It always amazes me how some people turn their noses up at romances. I would make them read this book. It’s romantic, yes. Joel is incredible, as usual. But more than that Cat has built something truly special (and relatable) with this novel. The story of two flawed, scared men who become unlikely best friends and fall in love over months and months. Nick and Andy have my whole heart. The changing world of newspaper journalism and the backdrop of the Cold War. The beauty of letting yourself find family, purpose, love, friendship and joy in a harsh, scary, messy world. And the absolute delight of building a home with your forever person, of all the small things that make life worth living – bodega flowers, a great drink, mom’s pasta sauce, the sounds of a busy workplace, or lighting someone’s cigarette for them before your own. What an utterly utterly lovely book.