Best Men
Best Men is a charming, witty, fast-paced romance that’s funny and warm, but has some grating flaws that keep it from scoring a higher grade. Otherwise, it’s a perfect spring romance with a lot of rollicking ease to it.
Max Moody and Chasten Benchley are coming at an important wedding from two different sides of the aisle. Max’s best friend, Paige, has been a close bud of his ever since they were next door neighbors as kids; no way was he not going to show up to be the best man at her ceremony. Max is trying to get over a hookup situation with his ex going sour because said ex now has the hots for someone else.Chasten is the brother of Paige’s intended, Austin, and the second Max hears his name his snark meter goes up. “Chasten Benchley,” he says, “Sounds like a Dean at Harvard.” Max soon figures out that Chasen is the guy with whom he had a disastrous one-night stand.
Unfortunately, Max and Chasten do not get along, which means their non-stop competition to give Paige and Austin the best wedding possible quickly turns into a mess. But hate soon turns to love, and they’re left to wonder if true love can rise from messy beginnings.
Well, of course it can, even if the characters at the center of the comedy feel a little shrill. Best Men is funny, but man, sometimes the whine will get to you.
Max is the whiniest of the bunch, forever searching for and lusting after a happy ending he feels is out of his grip, but he’s witty and that evens out his soggier side. Chasten is sunnier and happier. Paige has her cringy moments (please, stop calling him your “gay bestie” – we left that shit in the ‘00s with Will and Grace) but is a goodhearted person. The comedy is light, and the romance sweet. It’s relatable, funny, and easy to dig into.
The narrative voice is terrifically modern, punchy and enjoyable. It’s very chatty, like spending a little slice of time with your own best friend. Best Men isn’t perfect, but it’s a great way to spend a summer afternoon.
Recent Comments
After reading this review, I went to Amazon to check out the buyer reviews for this book. There are none so far (book was just released today) but I was amused to find that in the section for Editorial Reviews, the first 3 endorsements are from Anderson Cooper, Amy Schumer, and Molly Shannon! It looks like the author is a screenwriter so I guess has many famous friends!
Hah! OK, things I didn’t know.
“Chasten” doesn’t sound like a Harvard professor name to me at all. It sounds like the first word in one of those sentence-long Puritan names like “Thou-hast-been-damned.” Like “Chasten-him-with-the-rod-of-man Benchley.”
I would love to learn how on earth Chasten Buttigieg got his first name. His brothers seem to be Rhyan and Dustin.
That’s funny! :-) I suspect it’s pronounced Chas-ten, and not chasten with the silent t. And it sounds like a last name co-opted as a first name to me, something fairly common in the US at least.
It’s pronounces Chasen, I think!
Oh, so it is like the word for punishment, chay-sen. That’s an odd name for a child.
YEP! Not the oddest name I’ve heard for a person tho.
I like New Zealand’s annual List of Names We Had to Forbid Parents to Use This Year.
Of course I had to go look that up, and, just wow, the names some people try to hang on their kids! I wish we had at least some guidelines in the US. Sometimes parents really need to check their ego’s at the door of the delivery room. This little person isn’t your toy or your pet.