The Way Life Should Be A Novel

Two fathers. Two families. One unforgettable summer on the coast of Maine.

Thomas and Matt have built something beautiful together—a second-chance marriage after coming out, leaving their former lives, and finding each other in a sun-drenched cottage along Maine’s southern shore. Their days are filled with garden work, quiet mornings, and the kind of love that feels like finally coming home. This is the way life should be.

But when their three adult children arrive unannounced, each fleeing their own personal crises, the carefully constructed peace begins to shift. The cozy two-bedroom retreat that perfectly held their future suddenly must make room for the past—with all its complications, heartbreak, and unfinished business.

What unfolds is a deeply human story about the families we’re born into and the ones we choose to build. William Dameron, a Maine author, brings warmth and authenticity to this exploration of modern family life, where ex-spouses, new partners, and grown children navigate the messy, beautiful work of staying connected. Through moments both tender and laugh-out-loud funny, he captures how love doesn’t always look the way we expected—but that doesn’t make it any less real.

Perfect for readers who loved Less by Andrew Sean Greer or The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Swett, this novel celebrates the courage it takes to start over and the grace required to let others do the same. If you’re drawn to stories about resilience, family, and the transformative power of acceptance, you’ll want to linger with these characters long after the last page.

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