This New Romance Novel Is Like Fan Fiction From The Set Of The Odyssey

With The Odyssey in theaters, Jacob Tierney’s new show about Alexander the Great in development, and Grecian-inspired strappy gladiator sandals finally finding their way back in the fashion zeitgeist, the stars seem to be aligned for Mallory Thomas’ latest romance, which takes place on the set of a Greek-god epic film.

“I was seeing all those pictures of Zendaya on the red carpet with her Athena outfits, and I was like, ‘Yes, this is the vision,’” the author says.

Double Standard (out now from 831 Stories) follows Ana Barlow, a Hollywood starlet cast in her first-ever leading role: Athena. But when she’s spotted out in Nashville with her married co-star, racy tabloid headlines threaten her career. Desperate, she makes his stunt-double, Levi Stephens, an offer: pretend to be her boyfriend in order to secure a job in future franchise films. The only condition? He can’t fall in love with her.

As staged displays of connection collapse into sizzling moments of chemistry in the bedroom, Ana opens up to Levi about her Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, a set of genetic disorders leading to hypermobile joints and skin that easily bruises, among other symptoms. It’s a condition that Thomas and her two children live with.

“In some ways, sex can kind of be an equalizer for people with disabilities and people without because everyone has to contend with their feelings about their body and figure out how to talk about what they need,” she says. “People with disabilities tend to have more experience with that than most, and I also believe that accommodations are a love language.”

On social media, Thomas (a pen name) is also “The Formula Mom,” doling out guidance on feeding infants with formula. In February, the writer published her first nonfiction book on the subject, Bottle Service.

Thomas was drawn to both the bottle-feeding and romance communities because of the stigma surrounding them. “Romance is sometimes framed as this guilty pleasure,” she says. “There’s something in me that loves to go in and give permission.”

Below, Thomas opens up about mistaken identities, fake dating, and disability representation.

Can you tell me about the genesis of this book?

I have always been fascinated by this idea of duality. I’m an identical twin, so I’m especially interested in the idea of mistaken identity. Essentially, can you believe what you’re seeing?

Double Standard came together around the idea of Ana as a heroine in this industry where so much predicated on your body being perfect. So that’s what people see. But on the other side, she has this chronic illness and struggles with her body, both her body image and her bodily function. Then you also have the more obvious duality of you’re fake dating the stunt double and trying to play it off like it’s this other person.

On a macro level and a micro level, it goes to the idea of what do we put on for other people, and how does that compare to what’s actually true.

Your three most recent romances center soft love with kind and patient characters. What draws you to the genre?

The world is really difficult for most people, and I think there’s something about creating the world you want to see. And for me, that looks like emotionally intelligent and supportive men, and female characters who are self-embodied, where the romance is additive to their lives instead of feeling like it’s something missing that completes them.

Do you have a favorite trope?

I truly love fake dating. I will say my favorite microtrope, which does not exist in Double Standard, is where they’re fake dating and they have to really sell it to their friends. So she sits on his lap and he cannot deal. She’s squirming around, and he’s like, “Oh, my goodness.”

Why was it important to you for Ana to talk about her EDS?

Sixty percent of folks in the U.S. have a chronic illness of some sort. And the thing that I love most about romance is how we see people going to their jobs, fighting with their families, celebrating with their friends, and having sex — the full totality of human experience, which we don’t see in a lot of other genres. For a lot of us, that also includes disability or invisible illness or chronic illness. So it doesn’t always feel right to me to leave that out.

EDS is genetic, and I want my kids to see themselves in the work that they consume. Not that I am wanting them to read this, they’re much too young, but it’s important to me that everyone gets to see themselves in a love story.

Is there other EDS representation in media that you admire?

Emilia Clark had some vascular complications with her EDS, and she’s been open about how that impacts her work as an actress and trying to balance advocating for her needs while also no one wants to be perceived as broken or problematic or troublesome, especially in an industry where you can be replaced in a minute. I wanted to capture how you can both advocate for what you need and take care of yourself while also balancing the reality that a lot of the time, it costs something to be open about your challenges.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.