Vacillating between Golden Age Hollywood and the modern day, We Could Be Heroes is, essentially, a coming out story nestled within a sweet, adorable queer romance. While the romance part - and the 'coming out as a Hollywood leading man' arc - both work well, the vintage narrative could have benefitted from its own book. Nevertheless, We Could Be Heroes is as charming as its leads and as sweet as movie theatre popcorn.

"Real love is nothing like the movies"

Patrick Lake is a popular, handsome Hollywood actor who has landed the gig of a lifetime as the lead in a Super Hero movie series, adapted from a beloved comic strip written in 1949.

Originally from South Amboy, New Jersey (Violet Sanford country), Patrick and his co-stars are doing some additional post-production work in Birmingham, England. When a spontaneous night out ends with him crossing paths with drag performer Grace Anatomy (Bookseller Will Wright by day), Patrick feels a spark - but he's not out, for fear of jeopardising his career. He enjoys his job, and the perks it affords him - but how much longer can he live a lie?

Back in 1949, we see the original comic strip come to life, where we meet Charles and Iris, the original creators. Their marriage is not like most - but if the truth came out, they could lose everything. They dream of a world where they can just be themselves.

I ADORED this book. If you know me at all, you'll know I'm a savage for a good pun, bit of banter, pop culture reference, or slice of queer culture - and all were served in bucket loads. From the little sprinkling of iconic references ("what, like it's hard?") to the sweetest found family storyline, this book warmed my cold little heart so much. I loved the lead characters, but the side ones also deserve a mention - Margo, Dylan, Audra, Jordan, Hector, Corey - everyone was so full of life and I felt like I had the measure of them immediately.

I thoroughly enjoyed how the book used the comic strip series to bridge the gap between past and present. There were so many similarities between the two stories, and while queer joy was sometimes under threat in both timelines, ultimately I found it to be a really uplifting, hopeful, beautiful love story that's so badly needed in the world today.

Absolutely adored this, it was just lovely.

This is a lovely feel-good romance with something interesting to say about queer culture. It's character-centred - and lovely characters they are, too - with the queer politics as a subtle undercurrent that adds depth. Enjoyable, relatable, and empowering.