I picked this up because I loved You Should Be So Lucky, and thought this would be just as good. It is not. I liked the characters, but there’s not much of a plot to speak of (despite clear hints/seeds of plots) and the pacing drags on a lot. The central relationship is great. With any luck, that’s what I’ll remember about this book.

I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I completely binge read this book in one day. I just could not put this book down. Something about it was just so incredibly compelling to me, and I just wanted to keep reading. I think Cat Sebastian really did a great job transporting me into this world. It was clear a lot of research went into the time period, and I was just completely transported into it. I haven't ever read a historical romance that's set in the late 1950's like this one. I thought it was really interesting. Especially since we're also in the journalism/news paper world in this time. It just was an interesting backdrop to a wonderful love story.
So yeah, I did really like the romance. It is quite angsty, but also really sweet. The dynamic between Nick and Andy is just so well created, and developed. They love each other so deeply, and have such a deep respect for each other. I love the little things they did just to make the other happy, the communication they had was incredible as well. However, we are in midcentury New York, and homophobia is rampant. That backdrop does make this book quite angsty as well. However, don't worry this never gets too dark.
I really liked Nick and Andy as well. They were really compelling characters to follow and I loved how this book followed both of their POV's for different chunks of the novel. Their personal storylines were also really interesting. I also quite liked Nick's family, even if he does have a difficult relationship with them. It just was really well executed. Andy's relationship with his dad was also really interesting. I also quite liked the cast of side characters, and I'm excited this is a series because I want to see some of these side characters take center stage. 
The only reason I didn't end up giving this a five star is that throughout the entire book I felt like it was building up to something, and it just didn't. I don't know. I feel like this didn't really have a climax like most books do. I wanted it to pack a punch, and it never did. I don't know if this makes sense but yeah.

Nick and Andy have been best friends since Andy started working at his father's paper, where Nick is a reporter. When Andy's engagement ends, he moves in with Nick so as not to be alone. Immediately, the two are forced to consider that their connection is more than that of friendship.

While Nick is as openly gay as a man could be in the 50's, Andy (who is bisexual) has always ignored that part of himself, knowing what he ultimately wanted was a family. Over the course of the novel, Andy comes to realize all the things a family can mean, and Nick, who has only been able to experience his sexuality furtively and read novels where gay men met tragic ends, realizes he can have a happily ever after. Against the backdrop of the Village in the 1950's and the newsroom of a progressive paper, Nick and Andy realize their connection is worth taking risks and planting roots.

I usually prefer my rom on the com side, but this was as good a character-driven rom-dram as I've ever read. It doesn't hurt that you get to fan cast your favorite classic Hollywood stars in all their 1950s NYC glory. 🙂 We Could Be So Good is a mostly slice-of-life story that captures the complications, the tension, the hope, and joy of carving out a queer space and establishing a found family in an environment that is passively and sometimes brutally, actively hostile. I don't want to spoil it for you, but it ends up being…

a gentler story than I had anticipated and I might have enjoyed it more if I had known that going in

. Yes, there are oppressive laws and family issues and mistrust and corruption, but there are also flowers and dopey cats and baseball games and Italian cooking and hearth and home sweetness. For the relationship itself, you'll find grumpy-sunshine, friends-to-lovers, pining and yearning, caretaking, healthy acceptance of differences, and mostly beautiful communication with some realistic miscommunication that doesn't get tropey or lazy.