Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Nearlywed
AUTHOR: Nicolas DiDomizio
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Casablanca
LENGTH: 345 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2024
BLURB:
An engaged couple’s compatibility is put to the test during their ill-fated early honeymoon in this smart, dazzling, and provocative summer comedy perfect for fans of People We Meet on Vacation.
5 Signs You and Your Fiancé Might Be Secretly Incompatible…and #3 Will Shock You!
Ray Bruno and Kip Hayes are horrible on paper. Ray is a chaotic millennial ex-clickbait-writer who’s been oversharing his every thought online since he was a teenager, and Kip is a pragmatic Gen X doctor who values privacy above all else.
But somehow it all manages to work…until Ray convinces Kip to join him for an early honeymoon at a famous lux resort in Ray’s coastal New England hometown, eschewing the tradition of bachelor parties and hoping to recharge before their end-of-August wedding. When a surprising encounter with another couple at the resort leads to a series of escalating mishaps and miscommunications, Ray and Kip are forced to look at their many differences in a stark new light, turning the trip into less of a vacation and more of a test: will they be able to work through their issues in time for the big day? Or is this marriage over before it begins?
REVIEW:
Ray Bruno is an internet writer/journalist. Throughout his 20s, he lived the life of an out and proud and fun gay man living large in NYC. He’s always been obsessed with getting married – pushed by his mother who constantly shared her wedding album his entire childhood. Ray is a blogger/writer for internet clickbait and entertainment sites. When marriage first became legal, he and his boyfriend got married like it was an assignment. They were looking for someone not just compatible but exactly like themselves. Needless to say this didn’t work out. The marriage crashed and burned with Ray’s husband cheating on him and then leaving him. Embarrassing and crushing.
Kip Hayes is also divorced – finally admitting to himself (after his ex-wife said it for him) that he’s gay. He’s nearly 40 and he and Ray have a chance meeting at a bar while waiting for a delayed train at Grand Central. Kip is just getting into dating after living his entire existence in the closet, so Ray is a revelation to him. There is 10 years between them but sometimes it feels like they are from different world rather than different generations. Kip has no online presence and he wants to keep it that way. Surprisingly Ray goes along with it because this is the best relationship he’s ever been in.
Fast forward 6 years and it’s two months before their wedding and they are going on their “Earlymoon” before the wedding – a chance to get away from everything wedding pressure provides. This is a tradition and a resort in Ray’s home town has pioneered this and so that’s where they go.
But when they get there, Ray’s sister is having business issues. An old friend of Kip’s shows up who doesn’t know Kip is gay and divorced. Then things go from bad to worse when Ray’s past also shows up and causes even more trouble. Can these two get past the earlymoon and make it to the altar?
This is my first book from this author. I really enjoyed the whole book. It’s told from Ray’s first person POV which is both good and a little frustrating, but I think in the end, NOT hearing Kip’s every thought when he struggles to articulate them is probably a good thing. There are soooo many things in this story that I think are really interesting points. How do queer people navigate things like weddings which have such a hetero history and raises certain expectations about what those types of ceremonies/celebrations should look like? How do gay couples navigate their relationships when most likely the relationships they’ve been raised observing are straight relationships? Then there are the universal themes of opposites attracting and then having to compromise so that both parties get what they need from the relationship and navigate some of these “performative” rituals of society in a meaningful way for them. The surprising amount of action takes place over a week of the Earlymoon for Kip and Ray and it’s packed full of landmines that they needs to negotiate and figure out so that they can have their dream wedding – whatever that looks like. I loved the secondary characters and mostly I really loved how Kip and especially Ray grow to recognize their own blind spots and weaknesses and learn how to better support and love each other in a way that works for them. Recommended.
RATING: 
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