I liked this so much more than I thought I would! Generally speaking, is someone isn't murdered it's not my jam! But I loved this book it was super cute and touching w/out being annoying cloying. I love that he finds that he's not just a token and decides to work on himself and his relationships! I love me book w/a happy ending and this had that times two!

#TheGayBestFriend
#NetGalley

2.5 stars

I was really excited to read The Gay Best Friend, but in the end it didn’t live up to my expectations. My main issue was that I had trouble connecting to or even liking the characters; they came off as selfish and unrealistic. For this reason, I had a really hard time caring or being interested in what happened.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Dreamscape media and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

What is better than your two best friends getting married? Being ‘The Best Man’ at their wedding. However, what started out as an honor, quickly devolves into utter chaos. Will Dom be able to keep both bride and groom happy, or will his divided loyalties be his downfall?

If you are worried that the current writers strike will leave you desperate for entertainment, look no further than, Nicolas DiDomozio’s, The Gay Best Friend. This book is a hot mess. Just when I thought things couldn’t get crazier, they somehow did.

While this book has plenty of drama, it is also has tons of heart. DiDomozio explores complex topics such as friendship and sexuality. Getting to see things from gay man’s perspective opened my eyes to some of the struggles they face.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Sourcebooks Casablanca for allowing me to read and listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

“I’m not just the best friend. I’m the gay best friend. There’s a difference.”

What Worked: The most interesting part of this novel is the situation Domenic has created for himself by being way too good at code-switching - ways in which a member of an underrepresented group (consciously or unconsciously) adjusts their language, syntax, grammatical structure, behavior, and appearance to fit into the dominant culture. He can play the hypermasculine version with he childhood best friend or the ultrafeminine version with his best friend’s fiancé. By being a part of both worlds, he is forming conflicting allegiances and losing the actual Domenic that resides somewhere in the middle. Toss in a few steamy scenes with a pro-golfer and some wacky party hijinks, and you’ve got yourself a fun read.

What Didn’t: It’s no one's fault, but the narrator is the same voice actor who did the three audiobooks I’ve listened to by T.J. Klune, and some of those voices were a bit too close to loveable green monsters or brave roombas. It was hard to separate my previous experiences for this new novel and characters. During the majority of the book, a lot of characters were making mistakes and poor choices, so it was hard for me to pick a side or feel sorry for anyone, but it did all get wrapped up nicely in the end. Finally, I’m not sure I would have forgiven Bucky. (I’ll stay vague for fear of spoilers.)

All in all, a decent audiobook to listen to in its entirety during my drive from Milwaukee to Detroit.

Rating: Liked It

Rounding up to 4 stars. I went in with mixed expectations based on other reviews and this ended up being a great, quick, light read. The cast of characters is a group of flawed, messy, emotionally immature people, behaving in a very messy way. But somehow, (maybe sadly), not unrealistically so. This book is really about friendships and how complicated they can be. And honestly, I think a lot of Dom's problems can be traced back to his seemingly complete lack of queer community and while some of the antics are obviously for the comedy, somehow I could see how things could actually shake out this way - which made it funnier (and sadder?) I definitely laughed out loud a few times. There were maybe a few too many pop culture references but I knew them all so that was totally fine. The narration was well done but maybe I should not have listened to this almost back-to-back with In The Lives of Puppets, performed by the same narrator, because I definitely got some weird flashbacks to robots lol. Also content warning for so much drinking.

Overall this was a fun and easy read and I'm happy I listened to it.

Dom is stuck between his two soon-to-be-wed best friends and while this book was fun and drama filled, I also felt bad for him being placed in that awkward position. There is a romantic subplot for Dom in this one but I didn't feel like this was the main focus of the story. I feel like the focus was mainly the dynamics of his friendship with his two best friends, it was rocky for a bit but ultimately nice to see how the conflict resolved. I do have to say that while I'm happy Dom found love, it was a bit cringe because he basically outed this other character without his consent.

I went back and forth between the audio and ebook for this one and I enjoyed the narration - Dom's character was very well done.

Content warnings: Homophobia, outing, toxic friendship, infidelity, sexual content, gaslighting.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Dreamscape media and NetGalley for the ARC for review. All opinions are my own.

“𝑰’𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”

When my friend Cam (@CameronsBookShelf) brought this book to my attention, I knew I had to read it - the title alone spoke to me!

I absolutely fell in love with the world that Nicolas DiDomizio created: a hilarious and heartfelt look at lifelong friendships and new beginnings. I listened to this on audiobook and thought that DiDomizio’s writing was addicting, with short quick chapters that made me desperately want to keep listening. Daniel Henning is an enthralling narrator; I especially love his slightly deeper tone for Patrick and the way he switched up Dom’s voice slightly, pending on who he was hanging out with. It’s easy to relate to Dom and the way he “code switches” between his straight best friend Patrick and his straight best girlfriend Kate; who hasn’t tried to fit in with the people they adore? The narration feels like Dom is telling a story to a friend, and there were many moments that had me laughing out loud (hello towel dropping scene!). I feel like Dom is much like me - a driven worrier who wants to be loved by all he meets, who is desperate for resolution, but above all is a loyal friend. I loved the steam between Dom and Bucky and their complicated romance, but I especially adored the focus on Dom’s friendship with Patrick, as they learn to navigate between their lifelong childhood friendship to their adult friendship. When the main conflict arises, do things work out a little easily between Kate, Dom and Patrick? Sure, but I think it also highlights the power of strong friendship with people who feel like family.

The Gay Best Friend is a story of friendship, loyalty, celebration, secrets, learning to love yourself, and self-acceptance. It is one that I will definitely be purchasing to re-read again; I can't wait to see what DiDomizio comes up with next. Thank you to Sourcebooks and Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ALC!

This was such a fun listen! I haven't read the physical copy and didn't feel as if I was missing anything by only listening to the audio. The narrator was easy to listen to and did a great job of code-switching throughout.

The story is about Dom, who was recently dumped by his fiancé and now has to spend the summer helping his best friends plan their wedding. He is a very relatable character in the sense that he is super flawed and wants to try his best but then also just doesn't really care and it's too much work to change. Sometimes he would rather just let everything burn around him because its easier and I feel that in my soul.

The story does an excellent job of looking at gender roles and queer expectations and white privilege.

This was the perfect vacation read/listen. Much summer vibes.

I liked this story. It reminded me of an Emily Henry book....but gay. It was a great read and I would like to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance audiobook of this title in exchange for an honest review.
June is Pride month and weddings, and this was a perfect book for both of those themes. The characters were generally quite amusing—sometimes cartoonish, but sometimes evoking real emotion. The basic plot: the main character has just broken up with his fiancé, and his two best friends are scheduled to be married in a few months. Meanwhile, their bachelor and bachelorette outings are scheduled over the next couple of months, and he is to attend both of them. First up—bachelor party, and the bride expects him to apprise her of everything that occurs there. I really felt for our protagonist, caught between his two best friends, and the groom-to-be’s gathering is full of his frat brothers who clearly have certain plans and expectations for the gathering. There is, however, one other member of the gathering who does not wish to participate…
As the bachelorette party approaches, rumors fly about what may or may not have occurred at the other party, and our hero finds himself not only caught between his friends but between the other couples also involved with the wedding. What’s a poor gay guy to do? Seek a random hook-up?
Will the bride and groom-to-be survive their parties and make it to the wedding? Will the friendships survive?
As noted, I listened to the audiobook. This may have influenced how I felt about some of the characters. Personal bias: I tend to feel that women narrators do male voices better than vice versa. This book did not change my mind. I felt that some female characters came off more whiny than was strictly necessary, while others sounded like drag queens. Most of the men were fine, but it seemed as though the effort to make all of the frat brothers sound different resulted in some of them coming off as rather cartoonish. That being said, I still think it was an excellent book to listen to while driving around this month, and while I won’t say that everyone lived happily ever after, I did appreciate the ending.

Not a bad book, but definitely not my favourite. For whatever reason it just fell a little flat for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Strong Enough - Cher (felt like this book deserved some Cher)

💭What I thought would happen:

A best friend that is gay…while the title is simple, the content is exceptional 🤌🏽

📖What actually happens:

Domenic frequently gets used as a pawn between his two best friends who just happen to be getting married. The groom has been his best mate since childhood and the bride is his cocktails and Sex and the City watching partner in crime.

When Dom is away for the bachelor party the bride demands to be informed on everything, no secrets while the men attending are asking for discretion. The shocker of all…one of the bachelors is very not straight, a high profile professional golfer and exceptionally fit…

🗯Thoughts:

This book isn’t getting enough hype! I nearly 5 ⭐️ it. I have no critiques! I just only give 5s when a book lives rent free in my head forever and always. This was close.

This book had drama, sass and deception >> my 3 main characteristics 😂⚰️ I cannot stress how great of a summer read this book is! Please pick it up.

The golf love interest had me relating hard as I also have a pro golfer as a partner..,I absolutely detest golf yet know everything about it. Do you know who won the US Open? I sure as hell do involuntarily.

Domenic Marino has been code switching his whole life - oscillating between hypermasculine and hyperfeminine to fit in with his friends that are engaged to each other. Well, after his ex-fiancé called off their almost wedding, Dom is left reeling and doesn’t know how’s he’ll play both sides of his friendships and get through both the bachelor and bachelorette parties. On top of all that, one of the groom’s old frat brothers shows up at the bachelor party - he’s a pro golfer, who is handsome, charming, and maybe into Dom?!

**Screeches in gay over how good this book is!**

I cannot shout my praises for this book enough! Smart, funny, and so very poignant…everyone should pick this up! It’s a summer/beach read with all the outlandish hilariousness, but it’s honesty will surely leave a last impression on everyone who reads it.

For those of you who don’t know, code switching is the act of alternating between more than one set or variety of languages. Marginalized communities do this often as a way of fitting in and protection. I do this all the time, so I can fit in with different groups, be “professional,” and stay safe. Often times, it feels like second nature, but I always feel the weight of it. This book captures the inner turmoil surrounding code switching and confronts it head on deftly. On top of all that, the romance was intense and sexy…if anything, I would have loved even more intimate moments between Dom and Bucky.

Domenic’s two best friends are getting married to each other. As his own love life is falling apart, he has to spend the summer celebrating his friends and their love: first at the groom’s bachelor party, then at the bride’s bachelorette party, and then finally at the actual wedding. He finds himself in the middle of the couple and to make it even more interesting, he has a bit of a romantic run in with Bucky, one of the groomsmen and a PGA golf superstar.

This book is full of so much heart and left me feeling so joyful. This book had everything I love in a rom com - a real, chaotic and slightly messy main character, laugh out loud moments, sweet, tender, emotional moments, and an incredible cast of side characters. This book captured my heart from the very first page.

Daniel Henning did a fantastic job narrating the audiobook and bringing Domenic to life.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the advance copies.

Mileage may vary here. It really depends on what you are in the mood for. If you want a messy, drama filled summer beach read then this is perfect. There is sooo much mess and sooo much drama. It made me a little anxious to be honest. If you are looking for a queer romance to make you swoon, I would look elsewhere or at least go in with lowered expectations.

Don't get me wrong, Dom does find love, but is a secondary plot line, and honestly, the romance failed to make me swoon until the last 20 pages. I think I would have preferred a more romance focused plot because Dom's friends are terrible people and Dom is a doormat. Dom spends nearly every page of this book being walked all over. I wanted to feel bad for him but it was hard. I screamed for him to grow a spine and stand up for himself. Dom is not perfect either. He manages to out someone, which is never something I want to see in a book.

This is a very fast read, and a few characters you meet at the bachelor party stole the show.

I listened to the audiobook and it was good.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you like to read about wedding parties gone wrong, this is the book for you. More specifically, a disaster of a bachelor party and bachelorette party, both attended by the gay best friend who is close to both the bride and the groom. The bride wants Dom to spy for her, the groom wants him to lie to her. It's a mess! I felt for poor Dom, caught in the middle of his best friends' relationship drama.

Kitty the stripper was one of my favorite side characters.

Kate and Patrick did grow a lot through the book, and I appreciated how realistic this three-way friendship was, but also that they were willing to grow and change.

Honestly, I wasn't all that interested in the romance. I don't think the narrator did Bucky's voice justice (well, he did make him sound like a "Bucky")--the voice he put on for Bucky was nasally and just not hot. The rest of the narration was great, but he made Bucky sound like a caricature of a southern redneck when he was meant to be a hot pro golfer! Narration aside, Bucky and Dom were not meant to be. Dom was Bucky's dirty little secret, but he also repeatedly outed Bucky. I wasn't feeling the relationship at all.

Luckily, there was a lot to love besides the relationship. I enjoyed the friendship side of the book quite a bit, and will certainly look forward to more from this author.

I feel like I shouldn't be surprised that I enjoy this one because I really did enjoy the authors other book burn It All down, but this one took a little bit longer for me to warm up to but I ended up really really enjoying it.

This one has the same humor as burn It All down and also some of those like almost cringe-worthy moments that feels so realistic and add a lot of layers to the story. It's going to be easy for people to write this one off if they only get a third of the way through but the story's a lot more nuanced than I was prepared for it to be.

It is the story of Dom who is a 30-year-old gay man who has just been dumped by his fiance and had to call off his wedding but his best friends are getting married and he's supposed to be the best man and he finds himself pulled between his two friends. Dom uses a lot of code switching between masculine and feminine depending on which of his friends he's with and struggles with how to be friends with them both while also not sacrificing his own personality and enjoyment. Both of his friends, Kate and Patrick, are very different and very straight and I think that there are some great conversations about what It actually means to tokenize gay people and just the entire idea of the gay best friend. I was really pleasantly surprised with how much depth there was to not only the story itself but all of the characters within as well. There aren't good or bad characters and everyone is flawed and everyone has positive attributes. (Mostly, there might be one or two that I could classify as assholes)

This book was okay. I didn't particularly enjoy it, as I just didn't like the MC, Dominic.

I feel like I could see what this book was trying to do, but it just didn't quite do it. I didn't like any of the characters in the book, they were all obnoxious. Plus, all the very heteronormative stuff around the wedding and bachelor/bachelorette parties was quite ew, for me at least. Maybe the reason I didn't like this book is more of a me problem than a book problem?

There were a lot of things in this book that were kind of brought up and never dealt with. For example, Dom thinks about why he acts different when he's with different friends; like a bro-dude when he's with his male friends, and more camp and effeminate when he's with his female friends, and he's never able to be himself with either of his friends. But then this never goes anywhere.

TBH, I originally wasn't going to request this book, because I thought it might not be for me, and I think I should have stuck with my gut on this one.

A delightful and hilarious read that was also very touching and emotional. I laughed out loud and teared up a little too. I felt the struggle of a character caught between two different worlds and two different friends. I genuinely enjoyed every single minute of this story.

Dominic is best friends with Patrick and Kate, and is best man for their upcoming wedding. Thus, he is participating in both of the traditions of the Bachelor and Bachelorette weekends.
Dom's own engagement was recently called off, and at the guys event he is reacquainted with friend-of-a-friend, pro golf star Bucky Graham.
Seems Bucky's straight man persona is for show, and sparks between he and Dom become apparent.