Book Review: The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas DiDomizio

June is almost here and with that comes some new LGBT+ releases. One new and exciting release is The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas DiDomizio.

You might recognize the author from his previous book: Burn It All Down which was a young adult LGBT story. However, this time, DiDomizio is trying his hand at an adult story. While Sourcebooks Casablanca mostly publishes romance, this one isn’t a traditional romance.

While the story does get a happy-for-now ending, The Gay Best Friend is more of a contemporary read with some romantic elements. Honestly, it ended up being a massive surprise for me as this was a book I immediately fell head-over-heels with and couldn’t put down.

If you don’t have The Gay Best Friend on your radar for Pride Month or even as a summer read, I’m here to convince you why it’s worth adding to your TBR. I’d like to thank the publisher for sending me an ARC so I can share all my thoughts with you.

The Gay Best Friend explores friendship, romance, and getting it together.

We’re introduced to Domenic who is best friends with both the bride and the groom. Patrick, the groom is Dom’s long-time best friend and his best man. While the two had a falling out at some point, they ended up reconnecting and becoming friends. It’s in large part, thanks to Patrick’s fiance, Kate.

We first begin with Dom at Patrick’s bachelor party where drinking, golfing, and eventually, stripping ensues. It’s about as rowdy as a traditional bachelor party gets but Dom feels torn because he wants Patrick to have fun but doesn’t want to betray Kate. From that point on, things start to spiral especially after Dom hooks up with one of the groomsmen, Bucky.

Eventually, we fast-forward to Kate’s bachelorette party where things implode. Everything goes up in flames including the wedding, their friendship, and even, the budding romance with Bucky. It’s especially tough for Dom who is straddling the lines of friendships and trying to be different versions of himself for his two best friends.

In the end, Dom decides that he needs to get his life together and figure out what he wants which isn’t easy. The Gay Best Friend broaches those difficult conversations with nuance and even a bit of humor. Even though things do get mucked up, we get to see Dom realize his worth along with him, and Kate and Patrick realize how they can be better friends with each other.

As for Bucky, I’ll leave that up to you as it’s such an integral part of the ending. Either way, I feel like The Gay Best Friend is such a fun story that most of us can relate to even if you’re not part of the LGBT+ community. There is something so universal about figuring out your sh** with your friends by your side and realizing your worth isn’t tied to just one thing.

The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas DiDomizio is out now wherever books are sold. 

Will you be picking up The Gay Best Friend for Pride Month? Let us know in the comments.