This is a fabulous debut for those who love traveling, rom coms and wedding antics. Ada is heading to Belfast to celebrate her sister’s wedding when her layover gets canceled. Fate had her crossing paths with Jack, who happens to be the best man at the very same wedding. The two had some of the BEST banter and communication. I did not expect myself to laugh out loud so much. Ada was a messy main character, but to me, it was the fact that she wasn’t perfect that made her easy to relate to and such a joy to cheer on. Brittany Presley did a great job narrating her voice as well as all the dialogue with Jack. Seriously, I can listen to her male voice for days!

Read if you like:
-Road trip romances
-Ireland setting
-Wedding antics
-Only one bed
-You With a View/ Holiday Romance

Two stranded wedding guests make their way from London to Northern Ireland in this delightful rom-com debut.

Ada is en route from Seattle to Ireland for her younger sister's destination wedding and she's less than thrilled. Her business has recently failed, she's living with her parents after her long-time boyfriend decided they needed a 3 month break, she's flat broke and, worst of all, she's convinced her sister is rushing into an ill-considered marriage. Now the budget airline has cancelled her connecting flight to Belfast and she's stranded in London without the means to even book a hotel room.

Ada's luck seems to take a turn for the better when she meets Jack - a very attractive fellow traveller who is also stranded - and he offers to share his hotel room with her. After a few drinks, Ada decides there's no reason why she can't share her true feelings about the wedding, the groom and the womanizing best man she dreads meeting with this airport stranger only to discover that they are both heading to the same wedding and Jack is the aforementioned best man. The pair decide to put the misunderstanding aside and travel together via a mix of ferries, trains, and automobiles in a desperate attempt to make it to the wedding on time while also trying to keep their simmering attraction to each other in check.

Wedding Dashers is a fun read and a very strong romance debut - anyone who has had travel go sideways can relate! There's sizzling chemistry and witty banter as the two main characters get to know each other in this slow burn/forced proximity romance as well as some heavier issues that the two are coming to terms with. Laugh-out-loud funny yet also emotional at times - a great choice for romance readers interested in a steamy road-trip romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

For fans of Netflix's romantic comedies such as Holidate, this one's for you.

Two disillusioned individuals meet under less than ideal circumstances. Ada is on a 'break' from her boyfriend of eight years. Meanwhile, Jack is dealing with baggage of his own. A fateful, flirtatious first encounter takes a turn when they realize they're heading to the same wedding. Ada's sister Allison and Jack's bestfriend Collin's wedding to be exact.

Both Ada and Jack have reservations about the speed with which their loved ones are heading down the altar. Because surely two people can't be sure about each other after only dating less than a year, right?

Nevertheless, despite numerous setbacks, they do everything they can to make their way to the wedding. Chemistry, hijinks, and humor ensue along the way. I enjoyed seeing Allison grow and realize that she was clinging onto her failed relationship because of the familiarity and safety of it, not because she truly missed her ex or the person she was when she was with him.

I do wish we would have gotten some chapters in Jack's PoV or at least the epilogue though, because we never truly get an inside look into his thoughts and feelings. As a result, I feel far less of an attachment to him as a character.

Minor issues aside, I had a fun time with this one. It is in no way original in its conception or execution. But it still manages to be a fun, sexy romp, and sometimes that's all you need.

I really liked the book.
Sometimes we meet the right person for us at the wrong time in our lives.
Ada and Jack’s efforts to get to Ireland were straight out of the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Both were good for each other if nothing else realizing how much personal growth and work they each needed to do.
I’m a big believer in not jumping from relationship into another because you need time to heal and reassess. A person has to be happy with themselves before they can find happiness in each other.
Read this book and it might ring some bells with your win situation.

🩷 Book Review 🩷

What is this?! Another romance debut that is OH SO GOOD!!

“He’s an app I can’t stop opening. A habit I can’t break.”

Ahem this book is a habit I can’t break!! I had so much fun with this debut. I loved every single second. It’s hard to make me laugh in rom coms but this had a special pizazz and was laughing my booty off.

Ada + Jack= Perfection 😮‍💨❤️

The sassy banter and witty personalities. What more can you ask for?

The story was also very emotional and so pure and raw. My heart truly broke for this duo in different ways. Sometimes love can be gut wrenching and your heart feels like it’s going to break. Being honest with yourself and realizing maybe I’m happier without this person? Or, is love really enough?

Mcbreen you broke my heart but did you put it back together. Thank goodness 😅. That ending!!! Ugh my lil 💙.

“An affair to remember.”

“Maybe it’s finding someone who makes you feel a little less alone in the world.”

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @heathermcbreenwrites for my copy.

5/5

Wedding Dashers by Heather McBreen is a delightful mix of mistaken identities, unexpected twists, and a forced-proximity romance that hits all the right notes. Ada and Jack’s banter and chemistry are irresistible, making their road trip across Ireland both hilarious and heartfelt. The close proximity creates moments of humor and tension that keep you hooked, while the underlying emotional growth adds depth to their story.

Though the characters’ baggage adds a bit of drama, it’s balanced by laugh-out-loud moments and a slow-burn romance that feels authentic. Fans of witty rom-coms with a touch of chaos will love this debut. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy clever dialogue, romantic misadventures, and a bit of self-discovery along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC—I can’t wait to see what McBreen writes next!

⛴️ WEDDING DASHERS 💍

Ada needs to get to her sister's wedding in Belfast but is stranded in London with no flight, no hotel room and her sister's designer veil. Thankfully a dashing stranger offers her a bed for the night (his 👀). Not awkward at all the next morning when Ada discovers he is the best man at the very same wedding. Off you pop on an adventure with this funny, flawed but relatable pair.

Adored. Adored. Adored. I ate this up in 48hours. You can probably tell by my own debut that I love an adventure built around a romcom and Heather delivers this in buckets.

Reading a book about an American in the UK will never not be funny to me. What do you mean they just strolled into a kebab shop without checking the hygiene rating first!? What do you mean they didn't factor in train strikes?

There is a lovely slowburn romance which pays off beautifully. Heather deals with the characters flaws and their resolution in a very grown up and believable way which I really enjoyed reading. And I always love a sisterly arc. Especially as the eldest daughter myself.

A fun, sweet debut that is perfect for fans of Leap Year and unlikely partners falling in love on the road trip from hell. The voice was sharp and the characters felt real and relatable.

This was a BEAUTIFUL book!! It was chaotic and funny and vulnerable and so tender and sweet!! It had all the best parts of a roadtrip romance in the most chaotic way. There was so much banter and tension and it was FUNNY! This is such an amazing debut and I cannot wait to see what’s next from Heather!!

I really like Ada and Jack! And don’t get me wrong they were a MESS at the beginning. Between their meet cute turned not so cute, and then they were thrown together, and everything kept going wrong! But along the way they got to know each other!! And got to learn some things about themselves!!! And they got to be cute! And vulnerable! And also have fun even though they kept having the worst luck!

JACK AND ADA! They were so sweet and soft with each other! And I REALLY loved how much they evolved for just a few days!!! And they of course had a long ways to go, and they did the work!! And the end was SO sweet!

Thank you so much Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Unlike the traditional RomCom, this story realistically anticipates what happens after the meet-cute happenstance. I enjoyed getting to know the main characters, Ada and Jack, while experiencing their take on traveling to wedding events. The timeline of disasters added humor to the story, and I enjoyed experiencing feelings of romantic and emotional complications. Overall, the characters were relatable and likable, and I found myself rooting for them even though things didn't seem to be happening at a time when they were ready for love. Their journey wasn't a happily ever after in a traditional romance, and I found it refreshing.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Heather McBreen, and Berkley publishers for the opportunity to read and review this fantastic, contemporary, fast-paced romantic comedy.

Ada’s life is in shambles; a failed business and an unexpected break from her boyfriend of eight years has left her broken-hearted and living at home.

On her way to her younger sister’s wedding in Ireland, Ada is left stranded when her flight is cancelled. However, things seem to finally take a turn when she meets a handsome stranger named Jack who offers her a drink.

Several drinks, a lot of flirting, and a serious misunderstanding later, Ada and Jack figure out that they are headed to the same wedding and that Jack is the infamous best man - and a serious player if Ada’s sister is to be believed.

Stuck together they embark on a race against time and bad luck as they attempt to reach Ireland unscathed. All the banter, undeniable attraction, and serious chemistry leads to a lot of confusing feelings along the way.

Wedding Dashers was a fantastic debut by Heather McBreen and I loved every minute of Jack and Ada's charming journey to "happy ever after."

This was a cute read. Traveling to a destination wedding goes awry and the result is a romantic journey filled with mid-adventures. The meet cute between Jack and Ada was funny and I enjoyed their travel adventures.
Jack and Ada seemingly have different outlooks on love and marriage. This leads to some discourse between the two, adding to their tension. The romance in this was slow burn, extra slow.
Overall, a quick-if somewhat predictable-and enjoyable read with a sweet and satisfying conclusion.
Thank you the Berkley for the opportunity to read an early copy via NetGalley, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wedding Dashers brings forth an array of emotions. There is swoon, there is angst, there is heartbreak, there is triumph. All led by a protagonist who is vulnerable, fallible, and so real. I connected emotionally to this book and it made the experience all the more immersive and engaging.

Protagonist Ada is having bad luck getting to her little sister’s destination wedding. Out of cash and out of options, she accepts a stranger’s offer to stay the night in rented room for the night as she arranges new transportation. Unfortunately for both, their communication lines are crossed and she accepts what she presumes is shelter whilst his intention could be found under the sheets. The misunderstanding is promptly cleared up, but it sets forth our leads on very uneven footing. Made worse when they realize they’re headed to the same wedding— and the stranger, Jack, is actually the best man who Ada’s sister previously warned her about, due to his presumed playboy behavior. As they come to an arrangement to travel together to make it in time for their loved ones’ wedding, they get to know one another, and themselves as well. This journey becomes less about the destination and more about the company, and what that company inspires. Ada and Jack challenge one another, they see past each other’s surface and preconceived notions others have set on them, and see what lies beneath. They see each other’s truth, each other’s lies, and each other’s heartbreak. They connect in a deeply emotional way that is almost disorienting. They didn’t expect the other, but as their adventure unfolds, they don’t know how they can expect a future without the other.

I absolutely loved the evolving nature of Ada and Jack’s romance. They may bicker and develop negative assumptions of the other, but they also have thriving banter and see each other in ways they’ve never felt seen. At times I felt so much frustration towards Ada and Jack’s respective actions and words (also shout out to Ada's sister who frustrated me too, ha!), but this narrative also made me understand and appreciate these moments. For every moment of frustration I felt-- so did they. They hurt too!

Like growing pains, sometimes it hurts. But then you grow. And Ada and Jack have magnificent growth, due in part in knowing each other in the most hectic of circumstances. They stumbled, but they got back up. They hurt, but they grew strong. They are vulnerable characters prone to mistakes, to missteps, to falls, and seeing them learn and pick themselves up made them that much more real. It made them mirrors to ourselves. It made their life feel as real as ours.

Yes, it hurt me to see Jack and Ada's evolution lead where it did-- at least for a while. But that's life, that's also responsibility. Which for me is a big theme in this one. When it's needed-- and when it's time to let go. The latter is especially the case in Ada needing to learn to let go of claiming responsibility for her little sister, and allowing her sister to fall and to learn to pick herself up along the way. At least sometimes. As for when responsibility is needed, I'll leave that to you, fellow readers. It hurt to see this need, but it makes the end all the more worthwhile. So trust that journey--keep going until the very end!

All in all, this is an engagingly tumultuous journey with an ending that feels absolutely earned. I’m thrilled to have read this worthwhile adventure, and to take with me all the lessons learned.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this advanced complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.

Two strangers come together to try and make it to a wedding on time in this heartfelt, road trip romcom. There’s a cancelled flight, missed train and many more mishaps and, while it got off to an angsty start, there’s plenty of funny banter and spice for a good time.

Ada is on her way to her sister’s wedding at a castle outside of Belfast. She is her sister’s maid of honor and is in charge of getting her sister’s veil to the wedding. Her first flight lands in London but she is worried when her connecting flight to Ireland is canceled. The airline books her on a flight for the next day and gives her a voucher for a hotel nearby. But when she gets there, the hotel tells her the voucher has expired and she can’t afford to pay for a room. She has been having a bad run of luck lately and now she is broke - her tattoo parlor went under, her boyfriend, Carter, who she dated for eight years, asked to go on a break and she has been staying on her parent’s couch. She has nowhere to sleep when a handsome stranger (who was also on the cancelled flight) offers her a drink at the bar and they commiserate over beers.

The handsome stranger is Jack who is also on his way to the wedding and he is the best man, but they don’t realize they are going to the same wedding. He invites Ada up to his room, hoping for a night of fun while she thinks he’s offering her a place to sleep. She is still hoping Carter will want to get back with her, so even though Jack is handsome, she’s not interested in hooking up with him, but she takes him up on his offer to stay in his room for the night.

The next morning both of their phone’s ding at the same time, letting them know that their flight to Belfast is canceled and that’s when they realize they are going to the same wedding. Jack comes up with a plan to take a train to Scotland and then a ferry to Ireland. He is an environmental lawyer and he tells Ada he wants to pay her way to make sure she gets to the wedding on time. (The wedding is in two days.) There is a lot of fun banter between them and some bickering as they travel and there are more delays. Her sister warns her that Jack is a player and not to fall for him but Ada isn’t worried because she is still hung up on Carter – or is she?

Their attraction builds as they go through all sorts of mishaps and help each other on the way. Jack is a commitment-phobe and thinks his friend and Ada’s sister haven’t known each other long enough to be getting married. They’ve only been together six months, but he tries to be supportive of them. He has his reasons to be wary of commitments and we find out more about all that he’s gone through as he and Ada become closer. My favorite part of the story is when they explore Edinburgh together, enjoying high tea and climbing up to Edinburgh castle where they see amazing views of the city. It feels magical and when they show each other their tattoos, things get spicy.

I enjoyed the second half of the story more than the first. In the beginning, they bickered a lot, ugh, and Ada was feeling bad about her ex, Carter. She rehashed their ups and downs which slowed down the pace. But somewhere in the middle of the story, when they started falling for each other, it got really fun and I didn’t want to put the book down. I especially enjoyed seeing the growth of the main characters when they are on their journey and the ending was uplifting and surprising in a good way.

Wedding Dashers turned out to be a fun road trip with some angst and lots of mishaps and laughs along the way and I look forward to seeing what this debut author does next.

<b>Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.</b>

Definitely not an author I will read again. I gave this 3 stars for the trigger warnings at the front and some other things I won't get into because spoilers. That said, I was dancing towards a 1 and 2 star review for a while. The hero (Jack) is not fully developed until the 60 percent mark. The heroine (Ada) is aggravating as hell throughout this story. Probably because she keeps acting as if she's new to the world and her whole won't tell her family what is going on, but will take money from a stranger thing started to get old. It didn't help she kept lusting after Jack and I was screaming to myself, red flag, every other minute about the guy. I just thought that McBreen took an easy out to "explain" Jack and I was unimpressed.

"Wedding Dashers" follows 28 year old Ada who is on her way to Ireland for her younger sister, Allison's wedding. Ada is feeling stuck because her long-time boyfriend asked for a 3 month break, and she's currently jobless after her business went under. She's back leaving at home with her mom and stepdad and she is worried that her sister is jumping into her marriage too fast. After getting bumped from a flight, and dealing with an expired hotel voucher, Ada meets a man named Jack who is also trying to get to a wedding [you see where this is going right?]. Shenanigan's abound.

So the underlying plot (get thee to a wedding) should have been fun, but it wasn't. The stupidest stuff kept happening and it wasn't cute. It was annoying and you had Ada going look at how hot Jack is every five seconds.

Ada, eh. She's not the best romance heroine I have read. I just got tired of her obsessing over her sister and demanding that Jack spill his soul to her.

Jack was gross. Seriously. There's a lot of scenes in the first 25 percent that I was just baffled at McBreen including. I wondered if she wanted readers to even like Jack. Cause I did not. His comments were sexist, gross, etc. and the whole this is why he is the way he is made me want to yell. Somewhere a NY Times journalist is working on an article about why single women need to have more sex with terrible men. I don't need to read the same scenario in a romance book. There's a reason why I don't read "alpha" AKA asshole romances.

No one else has any personality in this thing until the 80 percent mark. I thought Allison was spoiled and awful from the way that she was written, and then we get a ton of scenes in the end that "reveal" her and I was like um okay. Same with the groom to be. It just felt like there was zero development of the hero and it was laughably bad regarding anyone else.

The setting of the book moves from London, Scotland, Ireland, Seattle, Italy, and then back to Seattle. I got zero sense of the settings really until the action moved to Ireland. And only a little bit there.

The ending was just okay. I think that the multiple endings just made me go eh. I just wasn't feeling it by the time I hit 50 percent and then I wanted to just finish this book and be done with it.

I adored this.

From the very moment Ada gave her unfiltered opinions of Jack (unknowingly directly to his face) and he didn’t actually hold it against her (only about his friend) despite the sharpness of it, I was a goner. That man is far less petty than I.

They figured each other out so beautifully, and their patience and tenderness with each other even as they both fought valiantly to keep their guards up was so sweet. They knew each other for all of thirty seconds and I was still bawling when they parted because they understood each other more intensely than anyone else at that point.

Also, let’s be so for real, we all want someone who will still talk to us even when we are our worst most crotchety selves.

Both of them have entirely valid reasons to have barricaded their hearts, and for those reasons they are uniquely positioned to wiggle right under those barriers. And what a delightful little wiggle it was.

Oh my goodness this book was perfection! There's nothing better than finding a swoony debut rom com, and Wedding Dashers is my new favorite! I cannot believe that this is Heather McBreen's first novel. I absolutely adored Jack and Ada. I'm always skeptical of romances where the main characters meet and have an instant attraction (i.e. no shared history) because lots of times that sets up insta love, which is my least favorite trope BY FAR, but in this book the meet cute was executed perfectly. It was believable and didn't seem rushed in the slightest. I will be recommending Wedding Dashers to everyone!

while it was slow to start, once i got in the groove i could not get out. unexpectidly deeply emotional. had me rooting for a male lawyer who woulda thought

I enjoyed everything about this book and cannot wait to read more from this author in the future. The author has a knack for witty dialogue and engaging storytelling. The narrative flows seamlessly, making it a joy to read from start to finish.

A mistaken identity, an almost one-night stand and a twist of fate, leaves two stranded wedding guests to find their way to their final destination together. What could possibly go wrong?!

Wedding Dashers is a terrific debut novel with fantastic chemistry and witty banter. The characters will steal your heart from the first page and will have you furiously flipping through the pages to see how everything will play out in the end.

I enjoyed everything about this book from beginning to end and can not wait to read more from this author in the future. If you're looking for a fun and entertaining forced proximity romance that will frustrate you and sweep you off your feet at the same time, you won't want to miss Wedding Dashers.