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After Hours at Dooryard Books
1968 New York City
News about the war might be keeping Patrick up at night--news in general might be keeping Patrick up at night--but he's doing fine. He's sure of it. He gets to spend his days selling books in the gayest neighborhood on the East Coast and his nights merrily sleeping his way through the rare book community. But when he takes in a drifter who seems to be hiding something, and his best friend and her newborn move into the apartment upstairs, his life gets turned on its head.
A sleepy little bookstore should be the perfect place for Nathaniel to lie low, waiting for his past to catch up with him, but it turns out Dooryard Books is full of political radicals and anti-war agitators. If the FBI isn't actively surveilling this place, it will be. Nathaniel should go anywhere else. The last thing he expects is to like these subversives. There's a grieving folk musician and her baby--a demon of a child who will only sleep if Nathaniel, of all people, holds her. There's a pair of rabble-rousing teenagers who, upsettingly, seem to be right about everything. And then there's Patrick, who can't walk past anyone who needs his help--and who is perplexingly determined to help Nathaniel.
As the world balances on the precipice of something new and scary and maybe even hopeful, Patrick needs to decide what he's willing to risk for this chaotic new community he's accidentally created. And Nathaniel needs to figure out whether he has a place in this messy, flawed world--and whether he can believe he deserves it.
News about the war might be keeping Patrick up at night--news in general might be keeping Patrick up at night--but he's doing fine. He's sure of it. He gets to spend his days selling books in the gayest neighborhood on the East Coast and his nights merrily sleeping his way through the rare book community. But when he takes in a drifter who seems to be hiding something, and his best friend and her newborn move into the apartment upstairs, his life gets turned on its head.
A sleepy little bookstore should be the perfect place for Nathaniel to lie low, waiting for his past to catch up with him, but it turns out Dooryard Books is full of political radicals and anti-war agitators. If the FBI isn't actively surveilling this place, it will be. Nathaniel should go anywhere else. The last thing he expects is to like these subversives. There's a grieving folk musician and her baby--a demon of a child who will only sleep if Nathaniel, of all people, holds her. There's a pair of rabble-rousing teenagers who, upsettingly, seem to be right about everything. And then there's Patrick, who can't walk past anyone who needs his help--and who is perplexingly determined to help Nathaniel.
As the world balances on the precipice of something new and scary and maybe even hopeful, Patrick needs to decide what he's willing to risk for this chaotic new community he's accidentally created. And Nathaniel needs to figure out whether he has a place in this messy, flawed world--and whether he can believe he deserves it.
351 pages, Paperback
First published November 18, 2025
1685 people want to read
About the author
Cat Sebastian
27 books5,064 followersCat Sebastian has written sixteen queer historical romances. Cat’s books have received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist.
Before writing, Cat was a lawyer and a teacher and did a variety of other jobs she liked much less than she enjoys writing happy endings for queer people. She was born in New Jersey and lived in New York and Arizona before settling down in a swampy part of south. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably reading, having one-sided conversations with her dog, or doing the crossword puzzle.
The best way to keep up with Cat’s projects is to subscribe to her newsletter.
Before writing, Cat was a lawyer and a teacher and did a variety of other jobs she liked much less than she enjoys writing happy endings for queer people. She was born in New Jersey and lived in New York and Arizona before settling down in a swampy part of south. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably reading, having one-sided conversations with her dog, or doing the crossword puzzle.
The best way to keep up with Cat’s projects is to subscribe to her newsletter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
November 20, 2025
After a couple of heavier reads recently this book was the literary equivalent of putting cool moisturiser on fresh sunburn.
I feel like at this point I don’t need to say anything about the quality of Cat Seb’s skill as a writer, and especially her mid-century books. They just reliably a good time.
This quiet little romance had a deep emotional core that was an ode to finding kindness, generosity and grace in times when it feels like the world is falling apart and to look to the future with optimism. I cant help but feel that there is perhaps a particular sort of relevancy in the messaging to todays global landscape. This was also a story about community and unconventional families and the joy that those connections can bring.
I was completely tuned in to the romance between Patrick and Nathaniel and whilst the spice was fairly mild, the chemistry between them was delicious, filled with a slow burn of yearning and the build of a relationship which encouraged safety, trust and love. There’s a bit of an age gap between Nathaniel (39) and Patrick (27) but the age difference is balanced by the experience gap, with Patrick being significantly more experienced and self assured in his identity as a gay man.
While I enjoyed Patrick as a main character, I found him to be perhaps a bit too easy to love? Especially when it came to the romance? I think his character actually was at its best when viewed through his relationship with Susan and the processing of their shared grief. A number of the moments between Patrick and Susan had me literally tearing up.
Nathaniel on the other hand, I found was a character I resonated much more deeply with and was so invested in getting to witness his journey of growth, healing and acceptance. It is just too easy to see how societal pressure and compulsory heterosexuality of the 50s/60s lead him to suppress so many elements of himself and to see him start to unpack what that means to him and his happiness and that its never too late to make a change.
Interesting that this was another book that incorporated elements of moral injury again (although in a much softer dose than some of my other recent reads) and I think obviously this theme is a prominent topic tackled in stories set during this political landscape.
I fluctuated between a 4.5 stars ✨ rounded up or down and ended up rating down mainly cause I am unsure how likely I am to seek this out for a reread, but I reserve the right to change my mind down the line hahah
I basically demolished this in single sitting. Very cozy, sweet and like a warm hug for my heart ❤️
I feel like at this point I don’t need to say anything about the quality of Cat Seb’s skill as a writer, and especially her mid-century books. They just reliably a good time.
This quiet little romance had a deep emotional core that was an ode to finding kindness, generosity and grace in times when it feels like the world is falling apart and to look to the future with optimism. I cant help but feel that there is perhaps a particular sort of relevancy in the messaging to todays global landscape. This was also a story about community and unconventional families and the joy that those connections can bring.
I was completely tuned in to the romance between Patrick and Nathaniel and whilst the spice was fairly mild, the chemistry between them was delicious, filled with a slow burn of yearning and the build of a relationship which encouraged safety, trust and love. There’s a bit of an age gap between Nathaniel (39) and Patrick (27) but the age difference is balanced by the experience gap, with Patrick being significantly more experienced and self assured in his identity as a gay man.
While I enjoyed Patrick as a main character, I found him to be perhaps a bit too easy to love? Especially when it came to the romance? I think his character actually was at its best when viewed through his relationship with Susan and the processing of their shared grief. A number of the moments between Patrick and Susan had me literally tearing up.
Nathaniel on the other hand, I found was a character I resonated much more deeply with and was so invested in getting to witness his journey of growth, healing and acceptance. It is just too easy to see how societal pressure and compulsory heterosexuality of the 50s/60s lead him to suppress so many elements of himself and to see him start to unpack what that means to him and his happiness and that its never too late to make a change.
Interesting that this was another book that incorporated elements of moral injury again (although in a much softer dose than some of my other recent reads) and I think obviously this theme is a prominent topic tackled in stories set during this political landscape.
I fluctuated between a 4.5 stars ✨ rounded up or down and ended up rating down mainly cause I am unsure how likely I am to seek this out for a reread, but I reserve the right to change my mind down the line hahah
I basically demolished this in single sitting. Very cozy, sweet and like a warm hug for my heart ❤️
November 21, 2025
While I generally enjoy Cat Sebastian, I've often had cause to complain about the timing and structure in her books, but not this time. This is wonderfully done. Of the eleven books I've read by her now, this and You Should Be So Lucky are definitely the top two, and by some distance. Glad I didn't let this one languish in the pile.
November 23, 2025
Lovely, funny, touching, exquisitely painful for anyone grieving a NYC that once was; also 1968 is terrifyingly relevant to 2025. Just about perfect, no damn notes.
November 20, 2025
This was wonderful. OMG she upleveled from an already amazing level.
But first a warning, while this is so completely totally a Cat Sebastian (of the modern 20th century kind, subgenre the NY ones) romance it is also a bit something more. Not because it breaks romance expectations but because the focus on the relationship is soft and slow burn and there are kinds of historical layers and of deep deep other characters, each with their own cargo of sadness, ambitions, morality, hope. TLDR: it's very slow burn, the sex very out of focus, and all so much about the emotions, and the characters (not just the romantic pair) trying to build a happier future (not just romantically) one brick at a time.
It's kind of a slice of life cozy historical fiction set in a grim year that seemed hopeless to them - with so many books being read (and characters thinking and talking about the books) and people being decent human beings to other human beings (I just loved Mrs Kaplan) and it was all so lovely throughout and so hopeful and rewarding because losses get processed and things keep getting built for the future. And as a bonus you know that things will get better (one of the things starting with an event just a couple streets from this location and just a few months after the ending of this book) and that is a great lesson to be reminded of in 2025.
I will probably be pushing this at many non romance reader friends. Though there still is one and I liked it and I was so rooting for them, it's just that there are more layers to it all.
The writing was fantastic at least for my tastes, the descriptions, the dialogue, the pace that is slow but just right.
Great cover which really gets the mood of the book.
Very lovely and different, a bit on its own category.
But first a warning, while this is so completely totally a Cat Sebastian (of the modern 20th century kind, subgenre the NY ones) romance it is also a bit something more. Not because it breaks romance expectations but because the focus on the relationship is soft and slow burn and there are kinds of historical layers and of deep deep other characters, each with their own cargo of sadness, ambitions, morality, hope. TLDR: it's very slow burn, the sex very out of focus, and all so much about the emotions, and the characters (not just the romantic pair) trying to build a happier future (not just romantically) one brick at a time.
It's kind of a slice of life cozy historical fiction set in a grim year that seemed hopeless to them - with so many books being read (and characters thinking and talking about the books) and people being decent human beings to other human beings (I just loved Mrs Kaplan) and it was all so lovely throughout and so hopeful and rewarding because losses get processed and things keep getting built for the future. And as a bonus you know that things will get better (one of the things starting with an event just a couple streets from this location and just a few months after the ending of this book) and that is a great lesson to be reminded of in 2025.
I will probably be pushing this at many non romance reader friends. Though there still is one and I liked it and I was so rooting for them, it's just that there are more layers to it all.
The writing was fantastic at least for my tastes, the descriptions, the dialogue, the pace that is slow but just right.
Great cover which really gets the mood of the book.
Very lovely and different, a bit on its own category.
Want to read
September 6, 2025save me new cat sebastian book… save me..
November 22, 2025
All the stars.
So good, but a warning, it's different, kind of unique a very slow slowburn romance, historical fiction, full of other characters and books and world events and getting over grief and so hopeful but real. Pretty special.
So good, but a warning, it's different, kind of unique a very slow slowburn romance, historical fiction, full of other characters and books and world events and getting over grief and so hopeful but real. Pretty special.
November 26, 2025
Ohhhh what a beautiful book. I actually was given this one in e-ARC but (as has been my way this year, sadly) didn't read it on time, so the edition I read was the final, published book that I bought for myself - and I'm so glad I did. It was just exactly what I needed to read during a rough month - it's so full of kindness and compassion and a grounded hope that feels true even in the worst of times. Cat Sebastian's writing is always beautiful, and this book in particular was just a perfect mix of vibes-with-plot for me, with a deep coziness around the beautiful found family built across the book in a used bookshop in 1968 New York City. Obviously I was not alive at the time so can't speak personally to the accuracy of the setting, but every detail felt vivid and lived-in, and I loved every single bit of it. Every adult member of the found family is dealing with some kind of tragedy in their past, and that's treated with gravity and sensitivity, but the way they build their new life together is just beautiful.
This ranks for me as one of my very favorite novels by Cat Sebastian (up there with Hither, Page), and I know I'll be re-reading it many times in the future.
This ranks for me as one of my very favorite novels by Cat Sebastian (up there with Hither, Page), and I know I'll be re-reading it many times in the future.
November 26, 2025
This was absolutely brilliant. The historical immersion in 1968 NYC. The bookstore. The regulars. Patrick and Nathaniel. Susan. Eleanor. The twins.
It’s about love, loss, found family. Vietnam. Human rights, protests. Queer culture and community. Hope.
Doing the right thing. Doing your best, day after day. Fighting for what you believe in. Falling in love. Parenting. Building a life.
I loved every page, slowed down, reread to savour it. I’m sad it’s over, I’m going to miss every single character.
It’s about love, loss, found family. Vietnam. Human rights, protests. Queer culture and community. Hope.
Doing the right thing. Doing your best, day after day. Fighting for what you believe in. Falling in love. Parenting. Building a life.
I loved every page, slowed down, reread to savour it. I’m sad it’s over, I’m going to miss every single character.
November 18, 2025
Cat Sebastian has cornered the market in queer twentieth century historical romances, moving from the 1940s-set
Page & Sommers
mysteries to the Cabot stories of the sixties and seventies and then to late fifties for
We Could Be So Good
and
You Should Be So Lucky
. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of them and am delighted to be able to add After Hours at Dooryard Books to their number. It’s a gentle, low(ish)-angst story for all that it’s set during a time of great unrest and upheaval; the central slow-burn romance is tender and lovely, and I loved the focus on community, on people coming together, learning how to take care of each other and allowing themselves to be cared for in return.
February, 1968: the war in Vietnam shows no signs of ending anytime soon, public disaffection is growing, and in New York City, the garbage is piling up in the streets because of a strike by sanitation workers. Patrick Fitzgerald is contentedly working on fixing the binding on a first edition he recently picked up at an estate sale, when Mrs. Kaplan, the owner of Dooryard Books (where Patrick is the manager) breezes in accompanied by a stranger, a man several years older than Patrick’s twenty-seven, and whom he immediately realises is her latest ‘project’. Patrick should know what that looks like; a decade ago he was one of her projects himself, and in the intervening time, he’s been there to help lots of Mrs. Kaplan’s other waifs and strays to get back on their feet before making plans of their own and moving on.
Mrs. Kaplan introduces Patrick to Nathaniel Smith (Smith? Yeah, sure) who is even more dubious looking than her usual strays – tall, thin, pale, with too-long brown hair and eyes that keep darting around as though he’s expecting to be arrested any minute. But Patrick knows better than to judge. He welcomes Nathaniel, shows him where he’s to sleep and returns downstairs to the shop to ask Mrs. Kaplan what he should know about his new guest – but she’s surprisingly cagey, saying only that he may be a bit skittish but that he’s getting better - before she heads out.
A day or so later, Patrick and Nathaniel are sharing a somewhat dismal dinner of badly cooked eggs when the shop doorbell rings; expecting a late delivery or something Patrick runs downstairs and opens the door, shocked to see not a delivery man, but his best friend and sister-in-law Susan, carrying a single suitcase – and a very young baby. Patrick is trying to make sense of it all – Susan and his brother live in California, although Michael was drafted and is currently serving in Vietnam – when she holds out a crumpled piece of paper and Patrick’s brain stalls as his heart sinks. It’s from the Department of Defence; Susan must got it that morning, packed a suitcase, grabbed her guitar and the baby and gone straight to the airport. And now they’re here – which means there are now three people counting on Patrick to know what to do. In a way, he’s glad to have so many things to think about; it will at least stop him dwelling on the fact that his brother is dead.
You can read the rest of this review at All About Romance.
February, 1968: the war in Vietnam shows no signs of ending anytime soon, public disaffection is growing, and in New York City, the garbage is piling up in the streets because of a strike by sanitation workers. Patrick Fitzgerald is contentedly working on fixing the binding on a first edition he recently picked up at an estate sale, when Mrs. Kaplan, the owner of Dooryard Books (where Patrick is the manager) breezes in accompanied by a stranger, a man several years older than Patrick’s twenty-seven, and whom he immediately realises is her latest ‘project’. Patrick should know what that looks like; a decade ago he was one of her projects himself, and in the intervening time, he’s been there to help lots of Mrs. Kaplan’s other waifs and strays to get back on their feet before making plans of their own and moving on.
Mrs. Kaplan introduces Patrick to Nathaniel Smith (Smith? Yeah, sure) who is even more dubious looking than her usual strays – tall, thin, pale, with too-long brown hair and eyes that keep darting around as though he’s expecting to be arrested any minute. But Patrick knows better than to judge. He welcomes Nathaniel, shows him where he’s to sleep and returns downstairs to the shop to ask Mrs. Kaplan what he should know about his new guest – but she’s surprisingly cagey, saying only that he may be a bit skittish but that he’s getting better - before she heads out.
A day or so later, Patrick and Nathaniel are sharing a somewhat dismal dinner of badly cooked eggs when the shop doorbell rings; expecting a late delivery or something Patrick runs downstairs and opens the door, shocked to see not a delivery man, but his best friend and sister-in-law Susan, carrying a single suitcase – and a very young baby. Patrick is trying to make sense of it all – Susan and his brother live in California, although Michael was drafted and is currently serving in Vietnam – when she holds out a crumpled piece of paper and Patrick’s brain stalls as his heart sinks. It’s from the Department of Defence; Susan must got it that morning, packed a suitcase, grabbed her guitar and the baby and gone straight to the airport. And now they’re here – which means there are now three people counting on Patrick to know what to do. In a way, he’s glad to have so many things to think about; it will at least stop him dwelling on the fact that his brother is dead.
You can read the rest of this review at All About Romance.
November 29, 2025
Do you ever read a book you don’t want to end, and then start crying because you see the book percentage nearing 100. This was me from 70% on.
I adore Cat Sebsatian novels and this was no different. I’ve always appreciated the queer joy portrayed in a time when that love and joy was to be forbidden.
I also found myself crying at times because who’d have thought a novel set in 1968 would also apply 2025. ( I knew this would be the case, I was being delusional).
I ended this book, feeling hopeful, that no matter how awful it can be, it will get better eventually.
I adore Cat Sebsatian novels and this was no different. I’ve always appreciated the queer joy portrayed in a time when that love and joy was to be forbidden.
I also found myself crying at times because who’d have thought a novel set in 1968 would also apply 2025. ( I knew this would be the case, I was being delusional).
I ended this book, feeling hopeful, that no matter how awful it can be, it will get better eventually.
November 27, 2025
Cat Sebastian made me cry in public transportation
This is about love and grief and family, about books and forgiveness and hope. About how things have been shit since the beginning of time, and they may continue to be shit, but at least we have each other.
Full review to come, maybe.
This is about love and grief and family, about books and forgiveness and hope. About how things have been shit since the beginning of time, and they may continue to be shit, but at least we have each other.
Full review to come, maybe.
November 29, 2025
Cat Sebastian has become an autobuy, top 5 favorite author for me. Her writing and storytelling is outstanding. Of the 15 books I’ve read by her, I’ve 4 or 5 starred all but one. Among those 15, After Hours at Dooryard Books now stands at the top of that epic pile of brilliance. It is, in fact, probably in my top 5-10 favorite books of all time.
Few stories have ever resonated with me as profoundly as this one does. The sociopolitical climate of the time, 1968, echoes today and while so much of the last 2 decades+ I’ve felt like I’ve been screaming into the void, more and more voices are finally joining in. Reading these characters I realize, no cast of characters has ever felt so like ‘my tribe’ as this one does, their social and political ideology and advocacy feels like home, like being seen and heard and understood in a really deep, rare, comforting way.
“Outside these doors is chaos. Appalling men are elected president. Every day’s headlines are worse than the last. All year, it’s been like that, and it isn’t getting better. But it will. Meanwhile, there are donuts and a pot of coffee and work to be done: maybe not enough to tip the scales, but there anyway. Dooryard Books is here anyway.”
Maybe the era is a part of what resonates as well. Though I was just 2 years old when the story takes place, I was definitely shaped by the political and social upheaval of the period and well remember the adults in my life being glued to the news. Though my dad wasn’t as hardcore “weirdo wing of the anti-war movement” as Patrick and Susan, Iris and Hector, he was always much, much more progressive and left leaning than any of my friends’ parents or other adults I knew. So this, again, felt like home.
Love the story! Love the characters! Especially Patrick, whose kindness and generosity of spirit I’ve long striven to embody.
In a historical note Sebastian concludes:
“Writing this in the United States in 2025, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the direction this country is headed. Reading personal accounts of 1968, there wasn’t a lot of optimism going around then, either. And that, in a small way, makes me hopeful that whatever’s on the other side of this at least points us in the right direction.”
This story inspired a similar feeling of cautious hope in me as well. I appreciate Sebastian giving me that. It’s been really hard for me to read at all this year and I will fall far short of my Reading Challenge. This book has been a joy to read and a balm to my spirit.
Finally, as long as Joel Leslie doesn’t do the narration, I will definitely add the audiobook to my library!
5 brilliantly shining stars!
Few stories have ever resonated with me as profoundly as this one does. The sociopolitical climate of the time, 1968, echoes today and while so much of the last 2 decades+ I’ve felt like I’ve been screaming into the void, more and more voices are finally joining in. Reading these characters I realize, no cast of characters has ever felt so like ‘my tribe’ as this one does, their social and political ideology and advocacy feels like home, like being seen and heard and understood in a really deep, rare, comforting way.
“Outside these doors is chaos. Appalling men are elected president. Every day’s headlines are worse than the last. All year, it’s been like that, and it isn’t getting better. But it will. Meanwhile, there are donuts and a pot of coffee and work to be done: maybe not enough to tip the scales, but there anyway. Dooryard Books is here anyway.”
Maybe the era is a part of what resonates as well. Though I was just 2 years old when the story takes place, I was definitely shaped by the political and social upheaval of the period and well remember the adults in my life being glued to the news. Though my dad wasn’t as hardcore “weirdo wing of the anti-war movement” as Patrick and Susan, Iris and Hector, he was always much, much more progressive and left leaning than any of my friends’ parents or other adults I knew. So this, again, felt like home.
Love the story! Love the characters! Especially Patrick, whose kindness and generosity of spirit I’ve long striven to embody.
In a historical note Sebastian concludes:
“Writing this in the United States in 2025, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the direction this country is headed. Reading personal accounts of 1968, there wasn’t a lot of optimism going around then, either. And that, in a small way, makes me hopeful that whatever’s on the other side of this at least points us in the right direction.”
This story inspired a similar feeling of cautious hope in me as well. I appreciate Sebastian giving me that. It’s been really hard for me to read at all this year and I will fall far short of my Reading Challenge. This book has been a joy to read and a balm to my spirit.
Finally, as long as Joel Leslie doesn’t do the narration, I will definitely add the audiobook to my library!
5 brilliantly shining stars!
November 24, 2025
I think this one may be closer to a 3.5 - despite the heavy themes, it may have been a smidge too cosy for me. I still inhaled it like my life depended on it, but the story felt very detached and the characters didn't make me feel much. There was a lot of potential in each character and plot point, but it all felt very underutilised.
November 25, 2025
In the running for my favorite book of the year. I cannot be objective about this at all- it was so much NYC nostalgia (in the actual Greek sense of feeling a pain for home), a NYC I caught glimpses of on its way out in the early 2000s. Also the analogues to our current harsh fucked up times brought a weird amount of comfort- everything was terrible, everything is terrible, we still love and survive. This book made me cry multiple times, including on the subway, so it’s NYC bonafides are ensured. Loved it.
November 24, 2025
Congratulations to Cat Sebastian for writing yet another book that made me feel like I'd been beaten over the head with the weight of my own stupid emotions.
November 25, 2025
Cat Sebastian delivers again. This is a gorgeous slow burn, with grief as a significant theme, and yet still manages to feel like being wrapped in a cozy blanket.
November 23, 2025
a thousand stars of course of course of course of course my heart is full my heart is broken cat just being cat things
Read
November 23, 2025This is a lovely, quiet-veering-on-melancholic NYC histrom. It’s similar in many ways to Sebastian’s midcentury series, but also distinct, particularly in terms of the 1968 setting. (cw for grief and loss, which I thought was handled gently and with care).
The story takes place in and around Dooryard Books, a secondhand store in the village that’s home to Patrick, who runs the shop, and a rotating cast of characters in search of a soft place to land. Which brings us to Nathaniel, and our love story.
“Patrick doesn’t know what went wrong for Nathaniel…but he can see the shape of a life divided into before and after, and he knows how hard it is to figure out what you still have in common with the person you used to be. Maybe that’s why Nathaniel fits in here.”
Next to arrive is Susan, Patrick’s sister in law, and her newborn baby, and her heartbreak. After that it’s mostly how each of these three will find their way, how Patrick and Nathaniel will find their way to each other, and how anyone finds joy and peace amidst ordinary and extraordinary hardships.
Historical events simmer under the surface throughout, boiling over into the plot at various points. There’s the war, and the assassinations, but also smaller things like the sanitation strike (I remember my grandparents talking about living through this). The baby, Eleanor, is present on page, but she didn’t bother me (she doesn’t sleep, so she does bother the characters). And it’s Cat Sebastian, so there’s crying, and coffee, and books. I cried. I loved it.
“Through the open window comes the sound of “Little Green Apples” playing on somebody’s radio, along with a breeze that cools the sweat on their skin. Everything is lush and slow; they’re spending time like it isn’t something that ever runs out. And maybe it won’t. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe they get to have this for as long as anyone gets to have anything.”
The story takes place in and around Dooryard Books, a secondhand store in the village that’s home to Patrick, who runs the shop, and a rotating cast of characters in search of a soft place to land. Which brings us to Nathaniel, and our love story.
“Patrick doesn’t know what went wrong for Nathaniel…but he can see the shape of a life divided into before and after, and he knows how hard it is to figure out what you still have in common with the person you used to be. Maybe that’s why Nathaniel fits in here.”
Next to arrive is Susan, Patrick’s sister in law, and her newborn baby, and her heartbreak. After that it’s mostly how each of these three will find their way, how Patrick and Nathaniel will find their way to each other, and how anyone finds joy and peace amidst ordinary and extraordinary hardships.
Historical events simmer under the surface throughout, boiling over into the plot at various points. There’s the war, and the assassinations, but also smaller things like the sanitation strike (I remember my grandparents talking about living through this). The baby, Eleanor, is present on page, but she didn’t bother me (she doesn’t sleep, so she does bother the characters). And it’s Cat Sebastian, so there’s crying, and coffee, and books. I cried. I loved it.
“Through the open window comes the sound of “Little Green Apples” playing on somebody’s radio, along with a breeze that cools the sweat on their skin. Everything is lush and slow; they’re spending time like it isn’t something that ever runs out. And maybe it won’t. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe they get to have this for as long as anyone gets to have anything.”
November 21, 2025
i don't know if it's the bronchitis in my system or if it's just cat sebastian being amazing yet again (it's probably both), but after hours at dooryard books just felt so.... perfect. it takes cozy romance and age gap romance, two things i typically do not like at all, and handed me the perfect 24 hour read on a golden platter. i feel like goldilocks finally settling into the bed that's juuust right.
absolutely lovely. made me laugh. made me ugly cry. cat sebastian owes me another box of tissues after some of that.
absolutely lovely. made me laugh. made me ugly cry. cat sebastian owes me another box of tissues after some of that.
Currently reading
October 30, 2025update 10/29 just received my arc!!
yay for more cat sebastian mid-century modern historicals!!
yay for more cat sebastian mid-century modern historicals!!
November 24, 2025
I just adore CatSeb’s writing so much! She writes in a way that draws you into the story and really makes you feel along with the characters… plus she writes in my favourite style, 3rd person present tense.
Now I’ll start by saying although this was definitely an amazing read, it isn’t my favourite CatSeb book. I didn’t adore Patrick & Nathaniel with quite the same fervour as I love Andy & Nick, Eddie & Mark and of course my absolute faves, Peter & Caleb. Even so, it was a great book which I devoured in a day!
This book was so much sadder than CatSeb’s previous works; because whilst all of CatSeb’s historicals have some sadness in them, this one dealt with deep, agonising grief - (spoilers, but available as part of the content warnings) there is the death of a husband/sibling (same character) and the death of an infant child (past, but still raw) and these layers of grief really bring the found family together in a really different way to how the found families in WCBSG and YSBSL came together.
CatSeb tends to write these gorgeous Golden Retriver x Black Cat pairings, and whilst this has echoes of that, I’d say both Patrick and Nathaniel very much own the black cat label here. They’re both prickly and a bit mean but over time they grow to be devoted to each other, as well as Patrick’s sister-in-law Susan and his baby niece, Eleanor. There is an age-gap between Patrick & Nathaniel, but I would say you don’t really notice it as Patrick has so much more life experience; Nathaniel is the one newly finding his feet, even though he is older.
The backdrop of this book is the Vietnam war and the civil unrest in the country in the late 60’s. There is the constant threat of something sinister alongside the grief of the war and their own personal losses. She just does such an amazing job of getting into the time period and really making you feel like you’re there!
Also the shameless obsessing over Walt Whitman? Feels like I urgently need to so and reread some of his works 😹
Read After Hours at Dooryard Books for:
✨ Queer historical romance, 1968 NYC
✨ Bookseller x ???
✨ Nathaniel is keeping painful secrets
✨ Dealing with layers of grief
✨ Found family leaning on each other
✨ Age gap (27 x 39)
✨ Using music to heal
✨ Walt Whitman appreciation club
Additional thoughts a few days after reading the book:
This has almost the exact same character relationships as CatSeb’s historical novel, The Queer Principles of Kitt Webb!! Two black cat MCs, one of whom is keeping a secret about who he is; a sister with a young child who they have to help; one MC with a child who passed away… interesting. Anyone else see the comparison??
Now I’ll start by saying although this was definitely an amazing read, it isn’t my favourite CatSeb book. I didn’t adore Patrick & Nathaniel with quite the same fervour as I love Andy & Nick, Eddie & Mark and of course my absolute faves, Peter & Caleb. Even so, it was a great book which I devoured in a day!
This book was so much sadder than CatSeb’s previous works; because whilst all of CatSeb’s historicals have some sadness in them, this one dealt with deep, agonising grief - (spoilers, but available as part of the content warnings) there is the death of a husband/sibling (same character) and the death of an infant child (past, but still raw) and these layers of grief really bring the found family together in a really different way to how the found families in WCBSG and YSBSL came together.
CatSeb tends to write these gorgeous Golden Retriver x Black Cat pairings, and whilst this has echoes of that, I’d say both Patrick and Nathaniel very much own the black cat label here. They’re both prickly and a bit mean but over time they grow to be devoted to each other, as well as Patrick’s sister-in-law Susan and his baby niece, Eleanor. There is an age-gap between Patrick & Nathaniel, but I would say you don’t really notice it as Patrick has so much more life experience; Nathaniel is the one newly finding his feet, even though he is older.
The backdrop of this book is the Vietnam war and the civil unrest in the country in the late 60’s. There is the constant threat of something sinister alongside the grief of the war and their own personal losses. She just does such an amazing job of getting into the time period and really making you feel like you’re there!
Also the shameless obsessing over Walt Whitman? Feels like I urgently need to so and reread some of his works 😹
Read After Hours at Dooryard Books for:
✨ Queer historical romance, 1968 NYC
✨ Bookseller x ???
✨ Nathaniel is keeping painful secrets
✨ Dealing with layers of grief
✨ Found family leaning on each other
✨ Age gap (27 x 39)
✨ Using music to heal
✨ Walt Whitman appreciation club
Additional thoughts a few days after reading the book:
This has almost the exact same character relationships as CatSeb’s historical novel, The Queer Principles of Kitt Webb!! Two black cat MCs, one of whom is keeping a secret about who he is; a sister with a young child who they have to help; one MC with a child who passed away… interesting. Anyone else see the comparison??
November 20, 2025
More historical fiction than romance, and so well written. And very slice of life, which is exactly my cup of tea. I enjoyed the slow burn between Patrick and Nathaniel a lot, just as much as I enjoyed the found family aspect and all the interesting characters that pass through Dooryard Books. The novel is set in 1968, when the world is full of change and everything seems volatile and somewhat scary (and unfortunately not so different from current 2025), but it's still hopeful and warm. Will definitely re-read.
November 30, 2025
I think this is Cat Sebastian's best book to date even though the romance was less central than in her others. That's not because the romance was lukewarm or anything, it's because she's created a whole world in this book where it feels like society is falling apart, the characters are dealing with the hardest of hard things, but people are good and kind, and refuge and belonging can be found in good people and community. This is really a hopeful book despite the fact that it doesn't at all deny how bloody hard life can be. I'm already looking forward to rereading it.
November 2, 2025
I read the ARC of this novel via the author's email list, belatedly sent out. What a treat!
The structure of dual POV, but six chapters with one, six with the other, repeated in four titled sections paired very well with the slow pace of the character arcs and slow burn romance set in 1960s NYC.
This will be an eye-opener to anyone new to that time period. Feels relevant to today in many ways. I was a child in the '60s, far from NYC. But the riots and demonstrations were news everywhere.
Sebastian does such a good job bringing in what was happening, locally and nationally, as she takes these people through their time together. From music to gay literature, New York City changing and political protests against the Vietnam war, these wonderfully emotionally mature people work through flaws and losses and the terrible weight of mistakes. I read it faster than I meant to. Next time, I will go more slowly. Probably.
Remarkably, there are very few typos, and no editing goofs that I spotted.
The structure of dual POV, but six chapters with one, six with the other, repeated in four titled sections paired very well with the slow pace of the character arcs and slow burn romance set in 1960s NYC.
This will be an eye-opener to anyone new to that time period. Feels relevant to today in many ways. I was a child in the '60s, far from NYC. But the riots and demonstrations were news everywhere.
Sebastian does such a good job bringing in what was happening, locally and nationally, as she takes these people through their time together. From music to gay literature, New York City changing and political protests against the Vietnam war, these wonderfully emotionally mature people work through flaws and losses and the terrible weight of mistakes. I read it faster than I meant to. Next time, I will go more slowly. Probably.
Remarkably, there are very few typos, and no editing goofs that I spotted.
November 27, 2025
Actual rating: 3.5
Sadly, After Hours at Dooryard Books didn't hit the mark for me but even a meh Cat Sebastian is honestly pretty good.
This book sort of almost wanted to do something, a lot of somethings, but it never fully committed and instead ended up doing very little.
My feelings towards Dooryard Books lean much more toward apathy than dislike. It was a cozy read and I liked the characters fine. Nothing about the book was bad, it was well-written as all Cat Sebastian's books are, and none of the main characters were unlikeable. However, I also felt like I never really got to know them and I also didn't much care.
It was like everything was somehow told behind a veil of detachment. It might've been because there were such important issues at play and then also a bit of romance, and love in various ways. None ever got the chance to shine or to be properly delved into because the book obviously couldn't do all that.
I did like the found family in this. That, more so than the romance, was the book's strongest point for me and I really enjoyed Susan's character in particular. Her friendships with the mcs were really lovely and interesting, and in a lot of ways she felt like the glue holding them together.
I've been so excited for After Hours at Dooryard Books and it's a bit of a bummer that I didn't end up loving it but I'm so glad Cat Sebastian is back to writing!
Sadly, After Hours at Dooryard Books didn't hit the mark for me but even a meh Cat Sebastian is honestly pretty good.
This book sort of almost wanted to do something, a lot of somethings, but it never fully committed and instead ended up doing very little.
My feelings towards Dooryard Books lean much more toward apathy than dislike. It was a cozy read and I liked the characters fine. Nothing about the book was bad, it was well-written as all Cat Sebastian's books are, and none of the main characters were unlikeable. However, I also felt like I never really got to know them and I also didn't much care.
It was like everything was somehow told behind a veil of detachment. It might've been because there were such important issues at play and then also a bit of romance, and love in various ways. None ever got the chance to shine or to be properly delved into because the book obviously couldn't do all that.
I did like the found family in this. That, more so than the romance, was the book's strongest point for me and I really enjoyed Susan's character in particular. Her friendships with the mcs were really lovely and interesting, and in a lot of ways she felt like the glue holding them together.
I've been so excited for After Hours at Dooryard Books and it's a bit of a bummer that I didn't end up loving it but I'm so glad Cat Sebastian is back to writing!
November 30, 2025
I’m 100% convinced Cat Sebastian couldn’t write a bad book to save her life. Nobody writes soft romance and yearning like she does, the queer found family of it all was beautiful to read about and this story cured my Weltschmerz a little. History repeats as they say, and if this book doesn’t give you a little hope I don’t know what will. Bonus points that 90% of this takes place in a bookstore.
November 21, 2025
6 stars and my favorite Cat Sebastian to date.
December 1, 2025
I relate to Nathan because I, too, would walk into Dooryard Books at my lowest and then never want to leave again 💛
November 23, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up
Not the best Cat Sebastian, but still damn good.
So often having a friend as tightly woven into the story as Susan is distracts from the romance, but, here, adding those additional relationships only makes the romance shine brighter.
More fade to gray than I would prefer. The bits we see of Nathaniel discovering the joy of his sexuality are great; could have used much more.
Not the best Cat Sebastian, but still damn good.
So often having a friend as tightly woven into the story as Susan is distracts from the romance, but, here, adding those additional relationships only makes the romance shine brighter.
More fade to gray than I would prefer. The bits we see of Nathaniel discovering the joy of his sexuality are great; could have used much more.
November 19, 2025
being a huge bitch is a redeeming quality, actually
in all seriousness, the best historicals remind us that the past was just as fucked up as the present and that the past was as full of anger and love and tenacity and tenderness as the present. this is one of the very best among them
in all seriousness, the best historicals remind us that the past was just as fucked up as the present and that the past was as full of anger and love and tenacity and tenderness as the present. this is one of the very best among them
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