Book ~ "Bridesmaid Lotto" (2011) Rachel Astor

From Goodreads ~ Josephine McMaster is pretty and smart but very much a klutzy mess. Finally, at 26, she may have actually lost the dreaded ‘McMaster the Disaster’ nickname that has followed her around her whole life.

Josie’s quite content to be single, much to her mother’s disappointment. So when a bizarre contest is announced where a socialite is holding a lottery to pick her bridesmaids (and rake in a little extra cash), she can’t roll her eyes fast enough, even if it does mean meeting Jake Hall, her one and only movie star crush. Obviously, Josie doesn’t enter the bridesmaid lottery so you can imagine her surprise when her picture pops up among the winners, thanks to Mom. With a little prodding -- okay bribing -- Josie agrees to participate.

The wedding turns into the event of the year and Josie finds herself in the middle of a paparazzi feeding frenzy, which gets even crazier after Jake Hall takes a special interest in her.

Can Josie handle the pressure in the spotlight? Is it possible she might really have a chance with Jake Hall? And if she’s busy worrying about all that, how in the heck is she going to keep ‘McMaster the Disaster’ from showing up in front of the entire world?

Josie scoffs when she hears about a contest socialite Emma is having ... for $10, you can have your name put into a lottery to be one of four bridesmaids for her wedding.  Unbeknownst to her, Josie wins a spot ... her mother, fearing she was an old maid at 26, had entered her.  At first she says there is no way she'll go through with it but once she realizes it will get her close to her favourite movie star, Jake (the brother of the groom), she agrees to go through with it. Life changes for the four bridesmaids, especially for Josie when she catches the attention of Jake.  The paparazzi follow every move they make.

This is the first book I've read by this author and it was okay.  It's a light quick read ... a mindless summer book.  This book is what it is.  It is written in first person, in Josie's voice.  The language at times is for mature readers.  The book could have been better edited as there were typos and a lack of punctuation at times.

I liked Josie and Jake ... it would have been nice to know more about him other than he's an actor, the groom's brother and flies his own plane.  I found there wasn't a lot of heat between them so wasn't really buying that they got together.  Josie's friend, Mattie, was fun ... he's a stereotypical flamboyant gay stylist.  Of the four bridesmaids, Josie and Jennifer are most similar ... the other two are extremes (country bumpkin and snobby model). Josie's mother was horrible ... I would have disowned her years ago.  Callie, Josie's roommate, is blah.

I won't be rushing out to read the next two books in the series.