I did not like this book. The characters are just not great. I thought the narrator did a good job but I was irritated throughout my whole listen.

DNFed - I chose to DNF this book in the past. I am typing as a review so it doesn’t harm my %. I haven’t chose to pick the title back up.

literally everyone is a red flag

and i’m going to tear it down bit by bit

our mc domenic:
- he’s a disaster like luc from boyfriend material except he has zero redemption and not cutesy disaster but stupid disaster
- he needs to Shut His Mouth sometimes
- he’s all around a bad friend, like what do you mean you ruin every relationship around you while you’re drunk and expect THEM to apologise first???
- HE WENT TO SLEEP WITH STRANGERS IN BOTH BACHELOR/ETTE PARTIES?? and got mad at them instead when they weren’t happy about it??
- YOU OUT SOMEONE??? but also the definition someone making their personality their sexuality?? like maybe your lack of friends isn’t the fact you’re gay, but the fact you suck???
- has no backbone & questionable morals like JUST COMMUNICATE like a normal person instead of LYING

our barely there love interest bucky
- he failed a drug test & wanted people to lie for him about it??
- sleep with someone and then act like a d*** about it after
- has -1 personality

patrick
- just *slightly* a cheater
- asks his friends to lie for him?? to his fiancée??

the other dude i can’t remember
- cheater
- also homophobic

kate
- probably the only green flag in this whole book but gets so mistreated by everyone else
- i feel so bad for her

overall this book was quirky to start with, but the more i read the worse it got and it really got me in the worst book slump i had all year trying to finish this

dom is truly an insufferable mc and his thoughts make me so mad i want to knock some sense into him so so badly

I have mixed feelings about this one. Dominic, best friends with both Patrick and his fiancée Kate, gets caught in the middle of their trust issues at Patrick’s bachelor party, creating a stressful and impossible situation for him. While grieving his breakup, dealing with a draining job, and navigating a new, secretive romance, Dom faces tough challenges, including accidentally outing his closeted love interest twice. The characters are messy and in need of therapy, but I appreciated Dom's journey to find his own identity beyond just being the "gay best friend."

3 stars for the book, and 3.5 stars for the audiobook, thanks to Daniel Henning’s excellent narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the E-ARC.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media and the author for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The book follows the story of Dom, who is the token gay bestie whose best friends are getting married to each other. Dom is now stuck in their pre-marital drama, stress and pressures and forced to but not wanting to take sides. All this while he is dealing with own dramatic mess of a life after getting dumped by his fiancé, now you can yourself imagine the drama.

The Gay best friend was kind of like reading a combination of the Charm offensive mixed with bits of RWRB and sprinkle some Date me, Bryson Keller. Heartwarming, humorous, deep yet messy and dramatic, we get a rollercoaster of falling in love, coming out, societal pressures, friendship, chosen family, and a lot more but all handled with sensitivity which makes the story far beyond just representation.

TW: Infidelity, Homophobia

The characters in this book are difficult to like. Dom is secondary to everyone else's story, and he seems to be ok with that. I don't want to spoil the end, but is it supposed to be happy? It's unfortunate.

Also, minor issue that I noticed throughout: the action is called "toasting", not "cheersing".

Audiobook narrator does a wonderful job at embodying each character.

Duplicate review due to approval for audiobook and eARC

I loved the premise of the book. Representation is always important and I loved the bickering tension that oozed from the pages. I listed to it in audio format and found the narrators voice to be unenjoyable, so that definitely led into some irritation that impacted the story, so I recommend the written format instead.

I wanted to love this one, but I didn't. I tried it via audiobook and e-book and couldn't stick with it. My biggest complaint has to do with the writing quality. I found it irritating to listen to, it just felt like the characters voice, word-choice, and mannerism were too young. I struggled with the same issue when I read the book. I couldn't handle the whiny teenage voice that seemed to drip off the page. Unfortunately, this was a big miss for me.

Really enjoyed this story. So much fun with this one and thank you for this audiobook. Listening to it made it even more brilliant.

This was a lot of fun and just what I was in the mood for. I was able to listen to it all in one go while I worked

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I knew from the title this would be a great read, and it lived up to my expectations! Loveable characters, fantastic plot, and unique.

I really loved this one. there were some parts that lost me but I enjoyed it none the less. I recommend if you like the synopsis.

This was just the summer read I was looking for. It had fun banter, wedding chaos, and emotional depth not always seen in wedding romcoms. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I adored 'The Gay Best Friend,' which brilliantly combines elements of 'The Charm Offensive,' and 'Red White and Royal Blue.' The story revolves around Dom, a recently single, anxious gay man entangled between his hypermasculine best friend, Patrick, and ultrafeminine fiancé, Kate.

This book is heartwarming, witty, and thought-provoking. It deftly mixes humour and profound conversations, especially between Dom and Bucky. Dom's journey to self-acceptance and self-love is beautifully portrayed. The portrayal of LGBTQ+ friendships, anxiety, and overthinking is authentic and relatable.

The romance is spectacular, offering a rollercoaster of emotions. In my view, this book surpasses even favourites like 'Red White and Royal Blue.' It tackles numerous themes with sensitivity and thoughtfulness. Highly recommended, and kudos to Nicolas DiDomizio for this impactful read.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
My Rating: 3.75 stars

Such a fun and sweet romance!!! With excellent conversations surrounding topics like tokenism and microaggressions. Definitely a perfect summer light read. Perfect for fans of Red White and Royal Blue, Charm Offensive, and Alexis Hall contemporary romances.

This was a sweet contemporary fiction, with a hint of romance. Dom has always been the token gay best friend. His two besties are getting married and he finds himself in the middle of their premarital issues, feeling forced to pick one side or the other. He has the task of attending both the bachelor and bachelorette parties, trying his best to keep all the secrets from each. At the bachelor party, a new love interest for Dom peaks, from someone who is least suspected.

All of the characters had great development from beginning to end. For Dom, he finds himself. He realizes that he needs to stop trying to be who everyone wants him to be, he only needs to be himself. The side characters also had great development.

The plot was fairly entertaining, I enjoyed the friendship and relationship drama. The plot made this one a fun, quick listen.

My one complaint is on the audio side alone. I hated how the narrator attempted to make his voice sound uber manly to fit the voice of Bucky. I get it, he’s a manly guy. However, it was a far-fetched and awful attempt to voice masculinity😂 Every time “Bucky” spoke, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

This was a fun contemporary about the trials and tribulations of adult friendships and romance. Dominic is stuck between the bride and groom, constantly code switching as he moves between their friendship groups and having to play a different role for each side of the wedding party.

This was very much a book about "messy" friendships and at times it was entertaining, but during some scenes, it was just too chaotic. I liked the discussions around what it meant to be the one queer friend among two groups of straight people, but I found most of the secondary characters entitled and unlikable. I also didn't find the romance between Dominic and Bucky particularly believable. Bucky was so entrenched in heteronormative culture and still had a long way to go with dismantling his internalised homophobia, that I just found it hard to believe that he and Dom would have been happy.

I could not get into this one! Usually I’m able to find at least one thing I love in a story but I just really hated the characters and I couldn’t root for them at all.

This is a cute and queer romcom! There was a lot more telling than showing and it felt a little YA at times, but I enjoyed the story and characters. This was fun to tandem read with the ARC I won from Goodreads and audio from NetGalley (even if I cringed at the voice for Bucky because that is so not my type of voice 😂 but the narrator was excellent)! Overall, I would recommend this read. Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC!

This was such a surprise - in a good way. I thought it would be mostly a romance, but it deals more with friendships.

This book is messy, but I still rooted for our MC.

I will say that I did not like the narrator because I've only listened to him on TJ Klune books which are quicky-non-human characters. He didn't translate well to multiple human voices.