Freya has spent the last year planning her dream wedding to her boyfriend of twelve years, Matthew, when he dumps her the day before the wedding. Their wedding was to be the start of that summer’s Wedding season with seven other weddings following it. Devastated and emotional, Freya doesn’t know how she will survive it until her best friends, Ruby and Leo conceive the Wedding Plan with her while drinking one night. She is assigned a crazy task to complete at each reception to avoid wallowing in her thoughts.

I loved this story. It was great to see a dumped female character learn and grow on her own rather than just turn to another guy and cry on his shoulder. The creative tasks and her execution of them were hilarious. I laughed out loud many times. And the ending was perfect and fulfilling!

I loved this book, and the reason for that was that the story doesn't focus on romance but in her discovery. She trying to live despite everything, letting go the life she had with Matthew. The romance stays in second plan but still perfect. Jamie was incredible!! Loved him so much.
Her evolution was perfect! The Freya that started the book is different than the one that ended it. She started trying new things, taking risks and growing up.
Other thing I loved was her friends!!! They are wonderful!!! Just what Freya needed. Especially Ruby and Leo. Their support and love for Freya touched my heart. Friends goal!!! And the weddings atmosphere was lovely.
My favorite scenes:
1: the fireworks scene
2: the wine scene
3: the beach scene
Extra: the karate-kicking

4.5/5

You know that Martina McBride song, "This One's for the Girls"? That's how this book made me feel.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Add to your tbr if you love:
- slow burn (there are no spicy scenes in this book, but there is a Jamie 👀)
- strong, close knit friendship
- self discovery
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Freya's fiancé has dumped her the day before their wedding, in a broom closet. The wedding which was kicking off "Wedding Season" filled with 7 of their friends weddings they were set to attend. Understandably devastated, Freya doesn't know how she's going to make it through celebrating her friends all summer. She's so happy for all of them, but her world is falling apart. Her best friend Ruby and her fiancé Leo come up with a contract: "How to survive the Wedding Season". It's filled with tasks for Freya to complete at each wedding to keep her occupied and not thinking about Matthew. Along the way she's figuring out who she is, after 12 years of being apart of someone else.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I wish I knew the best way to sum up how reading this felt. In a shocking turn of events, I've never been jilted by a lover the day before our wedding.. but I have attended many a Wedding Season. I loved Freya's journey, how strong the bonds were with her friends and how love truly comes full circle. This is such a great "feel-good" romance. It made my heart feel incredibly full and you'll be missing out if you don't add it to your tbr.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Griffin for the original eARC!

Adding @katybirchallauthor to my list of auto-buy authors now! The Secret Bridesmaid was one of my favorite books from last year, and The Wedding Season is a favorite of 2022. I find things to be funny when I read, but it’s not that often that a book makes me laugh out loud, and both TSB and TWS did, multiple times.

This is a perfect palate cleanser - lighthearted, hilarious and sweet. I loved following along with Freya’s journey as she bounced back from heartbreak. I’ll be buying a physical copy for my library and am eager to listen to the audio as well! Be sure to add this (and TSB if you haven’t read it yet) to your summer reading lists!

Thank you to @katybirchallauthor, @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the e-ARC!

Freya gets left the day before her wedding ! Which sucks, also she has to go to a few weddings soon after. She has so much support after this happens. This book is contemporary romance, thank you NetGalley for this arc!

Happy book birthday to this sweet little gem!

Imagine yourself being in a relationship for 12 years and tomorrow is finally the big day, your dream wedding day. Then, imagine your fiancé pulling you aside into a broom cupboard and dumping your ass ... THE DAY BEFORE YOUR WEDDING. I would be absolutely LIVID!

After Freya's disastrous downfall with Matthew, she has to figure out how she is going to make it through the wedding season as a wedding planner. Thanks to her best friends, they come up with a plan!

This book was hilarious, I definitely chuckled out loud quite a few times. Katy Birchall did such a fantastic job nailing down #FriendshipGoals . I could not get enough of Freya and her time together with her besties. I went in thinking this was going to be a a full on second-chance romance book but it was just so much more than that! Freya's romance wasn't the key part of the story, it was definitely more geared towards friendship, moving on, and finding your own path to happiness. Don't go into this one thinking you'll get romance and spice because you won't find it, but you will find so much more!

Also good to note that this book is a standalone, not related to Birchall’s other wedding themed book ‘The Secret Bridesmaid’.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an advanced E-Copy in exchange for an honest review!

While the general definition of a romance still holds, the variations have been spreading over the past decades from the lockstep plots of the Harlequin years to the many types of romance now.

This one starts with a typical romance premise: Freya, our heroine, gets dumped by her fiancé of twelve years, the day before their gigantic wedding--complete with peacocks. (the peacocks show up, a grace note, through the shocker beginning.)

Freya, understandably, is devastated. And, to really rub her nose into her total failure as a bride, all her friends are getting married. So her tight-knit friends group come up with a list of things she has to do by the end of all the weddings. And there the fun begins.

But the fun takes a while. Birchall writes really well about the emotional fallout of being dumped. This aspect goes on for quite a while. I almost abandoned this book at a couple points, because I read these romances in the middle of the night during insomnia attacks, and I don't need depression and misery at 2:47 a.m. But two things kept me going: the list, and the writing.

The romance is actually a small part of the story. What we get is a wonderful look at friendship, and of self-discovery. It read more like a comedy of manners than a romance--no bad thing, imo. And there were some hilarious scenes. Just don't go in expecting focus on the twosome.

The Wedding Season introduces us to Freya Scott, bride to be. With a summer jammed packed full of weddings, hers being the first of eight, it is sure to be a season to remember.
After Freya's fiancé, Matthew, breaks up with her the day before the wedding she is devastated. & here she thought peacocks would be the biggest form of stress she'd encounter! Now she must pick up the pieces and decide how to go about attending the remaining seven weddings with a broken heart. Based on the cover and the blurb I was expecting a full on romcom but ended up getting so much more. This book is about deep friendships, and not only finding love but finding it within yourself. Quick read that is the perfect book for the beach and warmer weather! Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Matthew and Freya have been together for 12 years and tomorrow is their wedding day. It’s to be held in her father’s garden in Berkshire. Freya has made plans for a long time and everything is set to come together perfectly. That is until Matthew pulls Freya aside and breaks off their engagement. There will be no wedding tomorrow. Freya is devastated and takes to her bed for days. Her family and friends gather around her helping her to recover from her pain.

With a number of friends’ weddings coming up soon, Freya, with the help of her friends Ruby and Leo, come up with a list of ways for Freya to get through these weddings as a single. At each wedding, she is tasked to do something that puts her out of her comfort zone.

Heading to the first wedding, Freya is asked by the bride to pick up a friend, Jamie, and drive him to the ceremony. Their first encounter is not the best and she is rather disgusted with him. But they meet at more weddings as they have the same friends, and seeing more of one another, a friendship blossoms. But Freya is still having a hard time forgetting about Matthew. Is it possible for her to finally put a period at the end of their relationship and move on in her life?

This is a funny and goofy story of close friends and learning to let go and live again. Much of what happens is rather silly but I’m sure many would think of it as a relaxed rom-con. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Our heroine, Freya is completely blindsided when her fiancé Matthew calls off their wedding hours before... in a coat closet. Faced with even more upcoming weddings, her supportive friends come up with a series of challenges for each wedding to help distract Freya and get her out of her comfort zone. Along the way, Freya discovers who she is as a person without Matthew, sees a glimpse of his true colors, and even meets someone who might be able to mend her broken heart.
I really enjoyed this book. It was fun and entertaining to read and just was a cute premise that didn't feel like it's plot had been overdone. I also really liked that Freya was able to work on herself and discover who she was before she jumped into another relationship and it was fun following along with her as she learns to rely on herself. I loved Freya and Jamie together, but Freya's relationships with her friends also stood out as a huge part of this book and I truly enjoyed their interactions.
A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my review.

I really loved Birchall’s last book, The Secret Bridesmaid, and this one did not disappoint! Similar to her previous book, and most British romance, there is a heavy women’s fiction feel.

What to expect:
•Four Weddings and a Funeral vibes
•Jilted bride
•Opposites attract
•Great, quirky friends
•Funny internal dialogue
•Slow burn

If you are in that phase of life where every weekend of your summer is spent at a wedding, you will definitely identify with this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Wedding Season is about Freya whose fiance breaks up with her hours before their wedding. Facing a whole summer of weddings that she now has to face as recently single. To get her mind off of the breakup and to help her put down her walls, her friends set up a challenge for her at each wedding.

This one read more like a women's fiction rather than romance. I do also love women's fiction so this wasn't a problem for me, but it would probably be good to know before you dive into the book.

One of the reasons I wish the book was more of a romance was because I absolutely loved the love interest, Jamie. I liked that they challenged each other, and I especially loved their banter. Which made me wish Jamie was featured a lot more in the book. We just needed more scenes with him in it.

Freya is surrounded by some great family. Both of regular and found kind. Her friends are so funny and supportive. Plus, I loved how the strained relationships in the family were handled. It felt very healing.

The overall premise was great too. The challenges that Freya's friends set on her are fun and they really work, both in terms of getting Freya more out of her shell, but also in terms of keeping the book interesting throughout. You never know how Freya is going to tackle one of the challenges, and it's really enjoyable to see her growth throughout.

I did appreciate that this book tackled the feelings of going through a breakup. While I did think that it was a little one note, I found the feelings Freya went through quite authentic. However, I do wish there was more variety in her feelings, breakup can feel like other kinds of grief. So I was hoping she would go through similar stages like anger. Especially considering she seems to have flashbacks to instances where her ex is being very unsupportive. Mainly I wanted her to slowly see that she might be better off, instead of all at once.

I also found the timing to be a little odd. There were many scenes I was really interested in, but the book actually glossed over them, giving us only a few details over bullet points or just a summary. Inversely, there scenes that seemed to not have any bearing on the overall story but they took up a lot of time.

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐.8

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC!

I genuinely loved this book! It was a sweet story about a girl who is left the day before her wedding. The story is about how she survived the wedding season thanks to a to-do list her best friends made her. Though I would classify it as a rom-com I felt it was more about her falling in love with herself again, than necessarily someone else. It was sweet with many laugh out loud moments.
I would recommend this book for someone going through a hard time, or even a break up. This may not be the book for you if you prefer *spicy* novels. Overall I enjoyed it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Super fun breakup romcom!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fun and frothy breakup romantic comedy! It has so many things to love (and hate)! We have the heartbroken heroine who was jilted in a closet the day before her wedding. We have the various friends who are getting married during the summer, in suitably exotic locations. And we have the good friends who have devised a series of challenges intended to help our heroine get through it all. Not to mention some new love interest sneaking in and some confrontational scenes with the former fiancé. This book is ideal for a day in your lawn chair chuckling at it all... Highly recommended!

Thank you to the publisher who lent me a time-constrained e-arc via Netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

Thank you to St. Martins Griffin and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Freya gets dumped the day before her wedding in a broom closet. Her wedding was supposed to be the start of "The Wedding Season", a summer of weddings. To help her out, her best friends Ruby and Leo devise a plan of challenges that Freya has to complete at each wedding.

I absolutely loved this book. I cannot tell you the amount of time I laughed while reading this book. Freya was a strong main character, not many people would put a smile on their face, and attend their friend's weddings after going through what she went through. Ruby and Leo were the best friends anyone could ask for. Their relationship is one that I will forever strive for. I absolutely loved all the characters in this book, except Matthew. But he got what he deserved. Twice! Karate kicked and wine-drenched. Her dad and brother are so supportive and you can tell how much they love her. Her mom on the other hand, beats to her own drum. Her other friends all supported her as well. And Jamie, he turned out to be a surprise! This will be one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time again. I definitely recommend it

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫/5 (3.5 Stars)
Steam: 0/5, closed door, some kissing

Available Now!

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for the audiobook/ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I used both the audiobook and ebook to read this book and enjoyed it!
Narration: The Narrator did an excellent job! I really liked their voice,and how they distinguished between characters.

No Spoiler Review 👇🏻

This book follows Freya, it’s the day before her wedding and her fiancé Matthew breaks it off. She was supposed to start the wedding season, all the weddings from spring to summer. She must deal with this massive loss and go to 7 more weddings this season for her friends. Her best friends cheer her up, and come up with a challenge for Freya to complete at each wedding. It’s so hilarious and fun! I giggled so many times.

This book is more of a woman’s fiction book with some romance in the background, but it was still good. This book is about getting over a loss, good friends and having fun.

It was a little slow to start and reads more like a woman’s fiction than romance as it’s tagged(why I gave it 3.5 stars) but overall a fun read. It’s a good light book for summer.

3.75 stars

This one was fairly fluffy but with a bit of substance as well. It was a bit sad but also heartwarming, and it made me literally laugh out loud a few times; it was reminiscent of Bad Luck Bridesmaid in that way, as well as in the way it ended. It seems this book is the latest in the new rom-com trend of happily(ish)-ever-after endings where the protagonists don’t definitely end up with their love interests. I don’t hate that, but sometimes I really do just want an unapologetically blissful and fairytale-esque conclusion. Anyway, it wasn’t my favourite book ever, but I did like it and appreciated the humour. It was a fun read!

3.5 STARS

Freya Scott is dumped by her fiancé, Matthew, the day before her Wedding after a 12 year relationship. She now has 7 other Weddings she has to attend solo. Freya’s friends create a Wedding Season Survival Guide for her which include tasks that she must complete at each Wedding to take her mind off her Ex. Tasks that will challenge her and keep her distracted and help her not think about what she lost.

The first half of this book is very funny and entertaining. The breakup is described so well you will feel like you got dumped instead of Freya 😅 I also loved Freya’s quirky crazy personality. Her attempt at finding a hobby was hilarious. The friendship dynamic she had with Leo and Ruby was fantastic and highlights how important friendships are in time of crisis.

The second half was a struggle for me. It dragged on and off a lot. This book is pure Women’s Fiction so I’m not sure why it was categorized as Romance, because there wasn’t much of that at all. There was no angst, no pining or any real romantic anything. I wasn’t able to connect with Jaime because of that. He wasn’t even in the book much at all until the very last few pages. There was very little character development there. My major issue was Freya kept thinking her Ex would take her back even at 84% into the book. 84%! I gave up all hope for anything romance happening in this book at that point.

I did enjoy the other parts, but the romance part was a no go for me. If you like Women’s Fiction, an engaging break up story, journeys of personal rediscovery, and endless humor…you will LOVE this. If you are looking for a swoon worthy romance to sweep you off your feet (or any romance for that matter) then this will not be for you. Thank you @netgalley for this #ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

As I was reading this book--the story of Freya, whose fiancé calls off their wedding the day before and who now faces a summer of weddings (and the corresponding hen weekends)--at first I was a bit annoyed. "It would be nice if this book was about more than just romance and dealing with a breakup."

But you know what? It really is more than that. Birchall takes us on Freya's journey, which isn't necessarily about her growing as a person, but more about her realizing things about herself and coming to terms with traumas she's experienced. (I'll note that we're talking strained family relations here, not assault.) This is about Freya's relationship with her mother and coping when life makes a sudden turn and how to rely on your friends and dealing with your expectations. For a while, I was vaguely annoyed that the book was solely about Freya's personal relationships, but eventually I realized that it was nice that her work wasn't an issue. She has a job, she's good at it, we get some glimpses of her work life...but that's not the focus of the book. She has a good job. She has good friends! She just needed to get a few other things sorted. Very soothing in that way.

Also amusing. Freya needs to complete challenges at each wedding she attends, but I was mostly amused at random asides scattered throughout the book. Between this and The Secret Bridesmaid, I'm definitely interested in what Birchall does next.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Oh how I deeply enjoyed this book - it was so hard to set down. It is a tender story of friendship, healing after a painful breakup and the power of falling in love with yourself and who you want to be. The characters are all so vivid and delightful, and feel like whole people instead of the caricatures they could have easily become. The premise of following our protagonist and friends through a wedding season when many in their friend group are saying ‘I do,’ felt relatable and engaging and just plain fun. I was so surprised with the depth of mg enjoyment of this story!

“There’s nothing like the friendship kind of love, is there?”