Queerly Beloved: A Novel (Dial Delights)

Queerly Beloved: A Novel (Dial Delights)

A people-pleasing baker tries to find her place as a bridesmaid-for-hire. Will she finally find her happily ever after—and her own voice? “A delightful debut, perfect for any person who’s ever created their own place to belong.”—Casey McQuiston, bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Book Riot Amy, a semicloseted queer baker and bartender in mid-2010s Oklahoma, has spent a lifetime putting other people’s needs before her own. Until, that is, she’s fired from her job at a Christian bakery and turns her one-off gig subbing in for a bridesmaid into a full-time business, thanks to her baking talents, crafting skills, and years watching rom-coms and Say Yes to the Dress. Between her new gig and meeting Charley, the attractive engineer who’s just moved to Tulsa, suddenly Amy’s found something—and some one —she actually wants. Her tight-knit group of chosen family is thrilled that Amy is becoming her authentic self. But when her deep desire to please kicks into overdrive, Amy’s precarious balancing act strains her relationships to the breaking point, and she must decide what it looks like to be true to herself—and if she has the courage to try. “Heartwarming.” — PopSugar “Susie Dumond's Queerly Beloved is like a great cake: warm, light but still richly layered, and bursting with sweetness.” —Casey McQuiston, bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop “Heartwarming and sparkling with originality.” —Sophie Cousens, bestselling author of This Time Next Year  “Heartfelt and inviting, Queerly Beloved is a joyful celebration of queer love and finding strength in vulnerability. . . . Impossible to put down!” —Alexandria Bellefleur, author of Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon  “A love letter to Tulsa and the beauty and resilience of queer communities everywhere.” —Alison Cochrun, author of The Charm Offensive “Dumond uses the inner and interpersonal conflicts of her heroine to meaningfully prod queer rights issues in her funny and moving debut rom-com. . . . [A] seamless blend of serious issues, humor, and love.” — Publishers Weekly Susie Dumond is a queer writer from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is a senior contributor at Book Riot , where she writes a monthly Horoscopes and Book Recommendations column, as well as various quizzes, book lists, and bookish news pieces. Susie received a bachelor of arts from the University of Tulsa and a master of arts in public policy and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies from the George Washington University. Currently, she’s probably making cupcakes at her home in Washington, D.C., with her partner, Mary, her dog, Waffles, and her cat, Maple. 1   Amy breathed a hefty sigh of relief, briefly dropping the customer-­is-­always-­right smile she’d had pasted on her face for the past eight hours. The digital clock on the bakery wall had finally hit noon, marking the end of her shift at Daily Bread, which meant she was only a five-­minute drive from collapsing into the worn flannel sheets on her bed. Her fourth cup of coffee had hardly made a dent in her exhaustion. Even the cool November air rushing through the door as customers entered and exited couldn’t keep her alert. She’d been at Daily Bread since 4:00 a.m. with the rest of the kitchen shift, but unlike her fellow bakers, Amy hadn’t gone to bed early the night before. She’d hardly had a moment to shower between her start time at the bakery and her closing shift at Ruby Red’s. And that shower had been crucial. The smell inside Daily Bread was Amy’s favorite in the world: a combination of freshly baked bread, warm vanilla, caramelized sugar, and a touch of cinnamon. She usually arrived home with the scent absorbed deep into her clothes and hair. But Amy couldn’t rely on the bakery’s thick, sweet air to cover up the equally strong odor of beer and cigarette smoke that lingered whenever she left Ruby Red’s. She didn’t love the idea of her co-­workers judging her for being out late at a bar (which, here, they definitely would). But the main reason she needed to wash away any lingering smell was to make sure they never had a reason to wonder where exactly Amy had been. When a co-­worker appeared to take over Amy’s position at the cash register, she gratefully stepped aside and returned to the kitchen to consult her pre-­clock-­out checklist. Amy headed toward the chalkboard that hung on one of the only wall spaces not covered by cabinets, above the time clock and several framed pictures of the bakery owner’s family. There were posed photos of a perfectly coiffed husband, wife, teenage son, teenage daughter, and golden retriever—­always forcibly reminding Amy of what she’d find if she googled “stock family photo”—­and a few candid shots of the kids playing various sports. Next to her name on the chalkboard, Amy found a note reminding her to frost and rebox a couple of cupcake