From friends to lovers, but only for two days before a tragic death. Then 48 years of keeping secrets from her husband and kids and eventually grandkids. Until Taylor Baird MacKenzie receives notice that her brother will be released from prison in February. It is now March, and Taylor is afraid he will kill her and no one will know why.

What does she do? Purposely blow her cover as an author of lesbian romances. And write a book about her last days with Brooke Skipstone. And hope a miracle happens in a small, conservative town in Alaska where a homophobic podcaster is eager to spew hate toward Taylor and blame her for the Queering of America.

But Taylor finds allies and friends, and maybe even another lover at age seventy.

Such a good story of murder, revenge, courage, and the possibility of open, joyous, queer love.

This story pulls you in from the first line and never lets you go. No one is named Brooke Skipstone? But she’s the author, isn’t she? We learn that Brooke was best friends with Taylor Baird in college before they graduated in 1974. Tragically, Brooke died during the trip to Oregon to take theatre jobs–two days after becoming Taylor’s lover.

This story is told through a book within a book, one which Taylor writes in 2022 to explain her past and current situation to her family and community. Why? Because her brother has just been released from prison and wants to kill her.

When the local Alex Jones wannabe, homophobic podcaster learns that Taylor has written several lesbian romances under the pen name Brooke Skipstone, he turns her into a pariah who must be stopped. The problem is, this podcaster has secrets of his own.

The story is riveting, funny, sexy, tragic, and joyous.

I....I really wanted to like this one. I love the idea of it? The plot absolutely screams to me. Just something about it made it hard for me to read, it reminded me of fanfiction.

This was so undeliverably cute! I had so much fun getting into this. I loved romances and this was perfect for what I wanted to read! Highly recommend, absolutely adorable!

This story reminded me how much I miss reading vignettes that all intersect! I think they're one of my favorite formats of books, and anyone looking for a queer version of this classic format should definitely check this out!