A wry yet tenderhearted novel about a couple who attempt to buy their way into a 'wild and precious' existence in the Hudson Valley, where they become entangled with a queer couple living the dream analog life.

Newlywed Rosie has grown disenchanted with NYC. Inspired by Instagram ads, she starts thirsting for a rural life upstate — one full of beauty and simplicity. Willing to do anything for Rosie's happiness, her tech-bro husband, Jordan, acquiesces to her vision for the future, and they offer — well above asking price — on a beautiful, historic fixer-upper in the Hudson Valley. But when Jordan suddenly loses his job on the day they close the deal, the couple is forced to rent out the property's dilapidated outbuilding.

Enter Dylan and Lark: an incredibly attractive and handy queer couple who offer to rent the outbuilding and help Rosie and Jordan with repairs. They're living the life Rosie had envisioned for herself: hand-built furniture, herbal tinctures, guinea hens, and hand-dyed linens. Rosie grows increasingly infatuated with their new tenants, especially with model-esque and charismatic Dylan — to Jordan's increasing distress.

Whip-smart and searingly funny, Trust and Safety examines questions of authenticity, betrayal, belonging and entitlement, while poking fun at contemporary fear of the ‘gay agenda’. It’s a satirical anti-romcom, perfect for fans of Naoise Dolan, Kristen Arnett and Torrey Peters.

‘Sexy, surprising, witty and beautifully written — Trust and Safety is a complete delight from start to finish’ — Andrea Bartz, author of The Spare Room and We Were Never Here

‘Trust and Safety is distressingly smart, wickedly sly, and side-clutchingly hilarious… What a brilliantly observed and witty take on the sometimes absurd ways we choose to live. And how blessedly and wonderfully gay’ — Vanessa Chan, author of The Storm We Made

’What happens when we try to live the life that Instagram is selling us? This is the question that Trust and Safety hilariously-and poignantly-asks… It's a smart, funny, and timely exploration of what happens when our obsessions get the better of us, and when we discover that authenticity is not as authentic as it seems’ — Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding

‘Laugh-out-loud… I felt like I was reading the version of Pride and Prejudice we all want — namely, where Darcy is a woodsy, stick shift-driving butch. If you want a book that perfectly evokes millennial sexual politics under late-stage capitalism, and in which all of us — gay, straight, cis, and trans alike — are read for absolute filth, then look no further than Trust and Safety’ — Rafael Frumkin, author of Confidence and Bugsy

‘Irresistibly hilarious and weird, sexy and surprising, and gently profound, Trust and Safety delighted me at every turn and delivered razor-sharp insights into our contemporary search for authenticity, beauty, and the perfect vintage doorknob’ — Jenny Fran Davis, author of Dykette

‘Sharp, hilarious, and thought-provoking, Trust and Safety is about the aspirations, absurdities, and longings of contemporary life — a story that will make you question your own life choices when you're not lingering over each pitch-perfect line or racing to find out what happens next’ – Jane Pek, author of The Verifiers

Laura Blackett