Altogether, it felt underdeveloped, banal and very superficial. It was full of broken relationships and has nothing to do with being a "hilarious and uplifting romantic comedy". It's slow - paced, and I really couldn't shake off the feeling that it's filled with sadness, negativity and false relationships and intentions. Sadly, this one wasn't for me.

The Wedding Crasher is my second novel by the author. I was very excited to begin this novel as The Sister Surprise was a joy to read. Before getting into the details of the novel, I will say that I believe the marketing choice to focus on labelling this story as a romantic comedy does it a disservice. To me, the novel fits more under the women’s fiction category as there is some romance and humor, but there is a greater focus on the main character’s emotional journey. While I still enjoy both types of stories, as a mood reader, it does slightly affect my overall connection to the reading experience. Essentially, if I was reading this for the first time again with the expectations that there would be a lot of focus on heavier issues, then I would have enjoyed this a lot more than expecting a more light-hearted romcom.

Poppy is a teacher who still lives with her emotionally abusive husband, Josh, as the two are headed to finalizing a divorce. When Poppy decides to get away, she ends up filling in as a photographer, her hobby, as a favor for her best friend, Lola. The groom for this wedding happens to be an ex-boyfriend of Poppy’s from college, Will. Throughout the story, the reader gains some background for Poppy with flashback scenes of her relationship with Josh and her relationship with Will. There is an interesting contract between the two relationships as Josh showed many red flags while Will did not and they are complete opposites in how they treated Poppy. Now Poppy herself was a well-developed protagonist. She could be described as a doormat at times as she has internal thoughts about doing what she wants for a change, but she ends up doing what others want instead. Most of the novel centers around her journey and growth as she slowly learns to stand up for herself.

As Poppy was in a toxic relationship, her friendships with others, especially Lola, were greatly affected. When the two reconnect, I wish the story delved deeper into how much Poppy’s ex affected her relationships with others. It would have been a great opportunity to show both sides with Lola on the outside not fully understanding every detail for the reasons for Poppy’s absence and Poppy’s side for being trapped. These are touched on throughout the story with some conflicts between the characters, but I would have loved even more depth. Now as the story does include some potential romance, there are some moments that set up a reunion between Poppy and Will; however, there were not enough to make me believe that they would become a successful couple in the future. I think the potential was there, but it just never fully got there for me to connect to it yet. Again, this is where I think the expectations from the marketing did the story a disservice. When a story is labeled as a romance, the reader tends to focus on the development of the relationship and assume there will be a lot of progression in the two of them getting closer. If this were labeled as a chicklit/women’s fiction without the emphasis of a romance, I believe the expectations would shift where the romance doesn’t as much wrap-up.

Overall, this story was not a bad read in any way as I still enjoyed reading it. Poppy was a great character, and I appreciated her journey from feeling helpless in her relationship to attempting to break away. Her changes were not instantaneous and were well-written. Will was another well-done character as he had a lot of expectations placed on him by his father and he was learning how to stand up to him. The story itself had some humorous moments throughout and were enjoyable. Some elements I wished were explored in more depth, but I liked the general progression of the story. It was an interesting read by the author and I will most likely continue to read her books in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

3.5 stars
A entertaining read with some fascinating characters. I especially liked Lola and Josie - both unafraid of being different and strong women. Poppy’s story was an emotional one - she’s been though so much and the flashbacks to her time at university and early days with Josh were a good indication of her character.

This book had a lot of promise, but it got bogged down in the details. There was just too much going on. I think if one or two of the subplots had been cut, and there was a little more resolution, it would have been a great book.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Let me start off by saying, normally I love prologues because they add context but also some mysterious foreshadowing. Unfortunately, the prologue in The Wedding Crasher felt messy and started the book off on the wrong note for me. I desperately hoped it would get better especially because once I’ve started something I like to finish it. Safe to say, I didn’t fall in love with The Wedding Crasher the same way I did with the Lonely Fajita.

This book almost felt like poorly edited verbal diarrhea for a great couple of ideas. It largely read like it just didn’t go through the entire planning, writing, and publishing process. Despite some decent dialogue, most of the characters unfortunately still felt inconsistent. Although I hated Josh, he was my favourite character on the page because he seemed the most well thought out and most well written and was also an interesting part of the story when the timeline skipped back and forth.

I know the Mountgraves are rich and there’s a level of chaos that was meant to be attached to that but I feel like there’s an artful way to express that chaos and (think Crazy Rich Asians or even Bridgerton) and The Wedding Crasher missed the mark. Though Aunt Josie was a great addition, the rest felt a little haphazard. I was originally going to not recommend this book to others, however, I enjoyed the epilogue and am now temporarily living in its rosy glow. Overall, the book didn't live up to my expectations (and perhaps it's my fault for being super excited to read another novel by Abigail Mann) but you might still enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

I loved Abigail Mann’s first two novels, but I struggled with The Wedding Crasher. I’m not sure why but I felt it was overly long with not much happening plot wise. It was predictable in many places with characters that I could easily take of leave. It’s a pleasant enough read but sadly did not live up to the blurb. Thank you to NetGalley, One More Chapter and the author for the chance to review.

Another well written book in this popular genre, popular for a reason, as we all want to relax and read about lovely places, nice people and happy endings. I very much enjoyed the way the author depicted the course of ordinary lives which just happen to us and then moved it on to a more aspirational story of achieving the hopes and dreams of our earlier years....we all had them but as ‘they’ say ‘life happens’! I thoroughly recommend this book and author as an antidote to a bad day, week, month....settle down with a nice cup of tea, a comfy sofa and recharge your batteries. Thank you Netgalley, publisher and Abigail Mann for the ARC, a much needed distraction in these uncertain times.

Poppy is a photography teacher in a school and has recently split from her husband. Whilst on holiday she gets roped in to being a wedding photographer by her best friend, and the groom is an old friend from uni.
Their story is told through a series of flashbacks to their uni days. Will they end up being friends again and will the wedding go ahead?
Great read.

Oh my, oh my, it took me over three weeks to read this book. Yes, I've been reading it in the evenings and I usually was really, really tired, but also, let's be honest, the book absolutely didn't keep my attention. Sadly - because the beautiful, colourful and joyous cover and the synopsis promised me a beautiful, colourful and joyous story. Unfortunately, for me it was full of negativity and bad feelings and emotions.
I couldn't warm to Poppy, no matter how hard I've tried. Her marriage, where her husband literally gaslighted her, controled and manipulated her, was awful, and Poppy herself was like a sheep, allowing him to be like this. A character with no backbone and no opinion.
I also didn't find any aspects of a romantic comedy. It felt forced and toxic, not funny. The characters were awfully stereotyped and you were actually forced to like or dislike them - Poppy's husband, Ottilie, "the one that got away"'s (sorry, sorry, I already forgot his name) father... Ugh. Really.

Altogether, it felt underdeveloped, banal and very superficial. It was full of broken relationships and has nothing to do with being a "hilarious and uplifting romantic comedy". It's slow - paced and I really couldn't shake off the feeling that it's filled with sadness, negativity and false relationships and intentions. I was hoping for a light, relaxing read and this what I got annoyed me, and I was angry with myself that I kept reading it at all - probably I wanted to give this book a fair chance to redeem itself, which never happened. Sadly, this one wasn't for me.

This was a sweet story and plenty giggles and as always with Abigail’s books you feel joy and happiness reading them. The author’s writing style lends itself perfectly to the genre. She knows exactly when to end a scene and mount suspense.

*3.5
Purely because the cover is misleading. It isn’t a romance between the two characters; it should be categorized more as a comedy focused on wedding drama.

When Poppy, still living with her toxic ex husband Josh, decides to take a solo trip and get her photography career back on track by taking pictures of puffins for a National Geographic Wildlife Photography Contest, she didn’t expect to be roped into taking pictures for a high-profile wedding, least of all for an old college friend/crush.

This book was laugh-out-loud funny! Told in alternating timelines from Poppy’s past and the present-day wedding and rich family drama she was charged to photograph, the book tells a story of Poppy’s journey to standing up for herself. Abigail Mann really outdid herself with the humorous twists in this one! That being said, there were also a lot of pop culture references that went right over my head, perhaps someone from the UK would have less problems understanding and I’m sure it would add so much more humour to the already funny novel.

Overall, I loved the characters and was invested in their story. However, I wish there would have been more present-day development of those two characters together. I wish there were more chapters between the epilogue and last chapter, to avoid spoiling. I was disappointed by the misleading cover and start to the book that seemed to promise so much more romance.

*Thank you to Harper Collins’ One More Chapter division for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’m not sure entirely what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. It was more serious and darker than I expected and I found it hard to like the main character Poppy. Some lovely parts of the story but on the whole it wasn’t what I expected.

This is my first book by this author and I thought it was very cute! The plot is somewhat predictable but usually most romcoms are. I enjoyed the flashbacks into Poppy’s life as it gave her character more depth. In addition, this allowed you to appreciated her growth. It was overall an entertaining read!

Wonderful escapism.

Abigail Mann has done it again. The Wedding Crasher is packed with wonderful characters, gorgeous friendships, a glamorous setting, and a whole lot of hilarity. It’s an absolute joy.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

That was an enjoyable book to read and one for sitting reading by the pool. A good storyline, nothing taxing and characters that you can get into.

Did not finish.

I LOVED Abigail Mann’s previous two books, The Lonely Fajita and The Sister Surprise so I was pumped to see her writing a “RomCom.”

So then I’m reading The Wedding Crasher and I keep wondering where the Rom or the Com will ever pop up? Our main character Poppy is in the midst of a drawn out divorce and instead of photographing puffins while she licks her wounds, she’s strong-armed into photographing a ritzy wedding by her best friend. Oh, and of course, the groom is her “one that got away” even though they were only friends and never really dated?

I freely admit—I didn’t finish The Wedding Crasher. It was sad and boring and I couldn’t stand Poppy (get a backbone!!).

Also I’m not sure I really want to read a romance about two people who literally just left relationships—especially a groom who left his beloved at the altar.

Disappointed and sad = me.

I was expecting more comedy but it was a little more in depth and really looking at your emotions. The failing marriage is a little dark and creepy and the soon to be marriage is non-existent. I sort of liked the romance story but all the characters just weren’t really pulling me in, except in a way that made me dislike them all a little… or a lot!
The setting was sublime and I most definitely wanted to be there, it was nice to see a romance build but not be instantaneous love and a wrapped up happily ever after. I am adjusting though to my expectations vs reality of this book and the type of romance genre it was

Poppy's life is a mess. She's still living and working with the husband she's divorcing while pretending that nothing is wrong at work. She's banished herself to the attic where she tinkers on projects to avoid Josh.

After the school year ends, Poppy decides to travel to remote Orkney to take photos of puffins. She is hoping to take a photo so amazing that she will be featured in National Geographic. On the way to the island, she runs into old friend Lola, who is planning a very private and very secret wedding on a private island. Lola begs Poppy for her help when the wedding photographer doesn't show due to illness.

Poppy reluctantly agrees to cover the week-long wedding festivities until the other photographer arrives. She is shocked to find that the groom, Will Mountgrave, was her good friend from college Will Graves. Will was hiding his wealth and trying to be normal at university. Will and Poppy had undeniable chemistry but missed the opportunity to find out if they could be anything more than friends when Poppy began dating her husband Josh.

As an outsider, Poppy observes the crazy week as more of a corporate retreat than a wedding celebration. Will and flower child Ottilie seem an odd pairing, and both are strained by wedding stress. Ottilie is absent from many of the festivities or leaves early.

With the strain on the happy couple, it could finally be Poppy's moment to find out if Will was perfect for her.

A charming and intriguing story. Problem was I didn’t really love the main character so all her struggles got a bit over drawn out. Maybe would have been better if the book was shorter.

Still love Manns writing style and the dialogue is always fun. I definitely preferred the flashbacks to the wedding storyline

This was an easy enjoyable read. Quick and cute type of rom com. Predictable in places but still enjoyable. I liked most of the characters and enjoyed the storyline.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an Arc in exchange for an honest opinion