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Out Now!
The Love that Binds Us (2023)
From the outside, Alex has a perfect life. She has a partner who loves her, gets good grades in school, excels at most sports, and has a big heart. From the inside, Alex’s life is anything but perfect. She hasn’t spoken to her father in years. She’s hiding the fact that her once-best-friend now-romantic-partner Theo is trans and nonbinary from her homophobic mother. Bullies are harassing her and Theo at school, taunting and shoving. It’s all becoming too much for Alex to bear.
Things take a surprising turn when Alex’s mother discovers her relationship with Theo. After Alex is thrown out of her house and taken in by Theo’s foster family, Alex can live honestly. For a while, things start to feel manageable. Alex finds a new group of friends. She navigates what “family” means beyond her mother and sister. She even considers forgiving her mother’s past mistakes. But forgiveness requires honesty. Secrets Alex’s mother has been keeping are surfacing, trying to bind Alex to misery. As Alex learns the full truth of her mother’s past mistakes, she will need the love of her chosen family and friends to gently bind her life into a shape that keeps her whole.

Available now!
Phoenix Blackwood
Author of queer tales
Your book is so relatable. I love that it doesn't flinch. I love how you lean in and tell the whole story. It is so true to my lived experience as a foster child. I know these characters. I know these experiences. "The Secrets that Kill Us" is fantastically well written.
- Kisstopher Musick, Cinnabar Moth Publishing
Praise & Reviews
Wow. What a book. It is truthful, and raw and just beautiful. This book is about overcoming trauma, learning secrets and lies and being there for one another. This book has hard truths about what the world is like for a young girl in a queer relationship with a mother who isn't accepting of anything that isn't hetero.
- Goodreads Review
Oh my goodness this book was so good and so much more than I expected. The Secrets That Kill Us is heavy, emotional, and heartbreaking. It grabbed my heart from the beginning and never let go keeping me fully immersed in the story.
- Amazon Review