After reading a few duds lately, I was in the mood for a pick-me-up, and this book did the trick! Fans of Steven Rowley, Carly Fortune, Emily Henry, and other similar authors will definitely enjoy this heartwarming love story.

I loved this contemporary romance novel about a gay couple who take a pre-wedding summer vacation to an idyllic New England seaside resort. Of course, spending a full week together forces these workaholics, Ray (a writer) and Kip (a doctor), to confront many of the issues in their relationship they had swept under the rug. Ray is a hopeless romantic millennial, while Kip is a previously-closeted Gen-Xer. These differences, combined with a series of mishaps, lead Ray and Kip to question the age-old adage of whether love really can conquer all.

This book is a great choice if you're in the mood for:
*LGBTQ rep
*Second chance romance
*Witty banter
*Small (coastal) town
* Vacation/beach read

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this book in exchange for my review!

This book is for anyone who grew up daydreaming about their future wedding. Readers get to watch a wedding-lover dream, and plan, and stress about his big day. I loved the love story in this book, but the miscommunication was so well written that I was pulling out my hair. If you want to see some very real conversations and struggles in a relationship, this one is for you.

This book is definitely a perfect beach read! I absolutely loved the author’s writing style and the flow of this book. The characters were great and were really fun to read about. There were times I was stressed out reading this (in the best way because I was definitely involved enough to care and get stressed, lol) due to the character’s communication, but absolutely loved it! You need to read this one!

Oh how I adored this book, from the very first page I couldn’t stop reading it. I love the tone, the pacing, I love Kip’s voice, the lobsters.

I felt frustrated with both Ray & Kip at different times in the book, but only because I was rooting for them to be happy together so hard. It was my first book by this author and now I need to read everything in his backlist.

I was given an ARC copy of this book and my opinions are my own.

I like the premise here, but the fact that this book hinges on communication issues between people about to get married lost me. I know it’s realistic, but it wasn’t really what I was expecting.

You know when you start reading a book and you just know by the writing style that it’s going to be amazing? Well this book was exactly like that.
This was my first book of Nicolas DiDomizio that I have read however after reading this I will definitely check out some of their other books too!
Nearlywed follows Ray and Bruno, who are complete opposites. They are about to get married but decide to take an early honeymoon at the Earlymoon hotel, a place in which Ray has wanted to go to for years. However once they arrive, both realise that they might have to face their differences for this marriage to really work.
I loved this book. I thought that the characters were written incredibly well and were explored nicely. I love how the author explored two complete opposite views, for example, whilst Ray is completely content with his sexuality being shown to everyone else, Bruno instead doesn’t feel that the whole world should need to know.
The other side characters were also very enjoyable to read about and whilst a lot of the situations made me frustrated I still felt it was important to show different sides to couples and how no one relationship is the same.
Overall it was an interesting and fun read that had me full engaged throughout.

Thank you to both Sourcebook CASABLANCA and NetGalley for sending me this ARC, it was very enjoyable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Nearlywed by Nicolas DiDomizio was truly the right book at the right moment.

Ray and Kip are about to get married. Ray is a Millennial writer who was used to sharing every single part of his life on the internet, while Kip is a GenX doctor who values his privacy above everything else. When Ray convinces Kip to take a romantic getaway before the wedding at the Earlymoon Hotel, the two will soon realize their marriage may be over even before it begins. And now the question is, will they manage to walk to the altar in two months?

I felt so connected with the character that at some point it was scary. I felt so much for Ray, and like him sometimes I couldn't understand Kip's choices.
But in the end, no one is perfect, and when we care enough about the other person the best thing that can be done is to improve together and communicate.

For the communication aspect, I was to spend a couple more thoughts with you. I read some reviews talking about the miscommunication trope, but here this statement it's so far off that I wonder if these people have actually read the book.
Ray and Kip had indeed a communication problem, but this wasn't due to the fact they weren't speaking to each other or omitting information, but because of internal fears that were clouding their judgments and didn't let them hear or see anything differently than what they had in mind.
It took a lot of work throughout the book, it took being faced by third-party characters and directly clashing with their fears to actually let them open their eyes.

So to round up why I liked this book I can say this:
1. Witty and entertaining writing
2. Relatable characters
3. Creative setting

Also here are some reasons why I sometimes felt like one of the characters in it:
1. I have a Xena tattoo
2. I am allergic to bees
3. I have a fairytale marriage vision due to my parents
4. I love rock music but also anything celeb gossip

Finally, thanks to Sourcebook CASABLANCA and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC, I loved it.

Nearlywed is out May 24th! Put it on your calendar because it is worth it 🥰

4.25

Setting: Connecticut
Rep: gay protagonist and gay love interest

I really enjoyed this take on a romance - where the characters are six years into a relationship but they're still learning a lot about themselves and each other. There were a lot of big conversations and introspection that needed to happen with these two, who at times I thought were doomed as a couple, but I enjoyed how this story played out and how both characters grew over the duration of their earlymoon.

The perfect summer read, Nearlywed is a thought provoking piece about two men who come from different lives, and different generations. With a 10 year age gap between them, Ray comes from millennials who love to share their lives online, and Kip from Gen X who are decidedly more private. They go on a vacation planned by Ray, a hopeless romantic who wants a big grand gay wedding, and there they discover that they might have too many differences between them to really work. I loved how you were forced to understand the nuances between both generations. As a queer man myself, I can understand where both of them are coming from. Kip wants his life to stay private, in that the whole world doesn't know he's gay. He doesn't think the whole world cares and therefore doesn't need to know. I get that. He's right. I do think it's okay to not want every single person on earth to know you're gay. But I also am a bit more reserved. Ray comes from a family that, to his knowledge, loved love. But he quickly learns that his parents love may not have been a true as he thought as a child. It doesn't stop him from wanting to be out and proud, something that there's also no fault in wanting to be. I do think I'd absolutely draw the line at making a New York Times post about it in the paper; A wedding is joyous but you don't see other couples putting their wedding in papers these days, unless they're famous, so why does this one random couple need the publicity? But at the same time, I see where Ray is coming from in thinking that Kip wants to hide Ray and their relationship. Kip does sort of act in a way as if he's ashamed of them at times, and at others, he's absolutely right in his keeping their relationship to himself, but there is a difference between keeping it private and erasing your relationship altogether, something I think Kip is guilty of a lot in this book. I will admit, I came this close to DNFing at around 20%, but I read some non-spoilery reviews to see if others agreed, and a lot of them agreed that while Kip and Ray were messy, that they really did belong together in the end, and so I pushed forward, and I think I found one of my favorite books so far this year as a result.

5/5

Started on 26/04/24
Finished 06/05/24

ARC provided by Netgalley.

Tobstart my review I really loved the writting, the flashback and everything let us see the growth in the character and I really appreciate it.
I am so thankful for the mid thirties and forties gay modern day representations !!!!!
I really like the fact that it's pretry much a normal love story with someone with high standards in terms of romance. You can identify to side of the spectrum and that's really interesting to see. I relate so much to Kip and at the same time I just the hopeless romantic that Ray is.
I had such a great time and it was a one time read in the end.

This was a different kind of rom com in the sense that the main couple was together from the start. That was refreshing in a way but also frustrating. I always find it annoying when a story focuses on miscommunication and occasionally makes me wonder if the couple should really be together.

That said, this was an enjoyable story. I liked all the characters and felt the happy ending was earned. The Lilith Fair references were a fun quirk. The ending left me smiling, even if the road to get there was rough at times.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

At one point I thought I wasn’t going to finish this book. I found myself irritated with one of the main characters and then with *both* of them. But I’m really glad I did. The ending was well-worth the drama that happened. As in all relationships, there were misunderstandings and miscommunications. But in the end there was enough love to work through them, and all of the twists and turns at the Earlymoon Hotel.

LGBTQ+. Cute read for anyone who loves New England and is known to romanticize relationships. The main character works through better understanding himself and other relationships around him through some harsh truths, silly run ins, and introspection.

At first, I was pleasantly surprised at how thoughtful this book was, as I had judged from the title and cover that it might be a fairly shallow read. It looks deeply into insecurities related to coming out, co-dependency, relationship communication, trust and how we are shaped by our pasts. I found it well written and related to the main character in his insecurities with his relationship.

I thought the book would go in a completely different direction, though. I was looking for Ray to realize he had given up so much of himself to be in the relationship, to notice that Kip was emotionally closed off and struggling heavily with internalized homophobia, and that Kip was actually not very nice to him at all. I kept thinking he was going to notice that his fiance kind of sucked and that this relationship was no different from the first marriage he rushed into. I thought throughout the book he would find more complete happiness with someone else who accepted him for who he was. When BJ showed up I thought each of them would realize their second mistake and maybe forge out together - maybe not romantically but united.

I was truly disappointed when he ended up staying with the fiance - and I really thought the rest of the book was not leading to that ending. I'm curious if the author made that choice, or if it was an editorial choice to have a "happy" ending? To me it wasn't a happy ending because Kip clearly did not accept Ray and was not far enough along in his own coming out journey. Or - was it a bit of a meta decision? In that Ray hadn't come far enough in his own journey away from being codependent and reliant on a romance to give him meaning, so they are moving forward as a way to show that neither character really grew through this? It felt forced and rushed. I am usually not one to be mad there was a happy ending, but this ending fell flat.

Overall, I really enjoyed and will read more by this author.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC via NetGalley of Nearlywed in exchange for an honest review. It was absolutely a delight to read this one.

Nicolas DiDomizio finds the perfect blend of summer entertainment, wit and whimsy, and affecting purpose in his third novel, Nearlywed. Nearlywed centers on engaged couple Ray and Kip, who are more different than they are alike–both are divorcees, but Ray is a messy millennial who frequently overshares in his work as a magazine writer, while Kip is a Gen X doctor who prefers to keep his private life private and is still adjusting to his gay identity. As their impending wedding approaches, Ray convinces Kip to take an “earlymoon” at the Earlymoon Hotel in his hometown of Seabrook, Connecticut. Ray is a hopeless romantic who has thought of little else but his perfect wedding since he was a child; Kip isn’t even sure he wants to do a first dance at their wedding with so many people staring at them. Not only does Nearlywed dive into the way different generations interact with their sexual orientation and the world at large, but it reminds us that coming out is never easy, regardless of the circumstances. Coming out is a trojan horse, built on the notion of acceptance from others, but often hindering on acceptance of self.

The Earlymoon Hotel is as idyllic as Ray hopes, yet at almost every turn, seems to put Ray and Kip in a situation where their conflicting ideologies and preferences land them at a stalemate. When one of Kip’s old school friends and his fiancé show up, also on their earlymoon, Kip falls back into old territory, pretending Ray is a golfing buddy and shirking away from putting his relationship on display. As tension builds, the question of whether Ray and Kip will even make it to the big day looms. The earlymoon is meant to signal what is to come–ideally, wedded bliss–yet Ray seems to be signing up for a lifetime of deception.

I’ll be honest. I have endless empathy for someone coming out, especially later in life, and the way they have to relearn and redefine themselves… yet, I found Kip’s behavior inexcusable (and dare I say it triggering) for most of the novel. The central mishap centers on the idea that both Ray and Kip are flawed: that Ray is asking too much of Kip when he shouldn’t need to shout their love from the rooftops to feel secure; that Kip can’t force Ray back into the closet, and ask him to be less himself so he can keep up appearances. While it’s certainly complicated, and laid out in a nuanced, well-handled approach, I was teetering on whether I as the reader wanted Ray and Kip to end up together. Marriage requires sacrifice and compromise, but asking your partner to sacrifice who they are for you isn’t the same ballgame. While it’s important that Ray’s fantasy loses a little of its sheen and that he learns that nothing is perfect, a relationship should make you feel good at the end of the day.

I came around of course. It’s hard not to fall in love with DiDomizio’s writing and characters. What’s perhaps most profound and touching is the reminder that Ray and Kip’s marriage isn’t something to take for granted. While embracing your true, authentic self is at times terrifying and uncertain, many generations before us have fought for what we have now… for the opportunity to love openly, for the right to get married, to celebrate, to even dance in front of other people and be stared at, as if to say us too. We’re here too.

Thank you NetGalley and Nicholas DiDomizio for this ARC!

This is the first book I’ve read by Nicholas, and I really enjoy his writing style. It’s witty and funny, and I find that it’s also done in a very relatable and engaging way.

The entire concept of this book was intriguing to me (and transparently, the idea of an “earlymoon” sounds very enticing), and the fact that Ray is a 30 year old man made me feel very connected to him, and the story being set in the present only increased that connection. When he’d make pop culture references, or even how he’d react to things, I found similarities with myself, my tastes and how I’d react.

Kip was a whole different type of character for me (which is made known right in the description of this book about them being opposites). I found I had a more challenging time connecting with him because I found depending on whether things were at the early stages of their relationship or the present, he was portrayed very differently. Albeit, that is very likely a deliberate writing decision.

There were multiple times I thought the book was going to fall into clichés, but I was surprised (and relieved) when it would take different directions, keeping the story feeling fresh for me.

Two notable mentions I’d like to make: I loved Stef, and would love to hear more about her and Lenny. And I have had “Tougher Than the Rest” by Bruce Springsteen on repeat now.

loved this romance and how the characters were able to figure things out and find their way to love. Loved the friends .

3.75 ⭐️

I requested this arc, because of the cover and the writer. My request got a thumbs up and then I was. Oh dear, do I really want to read a romcom about miscommunication?
I stalled and postponed, but if I make a commitment I’m all in.
I started this book about Ray and Kip with a bit of hesitation, but that flew out of the window in no time. I loved Ray and his outgoing personality, but I loved Kip even more as an introvert myself. Their story is relatable on so many levels. Communication is the key to a successful relationship/marriage which I often forget. Just Like Kip and Ray do.
The story was so funny, the humor on point, but sometimes a bit predictable. That’s why I gave it 3.75 ⭐️.
Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC. This is my honest review.

Ray and Kip, two divorced men who are about to get married, take a pre-wedding honeymoon at a resort that Ray's parents stayed in before their wedding. While there, their insecurities bring out their differences and test their relationship.

I love an opposite-attract story., so this was a great fit for me! The characters are imperfect (frankly messy), but well developed and watching their relationship develop while being tested was really special. Ray was a great narrator and really got me immersed into the relationship in a way that made it feel real. Even though this features some trials and tribulations, it's still a cozy and sweet love story. Can't wait to read more Nicolas DiDomizio

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

NEARLYWED is a story about an engaged couple going on their "earlymoon" — and what happens when their compatibility is put to the test during their vacation. ray bruno, a social media writer, has been obsessed with love for as long as he could remember, and after his first marriage crashed and burned, he was ecstatic to meet kip hayes, a handsome, pragmatic and older doctor who has no social media presence whatsoever. despite all their differences, their relationship seems to work, at least until their week-long stay at a hotel dedicated to earlymoons. one of my favorite tropes is marriage/relationship in trouble, so i absolutely loved this book and seeing ray and kip's story unfold. both of them had a lot of work to do in their relationship, but it pays off in the end with a very satisfying ending that i really enjoyed. thanks to netgalley and sourcebooks casablance for the advanced copy. NEARLYWED comes out may 21st!