So happy to be here on the first day of the Books-on-Tour for The Bridal Party!
If ever there was a cautionary tale of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, or choosing your bridal party with the greatest care … then this must be it! Weddings are meant to be happy occasions and the weeks leading up to the BIG event is supposed to be filled with happiness and excitement, aren’t they? Apparently … not always …
Blurb:
The moment she sees Caitlyn, wearing her ‘bride-to-be’ sash and brimming with excitement, it hits her. She hates Caitlyn. She knows who Little Miss Perfect really is – what she’s really hiding. And the temptation to do something about it is too strong to resist…
When the first bottle of prosecco pops open I breathe a sigh of relief. As maid-of-honour, I’ve worked so hard to organise my best friend Caitlyn’s big celebration before her wedding. Even though her schoolfriends are jealous they aren’t bridesmaids like me, and her sisters won’t make eye contact, I plaster a fake smile on my face and top up everyone’s glasses. Nothing will spoil this special weekend.
But as we begin the cute husband-and-wife games, Caitlyn’s sister-in-law reveals something shockingly cruel. In the silence that follows, the little question cards I’d made drop, forgotten, to the floor. We’re supposed to be celebrating her upcoming wedding but Caitlyn’s lied to me for years. Her relationship is far from the magical dream she’d made it out to be.
Suddenly, everyone in the room is arguing. All of our secrets and lies are exposed. It’s clear that none of us really know each other – or Caitlyn.
The next morning I find Caitlyn, beautiful, pale and unmoving in her bed. The bride is dead. One of us killed her. But which devastating truth was dangerous enough to kill for? And with us all stuck here until the murderer is found, how long will it be until someone else gets hurt…?
My Review:
Wow! Caitlyn must have chosen herself THE most unlikeable bunch of women to be in her bridal party. As they depart from Leeds for her hen weekend in Dublin, the author wastes no time in making it very clear that there’s no love lost between most of this clan, for one reason or other, and most of them don’t even want to be there. And even Caitlyn herself isn’t quite what you’d expect from a bride. She’s hardly the happy, blooming person you’d expect. Sure – the reasons are revealed, the more you read (and you absolutely won’t be able to read this fast enough so you can figure out what’s really going on here!), but in just the first few chapters I wanted to just shake her!
Jen the Chief Bridesmaid (as she repetitively reminds everyone) is doing her best and is probably the best of a bad lot. Karen is Ben’s (the groom) mother, and together with Michaela, his sister and Lucy, his teenage daughter, they reminded me of a coven of witches! They were downright mean about everything and directed all their venom at Caitlyn. However, as we got to know Ben during the story, he doesn’t exactly come up smelling of roses either and one wonders why on earth Caitlyn has stuck around so long. She’s been through a rough time, having come through treatment for cancer, why on earth does she want to work so hard to be part of a family of such awful people?
Then there are Caitlyn’s own sisters, Emma and Annette – both equally annoying for different reasons. Annette keeps making backhanded nasty comments and Emma is as sweet as a chewed up toffee – nobody that sweet is ever genuine! Mari and Adele seem to be there to make up numbers. They’re both newer friends of Caitlyn’s, but again, not particularly nice ones, and they don’t seem happy about being included. And then there’s Shelley, who, like Jen is one of Caitlyn’s oldest friends and who should be thrilled her friend is marrying the love of her life. But for some reason she’s just plain miserable. And poor old Jen (did I mention, she’s the Chief Bridesmaid?) is desperately trying to keep it all together – and it’s only the first night!
Maria Frankland has created characters who make you appreciate the good people in your life! Your close friends and family: the ones who you love and value. And by throwing them all together into one space, making the reader squirm a bit at how uncomfortable the cat-fighting and backstabbing in those first few chapters all gets, she sets the perfect scene for a murder. You know it’s coming, but who will it be, and who did it?
As the chapters unfold, each told from the different characters’ points of view, shocking secrets will be revealed, but who has a secret worth killing for? It’s excellent, well-paced, edge-of-your-seat, page-turning stuff that doesn’t let up for a minute! And oh, so clever! I highly recommend it!
Thank you to Bookouture for another great blog tour!
Author Bio:
Maria Frankland has a dubious internet search history and a very worried mother-in-law. However, neither of these things can stop her writing gripping psychological thrillers in which you’ll never find a happy-ever-after.
Her novels are mostly set in Yorkshire where you’ll hear the accent through all her characters. These are people you could live next door to, or closer still … don’t say you haven’t been warned.
Maria’s novels are fast-paced, down to earth and realistic. You never know what’s around the corner…
Find out more about Maria at www.mariafrankland.co.uk. Whilst you’re there, you can download your free novella – The Brother-in-Law. Happy reading!
Author Social Media Links:
Website: https://mariafrankland.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writermariafrank/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writermaria_f/
Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/maria-frankland
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