This book is a great mix of fun and captivating. This book was funny and also had me not wanting to put it down. I liked the premise and also felt anxious for some moments, second hand anxiety!!

In The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas DiDomizio, there are a couple parties that take place at the most gorgeous beach house in Connecticut and I was drooling over the descriptions. And I’ll be honest, the setting was one of the only parts of the book I really loved. 😅

This one didn’t wow me, but I didn’t hate it either. There was a lot to like - the representation, the friendships, the observations on the way we judge each other and ourselves, and the character arcs of the main players. But a lot of the story felt forced to me, and I had a hard time believing the chemistry between the different couples.

Dom was also a character that came across as pretty self-centered, which didn’t mesh with the overall theme of Dom not paying enough attention to his own life and relationship. He seemed quite aware of his actions and thoughts, so his role within the plot just didn’t line up for me.

This was still a solid 3 stars because the drama and secrets were fun and kept the book fast-paced.

REVIEW: The Gay Best Friend ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“'Son, worryin’ only gives small things big shadows.’ You can’t control what everyone else does out there. So just get out on that course and do your thing.”
― Nicolas Didomizio, The Gay Best Friend

The Gay Best Friend was such a fun book! It really gave me what I wanted and more in a good rom-com.

Dominic’s (Dom) fiance left him two months before their wedding. He doesn’t even have time to process it because his two best friends’ wedding is also coming up. Dom is attending Patrick’s (his childhood best friend) bachelor party as the best man, but will also be attending Kate’s bachelorette party. Dom gets stuck in so much drama and problems between the two of them, plus some sparks are flying between another man and Dom.

Dom is a mess of a character, in the best way, who is trying to please everyone while also healing from his breakup. He gave such a fun voice to the story that I was laughing out loud. Since we see the story through his eyes, it is interesting to see how he changes himself to fit the type of friend he thinks Patrick and Kate need. Dom goes through some great character development throughout discovering more about himself and his friendships. As a whole, all the characters were really what made this story so great. There were also so many crazy situations that Dom finds himself in which always added more laughter and excitement along the way. Even through all the chaos, there are also some very sweet moments between characters. I love all the relationships the characters have.

Overall I really loved The Gay Best Friend. It had so many great elements to make it such a strong story. From friendships, relationships, romance, finding yourself, coming out, being your authentic self, and all the drama this book gives so much to make it a very amusing, sweet, and enjoyable read!

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and Nicolas DIdomizio for the advanced copy for my honest review!

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Funny, cute, and heart warming, this novel will really resonate with people and make them laugh, cry, and love a little harder.

This is a humorous book about a gay guy who ends up at the bachelor party of one of his oldest friends. He’s also close friends with his fiancée, which puts him in the middle between them. Another guy attending is a well known golfer with a host of issues. I loved all the characters, this is an entertaining book, 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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".

Duplicate review due to approval for audiobook and eARC

thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review (i am once again extremely late) but the gay best friend was such a fun book , i mean it deals with adult problems and addresses them accordingly but through it all it maintained light hearted and i’ve enjoyed it to be honest. excited to read more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Sometimes life shows up and your TBR just has to take a backseat. That's what happened to me and The Gay Best Friend was put on the back burner. When I was finally able to get my head above water, I jumped right into this book and I only wish I had done so sooner. It kept me entertained the entire time and made me laugh. When life shows up, that's exactly what books should be able to do and this one did it in spades.

The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas Diomizio lets the reader in on the joke from the title and cleverly plays with the trope from inception. It's a wry play on being asked to be in two weddings and the expectations put on protagonist Domenic Marino in each scenario.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

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.

I don’t know what took me so long to read this book, but I loved it. I just wanted to give Dom a hug the entire time and was rooting for him. I loved his character, not so much some of the others, but they all added to the story.

This was cute! I had higher hopes for the romance plot, but still had fun. Looking forward to more from this author.

What happens when you are the best friend of the groom and bride, DRAMA. That’s what!

The bachelor and bachelorette parties bring drama on both fronts of their friendships.

Truths are exposed, people get hurt, unlikely people become friends and the main characters grow with their friendships

Great read very entertaining

If you love drama you’ll love this! It was fun and entertaining and I loved all of it so much! I can’t wait to read more by this author!

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. This was such a fun, delightful read. Recently single, thirty-year-old gay Domenic (Dom) is an anxious mess and stuck between his best friends, the hypermasculine Patrick and his fiancé, the ultrafeminine Kate. When Kate asks Dom to protect Patrick from doing stupid things at his bachelor party, and Dom arrives at Kate’s bachelorette party with a bunch of secrets, his life is spiraling out of control. I was soon caught up in Dom's life and found the writing to be endearing, captivating, and witty. This book was the perfect mix of fun moments along with some wonderful deep conversations between people who really care about each other. It was so much more than "just" a rom/com read, even though Dom feels trapped, his friendship to both Patrick and Kate is so precious and this story is Dom’s personal journey to his true self. I found myself desperately hoping that Dom and Bucky would find happiness and love for themselves and not to feel less than the people around them. The ending was perfect for me and left me with a warm heart and a smile on my face. #nicolasdidomizio #thegaybestfriend #netgalley #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #thestorygraph # getlitsy #sourcebooks

Thank yo NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

After reading other reviews I had such high hopes for this book but then after reading it I found myself confused as to why others liked it so much.

I had a hard time relating to the characters and was waiting for it to get better but it didn't for me.

You should judge for yourself.

The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas DiDomizio
If you love messy bitches™ this is the book for you. Nicholas DiDomizio has written the perfect G.B.F. wedding book. Domenic Marino is in the wedding party for both of his best friends and attending both the bachelor and bachelorette parties in the wake of his wedding being called off. Dom has always felt like he has had to switch between being hyperfeminine with the bride and a bros bro with the groom. When things go awry at the bachelor party with Kitty (a stripper with a heart of gold and an absolute scene stealer in the book) Dom is stuck in the middle and keeping secrets.

Then there’s the whole fact that Southern charm personified pro golf player Bucky (the groom's other best bro) might not be quite as straight as we initially thought.

I had a blast and a half reading this book! Nicolas’s writer's voice shines in this book and he found a great balance between batshit hijinks and diving into some of the complexities of being a queer person in friend groups that you feel like you have to tweak yourself to fit into. I was truly ready to deck some of the side characters for the shit that they pulled on Dom but they represented the messiness of being an adult so well.
thank you SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and NetGalley for giving me access to an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

❔Are you generally up to date with reviews or lagging behind? Once a year (always summer) my reviews slow way down and my grid turns to random book photos/hauls/“currently reading,” pics
(Spoiler alert: it’s summer). But here’s one for a book I read in June 😅🤣

BOOK REVIEW
The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas Didomizio
Published: May 2023
352 pages
@sourcebooks @netgalley thank you for the gifted e-book!

Ugh, I hated all of the relationships in this book, but they also felt very relatable and totally believable? I saw one review that was literally only something like, every character in this book needs therapy (and omg it’s funny bc it’s true).

This book did (intentionally) have me considering the “gay best friend,” as a trope in books and on screen. I’m glad representation has gotten better in the last few years (especially in books), but the frustration we see in Dom in this book is what we’ve always seen in stories that feature a gay best friend. They’re the Ken, the fun shopping buddy, dishing out dating advice and advocating for their “Barbie,” an accessory to the story. Meanwhile, he’s trying to regulate the emotions of a everyone around him while everyone seems to be ignoring his own. This does sort of level out in the end. So, if you get frustrated keep reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I didn’t love the bachelor party scene (gave real lizzo allegation vibes to me 😅) or how glossed over Patrick and Dom’s confused past. I also think it could’ve been a touch shorter, but overall it was both entertaining and thought provoking. I rounded to 4 on goodreads.

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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.