The premise of this story is sad but relatable! Andi has a terrible experience with her wedding (her fiancée is found cheating on her moments before the ceremony), and now she hates weddings. When her best friend is getting married, Andi must figure out a way to work through her wedding trauma to support her bff. We’ve all been there, trying to support our friends through something that feels so heavy and awful for ourselves.

I had a hard time getting into this book; the story is plot driven, and the characters felt less fully fleshed out than I would have liked.

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria books for this ARC.

I really liked the summary and concept of the story and was excited to receive the arc. However, him practice it was hard for me to really get into the story. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

4🌟
Andrea and Owen are 2 cynical, unromantic characters who have been chucked together as part of the wedding party. From the get go you learn why Andrea has a vengeance for romance and frankly, who can blame her?

The wedding takes place in Italy, which made for a nice summery getaway read in the midst of winter. Not to mention the description of all these different dishes throughout the book sounded mouthwatering and lush!

Thoroughly enjoyed the book, even if you could guess what would happen at the very beginning. The characters are relatable and funny and the book is an easy read.

Andi is anti-love, weddings, and everything happily ever after related. She’s content living far away from these things after all how many heartbreaks a heart can handle? Especially , if you got cheated on your wedding day.
However, she is thrown back into the mix when her best friends are getting married in Italy she will have to act happy be the bridesmaid and leave her comfort zone. How hard can it be? Of course, not forgetting about Owen the best man who is also an anti-wedding anti-love, kind of one a call for disaster right? Or love can be found in the last place expected.?
Well, I had a huge expectation for this book, but it fell flat for me. I was kind of bored and not really immersed and addicted to the story. Therefore, it wasn’t my best read however, for people who love this kind of stories, I think they will enjoy it.
Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of #TheAntiWeddingParty in exchange for my honest review.

Xoxo💋

The (Anti) Wedding Party takes romance novel tropes and turns them on their head. The main character has to deal with her distain for weddings to participate in her friend's Italian wedding. It was light, fun, and a quick read.

This was a lovely premise and I was quite excited to read a romance set in Italy. I found that the main character didn't go through a lot of character development.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Anti Wedding Party was funny, entertaining and sweet romcom. Andrea and Owen are the main characters and their best friends get married so it’s a given they become maid of honor and best-man. They’ve both been burned by love and have negative outlooks on love and romance. Throughout the wedding festivities and mishaps, they form a connection. Although I didn’t connect with parts of the book, overall I thought it was a good read.

This is an easy five stars from me. Lucy Knott has written a relatable and flawed heroine who I fell in love with immediately, then whisks her off to Italy for a transformative week at her best friend's wedding.
I loved the supporting characters, I loved the relationships between Andi and her mum. I loved how evocatively Lucy described the settings and I loved the food - I was so hungry after reading this. Mostly, I loved Own and Andi and their exchanges were a highlight for me.
A lovely, funny, romantic romcom with all the feels. LOVED it.

4 stars-
This is just going to be a quick review. The (Anti) Wedding Pact is my first Lucy Knott book and I did not disappoint it delt with topics such as friends changing over time and it's okay. Love after loss was a very big theme in this novel Communication is something that is also heavily pressed upon.

The romance in this book is cute. It's between Alex and Owen whose friends are getting married, and they have to plan the wedding. Over time a connection between the two grows harder for them to ignore. Owen's love for Alex has no bounds.

The number of sweet moments between them, had me giggling and kicking my feet. They're communication greatly improves throughout the book. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

This read was entertaining and frustrating all at the same time. Owen felt like a cinnamon-roll, just wanna hug him, sweetheart of a man for the entire book (even if he is all anti-romance). Andi...well she was just irritating. She honestly almost made me DNF this book (nod to Ms. Lucy Knott for the very well-written irritation, even if that was not the original intent ha). I understand pain/scarring from a past horrendous experience. It's nothing I'd wish on anyone. That being said, she's a 34 year old woman who can't look past her 'woe is me' attitude to actually change anything. So basically she just bothered me. The setting of the book was divine however, beautiful depictions of Italy and loved the LGBTQIA+ representation as well. I would recommend this book to a select audience, but I would not read again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The (Anti) Wedding Party is a romance novel by Lucy Knott.
I enjoyed this romance novel, it was easy to follow and had a good cast of characters. The author's writing was easy to follow and enjoyable to read. Overall a good novel that I highly recommend and I would read more by the author.
❤️ Thank you to netgalley and the author/publisher for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks so much to Lucy Knott and Aria & Aries for the Digital ARC copy of this book. This is such a quick and easy read with a great story line and characters. Lucy did an amazing job of telling Andi and Owen's Story. This book took me a couple chapters to get into it but after the first few chapters it really hooked me in

On her wedding day, Andi catches her fiancée, Hannah, cheating on her with the maid of honour. She already did not have a positive view on marriage; however, this just solidified her stance.
So, when her best friend Alex tells her she's getting married in Italy and asks her to be the maid of honour, she is not fully on board but agrees. Alex's fiancée, Charlie has convinced her best friend Owen to be her best man. In a fun little twist, he shares Andi's opinions on weddings and relationships!

Now, I'm not going to sugar coat this review... and I've been avoiding writing it because I hate how disappointed it has made me.

I understand the main character has some character development later on in the book. But she is the most annoying character I have ever had the displeasure of reading. I understand having a lot of trauma when your fiancée cheats on you on your wedding day. However, when your best friend is getting married, you don’t push your negative energy onto them. You support them. It shouldn’t be difficult.

I found it hard to look past how unlikeable Andi is which made the book difficult to like overall. I truly truly wish I could have liked this book more. It had a lot of potential.

NOW! If the plot was that her best friend was acting the way Andi was towards her, it would have been more tolerable since the main character wouldn't have been the insufferable one.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The descriptions of the food and the setting were so flowy and well-written, but pretty much everything else fell short for me. Andi is straight up unlikeable. Sure, she eventually has some character development... well into the last third of the book. She just felt like that friend that is very focused on herself, has no space for anyone else's feelings, and you let it slide because she probably doesn't mean to be malicious, she's just unaware. It was not fun to read, and ultimately the descriptions of various scenes couldn't make up for the flaws in pacing and characters.

Set in Manchester, England and Positano, Italy.
Closed door
Forced proximity
Single POV
LGBTQIA+

FMC Andrea/Andi was nearly raised in her grandparents fish and chip shop, which she now runs along with her mum. She is a jilted bride, who caught her soon to be wife and maid of honor going at it in the bathroom just as they were called to walk down aisle.
Andi is anti all things love after being cheated on, but her best friend still asks her to be her MOH.

At first, it was easy to sympathize with Andi and her struggle of being happy for/watching other people find their happiness. But in reality, Andi is selfish, self centered and lacking self awareness. It’s hard to meet her with empathy or find humor in her shortcomings because she is one tracked mind.
The author never went into her healing journey or processing the witnessing of her fiancé cheating on her, and that’s because ya girl needs therapy and never went.
Also, as a 34 year old woman, HOW does she not know how to pack for a trip to the Amalfi Coast in July?! Why is every other outfit truly fit for a Manchester fall and not a Positano summer?
Andi’s growth was so slow, and stunted. It made it challenging to root for her. This book was more coming of age than romcom. Andi is lucky to be surrounded by such supportive friends and family who are patient with her shortcomings and willing to look past them as her quirks.

I don’t understand how Andi and Owen clicked and developed a friendship when there was little to no dialogue between them. The author spent more time describing food than their relationship. (Learning that she has published a cookbook IRL makes way more sense).

It felt out of nowhere Andi is all a flutter for Owen. I just couldn’t see the progression and their non romcom romcom/Hallmark movie romance is not something I was able to invest myself into as I felt like I didn’t know either character.

The rainbow Jordan almonds. A very cliche 90s Italian wedding/party favor. But also left me wanting to break all my teeth on some Jordan almonds.

The one week heads up that her best friend is engaged, she is the MOH, and needs to head to Italy next week for a week long wedding celebration… unsure why there wasn’t much lead time written in here. Having planned my own wedding, been part of a handful and attended almost 40 weddings in the last 9.5 years, there is no way this is acceptable or possible.

“One bad rom-com does not define all rom-coms.” - Andi’s best friend, Alex. Oh Alex. Sweetie.

At times, the author is so descriptive it feels like a play, and is having to constantly set the stage. The dialogue is not connected/doesn’t flow conversationally as there are huge gaps narrating the surroundings. It kind of makes me feel anxious. It’s always interrupted by the inner monologue and thoughts, creating a disconnect and/or gap leading me to have to re-read to as I can’t recall what was being discussed.

If this book was also a food and travel guide for Positano, the author nailed it. The characters were a side story, and addressing the core problem/trauma of the FMC is mainly offpage.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria&Aries for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book. The Anti Wedding Party was a fairly enjoyable read. It did feel long winded and overly drawn out in parts. Some editing to tighten the writing up and cut some unneeded scenes would help transform the story. I enjoyed all the characters and the overall storyline.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this advanced book copy and letting me review it. The (Anti) Wedding Party by Lucy Knott is a new addictive, romantic novel that comes out July 16, 2024. The two main characters Andi (friends maid of honor) and Owen (friends best-man) who are a united duo together along with separate who share a strong connection of dislike for weddings. Both characters have their separate sides, and why they don't like weddings, especially the female main character Andi whose is ex-fiancé cheated on her with her maid of honor on their wedding day. Love blossoms throughout this humorous, romantic book. This was a 4 star read in my opinion with engaging characters, a good plot, and seeing a passionate love story unfold. I can't wait for people to read and like this book like I did.

The irresistibly charming cover initially drew me in, and I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Andi and Owen. Italy serves as a dreamy backdrop, a perfect setting for a wedding. After enduring heartbreak, Andi becomes skeptical about love and marriage. However, when her best friend jets off to Italy to tie the knot, who better than Andi to stand by her side as the maid of honor? It's an offer she can't refuse.

Amidst the picturesque scenery, Andi crosses paths with Owen, the best man, and the immediate chemistry between them sets the stage for a slow-burning romance. Throughout the novel, we witness Andi's journey towards healing; her struggle to trust again is entirely relatable given her past experiences.

I genuinely enjoyed this cute story, although I found a few moments that stretched a bit. Despite the minor pacing issues, I would still recommend it.

If you have never been to Italy before, start packing.

First things first, this book is adorable!

After her own wedding day ended in spectacular disaster, Andi is now the founder and president of the ‘I hate weddings’ club, of which there are precisely two members, her…and Owen.

When Andi’s best friend gets engaged, she tries to be happy for her, but it’s not coming naturally to her. But as she is maid of honour, she needs to get over herself, and fast! Teaming her up with the man of honour Owen, who thinks even less of weddings that Andi does, can only end in disaster. Right?

The wedding is set in Italy and the stunning scenic descriptions had me dreaming of a getaway to the locations in the story, they were really beautifully written.

Andi and Owen are your typcial leading characters, although I actually liked that Owen wasn’t described in the way your usual leading man would be (abs, muscles, jaw you could cut your Christmas wrapping paper on) and was instead a far more realistic hero - think floppy hair and dad bod.

Overall, the story was very enjoyable and although I predicted the ending, it didn’t take away from the experience.

I’d recommend this for a cosy, curl up in your comfies, easy read. Word of warning though, make sure you have adequate snacks as the food content in this book is truly mouthwatering!

I had high hopes for this book after reading the blurb but unfortunately they weren't met. The characters felt a bit flat to me and at some time it was just annoying that every possibile thing went wrong.