Carried the One

Carried the One is the third and final book of The Carrick Brothers: a found-family queer romance in linked stories, set between London and Manchester, about two couples already together, Ewan Carrick and Dr Laurence Haldrey, and Ron Carrick and Celyn Beynon, and written to be read after Books 1 and 2.

Two brothers. Two couples. One family that grew up around them while nobody was counting.

Ewan Carrick fell for his maths lecturer and won the argument. Ron Carrick fell for a writer at a corner table and learned to say it out loud. That was the hard part. Carried the One is everything after, in linked stories told by all four of them, with the family group chat in between.

A north-facing room in Peckham for writing, and a ginger cat called Dave who manages it. Mum's kitchen in Lewisham. Friends turned family. A wedding, with two silver rings in the best man's pocket and a speech that starts with one line on a folded page. And to close the book, the honeymoon: one week away, and a bag that nobody is allowed to touch.

Funny and tender, and the last word on the Carrick brothers.

Good to know

• Reading order: Book 3, the last of The Carrick Brothers. Linked stories rather than a third novel: best read after Proof by Contradiction and Undefined Terms. The companion novels Unstated Premise and Second Person add to it but are not needed.
• Point of view: four narrators, one per story: Ewan, Laurence, Ron and Celyn (they/them), each in the first person, present tense.
• Heat: open door, between consenting adults.
• Ending: happy ever after for both couples.
• Length: about 100,000 words, in British English.