Teresa Benedetto and Ellie Ryan couldn't be more different, at least on the surface.

Teresa still lives at home. As much as she loves her boisterous Italian family, she feels trapped by them and their plans for her life. Their love is suffocating her.

Ellie has been on her own for years, working hard to save up enough to live her dream of escaping from Pittsburgh to travel the world. Except leaving isn't that simple when she knows her brother is out on the streets of the city somewhere, back from Vietnam, but not home.

When Teresa and Ellie meet and fall in love, their worlds clash. Ellie would love to be part of Teresa's family, but they both know that will never happen. Sooner or later, Teresa will have to choose between the two halves of her heart—Ellie or her family.

Set in 1980, the beginning of the Reagan era and the decline of Pittsburgh's steel empire, Cast Me Gently is a classic lesbian romance.