We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

RomanceHistorical

Feb 24

Written By taylor shepeard

Title: We Could Be So Good

Author: Cat Sebastian

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

Audience: Adult

Genre: Historical Fiction

Sub-Genre: Romance

POV: Dual

Series: Same Universe

Format: Audiobook

—Narrator(s): Joel Leslie

4.25 ⭐ | 2🌶️

Pros:
✨Queer Representation
✨Character Development
✨Genuine and Organic Relationship
✨Historical Authenticity

Cons:
✨Audio (No distinction between character voices)

Synopsis

Nick Russo has worked his way from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood to a reporting job at one of the city’s biggest newspapers. But 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, 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 feelings they can’t deny. But what feels possible in secret—this fragile, tender thing 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.

*Blurb taken from The StoryGraph

Review

This review may contain spoilers.

Set in 1958 New York, this novel follows two queer reporters who find solace in one another’s friendship and, eventually, love, in a time when simply being together could lead to arrest. It’s impossible to not love both Nick and Andy, each with their own complex family history that has led them to seek out comfort in the other. What really set this novel apart for me was the build of the relationship. These two went from strangers to colleagues to best friends, and the layering of such a solid foundation of trust and commitment led to a beautiful romance. I can see Nick and Andy cherishing each other for the rest of their lives, and the thought melts my heart.

It was fascinating to read the author’s note at the end. Despite this being a historical novel, I hadn’t realized that so much of the plot was based off of factual events and articles, like the clipping Andy read on the subway and dog-eared, or the nuclear test Nick covered. That added an extra layer of authenticity to the text that went beyond the romance and into the period itself. There were one or two plot lines that sort of tapered off into nothing when I had expected them to be a larger source on conflict, like the arsonist, but they weren’t missed by any means.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, which was okay, but the narrator gave no distinction between character voices. This made it difficult at times to know whether it was Andy or Nick talking. I almost DNF’d because of this, but restarted the audio instead and paid particular attention to the distinct character personalities, which smoothed things out in the long run. Still, it was a bit frustrating. If you have a physical copy, I would recommend that format instead.