But I’ve never been in a situation where the bride is so determined to attack me personally every chance she gets. I will not let her defeat me, though. Lady Cordelia Swann is my biggest challenge yet, and I’m going to face it head-on.

The Secret Bridesmaid (From ARC, quotes may have changed in publication copy)

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job.

As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is hired by London brides to be their right-hand woman, posing as a friend but working behind the scenes to help plan the perfect wedding and ensure their big day goes off without a hitch. When she’s hired by Lady Victoria Swann––a former model and “It Girl” of 1970’s London; now the Marchioness of Meade––for the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is.

Of course, it’s not ideal that the bride, Lady Victoria’s daughter, Cordelia, is an absolute diva and determined to make Sophie’s life a nightmare. It’s also a bit inconvenient that Sophie finds herself drawn to Cordelia’s posh older brother, who is absolutely off limits. But when a rival society wedding is announced for the very same day, things start to get…well, complicated.

Can Sophie pull off the biggest challenge of her career––execute a high-profile gala for four hundred and fifty guests in record time, win over a reluctant bride, and catch the eye of handsome Lord Swann––all while keeping her true identity a secret, and her dignity intact?

Heartwarming and hilarious, The Secret Bridesmaid celebrates the joys (and foibles) of weddings, the nuances of female friendship, and the redeeming power of love in its many unexpected forms.

The Secret Bridesmaid was a delightfully unexpected novel. When I picked it up, I just expected a cute story about a bridesmaid-for-hire trying to juggle a secret identity while wooing a difficult bride’s brother, but what I got was so much more than that, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story follows Sophie, who, after making herself indispensable as a bridesmaid during her cousin Cara’s wedding, decided to make a career out of it. She gets the opportunity of a lifetime when a former client recommends her services to the Marchioness of Meade, Lady Victoria, for her daughter Lady Cordelia’s wedding. However, there are several problems: Lady Cordelia wants nothing to do with her, Sophie develops a crush on Cordelia’s brother Tom, and Sophie has to assume a fake name and identity. 

I liked so many things about this book, one of which was how deep of a look we get into Sophie’s life as a professional bridesmaid. Scattered throughout the book, we get glimpses of the other weddings Sophie is working through emails with vendors, bachelorette party group texts, and meetings with other brides, all of which are laugh-out-loud funny. Sophie’s job is truly chaotic, and I admire the hell out of her for being able to do it. I also loved Sophie’s cousin Cara, who is such a great book best friend. But I think the thing that I liked the most was Sophie’s relationship with Cordelia. 

Although The Secret Bridesmaid is classified as a romance—and the romance is definitely there—the story’s main focus is about Sophie (or Emily as she goes by) and Cordelia’s reluctant friendship. The story arc that would usually happen between a protagonist and their love interest—you know, the whole inciting incident, pivotal moments that bring them together, the “all is lost” moment thing—all happens between Sophie and Cordelia. Tom and Sophie do have their own mini-arc, which was a delight, but honestly, I would have enjoyed the story regardless of it being there. Sophie and Cordelia go on a journey of enemies to reluctant bridesmaids to friends to real bridesmaids, and I wish more stories focused on female friendships like this one.