Bad Bridesmaid

The cover of this book I thought was instantly attractive, couple that with a plot that sounds both funny and dramatic and that’s a recipe for success, right!

I found this book as funny as I thought it would be. Mix the humour with the antics that Mia gets up to this creates a book a really fun read and I found it tough to put down, this was a good thing as I was on a race against time to finish the #sundaychallenge I take part in on twitter (check out This Chick Reads on twitter to find out more!).

From the first few chapters we get to know Mia as a seemingly cold hearted cow, for want of a better phrase. I wasn’t sure I would like her, but that changed almost immediately when she met her sister, Belle. From that point on I felt she was very unfairly treated by pretty much everyone bar Chris and Leo. I think most of it was a set of unfortunate circumstances, though I have to say some of the incidents I really wish Mia had stopped a bit and thought about things the pulp fiction issue is an example of what I mean. However for a lot of it, it was bad luck. Mia never really purposefully went out to upset Belle, who is perhaps the most typical example of ‘Bridezilla’ you can imagine, over reacting about every single thing and blaming Mia. Deep down I think Mia does care about her family, hence why she came in the first place, yet everyone was too busy blaming and moaning at her.

Most of the other characters weren’t massively likeable as they were mostly being mean to Mia, half the time for no valid reason. While this would normally put me off a book, because this was the point of the book it made for some fun reading. You just want to slap them all for being so petty. Though there were some occasions I thought they were right to moan, so it balanced the book nicely. However, Leo was as lovely as you’d expect and I really liked how he saw how badly she was being treated and was Mia’s ally, sticking up for her.

Overall this book did not disappoint in the slightest and I cannot wait to read more from Portia!

Rating 4.5/5

Should be called bad luck bridesmaid! Absolutely hilarious. Mia is a film writer who writes love stories, even though she thinks it's a load of rubbish. She jets over to the UK for her sisters wedding and as soon as she meets up with her sister the bad luck starts. Mia's family appear to despise her (apart from her creepy uncle),she can't do right for doing wrong, everything she touches is a disaster. Except Leo, the hunky fireman, who it's obvious is in love with Mia, but typically Mia can't see it and only realized when it's to late. A real laugh out loud book that I struggled to put down. I will definitely be reading more from this author. PS always make sure you turn the bedroom light in before getting into bed!!!

A rollicking funny read! Snort hilarious! Tremendous one liners! I read chick-lit rarely but when I do it's purposeful, it's my feel good stuff in between heavier reading. This book was exactly what I needed. I had so much fun reading this book and didn't for one moment lose interest.

Mia is a big shot script writer living in LA, doing the big time, she works with other writers and is famous for their string of romantic comedy film hits. The funny thing is Mia is not a romantic at all, in fact she doesn't believe in romance at all, she's a practical girl. Casual relationships? Can do!

Mia's family are all back in the UK and it's her sister, Belle's wedding coming up so Mia flies home to the family to be there for the big event. She is after all the Chief Bridesmaid. This is where the fun really begins. She's the scapegoat and black sheep of the family and cops an awful lot of bad press from them. She really does take a lot from them.

Amongst the guests staying at the huge beach house are some single MEN. A recipe for some fun as far as Mia is concerned. She's okay with the casual sex thing, she doesn't want a relationship, but her family are horrified with her ways, her prissy sister especially. She's told to pull her head in or else!

'I'm not saying you're not likeable,' my sister explains as she admires her underwear-clad body in my bedroom mirror. 'Just that you need to try harder to make people like you.'

Poor Mia!

This book has some absolutely hilarious laugh out loud, rip snorting scenes, I was in hysterics with some of the moments in this book.

The dysfunctional family dynamics and the dramas are hysterical. It's a very witty and funny book. Mia is not short of attention from the luscious single men in this book and she's not backwards about coming forward either. She's a woman that goes for what she wants. Much to the family's sheer horror.

You know what? I'm actually proud of myself for finally taking my role as bridesmaid seriously. Well, by taking it seriously I mean I have had sex with the best man - that's practically a wedding tradition. At least that's how I'll explain it to Belle if she finds out.

Mia is blamed for just about everything that goes wrong leading up to the wedding day, the scapegoat of the family indeed. She's frowned upon by too many family members, especially the women in the family but keeps up a strong front. I did want her to snap back and have a hissy fit at them all to be honest, but she was trying too hard in this book to keep the peace.

The laughs keep coming as we see the shenanigans going on in and out of bedrooms leading up to the wedding, some very funny scenes involving young children being allowed to watch Pulp Fiction. There are accidents just waiting to happen. I laughed my head off and smiled all the way through this book.

Will Mia change her casual ways with any of the men she meets? Will the woman who writes romance scenes that make women swoon and sob all over the world find love and let it in? Or will she just continue making the whole family angry and upset with her and wish to God the wedding was over so she can fly home to her life in LA away from them all.

Witty characters and likeable characters, and a few characters that you love to hate. A fun plot and interesting scenes makes this book a total winner in the chick-lit stakes. I highly recommend this one.

Oh, and don't read TOO deeply into Mia's exploits, it's fun fiction after all and girls just wanna have fun right? Will the wedding day go off without a hitch or will they just happily get hitched? You can read and see. A frolicking good read that totally took me to a happy place. Exactly what I was hoping for!

4.5 out of 5 rib-tickling stars

Kent born Mia thinks she has the life she wants in LA. She's reinvented herself, changed her name, has a successful career, she's no longer the chubby forgettable girl and she can have any man she wants. She can be herself and not worry about consequences as all her family are back in England and she doesn't care what anyone else thinks.

Mia can be brisk bordering on rude, and maybe doesn't think enough before she speaks but she never deliberately hurts people. She's not mean or cruel. Her family all seem against her and her being at the wedding is destined for failure, she can't do anything without being blamed. Eventually she even takes the blame and distracts the family to deflect attention from others who are getting upset.

Mia has a dry and sarcastic sense of humour which her family does not appreciate; I however do appreciate it!

'Oh, no thank you,' I say politely. I'm not really a fried food person.'

'But you used to love bacon sandwiches,' my mum insists.

'I'm sure I used to love being breastfed, but I wouldn't very much like to do it now,'

The plot has some very funny moments (a jam jar stand-off, a fake drowning and rescue and two young boys quoting highly inappropriate film lines at the worst possible times) but there are some very touching moments when Mia lets herself open up and be honest.

This book had me laughing out, covering my eyes, and gasping 'oh no she didn't!' interspersed with 'OMG no!' If you enjoy a romantic comedy, bordering on the tragic at times, I highly recommend this book. I will look forward to reading more by this author.

I would like to begin by thanking Net Galley and Carina UK for an ARC of this book for my honest review.

I would like to say that if I could give this book 10 stars I would! I enjoyed this book so much. I was laughing all the way through and loved every bit of trouble Mia was getting into. I felt that Mia's life really mirrored my own life in a way. I have always felt like the black sheep of the family because I have not chosen the same path as my sister and she can seem to do no wrong.

Mia leaves LA to go to England for her younger sister Belle's wedding. As soon as she steps into the beach house where she is staying things seem to go completely wrong. The list of things that go wrong are endless it seems. From her letting her young cousins watch Pulp Fiction, to climbing in to bed one night with her soon to be brother in law to sitting on her sister's priceless wedding cake. If something can go wrong it will go wrong for Mia.

Mia also has long stated that she will never fall in love, never get married and she will just date for the rest of her life. That also goes completely wrong for her and leads her down a crazy path of emotions.

I have never laughed so hard with a book and it left me wanting another book about these amazing characters!