The Wedding Season

The Wedding Season is a romantic comedy by Katy Birchall. The story opens with 32-year-old Freya getting dumped by her 12-year boyfriend, Matthew, on the day before their wedding. Freya is devastated and her father tries to console her while her brother looks for the missing peacocks that he rented for the ceremony. Freya’s former college roommates and engaged best friends, Ruby and Leo, also encourage her to buck up and move on.

Freya is an attractive blonde and a successful Brand Manager with Suttsworth, the largest alcoholic beverage manufacturer in Great Britain. She learns that her friends weren’t crazy about Matthew and think she can do better. Freya realizes that her wedding was the first of eight weddings occurring during the year among their circle of friends and she wonders how she will manage to attend them and appear like she’s doing okay. Ruby and Leo devise a list of assignments for each wedding, so that Freya can focus on her task rather than betting nervous about the wedding.

The first hilarious scene was when Freya returned to the apartment that she shared with Matthew, which he vacated, and she observed what he took. The comedic scenes and funny observations continue throughout the book. The various weddings take place in different locales, so there are travel adventures and new side characters. Freya grows as a person and develops a new romantic interest. Freya is very likeable, and Leo and Ruby are perfect as her loyal-to-death sidekicks.

This is the best breakup romantic comedy that I have ever read! I highly recommend reading this book. Even though the characters are British, the phrasing is easily understood by Americans. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Super, super super fun and lighthearted with a bit of romance thrown in. Made me laugh out loud several times. I loved it!

Freya’s life gets turned upside down when her husband to be backs out the day of her wedding. In order to help Freya out of her slump and to get through all of the upcoming weddings she is attending, her friends decide to put together a list of challenges to push Freya out of her comfort zone. Freya must complete one challenge per wedding she attends. Through these challenges Freya embarks on a journey of rediscovering her self and realizes maybe her love story has only just begun.

This was a super cute read that had all of the things I love in a rom com! Amazing best friends, quirky family members, and of course a swoon worthy love interest.

My one and only gripe is that I wish we could have learned more about what went down with the traffic cone!

I was sent a free book and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Katy Birchall for a free ARC of this book.

Freya is planning her dream wedding to Matthew, her partner of 12 years—that is until he cancels it the day before… in a broom cupboard…and she is now facing The Wedding Season, a season of 8 weddings of her friends and family looming ahead of her. But then her best friends Leo and Ruby come up with a list of tasks for her to complete at each wedding to help her get over Matthew, and it begins a season she’ll never forget. Oh this book, I was smiling so hard by the end of it. I truly loved it. It was funny and witty. Katy Birchall just nails friendship, Freya is in such heavy heartbreak and watching her friends rally around her is just wonderful and uplifting. And watching Freya fall in love with herself, it is just a pleasure. Break-ups are hard, and this novel captured this entirely. Freya goes through so many ups and down as she comes to terms with losing Matthew and as hard as those moments are there is a lightness in the writing, and I just adored Freya. I adored her finding herself and finding her passions. I loved her banter with hipster, brewery owner Jamie who she keeps running into at weddings, and I loved the strength in her friendships. The story is beautiful and well written. I loved these characters and this journey. I left this book with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face, and I couldn’t recommend this more!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
Freya is getting married and kicking off the Wedding Season which consists of eight weddings. On her special day just hours before the ceremony her long time boyfriend Matthew calls off the wedding. Devastated how will Freya make it through a season of weddings watching all of her friends embark on the happiest of days when hers just went down in flames? Heartbroken and humiliated her friends rally around her and devise a brilliant plan consisting of outrageous challenges to take her mind off missing Matthew. Freya's journey brought with it all the emotions. It is a story of amazing relationship, seriously I want to be best friends with Ruby and Leo as well. Family dynamics both challenging and amazing. There were times I had a lump in my throat and many where I was literally cracking up. This is such a fun and feel good story that you will definitely want to reread time and again, a new favorite! If your TBR is outrageous like mine please do yourself a favor and make sure this one is at the top of your list.

What a fun read! I absolutely loved this novel and really enjoyed the characters. They made it seem as if you were there with them! Great writing style.

This is how you write women’s fiction.

I loathe when a women’s fiction book just walks the line too close to a romance novel and then doesn’t really give you enough to be happy.

This book is about Freya. I adored her and her journey to find herself after her heartbreak. She didn’t immediately jump into anything. She learns about herself, what she likes, and what she is like by herself. Do we get some romance subplot yes. But it’s only enjoy to drive Freya’s journey, it doesn’t make the book about her and a boy. It’s about Freya and that’s what she deserves. I love all the pros and cons list, they were hysterical and her two best friends were just amazing. I love that it proves you don’t have to be the third wheel, you can be perfectly included. I loved the addition of her mom, and her deep talk with her was so moving.

The wedding season was such a fun book with sadness, joy, and just so much positivity on what you truly deserve as a person.

So I had never even heard of this author until I got an ARC via NetGalley. And let me tell you, I’ve been missing out.

This book was beautifully written. Freya is left at the alter, or rather a broom closet, the day before her wedding. But she soon realizes she has many weddings of her friends to get through in the next few months. So her best friends give her a list to make it through each wedding with a challenge.

This book was absolutely beautiful with the way she had to come to terms with being alone after being with someone for so long. I felt the heartbreak from the pages. It wasn’t an automatic rebound like some books. She worked through her emotions and eventually came to the realization that she didn’t need someone to make her happy.

The romance was subtle but felt very genuine due to the circumstances. And the conversations between the two made me giggle.

All in all, this book was a surprise and I’m very glad I was able to read it. I will definitely be going through this authors back log.

⭐️ Lovable characters
⭐️ London setting
⭐️ Weddings galore
⭐️ Great ending!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

An absolute delight! The Wedding Season is a charming and a must read for fans of lighthearted and sweet romantic comedies. It features some excellent banter.

The evening before her wedding, Freya’s fiancé (and boyfriend of 12 years) breaks up with her. She is confused, heartbroken, and devastated. To make things even worse, she is slated to attend seven weddings in the next few months. Her best friends come up with a Wedding Season survival plan - Freya will have to complete one task at each wedding to help keep her thoughts occupied. Along the way, she makes new friends, has some revelations, and even starts having a little fun. Will Freya be able to rekindle her romance or does life have another plan in store for her? Freya and her friends are likeable characters (except for you, Matthew!). I was rooting for Freya to recover and successfully complete her wedding season survival list.

If you liked Katy Birchall’s The Secret Bridesmaid, or if you’re a fan of Mhairi McFarlane’s books, you will likely enjoy this. The Wedding Season will put a smile on your face, read it if you want a cute love story set in England (with trips to Ireland and France!).

Thank you very much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.