Dragged to the Wedding by Andrew Grey
The Wedding Date meets The Birdcage in this laugh-out-loud gay romantic comedy from Andrew Grey
He’s here to slay…but will he stay?
James Petika is living the single gay life he always wanted. A police officer in Chicago, he has a good job, good friends—and he’s two thousand miles away from his family’s expectations. He also has a problem: he needs a date for his sister’s wedding in Missoula, Montana, but his family has no idea that he’s gay, and he’d like to keep it that way.
The solution? Daniel Bonafonte aka Lala Traviata, the queen of the Chicago drag scene. Lala is the real thing: she can sing, she can dance—and she can throw more shade than a solar eclipse. One drink and plenty of dishing later, Daniel agrees to help James out and be his incognito date to the wedding.
Daniel’s drag-diva skills are put to the test right away, with the bride’s ill-fitting wedding dress, a groom who’s a danger on the dance floor and more drama than auditions for a gay men’s chorus. Faking this relationship—and ignoring the very real feelings developing between them—might just be the performance of their lives.
Review:
I received an advance copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The minute I read the synopsis of this book on NetGalley, I had to request it. In a time when Drag Queens are villainized and the entire LGBTQIA+ community is continuously threatened, showing support and lifting up my community is as important as ever – and lord knows I love me some drag queens. In a nutshell, the story was cute, but overall, it felt a little familiar, and at times, I wondered who the book was written for.
The story revolves around James Petika, a police officer in Chicago who finds himself in need of a date for his sister’s upcoming wedding. Desperate to keep his sexuality a secret from his conservative Montana family, James enlists the help of Daniel Bonafonte, also known as Lala Traviata, a local drag queen. Daniel poses as Daniella – James’ new girlfriend. “Daniella” is easily accepted into the family – no one suspects a thing – and manages to put out several fires that could easily bring the wedding to a screeching halt. As time goes on (and as one would expect) the more time James and Daniel spend together, the more real their feelings become for each other. The premise of the plot holds promise, but for me, the execution and overall story fell a little flat, mainly because there really weren’t any surprises.
The characters all seem pretty cookie-cutter. James is the gay, butch police officer who – before Daniel – would never have found himself attracted to a drag queen. There wasn’t a whole lot of depth to him.
Daniel, while enjoyable, eventually fell into the “I can fix everything” mold. While cute, it became repetitive. Is it really possible for one person to be so perfect and have a solution for everything? Again – I wanted some more depth here.
The other characters were also pretty basic and, dare I say, a little cliche, from James’ overbearing mother to the clueless, small-town members of the community. Even the villain felt very familiar and didn’t really bring anything new to the table. Everyone just felt a little stale.
The book also left me wondering who it was written for. There were sections where it felt like the reader was being taught about drag queens and/or the gay community. This might be beneficial to some, but for me, it felt unnecessary and took away from the overall story.
The romantic aspect of the book was fine, but didn’t have me swooning, or worried that our couple might not end up together. Again, it was all pretty par for the course.
Despite these shortcomings, there are moments in Dragged to the Wedding that manage to entertain. There are several scenes that provide some lighthearted amusement. The comical situations the characters find themselves in during the wedding preparation offer brief moments of enjoyment.
I in no way mean to imply that this is a bad book; it just felt – to me – to be a little too on the nose. As I mentioned earlier, there were no real surprises. I felt like I’d met these characters before and knew exactly where the story was going. That said, if you’re a fan of a by-the-book rom-com, then I would certainly recommend this one.
