Simone Whittaker is the protagonist of Jordyn Taylor’s 2026 romance novel, See You at the Summit. She comes out as bisexual in the very first chapter, announcing both her sexuality and her new job at Toronto’s Rainbow Museum all at once on social media. She hopes that announcing her bisexuality will legitimize her employment at a very queer organization — and that maybe her employment will legitimize her queerness as well. It’s a queerness she’s kept hidden in the past.
Luckily for Simone, though, everyone at work is supportive. Even her friends and brothers congratulate her. It’s Simone’s mom whose reaction is more tepid. It’s because Simone is worried about what her mom will say that she accidentally knocks over one of the Rainbow Museum’s newest art installations: an intricate, wooden dragonfly wing. Unfortunately, this happens right in front of the very gruff — and very attractive, and very straight — artist himself, a carpenter named Ryan Foley.
Initially hoping that she might either die from embarrassment, or at least avoid Ryan until the end of time, Simone’s boss later asks both her and Ryan to attend the Whistler Pride and Ski Festival to represent the Rainbow Museum. This means a lot of extra time together. Simone vows that a straight man will not ruin her first Pride. She decides to kill him with kindness instead.
But the event is much more than awkward forced proximity. Over the course of the trip, Simone and Ryan begin to see the other more fully, in turn revealing more about themselves, and the trip culminates in a night of steamy sex that Simone cannot forget. Can Simone still call herself bi if she dates a straight man right after coming out? What will other people think?
Much of the novel deals with Simone’s newly out status, as well as the pressures she feels to both claim her newfound queer identity and also follow her heart, which is pulling her towards Ryan. Her character arc focuses on questions of identity, self-exploration, and self-worth. It touches on themes of friendship and learning to open up to others. As her relationship with Ryan complicates further, Simone begins to ask herself what she wants instead of trying to contort herself into who others want her to be, whether the other person is her mother, her boss, or Ryan himself.
Along the way, she’s helped by newfound friends like her coworkers Lucy and Seth, as well as the wider queer community Simone meets at Whistler Pride, some of whom she stays in touch with after leaving the event. These relationships buoy her through her earliest days of being out, and give her hope that one day she too can fully embrace who she is.