Fill the Empty Spaces — Karenna Colcroft

Everything was empty.Not literally. My apartment was still filled with the remnants of my life with Austin. That was the problem.The things were there. Austin wasn't, and he never would be again.Twenty years of love ended in an instant the night a drunk driver hit Del Nethercott's partner Austin. In his grief, Del has pushed away most of his friends and is barely existing. Austin would want him to go on living, but how can he without the love of his life?Over the next few months, Del finds his way into his new reality with the help of Austin's drag sister Remy, a sweater-wearing cat named Charlie… and Lochlan, a man hiding a supernatural secret.As Del works through his grief, he and Lochlan grow closer, until Del realizes he feels more than friendship for the other man. Only months after losing Austin, Del isn't ready to love again. But maybe he's ready to hope.This book has a main character who has lost his life partner and depicts his grieving process. It includes discussions of child abuse and child death, suicide, and homophobia and transphobia. But it also includes an adorable cat who wears sweaters.