Review: Always the Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk

Always the Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk

Publisher: Harper (7th May 2015)

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Received a proof copy for review from Harper, thank you!

Blurb:

Everyone loves a bridesmaid.

Except Maddie, who’s perpetually asked to be one.

Everyone loves a wedding.

Except Maddie’s best friend, who’s getting divorced.

And everyone loves the way Maddie's so happy backstage.

Except Maddie herself.

One best friend is in wedding countdown while the other heads for marriage meltdown. And as Maddie juggles her best chance at promotion in years with bridezilla texts and late-night counselling sessions, she starts to wonder – is it time to stop being the bridesmaid?

I guess what makes me really excited, looking forward to the summer is that there’s a new Lindsey Kelk book for me to indulge myself in. Make no mistake, I enjoy reading other summer reads by other authors, but there’s always a place in my heart for Lindsey’s books. Lindsey Kelk’s latest book, Always the Bridesmaid is a standalone, which is her second, her first being the immensely enjoyable The Single Girl’s To-Do List back in 2011.

Always the Bridesmaid follows the story of Maddie Fraser, an assistant events planner who is severely underpaid as she’s been doing most of the planning on behalf of her boss, slaving away for that heavily Botoxed and augmented monster for far too long. On top of that, her best friend Lauren announces that she’s getting married and her other best friend Sarah drops a bombshell that she’s getting a divorce. On the same night.

I guess it’s nothing worth announcing at the top of my lungs with a loudspeaker that I adore Lindsey Kelk’s books (as if the name of blog isn’t obvious enough..), but I look forward to her books every year. Without fail. A huge fan of her I Heart.. series, her standalones are a bit of a rare treat, her last one being in 2011. So I was thrilled to be reading an entirely new story with a brand new heroine and fall in love with the book, from start to finish.

Packed with her signature British humour and an arsenal of #fail moments on her heroine, Maddie’s part, she delivers a cackling, feel-good romantic comedy that will make your insides turn gooey (I know, it sounds rather disgusting, doesn’t it? But you get my drift). The characters were such a hoot, particularly her best friends, Lauren and Sarah, who are equally crazy as they are lovely. Well, since when aren’t our closest and dearest not?

In Always the Bridesmaid, Maddie is quite the compliant one – always bowing down to everyone and trying her best to please those around her, even when it’s completely inconvenient for herself. That’s the thing I like most about Lindsey Kelk’s books: her heroines who are flawed and imperfect (and they know that they are, hence their self-deprecating humour). Make no mistake, that makes me love them even more. Lindsey Kelk writes with such warmth and sparkling turn of phrase, where she injects a bit of her own take on things around us today (yes, Lindsey. Chris Hemsworth is fit) and every page is such a treat. I laughed, gasped and even stopped halfway and thought to myself “How does she do it?”. It was that good.

I’ve read some pretty flipping awesome books this year and Lindsey Kelk’s fabulous new one definitely made the list. With a plot that whisks you off before you can say no to the hideous dress your bride has chosen, Always the Bridesmaid will bring you to a belly-aching chortle. Another sparkling addition to her collection of best-sellers, get ready for a book that will guarantee you multiple major LOL moments and a romance that will make you swoon to your heart’s content.

Rose Leslie as Maddie and the swoonworthy Dave Franco as.. Maddie's love interest!