First published 2023
Jeff O'Brien stands in Manhattan as 1999 becomes 2000, but the new millennium brings no relief from grief. He and his ex-lover Lloyd Griffith are mourning David Javitz, their friend and mentor who died of AIDS. Jeff throws himself into the dance scene, collecting younger men like Henry Weiner, a former insurance worker Jeff helped transform into a muscled party fixture. Henry loves Jeff secretly, but Jeff fixates on the enigmatic Anthony Sabe. Lloyd has abandoned his old life to run a bed and breakfast with widow Eva Horner. The three men tell their stories as they move through gay party destinations from Provincetown to San Francisco, Montreal to Palm Springs. Jeff seeks escape in clubs and bodies. Lloyd builds something new with Eva. Henry wants what he cannot have. Their journeys through grief, desire, and the search for connection reveal how love takes many forms, even when death shadows every celebration.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, lgbt, gay
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, friends-to-lovers
Setting: Manhattan, Montreal, Palm Springs, Provincetown, San Francisco
Period: 1999, 2000
380 pages · Paperback · Open Road Media