerry Rea is funny! I mean like laugh out loud, snort inducing, I totally get that! kind of funny. I enjoyed Willa's character and sense of humor. I liked that she shared her struggles and yet also worked to get to the root of her issues instead of just glossing over them. Overall an excellent book - I laughed, I cried, I fretted over the book ending, and I 100% recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Didn't work for me, but it was well written and I'm sure the audience is out there. I just couldn't connect with the characters.

Oh, man. This book gives me all the feels. Willa just might be the most relatable character I’ve ever met. I understand why Maisie wanted to be her friend, because I do. We could eat cookie dough and watch The Office together. A heart-warming, beautifully written debut.