Bellefleur, Alexandria. Truly, Madly, Deeply. New York: Avon, 2024.
ISBN-13: 978-0063258532 | $18.99 USD | 336 pages | Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Sparks fly when a lovelorn romance novelist and a divorce lawyer who has sworn off relationships agree to cohost a podcast series offering dating advice to viewers, in Truly, Madly, Deeply, the next steamy queer rom-com from Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur.
As a bestselling romance novelist, everyone thinks Truly Livingston is an expert on happily-ever-afters. She’s even signed on to record a podcast sharing relationship advice. Little do they know she feels like an imposter—her parents just announced they’re separating, she caught her fiancé cheating, and her entire view on love has been shaken to the core. Truly hopes the podcast will distract her… until she meets her cohost.
Her first impression of Colin McCory is…hot. But then he opens his extremely kissable mouth. Colin’s view on love just pisses Truly off, even if he does have an annoyingly attractive face. Bickering with a cynical divorce lawyer is the last thing she needs—so she walks out, with no plans to return.
A few days later, Truly is surprised when Colin tracks her down, asking for a fresh start. Truly can’t deny the little thrill she gets from Colin begging, so she reluctantly agrees. As they go from enemies to friends to something else entirely, Truly discovers they have more in common than she ever imagined, including their shared queerness. He’s a genuinely good guy—charming, sweet, and equally as unlucky in love as herself—and there’s something about Colin that drives Truly a little wild. When their attraction reaches a fever pitch, Truly is happy for the first time in years. Yet she can’t help but wonder… is Colin truly, madly, deeply in love with her? Or is it all too good to be true?
Review
5 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Alexandria Bellefleur once again delivers another amazing queer romcom (both leads are bi) with Truly, Madly, Deeply, which just might be her best book to date. I loved pretty much every moment of it, from the humor full of Tayloe Swfit references and dirty jokes to the gradual, not-quite-slow-burn, but-also-not-instantaneous-either romance, not to mention the sensitive handling of complex, even dysfunctional family relationships.
My interest was initially piqued by the characters of Truly and Colin. They seem like such opposites, with Truly being a hopeful romance novelist, in spite of having been betrayed by an ex at the beginning of the book, while Colin is a cynical divorce lawyer. But the way the characters evolved and grew subverted my expectations of where this would go from the initial setup. Because of course, once they got over their initial animosity, they realized they had a solid connection. But seeing that gradual deepening beyond flirting/spending time together/hooking up to it looking like it could be something real was beautifully complicated by the other elements of the story and how it impacts them, especially Truly. Her being the one to lack confidence in herself and her value in a relationship felt believable, as did Colin being pretty much gone for her, if not from the moment he met her, at least from the time they started hanging out.
And these complicating factors with each others’ families are interwoven cleverly to complement the romance, and I love how we see both Truly and Colin support each other through these issues. I generally liked Truly’s parents and their quirky show-business ways, including the propensity to quote show-tunes and turn it into a game among themselves. I also felt like the arc around the parents considering separation, even divorce, and Truly’s poor reaction to it was fairly well handled. While I don’t think the parents always respond well to her trying to show her feelings about the situation and how it impacts her, it’s also clear Truly does have some things to work on in that regard too.
Colin’s family, on the other hand…talk about toxic. His brother got with Colin’s ex right after they broke up, and now they’re married and expecting a baby. It was infuriating how Colin did try to set boundaries, but he kept being pulled back into all the toxicity, where even his parents clearly side with his brother, and don’t understand why Colin can’t forgive him.
I loved this book so much, and I’d recommend it to readers looking for a queer romcom with a lot of heat and heart.
Author Bio
Alexandria Bellefleur is a bestselling and award-winning author of swoony contemporary romance often featuring loveable grumps and the sunshine characters who bring them to their knees. Her debut novel, Written in the Stars, was a 2021 Lambda Literary Award winner and a 2020 winner of The Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction.
Buy links
The Ripped Bodice (signed w/ exclusive sticker)
Courtney Reads Romance 