The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall

A romcom about Freya who’s life begins to fall apart when her partner of 12 years calls the wedding off the day before the ceremony. The book follows Freya through her personal journey when her life is falling apart and she knows she has to survive the biggest most difficult wedding season of her life when all her friends are getting married like she should have been. To help her her best friends Ruby and Leo make the list of task Freya must do to get through the season.

The journey Freya travels in the book will make you laugh, cry and ponder about life itself when you realise who your true friends are as they will stand by you no matter what. It’s great to see Freya’s final destination and how life isn’t always what it appears. The characters in the book were wonderful insightful and quirky . A very enjoyable beautifully written book and easy read which I couldnt put down read. 4.5/5

Freya Scott is getting married. Her wedding to Matthew, her long-term boyfriend, is the first of eight in her calendar this year, and as someone who prides herself on being meticulously organised, Freya is intent on making it the perfect day to remember.
But when Matthew calls things off hours before they walk down the aisle, Freya's entire life plan goes up in smoke. Humiliated and heartbroken, the last thing she wants is to attend a summer of other peoples' nuptials on her own. I really felt for Freya in this one! The narrative grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let you breathe until the end… I read this book in one sitting.

3.75 stars
I was in the mood to read something lighthearted and fun and so I decided to read my arc of The Wedding Season. It was written in a style that was so simple and I was hooked from the first page. This is why I ended up finishing this in less than a day. Once I started reading this, I could not stop. While I overall enjoyed the writing style, in some places, it felt a little iffy to me. But the story is wonderful and I love the development Freya goes through. Another thing that I really liked is that as much as this sounds and feels like a romance, there is a lot more focus on Freya's own development and her relationship with her friends and family. This is what made the book so fun to read.

Well this book has solidified Katy Birchall as a new favourite author for me. After reading and loving The Secret Bridesmaid last year I was so excited to discover Birchall was releasing another wedding-themed book. In this one we have Freya who is jilted the day before her wedding, in a broom cupboard no less, and must somehow withstand going to another eight weddings after her own was such a disaster. Luckily for her she has an amazing network of friends who instantly come up with a plan for her to survive the wedding season!

All the things I loved about her last release were here in spades: the humour and emotions were so well written. There is more of an emphasis on friendship in this book which I absolutely adored. I want Leo and Ruby to be my friends! Her brother and father too, they were so understanding and kind towards her wishes. Freya's entire support network as a whole were just amazing, always there and helping her with every step of her journey.

I enjoyed being with Freya on her healing journey, I loved that she still had lingering feelings towards Matthew., despite what he'd put through It made everything seem more realistic. She was with him for so long it would have made no sense for her to immediately be over him. There are flashbacks to their shared past that show the relationship was not as perfect as Freya thinks it is in her head, and her realisation about this is wonderfully shown throughout the novel.

There was a brilliant side plot that existed outside the weddings as well to do with an estranged family member that I greatly enjoyed. The way this relationship developed really highlighted how Freya's journey towards healing was going. And I greatly enjoyed the romance included, it never took over the plot but it was a wonderful addition to Freya's happy ending.

The Wedding Season is another heart-warming and hilarious piece of contemporary fiction by this author I can't wait to read whatever Birchall writes next!

A classic rom com book, while it breaks no new ground it won’t disappoint if you a looking for a light read to distract from the outside world, which let’s face it most of us do at the moment!

I love books about weddings & this book certainly didn’t disappoint me. I loved it. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read & review it.

A touching ode to friendship and living life to the fullest, this book is a must read for anyone wanting an instant pick me up. Our main character has just gone through one of the worst days of her life, being dumped the day before her wedding, and has to face going to 7 weddings in the next few months, one of which her ex fiancé is due to attend, and so her friends concoct a plan to help her move on, love her best life, and have some fun on the way. This book was such a pleasant surprise and quite humorous; I’d wholeheartedly recommend

Imagine being on the cusp of getting married, literally, then finding yourself jilted, but not quite at the altar, but in a broom cupboard?
That is where Freya finds herself, the day before her dream wedding.
Their wedding was meant to be the beginning of that special Wedding Season, when all those close friends and family, seem to settle down at the same time.
Luckily for Freya, she has a strong band of friends around her, and they help her navigate what could be an extremely tough few months, assembling a plan to help Freya cope with the weddings, hens and stens that are all part of the season.
Each event is assigned a task to help her get over Matthew. Tasks she would never have thought about even attempting had she been in her comfortable twelve-year relationship. And possibly a way to find someone to help her get back on that dating horse...
A funny, but touching ode to friendship, and finding love in the most unexpected places!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from Hodder & Stoughton via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read from Katy Birchall, and I believe it's her first foray into adult contemporary romance books. This books follows Freya, whose fiancé breaks up with her after 12 years, on the day before her wedding. She then has 5 wedding to attend throughout the year so her friends come up with a list of challenges that she has to complete to distract her from the breakup.

I'm happy to say that this has become one of my favourite contemporaries of all time. First, let's start with the reality. Birchall perfectly encapsulated life in your late twenties/early thirties - lots of weddings and the occasional, very tough break-up. The way the break-up was portrayed was so realistic and it almost mirrored break-ups I've seen friends go through. I adored the way she showed Freya healing throughout the book and I love that the romance came into the story a bit later and that the story was spread over nearly a year.

Next up, the relationships. The friendships with both friends and family were so well done. This book had me laughing at the jokes between both her best friends, and her father and brother. The humour was perfect. The wedding challenges were great to read about and I love that Freya was never too overwhelmed with bitterness towards her friends (which I've seen in other books). There was no bitchiness in the book and it made me so happy. I also liked that Freya was repairing a relationship that had broken down within her family, showing that she was actually gaining something from her new life.

The love interest was also great. I liked that the 'miscommunication' was barely there and the usual third act in contemporary books was done very differently in this, which I much preferred.

Overall, this was a fantastic adult contemporary for anyone who needs a pick-me-up and a good laugh. I will 100% be picking up any books from Kat Birchall in the future. Also, for anyone wondering, this isn't a steamy romance book, so if you're picking it up for that, you might be disappointed!

A sublime five-star read. This is great for anyone who needs a little inspiration to get through wedding season, even if you haven’t had a break-up, it’s a great story. Freya was great for most of the story, I did want to wake her up a couple of times, by shaking her vigorously. All the way through the story, she made me smile, as well as some others as well. This whole story was sublime, but special mention must go to the wine incident. That was the topper on the top of the sublime wedding cake. If you need a pick me up, pick this up.

I thought that this was a very standard example of the RomCom genre, with very little new to recommend it. whilst it was nicely written with good grammar and spelling, nicely humorous at times and with well formed sentences and paragraphs, I was slightly bored. It was not an exciting read nor was it humorous enough to set me giggling.
But if you like to read about weddings then you will enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

My favourite thing about this book is that as well as being a romance, it really focuses on Freya's character and her personal journey.

Also, I love Freya's support system! It was so refreshing to read a book where there was no sideline drama between her friends or family.

I love Freya & Jamie - their chemistry was amazing!!!!

The writing style was perfect & easy to read.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Affectionate Romcom..
Lighthearted, affectionate romcom with an enjoyable and engaging cast of characters and a wholly readable storyline. What happens when some things in life do not pan out the way in which you wish? Well, if you have friends like Freya’s, then a plan will be hatched. Who’s to say whether that plan, however, may not be the best thing ever constructed!

i had so much fun reading the first half of this - the friendships are so supportive and loving and freya’s internal monologue was endless entertainment

the whole idea behind the wedding challenges was exciting and i enjoyed seeing freya slowly build herself back up after the not-wedding, but unfortunately, that’s where things stopped being interesting for me

i found there to be a lot of pointless paragraphs and unnecessarily drawn out situations making the book a lot longer than it really ought to have been, which made it a struggle to keep my attention

this is down as a romance/comedy and, to be honest, I think that’s slightly misleading - the main romance happens in the last 5% and it’s pretty anticlimactic and, with how unconnected i was to the characters, i wasn’t bothered about the happy ending at all

the love interest is a little bland and i didn’t really take a liking to any of the characters, apart from leo and ruby

overall, a lighthearted read and probably better for those who like a story more focussed on personal growth and friendship rather than romance/chemistry

One of the funniest books I've read in a while.

Freya is getting ready for her wedding to Matthew when the groom announces that the wedding is off.....while they're standing in a broom cupboard.
It happens right on the cusp of wedding season as Freda has another 6 weddings to enjoy/endure after her wedding day.

Will she survive??
Bring in the wedding challenge list that her friends devise to distract her.

A hilarious look at life when it doesn't go our way.