DUVAL TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE: “Forbidden Chambers: A Duval County Romance” Debuts at No. 1 on NYT Best-Seller List

by Michael Thomas

JACKSONVILLE, FL – In a development that has left City Hall group chats on fire, an anonymous 487-page work of “fiction” titled 'Forbidden Chambers: A Duval County Romance' rocketed to the top of the New York Times Best-Seller list this week.

The novel, originally posted chapter-by-chapter on the fan-fiction site Archive of Our Own under the pseudonym “CouncilCuddler904,” follows the torrid, completely imaginary love affair between a dashing, dog-loving Republican councilman from the Beaches and a brooding, Navy-veteran Democratic councilman from the Urban Core. Sources close to the matter (who may or may not be the same three people who run every Jacksonville politics Twitter burner) confirm the characters bear a striking resemblance to Council Members Rory Diamond (R-District 13) and Jimmy Peluso (D-District 7).

“It started as a joke,” said local political enthusiast and confirmed author/contributor “ShipperInTheRye,” reached while hiding behind a palm tree outside City Hall, wearing an N95 and oversized sunglasses to protect their identity. “Someone tweeted ‘Rory and Jimmy fight like an old married couple’ and the next thing you know, we are 200 thousand words deep into an enemies-to-lovers slow-burn with a subplot about rezoning the Brooklyn parking garage into a secret make-out mezzanine.”

Within weeks, the story went viral in Duval’s darkest corners: the Jags tailgate Slack, the “Jacksonville But Make It Make Sense” Facebook group, and at least one City Council spouse’s book club. A major New York publisher snapped up the rights after a six-figure bidding war, reportedly beating out an offer from the Florida Times-Union to serialize it as “investigative journalism.”

Councilman Diamond, reached while walking his extremely real and definitely not symbolic service dog, called the book “defamation with better abs” and threatened to sue unless every copy came with a 'K9s for Warriors' donation link.

Councilman Peluso issued a statement saying he “hasn’t read fan-fiction since his first deployment” but added that any proceeds should go toward sidewalk repairs in Riverside.

Mayor Donna Deegan's hologram, asked for comment, simply sighed and said, “At least they’re working across the aisle.”

As of press time, Hollywood sources confirm that a film adaptation is already in development starring two actors who “look like they summer in Neptune Beach and winter in 5 Points.” The working title? 'Across the Dais.'

The author(s) remain anonymous, but a Duval Tribune investigation (checking the metadata on a Google Doc) found the file was last saved on a laptop named “J.Peluso-MacBook-Pro” at 3:17 a.m. last Thursday.

We’ll keep you posted.