Dragged to the Wedding

September 18, 2023
Gray (Upside Down) returns with a goofy gay rom-com in which Chicago police officer James Petika, who is not yet out to his family, recruits drag queen Daniel Bonafonte—aka Lala Traviata—to pose as his girlfriend at his sister’s wedding in Montana. As Daniel (or Daniella, as he’s known to James’s family) proves indispensable in his ability to fix all wedding-related fiascoes, James questions whether what they’re pretending to have could become something real—but how to come out to his controlling mother? The premise is undeniably fun and campy, but there’s a fundamental flaw in the men’s relationship that goes unaddressed. Daniel has explicit police-related trauma, so the fact that he falls for a cop, no questions asked, strains credulity, especially given lines like James’s upon first meeting Daniel: “I’m a police officer—you can trust me.” It’s laughable, except this isn’t one of the book’s intentionally humorous parts. The underlying political landscape, while not at the foreground of the plot, will distract progressive readers. Still, fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race (which, indeed, is mentioned multiple times throughout) will find plenty to enjoy. Agent: Lesley Sagba, Seymour Agency.