Such a cute listen. Exactly what you want from a contemporary romance novel. Light and fluffy with humor and heart. There's also a touch of spice, which felt forced, in my opinion. The characters definitely could've used a little more depth but this bothered me less as the story progressed. Most of this book is well-paced, but it did feel a little rushed toward the ending. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a light, easy read.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

This was such a fun listen! I have never read an F1 romance and I need more ASAP. I think the only thing that could've improved this for me would have been to have a duet style narration, as I felt like the narrator's Henry voice took me out of the story quite often. Overall, this surprised me with how much I loved the book! The fake bridesmaid setup was so unique, and I was really invested in how everything was going to play out -- I was on the edge of my seat, anxious for Jane to be found out!

This was a cute and fun listen. It was my first romance with formula 1 racing as the sport of the male lead. This was a strangers to lovers story that followed Jane and Henry. Jane is a bridesmaid for hire and Henry is a formula 1 driver. I enjoyed the premise of a bridesmaid for hire and the chaos that ensues. I also enjoyed that he was a celebrity so there was paparazzi involved. It added an interesting aspect because Jane had to be very careful playing her role as bridesmaid. While I thought it was cute, I didn't completely feel the connection or chemistry between the main characters. I feel like I needed more depth from the characters. I really wish this book was in dual POV or first person. It is told in third person which for me caused a little bit of a disconnect between me and the characters.

The narrator did a great job voicing different characters and accents which can be a difficult thing to do.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC of this audiobook. I voluntarily read it and gave an honest review.

Marina Adair’s *Always a Bridesmaid* delivers a charming, high-octane romance that’s sure to rev up listeners’ hearts and imaginations. Narrated with wit and flair, this audiobook blends the excitement of a Formula 1 backdrop with the delightful chaos of wedding planning, crafting a story that is both entertaining and heartfelt.

The narrative centers on Jane Drisdol, a professional bridesmaid-for-hire who thrives on orchestrating flawless weddings. Jane's role as Elle Vaughn, a socialite and childhood friend of the bride, presents a unique challenge. This time, she has to navigate a high-profile wedding while staying in character. Complicating matters is Henry Norris, the bride’s brother and a Formula 1 superstar, who catches Jane off guard at the airport.

Henry, used to trusting his instincts both on and off the racetrack, immediately senses something is amiss with the stunning and sharp-tongued bridesmaid. His suspicion grows as Jane skillfully plays her part, hiding her true identity from everyone around her. Their initial encounters are marked by friction and a sizzling chemistry that both characters struggle to deny.

The audiobook excels in its character development, particularly in the portrayal of Jane and Henry. Jane's struggle to maintain her disguise while grappling with her feelings for Henry adds depth to her character, revealing a vulnerability that contrasts with her otherwise polished exterior. Henry, on the other hand, is a blend of charm and determination, his pursuit of the truth both endearing and entertaining.

The narrator’s performance is crucial in bringing this story to life. Their ability to capture the nuances of Jane and Henry’s dynamic, along with the various secondary characters—ranging from quirky wedding guests to glamorous socialites—enhances the listening experience. The narration effectively conveys the humor, tension, and emotional beats of the story, making it an engaging listen.

Adair’s storytelling is vibrant and playful, filled with witty dialogue and romantic tension that keeps listeners hooked. The Formula 1 setting adds a unique twist to the traditional romance genre, infusing the story with a sense of speed and excitement that mirrors the rapid-fire chemistry between Jane and Henry. The pacing is brisk, with enough twists and turns to keep the plot fresh and engaging.

The theme of personal authenticity versus societal expectations is woven seamlessly into the narrative, providing a thoughtful backdrop to the romance. As Jane navigates the complex world of high-society weddings and Henry’s relentless pursuit, the story explores themes of identity, truth, and the courage to embrace one's true self.

In conclusion, *Always a Bridesmaid* is a delightful and engaging audiobook that combines humor, romance, and a touch of glamour. Marina Adair has crafted a story that’s perfect for fans of contemporary romance with a love for fast cars and high-stakes drama. The audiobook’s lively narration and compelling characters make it a standout listen that will leave you eagerly awaiting the next chapter in Jane and Henry’s whirlwind romance.

I really enjoyed this book. It was cute and so different. I’ve been reading a lot of sports romance but I never thought I would be reading about cars and fake bridesmaids. I’m also kind of happy that I didn’t have to learn much about the actual sport. Overall it was a cute fast paced read.

Always a Bridesmaid by Marina Adair
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Sweet and cute — this was such a fun listen! I loved the wedding setting, our caring heroine, and the famous F1 MMC. It is deliciously spicy, laugh out loud funny, and easily bingeable. I’m so excited to see where this series goes!

Read this book if you like:
-bridesmaid for hire
-bride’s brother x bridesmaid
-F1 racing
-secret flings

Always a Bridesmaid is OUT NOW and will be newly released in audio format on September 3rd. If it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Always a Bridesmaid is a fun, cute rom com with similar vibes to the film The Wedding Date.

It’s a quick read, and the main characters were endearing and loveable. I loved the low stakes, almost angst-free storyline which made for a really relaxing escape.

The narration was articulate and animated, and perfectly captured the essence of both characters. I easily lost myself in the story.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this audiobook. Opinions expressed are my own.

ARC Review!!!!

Jane Drisdol is a bridesmaid for hire with the dream of making her company well known. She is hired to play the role of Elle Vaughn—socialite, debutant, and the bride’s childhood friend. Jane feels comfortable enough to take on the job last minute but she encounters a problem. Jane bumps into the bride’s sexy and infuriating brother at the airport—while not in disguise.
Henry Norris is a Formula 1 superstar. From the moment the wedding festivities begin, Henry is suspicious about "Elle". Henry's idea of Elle is not lining up with who he bumped into the airport and is now at the wedding. Elle is the opposite of the kind of person his sister associates with: opinionated, smart mouthed, stubborn and, at least with him, snooty. With everyone else, she is the perfect bridesmaid.
As the week unfolds, Henry is determined to find out the truth and get to the bottom of Elle. Despite their initial clashes, sparks fly between Jane and Henry, igniting a chemistry that is too much to be denied. But as the wedding day draws near, Jane's web of lies threatens to unravel, and she must confront the truth before it's too late.

This was such a fun read, I loved the concept of it. I truly wasn't sure what to except due to the title but it makes sense as she's a bridesmaid to hire. It flowed so nicely and it was such a sweet read. I loved their back stories and how they each had their own trauma that was resolved within meeting each other and growing from it.
It's such a quick book to get through. It flowed so well that it didn't feel like it was dragging on or anything.
3 stars!!

The plot itself is not bad, but the ending is too quick and it spoils the overall impression of the story. There are a lot of clichés from other romcoms, but I don't understand why they stretch it out and make a hasty ending.

Jane started a company to be a bridesmaid for hire. She loves her job and her company. She gets to role-play as different characters and help brides have their perfect day. She gets a big job to play the bride's best friend who is a rich socialite named Elle. The job immediately starts off badly when she literally bumps into the bride's brother Henry at the airport when she is not yet in character. Henry is a Formula 1 star and is relieved when Jane doesn’t recognize him.

Jane gets into character as Elle and opens up to Henry once the wedding festivities have begun. They are falling for each other and Jane knows she eventually will have to come clean. Jane never wants to lie and she tries at multiple points to get the pride to come clean but never spoils the bride's day. She was such a good person and put others before herself.

This was not your typical sports rom-com. The only time we get to see any type of race is in the epilogue. In sports romances, my favorite part is always when they go deep into the sports, but in this book, the characters were so strong that it didn’t need it.

The premise of this book sounded SO GOOD. So I'm not sure what happened to cause it to fall a bit flat.
Jane was your standard "normal girl with traumatic past". No substance whatsoever. She has a deceased father, red hair, and two friends.
Henry was your standard "famous guy with a heart of gold who loves his family". His father left when he was little, so he's protective of his family. He was very lackluster for a love interest.
Very cookie cutter characters. You knew exactly how everything would play out from beginning to end without even reading the book.
I wish something would've happened in the plot. Anything! But there's nothing. The only thing I didn't guess was how Henry found out. I was ready for the real Elle to pop up and cause drama. But no. Leave it to online sleuths to post about it online for wedding guests to send to Henry, and a 10 second fight between Henry and Jane. Like. Even their fight wasn't dramatic. They also made up within a handful of pages, so even the angst was missing.
Henry was definitely gunning for insta-love while Jane was being pragmatic, but he was absolutely relentless. She kept trying to put on the brakes, but he wasn't having it. But then it was allll her fault when the truth came out.
I am all for spice, but it has to be GOOD spice. This just... didn't hit right. Their first scene after dancing was fine. But the rest weren't needed.
I did like, how in the end, they both realized they'd messed up. All their issues weren't one sided.
The epilogue was so unnecessary. WHY did they get engaged after ONE MONTH OF MEETING?? WHY ARE THEY GETTING MARRIED AFTER 4 MONTHS OF KNOWING EACH OTHER??? I mean, I know they moved way too fast in the beginning (saying I love you after knowing each other less than a week??), but that's just ridiculous. Why are all romance books lately making couples fall in love and get married within MONTHS of meeting. It's icky.

Overall, the book was okay. Just forgettable in an ocean of romance books.

Jane is a bridesmaid for higher. She is off to her biggest client yet. On the way she has a dust up with a fellow passenger on the plane. Once she arrives to London, the bride introduces her to brother, Henry. He ends up being the rude man from the plane and the current top F1 racer car driver. Jane is posing as Elle, but soon finds things to get complicated with Henry.

This was a very fun book. I really enjoyed the audio. The spicy scenes are SPICY!!!
If you love an enemies to lovers, this is perfect.

This book has a great premise and there was a lot I liked about it.

The ending ran a bit flat for me.

The MC's have their third-act breakup (standard in a romance book for sure) and then they make up within the span of 2 days and are married within 4 months.

This is after spending 1 week together.

Uhhh.. OK?

Anyway, it's not bad, it's just a lot at the end.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC audio book version of Always a Bridesmaid
by Marina Adair

Always a bridesmaid never a bride, was the perfect reason Jane created Bride Buddies, Bridesmaid for hire.
undercover bridesmaid buddy Jane is hired to portray the brides best friend , Elle and falls for Henry , Sarah's (the brides) brother.
I mean what could go wrong right?!
Narrator did an amazing job between switching accents, pretty fast paced shorter length story but not rushed,

I really enjoyed it, not a huge fan of third act conflict but to be expected as truth must come out!
Dual POV
Forbidden Romance
2/5 Spice
HEA
Fast pace read

I really enjoyed this book! As a Formula 1 fan, I really like to see more Formula 1 representation in the books I read. I feel like this book was a really good marriage (no pun intended) between Lauren Asher’s Dirty Air series and Meghan Quinn’s Bridesmaid for Hire series. I liked the relationship between Jane and Henry, their nicknames and banter, and the fact that really early on, she kind of ditched staying in character when it mattered. While she was still Elle on the surface and by name, every part of her that was emotional and raw was simply Jane. It was easy to see that Henry really had truly fallen for Jane as she was and not Jane as Elle. I also feel like the side characters were really fun and made an impact in the story which sets up nicely for more books in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Marina Adair for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sugar sweet and super low tension. You know where you’re going with this book every single step of the way. There is a plot, there’s minor conflicts and obstacles to the relationship. But every development is easy and quick. Whatever the opposite of angst is, it’s this book.

3.5⭐
1🌶️

Jane is a bridesmaid for hire, posing as the Bride's best friend and desperately trying not to fall for the Bride's brother while she's in disguise 🥸.

I listened to the audiobook for this one and the narrator was ✨10/10✨. Her tone, inflection, cadence, emotions- they were all spot on and made it an easy listen. She even pulled off the changes in accents very well!

The story grabbed my attention right away and I had an immediate fondness for Jane as it introduced why she started her Bridesmaids for Hire business. She and Henry were both likable and relatable enough for a quick read.

There are only a couple of spicy 🌶️ scenes, which can easily be skipped if you're looking for a clean 🧼 romance. They also feel a little unnatural. I can't really pinpoint it, but listening to them had me cringing rather that blushing.

Jane calls him "Hank" a few times, which irritated me every time I heard it. I'm not sure if it's a niche reference I don't understand or what, but I sure didn't get it 🙈.

The ending conflict - resolution - epilogue felt like I was suddenly in an F1 race. It felt rushed to me and didn't feel like it kept the same pacing as the rest of the book. 🏎️🏁

However, overall- it was an enjoyable story. I'd recommend it for anyone who enjoys a quick, Insta-love romance with a HEA.

✨ Secret Identity
✨ Insta-love
✨ Sports Romance
✨ Forced Proximity
✨ Forbidden Romance

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ALC for me to read and review.

This is my first read from Marina Adair, and I really enjoyed it. Henry and Jane were a fun set of characters thrown together in not your average situation. I really enjoyed the bit of suspension, and the overall love story. It all wrapped up well, and the writing and banter was lovely!

A quick beach read romance about a "professional bridesmaid" Jane who is working a million dollar wedding on Park Avenue. She gets hired as a bridesmaid when a bride has a falling out with a bridesmaid or for some reason just needs to have another bridesmaid for any reason. The upgraded service is that she actually pretends to be a former friend/person. This is the service happening this week as Jane impersonates Elle, complete with coloring her hair blond and wearing green contacts. Jane's hotel room includes a "murder board" type with connecting people, starting with the bride and groom and connecting all the parties. Jane has a lot to memorize if she is going to impersonate someone the bride has known and talked about for years.

Enter the bride's brother, Henry. He is a professional race car driver with a British accent for some reason. Sparks fly!

What will happen when Henry finds out that Jane is not Elle? Will he feel manipulated? How will Henry know what was "real" and what was all for show?
I won't spoil the ending but it includes my FAVORITE TROPE EVER.

I listened to the audiobook, it is easy to follow. I thought she acted the role of FMC a little cynical/sarcastic, I saw Jane as a lot more vulnerable and romantic. Full disclosure, I fast forwarded through the S M U T, as I usually do.

Thanks to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for the ARC. Book to be published Sept 3, 2024. I am on board for book #2- we need Roxy's story!

I'm not going to lie, I found this a bit boring and formulaic. I expected a few twists and a bit more depth to their romance. It was a pretty insta-attraction, insta-love situation that ran exactly as you would expect it to. Jane was dull, and I don't know much about Fomula one racing, but his level of fame and media attention seemed overblown.