Reviewed by Mal
TITLE: Come Out with Your Hearts Up
AUTHOR: Alden B. Atmore
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 349 Pages
RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2026
BLURB:
A story about finding yourself and finding your person…
Craig Elliott Porter, former pro tap dancer and tightly wound cinnamon roll, is certain about everything, and the one thing he’s most certain about is that he is absolutely, 100% definitely straight.
Then he meets Edmund “Eddie” McCreevy, and suddenly, Craig isabsolutely, 100% definitely losing his mind, and he needs Eddie’s help to figure himself out.
Eddie is bi and out and stumbling through life, falling into relationships and occasional roles as an actor in small indie films. His life is chaotic and directionless.
Then he meets Craig, who offers him a stable home and his heart on a plate.
But despite how much Craig loves Eddie, he’s struggling to come to terms with what that means to his identity and everything he’s been taught to be, and his struggle is taking its toll on Eddie, whose parents rejected him for being queer.
Eddie has the patience of a saint, but he draws the line at biphobia, and if Craig can’t figure this out, he’ll lose the best thing that ever happened to him.
REVIEW:
I had the happy privilege of reading an early copy of this absolutely amazing love story by Alden B Atmore and I am blown away
I laughed, cried, got really mad, was heartbroken, despondent, worried – you name it I felt it. This book will in a very unassuming way put you through the wringer.
Told entirely from Craig’s pov it’s a beautiful story about finding yourself and finding your person, about learning to trust and working on repair after rupture, about healing not being linear, about found family, about chance leading you and you surrendering.
Craig shows that surrender in the initial meeting with Eddie when Eddie isn’t a free agent. And yet the connect has been made and he gets another chance to build his relationship with Eddie. This is in no way a typical assortment of building blocks for a typical romance and yet it’s exactly what these two need.
Eddie grounds Craig, gives him space and safety with what feels like endless patience but is what Craig deserves. Craig cannot understand what he has to offer Eddie but he gives him an unconditional world of love.
Craig’s past and his own conditioning (and Eddie’s) cause some major bumps in the road but the author sensitively and realistically navigates those for us to then receive this beautifully layered love story and characters you are fully relating to and are connecting with
It’s an amazing experience to read this story and I cannot recommend it enough I love this story as I did the Rhymes with metaphor and this author is now an auto buy for me
P.s. we get a very short glimpse of Joel in this one
P.p.s. There are sensitive themes explored on the story so please check the content warnings if you need to as provided by the author in the beginning of the book.
RATING: 
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