The Right Time

The Right Time fits into Lane Hayes’s broader pattern of contemporary queer romance built around emotional honesty and the slow work of two people figuring out whether their lives can fit together. Hayes has been writing in the genre for over a decade and her catalogue includes the Better Than series, the Right and Wrong series, and a number of standalone novels. Readers who follow her know what to expect. Strong dialogue, low angst, and male leads who actually communicate with each other.

The right time as a romance concept is interesting because it pushes back against the meet cute fantasy that drives a lot of the genre. In Hayes’s hands, the right time often means a moment when both characters have done enough internal work to be ready for what they want, rather than a moment when fate happens to throw them together. That makes for slower romances but also for more satisfying ones, because the relationship feels like a choice rather than an accident.

Hayes writes both heat and tenderness with care. Her intimate scenes serve the relationship rather than substitute for it, and her characters tend to have specific lives and jobs that feel real. The supporting casts in her books are usually strong enough that side characters get their own books later in the series, which is part of how she has built such a loyal readership.

Readers who enjoy authors like Riley Hart, N.R. Walker, Garrett Leigh, or Sloane Kennedy will find similar territory in Hayes’s catalogue. The Right Time is a comfortable, well written entry that gives a fair sense of what she does best. For a starting point with her work, it is as good as any.