We Could Be So Good

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. Agent: Deidre Knight, Knight Agency. (June)