We Used To Hold Hands All The Time (2023)

Two young boys. Tiny cold town. Such close friends. Then suddenly, one moves away, and the pair drift apart.

Seventeen years later, Jesse finds Matthew online, and when the two reunite, so much has changed, yet so much feels familiar. Maybe it's finally their time.

From critically-acclaimed writer, Neptune Henriksen, comes a love story about second chances, bittersweet memories, and the life-saving power of coming home.

Now available everywhere in paperback and ebook. Free ebook available below. Paperback bundle currently unavailable. Content notes below.

Part 3 of the Queer Summer Trilogy

Content Notes (contains spoilers)

  • Course language from the onset and throughout

  • Non-linear storyline

  • Allusions to, and mentions of, past verbal and physical abuse, by father toward children

  • Allusions to, and mentions of, past verbal and physical abuse, by husband toward wife

  • Depiction of past verbal and physical abuse, by father toward son, through fictionalised play

  • Themes of past verbal and physical abuse, by husband toward wife, through fictionalised play

  • Depiction of the moment a family is informed about the death of a family member, through fictionalised play

  • Depiction of alcoholism and alcohol consumption, through fictionalised play

  • Use of queerphobic language as a tool of familial abuse

  • Background of, and brief allusions to, historical, political, and global events, between the years 1999 to 2023, both years inclusive

  • One chapter mentioning a character’s poor mental health during the 2020 lockdown

  • Two depictions that may be distressing for those with claustrophobia

  • Reclaimed use of queer language (including slurs) by queer characters, with some use during sexual and BDSM moments.

  • Explicit sexual and BDSM content from the final third and onward, including degrading language and light bondage

This novella DOES NOT employ the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope.

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-6456898-5-3
EBook ISBN: 978-0-6456898-6-0