Review: 'The One With the Wedding Dress' by Erin Lawless (2016)

Save the Date!
For fans of romantic comedies like Bridesmaids and Four Weddings & a Funeral, and bestselling authors Mhairi McFarlane and Jenny Oliver, this is a hilarious new romantic comedy series about one bride and her four best friends.
The second part of Erin Lawless' newest e-book series has finally been released and it's something I've been looking forward to for quite some time now! After reading 'Somewhere Only We Know' earlier this year (click here to read my review), I developed a bit of a crush on Erin and her writing style and was already looking forward to checking out more of her work. 'The One With the Engagement Party' was a promising start to a new series (click here to read my review) and I couldn't wait for the second instalment to be released. Well, luckily I was approved to receive a NetGalley review copy of the novella a few weeks ago and immediately freed up some time in my reading schedule to catch up with the story again!
Nora Dervan is getting married to the love of her life, Harry, and she couldn't be more excited to share her journey to the aisle with her friends and bridesmaids Sarah, Cleo, Bea and Daisy. After a successful and fun engagement party, it's now time for a weekend trip to the countryside to score a wedding dress. A pretty full itinerary, the brides mother, some delicious cupcakes, and a lot of pretty and not-so-pretty dresses all together form the recipe for quite an interesting trip for Nora and her friends...
'The One with the Wedding Dress' is the second instalment of Erin Lawless' new e-book series and I'm happy to say that after reading it I've only become more excited about this series! There's quite a big group of characters at the core of the story, namely bride Nora and her friends Bea, Cleo, Daisy and Sarah. While Nora's wedding preparations take centre stage, all women are dealing with their own issues as well, which makes for some interesting and enjoyable reading. I have a soft spot for books about weddings, and just loved the dress shopping that was going on in this instalment of the series.
I think this new Erin Lawless read definitely has everything I look for in an enjoyable chick lit story. As mentioned in my review of the first part as well, though, there are quite a lot of characters, and especially since the novel is released in different parts, it makes it a bit tricky to keep up with all of them and remember who is who. Maybe this would work better as one full-length novel instead of a series, but nevertheless, I'm still really enjoying it and already curious to see what's going to happen in the next part, which will focus on the hen party...!

Rating:9,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: 'The One with the Engagement Party' by Erin Lawless (2016)

For fans of romantic comedies like Bridesmaids and Four Weddings & a Funeral, and bestselling authors Mhairi McFarlane and Jenny Oliver, this is a hilarious new romantic comedy series of four novellas about one bride and her four best friends.
Nora Dervan is getting married... but her four bridesmaids are more full of secrets than champagne.
Bea has barely gotten past the fact that her two best friends are seeing each other, and now they’re engaged, and Cleo is rather distracted by the hot new colleague she absolutely, definitely must not sleep with. Daisy is dreading the singles’ table, whilst Sarah’s own marriage hasn’t turned out to be all she hoped it would be...
I love romantic comedies, both in book and film format. There's nothing like a rom-com to make you feel better after a crappy week and I can never get enough of a good dose of laughs and romance. So, when I read the blurb for Erin Lawless' new series, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of the first part, 'The One with the Engagement Party' (anyone else who immediately thinks of 'Friends' when hearing this title?!). I read my first Erin Lawless novel a few weeks ago, 'Somewhere Only We Know', and really liked it (click here to read my review), so I was really quite excited to check out this new Harper Impulse series!
Nora Dervan is over the moon when her boyfriend Harry asks her to marry him and she can't wait to start planning her wedding with the help of her four friends and bridesmaids Sarah, Bea, Cleo and Daisy. First on their list is the engagement party, but it quickly turns out that all four bridesmaids have their own issues to deal with next to Nora's big wedding, so it's going to be quite an interesting few months for all of them.
Erin Lawless is treating us to a new romantic comedy series of four novellas about bride Nora and her four best friends Daisy, Cleo, Sarah and Bea, with 'The One with the Engagement Party' as the first part. In this novella the reader is introduced to the five main characters and what is going on in their lives, setting the scene for what is yet to come. Even though I felt there was quite a lot of information and different names to take in within just roughly 80 pages (I had to go back several times to double check something and make sure I knew who was who), I did really enjoy this read and am already looking forward to the second instalment of the series.
I was introduced to Erin Lawless' writing several weeks ago when I read her novel 'Somewhere Only We Know' and I really like her fun and well-paced writing style which is filled with dialogue. I also really liked the extra references to real wedding stories that were added at the start of some chapters; this was definitely a nice extra touch. Overall, I think 'The One with the Engagement Party' is a wonderful start to this new novella series by Erin Lawless and I already can't wait for the second part, 'The One with the Wedding Dress', which will be released in August!

Rating:9/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: 'Somewhere Only We Know' by Erin Lawless (2015)

Boy meets girl…
Alex Bradley can't help but feel that life is rather passing him by. And not just life – promotions, invitations, romance; the girl he loves only has eyes for his flatmate and his 9-5 job as the Immigration department skivvy is slowly numbing his soul. Until he meets Nadia.
Girl meets boy…
Nadia Osipova is running out of time. With no money, no lawyer and a totally fictitious boyfriend, she’s got one last summer and one last appeal before the British government deport her back to Russia.
Girl gets deported?
It's going to be a bumpy ride, one she's dragging her new friend Alex along for. As Nadia races through a list of all her favourite London adventures, for what may be the last time, Alex can’t help but start to see the city, and his life, through Nadia’s eyes.
From hazy summer days on the Common and heady nights in Soho’s basement bars, to twilight walks along the Southbank, will Alex realise what he’s got before it’s too late?
Oh wow, isn't the book cover of Erin Lawless' novel 'Somewhere Only We Know' one of the most gorgeous covers you've ever seen?! I love everything about it, especially the references to London and the Tube, and this cover alone would already be more than enough for me to want to pick up this book. However, I was also determined to read this novel because I missed Erin's debut 'The Best Thing I Never Had', about which many book bloggers were quite enthusiastic. Harper Impulse is one of my favourite publishers, so I was really happy when I got a review copy of 'Somewhere Only We Know' and the chance to finally check out Erin Lawless' writing for myself!
Twenty-something Alex Bradley doesn't particularly love his job at the UK Immigration department, but it pays the rent. One day, he finds himself with an interesting letter in his hand, namely a request for a Nadia Osipova to be allowed to stay on in the UK. Without any money, no steady job and no boyfriend, Nadia is on the verge of being back deported to Russia, even though she knows the UK is her real home since she arrived when she was just a teenager to go to boarding school. As if it was faith, Alex unexpectedly meets the real Nadia at a pub quiz at a local pub and they become friends. As Nadia gets ready to leave London, she takes Alex on a journey to visit all of her favourite spots and do the sightseeing she never got to do. Alex can't help but grow more and more fond of Nadia, but will he realise what's right in front of him before it's too late?
I'm really glad I got the chance to read and review 'Somewhere Only We Know' because I ended up thoroughly enjoying my first Erin Lawless novel, and I'm sure this won't be my last one! Erin has a great writing style that goes really well with the chick lit genre, in my opinion, and I loved reading about Nadia and Alex and their lives. I have to admit I was a bit doubtful about the topic of immigration playing an important role in this novel, because I had no idea which direction this would go in and how serious this would make the story, but the author really did a wonderful job tackling this topic and creating a fascinating and lovely story around it with some great characters at its core.
The story is told from both a male and female perspective in the form of Alex and Nadia. I really liked both main characters from the start, and especially the scenes in which they featured together were my favourite with the clear chemistry and fun dialogue between the two of them. There were several aspects to the main storyline with things going on in both Alex's and Nadia's lives, making sure to keep the reader's attention at all times. I was also quite surprised by the ending of the novel which I did not see coming, but I don't want to give anything away. Overall, 'Somewhere Only We Know' is a thoroughly entertaining, fun and well-written romantic comedy that I really enjoyed from start to finish, and enough for me to straight away add Erin Lawless to my list of authors to look out for!

Rating:9/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.