Heading to a Wedding? Make One of These Nuptial-Themed Books Your Plus One

By Carrie McBride, Communications
June 20, 2025

Weddings come in all shapes, sizes, and vibes so it's only fitting that now—in the midst of wedding season—we offer up reading suggestions for wedding-themed novels that fit whatever mood you're in. Not surprisingly, nuptials are a common plot point in romances, but as these titles show, they are just as likely to inspire authors writing thrillers, historical fiction, horror, and more. 

Contemporary Romance

  • Wedding Dashers

    by Heather McBreen

    Stuck in London with a canceled flight to her sister’s wedding in Ireland, Ada unexpectedly vents her frustrations to a handsome stranger at a bar, only to discover he’s the wedding’s notorious best man, Jack. Now, the two must put their simmering attraction behind them to make it to Belfast before they miss the nuptials. 

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    Destination Wedding

    by Diksha Basu

    Escaping a personal and professional crossroads by attending a cousin’s lavish wedding in Delhi, Tina Das navigates her divorced parents’ dating lives and the reappearance of an ex before drama forces her to make the decisions she has been avoiding.

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    Queerly Beloved

    by Susie Dumond

    In mid-2010s Tulsa, Oklahoma, Amy, a semi-closeted, people-pleasing bridesmaid-for hire, tries to balance her newfound career with her already strained relationships, forcing her to decide what it looks like to be true to herself—and if she has the courage to try. 

Thriller/Suspense

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    The Plus One

    by S.C. Lalli

    In Cabos for the wedding of Radhika Singh and Raj Joshi, which marks the union of two highly influential and wealthy Indian American families, outsider Shay Kapoor, who's dating Raj's best friend, when the bride and groom are murdered, must untangle everyone's lies before her own hidden agenda is revealed.

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    So Happy For You

    by Celia Laskey

    During her best friend Ellie’s wedding weekend, Robin, a queer academic dubious of elaborate wedding rituals, second guesses her decision to be Ellie’s maid of honor after a series of ominous occurrences lead her to believe that the bridal party is out to get her.

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    The Wedding Party

    by Rebecca Heath

    A group of old friends. A grieving mother. A lying bride. Three families united by a terrible event in the past must survive a deadly wedding on the Australian coast. What happened on the jetty all those years ago was an accident, everyone agrees. Or do they?

Historical Fiction

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    The Gown

    by Jennifer Robson

    Intersecting stories—one in postwar London following two embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house who forge an unlikely friendship and the other more than a half century later in Toronto about a woman unraveling the mystery of a family heirloom—about one of the most famous wedding gowns in history.

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    By Her Own Design

    by Piper Huguley

    The incredible untold story of how Ann Lowe, a Black woman and granddaughter of slaves, rose above personal struggles and racial prejudice to design and create one of America's most famous wedding dresses of all time for Jackie Kennedy.

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    The Wedding Veil

    by Kristy Woodson Harvey

    The Wedding Veil follows four extraordinary women across generations, bound by a beautiful wedding veil and a connection to the Vanderbilt legacy that changes their lives—and history as they know it.

Cozy Mysteries

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    Murder by Cheesecake

    by Rachel Ekstrom Courage

    When Dorothy's obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf-themed wedding Rose is hosting.

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    The Matchmaker

    by Aisha Saeed

    In Atlanta, matchmaker Nura Khan thrives in her career while navigating her complicated feelings for her pretend fiancé, Azar, but her success is jeopardized when a couple’s wedding falls apart, leading to a series of suspicious and threatening events that challenge her safety and her business. 

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    Mother of the Bride Murder

    by Leslie Meier

    As part-time Tinker's Cove, Maine reporter Lucy Stone says "oui" to her daughter's surprise wedding invitation in France, she must also make a different kind of vow—to catch a killer!

Literary Fiction

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    Strangers & Cousins

    by Leah Hager Cohen

    The community of Rundle Junction is thrown into chaos by the over-the-top wedding plans of a sprawling family, their escalating clashes with unwanted community newcomers, a matriarch's haunting memories and an artistic bride's passion-driven agenda.

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    The Wedding

    by Dorothy West

    In a story that documents the rise of the Black middle class, written by a woman who lived it, a racially mixed wedding is about to take place on Martha's Vineyard in the 1950s—amidst extreme tension and resistance.

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    When the Harvest Comes

    by Denne Michele Norris

    On the eve of his wedding, Davis Freeman’s joy is shattered by news of his estranged father’s death, forcing him to confront buried trauma and the fragile balance of love and inheritance in his new life with Everett.

Horror

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    Nothing But Blackened Teeth

    by Cassandra Khaw

    An abandoned Heian-era mansion is the perfect venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends, brought back together to celebrate a wedding. A night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare as secrets get dragged out and relationships are tested. But the house has secrets too. Lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart. And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

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    When the Reckoning Comes

    by LaTanya McQueen

    Returning to her hometown for a plantation wedding, Mira is forced to acknowledge her history and save herself from what is to come as slaves who were tortured mercilessly roam the land seeking revenge on the descendants—the wedding guests—of those who tortured them. 

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    Where the Dead Brides Gather

    by Nuzo Onoh

    Bata, a young girl tormented by nightmares, wakes up one night to find herself standing sentinel before her cousin’s door. Her cousin is to get married the next morning, but only if she can escape the murderous attack of a ghost-bride. A supernatural possession helps Bata vanquish the vengeful ghost bride and she is transported to Ibaja-La, the realm of dead brides. There, she receives secret powers to fight malevolent ghost-brides before being sent back to the human realm, where she must learn to harness her new abilities as she strives to protect those whom she loves.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.