Review: The Paid Bridesmaid by Sariah Wilson

The Paid Bridesmaid
Sariah Wilson
Publisher: Montlake
Publication date: Jan. 1, 2022
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Rachel Vinson is a bridesmaid for hire: part confidante, part wedding planner, and one hundred percent pretend BFF. Discretion guaranteed. Her next gig is a destination wedding—livestreamed and sponsored—for an Instagram influencer. That means a paradise of new contacts, which could be a boon to her already booming business. If Rachel can keep the very handsome and slightly too interested best man at bay, that is.

High-tech entrepreneur Camden Lewis must know: Who is this gorgeous, intelligent, and mysterious woman? Too good to be real. Convinced she’s a corporate spy out to tank his company, Camden’s not letting her out of his sight. But the constant surveillance is also opening his eyes to things about Rachel that he likes. If she’s a spy, she’s certainly the cutest one he’s ever seen.

As the week’s worth of wedding events march along, Rachel and Camden are learning almost everything there is to know about each other. Rachel’s made a career out of always a bridesmaid…but perhaps there’s a chance for her own trip down the aisle?

My thoughts…

Rachel has built her business, Something Borrowed, from the ground up. She runs a business where bride’s to be can hire bridesmaids and maids of honor for their wedding. Maybe they need a professional to be their wing-woman, or maybe the groom has more groomsman that she has bridesmaids. Whatever the case, Rachel and her team are there to fill that void and help make the bride’s wedding perfect. The one rule she has for herself and her employees is to not get attached or have relations with any of the party members or attendees. Which has been easy up until Rachel catches the eye of the best man who is convinced she’s a spy sent to get as much information on his and the groom’s upcoming business release.

I knew that this was going to be a fun and lighthearted romcom. I mean, the title and synopsis says it all. However, I did have a LOT of trouble with the weird romance aspect. Camden zones in on her immediately and is all shmoozy and kissy faces trying to get intel on her. Even though she knows he up to something, she just can’t help to fall for those beautiful eyes and gorgeous looks. Do you see where I’m going with this? It was too much, too quick, and I just didn’t like it. There was no slow progression of interest. It was pretty much lust at first sight and all that Rachel could think about even though she is there on a job. A job in which she created! So the fact that she all of a sudden turns into a puddle around this guy just didn’t seem authentic or even swoon worthy. And sadly, the majority of the story is the romance.

The only redeeming thing of this story was the wedding itself. The bride’s mother is an alcoholic who needs to be watched at all times. The bride’s father is marrying someone who is younger than his daughter. Not to mention that the bride is an influencer and has decided to live stream the entire wedding weekend. Let’s just say that things went wrong, and I was sitting right there with my popcorn ready.

If you’re looking for an insta-love romcom, then this is for you. It didn’t really have any depth or character development. Unfortunately for me, I had just come from reading a disappointing book that lacked oomph and meat, so to go from that to this really put me in a reading funk.