The Bridesmaids Secret

"A pure delight." ––BookPage (starred review) "Charming, escapist fun." ––Katharine McGee, New York Times bestselling author of American Royals Matrimony meets mayhem in Katy Birchall's The Secret Bridesmaid, a modern British romcom about a young woman charged with pulling off the biggest aristocratic wedding of the year––and the misadventures that ensue. Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job. As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is hired by London brides to be their right-hand woman, posing as a friend but working behind the scenes to help plan the perfect wedding and ensure their big day goes off without a hitch. When she’s hired by Lady Victoria Swann––a former model and “It Girl" of 1970’s London; now the Marchioness of Meade––for the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is. Of course, it’s not ideal that the bride, Lady Victoria’s daughter, Cordelia, is an absolute diva and determined to make Sophie’s life a nightmare. It’s also a bit inconvenient that Sophie finds herself drawn to Cordelia’s posh older brother, who is absolutely off limits. But when a rival society wedding is announced for the very same day, things start to get...well, complicated. Can Sophie pull off the biggest challenge of her career––execute a high-profile gala for four hundred and fifty guests in record time, win over a reluctant bride, and catch the eye of handsome Lord Swann––all while keeping her true identity a secret, and her dignity intact? Heartwarming and hilarious, Katy Birchall's The Secret Bridesmaid celebrates the joys (and foibles) of weddings, the nuances of female friendship, and the redeeming power of love in its many unexpected forms.

Romano Puccini, fashion designer and model: his handsome face and incredible talent drive women wild. Fashion magazine editor-in-chief Jackie, however, knows that Romano’s charms are only an illusion. One summer they fell in love. That love should have lasted forever, but once Jackie revealed a certain secret, Romano turned his back and left her. She’s avoided him ever since, but the two of them are reunited at her little sister’s wedding. How dare he smile after the way he hurt her! Jackie has no reason to forgive him, so why does he still make her heart race?

The Latest in Chart-Topping Amish Fiction from Beverly Lewis Twenty-seven-year-old Joanna Kurtz has made several trips to the altar, but never as a bride. The single young Amishwoman is a closet writer with a longing to be published something practically unheard of in her Lancaster County community. Yet Joanna's stories aren't her only secret. She also has a beau who is courting her from afar, unbeknownst even to her sister, Cora, who, though younger, seems to have suitors to spare. Eben Troyer is a responsible young Amishman who hopes to make Joanna Kurtz his bride--if he can ever leave his parents' farm in Shipshewana, Indiana. Yet with his only brother off in the English world, intent on a military career, Eben's hopes for building a life with his dear Joanna are dimming, and patience is wearing thin. Will Joanna ever be more than a bridesmaid?

"An entertaining beach read... [and] a nice way to provide your besties with reading material for the bachelorette weekend."—Lauren Conrad WHAT DO A FORMER FASHION MODEL, AN EX-NUN, AND A FRAT BOY HAVE IN COMMON? VIRTUALLY NOTHING, EXCEPT THAT EACH HAS EXPERIENCED A UNIVERSAL RITE OF PASSAGE: BEING A BRIDESMAID. Each year 11 million bridesmaids lead their best friends down the aisle. Most wear matching dresses, and nearly all have a thing or two to say about the bride. In this uproarious oral history, editor and journalist Eimear Lynch offers us an intimate glimpse at the moments the wedding photographer failed to capture. From the accidental bridesmaid who helped sew the bride into her "designer" gown to the tomboy who struggled to carry Princess Diana's twenty-five foot train, The Bridesmaids lifts the veil on the Big Day. Opening with her own experiences as a five-time 'maid, Eimear gives us stories that are by turns heartfelt, funny, scandalous, and sometimes downright strange. An ode to the good, the bad, the strapless chiffon, and the occasional three-piece suit—and, above all, to the supporting actresses and actors who wore them—The Bridesmaids is a colorful walk down the aisle that you won't want to miss, and the perfect companion for every bridesmaid-to-be.

Secret Bridesmaids' Business is a seriously funny play that exposes the hysteria that can arise as the wedding juggernaut threatens to swerve out of control. (1 male, 5 female). It's My Party (& I'll Die If I Want To)-- Ron Patterson has only 111 minutes left to live and he invites the kids around for sausage rolls, salads and a bit of quality time. As he attempts to tie up the loose ends of his life, all the juicy neuroses of his very dysfunctional family come to the fore. (3 male, 3 female).

Bella Carew is dreading going home to England for her sister’s wedding! In New York she has a glamorous job, a whole new circle of friends. Best of all, nobody knows anything about her love life.… Gil de la Court interrupts a major business deal to go to his friend’s English wedding. Still, a dance with the beautiful bridesmaid feels like more than adequate compensation! But why does Bella seem to be working so hard to pretend she’s having fun? Gil suspects this bridesmaid has a secret.…

"A daughter's ... search to understand her mother, Carolyn Scott--once a bridesmaid to Princess Grace and one of the first Ford models--who later in life spent years living in a homeless shelter ... How had the seemingly confident, glamorous woman ... become the mother she knew growing up--the mother who was now living in a shelter? In this ... memoir of friendship and motherhood, Nyna Giles uncovers her mother's past to answer the questions she never knew to ask"--

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade—or, in Piper Brody’s case, make a Craigslist ad offering yourself up as a hired bridesmaid! A hilarious, touching, coming-of-age novel from debut author Anne Wagener. Piper is a recent college grad who decides to sell her body on Craigslist—as a hired bridesmaid. Her airport bookseller job just isn’t bringing home the turkey bacon, and no one’s going to pay her to analyze Milton’s poetry. Turns out, having an English literature degree from an upstanding university isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Piper’s Craigslist endeavor soon picks up steam, netting her clients such as Southern peach Stacey, whose interracial marriage causes a family feud, and Alex, a bride-to-be who’s so type A she’s type A-plus. Between fighting off matching T-shirt–wearing teams of “bustle bitches” at gown sales and learning more about fondant than the Cake Boss, Piper falls for Charlie Bell, the brother of a client. A fellow aspiring writer, Charlie’s the only person recently who’s encouraged Piper to follow her dreams. Not to mention, he’s pretty darn cute. But when Charlie turns out to be the groom in one of her gigs—and set to marry the craziest bridezilla of them all—Piper must band together with her newfound friends and stop Charlie from making the biggest mistake of his life.

The moment chic magazine editor Jackie arrives for her sister's Italian wedding and sees her old boyfriend Romano, her groomed facade slips… Romano Puccini's spectacular palazzo is an idyllically romantic setting! But before Jackie Patterson can join in the frenzy of last-minute wedding preparations and don her exquisite bridesmaid dress, she must brave Romano's heart-stopping effect on her. And unburden the seventeen-year-old secret from that fateful, sultry Italian summer…

Based on the column of the same name that appeared in The Toast, Hey Ladies! is a laugh-out-loud read that follows a fictitious group of eight 20-and-30-something female friends for one year of holidays, summer house rentals, dates, brunches, breakups, and, of course, the planning of a disastrous wedding. This instantly relatable story is told entirely through emails, texts, DMs, and every other form of communication known to man. The women in the book are stand-ins for annoying friends that we all have. There’s Nicole, who’s always broke and tries to pay for things in Forever21 gift cards. There’s Katie, the self-important budding journalist, who thinks a retweet and a byline are the same thing. And there’s Jen, the DIY suburban bride-to-be. With a perfectly pitched sardonic tone, Hey Ladies! will have you cringing and laughing as you recognize your own friends, and even yourself.