Published May 21st, 2026
Romance Novel, LGBTQ Fiction
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
Russell and Loukas were that couple in university. The one that was joined at the hip and does everything together. Until they weren’t.
After five years of tactically avoiding anything to do with each other, they find themselves thrust back together and facing their biggest challenge yet — co-parenting.
Packed with angst and yearning, Patterns of Us follows Russell and Loukas in their past and present. Can they learn from their mistakes and finally build the life they dreamed of?
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MY REVIEW:
Russell and Loukas, who were the couple at university who were joined at the hip. But five years ago it all fell apart and they have tactically avoided one another ever since. Now, after the tragic deaths of their best friends Kieran and Millie, they have been thrown back together after being named as co-parents to the couple’s young son, Henry. Not only that, but the will states that they must live and parent under one roof. Moving between timelines, we follow Russell and Loukas in their past and present, watching as they fall in love, fall apart and then try to come back together for Henry.
I love an emotional read but was still unprepared for the emotional rollercoaster I went through reading this book and it will take my heart some time to recover. S. J. Gathercole has crafted a compelling and unforgettable love story that is intricately interwoven with grief. Steph perfectly conveys the overwhelming pain grief causes, how hard it is to enjoy life again and how it catches you off guard out of nowhere. It’s heartfelt, poignant and filled with yearning.
I loved Russell and Loukas. They are charismatic characters who were easy to like and root for. Because the story is told from both points of view it felt like I really got to know both of them and moving between past and present gave us a fuller picture of their whole relationship and an understanding of why they were behaving certain ways in the present. It was apparent early on that these two belonged together. They were yin and yang. Soulmates. And Steph knew what she was doing with the will they/won’t they storyline, keeping me on tenterhooks as I kept screaming at them in my head to just admit they were meant for each other.
As someone with a chronic illness, I loved the representation in Russell’s character through his Psoriatic Arthritis. Because of my own personal experience, Steph asked me to be a sensitivity reader for the book and what she wrote was pitch perfect. She made Russ’s illness honest and real, showing us how it affected every facet of his life but also how determined he was and that he is more than his illness. I appreciated how seamlessly it was woven into the story and felt very seen, especially in terms of how it affected his confidence. Seeing him so worried about Loukas deserving someone better, someone who isn’t ill, felt very relatable. Loukas is a sweetheart and I love that he saw past Russ’s illness and thought of ways to help him rather than resenting the limitations it brought into their lives. Thank you, Steph, for writing a character and a story that will help so many understand what it is like to live and have a relationship with chronic illness.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
Thank you Steph for sending me a copy of this bok in exchange for my honest review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Steph started reading at a very young age and quickly fell in love with stories and storytelling.
Her debut novel The People We Trust, was a passion project over several years to bring more representation into the murder mystery genre.
Throughout many turbulent times in her own life she turned to poetry to help put a voice to the thoughts that whirled around inside her head. The ‘Teenager’s Guide’ series, which consists of three poetry collections, were hugely cathartic to write, and she hopes they’re just as cathartic to read.
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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx
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