Always the Bridesmaid

Entertaining British chick lit about a young woman named Maddie whose two best friends are at opposite ends of the romantic spectrum: one just got engaged, while the other is getting divorced. My friend pointed out that Maddie is a huge pushover, which she (my friend) found irritating. While I think that’s a fair criticism, I ultimately enjoyed the book for its humor and romance, so I’d definitely read more by this author.

I tried to get into this, but think I may need to take a romance break. This and some other books I started and didn't finish ended up irking the life out of me. There's a love triangle, or whatever you want to call it when one person is dating/sleeping with someone else, but still thinking of another person. The two best friends are not really there for the main character and I wondered at how they were supposedly all friends when it seemed that Maddie did more for them. The family was a non-entity for pretty much the whole book.

Maddie, does event planning and is finally given an opportunity to be promoted after working as an assistant to a woman who is a nightmare to work for. Maddie is forced to be a waitress at a wedding and ends show more up meeting two guys who we follow throughout this book. Guy number one (Will) practically held up a sign saying that he is not trustworthy. I was annoyed for how obtuse she was being through the whole book about him. Guy number two (Tom) was not a good guy due to him knowing some details that he doesn't divulge in order to be the good guy.

Maddie's two friends are going through life changing events. Lauren is engaged and Sarah is going through a divorce. I did feel sympathy for Sarah, but Lauren is a bridezilla from beginning to almost the very end of this book.

Maddie's parents are dismissive of her life and her brother and sister are pretty much jerks too.

The writing was okay, I just didn't feel myself drawn in as I usually am with romances.

The ending wrapped things up too neatly. I didn't like the guy that Maddie chose to be with since I felt no chemistry or connection between them. show less