When You Least Expect It: Essays on Living without a Five-Year Plan

One New York City millennial shares her journey of finding her dream career and true love, all while juggling a truly unique job as the world’s only professional bridesmaid in this hilarious memoir that “will be relatable to anyone looking for love or just trying to figure things out” (PopSugar).

After moving to New York City in her mid-twenties to pursue her dream of writing—and of not living with her parents anymore—Jen Glantz looked forward to a future of happy hours and Sunday brunches with her besties.

What she got instead was a string of phone calls that began with, “Jen, I have something exciting to tell you!” and ended with, “I’d be honored if you would be my bridesmaid.” At first she was delighted, before she realized two things: all of her assets were tied up in bridesmaid dresses, and she was no closer to finding the One herself. She couldn’t do much about the second thing (though her mother would beg to differ), but she could about the first.

One (slightly tipsy) night, Jen posted an ad on Craigslist advertising her services as a professional bridesmaid. When she woke up the next morning, it had gone viral. What began as a half-joke suddenly turned into a lifetime of adventure for Jen—and more insight into the meaning of love than she was getting from Tinder—as she walked down the aisle at one complete stranger’s wedding after another.

Fresh, funny, and surprisingly sweet, Always a Bridesmaid (For Hire) is an entertaining reminder that even if you don’t have everything together, you can still be a total boss—or, at the very least, a BFF to another girl in need.