My first book by Abigail Mann and I really enjoyed it. Great characters, sweet story, and overall one I enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I’ve loved previous work by this author so I jumped at the chance to read this. It definitely didn’t disappoint. Full of laughs, love, friendship and finding yourself after heartbreak!

Sadly, this book was not for me.
I couldn't really get behind the romance aspect of it, it felt extremely rushed. Unfortunately, I had the same feeling in regards to the characters and also the overall plot. It was a very bland reading experience.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

It had very rare lovely moments for something that should've been a romance, probably a chick-lit. The narrative and story was a bit boring, even when the dialogue were fun sometimes, the action itself and the characters (aside Lola, the best friend of the main character) didn't really add to everything for me. The writing was also... lively? I can't describe it in any other way besides 'very British', even when I'm not British myself. It had the vibe of a movie I can't quite put my finger on the title of, but I didn't like it much either. Wouldn't see myself recommending.

This book took me a little time to get into but once there the perseverance was definitely worth it. A mixture of relationships starting at university, overpowering fathers more interested in their business life than their offspring, friendships being tested, oh and a bit of intrigue thrown into the mix. A good read which became absorbing as I turned the pages.

This was not a typical romance book but definitely had a lot of rom-com action too. I definitely saw a lot of myself in Poppy and found her to be a super relatable character. This was a nice break from thrillers and the serious nonfiction I have been reading. I will definitely be reading more Abigail Mann in the future and recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, Abigail Mann and Harper Collins UK 1 More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I absolutely loved the sister surprise so when I saw this i knew i had to read it.
I'm not sure if i had such high expectations that i ended up leaving myself slightly underwhelmed.

This had the potential to be a fun romance, but it never quite delivered on that promise. Poppy is try to get away from it all and photograph puffins in the wild when her best friend needs her to photograph a wedding. When she gets to the exclusive private island, she finds out that the groom, Will, is an old friend. They have their moments together but not enough believable chemistry for me.
In the end it was fine, I finished it but I wouldn’t reread it. 3 stars.

Synopsis:
“Poppy is packing her bags to spend two blissful weeks alone on an island. It’s time away from the ex-husband who hasn’t quite moved out yet, and reminders of the marriage they rushed into young, before she’ll kick back on a girls’ holiday with her oldest friend Lola.

But before Poppy can set foot on the ferry, Lola waylays her. She has her first high-profile wedding planner gig on the neighbouring island, and there’s a problem – the photographer has bailed.

Poppy agrees to help out for Lola’s sake. But soon the bride confides she has cold feet and asks Poppy’s help escaping the island, and then Poppy realises she recognises the groom. Embroiled in a high-society disaster waiting to happen, Poppy has to save the wedding… but should she?”

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Wedding Crasher centres around a high society wedding on Hoxby Island. Organised by Lola, she ropes best friend Poppy into taking pre-wedding photos.

But the groom, Will, is a ghost from Poppy's past. A Uni friend who could have been more. And with Poppy recently separated, her long suppressed feelings begin to reignite.

There are flashbacks to Poppy and husband Josh, and these flashbacks chart their relationship, from the heady first years, to the crumbling demise. This is quite sad to read about as we see Poppy give up her own dreams to keep Josh happy.

When a guilty secret is revealed and Will decides not to go through with the wedding, Poppy and Lola help him escape the clutches of a very angry fiancée.

And there is a sweet, fluffy ending.

I did enjoy this story to an extent, but there was just something missing for me, I couldn't really connect with the characters as much as I'd like to have and I felt at times, that the plot was meandering and unengaging.

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5.

Very weak 3 stars, more of a 2.5

It had very rare lovely moments for something that should've been a romance, probably a chick-lit. The narrative and story was a bit boring, even when the dialogue were fun sometimes, the action itself and the characters (aside Lola, the best friend of the main character) didn't really add to everything for me. The writing was also... lively? I can't describe it in any other way besides 'very British', even when I'm not British myself, it felt like watching a romantic comedy like Love, Rosie.

This is such an entertaining story and had me laughing out loud so many times! Highly recommend to anyone needing a bit of fun escapism!

This is a slightly complicated plot about Poppy, a teacher of photography and her best friend, Lola, a wedding planner. When Lola needs a wedding photographer, she employs Poppy without realising that Will, the groom is Poppy’s ex. The wedding is taking place on an island owned by the Mountgrave family, Will’s father. It is billed as a socialite wedding, but in fact is more of a business meeting as Will’s father tries to get Will on board as a director of the Mountgrave company. What happens on the island in the run up to the wedding is sometimes difficult to follow especially as the plot moves back in time to describe the relationship between Poppy and her soon to be ex-husband. This marriage was quite toxic and showed Poppy to be weak in tolerating Josh’s behaviour. Wills’ bride, Ottilie, seems quite strange and makes increasingly bizarre demands on Lola, who rushes around trying to fulfil everyone’s wishes. I wanted to like this book and I felt it had the potential to be really good. It had all the right ingredients – a beautiful setting, a wedding and interesting characters but for me it just missed the mark. I couldn’t quite visualise the setting or the characters and the whole plot felt a bit slow. It did improve towards the conclusion and I did want to know what was going to happen in the end and I was happy it ended the way it did. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this book.

Poppy is a photographer and teacher who has separated from her husband although they still live in the same house but she is walking on egg shells around him all the time as his moods are mercurial and he is always belittling her.
During the summer holidays Polly decides to escape alone to a remote island to photograph puffins for a competition but before she can get there her best friend Lola asks if she could help her with a high profile wedding she is organising as the official photographer is ill.
Not realising whose wedding it is Poppy agrees but only finds out when she gets to the Island the family own that it her her other best friend Will from their uni days that she had a falling out with that is getting married
Plenty goings on to keep you reading

This is the first book I have read by Abigail Mann. Excellent writing and storyline with relateable characters.

I enjoyed the Wedding Crasher.
The main protagonist is Poppy, a talented photographer who is determined to start reclaiming her passion following the spiralling of her marriage and is off to secluded island to photograph her favourite birds, Puffins, but things don’t go exactly to plan!
Poppy has been living with her gaslighting horrible ex-husband Josh for some time while they sort out what to do with the house they both share. They also work together at the same school – horrendous.
Her trip is knocked off course when her best friend Lola, an up and coming wedding planner who’s invested her all in meeting the demands of an exclusive high society wedding, begs Poppy to step in and temporarily replace the high fee commanding wedding photographer who is unwell.
An island wedding surrounded by extreme security and secretiveness is ripe for mishaps!
The wedding is more a business takeover than a celebration of two people in love.
And it turns out, the groom is gorgeous and likeable and a former flame/friend to Poppy and the bride heavily into time alone to align her mantras – but they do say opposites attract!
From the get go it’s obvious that this wedding is going to have come comedic hiccups.
The Wedding Crasher is a fun read and I was really rooting for Poppy to become more like her old self again.

The Wedding Crasher follows Poppy, who's on her way to spending two weeks alone on a remote island. But that's before her oldest friend Lola asks for her help with a wedding on a neighbouring island. Poppy is thrown into the mix then and has to deal with old feelings, a bride with cold feet and a wedding that desperately needs saving (or does it?).

I really enjoyed Abigail Mann's previous novels, so I was excited to read The Wedding Crasher. However, it's imperative to know that this isn't a fun romantic comedy. While there are funny moments sprinkled throughout, I'd definitely characterise it as women's fiction as it also delves into some serious topics.

Once I got my expectations handled and relaxed into the story, I found I just couldn't warm up to Poppy. You know those characters you kind of want to shake and tell them to stand up for themselves? That's Poppy. I did empathise with her and her toxic marriage and I did enjoy her interactions with Lola and the hijinks that ensue at the wedding, she just wasn't my favourite. I also felt her relationship with Will (the one that got away) could have done with an extra boost of chemistry.

However, I did enjoy the flashbacks to the uni days and the cast of supporting characters, which kept the story flowing.

Thank you to One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Poppy needs a break from her ex but gets side tracked by her best friend who desperately needs a favour. I found it difficult to warm to Poppy. I wanted her to stick up for herself. Not the fun rom com read that I expected.

This one took me a long time to read and I wasn’t disinterest through most of it. First thing to note is the prologue seemed completely unnecessary and actually hindered the plot rather than adding to it. I felt like I’d read the last page before starting the novel.
I actively didn’t like Poppy (and kept mixing her up for Lola throughout). Will was probably the best character but even his story line was weak and he seemed to have no grasp on his own feelings at any point in the novel. In fact, good luck to Poppy and Will as they both seemed to need a good shake before embarking on adult life. I think we were meant to feel Josh was manipulative and evil but I wonder what we would have heard from his POV. It all felt a bit messy.

3.5 stars…

I enjoyed the book but found that the blurb that promised light hearted didn’t really deliver, what with the book addressing some serious topics. That’s not to say I didn’t like the story, I did, but did feel that the blurb was slightly misleading.

I really liked the flashback scenes but at times it did slow the pacing and so It took a little longer to read.

Oh Lord, if you ever dreamt about the perfect wedding, you have to read it ASAP!

Everything ought to be perfect. Perfect couple, perfect love, perfect place, and perfect love story turned into a lifetime fairytale. But in the meantime, something goes seriously wrong...

We all know the stories when the bride is running away with the wind in her hair and a secret lover. But have you ever heard about the man who is escaping with the broken boat with the photographer and wedding planner?!

This one is the best book of Abigail so far. The previous ones were good, but this one is way better! I feel the characters, I get the irony, a bit of sarcasm and the portrayal of the perfect life crashed into pieces is awesome and I had a lot of fun.