Ben Quirke became a writer after reading Man of War, Harlan’s controversial novel, written when he was only twenty and Ben was little more than a boy. When Ben meets the now-famous writer, the last thing he expects is for Harlan to give him more than a minute of his time. Never mind ask him to dinner.
A chance encounter, and a chance of a lifetime, for Harlan holds the rights to a book too hot to publish. Too hot for anyone, that is, except Ben and his pulp shop Baron Press. But the burly heroes and green-skinned girls of the dime-store book rack are light years away from Harlan’s uptown life of martinis and bebop. And when Harlan’s interest in him crosses into dangerous territory, how long can Ben stay afloat on the churning seas of sleaze? Or will the business he built from nothing be the thing that breaks his heart?

A gay midcentury romance about loss, legacy, and the inalienable right to read dirty books.