This was a good, interesting concept but the execution was rather dated, especially for a book released in 2023. I appreciated how lighthearted and relatively angst-free it was, but it felt flat in a way. Like an extra edgy Hallmark movie or something. Overall it was decent enough but forgettable.

Andrew Grey's Dragged to the Wedding is a delightful blend of humor, romance, and family drama. The story follows James Petika, a closeted gay man who must find a date for his sister's wedding in Montana. James reluctantly agrees when his friend suggests hiring a drag queen, and his life takes an unexpected turn.

Grey's writing is witty and engaging, creating a world filled with colorful characters and hilarious situations. The relationship between James and Daniel, the drag queen he hires, is heartwarming and entertaining. The book explores themes such as family, acceptance, and self-discovery, which is poignant and uplifting.

The book's blend of humor, romance, and heartwarming moments make it a perfect choice for fans of LGBTQ+ fiction and romantic comedies. Dragged to the Wedding is a satisfying and entertaining read that will surely leave a smile on your face.

Thank you, Netgalley and Carina Press & Carina Adores (Harlequin) | Carina Adores, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

Andrew Grey has such range in his writing and really reached deep with this one. It had me laughing from beginning to end, yet still had times of seriousness. It was billed as being part “Birdcage “, and it stepped up to the plate with that. Fun to read and I'd love to see more like this one. It’s funny but still emotionally fully of depth. Definitely recommend.

This was overall sweet and charming. It felt like a 90s romantic comedy movie. I did think the language around queer identity was a little outdated.

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

I wanted to love this one so badly, but alas! It took me months to get through it (normally I'd just DNF, but I'd already gotten through a good chunk of it my first few readings, and if I get through at least a third of a book, I pretty much always finish it).

I was pretty disappointed by the kind of copaganda presented in this book. It alludes to Daniel having had bad experiences with police (bc the other MC is a cop), but they never really flesh this out and delve deeper into Daniel's complicated feelings surrounding the police and falling in love with an officer. The romance too felt like it came from nowhere, and I didn't see really any of the "falling in love" parts that should come with a romance novel.

In general, the writing style left a lot to be desired and felt very surface level.

Broadly I liked this, it was fun, moving, honest, and thoughtful. I liked the cast of characters surrounding the main couple and wouldn't mind some other stories.

James Petika a police officer in Chicago who has faced gunfights, robberies and the usual problems that police officers face but now he is facing his worst fear, his family. James called his friend Randy for help, his sister is getting married, and his mother wants him to bring a date, a woman, only he is gay. He will be spending six days in Montana helping with the preparations for the wedding until it is over so what is he to do.

There is no woman James can call on for help and how does he act as if the woman is his girlfriend. Randy to the rescue, he has a woman who will fit the bill. When he is introduced to Daniella, he finds himself attracted to the beautiful woman, being attracted to a woman is something he has never experienced now he is wondering if he really is gay. Then, the drag show begins, and the star of the show Lala Traviata is none other than Daniella, yup that was one question answered he is gay.

This book made me laugh out loud so many times, suuuuuuch great humor in the story.
Also a very fresh take on weddings and dates, would’ve never thought of it, definitely recommend for a laugh.

Dragged to the Wedding by Andrew Grey

Fairytale feel to a fake-date trope in which a couple goes to a family wedding. The relationship is fake, the girlfriend is not a girl, the boyfriend is not into girls, and the family is Montana conservative. There are secrets to keep, problems to solve, a wedding to save, family drama, and a come-out for one character that was not as he had ever planned it to be.

NOTES:
* This was an easy-to-read, quick-paced, fun frolic with some big issues alluded to and some that were tackled.
* I loved Daniel-Daniella-Lala in all of his appearances. He was wise, aware, knew himself, took no guff, and was also caring, kind, generous, and a person anyone would want as a friend.
* James, the brother of the bride, grew quite a bit in the story and began to come into his own. I loved his interactions with his sisters and how he became more aware of himself and others.
* Holly and her fiancé were good people and so was little sister Margot.
* Grace, mother of the bride, was someone that may have had a good heart lurking somewhere underneath all of her commandments, expectations, and pushiness…maybe.
* Phillip, father of the groom was…a bit nebulous but spoke his mind from time to time.
* Weston was someone I would never want to meet…anywhere
* Interesting and sometimes “unbelievable” but eye opening and made me think

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? I think so

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Adores for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a fun and fast-paced read, with well-developed characters perfectly suited for the chaos that ensued. I appreciated the realistic portrayal of James' parents struggling to accept his sexuality, as it added depth to the story. However, I did feel that there were too many missteps packed into the plot, making it difficult to keep track of the main purpose of the story. That being said, it was a cute and enjoyable read, perfect for those who enjoy quick romances."

James is living two thousand miles away from his family, and this helps him hide his identity as a gay man. He needs a female date when he has to go to his sister’s wedding. Fortunately, he has the help of a drag queen named Lala, whose legal name is Daniel, to help him fake date his way through the wedding festivities.

There wasn't much build-up to the romance. For reasons only the author knows, the first time James and Daniel can have a moment alone after meeting the family is off the screen.
The romance feels off balance because Daniel does everything for James's family. Daniel saves the wedding constantly. Daniel does remark on being the fairy godmother, but mentioning it doesn't make the actions any more unbalanced. It removes any conflict because I know Daniel will fix any problem.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I really should have read the synopsis o this first, because I don't care to read books told from the point of view of a police officer. This was fun at times and heartwarming, but the characters frustrated me for most of the novel.

3.5 Stars

I feel uber conflicted with this one. We have manly cop James who is out in Chicago but not to his family and friends back home in the Midwest. He needs a date for a wedding and enters a fake dating arrangement with Daniel aka Daniela a femme presenting man and drag queen.

They just need to pull this off for 6 days then both can return to their big city lives. This all sounded cute and funny.

What I struggled with was the uber pushy and Christian mom. She was incredibly overbearing to her adult children. She was a total Karen using the bible to justify her nasty behavior. She was unapologetic in her actions and words. This really rubbed me the wrong way. I know there are women like this. Her character was a bit too real for comfort if that makes sense.

Comedy wise this was giving 90's gay fun. Bird Cage & To Wong Foo. At first it was great but then as certain dangers were highlighted, I started to remember watching both those movies with grown up eyes and how they are actually really sad. Then I got mad because it's 2023 and this gay man was literally fearful of losing everything and that hurt my heart and made me angry. These types of stories SHOULDN'T have to exist anymore, but they do.

Also, I'm not a fan of cop romances. I'm guilty of NOT reading the blurb so I didn't realize James was a cop. For a good 50-60% of the book it was a nonissue, but then certain comments rubbed me the wrong way. Like how they had to keep bringing up his job and suggesting that he's an alpha male because of his job. Little jokes about how he wishes he could pull out his badge and exert power over the smallest of situations. I didn't care for that.

Overall, it was a fun read. I think I'm just too jaded and over analyzed the hell out of certain things. I'm also on my period so yes, we will blame my hormones for getting super emotional when certain aspects of the book triggered an image of Nathan Lane being exposed in Bird Cage and my heart dropping because he had so much love for his son, he was willing to pretend to be a female character rather than himself and that Daniela's character and presence represented the same selfless love and need to appease.

I would recommend this book, but I would definitely do so with content warnings.
MM FAKE DATING, COP, DRAG QUEEN, STRICT CHRISTIAN, HARMFUL LGBT COMMENTS, POLICE BRUTALITY, CLOSETED GAY, COMING OUT, & A SUPER KAREN

“Dragged to the Wedding” by Andrew Grey had the makings of an entertaining MM romance that didn’t totally work for me.

James is a gay Chicago police officer who is not out with his family. He needs to bring a date to his sister’s wedding at his mother’s insistence and hires Daniel for the task. Daniel is a drag performer known as Lala Traviata.

I loved the idea of this book. But the writing lacked some emotional exploration that would take a fantastic idea and engaging characters up to the next level; there was a lack of interior thoughts / feelings that made for a disjointed reading experience.

I also found James’ mother and exploration of midwestern American Christian purity culture to be handled poorly. Mothers as the villain is never a plot device I enjoy, especially with the writing problems in this book. There are so many “bad” parts to the mom, some of which don’t totally make sense. For example, she orders a wedding dress too large for her daughter. I have no idea why – because she thinks her daughter is fat? Because she expected her daughter to be pregnant for the wedding? I honestly don’t know. Yet, it causes a meltdown and Daniel coming to the sewing rescue.

I also thought religion as villain could work if handled better, but it seemed more like a crutch than something explored in a meaningful way (ex., how one can have a meaningful spiritual life and be gay and/or not favour institutionalized faith, etc.).

I hated that James is closeted with his family and the expected plot development did not work for me.Daniel is not described as a trans woman. I really enjoyed that James was attracted to Daniel as either himself, Daniella, or Lala Traviata. There are some expected drag jokes and some stereotypes that I wasn’t crazy about, but I liked the possibility of the relationship between James and Daniel.

Overall, a great premise but not executed well.

I received an ARC of this book, but the review is my own. 2.5/5

A big-hearted and hilarious queer romcom that has a closeted gay man bringing home his secret drag queen boyfriend to pose as his 'girlfriend' for his sister's wedding. Full of heart and humor, this was great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Sidney Karger and Nicolas DiDomizio. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Dragged to the Wedding is a delightful MM rom com. A closeted gay policeman from Montana living in Chicago goes home for good sisters wedding. What could go wrong you ask? Anything and everything make this a very enjoyable read.

Tw homophobic religious family

I really don’t know how to rate and review this one. The writing wasn’t bad, but it took me a long time to read this one because I wasn’t very interested in our main characters. I liked the ending, though. I wish we saw more of James and Daniel being themselves together. I think the most interesting point for me was when they started to investigate the reverend, but I thought more would have come of it. Overall this was just an okay read for me.

A fun romcom

James is a police officer in Chicago and he has a good life. The only problem is that he needs a date to his sister's wedding and his family doesn't know he's gay. Daniel, a drag queen, is the perfect date because he can also be Lala, a woman his family will accept more easily. The pair go to the wedding as a fake couple to dazzle everyone. What could possibly go wrong?

I thought the premice of this book was really fun and unique and the story in itself did not disappoint. I love the fake-dating trope so much, but when you throw in a drag queen in there, it makes it even more fun. But fun is not the only thing this romcom has to offer. There are also some real, queer, relatable issues that are talked about and developped and I loved reading about those as well. It's my first time reading a book with a drag queen main character and it was very interesting to be in Daniel's shoes. I enjoyed a lot of things about this story and the characters really made an impression on my little queer heart. I loved their relationship, their feelings, their situation and most especially their struggles. It was beautifully written and addictive.

I would definitely recommend this queer romcom!

"Lala knew that beauty was a process - painful and a great deal of work."

TW: queerphobia, violence, sexual content