by
Size: 6.00 x 9.00 in
Pages: 362
Size: 6.00 x 9.00 in
Pages: 360
Longtime friends Jack Riley and Juliette (aka Jules) Baxter are now partners in a new breakfast café, but they are surprised to be confronted by a wave of homophobia in a town known for its inclusive and diverse LGBTQA+ community. Their romantic lives are just as uncertain. Jack, a gay former actor and fashion model, has failed at committed relationships due to his unsavory past – until he meets Reese Baxter, his partner’s handsome, closeted cousin. Jules juggles several polyamorous relationships due to major trust issues, until she’s drawn to an intriguing artist. However his jealousy of her bestie Jack is getting out of hand. Is the vandalism against their café from conservative hate groups, or is it a focused personal attack?
Publisher: Independently Published
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-F, M-M, Includes NB
Heat Level: 3
Romantic Content: 5
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Ace, Gay, Non Binary, Questioning, Polyamorous, Transgender
Protagonist 1 Age: 18-25
Protagonist 2 Age: 26-35
Protagonist 3 Age: 26-35
Tropes: Coming Out / Closeted, Find Love and Come Out, First Time, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Opposites Attract, Slow Burning Love
Word Count: 96000
Setting: USA, Michigan, Ann Arbor
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
“Can you believe today—today! —is the day this is all working out,” Jules Baxter says. “Oh, and here’s my horoscope. ‘Venus and Chiron connect to offer you opportunity when you invest in creativity.’ Decorating the café fits that, for sure.”
“I love how you believe everything you read from all that horoscope crap," Jack Riley mutters. "Yes, you do, however you think it fits.”
“You’re too skeptical. And decorating is creative! My horoscope for January says ‘Workplace changes are bound to happen.’ See? That’s true.”
“If we ever find this place.”
READ MORE“Dammit, Jack! You almost ran a red light, watch it.” Jules finally recognizes the road and directs him to take it north. Once they cross the bridge over the Huron River, she waves a hand. “There! That building, yeah. Gorgeous, isn’t it?”
“This is still Ann Arbor, though,” he says, pulling over to the curb across the street. “The rent’s gotta be sky high. And foot traffic won’t be all that great.”
“But it’s the perfect location! Am I right? I’m always right.”
“You’re not always right.”
She ignores his scowl. Jack’s glad they became best friends in those culinary classes, though, like brother and sister. Jules shares so much in common with him. Love of fashion and jewelry, a sense of adventure, a similar irreverent humor. They can talk for hours about all kinds of things. Jack eyes the two-story brick building across the street, with solar panels on the roof, and an ironwork stairway on the side.
“I am right,” she insists. “Listen to this. ‘Luck and hard work will go hand in hand this year. Expect support from family and friends in new endeavors.’ Insightful, huh? We dreamed of this since graduation from the CIA. And we agreed we’d stick it out for at least a year, right? Maybe more, if things go well.”
“That’s true, babe.”
Those two years learning culinary skills at the CIA were some of the best of Jack’s life, more than living on the Shermans’ Missouri farm. He and Jules worked so hard to endure sadistically hot Texas weather and the tough lessons put before them. The competitions, all the challenges to demonstrate their skills. They both proved Chef Richard "Bitch" Burtch wrong when he and Jules landed in the top five graduates with honors.
And Drew Clark, his mentor and big brother, pushed him to attend. He believed in Jack. Inspired and helped him see that finding a real purpose in life was important. Now he’s taking the leap, investing the rest of the money he earned in New York into the café to honor Drew’s memory. His eyes well up. Pancreatic cancer claimed his mentor within six months, at only forty-two. Jack’s heart broke, seeing Drew suffer.
Life can be so fucking unfair...
Together Jack and Jules eye the huge front window. The building stands alone next to a decent-sized parking lot, dotted with large potholes but usable. Jules envisions a patio with umbrellas shading bistro tables and chairs, flower boxes along an iron fence enclosing a narrow section beside the wall. How perfectly sweet.
But she’s afraid to bring that possibility up right now. Jack’s past trauma—a horrific accident on an outdoor patio—might lead him to refuse the idea. Maybe Jules should wait until the café is well established. She eyes the entry door with its wide sunny yellow awning, an incredible coincidence that will match their chosen name. Jack’s non-binary friend Blake could paint an orange sun on it if the landlord agrees.
The awning will be a definite plus in inclement weather. Parking’s allowed on the street, too, in the eclectic neighborhood. The lot could use repaving, but Jules wonders if patching it themselves would work.
“Remember New Year’s Day brunch, when you were late—”
“Told you I slept in,” Jack interrupts. “Stevie didn’t wake me.”
She raises an eyebrow. “So that’s where you went after the Pink Unicorn party? Anyway, Mason told me that day that the owner retired after thirty years. Don’t you think it’s perfect timing? The commercial kitchen is almost new, too.”
“Fucking dope. Maybe you are right.”
“There’s a studio apartment over the café.” Jules points to the gable above with its window and small yellow awning. “Perfect, since you need a place to live and included in the rent price! It can’t get any better than that.”
Jack grins. “Yeah, thanks. Now I’m never gonna escape work.”
She knows he’ll be happy to stop crashing on Blake’s sofa in exchange for his own place. Investing a large chunk of his savings into the café may be daunting, but her parents are putting up the other half. And it’s so convenient for Jack. He won’t be late to work or commute for hours like in New York City. She shivers at the memory of visiting him in the Bronx. Cockroaches scuttling in every room at night, broken windows, drug dealers, addicts, and drunks all around.
“The stairs are outside,” Jack says, frowning. “I gotta carry groceries and other stuff up in the pouring rain? Or a snowstorm, fuck.”
“You did that in New York City, so don’t complain.”
“Whatev. When are we fixin’ to sign the lease?”
Jules stares at him in shock. “I already did. Mason drew up the papers—”
“We agreed you’d set up a meeting.” His pale blue eyes narrow. “And you’re only telling me that now? Dammit, babe!”
“Oh, come on. You trust me.”
“You signed the lease, only you don’t know how much the rent is?”
Jules pouts, her vision blurry with tears. She’s not used to Jack questioning her or losing his temper. He plants an apologetic kiss on her cheek, though.
“Sorry. But how come you didn’t ask?”
“I trust Mason,” she says, sniffling, “and it is perfect.”
COLLAPSELeigh Perry, the Skeleton Mystery series wrote:This delicious journey of discovering both purpose and love in life takes place in Boho Ann Arbor. This fun read has wonderful characters and veers from sweet to bittersweet, ending on the sweet side while acknowledging that life has difficulties for everyone. An affirming and lovely read.
Maria Ashford on http://www.book-shelfie.com wrote:Meg Macy puts her characters through the wringer as they look for love In between starting a new restaurant; overcoming rough personal histories; and dealing with homophobia, vandalism, and stalking. It’s a modern take on romance, with a triumphant ending that satisfies without feeling forced. I thoroughly enjoyed the perfectly imperfect lovers.
Leigh Perry, the Skeleton Mystery series
All You Need Is Love is a new contemporary romance novel set in Ann Arbor from Meg Macy, author of the Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear series. Clearly a genre pivot for the author, at its centre is Jack Riley, a former actor determined to rebuild his life by opening a café with his best friend. On opening day, a single reckless act—kissing his friend’s wealthy cousin in front of the crowd—sparks the opposites attract style of romantic tension we all love. What follows is equal parts found-family, small-business romance, and slow burn in one book.
Our protagonist, Jack, is a very well-rounded character by LGBT fiction standards. He grew up bouncing through foster homes, found stability only briefly with a supportive foster family, and later built a short-lived modeling career in New York that he abandoned in frustration. His deepest trauma comes from the death of Drew, a paramedic who once saved Jack’s life and later became his mentor. At the start of the book, Jack returns to Michigan determined to build something of his own. With his best friend Jules, he opens a breakfast café called Here Comes the Sun. Jules is spontaneous, impulsive, and obsessed with horoscopes, while Jack is caustic and sceptical. Their banter captures the rhythm of best friends: “Your Gemini says ‘embrace spontaneity today,’” she insists. “I swear, you’re obsessed with those fucking horoscopes,” he shoots back.
The romance enters when Jules’s cousin Reese arrives at the café’s opening. Reese is everything Jack isn’t—wealthy, guarded, carefully respectable, and still closeted. Jack, impulsive as ever, kisses him in front of the crowd: “On impulse, Jack grabs him by his tie and tugs him down… Damn, that kiss was fantastic. Too brief as well, but he isn’t about to push his luck” (p. 36). The romance that follows is a slow burn, driven by believable obstacles and exploring familiar tropes with a new lens. Jack’s tendency to leap before he looks collides with Reese’s cultivated caution, their class difference humming beneath every interaction.
What makes All You Need Is Love stand out is that it doesn’t follow the bleak path so many queer romances have taken in the past. There’s no tragic ending waiting in the wings, no inevitable punishment for choosing love. While Jack and Reese face obstacles—family expectations, fear, and the weight of past wounds—not everyone they meet is a homophobe, and not every moment is defined by prejudice. The café staff, friends, and much of their community show up with warmth and support, creating space for a story that’s about resilience and connection rather than despair.
Macy’s writing style is warm, detailed, and grounded in lived-in realism, jumping between the heads of our three main characters in a way that keeps pacing fresh. There’s a few spicy moments, but mostly it falls on the milder side of the spectrum of LGBT fiction. The dialogue itself is pretty believable, with a lot of pop culture references, “Everyone always notices you. You’re so hot, since you resemble Brad Pitt and Austin Butler combined.” Dialogue snaps with authenticity; characters interrupt each other, joke crudely, and say the wrong things at the wrong moments in ways that feel true to life. The café setting comes alive through sensory detail: the sizzle of bacon on the griddle, the smell of fresh sourdough, the gleam of teal booths under bright light. Musical touches, especially Beatles references (obviously, the title), are scattered through the story.
If the book has flaws, they are minor. Some passages linger a little too long on café operations, and Jules’s subplot is potentially not as interesting as the two guys. There are some darker themes, but generally the novel is pretty light, maybe excessively for some. But these are small personal preferences in a novel that I genuinely enjoyed throughout and found easy to read and well-edited. The novel’s ending is hard-won but satisfying, with plenty of memorable moments beforehand.
By the final page, All You Need Is Love has delivered a romance that entertains without sacrificing depth, with characters the reader will be rooting for and not want to say goodbye to. For readers drawn to the writing style of TJ Klune or the unabashed optimism of the Heartstopper series, Macy’s latest is a deeply satisfying addition to contemporary queer romance. It’s the kind of late-summer escape that proves queer romance can be both tender and joyful.
