Queerly Beloved

March 14, 2022
Dumond uses the inner and interpersonal conflicts of her heroine to meaningfully prod queer rights issues in her funny and moving debut rom-com, set in 2013 Tulsa, Okla. Amy Fariner loves her job at Daily Bread Bakery, where she meets new-to-town Charley, who takes Amy up on her offer to show her the city. When Amy’s homophobic boss, Donna Young, discovers that Amy is a lesbian, Donna fires her, but Amy rebounds quickly, starting a successful career as a professional bridesmaid. Dumond mines the ensuing weddings for wacky humor, but while Amy loves the problem-solving and matrimonial magic inherent to her new business, she becomes uncomfortable supporting an institution still closed to her and other same-sex couples. As she and Charley grow closer via a series of swoonworthy dates, Amy works to find a way to live authentically within a conservative climate. Amy is a classic rom-com heroine, sweet and kind enough to root for, but with a flair for dramatics. Charley goes comparatively underdeveloped and their relationship takes a narrative backseat to Amy’s personal growth. Still, the seamless blend of serious issues, humor, and love make this worthwhile. Agent: Jamie Carr, Book Group.

March 15, 2022
A lesbian bridesmaid-for-hire navigates work, friendship, and romantic crises in pre-Obergefell v. Hodges Tulsa. Twenty-five-year-old Amy's life is a little precarious. Her car is always in danger of stalling, she's working exhausting back-to-back shifts as a bartender at a beloved queer dive bar and a baker at a notoriously conservative Christian bakery, and her love life has been nonexistent since the end of a rocky two-year relationship. But new opportunities soon appear on both the romantic and employment fronts: A sharply dressed woman named Charley flirts with Amy while buying coffee and a croissant, and two strangers Amy befriends at her cousin's wedding offer to pay her $250 to step in as a bridesmaid for their upcoming nuptials since one of their original bridesmaids is moving to Dubai. With very little ramp-up or to-do, Amy and Charley begin dating seriously; the much longer slow-burn is between Amy and her new bridesmaiding job, which puts her in the middle of the wedding industry at a time when neither she nor any of her friends can legally get married. Dumond's deep affection for the queer communities that spring up in red states--and especially for the multigenerational mentorship that makes survival and joy possible--is evident, but uneven pacing and a tendency to tell rather than show keep the reader at arm's length from the action. A sweet but slightly underbaked debut that explores its protagonist's personal growth more satisfyingly than its romance.

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