As a future bride, this story was so incredibly intriguing to me! I was hooked from the very beginning! It was so suspenseful and so relatable that it was scary. The twists and turns, the suspense, the drama. I am truly frightened for my own bridal party because of this book. It's honestly so believable and realistic, it just draws you in from the first few pages. I didn't want to put it down, was absolutely terrified of it to end. Loved it and will be recommending it to my friends! I might even buy copies for my bridal party lol!

Do yourself a favor: read this while at a “hen” party!
I had so much fun reading this while on a bachelorette party (in our down time).
What happens when family and friends come together to celebrate their loved one’s wedding? Lies come out, affairs, alliances, and old friendships reignited. I never once figured out the twist, and as an avid thriller reader I was impressed!
This story is told through various POV’s, from the party attendees to the police. This story covers all the views. Occasionally it was hard to keep all of the characters separated.
I thouroghly enjoyed the story until the ending, it felt abrupt. Most ends were tied up but somethings were left open. This wasn’t an instance where the ending was open ended, it just felt abrupt and not fully fleshed out. Also, I enjoy multiple POV’s and understand why this was a story writing tool, but the number of different POV’s was a little hectic. The story mainly follows Jen’s POV and then moves on to 10+ more POV’s while sprinkling more of Jen’s throughout.
Overall, I enjoyed the book! Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Bridal Party (The Hen Party) by Maria Frankland is an easy-to-read murd£r mystery with a good twist and a shocking ending!
There was a little bit of struggle to follow who is who at the beginning as there are 10 characters to start with but somehow, really quickly I wrapped my head around, and then things went much smoother. I liked this book and definitely everyone loving murd£r mysteries will like this book!

As we can guess this story is set up at a Bridal Party (A bachelorette party, Bridal Shower, hen(s) party, or hen(s) do). Caitlyn, the bride-be, and 9 of her guests are traveling to Dublin for the Bridal party.
The atmosphere is cold and confusing and readers catch the vibe that not everyone is happy to be there even more not everyone is happy for an upcoming wedding.

The real drama starts the next morning. The bride is dead.

This is a story about hate, betrayal, and revenge.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for this copy!

Was pretty addictive - Had a great time with this domestic thriller. There were some twists I didn't see coming
4 STARS

I really liked the redesign of the cover; it's much more eye-catching.

A soon-to-be bride's life is cut short unexpectedly when she and her bridal party, including friends, future family in-law, and some questionable choices, travel to Dublin for her bachelorette (or hen party) celebration. We get introduced to the nine women travelling with Caitlyn, the bride, and even though most of the book is seen through Jen, the best friend's lenses, once the death kickstarts the book, we read from the point of view of everyone. There were A LOT of characters; there are a lot of books that have wide casts of characters; however, in The Bridal Party, it gets very info-dumpy at times, especially when the party arrives in Dublin, I must say, though, some bridesmaids had identifiable voices, so that helped.

It got very boring when the book stalled after Caitlyn's death because we spent all the time in one single setting, the police department, everyone being questioned, and every time a chapter finished, the other was the same, just from a different point of view. This, paired with the fact that I saw from a mile away how everything was going to pan out, made for a bit of a slog of a read. Still, I think Frankland's writing is fine, and perhaps I will check out more of her books, depending on their synopsis more than anything else.

The Bridal Party by Maria Frankland tells the story about a Hen Party and a murder that happens after a night of drinking. The book then tells the story of the party goers while being interviewed by the police.

Let me just start by saying I love a multiple POV book, this book mainly was told by the perspective of Jen, who is the maid of honor, however after the murder we do get the POV of all the Hen Party guests as they are interviewed by the police. I thought the multiple POV helped the story move along and made the book much more interesting to see each character and their reactions as they are being interviewed by the police. Even though I kind of guessed some of the things that did happen, I still enjoyed the story and the ending. In my opinion, the book had a good pace, especially after the murder, the author moved the story along with the input of each character seamlessly.

Overall, this book was a great read, it was a fast read and very entertaining. The author pulled off a great ending, with it being very well explained and not rushed at all.

This was my first read by Maria Frankland but it certainly will not be my last.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookoutoure for the chance of reading this ARC, the above review is of my own thoughts.

Thank you Net Galley for the copy of Bridal Party.

This is my first book by Maria Frankland. While it was alright enough I felt like the ending was rushed. No I definitely didn’t see the twist coming but they kinda just threw it as us with no rhyme or reason. I was so confused by the end of it. It ended abruptly it felt like.

The characters were okay. The couple of friends and in-laws annoyed me, but not enough for me to not finish the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Maria Frankland for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I was very excited to dive into this one. The description sounded like it was right up my alley. Unfortunately, The Bridal Party didn't grab me and couldn't keep my attention. I didn't even make it very far into the book to be honest. I would still recommend others to give it a try. Just because it wasn't for me doesn't mean it isn't for you.

In The Bridal Party by Maria Franklin Jen has arranged a hen party for her best friend Kaitlyn and it seems she invited everyone who has a bone to pick with the bride. Kaitlyn has recently gone in to remission from cervical cancer and she assumed to marry “the love of her life!“ Jen and Kaitlyn stay up late the first night in Ireland because Kaitlyn wants to tell Jen she learned Ben was cheating on her and his mistress was pregnant. Jen is shocked by the news but is even more shocked when they wake up the next morning and find the bride to be dead in her bed obviously by murder. After calling the police the book is mainly the iris Garda interviewing the ladies and it’s certain points it really looks like the suspect is known to the reader but hold on they have twist coming that will shock the most well read thriller reader! I have been reading the authors books since her very first and find she always comes out with the most spellbinding twist interns that never cease to astound me I dare say Maria Franklin is one of the best thriller mystery writers out there. She is one of those go to Author’s when you want a verified good book no reviews needed if it’s Maria Franklin it’s a great read! A totally five star read! I want to thank Bookoucher for my free arc via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I finished this one in 2 days! It was a quick and easy read. Despite it being pretty predictable it kept you reading and wanting to know more.

A bridal party gone wrong, the bride to be is found dead in an apartment surrounded by her hen party - police are called and interview them all - a who done it story.
My second read from the author and was really looking forward to it as I love a good psychological thriller. I did find this story to be a bit slow and at times monotonous - when each person was being questioned.
I did not particularly like any of the characters - they all had pretty bad attitudes apart from Emma - one of the victims sisters.
I did think the ending was clever and enjoyable which won me over however I was left with unanswered questions that I felt could have been fleshed out a bit more.

At first I had a hard time keeping all the hen party attendees sorted out. I am used to that happening at the beginning of books with many characters, but I'm not sure why these were harder than normal. Who's a friend? a bridesmaid? a sister? a soon to be in-law? etc. I also wish we had gotten a little more time with the murder victim before they died. Nevertheless, when it became a police investigation, I finally started enjoying the story. I did figure out what I thought probably happened early on, so I enjoyed the unfolding of how it happened at the end. I wonder if it would have been fun to see things play out even farther, but I respect the author's choice to und it where she did.

Thanks to #Netgalley and #Bookouture for my ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the chance to re-read this book. The old title should have been kept as the story is about a hen party not a bridal party. It takes place in Doublin after the bride-to-be Caitlin is in remission from cancer. There are nine others in the group and not all of them are happy about the upcoming wedding. When Caitlin is found dead in her bed the police enter the story. There are police interviews with everyone which comprise most of the story. Eventually two people are arrested and that's a huge twist as well as a surprise. Then the book ends with the biggest twist of all and it just shows how good a storyteller Maria Frankland is. I enjoyed rereading it again.

I can’t believe how fast I read this book, it’s my first one from Maria Frankland and I actually love her writing style.

Even though I figured out the plot, I can say that I was genuinely surprised by who did it… It wasn’t the person I had in mind at all. Told in different POVs (which I’m a fan of) this fast paced thriller gives every character a motive for killing Caitlyn as their secrets are exposed but the plot twist at the end is shocking.

A quick read I highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC copy.

#TheBridalParty #NetGalley

I actually found the blurb on this one to be incredibly misleading and it doesn't do The Bridal Party justice. The synopsis gives the impression that someone hates Caitlyn so much that when the wine starts flowing and the secrets start spilling, there is a murder rampage where no one knows who will be next.

In reality, poor Caitlyn is off to Dublin on the hen party of nightmares. Most women have been on that awkward hen do where you only know the bride but in Caitlyn's, most of the people who came not only don't know each other but most seem to dislike her. People get drunk, get angry and argue. With dramatic results. Almost all seem to have motive for smothering her in her sleep so when the guarda are called in, the question is....who dunnit (do you see what I did there?)

I really enjoyed the different perspectives in The Bridal Party as we get a look behind the curtain into the minds of all 9 women who were in the apartment when Caitlyn was killed as they are interviewed by the police. A quick and easy read that is well written and by the end of the book, you can't help but feel sorry for Caitlyn and the way she was treated by the people that were supposed to love her.

This is my second read by Maria Frankland. The first, although I enjoyed it, was more of a slow burn. This book, The Bridal Party, however had me hooked from the beginning! A classic "whodunnit", had me pointing fingers at almost every character at some stage along the way! But, the twist...I can certainly say I did not see that coming. Highly recommend this one, 5 stars!

Great book that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Loved the main character and how well the book was laid out.

I quite enjoyed this book! It combined two of my favourite genres - mystery and weddings!
I found it a little confusing to keep up with all the characters at first and at times found it a little repetitive/dragged at to get to the twist but once there it picked up and I really enjoyed it!

I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. You go into it knowing the Bride is going to be murdered, and the prologue shows exactly how. I feel like the prologue was unnecessary. It didn’t really line up with the feelings and actions of the person who actually did it so it almost felt like it had been written by someone who hadn’t yet read the book. Or maybe I just colored it that way because I went into this book knowing that whoever killed the bride really really hated her.

A lot of this book was the women’s thoughts delving off the interrogation questions so we get a better view of how flawed they all are in their relationships with the Bride. Honestly if any of these women came on my Bachelorette I’d rather not have friends, most of them are terribly self-centered. Like her old friend from school who thought she should’ve been the MOH even though she hadn’t really been in the brides life much for the last few years and confronted Caitlyn at the Hen-Do about how she wasn’t getting enough attention at a party that was neither for or about her while Caitlyn is dealing with her future in-laws coming (who all have been very vocal about not wanting her around).

In the end I wouldn’t consider the “whodunnit” to be that surprising. Once we got a key piece of evidence from Caitlyn’s bag it was clear - at least in part - as to what happened. I kept telling myself it wasn’t possible logistically, but on that part I at least got proven wrong.

Primarily I wasn’t a fan of the writing of this book. Admittedly I am not from Britain so I don’t know/understand all of the common phrases that in the US made no grammatical sense so I can’t say if it was a grammar issue not corrected by the publisher, or just how people talk. It wasn’t for me, but I think it could be for people who like short, fairly easy to read Mystery books.

I’ve reread the description of the book and the first sentence mentions a “bride-to-be” sash that didn’t exist in the book and for some reason that stands out to me. Additionally, the name of the book has changed since receiving this book for review which - while the change made sense - did make it hard to find on Goodreads to review as I was looking up a book that didn’t exist.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an early copy of The Bridal Party. The cover was AWESOME! Maria Frankland is in the same category as Daniel Hurst and Frieda McFadden, I get sooo excited when I see a new book out from her. I will admit this was a bit repetitive with all the questioning, way too long BUT then the twist happened and it was a good one!!! Took me by total surprise which I love. I felt like I was at the hen party, I could picture all the characters and everything that was happening. The last twist was PHENOMENAL, LIKE WOWWWWWWW!!! You will never guess, that’s what makes the book FABULOUS. Thank you again.