In the heart of York’s medieval streets stands The Anchor, a storied pub where history lingers in the stone walls and secrets are poured alongside pints. Clara Montgomery, a 30-something workaholic and fiercely independent pub landlord, runs the bar with her lifelong friends Janet and Jess. Together, they’ve built a haven for locals like Martin, a retired professor with a poetic soul, and Sarah, a sassy self-employed dynamo who treats the pub as her second office.

But Clara’s carefully curated world is upended when Sean Gallagher, a handsome, retired military officer with a quiet intensity, rents the flat above the pub. Their chemistry is undeniable, but it’s their shared fascination with an old pub tradition, The Rose and the Birch, that truly binds them. Once used to cheekily discipline unruly patrons, the ritual of public birching is revived, drawing curious crowds and kindred spirits from around the globe.

As Clara and Sean navigate the delicate balance between love, legacy, and discipline, The Anchor becomes more than a pub, it becomes a stage for passion, transformation, and the kind of romance that dares to challenge convention.

Written with wit, warmth, and a touch of kink by Maeve Campbell, a Bronx-born Irish American with a flair for emotional realism and sensual storytelling, York Dreams and Desires is a celebration of love that’s as bold as it is tender.