Taming Groomzilla by E.N. Holland

[reviews_and_ramblings]

This is a surprisingly light and very romantic story. Well, yes, I probably should have a suspect, from the title, Taming Groomzilla, that basically this is a nice story, without much drama, but same-sex marriage is still a so delicate matter that I, wrongly, was expecting for it to have a sad core. There is indeed a sad post effect: this story was written before the Maine voted to approve for same-sex marriage to be legal in the state, and we now know that the vote didn’t achieve the hoped result.

Anyway, coming back to the story, the reader realizes from moment one that probably the story will be light and very much comedy like, the type of comedy that warms your heart and leaves you with a big smile on your face: Joel proposes to Luke while he is washing glasses in the kitchen sink, with his hands in the water. At the moment, probably the reader thinks that Joel could have chosen a better moment, but then he probably realizes that Joel was probably scared of Luke’s answer, and trying to give to it less importance, he was preparing himself to a rebuttal. Obviously Luke is as much in love as Joel, and so there is no refusal, and as Joel said, Groomzilla is born: everyone who participated to a marriage’s organization knows as complicated it can be, from the small things to the most important one.

The really wonderful thing of the story is the mix of old-fashioned and modern style. It’s a same-sex marriage, and so it’s obviously modern, but Luke and Joel choose the most traditional things, like hand-made wedding bands and traditional china for the gift list. In their journey to find the perfect piece for the puzzle that is their marriage, the author mixes old memories from the past, like Joel’s grandparents’ story, almost to give the stamp of traditionalism to what traditional is not: finding a common path between Joel and Luke’s story and Luke’s grandparents’ one gives courage to Joel, that courage that the reader knows since scene one he needs.

Joel has some bad experience in the past, and he saw and experienced the worst way to be gay. Don’t get me wrong, he is sure and comfortable with his sexuality, he totally loves Luke, and he has no intention to going back in the closet, but he needs to come back to his origins and to have an “ordinary” life.

Joel and Luke are enough lucky to not find too much obstacles in their path towards happiness, but the author is also honest, and there are some hints that not all is roses for them; but in the end, the most important thing is that they are in love, and love is enough.

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Comments

[lazylfarm.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this great review, Elisa. So glad you enjoyed the book!

L

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

You are more than welcome, it's a delightful novella. Elisa