Lauren has announced she’s getting married – just as Sarah’s husband asks her for a divorce. Nothing in Maddie’s career in event organising has prepared her for this particular combo of planning and real pain. The news that her ex is also tying the knot is the final straw. While the magazines say she should be leaning in, all she wants to do is sleep in. But whether she likes it or not, everything is about to change for Maddie. For better or worse, this grown-up bridesmaid is taking centre stage…"
Rating: 5/5
You can buy Always the Bridesmaid as a paperback now.
A new from Lindsey Kelk is always something to look forward to for me! Whilst her fab 'I Heart' series has ended for now, Lindsey has brought us some exciting new characters to love, and her new book is another new standalone book starring new characters Maddie, Sarah and Lauren, and is of course centred around weddings. I had expected to enjoy the book very much, but it was full of laughs and fun, and I didn't want to stop reading once I started, the story was very addictive!
As the blurb is at the top of the page, I won't repeat it all here. The main character is Maddie, and she is the bridesmaid in question. She is quite happy to be a bridesmaid for one of her best friends Sarah, but isn't quite prepared for what a bridezilla Sarah would become as her big day gets ever closer. Whilst she is dealing with the wedding prep, Maddie also has to help her other best friend Sarah, who has just announced she is getting divorced. Maddie is really stuck in the middle, unsure of how best to help both of her friends, but I loved her! She is the perfect main character for the book - funny, feisty and gets the job in hand done, but she's still juggling her own job as well as the jobs of helping out her friends!
Maddie's job is in event planning, and I loved the storyline around her trying to get a promotion too, against her bosses wishes. The couple involved in the promotion event were simply hilarious, I was laughing so much as I was reading along, it was so well written, you could well imagine the characters asking for these things! How Maddie kept a straight face I will never know. Maddie does love her job and is very good at it, so I hated her boss for making her feel like she wasn't worthy of a promotion, but at the same time their dynamic was funny to read!
One of the highlights of the book for me was the bridesmaid diary that Maddie filled in at the start of every chapter. She starts it seemingly to try and do it properly, but as things become more stressed for her, the answers become more erratic and funny, they did make me laugh. The other two female characters in the book were brilliantly written too, and I loved the friendship between the three of them - it felt very realistic and believable. I felt incredibly sorry for Sarah, going through a divorce but having to be part of her best friends wedding - she was clearly very upset over the end of her marriage, and I did feel Lauren was a bit insensitive at times, although again I could understand her excitement too! Poor Maddie really did have a lot of juggling to do, and I could see why at times tempers were very fraught!
The writing in this book is, as always with Lindsey Kelk, on point, and was a really enjoyable read from beginning to end. I was thrown right into the story, allowing me to become absorbed by the story very quickly, and found myself wanting to read just one more chapter every night to see what else Maddie was getting up to! There were a few male characters in the story to balance in out, Will and Tom, but the main focus was definitely on the women in the story. This was just as brilliant as the rest of Lindsey's novels, so if you are a fan, you'll definitely want to be reading this one. If you haven't yet discovered Lindsey's books - where have you been?! You wouldn't go far wrong with reading this one - I can't wait for the next book now, roll on November when we get the third book in the 'About A Girl' series starring Tess, called A Girl's Best Friend!
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