We Could Be Heroes
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear high heels and a wig.
Patrick's acting career is on the rise, and the superhero movie he's filming might put him on the map . . . if the endless reshoots ever stop. Meanwhile, Will, a secondhand bookseller and part-time drag queen, is just trying to live his best life. After a chance encounter on a particularly chaotic night, a curious friendship sparks between the two men.
At least, that’s what they tell each other. Sure, Patrick finds Will captivatingly hilarious, and Will can’t help but keep thinking about who is really behind the perfect mask Patrick shows the rest of the world, but nothing could ever really happen, right? Superheroes don’t date drag queens, after all.
When reality crashes into the fantasy world they’ve built together, Will has to make a choice between the man of his dreams and being true to himself. Can Patrick be the hero Will’s been waiting for, or will Will be the one to save Patrick after all? Uproarious and touching, We Could Be Heroes is an ode to queer joy and a romance that just might save the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With this funny and fast-paced contemporary, Ellis (Love & Other Scams) makes the familiar story of a closeted movie star feel fresh. Action hero Patrick Lake is mired in constant reshoots for his second Captain Kismet film in Birmingham, England, when his costar's insistence he visit a gay club leads to a viral photo of him doing poppers. Luckily, a friendly neighborhood drag queen, Grace Anatomy, pulled him from the club before the situation could escalate, but now Patrick is on damage control. Meanwhile, in trying to track down a possibly apocryphal issue of the Captain Kismet comic's original run, he meets Will Wright, a used bookstore employee who does not initially disclose that he and Grace are one and the same. Will assumes Patrick's requests to hang out just stem from loneliness until Patrick admits to being gay but not coming out to keep his career on track. After Will signs an NDA, the men embark on a tender secret relationship, using "straight-man drag," Patrick's stunt double, and Will's boisterous found family to outwit the paparazzi. Flashbacks to 1949 and the creation of Captain Kismet by a husband-and-wife team in a lavender marriage unearth the hero's hidden queer origins and show continuity in homophobic threats to careers. Ellis brings both wit and empathy to bear throughout and crafts characters readers will root for. This is a delight.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful
Moving, sweet, and fun - characters well worth spending time with, with caring and depth
A fun summer read
A sweet story that pulled me in