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Verdict: A thoughtful, emotional second-chance romance between a semi-retired surgeon of 58 and the actress of 60 who left her forty years ago — praised for realistic, flawed older heroines and strong dialogue, but slow to start, heavy in places, and too tidy for some readers.
Best for: Readers who want older heroines, a lost love found again, and a romance with real emotional weight rather than fluff.
Heat level: Not rated (no verified rating)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.0/5 — a 4.24 Goodreads average across 418 ratings and 3.89 on StoryGraph from 41 reviews)
Tropes: Second chance, both 50+, first love, college roommates, forced proximity (caretaking), small town, slow burn, dual POV, series starter.
High October is Elena Graf’s 2019 contemporary lesbian romance and the first book in her Hobbs series. Liz Stolz, a renowned breast surgeon who has taken over the family practice in Hobbs, Maine, is called in to treat an actress who broke her leg on stage — and finds herself face to face with Maggie Fitzgerald, the college roommate who broke her heart forty years ago.
It holds a 4.24 average across 418 Goodreads ratings, with 82% of them four or five stars, 3.89 on StoryGraph from 41 reviews, and 4.6 stars across 471 Amazon ratings.
What Is High October About?
Liz and Maggie were college roommates until Maggie confessed to her parents that she had fallen in love with a woman. Under family pressure, Maggie gave up her dream of acting and married her high-school boyfriend. Liz went on to become a famous breast surgeon.
Four decades later, Maggie is performing in a summer stock production near the Maine town where Liz now works as a GP. When a stage accident leaves Maggie with a broken leg, she lands in Dr. Stolz’s office — and then in her guest room while she heals. Is forty years too long to wait for the one you love?
What Makes This Mature Romance Work
- Real women: Readers repeatedly praise heroines who are flawed, sometimes irrational and true to life.
- Dialogue: Several reviewers single out the conversations — pragmatic, open and honest, as you might expect from women this age.
- Emotional depth: One reader told others to grab tissues; another compared the writing to dark chocolate, best savoured slowly.
- Representation: Older lesbian readers say it is heartwarming to see women near sixty fall hard.
- Setting: Coastal Maine and the town of Hobbs give it a gentle sense of place.
Book Synopsis
Liz Stolz and Maggie Fitzgerald were college roommates until Maggie confessed to her parents that she’d fallen in love with a woman. Maggie gave up her dream of becoming an actress and married her high-school boyfriend, while Liz became a famous breast surgeon.
Now Maggie is performing in a summer stock production near the Maine town where Liz is a general practitioner. When Maggie breaks her leg in a stage accident, she lands in Dr. Stolz’s office. Is forty years too long to wait for the one you love?
My Review
Graf does not take the easy route. Liz is stoic, honourable and sometimes brusque, still guarding the wound Maggie left; Maggie is a woman realising she settled for a life that never made her happy. Told from both points of view, the story lets their past and present chemistry build slowly, and the doubts that keep them apart feel earned. A serious health storyline makes it heavier and more moving than a typical romance.
Not everyone is carried along. Some readers found it slow to get into. One 3-star reviewer felt the reunion was a foregone conclusion, handled so diplomatically and openly that it left little to the imagination and fell flat. Another never warmed to Maggie, and a third skimmed the medical material. One reader summed up the tone: definitely not light and fluffy.
My honest note: If you want a grown-up love story with some weight, this is a strong start to a long series. If you want escapism, look elsewhere.
| Element | In High October |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Liz Stolz (58, surgeon turned GP) & Maggie Fitzgerald (60, actress and professor) |
| Core tropes | Second chance, first love, forced proximity, slow burn |
| Setting | Hobbs, a coastal town in Maine |
| Heat level | Not verified |
| POV | Dual |
| Series | Hobbs #1 — happy ending |
| Content notes | Breast cancer, family pressure and homophobia in the past |
How Spicy Is High October?
We could not find a reliable heat rating. Romance.io has only three ratings and no steam level, StoryGraph has no content warnings, and the reader reviews we read focus on emotion rather than sex scenes.
The main content note is breast cancer, which is central to the plot. One reviewer who had been through breast cancer treatment found it triggering at first but said the portrayal of fear — in the patient and those around her — helped her.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want both heroines over fifty and enjoy a slow, emotional second chance. It is on our mature lesbian romance and women over 40 lists.
You may want to skip it if: cancer storylines are hard for you, or you want a light, low-angst read.
In short: A mature, heartfelt second chance that earns its tears.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
High October launched a series that Amazon now lists at thirteen books. On Goodreads the split is 47% five stars, 35% four, 13% three, 3% two and 1% one. StoryGraph averages 3.89 from 41 reviews. We could not find an audiobook on Libro.fm.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Realistic older heroines first. Second, the dialogue. Third, the emotional depth. Fourth, the representation.
What readers argue about and complain about: A slow start, above everything. Second, a reunion that feels inevitable. Third, the heavy health storyline. Fourth, Maggie.
The comparison worth making first: For another lost love from college meeting again decades later, try Golden Years and Silver Linings, which is lighter and lower in angst. For older heroines with grief in the mix, Honey in the Marrow is another option.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old are the heroines in High October?
Liz is 58 and Maggie 60 at the start of the book, according to several reviewers. They were college roommates and lovers forty years earlier.
Is High October a slow burn?
Yes. Doubts and old hurt keep Liz and Maggie apart for much of the book, and one reviewer calls it a mature slow burn.
Does High October deal with illness?
Yes. Breast cancer is a central thread, and one reviewer who had been through treatment found it hard going at first but ultimately valuable. Another skimmed the health sections.
Is High October on Kindle Unlimited?
Not at the time of writing — the Kindle edition was listed for purchase at $2.99. We could not find an audiobook on Libro.fm.
Does High October have a happy ending?
Yes. Readers confirm a happy ending, reached by a twisty route. It is book 1 of the long-running Hobbs series.
If You Loved High October, Read These Next
Try Golden Years and Silver Linings for another fifty-year second chance, Honey in the Marrow for a widow and a police captain over fifty, or Dancing Toward Stardust for a woman coming out at fifty. For more, browse our mature lesbian romance list, our women over 40 list, or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
High October sets out to ask whether forty years is too long to wait for love, and it answers with realistic heroines, strong dialogue and a hard-won happy ending. What holds it back is a slow start and a reunion some readers found too inevitable. For mature romance readers, it is worth it. Check High October on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, High October ranks as a very good mature romance — emotionally rich and well written, with a slow and weighty middle.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ 4.24 average across 418 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 82% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ 3.89 on StoryGraph from 41 reviews
- ✓ 4.6 stars across 471 Amazon ratings
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Forty-year second chance
- ✓ Past and present chemistry
- ✓ Slow burn
- ✓ Inevitable for some
Characters ★★★★☆ 4.1/5
- ✓ Flawed and realistic
- ✓ Liz honourable and stoic
- ✓ Maggie divisive
- ✓ Older heroines praised
Writing ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Strong dialogue
- ✓ Agile and melancholy, per one reader
- ✓ Dual POV
- ✓ Slow to get into
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 4.2/5
- ✓ Tissues recommended
- ✓ Breast cancer storyline
- ✓ Regret and settling
- ✓ Not light and fluffy
Heat Level — not rated
- ✓ No verified heat rating
- ✓ Romance.io: 3 ratings, no steam level
- ✓ Reviews focus on emotion
- ✓ No StoryGraph warnings
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Happy ending
- ✓ Twisty route there
- ✓ Hard-won
- ✓ Series continues
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ One reader plans to reread
- ✓ Long series to follow
- ✓ Only $2.99 on Kindle
- ✓ No Libro.fm audiobook
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