Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I went into this book expecting a romance and it was anything but…had I gone in knowing it was more women’s fiction, maybe my rating would be higher. I thought we’d get more romance, but sadly there wasn’t much.
This book started out very slow for me. It took me some time to get into it…after the break up between Freya and Matthew, the story stalled. I loved Freyas friendships and the to-do list for wedding season was fun. But I would have loved to see more of the events take place, rather than just have a recap of the events from Freya (like the stealing of the traffic cone).
Finally, I want more Jamie!!!! The banter and friendship between Freya and Jamie was adorable so I would have liked to see more attention to the two of them.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but the writing style and lack of romance didn’t work for me.

It was a really great idea, I just don’t think it’s the type of book for me. I was hopping for a really light hearted romcom and was surprised at how sad it was.

Freya is making last-minute preparations the day before her wedding, when her fiancé pulls her into a broom closet and calls off the wedding. The. Day. Before. Freya then must pick up the pieces from her failed almost-marriage and re-enter her life as a single woman. It might have been a little easier to handle if she wasn’t obligated to attend several weddings that year. Her best friends decide to issue a challenge for each wedding in order to help her get over her ex and move forward.

This is as much a story of healing as it is one of growth. Freya has so many emotions to tackle while simultaneously bearing witness to others’ wedding days. She has a such a strong support group in her friends and manages to connect with new friends along the way.

The Wedding Season has it all: laugh out loud antics, sweet scenes, heartbreaking moments. I honestly couldn’t put this down once I started. I enjoyed it so much and will be recommending The Wedding Season to friends.

Special thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for a free ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Cute story!

Description
Four Weddings and a Funeral meets The Wedding Party in Katy Birchall's The Wedding Season: when a recently jilted bride is forced to attend seven weddings in one summer, her friends devise a series of challenges as distraction.

Freya Scott is getting married. Her wedding to Matthew, her long-term boyfriend, is the first of eight in her calendar this year, and as someone who prides herself on being meticulously organized, Freya is intent on making it the perfect day to remember.

But when Matthew calls things off hours before they walk down the aisle, Freya’s entire life plan goes up in smoke. Humiliated and heartbroken, the last thing she wants is to attend a summer of other peoples’ nuptials on her own.

Fortunately, her friends have an idea: together they devise a series of outrageous challenges for Freya to complete at each event, designed to distract her from Matthew and what might have been. From getting stuck in an old church bathroom and needing to be rescued by the vicar to making out with a barman at a French chateau, Freya realizes that despite herself, she might just be having fun.

By the time the final wedding arrives, she will discover that the road to a happy ending sometimes has unexpected detours, that “I do” is only the beginning––and that perhaps her own love story isn’t over just yet.

I ended up DNFing this book around 40%. The main character felt like she was one note for me and wasn't evolving, and the plot was moving very slow. I ended up feeling like I wasn't very concerned about the ending, I felt like I loved and cared about her best friends more than her story. There first few chapters were really good, but then the story just staled, and we were just dwelling for more than 1/4 of the book. It felt like it needed a new character introduction sooner, or something to update with the MC considering the way the book is described.

If you like a slow burn, with antics to try to revive your broken heart then do give this book a chance. I am absolutely sure that there are others that will feel differently than I do. It is NOT A BAD BOOK! It just isn't for me.

This book was absolutely charming and such a fun read!! I loved that most of the book is about Freya coming to terms with the breakup and becoming a stronger person and less about finding a new relationship. That felt a little more real and honest than had they broken up and 2 chapters later she had a new man.

I also adored her friendship with Ruby & Leo (and all the other gals). It was nice to see a book depict a function friendship without drama and fallouts.

Solid 4 stars!

*ARC Review*
The Wedding Season, by Katy Birchall
Pub Date: May 3, 2022

I really liked the premise of this one. Freya, who usually has everything planned and under control, gets dumped by her fiance the day before their wedding. Freya's wedding was supposed to kick off "the wedding season"- eight weddings in six months, which she now has to get through as a single lady instead of a newlywed. Her best friends Ruby and Leo come up with a list of challenges to complete at each event, as a way to distract herself with crazy dares and try to have a little fun along the way.

I think the book did a really good job of showing how Freya dealt with all the complex and conflicting emotions that come in waves after a major breakup. For anyone who's been through it, it sucks bigtime. But the book is filled with messages of hope and being able to find a way to move forward.
I love how Ruby and Leo have her back the whole time, and the rest of her friends support her even through their own "hen dos" and weddings. There was a romance arc in the story, but I honestly think Freya and her new love interest just seemed a little awkward and abrupt, without a whole lot of chemistry. I would've liked to see more of their relationship develop at the end, or in an epilogue.

Overall I think this was a fun, light read with a different plotline than typical romances/romcoms.

Read this if you like:
💍 Weddings!
💍 Awesome friendships and friends who aren't afraid to make a scene to show their support (definitely some LOL moments in there!)
💍 Light reads where the romance arc isn't the main plotline

This was a sweet story about a woman named Freya who was dumped by her fiancé, Matthew, the day before her wedding, after being together for 12 years. OUCH!

Just recently I had listened to The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall, and I liked that one. I think I gave it four stars?

But I absolutely LOVED The Wedding Season. I loved going through Freya’s heartbreak with her and reading about how she grew as a person with the help of her best friends, Ruby and Leo, and her family. She had such an amazing support group to get her through “wedding season.” I think that’s what I liked most about this book the besides the budding romance. I laughed, cried, and smiled. I can’t wait to recommend this book in my book club!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press & Net Galley for the ARC!

This just was not for me. I wasn’t expecting such a heavy emotional read based off of the cover and blurb.

I did push through, however, and I will say that the author is very talented and I enjoyed the writing style a lot.

I found this utterly charming. A wonderful summer read for anyone needing a smile and a bit of hope in the romance department. Fully relatable and engaging characters. I really felt everything Feyre was going through. Wonderfully written and left me happy and content in the end.

Freya is unceremoniously dumped by the man she has been with for twelve years a mere day before their wedding. She barely knows how she is going to make it through the week, let alone the seven other weddings she has to attend that year. That is until she is given a series of challenges by her two best friends that she at each wedding to help distract her as she mends her broken heart. Torn between holding on or moving on, Freya is forced to confront her true feelings and decide which path is the one for her.

This was a charming and heartfelt story about a woman coming into her own again. It’s about friendship, family, and romance.

Katy Birchall writes characters you can’t help but root for. You want to hug Freya, you want to shake her, and you can’t help but cheer her on. There is a whole cast of delightful characters that help make the journey even more enjoyable.

I did have a couple issues that bothered me throughout the book. It felt very much like reading someone’s diary. I think the author intended to make it feel like Freya was speaking directly to the reader like a friend, but it made me feel really removed from the story. Like being filled in about something after it happened by someone else. And there was a distinct lack of descriptions of both people and their settings.

The Wedding Season was just the read I was hoping for.

I just finished The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall and was enchanted throughout. Talk about a feel-good rom-com with likable characters and a quick and seamless storyline! Freya and friends were the type of people that any reader would enjoy being friends with. The setting being equal parts London, the English countryside, and exotic destination wedding locations ensures that the reader will delight in the gorgeous scenery and locales without ever even leaving their couch. Although this wedding season begins with heartbreak, time and a string of loyal friends, coworkers and family members, help our main character mend her broken heart and heal old childhood wounds, all the while, leading her to self-discovery and maybe even new love. Thank you NetGalley for this wonderfully refreshing advanced eCopy.

When Freya's fiance breaks up with her the day before her wedding, she doesn't know what to do as her plans for the rest of her life collapse. Worse, she is facing a summer full of weddings. So her friends come up with a series of challenges for her to complete at each wedding to keep her mind off the breakup. This was such a sweet read, but it was not what I was expecting. This book focuses mainly on Freya learning to get through the breakup and regain her confidence. And it is a fantastic plotline and very enjoyable to read. But I tend to like lighter romances with more of a romance plotline. There is a romance plotline (outside of the breakup), but it is very much on the backburner for most of the story. So while I enjoyed reading this book, I am not sure it was the book for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katy Birchall for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Wedding Season is a super cute read involving Freya who was left at the altar so to speak, just a day before. by Matthew who she has been with for 12 years.

In this hilarious rom-com, Freya's friends give her a "to-do" list to complete by the end of the spree of weddings she is due to attend. Will so find love again?

I found this book to be light-hearted and fun!

I think we can all agree that British banter is just better banter!

The Wedding Season is a funny and heartwarming women's fiction novel that opens with Freya's boyfriend of 12 years breaking up with her on the day before their wedding. Her friends make a plan for Freya to survive the wedding season by tasking her with challenges that help her let loose and keep her mind off her ex. Being left at the altar is a common romcom and women's fiction trope, but Katy Birchall does it well. This one felt original and I thoroughly enjoyed reading!

What I loved: Freya's best friends Ruby and Leo totally stole the show for me. They add so much funny dialogue to this book and made me smile pretty much every time they talked. There was also a subplot between Freya and her mother that really enhanced the story for me. I loved Freya's healing journey in this book and that she figured out that the way her ex saw her isn't the way she sees herself. Also, the romance was swoony and sweet! I loved it.

What didn't work: The pace was slightly inconsistent for me. The beginning sucked me into the story, but it seemed like there was a lot of time dedicated to the immediate post break up period for Freya. It takes quite a while before the idea of tasks for the wedding season come up and even longer before the love interest makes his way onto the page. However, women's fiction pacing is different than romance pacing and by the end it seemed like it all came together nicely, even if a few parts slowed down for me.

Thanks so much St Martins Griffin and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinion are my own!

When Freya is dumped by her fiance the day before her wedding, she has to figure out how to make it through all of her friend's weddings throughout the summer. Instead of throwing in the towel and staying home, she works with her best friends to devise a list of challenges to complete at each wedding and distract her from her lost relationship. While the challenges are a bit corny, and not all too challenging, Freya uses the opportunity of these events to find love for herself.
Overall, this is a great book for all romance lovers! The characters are likable and well-developed, and the hi jinks will keep you laughing until the end!

I adored The Secret Bridesmaid (my first book by Katy Birchall), so I was very excited to dig into The Wedding Season.
Freya's wedding to Matthew is the first of 8 weddings this season. After 12 years together, Matthew upends Freya's world by calling off (in a broom closet) the wedding the day before the big event!
In order to survive the upcoming 7 weddings, Freya's best friends devise a list of challenges for her to complete at each of the weddings in order to keep her mind off of her cancelled nuptials.

This story is Freya's journey to rediscover and redefine herself.
Although not as laugh out loud funny as some scenes in The Secret Bridesmaid, there are many endearing moments. Freya is surrounded by a wonderful family and lovely supportive friends -- and Birchall does a great job developing these relationships.
This is a love story - just more of the story of Freya learning to love herself and her life rather than loving another person. I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what Katy Birchall has in store for us next!
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katy Birchall for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Wedding Season will be published on May 3, 2022.

When Freya is left by her fiancee the day before her wedding she needs to find a way to make it through Wedding Season: six weddings throughout the summer. Her best friends decide they should give her a task for each one to get through it.
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I would not call this a romance book, but a book about a woman moving through a horrible breakup and learning who she is.

I liked it and would recommend it.

I absolutely adored this. I loved how this was centered around feyra working through her heartbreak and moving on and, most importantly, who she is as a person. She had so much growth in this book and I loved how far she came. This book made me so happy and regardless of your relationship status, it serves as a great reminder that the most important thing is to love yourself and be content with who you are as a person above all else. Highly recommend !!!

First of all, thank you to St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this title.

Simply put, this was a wondrous treat. Among the true wedding season now, it was the perfect book to be paired for a lazy weekend where I could laugh at the cute moments Freya, the main character has.

To summarize the story, Freya is ready to get married to her boyfriend of 12 years. But that’s not all, she does has 7 other weddings to attend in the same season. There should be a twist though right or it’ll be a pretty straightforward story? Freya’s fiancée decides a day before their wedding that he’s not sure about it and dumps her in a brook closet out of all things. To help her get back on her feet and survive the gruesome wedding season ahead, her closest friend Ruby and Leo assign her tasks to complete at each wedding. Through these tasks, not only does Freya try to forget the horrible start to the season but also discovers her true self.

What I loved about the book was Freya’s journey to finding her true self or realizing who she truly is and what she wants. It wasn’t rushed. Every task, very carefully thought showcased her abilities and her courage to get up after the fiasco and rebuild her life. Being a book that is set in today’s decade, I appreciated the author normalizing that most people do get married in their 30’s these days and that’s why the entire season was full of weddings. There’s so much about her relationship with her ex-fiancée that I believe each of us who’ve been in a relationship can connect to. It was those moments that made the book stand out. Moreover, the crossover with how the friends support each other, friends you’ve made at different stages of your life, hat’s off to you Katy! I absolutely relished that part.
A very small suggestion that I would have liked is to see a little bit more depth for Freya and Jamie, I felt the ending being a bit rushed and I would have liked to see a little behind the scenes for these two.

If you’re looking for a comfortable, makes you smile read, try this title out