The Key

by Jo Morgan Sloan

Two high school sweethearts-one cisgender, one transgender, both men- find each other again in adulthood and have a second chance at love, but one of them doesn't know they've been in love before.

Tabby, a closeted trans boy in high school, resolves to come out after moving away for his senior year. He worries his boyfriend, Jax, will reject him over the truth and doesn't share his trans status. On their final date before Tabby moves, still passing as female, he and Jax agree to break up over the distance and promise to give their love a chance if they find one another again.

As an adult, Jax moves to San Francisco in search of a clean slate. Tabby, living in the same city, fills his life with friends and hosts an LGBT D&D group; however, his boyfriend Rob is a poor match for him. When Jax joins Tabby's D&D group by chance, the two are thrust together again and become fast friends, yet Jax doesn't recognize Tabby because of his advanced transition.

Jax becomes Tabby's unofficial confidant and helps Rob be a better boyfriend behind the scenes to satisfy his growing attraction. With every day that Tabby hides the truth-that he is Jax's missing first love-he risks losing both Rob and Jax to his lies.

Genres: Romance, Queer, M M Romance, Contemporary

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2025

About the author

Jo Morgan Sloan is an audiologist, an artist, and a novelist in Northern California. Their debut novel was a second-chance transgender romance released by Midnight Meadows Publishing in December 2024. They published a second unrelated novel, Stableshoes, with SloanScript in August 2025. Their literary fiction drama, Scars & Honey, is many years in the making and will be released June 3rd 2026. Jo’s essay work can also be found in online periodicals Drunk Monkeys, HerStry, and the Four Palaces Publishing anthology, "When Home Hurts".

Reviews

[El | libro.vermo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not typically a romance fan. I need fantasy or adventure or extra weird stuff thrown in because full focus on romance isn’t usually my jam. But with a premise like this, I absolutely could not pass up a chance to read The Key.

It’s an adorable read that had me feeling like this: 🥰🥰🥰 basically from the moment I read the dedication until I got to the end (though there were a couple dark moments), and I loved the queer rep, from the members of the DnD group to Tabby and Jax themselves.

I really liked that Tabby’s experience as a trans man was mostly positive. He’s happy with who he is and reading about his feelings brought me a lot of joy. His anxiety over whether or not to tell Jax the truth was so real, I felt it too. And the way Jax feels about his friendship with Tabby is so sweet… ahhhh! The writing just sucked me in and made it so easy to feel all the feels.

Tabby’s relationship with Rob, who is also a trans man, was very interesting. It made me consider some possible advantages and challenges in trans relationships that I never thought about before, and of course it’s great when books give us something new to think about.

Thank you to Midnight Meadow Publishing for the ARC. And honestly, I read it at a really great time, when really I needed something sweet, heartwarming, and wholesome, and I didn’t even know it, so it was extra appreciated.

[Hailey Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 (rounded up)

Powerful, heart tugging beginning that sucked me right into the narrative. The observations of Tabby, credited to the writing of Sloan, were great. It sets the stage so perfectly, that second chances are possible in the future and being yourself is all you should be.

All throughout this second-chance-at-love story, I was impatient to know more. Slow burns aren’t always for me, since I’m so impatient, but anytime I was feeling antsy something new would happen to keep me hooked.

I think Jax and Tabby made the story for me. They were so believably soulmates that I was biting my nails waiting for them to finally be together. Really, the book is perfectly cheesy, with big helpings of realism. I think it was a great cozy read for me.

My only pet peeves were how stereotypical Rob read, how the chapter lengths varied so much, and how Jax and Tabby were a bit interchangeable with their chapters. Otherwise, I’m really happy with this book!

Thanks for providing me with this ARC :).

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What happens when you and your first love separate on good terms due to distance and you take that chance to become the real version of yourself?And then what happens if years later you really get that second chance? The Key is a beautiful second chance, trans romance with a lot of nerdy flare. Jaxon and Tabby are beautifully complex and well rounded characters who made me want nothing more than to see them get their happily ever after. The complexities of young love, the incredible vastness and scope of the trans journey and what it means to different people, being bisexual but straight passing, each character brings something new and unique and heart breaking to the story that just made the story that much more touching. Fun read, beautiful story.

[Mandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. This book was described to me as "the gayest book I've ever read" and I could not agree more. 
Right from the start, Sloan's writing drew me in. With a surprising depth of maturity in their writing for a debut author I quickly found myself swept away. 
Tabby and Jax stole my heart and keep my giggling and kicking my feet along the way. 
A truly binge-worthy holiday romance. 
A slightly gender swapped "A Lady for a Duke"

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story! Such a good second chance romance. I loved the tension between the love interests. I have a hard time getting through ebooks, but I devoured The Key in less than a week.

[Kristina Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Jax and Tabby’s interactions and a second chance at first love. Jax is such a sweetheart!! I got Cyrano de Bergerac vibes from Jax and greatly enjoyed the DND scenes and getting to know these characters. As a geek, I loved all of the geek stuff. And I learned a little bit more about humanity and self love.

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

*ARC review*

So I'm usually not big on contemporary romance (gimme dark, monster, or even fantasy everyday), but this was fantastic. I absolutely loved how Jo showed the struggles of a Trans Man, and a Bi Man who both just wanted to find their childhood love and be accepted and loved while also writing a beautiful story of childhood sweethearts.
It's definitely worth a read if you want a second-chance romance with LGBT+ rep and plenty of DnD references thrown in.

[Chase Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Yes, I’m starting with that. Every spare second I get I tear through a chapter because I have to know what happens next. I have to know what’s going on with Tabby & Jax and everything that makes me feel warm inside and happy and worried and anxious and excited and… What comes next?

[Galactic Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a debut so there's space to improve but this book was very meh. both tabby and jax read the same. worst of all the plot was crazy contrived. i H-A-T-E when a book could be 10 pages if one of the characters acted like a normal reasonable human. in this case it's tabby lying to jax for no good reason for the whole book. i don't know how I'm supposed to like this guy or find him at all sympathetic. or believe him and jax are some true love when he wouldn't even tell him who he is right away? it's idiotic. (and it's not even portrayed like much of a bad thing or like tabby did something wrong..)

i guess having sorta transphobic trans character as the villain was a unique take, but it wasn't very nuanced either. it made tabby even more unlikeable cuz it made no sense for him to even be with rob that long. felt very much like just plot excuse. jax clearly knowing/seeing the boyfriend wasn't good for tabby while being interested in tabby and yet he keeps giving him love life advice was another frustration. very contrived. the characters' dumb actions and melodramatic behavior unfortunately read like it was written by a teen. these people DIDN'T feel like the age they were supposed to be!!

the writing itself was solid from a technical viewpoint but that doesn't make up for the story and characters that were not solid at all.

honestly glad a friend lent me this book cuz $9.99 for an EBOOK from a DEBUT author?! CRIMINAL.

(is the cover just a traced photo of Dacre Montgomery as jax or am i crazy??)

[The Atlas of Stars · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this as part of Midnight Meadow Publishing’s ARC program! Thank you Midnight Meadow Publishing!

CW: Transphobia mention

So much of this book was just me sitting there just being like “COMMUNICATION IS KEY!! TALK
TO EACH OTHER!” and the other was the awe I was in because of the amount of detail that was put into this. The author’s use of transphobia from another trans person made this feel so much more real. It’s not talked about enough how if you can’t/don’t want to medically transition that you are looked down on by others in the community so although it hurt, it was incredibly validating to the transgender experience.

Moving on from that, THIS WAS SO CUTE! Jax is the perfect book boyfriend and the chemistry between him and Tabby was like nothing else. The friend group was also extremely supportive and loving with strong characters and relationships. I am so happy to have read this and highly recommend it.

[Ange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶

If you loved Dungeons & Drama by Kristy Boyce but you wanted it to be adult instead of YA, may I introduce you to The Key by Jo Morgan Sloan. It's a story of lost love, transformations, and reuniting over the shared love of being romantic nerds.

I really loved how Jo captured the intricacies of being trans in Tabby's character(MMC). It related to so many of my friends(and on some levels, my own) thoughts when it came to discovering ourselves and how we wanted the world to view us. The body dysmorphia building into self love as you come into yourself, the rant on how cisgender people view the trans community, this book is insanely relatable and I loved it.

Jo Morgan Sloan is going to change lives with this one. I hope it falls into the hands of someone who needs the reassurance to be themselves. True love will follow.

[Graham Clevenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attention one and all. I just finished reading The Key. This was a Christmas present from my co-author, so thank you for that! It was a sweet, enjoyable read. Jo teased that it was formulaic, but that does not mean that it is some by-the-numbers trope-filled half-job. The characters were unique and well written, and the plot was different enough that I definitely enjoyed the story, and I will happily read it again at some point. Thank you, Jo, for sharing with us all!

[Jess M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! From character perspectives and feelings, to plot line, this book did not disappoint! The love felt between Jax and Tabby(Jaime) was felt from the beginning and became a clear driving force through the story, making it hard to put down. I loved the sense of lgbtq+ community in this book and feel the author included several aspects of that rainbow perfectly to make all welcome in reading! Very well written, will definitely be recommending to friends and family!!

[Timefull Thinking full thoughts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A easy reader that covers trans issues both in and out of the community itself whilst also being a romance on soulmates. Soulmate novels are always a fave of mine and this was a perfect example of feeling myself presented in a book! Loved it!

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Key is probably my current favorite adult nerdy romance. It’s fun, romantic, and it has plenty of cute and sweet moments that really liven it up. I love the characters, though Jax is probably my favorite. He seemed the most real and relatable, and he’s such a sweetheart.

The only thing keeping me from giving a full five stars is Tabbi’s relationship with Rob. There were a few too many moments that made me wonder why they were still together outside of creating conflict for keeping Jax and Tabbi apart. Especially near the end when it’s revealed Rob was abusive. “But I love him” didn’t feel like a good enough glue for that relationship when it doesn’t *seem* like they’re in love, especially with Tabbi seeming like such a no-nonsense person when it comes to relationships. The whole reason they stayed together seemed flimsy, personally, but maybe their relationship could have used a little more fleshing out outside of Rob’s stolen romantic gestures.

Still a pretty good read, I was definitely hanging onto every word for the last few chapters. Would definitely recommend

[Cylvan "Mischief" · Rating 4 out of 5]

This voluntary review is based on a generously provided ARC
~The Prose~
The Key tackles the classic second chance romance trope but gives it to us from a transgender perspective. The simmering build in emotional tension locks its claws in at the start you cant help but be invested in the outcome of our couple. The cast is delightfully queer and diverse and the pacing is perfect. I cried more than once seeing so much of myself and my other trans friend's struggles represented between these pages.
~The Cons~
There is at the time of this review, no content warnings page in this book. If that changes upon release I will absolutely correct this portion of my review. This book deals strongly with cheating, internalized transphobia and internalized homophobia. It also features emotional abuse from a partner in the form of fat phobic commentary and other verbal attacks and resulting disordered eating.
~The Bon-Bons~
As a voracious smut reader this book is a little out of my swim lane as it is nearly closed door/FtB but it is handled in such a way that the intimacy is plot relevant and not disregarded entirely allowing mature characters tackle adult subjects.

[rachel x]

gotta admit, i hate this cover with a passion