I enjoyed this story. I really liked Zoey’s character and how she stuck to her gut though all her ups and downs over the years. She was a strong character!
Overall, the storyline was super cute. I’m glad there was a happily ever after at the end.

This is a book with a lot of humor, a little light on romance and a lot of self-realization. The set-up is typically romcom: Zoe is the maid-of-honor at her best friend's wedding and she's worried because she feels she is a cursed bridesmaid but also because her ex (whose proposal she recently turned down) will also be at the wedding since he's related to the bride. So, there's already tension when the ex brings a date to the wedding, which creates doubt in Zoe whether she did the right thing in breaking up. We watch her contemplate her decision. There's a lot of miscommunication and back and forth but I didn't love the romance plot especially since the character she ends up with does not have a ton of redeeming qualities; we've been led to dislike him through most of the wedding week.

What I did really like was the relationship between Zoe and Hannah as best friends. It was sweet and relatable. There's a lot of backstory in the beginning and it seems like the wedding romance happens quickly when it does happen. There was some frustratingly slow parts and I wish there had been more time to develop the relationship Zoe ultimately ends up in.

If you like romantic comedies and female friendship and want a character who goes through a lot of growth, this is for you.

Picture this: you've been a bridesmaid at not one, not two, but three weddings that didn't actually happen. It's the curse of the bad luck bridesmaid, and Zoey Marks just hopes she won't jinx the wedding of her BFF Hannah. Add in Rylan, her ex and Hannah's cousin, and you have a recipe for chaos...and love?

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book - Zoey's wedding misadventures were really entertaining, and I loved seeing her relationship with Rylan develop before their breakup. However, the narrative started dragging once we got to Hannah's wedding - it just seemed to go on forever. I also couldn't identify with Zoey and Rylan's issues - I just wanted to scream at these two to go to couples' therapy and work it out!! If you like your rom coms on the silly/slapstick side, you may like this one more than I did. I will say, the falcon storyline advertised in the blurb did not disappoint.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted to Goodreads 9/11/21, to be posted to Instagram closer to pub date.

The pressure for people to get married is so common that those who choose not to marry or to have children are seen as outliers. While it is becoming more widely accepted to do neither of those things, it still is seen as something that you just don’t do. Everyone needs their happily ever after complete with children and a family pet. But, what if you know it just isn’t in the cards for you? This is Zoey Marks's situation.

In Bad Luck Bridesmaid, we meet Zoey. She is a successful 31-year-old CEO of her own company with a kick-ass business partner, Sara. Zoey has dated several men casually as she has no desire for FOREVER. That’s a commitment she is petrified to make and frankly she has never been the type of girl to have dreams of what her wedding and future husband will be like. Zoey is happy in her complicated unconventional skin. Or so she thought…

Zoey started to question if she was cursed when the weddings she was selected as a bridesmaid for didn’t even happen! The bride called it off either shortly after the engagement party OR right as the processional music began. Zoey was 3 for 3. She is most definitely cursed.

Hannah, Zoey’s childhood BFF, is convinced Zoey just hasn’t met the right man, and thus, she arranges for Zoey to meet her insanely good-looking cousin, Rylan Harper. Zoey goes on the date, and yes, there is something different about Rylan. They date for two years! They live together in a brownstone with a dog named Sunshine. Rylan should be her FOREVER, but when he proposes the first time, she cannot bring herself to say yes.

Zoey is miserable without Rylan. Hannah is there for her in her misery, but Hannah is about to marry her dream man in Ireland. She wants Zoey as her bridesmaid. One catch-- Rylan will be there as well and he is bringing a plus 1. Will Zoey go 4 for 4??? If Hannah gets married successfully, does that mean the curse is broken and Zoey can have a FOREVER too with Rylan?

I loved this book so much! It was such a perfect, light-hearted fun read. Zoey is a great character. She is the protagonist who 20-something year old women need to remind them it is okay to be on your own. You can CHOOSE to be in relationships or not, but you should feel comfortable enough to live whatever truth you have.

I also adored the friendship between Hannah and Zoey. Zoey is wondering if she has a FOREVER with Rylan, but you know what….she has one already with Hannah. Every woman needs that kind of friend, and if you don’t have one, you are missing out. It is really just that simple.

Alison R. Greenberg’s writing is so easy to read because she is cleverly crafting great characters who you root for and settings that are very realistic. I laughed out loud a lot reading this and found myself in tears during the falconry scene where Zoey flips out screaming. I could picture it so clearly!

While Zoey’s ending isn’t quite what I was expecting, it is HER happy ending and so suitable to her character. I would love to see more of Zoey’s story. Ezra intrigued me as a character too, and I’d love to see more of him. I feel he could be a good counterpart to Zoey.

I found this to be a sweet read, but far to close to a saccharine romance for my taste. I think it was aimed at a younger demographic. Honestly, I cannot see any of my book clubs relating to this story.

Hank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun book! I’m always a fan of wedding stories as so many things can go wrong the stress and build up going towards a wedding is a perfect recipe for disaster! I thought it was an extra fun twist to have a bridesmaid who considered herself unlucky.

This book did tend to get a bit steamy and sometimes a little wordy for my taste. But that is honestly a personal preference. Alison Rose Greenberg weaves together a beautiful story that I really enjoyed!

I really loved this one! There are so many books on this genre but this was a standout for me! I could see it making the perfect movie and starring someone like Mila Kunis for some reason. The protagonist is a bit tough talking no Nonsense giving everyone love advice and taking none until she falls hard herself: she think she brings eternal bad luck because every wedding/engagement she has been involved in has gone bust. She is determined to be the bad luck bridesmaid and get her best friend down the isle as well as fox her own love life as well. So cute! So funny!

Beware! Not a true romance. I don’t want to spoil anything for other readers but this book does not follow the typical formula for a true romance book. It is an amazing romantic drama read though. I loved the characters and the storyline and the lessons taught. This was a very realistic read and I enjoyed every second. Great, quick read!

🌟Book Review🌟
Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

Three times a charm...right? Well, not when you're a bridesmaid of three different weddings and the brides fail to walk down the isle. In this case, it's more of a curse than a charm! That's how Zoey interprets her lack of luck. When her perfect boyfriend proposes, although she loves him and wants to be with him, she runs the other way, assuming  she carries the bad luck wedding vibes.

I liked this one. It was cute, funny at times, and kept my interest throughout, despite it being a bit long for the plot. I wasn't too happy with the ending though.  Rylan, was the perfect male character for a sweeping romance, and needless to say when Zoey broke his heart and refused his proposal, my heart broke along with his. But I understand it just had to be, and appreciated that Zoey's character grew because of her final decision with regard to Rylan. Zoey wanted someone to move mountains for her, but she failed to see that Rylan, also deserved mountains moved for him.

Sometimes happy endings come in different forms and we have to make sacrifices that are hard now but pay off later.  This book is a testimony to that.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a light, fun book about strong-willed females who are true to themselves first and foremost.

What a phenomenal debut from author Alison Rose Greenberg!
Zoey Marks is unconventional, complicated and unapologetic. After being recruited as bridesmaid for three weddings that have each failed to actually see the bride and groom walk down the aisle, Zoey starts to believe she is cursed as the Bad Luck Bridesmaid, leading her to reject the proposal of her boyfriend Rylan, who she actually loves very much. When her bestest friend Hannah announces she is getting married after a whirlwind romance, Zoey is determined to ensure she gets her girl down the aisle, even if it means facing her ex at the small wedding in Ireland.
This book had a slice of everything. Full of funny quips, foul language and amazing pop-culture references, yet teeming with steam, raw emotion and messy, very-real characters, this book made me laugh and pages later moved me to tears. I’m thrilled to read this amazing book is already being developed for film ahead of its release!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book.

I tried to love this book - and really did try. The concept and first half were very interesting but I could not get into the characters and the end really seemed rushed.

A decent chic lit book that just wasn't for me. For one, Zoey has some very Mary Sue like characteristics (in less than 6 years she was able to create a personal client list that she could bc a CCO then leave an agency and become a CEO) while also telling me that she was 'not like other girls' which is always irritating. And ya know what? I get her aversion to marriage. There is nothing wrong with wanting a partnership but not marriage and I don't know why that wasn't explored. Or the fact as I mentioned above she had a meteoric rise in her career, so is it really realistic that she hasn't had a serious long term relationship? Just felt forced. But I know there's readers that love these kinds of books; I'm just not one of them.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Zoe has almost been a bridesmaid at 3 weddings if any of those weddings ended up happening. Since it happened so frequently Zoe has begun to feel like she is a bad luck bridesmaid (hence the name of the book). It even goes far enough that Zoe begins to question if marriage is really for her. This is more of a focus on Zoe's journey of self-discovery instead of a romance novel. Some of the positives of this book, I really thought having a lead character who does not want to get married is very different than a lot of the books I've read in the past. I really enjoyed that aspect. Zoe's relationship with her best friend was very real and relatable. Now on to why I rated the book lower, a lot of the beginning of the book was backstory that did not always feel needed and felt like it went on for a while. There was a ton of miscommunication which isn't a favorite trope of mine so that made me rate it lower. Overall this was a really interesting debut novel and I would be interested to see what Alison Rose Greenberg publishes next!

This was one of the best romantic debuts I’ve ever read...by far and in 2021 alone. This hilarious debuts focuses on zoey, who believes that after her friends 3 different attempts at walking down the aisle which ended in disaster; she’s cursed and the cause for the depressing outcomes. So of course, after our quirky heroine falls in love, she believes that romance and love are out of the question for her.

I loved zoey. She was the perfect heroine and exactly what I was looking for when I was looking for rom coms to read. She fit the shy and quirky heroine who believes that she doesn’t deseeeve anything good her way because of what she believes are her curse effects.

I loved this and I love and adore the romance the author had in this book. I will say, it is difficult for me to ponder into many rom coms and throughly enjoy them but I’ve never been happier reading this and cannot wait to see what else the author has in store for us. This was a pleasure to read and one of the best 5 out of 5 stars I’ve given!

I've gone back and forth between 3 and 4 stars. This book was entertaining. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be though. I feel slightly disappointed because of that. I appreciate that this book highlights a view that's not often talked about in how Zoey feels about marriage. I like the message that it's okay to feel differently about these things. I wish it would've been handled differently though. I started getting annoyed by the lack of communication and the back and forth. In the end I wasn't even sure what I wanted to happen. I enjoyed the writing though. I am definitely open to reading more books by this author.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

I waited a couple days after finishing this book to write this review to digest how I felt about it. I was disappointed in the ending of this book because I expected this book to be a romance with a typical happily ever after. It wasn't. However, if I adjust my thinking about this book to be woman's fiction, then the ending is satisfying.

This book was a quick and fun read. There were a number of scenes which had me laughing and I'm always a sucker for stories about weddings (or almost weddings!) I enjoyed how un-filtered the heroine was; she said what was on her mind with no regard for the consequences.

Overall, 3.5 stars

With its illustrated cover, cute premise, and the publisher's "romance" classification, "Bad Luck Bridesmaid" looks to be a typical rom-com. It's not, though, and your expectations may ultimately determine how you feel about the book. Personally, I enjoy it when an author is willing to break free and try something different, and Alison Rose Greenberg's debut novel refuses to be bound by genre expectations.

Three women have asked Zoey Marks to be a bridesmaid, but none of them wound up making it down the aisle. The circumstances were different—one bride-to-be discovered her fiancé was cheating on her right before the wedding; another one realized she couldn't marry a man, since she was actually a lesbian; the third fell for someone else—but they all had one thing in common: Zoey. She figures that she's cursed, and besides, she's never had a long-term relationship herself. Her attitude toward marriage has curdled, and she's determined that she has no interest in tying the knot, ever.

Then her best friend Hannah introduces Zoey to her cousin Rylan, who turns out to be handsome, rich and great in bed. Rylan is looking for someone who is willing to pledge her love for a lifetime, and Zoey knows she's not that girl, but for the first time in her life, she's genuinely fallen in love. When Hannah gets engaged to the man of her dreams after a whirlwind courtship, it looks like Zoey is going to be a bridesmaid one more time. Zoey is dead set on making sure Hannah makes it to the altar, because if the curse is broken, maybe she'll be able to let go and say yes to the man who wants her by his side forever.

Greenberg writes in a breezy, conversational style, and there are some humorous moments (particularly Zoey's unfortunate adventures in falconry), but this is much more of a romantic drama than it is a comedy. It reminded me a bit of Emily Henry's work in that way. Zoey is a complicated heroine who must confront hard truths about herself in order to move forward in her life, and I enjoyed making the journey with her.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for the review copy, via NetGalley.

I was not happy after reading this. I wanted a happily ever after, a fun romcom. This did not deliver in my opinion.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a refreshing book and a very promising debut novel from Alison Rose Greenberg! It is definitely firmly in the Women's Fiction genre and less of a romance. I was expecting something different given the the illustrated and cute cover but this book did not disappoint. .The book is about Zoey, a young woman in her 30s, who think's she's bad luck when she's the bridesmaid for three of her friends and none of them make it down the aisle. This acts as an impetus for Zoey to examine her thoughts and feelings about marriage when faced with the prospect of it herself. This book is a witty quick-read (yet memorable) that really explores the modern woman's relationship with commitment and her sense of self as it relates to marriage. There were moments where I laughed out loud and moments where I wanted to shake Zoey but I eventually cheered for her and her journey through the events of the book. The only reason I deduct a star is that while I appreciated the unconventional ending for a book of this genre, I felt like Zoey's motivations weren't completely explored for her decision to make sense (although I guess real life is hardly logical in how it turns out!).

Zoey Marks has been a bridesmaid in three weddings, well...in theory. You see none of these brides have actually made it down the aisle. Zoey has no plans to get married herself until she meets Rylan, the cousin of her BFF, Hannah. Sparks fly and two years later she's blissfully happy...until he proposes. She says no...they break up. Three months later aforementioned BFF is getting married and Zoey will be the only bridesmaid. Will the curse continue? Will seeing Rylan again make Zoey change her mind about marriage?

The the heck did I just read? I was expecting a fun rom-com with a happy ending. Instead I got Zoey...one of the most unlikeable characters I've ever read. She was quirky and whimsy and mostly just annoying. The first 30% of the book is total backstory that I found extremely unnecessary. Everything from the break up until the wedding week was pointless and the actual wedding chapters were a trainwreck. I couldn't root for any of the characters because I didn't like any of them and their zany antics were pretty painful to read. While I can appreciate that you don't have to get married to live happily ever after the unwillingness of the two main characters to bend at all proves they shouldn't be together. And the ending...totally came out of left field and pretty much voided the feelings I thought Zoey was having. No thank you.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.