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The Promises We Make #1
The Masks We Wear: A Short Sapphic Secret Identity Romance
The Getaway was never on Chloe Scott’s map—until the night she needed to disappear.
Under the relentless glare of Chicago politics, the mayor’s daughter survives by smiling on cue and never letting anyone close enough to leave a mark. But one panic-stricken winter evening drives Chloe forty miles west to a dim suburban bar whose neon sign promises exactly what she escape.
Lou Mitchell built The Getaway in the small town of Fairfield just outside of Chicago as a safe haven. After her mother vanished and left fraud in Lou’s name, trust became a liability she couldn’t afford. She pours drinks, keeps secrets, and never risks her heart—until a stranger orders tea instead of tequila and exhales like she’s finally safe.
What begins as stolen Thursday nights soon ignites into stolen kisses. Then a leaked photo exposes Chloe’s identity and shoves both women under headlines that can ruin them. To keep seeing Lou, Chloe strikes a bargain with her cousin—feed him bar gossip, or face life under a full-time security detail.
When the story explodes, to salvage the only place they’ve ever felt genuine, Chloe must risk the one thing her world never honesty. And Lou has to bet everything she has that Chloe’s love isn’t just another con.
A short, sapphic hidden identity romance.
Under the relentless glare of Chicago politics, the mayor’s daughter survives by smiling on cue and never letting anyone close enough to leave a mark. But one panic-stricken winter evening drives Chloe forty miles west to a dim suburban bar whose neon sign promises exactly what she escape.
Lou Mitchell built The Getaway in the small town of Fairfield just outside of Chicago as a safe haven. After her mother vanished and left fraud in Lou’s name, trust became a liability she couldn’t afford. She pours drinks, keeps secrets, and never risks her heart—until a stranger orders tea instead of tequila and exhales like she’s finally safe.
What begins as stolen Thursday nights soon ignites into stolen kisses. Then a leaked photo exposes Chloe’s identity and shoves both women under headlines that can ruin them. To keep seeing Lou, Chloe strikes a bargain with her cousin—feed him bar gossip, or face life under a full-time security detail.
When the story explodes, to salvage the only place they’ve ever felt genuine, Chloe must risk the one thing her world never honesty. And Lou has to bet everything she has that Chloe’s love isn’t just another con.
A short, sapphic hidden identity romance.
95 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2025
1 person is currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Claerie Kavanaugh
40 books15 followersClaerie Kavanaugh has spent most of her life telling stories, but she never imagined herself writing romance. In fact, she used to think it should only be reserved for Hallmark movies. It wasn't until college, when she discovered fanfiction, that she learned what romance was truly about: not just fluffy relationships and happily ever afters, but human connection, the desire to push one another to be better, and create hope that somewhere, somehow, everyone has someone.
When she's not writing, she loves to travel and explore new cultures, helping other authors polish their works as a freelance editor, and singing while doing so. Broadway musicals are her soul-food, something her mother and sister know well. She constantly blasts the newest soundtrack through the halls of their Missouri home, much to the chagrin of her very sassy and spoiled cat.
When she's not writing, she loves to travel and explore new cultures, helping other authors polish their works as a freelance editor, and singing while doing so. Broadway musicals are her soul-food, something her mother and sister know well. She constantly blasts the newest soundtrack through the halls of their Missouri home, much to the chagrin of her very sassy and spoiled cat.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 23, 2025
Spice Level: Fade to Black
Chloe is the daughter of the Mayor who feels that the pressure of her life is too much so she drives away from the city and finds a bar named “The Getaway” where she meets Lou the bartender.
This novella started out with so much potential and then it went downhill pretty quickly. I almost DNF’d it because there is a huge glaring plot hole that by the end of the novella, you still don’t know why what was done was done. Halfway through the novella, the main conflict between the characters, is talked about like the reader already knows what the issue is. Basically, the reader is dropped in in the middle of said issue without knowing why. Maybe some people might be able to look past that but when something big happens that ends up causing conflict between the characters, I want to know why. I know novella’s are shorter but you still need to be able to relay the important information to your readers because they’ll end up really confused, like me.
Even in a novella, there is time for the characters to make some sort of connection. Especially when it is a romance. In my opinion, there was no connection between Chloe and Lou. Their interactions together were so short, I just couldn’t get much meaning from them other than Chloe is the daughter of the Mayor and she was being used by her father to get some information from Lou, or the bar… again, not sure.
Chloe is the daughter of the Mayor who feels that the pressure of her life is too much so she drives away from the city and finds a bar named “The Getaway” where she meets Lou the bartender.
This novella started out with so much potential and then it went downhill pretty quickly. I almost DNF’d it because there is a huge glaring plot hole that by the end of the novella, you still don’t know why what was done was done. Halfway through the novella, the main conflict between the characters, is talked about like the reader already knows what the issue is. Basically, the reader is dropped in in the middle of said issue without knowing why. Maybe some people might be able to look past that but when something big happens that ends up causing conflict between the characters, I want to know why. I know novella’s are shorter but you still need to be able to relay the important information to your readers because they’ll end up really confused, like me.
Even in a novella, there is time for the characters to make some sort of connection. Especially when it is a romance. In my opinion, there was no connection between Chloe and Lou. Their interactions together were so short, I just couldn’t get much meaning from them other than Chloe is the daughter of the Mayor and she was being used by her father to get some information from Lou, or the bar… again, not sure.
Displaying 1 of 1 review