Fantastic isn’t a word I apply liberally to my reviews – so when I call A Shore Thing an absolutely fantastic romance that will delight and dazzle every reader, oh, do I mean it! It’s one of the best queer romances of the summer and will make you smile and swoon hard.

Kit Griffith is trying to forge a fresh life for himself in St. Ives, Cornwall. When he came out as a trans man**, he was forced to leave London and the all-women art society he’d formed at the Royal Academy of Arts with his best friend, Lucy. He’d found creative comfort among the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, but Lucy’s reaction to his coming out was (what we’d today call) transphobic, and he was cast out of his social circles. Heartbroken at losing so many close friendships, he nonetheless knows it’s better to live authentically as the man he is than pretend to be someone he is not. Unfortunately, divesting himself of the art society has left him with a major creative block, and a blinding headache whenever he tries to paint. Bereft of his talent, he decides to make a life for himself selling bicycles to summering tourists instead of returning to his previous hobby – cutting a swath through the wallflowers of London.

Enter Muriel Pendrake, is a fiercely independent botanist whose (now ended) relationship with a woman caused a scandal. She has plans to give a lecture in Cornwall and needs some botanically-accurate drawings and models to do it. At the end of the season, New York and another lecture beckon.

Muriel and Kit’s meet-cute happens when she bumps right into him on her cycle and throws him for a loop. When he dazedly blabs about his past, naming all of the girls he knew before, she thinks him dangerous to know – but is soon made weak-kneed by his handsomeness. He, in turn, becomes enchanted by Muriel, and becomes jealous of her friendship with James, a queer expat fleeing recently-established sodomy laws. Muriel saw some of Kit’s work on display while abroad and is determined to have him provide the illustrations for her lecture on British seaweed. Unaware that Kit’s creativity is currently stalled, she refuses to take no for an answer.

While cycling around the shoreline and getting to know one another while gathering specimens for Kit’s art, the two of them manage to run afoul of a society of sexist cyclists who believe that women ought not ride bicycles. Muriel finds herself agreeing to a bike race to prove that sex has nothing to do with balance, skill and speed, with Kit helping to train her in cycle racing.

Love arrives to surprise them both, but can Kit overcome his creative block? Will Muriel show those sexists what for, and will she follow her ambition to New York?

A Shore Thing makes this journey a delight to follow. Muriel and Kit are lovable, their romance is sensual, and their big contest against those cyclists is wonderful. They have excellent, high-quality banter going on, and while there’s definitely electricity, there’s heat, caring, and friendship as well. Lowell paints a queer world which fills the Cornwall seaside; James and even the bicycling ringleader Mr. Ponsonby add to the spectrum of characters and experiences.

Kit’s creative block is a tenderly related thing – he must learn to reclaim his talent as a man after it being such an integral part of his dead identity. This is beautifully handled. Muriel, too, is simply his perfect match – a lover of nature and a completely independent figure who knows exactly who she is.

The period research and writing here is fantastic, and this is a gorgeous novel that’s heart-tugging, sexy, and spiritually enriching. And it’s so romantic, watching Kit use his charming glibness to gain love – while Muriel is fearlessly tart-tongued. A Shore Thing is a treat.

**I realise this is not a term that would have been used at the time; I use it here for the sake of clarity.