Hello friends! Today I have a review of the upcoming “Bad Luck Bridesmaid” by Alison Rose Greenberg, which is out this Tuesday, January 11.
A digital ARC of “Bad Luck Bridesmaid” was sent to me by SMP Romance, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Read on to check out the official synopsis, my review, and a bit about the author!
Synopsis
It’s official: Zoey Marks is the cursed bridesmaid that no engagement can survive. Ten years, three empire waist dresses, and ZERO brides have walked down the aisle.
After strike three, Zoey is left wondering if her own ambivalence towards marriage has rubbed off on those she loves. And when her building distrust of matrimony culminates in turning down a proposal from her perfect All-American boyfriend, Rylan Harper III, she and Rylan are both left heartbroken, leaving Zoey to wonder: what is it exactly about tying the knot that makes her want to run in the opposite direction?
Enter Hannah Green: Zoey’s best friend, who announces that she’s marrying a guy she just met (cue eye roll). At a castle. In gorgeous, romantic Ireland, where Rylan will be in attendance, and Zoey will be a bridesmaid. It’ll be fine.
Okay, the woman definition of fine (NOT FINE).
Determined to turn her luck around, Zoey accepts her role and vows to get Hannah down the aisle—all the while praying her best friend’s wedded bliss will allow her to embrace marriage and get Rylan back.
But as the weekend goes on, Zoey is plagued with more questions than answers. Can you be a free spirit, yet still want a certain future? Can you have love and be loved on your terms? And how DO you wrangle a bossy falcon into doing your bidding?
My Thoughts
If you go into “Bad Luck Bridesmaid” expecting a sweet and sexy romcom about a complicated woman falling in love and discovering the right man for her, this isn’t that story. I went into “Bad Luck Bridesmaid” with the impression that it would follow the adult contemporary romance formula, but I’d actually consider this book more Women’s Fiction where the focus is more so on a complicated woman going on a great self discovery journey.
I enjoyed Bad Luck Bridesmaid for a lot of reasons. It was funny, we did get those epic romance moments and some spice, there’s a lot of positive Taylor Swift mentions (hi, swifitie here), and the overall theme about marriage and the way we think about it wasn’t something I’ve read in a whole lot of books, so I loved that.
Zoey was a fun POV to read at times. She’s a funny person and complicated, and I appreciate seeing someone like her on page. She did frustrate me at some points though. Not because of how she was written (I loved the writing), but because of who she is as a person/character. I’m not too sure where I stand on her inability to form the words she needed to say, because while it made the moment she finally can form words so gratifying, everything leading up to it had me rolling my eyes. Rylan also had me rolling my eyes constantly. And their drama eventually got to the point where you have to just let out a loud sigh because you know if they just sat down and tried to explain their points of view, they would have come to the conclusion they do at the end a whole lot quicker. It was a frustrating journey, but I’m not gonna lie, fun as well.
Now, not all our main characters frustrated me. There was one who I eagerly awaited to appear on the page and every time she did, I couldn’t get it out of my mind how badly I wanted her to have her own book. My favorite character was Hannah. Whenever Zoey talked about Hannah it made me best-friend-fall-in-love. I just want Hannah to be happy and I would pay so much money to actually see how she and Graham met and fell in love. They are perfection.
My favorite theme throughout the entire book was the idea of platonic soulmates. Zoey and Hannah are soulmates and they were easily my favorite relationship written in this book. We didn’t get too much of them because we were primarily focusing on Zoey and her journey, but when her and Hannah did appear on page? Together? Y’all, I’m in love. They are my bestie OTP.
I love “Bad Luck Bridesmaid”–it gave me messy, complicated women characters who frustrated me to no end and made me love them all at the same time.
★★★★☆ (4/5)
About The Author
Alison Rose Greenberg is a screenwriter who lives in Atlanta, but is quick to say she was born in New York City. While attending The University of Southern California, Alison took her first screenwriting class and fell head over heels. A journey from screenwriting led to marketing jobs, before coming full-circle back to her first love. Alison speaks fluent rom-com, lives for 90’s WB dramas, cries to Taylor Swift, and is a proud single mom to her two incredible kids and one poorly-trained dog. Bad Luck Bridesmaid is her first novel.
Selina Falcon 
very well written
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