LOVE CAKE

Love Cake (2nd Edition) is the powerful sequel to Cakewalk, set in Houston during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of the MAGA movement, and the Black Lives Matter protests. Bryan, a Black cisgender man, and Nadia, his transgender partner, run Texas’s first trans-owned bakery, Sophia’s Cupcakes—a queer-affirming space where community is as essential as flour and sugar.

Living openly as a cis-trans couple, their love is both a personal truth and a political act. They face financial strain, family rejection, and the emotional toll of being visible in a world that questions their right to love. Their relationship is tested by external pressures and internal fears, but it is also rooted in joy, humor, tenderness, and hope.

Grounded in Buddhist teachings, mindfulness, and the strength of chosen family, Bryan and Nadia navigate identity, vulnerability, and the lifelong work of healing. At the heart of their journey is the difficult but necessary act of forgiveness—because that is what love does.

Infused with themes of queer visibility, Black resilience, spiritual transformation, and radical self-acceptance, Love Cake is a raw and redemptive story about what it means to be seen, to build belonging, and to find the courage to keep choosing each other—publicly, unapologetically, and out loud.