{"id":25615,"date":"2026-01-11T18:41:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T23:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=25615"},"modified":"2026-05-07T20:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:14:11","slug":"we-could-be-so-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25615","title":{"rendered":"We Could Be So Good"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Could Be So Good<\/em><\/a> (2023) Cat Sebastian<\/a> (Midcentury NYC #1)<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>Set in NYC in 1958<\/p>\n

Nick is a reporter at the New York Chronicle<\/em>, I job he worked hard to get, and loves doing. So he finds himself annoyed to be working with the boss’s kid, Andy Fleming, who is now on the city desk because his dad made him.<\/p>\n

That annoyance lasts about a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this part of your grizzled old reporter routine?\u201d Andy asks, narrowly avoiding a puddle only because Nick grabs him by the sleeve and hauls him out of the way. \u201cThe one where you act like an ink-stained wretch, made of nothing but newsprint and subway tokens and paper cups of coffee?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Andy is the heir apparent to the Chronicle, but he doesn’t want to be.<\/p>\n

Andy doesn\u2019t know if his father simply never bothered to get to know him and therefore can\u2019t see how bad an idea this is, or if he\u2019s so desperate to pass his life\u2019s work on to his only son that he\u2019s refusing to see reason. Either way it\u2019s a depressing thought.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Andy is a bit of a hot mess, not able to stick with anything, not sure what he wants to do with himself, and not able to feel himself competent is anything he does.<\/p>\n

In May, Andy gets stuck in the elevator at the criminal courts building for three hours, then turns up at the Chronicle looking mildly traumatized but bearing a box of doughnuts to apologize for cutting it so close to the filing deadline. In June, he\u2019s nearly run down by a cab on Canal Street, only stopped by Nick\u2019s hand darting out to grab his coat. In a single week in July, Andy bangs his head into the ladder of a fire truck while he and Nick are covering a warehouse fire, gets food poisoning from a chicken salad sandwich that Nick tells him looks bad, and is almost bitten by a guard dog at the scene of a robbery in the Bronx.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To me, Andy reads as having ADHD, but that’s reading into things for a diagnosis that didn’t even exist at the time. What’s important is that he sees these things as failings, which makes him insecure and anxious, which makes things worse.<\/p>\n

He doesn’t want to take over the paper because he doesn’t see how he can save it and he doesn’t want it to fail on his watch. But he’s a good reporter, and loves the news.<\/p>\n

I too used to love the news, but find myself now more in Linda’s corner.<\/p>\n

“But listen, Andy, what good is a newspaper ever going to do me? If a bomb is coming, I\u2019d rather not know. And so much of the rest of it makes me miserable. There isn\u2019t much I can do right now about schoolkids in Alabama or pogroms in Russia. I want to know what\u2019s happening, but not every single day.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not that Nick has things easy. Being raised Italian and Catholic makes it hard to come to terms with being attracted to other men; not hating himself is something he had to work at. And he desperately fears he’ll be found out and lose his family.<\/p>\n

But throughout everything the two of them talk, which is the best thing you can do.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Nick Russo, Andy Fleming, Emily Warburton, Jeanne Warburton, Ruth Fisher, Lilian Corcoran, Maureen, Linda Ackerman, Michael Russo, Chrissy Russo, Danielle Russo, Sal Russo, Bev Russo, Lou Epstein, Bob Diamond, Stanley Jorgensen, Dave Hollenbeck, Ed Meyer, Jimmy Walsh, Gerald Williams<\/p>\n

Cover by Alan Dingman<\/p>\n

Publisher: Avon<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We Could Be So Good (2023) Cat Sebastian (Midcentury NYC #1) Set in NYC in 1958 Nick is a reporter at the New York Chronicle, I job he worked hard to get, and loves doing. So he finds himself annoyed to be working with the boss’s kid, Andy Fleming, who is now on the city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,292,33,608,148,26,56],"tags":[147,909,544],"class_list":["post-25615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-ebook","category-historical","category-neurodiversity","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-cat-sebastian","tag-midcentury-nyc","tag-mm"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6F9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25602,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25602","url_meta":{"origin":25615,"position":0},"title":"You Should Be So Lucky","author":"Michelle","date":"January 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"You Should Be So Lucky (2024) Cat Sebastian (Midcentury NYC #2) Set in NYC in 1960 Eddie O'Leary made a mess of things when he reacted badly to being traded. Now his teammates hate him, the fans hate him, as far as he can tell everyone in NYC hates him.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"You Should Be So Lucky","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/You-Should-Be-So-Lucky-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25572,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25572","url_meta":{"origin":25615,"position":1},"title":"After Hours at Dooryard Books","author":"Michelle","date":"December 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"After Hours at Dooryard Books (2025) Cat Sebastian Set in NYC in 1968 Patrick has worked for Dooryard Books since Mrs. Kaplan picked him up and gave him a place when he was seventeen. He may have reconnected with his brother and best friend, Susan, after being kicked out by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"After Hours at Dooryard Books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/After-Hours-at-Dooryard-Books.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/After-Hours-at-Dooryard-Books.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/After-Hours-at-Dooryard-Books.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25624,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25624","url_meta":{"origin":25615,"position":2},"title":"Hither, Page","author":"Michelle","date":"January 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Hither, Page (2019) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers #1) Set in England in 1946. Do you know, James, this evening I thought to myself: I would like to put paper stars and glass balls on a tree.\u201d \u201cI see you\u2019ve reached the heights of depravity.\u201d \u201cI\u2019d suggest going easy on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hither, Page","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Hither-Page-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24827,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24827","url_meta":{"origin":25615,"position":3},"title":"Hither, Page","author":"Michelle","date":"August 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hither, Page (2019) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers #1) Set in England in 1946 You can\u2019t hold it against him. He had a bad war. He ought to have developed a callus over whatever part of his heart was meant for mourning, but instead, it was like a wound that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hither, Page","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Hither-Page.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27017,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27017","url_meta":{"origin":25615,"position":4},"title":"A Little Light Mischief","author":"Michelle","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Little Light Mischief (2019) Cat Sebastian (The Turner Series #3.5) Set in England in 1818 Molly had spent many an hour wondering what good it was for Miss Stapleton to call herself a lady, when as far as Molly could tell, all it meant was that she was unfit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Little Light Mischief","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/A-Little-Light-Mischief-190x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25868,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25868","url_meta":{"origin":25615,"position":5},"title":"Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots","author":"Michelle","date":"February 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots (2022) Cat Sebastian (The Cabots #3) Set in 1973 in New York City Daniel returned from the war a bit lost. His mother used her influence to make sure he spent his time sitting at a desk, as safe as it was possible to be.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Daniel-Cabot-Puts-Down-Roots.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Daniel-Cabot-Puts-Down-Roots.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Daniel-Cabot-Puts-Down-Roots.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25615\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}