We Could Be So Good
A Novel
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Notable Book of 2023
A New York Times Books Review Best Romances of 2023 pick • Apple Books’ Best Books of the Month • Amazon Best Books of the Month Editor’s Pick, Romance • An NPR “Books We Love” • Library Journal Romance Pick of the Month • LibraryReads Hall of Fame: June 2023 • Publishers Weekly Best Romances of 2023
Casey McQuiston meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in this mid-century grumpy/sunshine rom-dram about a scrappy reporter and a newspaper mogul’s son "‘for Newsies shippers,’ [that] absolutely delivers” (Dahlia Adler, Buzzfeed Books).
“A spectacularly talented writer!” —Julia Quinn
Nick Russo has worked his way from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood to a reporting job at one of the city’s biggest newspapers. But in this sweeping historical romance, the late 1950s are a hostile time for gay men, and Nick knows that he can’t let anyone into his life. He just never counted on meeting someone as impossible to say no to as Andy.
Andy Fleming’s newspaper-tycoon father wants him to take over the family business. Andy, though, has no intention of running the paper. He’s barely able to run his life—he’s never paid a bill on time, routinely gets lost on the way to work, and would rather gouge out his own eyes than deal with office politics. Andy agrees to work for a year in the newsroom, knowing he’ll make an ass of himself and hate every second of it.
Except, in a classic grumpy sunshine story, Nick Russo keeps rescuing Andy: showing him the ropes, tracking down his keys, freeing his tie when it gets stuck in the ancient filing cabinets. Their unlikely friendship soon sharpens into a slow burn of feelings they can’t deny. But what feels possible in secret—this fragile, tender forbidden romance between them—seems doomed in the light of day. Now Nick and Andy have to decide if, for the first time, they’re willing to fight.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This steamy gay romance proves that tie loosening is just as sexy as bodice ripping. In 1958, New York City newspaper reporter Nick finds himself, against his better judgment, drawn to the publisher’s son, Andy. After Andy’s fiancée breaks things off, the pair become roommates—and soon, much more. Author Cat Sebastian fills this tale with the glam style of Mad Men–era Manhattan and pulls back the curtain on the city’s tight-knit underground LGBTQ+ community. There’s even some historical grit to the story, as the NYPD try to silence a reporter who’s been writing about police corruption by arresting him for homosexual activity. Still, the novel’s tone never strays far from the joy of finding someone to love in a city brimming with possibilities. We Could Be So Good is as delightful as a stroll through Central Park on a sunny day.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sebastian (The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes) sets this irresistible romance in 1958, when Nick Russo, a cub reporter for the New York Chronicle, finds himself inexplicably smitten with the publisher's absent-minded son, Andy Fleming, who's "slumming it at the city desk... because his father threatened to cut off his allowance." After Andy's fiancée calls off their society wedding, a reeling Andy moves into Nick's West Village walk-up and their improbable friendship intensifies. Nick is secretly thrilled, but he also knows he needs to maintain caution as queer men can be arrested. In the Village, Andy's curiosity about queer life grows, and after he asks Nick to take him to a gay bar, he gains new clarity about his own desires and decides to declare his feelings. Once coupled up, however, the guys must worry about rumors. Meanwhile, Nick courts trouble with a piece he's writing on police corruption—and a blackmailer threatens to expose his relationship with Andy if he doesn't drop the story. There's plenty of conflict to keep the pages flying, but it's the scenes of Nick and Andy's cozy domesticity that truly shine. This wonderful period romance will leave readers just as giddy as its leads.
