We Could Be So Good

A Novel

By: Cat Sebastian

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

A New York Times Notable Book of 2023

A New York Times Books Review Best Romances of 2023 pick • Apple Books’ Best Books of the Month • Amazon Best Books of the Month Editor’s Pick, Romance • An NPR “Books We Love” • Library Journal Romance Pick of the Month • LibraryReads Hall of Fame: June 2023 • Publishers Weekly Best Romances of 2023

Casey McQuiston meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in this mid-century grumpy/sunshine rom-dram about a scrappy reporter and a newspaper mogul’s son ""‘for Newsies shippers,’ [that] absolutely delivers” (Dahlia Adler, Buzzfeed Books).

“A spectacularly talented writer!” —Julia Quinn

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.

A very pleasant read

This has been somewhat unexpected to me. From the blurb I was afraid the book was going to take a turn for the angst and I lingered for a week on whether to buy this book or leave it for a moment in the future when I was in a better mental place and able to handle the angst.
In the end I decided to take a risk on the audiobook specifically because I though that Joel is reading it and I can probably handle it with him holding my hand.
Surprisingly the angst never quite manifests. The entire book is just as the title says, a careful balance of "life is not as good as it could be, but it's not as bad either and we can work on it together". Joel's talent does help in the rougher spots.
Very, very good.

Joel can make mediocre excellent

I won’t comment on the book itself. It had a ton of potential but the writing really fell flat. Joel, however, kept me engaged regardless of that. He’s just that good of a narrator.

Probably better read vs listened

The book spends a lot of time in the characters heads there once their worries and their assumptions. Overall, it was a good book and an enjoyable listen

However, I don’t understand the producer’s decision to have the book narrated by Snagglepuss, who in my opinion, didn’t do a good enough job just differentiating between the two main character’s voices.

Hidden Gem

Unexpected and thoroughly delightful. The story is engaging, the characters are compelling and the narration is just perfect. Give it a listen. You won’t regret it and you won’t forget it.

Unique historical fiction!

What a fantastic way to get an insight into the way things were. Great story! Fun and entertaining!