# Chapter 1: A Vow, A Gin, and A Dreadful Date
Hello, lovely listeners and story lovers! It’s me again, floating into your ears with another delightful tale. How are you all doing today? I do hope you’re ready to dip into the dizzying world of love, dating disasters, and dreams, because today we are setting foot into the very first chapter of *Married at First Swipe* — a book that begins with a trembling bride and a promise, and swiftly pulls us back into the messy, sparkling, gin-soaked life that led her straight to that altar.
So, settle in, grab a cuppa or perhaps something stronger, and let’s begin.
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It begins with a bride. Hannah stands at the threshold of forever, her fingers wrapped tightly around her father’s arm, knuckles pale as moonlight. Her brand-new shoes pinch. Her shoulders are squared, her spine straight, her other hand gripping a small bouquet of hydrangeas and asters. She is swaying, but it is not because of those unfamiliar heels. It is because of the enormity of the moment.
But her dad notices.
“You don’t have to go through with this, you know, Hannah darling. We can call the whole thing off now,” he murmurs, gentle as a lullaby. “I can even tell him for you.”
Hannah’s reply is hollow, echoing even to her own ears. “Don’t be silly, Dad. This is everything I said I wanted.” She forces the words out again, as if repetition can forge truth. “It is everything I want. Truly, I can’t wait to walk down the aisle and begin the rest of my life with this man.”
Her father loosens her death-grip on his arm, patting her hand. He chuckles, remembering the stubborn little girl she used to be. “You always were a determined young thing… But remember, you aren’t alone on this journey. Whenever things get hard – and believe me, things will get hard – your family will be here to love and support you.”
Before the moment can grow heavy, a small, piping voice cuts in. Hannah’s little half-sister — all tulle and mischief — interrupts their tender exchange. She has been choreographing some wild, imaginary dance a few feet away, and now she brandishes a glitter-drooping flower girl wand. “And Mummy said I look like a princess today, so I shall wave my magic wand and cast a spell to make everything all right!”
And just like that, the tiny room’s tension collapses into laughter. A sparkling tissue of glitter is transferred from her wand to her father’s cheek. Hannah reaches up and plucks it free with a smile. “Ready?” her dad asks. She nods. Ready.
The doors open. The assembly swivels, rows of smiling faces watching the little procession. But Hannah has eyes for no one except the man waiting at the altar. He turns slowly. Their gazes meet. And for the very first time, Hannah lays eyes on the man she is about to marry.
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But hold your horses, dear listeners. Because we are only beginning.
In a flash, the scene tumbles backwards through the calendar, landing eight months earlier — a drizzly January evening in Manchester. And here we discover that our bride-to-be, Hannah, was not always standing at an altar. She was, instead, perched on a sofa, halfway through a bottle of ludicrously expensive, “small-batch, artisan gin, distilled three times a year when Mercury is in retrograde” at seven PM, drinking from a tumbler the size of a fishbowl.
This is the paradise of best friendship. Hannah and Jess, chalk and cheese in every possible way — the flighty, restless wanderer and the steady, dependable businesswoman — are deep in the throes of a Friday-night debrief. They toast to Jess’s friend Andy and his fiancée Pippa, who have just got engaged after meeting through Save The Date, the dating app Jess founded. This, of course, is Jess’s finest pride and joy. And it also happens to be Hannah’s current job.
“On that subject,” Jess says, lifting her glass for a refill, “you need to do your bartender bit again. And I’ve just remembered I have a packet of cheese and onion McCoys in my bag, which will go perfectly with a big G and small T.”
They sip, they crunch, and then Jess pounces with the curiosity of a true best friend. “So… how did your second date go the other night?”
Thus unfolds the rollicking, gloriously catastrophic tale of Barry. He appeared, in his dating profile, to be normal. Pictures fairly ordinary. He hadn’t yet confessed an ambition to marry a woman aged sixteen to twenty-one. But the mask had slipped on the second date. For Barry, age thirty-nine, still lives at home. His bedroom is a shrine to *The Avengers* — complete with an Incredible Hulk duvet set and matching curtains, we must not forget. His all-time favourite character is Captain America, despite — as Hannah rightly insists — everyone knowing he is the shittest of all the Avengers. And when his profile claimed “video games developer,” it actually meant he plays *Call of Duty* all day, hoping Sony will one day notice his genius. Also, his name is Barry.
Jess can barely hold in her laugh. “You can’t write someone off because they have bad taste in comic-book characters!”
“Did you miss the bit where he lives with his mum?” Hannah deadpans. “Or the duvet set?”
They clink glasses, giggling. Then Hannah drifts into a playful daydream: “I keep hoping the whole point of working for your dating app is that I find love and live happily ever after running an Insta-perfect beach bar in Colombia with my gorgeous husband.”
“You’re not the greatest advert for Save The Date,” Jess teases, earning an indignant squeak, “though finding the man of your dreams isn’t the only reason you work here, surely?”
Hannah laughs. “Getting paid to spend eight hours a day with my best mate drinking gin?”
But beneath the banter, a ripple of something serious surfaces. Jess hesitates, then admits, “The bank called me when you were at lunch. They asked me to come in to discuss the business. But I’m sure it’s all fine.” She says this in her most smart, capable businesswoman voice, but it struggles to land.
Hannah narrows her eyes, concerned. She knows her friend. She knows the sleepless nights, the endless hours spent growing Save The Date from a kitchen-table idea into a bona fide business that helps people find true love — real, marriage-minded love, not just hook-ups. Jess’s USP is still something no other app has replicated. Hannah offers gentle reassurance, wrapping her confidence around her friend like a favourite blanket. “Whatever it is, it’s just a blip.”
Jess’s shoulders soften. She glances outside at the grey Manchester sky and stands up, ready to return to the chaos spreading throughout the rest of the house — the sound of wailing Lily, laughing Sam, and shouting Tom. Tom. Her husband. Eighteen years since they first snogged at fifteen, still kissing now — although, she privately admits, there is quite a lot less lip action of any kind nowadays. Nonetheless, before retreating to her second job of wrangling twins, she gives Hannah a reminder: no more working in crappy bars in far-flung countries. And she has a wisecrack about Hannah’s brother Scott’s “Sir Chubby Chops” baby Leo.
But it is as Jess turns and waves from the doorway that the deeper soul of this story begins to reveal itself. Hannah has spent years of her life roaming the globe: Italy, Peru, Australia, Argentina — a pinball of bartending jobs and lock-ins and lonely nights. But when her brother Scott got married and little Leo was born, she realised she’d had enough of running. Enough of waking up hungover, haunted by the urge to make a Maccy D’s run, repeating that cycle until she couldn’t take any more. She wanted roots. She wanted family. She wanted what her brother found.
And so, six months ago, she accepted Jess’s offer to work out of the summerhouse — Save The Date HQ — right at the bottom of Jess’s garden in Manchester. And now she has found herself actually looking forward to staying for the foreseeable future.
Somewhere, deep in her heart, Hannah is starting to believe she deserves her own happily ever after, too.
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So there we are, dear listeners — this is how the story begins: a bride waiting for a man she’s never seen, and a woman trying desperately to settle down after a lifetime of running away. The pieces are all in place: a shaky business, an earnest romantic, a gaggle of comedic dating disasters, and a future that hangs on a single, terrifying decision.
Will Hannah find love through the very app she works for? Will Jess’s troubles with the bank upend everything? And who exactly is this man waiting at the altar?
Well, we’ll just have to keep turning the pages, won’t we?
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### Reader’s Impressions & Star Rating
What a captivating opening chapter! I absolutely adored being dropped straight into a wedding day scene — the mounting curiosity of exactly *who* Hannah is marrying makes the flashback all the more juicy. The friendship between Hannah and Jess is the warm, hilarious heartbeat of this book. They bicker, tease, and pour gin like real besties, and I could picture every second of their chat about Captain America enthusiasts and McCoys crisps. Hannah is a heroine with all the wanderlust and messy optimism of someone about to leap off a cliff — and I’m ready to leap with her.
This chapter left me enchanted, laughing, and aching for more.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ **Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars**
### Next Chapter Prediction
With Jess’s secretive bank meeting looming on Monday, I predict the plot will thicken fast — quite possibly Save The Date is in financial peril, and Hannah may be forced to make a desperate choice. Could our heroine somehow end up as the poster girl for love on the very app that’s at risk of failing? And what of the mysterious groom? We’re clearly being set up for more romantic disasters, deeper friendships, and the beginning of a journey that will test whether you can truly marry at first swipe.
So, my dear listeners, if you’ve enjoyed walking this road with me, don’t wander off too far. We have more chapters to explore, more love to fumble, and more gin to pour.
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