an f1 romance??? incredible. Bridesmaid for hire program?? even better. Absolutely devoured this book in one sitting. This is my kind of romance book.

Jane juggles hundreds of weddings a year as a bridesmaid for hire and at once wedding in particular she has a run in with the grumpy, f1 superstar, Henry, who happens to be the brides brother.

Always a Bridesmaid is a fun, sweet and spicy rom-com by Marina Adair. This is my first book by this author and I must say, I'm hooked. Definitely going to pick up more from her.

It has a Wedding Ringer feel to it. Where the bride is the one hiring a bridesmaid to fill an empty spot in the wedding party. Enter Jane. She is a professional bridesmaid ready to take on everything for your wedding. One problem. She bumps into the brides brother (not in disguise or knowing who he is) at the airport on her way to the event.

Henry is a Formula 1 superstar. He is instantly attracted to Jane and her sexy, stubborn, smart-mouthed attitude. Only, she's nothing like the typical friends his sister hangs out with. Yet at the wedding, she is everything a socialite would be. It has him fascinated in finding out the truth. Who is the real Elle (Jane).

I loved Henry and Jane's (Elle's) chemistry together and banter. All the sexual innuendos had me rolling. My only complaint is the third act break up. You saw it coming, but it's one of my pet peeves.

Read if you like:
Close Proximity
Great Banter
Celebrity romance
Dual POV
Secret Identity

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for this advanced audio Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Really enjoy a good dual POV.
First F1 racing romance I've come across which gives it a fresh feel. Who doesn't love a good wedding setting and a hired bridesmaid who is never "the one".
Elle/Jane is in the wedding business but not like you might think. She ensures the weddings go well and she is good at what she does. It is when she is hired to be in an old friend's wedding that she crosses paths with Henry and cannot help herself. The playful banter is obvious and fun. There's just something about Henry that Jane cannot resist.
The characters were enjoyable. Elle was easy to like and root for.
A good mixture of spice, humor, and love. Easy to binge.

The audio narrated by Rachel Jacobs was spot on. She made the story even more fun and kept me interested in events taking place.

<b>This man has more red flags than a carnival.
</b>
Henry Norris is an F1 heartthrob and a protective older brother. When Jane sweeps into his life the week of his sister’s wedding posing as Elle Vaughn, Sarah’s longtime pen-pal best friend that he’s never met, a switch flips. The once commitment-phobic Henry falls head over heels for Jane.

This is the root of my frustration with this book. Henry is against relationships at the start of the novel. All he is interested in is a short fling that he can abandon at the end of the wedding week. For that to change, all that happened was him spotting the back of our FMC, Jane, in a crowd and he already began dialing up the possessiveness in his inner monologue.

This insta-love gets progressively worse throughout the novel, with Henry telling Jane after their first rendezvous that “this was more than a hookup.” Seriously? The author wants us to believe that Mr. Playboy who famously Doesn't Do Relationships™️ is fully smitten after having a quickie in a random person’s office (ew…RIP that person’s desk). I’m sorry, I’m not buying it. Adair’s entire character work on Henry up until this point is completely undermined with that singular line of dialogue. At every turn, she sabotages her own writing.

Here’s another example. Adair has us believing that Henry is sweet, if a bit rough around the edges with his protectiveness toward the people he loves. He grew up as the sole boy in a house full of women and he will cater to them at every turn, regardless of the snide remarks he gets from his friends about it. This guy sounds great, right? He’s not afraid of other men’s jeers about “losing his man card” (this is ACTUALLY something one of his “friends” tells him) for doing something as wholesome as supporting the women he loves.

Unfortunately, underneath the protective, sweet older brother mask lies a violent abuser.

After Henry and Jane have sex for the first time, they get into a fight and part ways poorly. The next time they see each other, she’s at an F1 event alongside the rest of his family. Do you want to know what sets off a jealous, violent rampage? Jane bought some merch and puts it on. Lo and behold, she’s wearing Henry’s teammate's shirt — not his. In a blind rage, he grabs a shirt with his number on it, bangs violently on the bathroom door where she's hiding, and says he'll kick down the door if she doesn't open it. She opens it, giving into his threat, and he tells her to change into the shirt he's holding or he'll remove her shirt and put it on for her. He literally says to put it on, “or I will rip that thing off your fucking body and put this on myself.”

Dear reader, is this the tone of a loving, sweet protector? Or a violent, jealous abuser? The fact that Adair writes Jane in this scene as being turned on by his threats is absolutely fucking insane. I paused the audiobook, took a breath, and wondered what the fuck I was reading. Is this a romcom or a cautionary tale?

This next paragraph has a spoiler for how the HEA plays out. Once all of the conflicts have been resolved, Henry proposes to Jane in the epilogue after ONE MONTH of dating. ONE MONTH. Someone give Jane DV resources, STAT, because this feels like love bombing and I fear, given Henry’s violent tendencies thus far, that it’s not a stretch to assume things will only escalate. The fact that he’s already pushing for babies in the epilogue the night of their wedding is more harrowing than heartwarming.

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

Red flags aside, the writing itself was cringe pretty much all the way through. When Henry and Jane hook up for the first time, Henry’s internal monologue has such stunning turns of phrase as:

“She rode his hand so hard he was certain she’d break it.”

And:

“His dick went impossibly hard, so hard he was certain it would break.”

What’s with all the broken bone[r]s??? If things are breaking, I think you’re doing it wrong. Jesus fucking Christ, he was acting like Jane could do kegels more powerful than Rosalie Cullen. Now, <i>there’s</i> someone who could break his hand.

But I digress.

This was bad and I’m tired. I wanted so much for this to be the fun riff on a classic (27 Dresses) and, instead, it was disappointing, scary, and cringe.

<b>Overall Rating:</b> 1 star.

<b>AUDIOBOOK REVIEW:</b> Rachel L. Jacobs did the best she could with what she was given. Honestly, at times, her line delivery saved some of the cringier sentences from sounding even worse. She was a shining light in this pit of darkness.

<i>A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!</i>

Always a Bridesmaid is the first book in Marina Adair’s Revved Up Romance series. Jane Pearce is a founder and partner in the company Bridal Buddies. The company assists brides not only through planning the weddings of their dreams but also through acting as bridesmaids to fill voids or help avoid situations brides don’t want or need to deal with. Jane is on her way to London to fill the role as maid of honor for Sarah Norris, however, this time she will also be playing the role of a real person who has betrayed Sarah by sharing discreet information with the tabloids. Even though the source is anonymous, Sarah knows she only told Elle about something with her racing champion brother Henry Norris and now knows there is no way she wants her as her maid of honor. But since Elle had already been announced as her maid of honor and since her British family and friends never met the American she had met at an equestrian camp, having a stand in seems like the way to go.

Jane has studied her role and knows her stuff when it comes to making the wedding week run smoothly. But the morning she leaves her home in Austin,Texas, she overslept, is disheveled, and has no patience for the posh Brit who tries to cut in line at security. When Jane arrives at her destination and learns he was the bride’s brother, she thinks better of it. And when Jane, as Elle, and Henry are continually thrown together, it’s only a matter of time until her true identity is revealed.

This was a fun story with interesting characters and a very different premise. I did very much enjoy this book and I do recommend it!

I enjoyed the plot, however I did struggle listening to the narration. I found it slow and had to listen on 2x speed. It felt like the characters relationship was built entirely on lust. Not my favourite read.

The story takes us into the world of Jane Drisdol, a professional bridesmaid who manages hundreds of weddings each year. Adair masterfully creates an entertaining and heartwarming romance that captivates the reader from the very beginning.The characters are multi-dimensional and authentically portrayed. Their chemistry is palpable, and their personal developments throughout the story are both believable and engaging. The author brings the characters to life and makes their motivations easy to understand.Rachel L. Jacobs' narration is impressive. Her pleasant voice and sense of timing and emphasis perfectly support the story. She gives each character a distinct personality and skillfully captures the emotions and nuances of the plot."Always a Bridesmaid" is a successful blend of humor, romance, and personal growth. The story is well-structured and offers a balanced mix of light entertainment and deeper moments.Overall, I give this charming and entertaining audiobook 4.75 out of 5 stars. It is the perfect companion for fans of contemporary romance novels with depth.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media, I had the pleasure of reviewing an advance copy of the audiobook "Always a Bridesmaid" by Marina Adair.

Always a Bridesmaid was a sizzling read about a professional bridesmaid hired to pose as a close friend of the bride. She finds herself entangled with the groom’s brother, and their initial animosity quickly transforms into a passionate connection.

Always a Bridesmaid was Narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs. She does a fabulous job narrating!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with a copy in exchange of an honest review
Pub Date Sep 03 2024

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read this book as an audio copy.

This was my first novel by Marina Adair and it will not be my last. This was such a fun concept for a book and the narration was also great on this as an Audiobook. F1 books are not usually my favorite, but this one was just so fun and made it enjoyable. The audio on this was great. The narrator did a great job of ensuring that the characters were distinguishable from each other. She brought the characters to life in such a succinct way.

I absolutely love the idea of a bridesmaid service like Jane owns. This is such a fun idea and I loved that it brought such a unique and entertaining aspect to this book. There were a lot of “laugh out loud” moments.

A fun book all around, and a race car driver as hero was certainly a first for me. Jane, posing as Elle, earns her living serving as a professional bridesmaid (another first--who knew?!), often as a special favor to a bride trying to avoid one complication or another. Discretion is paramount, something that becomes more and more difficult to maintain when Jane agrees to work with a bride whose brother Henry turns out to be as big a complication as she's ever encountered. The immersion into the Formula One world, the intense family dynamics, and the believable romance were all expertly delivered along with hints of a follow-up story to come. This was my first experience with author Marina Adair, but I definitely intend to check out her other books.

Fun! Not much else to say but this was lots of fun. I haven't read an F1 romance before and I might have liked it. All the fast cars and hunky men. However that did not overshadow the secret identity part, which was like watching a slow motion car wreck - awesome! The narrator did a fabulous job with all the accents. The ending read like it was the first in a series and I really hope that there are more!
- F1 romance
- Secret Identity
- Secret relationship
- Bridesmaid/brother of the bride
- Firecracker FMC
- BDE MMC
- Great banter

Big thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Marina Adair for this early release copy. This is my honest review

It was a good story to pass the time. But the love was kinda unbelievable to me. The epilogue was kind of a whiplash. It went really fast. Not exactly my favorite part.

I fell asleep after the first 3 or 4 chapters of the audio, and woke up with 2 chapters left to go, and nothing in the chapters I heard could convince me to go back and listen to the stuff I missed.

The premise is terrible. How would any person believe that they could get away with pretending to be someone else in this day and age of social media? The third act break-up was baked into the story so obviously that it ruined the whole flavour.

The details felt fake (he left home at 15 for a Formula 1 racing school when a quick google search tells me 16 is the minimum, why not age him up one year and make it more believable?), and the prose was so cliché-ridden that I began to wonder if I was reading something AI generated.

In the end we have the female lead thinking she's to blame for the male lead being an absolute douche-canoe with Daddy issues and a strong need for therapy? Girl, stand up.

Also, this book should have been duel narrated. The book is duel narrated, hire a British man to do the male lead's chapters.

0/10, do not recommend.

Rated 3.5 stars, but I round up.

Elle is hired to pretend to be the bride's friend/pen pal, but falls for the bride's overprotective brother.

Likes:
Always a Bridesmaid was a cute and quick read/listen
The narrator was great
Spice was good

Dislike:
Characters could have been more fleshed out
A little formulaic

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and flirty romance. The instant love part of the story was a little hard to believe at first, but the banter between Jane and Henry was great. This book was short and sweet with a hefty dose of spice. This was a great little romantic read and I am looking forward to more books.

My Awwwww can be heard around the world! 😍 this was such a a cute fun spicy rom com! Loved Rachel as the narrator! She did a fantastic job portraying the characters. I love how she was able to really emulate everyone’s emotions and it was such a fun listen.

This book for me wasn’t just a standard rom com because I loved the F1 twist and the story was so smooth and well written! You can really relate to Jane and Henry and their stories. But the best part was their chemistry! 💋 i cant wait for you to go listen to this audiobook!

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸…
🏎️Close Proximity
🏎️Secret identity
🏎️Found Family
🏎️Great Banter
🏎️Dual POV
🏎️Open Door

I received an advance listening copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Professional bridesmaid, Jane is posing for bride Sarah as her former best friend Elle, who is now estranged from Sarah. She meets the bride’s brother, Henry and sparks fly. He’s supposed to be off limits according to Sarah and Jane’s own business code of conduct, but she just can’t stay away from him.

Always A Bridesmaid is a spicy, funny rom com filled with great characters, some tears, swoons and lots of laughs. I enjoyed this and never felt it was just a standard cookie cutter romance. It felt unique and flowed beautifully with the writing and storyline. And Jane and Henry had the best chemistry! I could read more if this became a series.

4.5 ⭐️

I listened to the audiobook of this story, narrated by Rachel L Jacobs. Always a Bridesmaid is a delightful and hot rom-com. As the story goes on, it's easy to hear emotions like passion, irritation, and fury. The characters in this story seem to come to life in the audio version, in my opinion. I was more curious about how Jane's identity would be revealed and how the scene would unfold, as well as its aftermath and implications, than I was about how and when they would definitely get together. Due to their obvious flirtation, I found the confrontations between Jane and Henry to be entertaining. I loved this book!

Thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the ALC of this book!

I loved this book. It was short and sweet. I didn’t get the calling him Hank thing I might have missed it but I found that weird. Overall I loved the book. I loved the tension and how obsessed they became with each other. It was a wonderful book not perfect for five stars but close. I would recommend this book. It is a great short read. I could even see possibly reading this again in the future which is rare for me. 4/5

Jane and Henry never meant to happen. She was secretly hired for his little sister to be her bridesmaid and best friend from childhood. He is a famous formula one pilot tired of being used and left behind. But it's their strong attraction enough to fight their doubts, secrets and past? The audiobook with Rachel L. Jacobs is a great one.