Hello friends and readers! I hope your summers are all going well, and that none of you have been embroiled in wedding scandal.
Except for vicariously, of course, via The Gay Best Friend.
Which: I have to take a moment to thank those of you who have purchased, read, reviewed, posted about and/or otherwise supported TGBF since its release earlier this summer. I appreciate it all so much, and I sincerely hope you had as much fun reading my chaotic little beach read as I had writing it.
Speaking of chaotic little beach reads…
I have another one for you!
Releasing on 5/21/24!
AND HERE IS ITS GORGEOUS COVER:
I’m so grateful yet again to powerhouse cover artist Holly Ovenden for knocking it out of the park. I didn’t think she could top her art for The Gay Best Friend, and yet somehow, she did. Nearlywed is another quintessential beach read set on the Connecticut shoreline, and this cover captures that vibe so expertly that I can FEEL the salt air against my skin as I gaze at it.
(Also a huge shoutout to my LOVE Mazey Eddings for the incredible cover praise, and BTW if you haven’t gotten into her books yet do yourself a favor and start now.)
Here’s the full Nearlywed description from the publisher:
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.
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?
SO BASICALLY GET YOUR SWIMSUITS AND SUNSCREEN READY FOR THE HOTTEST BEACH READ OF SUMMER 2024!!! (I do realize we’re still in the thick of summer 2023 and I’m over here going on a tangent about summer 2024 but that’s showbiz babyyyyyyyyyy you know?)
This book is so special to me. It's a story about every facet of long-term romantic partnership—the good, the bad, and (especially) the messy—and the choices you make when the reality of navigating life with the person you love doesn't quite match the image you were sold by the bitches at Hallmark.
I feel like it represents a major growth moment for me and my writing, and I tried to infuse it with as much honesty and warmth as possible (and a healthy amount of humor and hijinks, of course, and also MANY lobsters—to the point where I almost wanted to call this book Live, Laugh, Lobster, but that was overruled by my much more sensible publishing team). I am so excited to share it with you next year!
A few preorder links are already up (below — I’ll update as more become available) and as always I am so, so grateful for any and all pre-release support over the next ten months. (It really does make a difference!)
It’s also up on Goodreads!
NYC friends! Next Wednesday 8/16 I’ll be speaking and signing copies of The Gay Best Friend in-person at The Strand (my first time back in the city since moving upstate in 2020?!) and I would love to see you. I’ll be on a panel with a powerhouse lineup of romance icons, and tickets are available HERE!
Thank you so much as always for reading and subscribing. I can’t wait to share more deets about Nearlywed over the next ten months!!!
Nic
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