I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had been looking forward to this book ever since I finished DiDomizio’s “The Gay Best Friend” last June. TGBF was one of my top reads from last year, and I still talk about it with anyone who will listen. It’s also one of those books where I felt such a solid connection to the characters that I often wonder how they’re doing and if they’re still together (and if not if maybe Bucky might call me so we can set a date to meet). And then I remember they aren’t real and I return to my ho-hum life. When I finally received an ARC for “Nearlywed,” I had to force myself to set it aside to get through some other ARCS set to release before this one (and it was a struggle, let me tell you!). Did it live up to my expectations? Read on and find out!

This novel is told from the first-person POV of millennial Ray Bruno – a 30-something-year-old man obsessed with love. He loves love so much that he blindly jumped into a relationship in his twenties. As soon as the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, he and his then-boyfriend, Byrd, immediately got married – and then slowly watched their relationship dissolve until they finally admitted they were not a good match and divorced.

Years later, Ray is engaged to Dr. Kip Hayes, a 45-year-old Family Medicine doctor who was also previously married (but to a woman). While Ray has been out and proud since he was young and has blogged and used social media to post about all of his gay escapades online, Kip is new to this scene and lives a more reserved life. The two are madly in love, though, and Ray feels he will finally get the wedding and husband of his dreams. He also gets to finally visit the luxurious Earlymoon Hotel in Ray’s hometown of Seabrook, CT. Ray’s parents stayed at the hotel before their wedding, and Ray has dreamt of the day he could stay at the resort as well. That day has finally come.

But as Kip and Ray embark on their “earlymoon”, their perfect relationship begins to crumble as Ray’s demands of a perfect gay wedding clash with Kip’s desire to stay out of the limelight and keep things low-key. Will the couple work out their extreme personality differences, or will the revelations that come to light during their trip drive them apart, dashing Ray’s hopes of a forever love once again?

From the get-go, Ray and Kip’s dynamic is a comedy of errors waiting to happen. Ray has a penchant for oversharing, and his energy can only be described as chaotic, while Kip is more reserved, prefers to think things through, and, above all else, does all he can to stay out of the spotlight. I will admit that Ray drove me absolutely crazy for a good portion of the book. I am definitely more of a Kip, and I could not, for the life of me, understand how this would work. Since we live in Ray’s head throughout the entire novel, and he frustrated me so much, I found it really difficult to connect with him mainly because I found him selfish and attention-starved. One thing that really bothered me was how insistent he was that he wanted Kip to hold his hand, kiss him in public, and basically shout his love for Ray from the rooftops. This was really a personal issue, primarily due to something I experienced when I was younger.

I was with someone in my early 20s who felt that I needed to be just as “out” as he was, and when he found out that I hadn’t yet told my family, he took it upon himself to do it for me – without even asking me first. This act was one of the biggest betrayals of trust I have ever experienced, and it did not end well for us or my relationship with some of my family members. I still have a little bit of trauma over that.

I’m of the mindset that there’s no one way to be gay – some people are more comfortable living a quiet life without the need for everyone to know, while others are out and proud – and I support both. Ray’s insistence that Kip’s unwillingness to tell people he was his fiance equated to Kip being ashamed of Ray and trying to push him back into the closet REALLY irked me. It was almost as if there was no compromising with Ray, and I got to the point that I hoped Kip would tell him to GTFO and move on. At one point, I got so frustrated with Ray’s selfishness and “poor me” attitude that I considered DNFing the book because it got to be too much. However, I stuck around because I loved TGBF so much and hoped for a wake-up call on Ray’s part. In the end, there was much character growth for both Kip and Ray, and I really enjoyed how it all ended. I may have even teared up a couple of times.

One thing that really made this book shine is DiDomizio’s writing style. He is sharp and witty and has a keen eye for the absurdities of modern relationships. From awkward encounters with other couples at the resort to miscommunications of epic proportions, Ray and Kip find themselves in one outrageous situation after another. As a reader, you can’t help but cringe at their mishaps while cheering them on to overcome their obstacles (even if you might want to smack Ray several times along the way).

In the end, I really enjoyed this one. While I hated Ray for the first 2/3 of the book, he ended up growing on me, and I ended up loving how it all played out. DiDomizio’s clever writing and quirky characters make for a refreshing take on the traditional romantic comedy genre. This is the perfect read for Pride Month. Get your pre-orders in now!