The Luckiest

McWarren’s debut achieves moments of passion in a simple story of wish fulfillment. When Aaron gets word that his childhood friend Alex is getting married, he eagerly answers her call to go home and coordinate the event. But one of many complications is that Nik, Aaron’s high school boyfriend, is slated to be best man at the wedding. McWarren unravels events in fits and starts, leaping forward and backward in time through excerpts from characters’ blogs and emails. The predictable events surrounding the wedding are detailed to tedium and served poorly by various style choices: emphatic italics and capitalization attempt to inject feeling into an otherwise dull narrative, and lengthy passages uninterrupted by paragraph breaks lead occasionally to confusion. However, when Nik and Aaron finally reunite, their connection is passionate and satisfying. The earnest rendering of the characters gives them a bit of substance, and the loving environment created by longtime friendships is warm and welcoming. (July)