At first, this reminded me of Pineapple Street. A family and the people that affect them. But then...this turned into something else that felt like it was trying to be controversial. Mixed political marriages. (There's a gay Republican. A GAY REPUBLICAN) Nicole was annoying as hell.

Maybe I shouldn't have read this so close to the recent election, but it just didn't hit for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Okay, well this is one time where my rule of not reading book summaries before reading the book came back to haunt me. One of the main plot points in this book is a gay, formerly democrat - turned republican character running for Congress. Had I read the summary, I probably wouldn’t have started this book the day after Election Day. 🙃 That being said, I was able to immerse myself into the book and disappear from reality for awhile. I liked that this book followed several different families, with a couple different characters interconnecting. All of the characters were well-developed into people I could actually see knowing (except maybe the married gay republican who wasn’t willing to fight for gay marriage because wtf). All of the characters had things I really loved and really hated about them which just made them that much more real. This book was about messy, real American families.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

I loved this book! A refreshing and unique cast of characters, humor and creativity in tackling serious topics. Loved the relationship between Gabe and Ethan and Kate and Nicole. A well done character driven novel. Thank you for the ARC! Will be recommending.

DNF. This book is excruciating to get through and I gave up at 85 pages. There is no reasonable explanation for Ethan being a Republican and his far left husband Gabe being even remotely okay with that and Ethan’s intent to run for office as a Republican. Nicole is undeniably a massive jerk and it’s not in any way entertaining. Kate seems cool but they only can focus on her interest in Nicole. And beyond that, the story just is not moving along and I had to just let it go.

The novel captures the tension of a marriage tested by political ambitions and diverging ideals, with Ethan and Gabe’s relationship at its core. The blend of humor and emotional weight keeps it engaging, as family and old flames collide in unexpected ways. Harris nails the complexities of love, ambition, and the compromises that come with both.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️😭
Ethan Keller is running for Congress in a conservative district in New Jersey. He is a new conservative, a gay man in a devoted marriage with a young daughter. He believes that the way to change his party is from the inside, and wants to represent New Jersey in Congress. His husband, Gabe, is a history teacher at an elite Manhattan school. Gabe absolutely hates Ethan‘s politics, even though he loves his husband. They make some mistakes.

Ethan‘s sister, Kate, is a reporter for one of the top newspapers in the country, (this is supposed to be the New York Times) she has never quite gotten over her college relationship with Nicole. But, she appears on cable news programs often and her career is soaring. She makes some mistakes

Nicole is the mother of an eight-year-old and a five-year-old, married to Austin, who loves to golf. Nichole is a good mom and housewife, but she cannot shake the idea that she was meant for something else in this world, beyond her relationship to her husband and children. One day, she sees her former flame Kate on a cable news program. She makes some mistakes.

I honestly had a hard time rating this. It’s very well written, and I know that it will stay with me for a long time. One great thing I can say about this book is that Donald Trump doesn’t appear to exist in this universe. But the same kind of political environment definitely exists in their world as exists in our today. I do feel like it is a realistic portrayal of what it is like to be in a marriage where your politics are different, your ideas behind relationships are different. Even what it is like to be queer in America. This really just isn’t my type of story, because, I’m pretty big on happy endings, hopeful stories, and my favorite books can best be described as heartwarming. This is not that. It would be PollyAnnaIsh to attack this subject matter in that way, so I don’t think it could have been any less depressing. It’s interesting that this book will come out a few weeks before the inauguration. Four years after the attempted coup at the capitol. Interesting timing, William Morrow. Elizabeth Harris is an author to watch.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the arc. Book to be published January 7, 2025.

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I sped through this delightful book in two days. The parts with Ethan and Gabe were my favorites - I just really enjoyed both of them as characters and thought that the behind the scenes looks at running a political campaign were great. The other sections, with Kate and Nicole, were also well written and funny, if slightly less compelling to me.