This Love: [Audiobook]

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An utterly charming and modern debut novel spanning ten years of extraordinary friendship, about soulmates, unconventional families, and the limitless, ever-changing forms love can take.

When Mae and Ari meet outside a crowded gay bar during their final year of university, their connection is instant, sparking a lifetime friendship. Stubborn and no stranger to breaking hearts, Mae needs Ari's bright light to guide her out of her self-centered ways. Reeling from a scandal in New York, vibrant, charming Ari sees Mae as an anchor keeping him grounded.

Though they are young, ambitious, and queer, both Mae and Ari secretly daydream about settling down somewhere with a garden, children, and dogs, building a life that feels like home. They make a pact: somehow, some day, they will have a child together.

In the decades that follow, Ari and Mae realize that fulfilling their promise will not be as simple as they once hoped. Navigating toxic partners and hidden secrets, combatting the heavy weight of grief, and relishing the spoils of flashy media careers, the two struggle to reconcile their ever-diverging paths. Although nothing goes quite to plan, Ari and Maealongside their dearest friends and loverscome to realize that the messy, devoted, tight-knit family they could build together might be better than anything they could have ever imagined.

Page-turning, emotionally evocative, and bursting with wit and charm, This Love is a testament to the power of friendship and a love letter to familyhowever its formed.

Reviews

Reminiscent of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, Mae and Ari have an immediate and incandescent connection that defies categorization. It's a sincere pleasure to watch this richly rendered, embodied, and deeply queer cast of characters crash headlong into each other and be transformed. 

 Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of Housemates and The Third Rainbow Girl

Lyrical, meandering, and astute, This Love is a love letter to what friendship can be, and what a novel can do.  Chlo Caldwell, author of Women

[A] heartfelt examination of found family.  Booklist (starred review)

A beautifully wrought, tender, funny, and wholly original story about the magic that happens when friends become family. I was totally immersed in the characters and their world, and started missing them the moment I finished reading.  Gabrielle Korn, author of Yours for the Taking and The Shutouts

This Love had me deep in my feelings. Lotte Jeffs is the real deal, and many writers will, justifiably, never forgive her for creating such a tender, engrossing, and unforgettable debut.  Ruth Madievsky, author of All-Night Pharmacy

Author Bio

Lotte Jeffs (she/they) is an award-winning writer and the author of the acclaimed non-fiction books How To Be a Gentlewoman and The Queer Parent, and a childrens picture book My Magic Family. She writes for the Sunday Times, the Guardian (London), and numerous other publications, and was previously the deputy editor of Elle (UK). Lotte also co-hosts the podcast Gay to Ze about queer parenting and pop culture, and lives in London.