The Marrying Kind by Ken O’Neill. Published by Bold Strokes Books.

Sensuality rating: mildly risque candyfloss

I’m mostly a genre reader, so I tend to want to classify what I read. The Marrying Kind is a toughie — like the recent book The Bro-Magnet, it sort of cries out for a category called Dudelit, with its first-person narrative by a lovably flawed protagonist on a slightly over-the-top comic journey of self-discovery. Except unlike most chicklit protagonists, Steven isn’t looking for love; his problem is that he’s found love, but it’s not recognized.

Steven Worth has a pretty much perfect life, with his partner Adam and their cat “kids.” They’re even thinking about real kids someday. But despite his current state of well being, Steven doesn’t feel that far removed from the fat kid known as Steven Worthless he once was, and he tends to be diffident and conformist: “My idea of bucking the system is insisting on saying ‘large’ instead of ‘venti’ when I order my Starbucks coffee.” (more…)