Full of Southern charm, this is a fun, sweet story that I really enjoyed. From all the wedding details to the career and relationship woes, this was a quick, relatable read. I loved the machinations of Liv's aunt in their competition for the magazine's cover- over the top, ridiculous, and often very humorous. Hoping for more from this author!

Fun rom com sat down to read a few pages enjoyed so much I finished in one setting. Looking for a fun romantic read this is for you.#netgalley #zibbybooks

Reading this book made me feel like I was the victim of a bait and switch. My three star rating is actually generous as I considered flipping this over into the DNF bin. Here is what I liked:

👰🤵Wedding planning was at the center. Love all the fun things like engagement parties, dress shopping, bridal showers, etc.
👰🤵The competition element seemed like it would be fun. What did I know? Olivia Fitzgerald is involved in planning for not one, but two big days. With one wedding in Nashville and the other even in Atlanta, there is lots of potential for glitz and glamour.
👰🤵A very happy ending for Olivia. While I got annoyed with her manipulative ways, she did get some pretty crazy curveballs sent her way.

What I did not like:
The imbalance in getting to know the couples. Leighton is in the Nashville pair. She is Olivia's best friend, yet we hear not a peep from her groom-to-be Matt. We barely know he is at the wedding. On the flip side, the lesbian couple in Atlanta gets all kinds of character building. Seems like the book is also trying to do some envelope pushing on some things just like the magazine Southern Charm in the book.

Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Wedding Issues by Elle Evans was a super fun and exciting rom-com!
I enjoyed the characters and their family shenanigans.
The writing was super great and held my attention. I knew once I started I couldn't put it aways.
An uplifting and light story.
I can't wait to rad more by Elle ik the future!

Thank You NetGalley and Zibby Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Looking for a fun, escapist read that gives you something to sink your teeth into?

Look no further than WEDDING ISSUES by @elle.evans.books!

The competition for magazine cover goes bananas when people-pleasing law student Olivia Fitzpatrick juggles her career aspirations while being the maid of honor to two brides competing for the cover of Southern Charm magazine's annual bridal issue.

This book was a blast to read! Olivia is an authentic character as she tries to figure out who she is while being so many things to the many people she cares about-- including not one but two potential love interests for her. I loved how Evans kept each scene fresh with various unique locations and hijinks. I also appreciated how inclusive Evans was by making one of the brides-to-be queer. 👏

This is a fabulous rom-com read with a far-from-predictable ending!!

Thank you @zibbybookspublishing for the advanced copy.

Read this if you like:
•best friends brother
•wedding competition
•scheming family

This was a fast paced & fun book. I binged it in a day. Liv is pulled in multiple directions with finishing law school and also maid of honor in 2 weddings that are competing to be on the cover of a bridal magazine! This was cute romcom!

Thank you Zibby & Libro Fm for the eARC / ALC

This was a super fun cross between Bride Wars and My best friends wedding that sees Olivia forced into taking on a maid of honor AND pre-wedding activity planner in order to help both her best friend AND her cousin compete for the cover of a bridal magazine.

Things go off the rails quickly as Olivia finds herself manipulating both brides and disappointing everyone, including her best friend, her best friend's brother who she's crushed on for years and it takes a big move to make it all better before she loses it all.

Great on audio narrated by Maria Marquis, this was a standout debut full of family drama and perfect for fans of books like Without a hitch or Piece of cake. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: kissing only/closed door

CW: ectopic pregnancy/abortion

First thought: I really enjoyed this one! It’s like Bride Wars but better, thanks to the evil Aunt. Be warned there is not a lot of romance, but don’t worry you’ll be enjoying this book so much you won’t miss it. It focuses more on the wedding scheming, relationship juggling between the brides and conflict resolution. Don’t miss this one!

Liv is in her final year of law school and the end is near! She’s worked her butt off and should be receiving an offer to work at a Big Law Film in NYC this spring.

She has the gift of being able to talk anyone into anything, and her bestie Leighton needs her help. She wants to be selected as the June Bride to feature on the Southern Charme cover. So Liv is on her way to take a meeting with the Senior editor to make it happen, but this is where everything begins to go wrong.

Que the evil music… Liv’s Aunt Charlotte finds out about her meeting and turns the tables. What was suppose to be a closed deal for Leighton is now in jeopardy as Charlotte just pitched her own daughter Kali’s wedding for the cover. To save the situation Liv pitched a battle of the brides between the two weddings.

But Charlotte wouldn’t stop there. Her husband works at the law firm Liv wants to work at after graduation and blackmails her into being Kali’s Maid of Honor and helping her win. But Liv is torn as she is also Leighton’s Maid of Honor and she really wants that job!

So let the scheming and sabotage begin and may the best bride win! Unfortunately for Liv there’s no good winner, with the stakes this high.

Literally Themes you’ll find:

* Dream Job on the Line
* Scheming Aunt
* Blackmail
* Best Friend’s Brother
* Forbidden Romance
* High Stakes
* Bride Wars
* Maid of Honor x2
* Friendship
* Sabotage
* LBGTQ Representation

👰‍♀️🩵💐👰‍♀️🩵💐👰‍♀️🩵💐👰‍♀️🩵💐👰‍♀️

Two brides, one maid of honor with an impossible dilemma: if she accomplishes the heartfelt dreams of either bride in being the featured bride on a vaunted Southern lifestyle magazine, she will either betray her best friend or destroy her own career aspirations and ruin her tenuous relationship with her father. Throw in a confusing and wonderful one night stand with her best friend's brother who was strictly off-limits turns up the heat on a frothy, entertaining read. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Cute romantic comedy that I really enjoyed.

Thank you Netgalley and Zibby Books for the chance to read and review this fun read.

Wedding Issues
Elle Evans

I just devoured this book on vacation, I couldn’t put it down. I loved it all, the characters, the plot and the Nashville setting, a city I had the pleasure of visiting several years ago. After my four day stay, I consider myself one of the city’s biggest fans as well as an expert.

I tried to come up with the best summary of this book, but nothing was better than the one the publisher wrote. Why mess with perfection?

“Competition for a bridal magazine cover unleashes mayhem, forcing a mastermind maid of honor to stop being a people pleaser and start figuring out what she wants out of life.

Olivia, “Liv” Fitzgerald is on ambition autopilot. The soon-to-be lawyer has her life plan set and can talk anyone into anything. Well, almost anything. When her scheming aunt throws her cousin, Kali into a competition for Southern Charm ‘s cover alongside Liv’s best friend Leighton, all hell breaks loose”

As if this book wasn’t great enough on its own, the author is a practicing anesthesiologist. Wow!

I'm currently planning my wedding and am in the midst of all the pre-wedding celebrations, so this book couldn't have come at a better time! Luckily, I'm not publicly competing for magazine coverage, though.

I love a "goofy wedding escapades" story--whether in book or movie form--so the description of this book seemed right up my alley. I enjoyed following along with Olivia as she struggled with what to do. Do evil aunts like hers exist in real life?? I really appreciated Olivia's character arc--if you're not liking her at first, keep reading, it's worth it.

There's a bit of a romance in this one as well, although most of the plot is humor. Unfortunately, Olivia's love story didn't take the turn I wanted it to, but the romance is minor so I wasn't too upset.

Read this if you're in the mood for drama, pranks, and evil family members! I could totally see this book becoming a classic wedding comedy movie like 27 dresses. It's a really fun read!

Thank you Zibby books for the review copy of Wedding Issues, this is great light read for late Spring vacation plans and for summer trips. This is the kind of fun read for waiting in an airport, sitting by a pool, sitting while you wait for a kid's sports practice to finish...

Wedding Issues is fun with a focus on weddings and family chaos and influencers stuff and some "evil aunt" family drama. It's funny but also a coming of age story and that is what stands out for me the most. The wedding stuff and funny moments and the family drama were great but it was the main character and her story that mattered to me. I still don't know if I liked Liv but I understood her, she was full steam ahead on pathways I don't think she really understood but they mattered to her or so she thought. She is really very similar to how I think a lot of high performing college students and early twentysomethings are/were...

But I just wanted her to slow down and think about herself, see the people around her for all they were trying to let her see and how she was being invited into their lives. And ultimately that is what the story was for me and I wish it had leaned a little more into that big theme, a little less into somewhat distracted by the magazine contest and how that plot developed but it was also fun and did move the bigger story themes ahead. But the evil aunt, two weddings/magazine contest, law school, romance, friends stuff was also a lot to put into one story when it was meant to be a fairly light escapist read.

So this ends up being a liked it a lot because I got invested in Liv's story but I would like to see a next book from this author lean away from fitting in a lot of plot and more into character development.

Spring has sprung, temps are rising, snow is melting, and flowers will soon be blooming. You all know what that means! Wedding bells will soon be ringing! Ha! Wedding Issues by Elle Evans is the perfect book to read leading up to wedding season. This one was an absolute delight, my friends! I must admit that I was a little hesitant to pick it up at first. I thought it might be a little too cheesy and/or fluffy for my liking. Boy, was I ever wrong. It had the perfect mix of everything I love: family drama, female friendship, romance, and SO many hilarious moments! It’s rom-com perfection. Oh, and the title of the book is very clever. Once you get into the story, you’ll realize just how genius it is.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Southern fiction with loads of charm
- Wedding planning and prepping
- Female friendship
- Shenanigans and sabotage
- Some (not so) friendly competition
- Bridal magazines
- Complicated mother/daughter relationships
- Rom-coms heavier on the com, rather than the rom
- Social media and influencer lifestyle
- LGBTQ+ representation
- Work/life balance

I have a feeling that I’ll see this one peeking out of many beach bags this summer. It’s so much fun. 4/5 stars for Wedding Issues! Grab your copy on release day, April 2nd!

Olivia is caught in the middle of planning weddings for her bff and her cousin when she accepts the title of maid of honor for both. Add a bridal magazine cover contest, a conniving aunt, and a her own future career in the mix and you have a recipe for disaster! Olivia takes the label “control freak” to a whole new level! Loved the behind the scenes look at wedding planning. The magazine cover contest took me back to the days I waited for that the next issue of Seventeen to come in the mail. Some pretty outrageous meddling by the evil aunt made for good entertainment, but honestly, most of us would sever those family ties. That was the only part I had difficulty choking down. But this book is a drama filled, guilty pleasure!! We all need those now and then.

I unabashedly adore this book. It is COMPLETELY different than my own life: a young woman starting her career just happens to be the maid of honor for two people competing in a contest to earn a spot on the coveted cover of Southern Charm magazine. She’s from the South, crisscrosses from Tennessee to Georgia and surrounds herself with all things amazing. The exact opposite of me. So yes, I escaped my own reality to live in the cutthroat, yet incredibly funny, world of Olivia, her devious Aunt Charlotte, her family and friends and maybe even a love interest….or two. But what I didn’t expect was an incredible sense of I WANT THAT. I was so completely taken with each of the characters and wanted to literally walk into the pages and experience it all. This book made me think about my own life, the ways I try to control EVERYTHING and the reminder that there is always room for flexibility…the most magical things might happen there. So now, I’ve added visiting Tennessee and Georgia to my bookish bucket list, reminded myself that the little things matter to our life experience and pledge to go after them. This was an uplifting, funny yet complex, and all-in kind of book and since we are coming into the traditional wedding season, it’s perfect timing, too. Go read this!

This book definitely kept me on my toes. I had no idea what Liv was going to do next. I hate that the contest impacted her relationship with her cousin, but at the same time it did bring them closer together. The craziness of her aunt to sabotage Leighton's events in such a bad way was ridiculous, but the more we found out about her, and what he end goal was, the more it made sense. The tidbits into Nashville life were also fun and best friends brother is one of my favorite tropes! Overall, it was a really cute, easy read!

A romp of a novel about the madness of wedding planning gone wild. Liv is a sensible woman but she's gotten herself in a mess. Her BFF Leighton and and her cousin Kali are both getting married and she's the maid of honor for both. And. they're competing to be the cover story of a bridal magazine. This isn't a rom com but it's a hoot. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Synopsis - Competition for a Southern bridal magazine cover unleashes mayhem, forcing a mastermind maid of honor to stop being a people pleaser and start figuring out what she wants out of life. A hilarious, smart coming-of-age story.

At first, this book was too much for me. A contrived plot device, unlikeable main character, and repetitive use of A. B. C. lists throughout the story almost made me DNF. What I loved, though, were the descriptions of the wedding-related events for both brides which was enough to keep me going, and I’m glad I did. I could tell the author was very familiar with Nashville, but less so with Atlanta, where some of the descriptions seemed inaccurate.

Overall, I thought it was a cute book. Not my favorite and not terrible. Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Wedding Issues: A Novel
4👰👰👰👰
By: Elle Evans

This novel is such a light hearted and fun novel.
👰
Olivia life is chaotic. She is trying to find a job while finishing up law school. Her best friend Leighton is getting married and Olivia is trying to get her on the cover of Southern Charm.
👰
Olivia’s aunt Charolette finds out about the cover opportunity and wants her daughter Kali to have the cover.
👰
Let the games begin as it becomes a competition. Olivia persuades the magazine sees this as a unique opportunity. Olivia is now caught in the middle of this drama as her aunt talks her to being maid of honor for both.
👰
Can Olivia navigate family, friendship and a possible relationship?

Thank you Zibby Books for this advanced copy. This novel is out April2, 2024.