Jae's Blog, page 11

Just Like Her by Fiona Zedde

Delphine’s life is made up of secrets. About her job, her sexual identity, and even her past.

She coasts along on a tide of half-truths until a familiar “straight” woman splashes deeper into her world, threatening her tenuous peace of mind.

This woman wants to be everything Delphine has never had before – a confidant, a seductress, a trusted lover. By giving in to this siren, is Delphine setting herself up for heartbreak?

Available at:

Loving Artemis by Janet Mason

Artemis found the love of her life when she met Linda, but their passionate relationship fizzles when Artemis lands herself on the other side of the law. Pulling the pieces of her life together, Artemis rekindles her relationship with Linda, and together they raise a daughter.

Meanwhile, Grace, running from her past, starts a life with Thalia. At a pride parade, Grace spots someone who reminds her of Artemis, who she was briefly involved with in her youth. Old feelings are rekindled. A lifetime of rejection, abandonment, and fleeing rears its head. Now she must come to terms with her past, put her relationship with Artemis to rest–or risk losing everything.

Artemis and Grace embark on a journey of revolution, love, and marriage and discover that love finds us when we least expect it.

Available at:

Howl by Lucy Bexley

Lou McCallister owns Howl, the only surviving queer bar in Boston. When an investment opportunity to save the floundering bar is inadvertently sabotaged by Clementine Darby, Howl’s newest employee, Lou is ready to give up. Now Clem will do anything she can to make it right and keep Howl alive, but will she be able to save the bar in time? This sapphic Coyote Ugly reimagining brings the funny and the feels.

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No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey

Lia Harris is tired of being the odd one out. She’s never quite fit in with her uptight family, and now that her roommates have all found love, she’s starting to feel like a third wheel in her own apartment. Fed up with her mother’s constant meddling in her love life, Lia drops hints about a girlfriend she doesn’t have. But with her brother’s London nuptials approaching, she needs to find a date to save face. Lia turns to her best friend, Rosie, for help, and Rosie delivers—with the fun, gorgeous Grace Poston.

Grace loves to have a good time, hiding her insecurities behind a sunny smile. Her recent move to London has provided her with a much-needed fresh start. Grace isn’t looking for love, and she hates weddings, having weathered more than her fair share of heartache. Friendships are different, though, so for Rosie’s sake, she reluctantly agrees to pose as Lia’s adoring girlfriend for the wedding festivities.

Both Grace and Lia are prepared for an awkward weekend, complete with prying family members and a guest room with only one bed. As it turns out, they get along well—spectacularly, in fact. Before they know it, the chemistry they’re faking feels all too real. But is their wedding weekend a fleeting performance or the rehearsal for a love that’s meant to last?

Available at:

An Outsider Inside by RJ Samuel

For Irish-Indian lesbian activist, JAYA DILLON, an outsider who craves belonging over all else, survival depends on hiding the truth of who she is and who she loves – from herself.In the heated run-up to Ireland’s referendum on same-sex marriage, she finds herself trapped between the “Yes” and “No” sides. And Jaya’s got a boulder on her shoulder about bisexual women and being brown in Ireland.While clearing out an Indian couple’s rental house in Galway, she discovers a manuscript, written by the wife, Lana, who disappeared in worrying circumstances. When Jaya travels to France, she comes closer to the characters in Lana’s unfinished novel than she ever imagined possible. And she is shoved back into contact with her ex- fiancée, Chloe, who is planning her own wedding. To a man. Jaya is drawn into a fictional world that may be truer than reality. As she fights to uncover the truth, everything she thought she knew about her politics and her place in the world turns on its head as she falls for the elusive Lana, is attracted to the charming, gay French-Algerian Ishmael and his beautiful sister Isabella, and confronts her unresolved feelings and dread over the choices Chloe is making. Can she find Lana and the truth in time to save Chloe … without losing herself?

Available at:

Take Two by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeod

They were the perfect couple until pride got in the way….

Gina Mitchells has a problem. The assistant professor is in charge of her college’s pride festival committee, and the celebrity grand marshal they’d painstakingly recruited has just blown up the internet with a major scandal. Messing up the festival could ruin her chance to be approved for tenure. There’s exactly one famous person Gina knows who could save the day as a last-minute replacement.

The problem? The woman is Gina’s ex-girlfriend, and to say the relationship did not end well is an understatement.

Sophia Rossi has starred in so many squeaky-clean holiday romances since moving to Hollywood that everyone calls her the Queen of Christmas. An important new contract has her filming in a quaint New England town, but there’s a catch. It’s Sophia’s hometown, and surviving a month with her meddling, relationship-obsessed mother and sisters might be too much for Sophia’s sanity to bear.

When Gina reappears in Sophia’s life with a proposition, Sophia has one of her own. It’s a match made in heaven, if only they can get over their past heartbreak long enough to convince everyone they’ve rekindled their old spark. But can this fake relationship lead them to a second chance at love?

Available at:

Every Version by Bryce Oakley

Lizzie Goldstein needs a prom date.

Queer Prom-A-Rama is Denver Pride’s biggest event and as one of the head organizers, Lizzie can’t stand the thought of going alone—especially not when she finds out her ex is bringing a literal local celebrity.

She’s willing to try on every version of herself to find the perfect date—she could be the quirky dream girl for an Ice Queen or the snarky and ambitious competitor for a workplace rival. As Lizzie and her best friends continue their search, she begins to realize that maybe what she’s really been looking for is someone who doesn’t want to change her. Someone who loves her just the way she is. And maybe that someone has been right beside her all along…

Available at:

The Glow Up by Cara Malone

Jo’s dreams have always been too big for her small-town Montana life. When she lands a competitive internship in Chicago, her conservative parents worry about letting her go. But it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, sure to change her world.

Hazel is a city girl to the core, absorbing all the culture Chicago has to offer in her quest to make beautiful queer art. When a gorgeous girl in a prairie dress stumbles in front of her scooter during the city’s Pride Parade, it’s almost vehicular manslaughter at first sight – but Hazel acts in the nick of time and winds up with a clueless baby gay in her lap.

Meeting Hazel and her friends unveils a world Jo never imagined, as well as parts of herself she’s long kept hidden. But first loves are doomed to end, and the summer won’t last forever. Jo’s parents expect her to return to her life in Montana, sacrificing the new family she’s found with Hazel. Can she go home again?

Available at:

Faux Pas by Lily Seabrooke

Willow Arches is a queer-destination small town, but Paige doesn’t know that—she’s never even heard of it before a granduncle she never knew about passes and leaves his restaurant, Faux Pas, in her name. A real estate developer by day, for Paige, renovating the restaurant to sell it for a tidy profit is a no-brainer.

But things get harder when the restaurant is in shambles, the town’s bustling queer population is in full force when she arrives right at the start of Pride, and all of them want her gone. With no practical or people skills, and no cooking skills to run the restaurant, she’s in a world of trouble—until Willow Arches’ most eligible bachelorette, brooding soft-butch lumberjane Madison Hartley, sweeps her off her feet and kisses her in the public square.

It’s a tenuous deal: Madison’s help with the restaurant, in exchange for a fake relationship, to keep the suitors off her back for Pride month. Sure, Paige has a massive crush on her, but it’ll all work out somehow, right?

Right?

Available at:

Pride Festival by Nicole Pyland

When Ruby Simon wanted something, she usually got it and didn’t mind working hard for it. Her small town had never done anything for Pride Month, and she was determined to change that. Starting with a parade would be a little much, so Ruby started planning a festival.

Chance Curtis was used to always being pulled into her best friend’s orbit. She was an ally to the community, believing that love was love and that she’d find her person one day, but she never had anyone in her life like that, so it didn’t matter anyway.

Jo Hemsworth never fit in. When Jo’s single mother decided to move to a small town toward the end of Jo’s junior year, Jo planned not to talk to anyone and just hoped to go to college one day. Never feeling like fitting in, and only in part because of being gay, Jo had no idea Chance was helping to plan a festival and would change Jo’s life.

Jaden Hugo had been the girl with two gay dads ever since they adopted her, and she’d been questioning things about herself for a while. When her dads volunteer themselves and her to work at a Pride festival in another town, Jaden is completely taken aback because there was Ruby Simon, the girl who had made it all happen.

On the cusp of their high school graduation, Ruby and Chance were about to leave this place they’d called home and wanted to leave it better than they found it. In planning this first Pride event for their community, their lives also end up changing for the better.

Available at:

The Perfect Fit by Erica Lee

Ashton Levengood has never felt like she fit in anywhere. After coming out, her overbearing, but loving, family suggests a Pride tour – a different Pride event every weekend of June. Ashton reluctantly agrees but worries she won’t even be able to find her place at Pride.

When she meets Dakota Douglass, it seems too good to be true. There’s no way a hot, cool artist could possibly be interested in Ashton, but the flirting and kissing say otherwise.

Is this just a Pride month fling or has Ashton finally found the perfect fit?

Available at:

Down to a Science by Haley Cass

Ellie Beckett’s life is simple and uncomplicated; she’s on track to become a leading expert in biomedical engineering, she has a pub where she feels comfortable enough to hang out multiple times a week, and so what if she doesn’t have time for . . . people? She doesn’t need or want them.

Until she meets Mia Sharpe.

As it turns out, maybe Ellie does want at least one person.

Available at:

Stonewall Pride by Sherryl D. Hancock

It’s Pride month and the gang are off to San Diego to support Memphis, the legendary DJ, who has been asked to perform at the event. As people descend on the city from all corners of the country, the atmosphere is electric.

But it wasn’t always like this and echoes of a more troubling time can still be heard amongst the celebrations. Many years have passed since the uprising at the Stonewall Inn, but the rebellion that made history is never far from people’s minds.

Join the WeHo ladies as they celebrate this life-changing event, and remember all those who made it possible for them to be who they are.

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Pride Month Trivia

If you haven’t discovered the Pride Month Trivia yet, check out this fun, month-long event! You can win books every day by answering a daily Pride Month Trivia question about sapphic books.

Leave a comment

Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic book with a Pride scene” category!

The post Sapphic book with a Pride scene appeared first on Jae.

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Published on June 08, 2023 02:07

May 25, 2023

10 best places to find sapphic books

As we are approaching Pride Month, people on social media are starting to share their Pride Month book stacks, and book-related websites are posting their “books to read for Pride Month” lists.

And that’s great because with all the anti-LGBTQ+ laws, we need visibility more than ever.

However, as I’ve pointed out in previous years, I often see the same dozen or so books from big mainstream publishing houses being promoted, while books from small queer presses and indie authors are largely ignored.

It’s great that mainstream publishers are now publishing books with LGBTQ+ characters, and I’m happy for each and every author who managed to get such a book deal.

But please let’s not forget the small presses and indie authors who are publishing the majority of sapphic books and have been publishing them for decades, back when mainstream publishing houses assumed books with LGBT+ characters wouldn’t sell and refused to take a risk on them.

If you’re a reader, Bookstagrammer, Booktoker, blogger, or reviewer, please make sure you include books by indies & small presses when you share your Pride lists. Pride Month is the perfect time to look beyond mainstream-published LGBTQ+ books and give some love to books that have less visibility. There are so many good books out there that deserve some attention!

Top 10 places to find sapphic books by small presses and indie authors

What if you have no idea where to find these books (or you want to find more of them)?

Every now and then, I see someone lament online “there aren’t enough sapphic books.” People, there are thousands of them out there, and I wrote this blog post to help you find them.

Instead of just sharing my own favorite sapphic books (which I did in this blog post, by the way), I thought I would share my top 10 places to find sapphic books by small queer presses and indie authors:

1. Sapphic Book Bingo

I’m running the Sapphic Book Bingo, a year-long reading challenge for readers of sapphic fiction, featuring books by hundreds of authors. Even if you’re not into reading challenges, the weekly blog posts with book recommendations will help you find new authors and new favorite books.

2. I Heart SapphFic BookFinder

TB Markinson and Miranda MacLeod from I Heart SapphFic have put together a searchable database of sapphic books. You can search by genre, trope, setting, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. Right now, the database contains nearly 4,000+ books, and it’s growing every week!

3. Publisher websites

Visit the websites of small LGBT+ presses such as Bold Strokes Books, Ylva Publishing, Bella Books, Bywater Books, Desert Palm Press, BLF Press, Interlude Press, NineStar Press, JMS Books, Launchpoint Press, Triplicity Publishing, Affinity Rainbow Publications, Sapphire Books, Flashpoint Publications, and others.

You can check out their new releases, take a look at their backlist, or subscribe to their newsletters.

4. Facebook groups

A lot of readers and authors of sapphic fiction are still on Facebook, and with very few exceptions, you’ll find mostly indie-published books in these groups.

I’m proud of my own Facebook group, which is a safe and positive place for anyone who loves sapphic books (not just my own!). There are also many others, including a group for lesbian audiobooks.

5. MyQueerSapphFic

MyQueerSapphFic is the Bookbub of sapphic fiction. Every Friday, they send out a newsletter with sapphic books that are on sale.

6. I Read Indies:

I Read Indies is a collective of indie authors of sapphic literature, run by KC Luck. Every month, they post their members’ new releases on their website and in their newsletter.

7. Literary awards:

The two biggest award programs for sapphic fiction are run by the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) and by Lambda Literary. Their lists of past award winners and finalists are a great starting place for anyone looking for well-written sapphic fiction.

8. Review sites and book bloggers

There are plenty of great reviewers out there who review mainly indie-published sapphic books. A few examples are The Lesbian Review, Sapphic Book Review, and Lez Review Books.

Book blogs such as LGBTQReads, run by Dahlia Adler, and ReadsRainbow, run by Charlotte & Anna, post curated lists of LGBTQIA+ literature. Their book lists also include a lot of mainstream-published books, but they have made an effort to include books by indie authors and publishers, and their book lists are very diverse, which I appreciate.

9. Amazon best-seller charts

I’d be remiss not to mention Amazon since many indie authors are exclusively in Kindle Unlimited, so you can’t find their ebooks anywhere else. The Amazon best-seller charts for lesbian fiction and lesbian romance are filled with sapphic books published by indie authors and small presses.

10. Websites featuring books by authors of color

Authors of color are, unfortunately, still very underrepresented in sapphic fiction. Of course, you will find books written by authors of colors at all the resources I mentioned above, but you’ll have to really look for them.

If you’d like to read more books by sapphic authors of color, check out the Black Lesbian Literary Collection, the Lesfic Author of Color Directory, and K. Aten’s list of BIPOC F/F fiction authors.

Don’t miss the upcoming Pride Month event!

For Pride Month, which starts on June 1, I’ve put together a fun month-long event for readers of sapphic fiction. Every day, readers get to answer a trivia question about sapphic fiction for a chance to win a sapphic book in a giveaway, download a free ebook, or get a book at a discount.

There will be 30 questions, which means 30 free books, discounted books, and book giveaways.

I’ll send a daily reminder email every time a new question is up on my website. Make sure you don’t miss it by signing up for the reminders here. It’s not part of my newsletter or blog, so you won’t get any other emails.

More resources to find sapphic books by small presses and indie authors

There are many more places to find indie-published sapphic books. I couldn’t list them all, and I didn’t mean to exclude anyone. If you are a publisher, reviewer, book blogger, or a reader who knows a great resource to help people find sapphic books from small presses and indie authors, please leave a comment and share a link below!

The post 10 best places to find sapphic books appeared first on Jae.

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Published on May 25, 2023 02:10

May 18, 2023

Sapphic enemies-to-lovers romances (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #11)

This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category features sapphic enemies-to-lovers romances, one of the most popular romance tropes!

In an enemies-to-lovers romance, the two main characters start out hating or at least strongly disliking each other at the beginning of the book, but then end up falling in love. Their initial dislike could be due to a family feud, professional rivalry, or just clashing personalities. Whatever the cause, it’s always fun to watch sparks fly and accompany them on the journey from hate to love.

15 sapphic enemies-to-lovers romances

Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance novels.

Just a Touch Away by Jae

Hannah Martin has an unusual job: she’s a professional cuddler. While she has a big heart for her clients, she hasn’t found someone special to snuggle up to in her personal life.

Winter Sullivan isn’t looking for love. She’s an aloof workaholic who’s built walls of ice around herself. She would rather drive toothpicks under her fingernails than cuddle, and she certainly doesn’t want to share her space with anyone.

When Winter’s estranged father dies, he leaves her one last surprise: she and Hannah, a perfect stranger, will inherit a building together. But there’s a catch: first, they have to live together for ninety-two days.

Winter is determined to dislike her rival, but soon finds Hannah isn’t what she expected at all. Thanks to a hilarious doormat war, a cuddle dare from Winter’s half sister, and a kiss in the most unusual of places, the frosty fortress around her heart begins to melt.

Will she be able to accept that love might be just a touch away?

Available at:

A Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe

Scarlett Grey, disgraced assassin, is determined to get revenge.

Quinn Adams, medic turned-poisoner for hire, is her deadliest rival.

For years, they’ve stolen each other’s clients, sabotaged each other’s business, and occasionally… slept together.

When the Magician Queen offers an irresistible deal, Scarlett and Quinn are forced to work together. But this is not a simple job. With an impossible heist ahead, they’re going to have to trust each other… And that’s not easy when they both have secrets to hide. Harder still when those secrets will betray the ones they love. Now neither woman is sure if it’s a heist they want to win or a heart.

Two women, two deadly professions, and a romance that could be their downfall.

Available at:

Unexpected Goals by Kelly Farmer

If you can’t play nice, play hockey.

Canadian goalie Maisy Goode is wary of American Jen Donato and her dirty playing. She’s been on the receiving end of Jen’s aggressive style and doesn’t like it one bit. Now that they’re on the same women’s pro team, keeping her eyes off Jen is a struggle.

Jen signed up to win it all with the Boston Ice. Her very public clashes with their hot goalie aren’t going to derail her championship plans. Jen’s a professional. But there’s just something about Maisy that gets under her skin.

The media loves the tension, but the more time Maisy and Jen are forced to spend together, the more they discover what’s between them isn’t entirely hostile.

At all.

Banter turns into flirting, and flirting turns into more. The closer they get to the playoffs, the more pressure weighs on the team—and the couple. Maisy needs Jen’s support. Jen needs to know Maisy’s all in. And it all needs to get sorted out before the season—and their relationship—closes out.

Available at:

Ransom to Love by Chloe Keto

Teri Simlake is a computer scientist drawn to the dark side of freelance hacking in order to keep a roof over her head and cat food on the table. She has a soft spot for cute cat ears and Number One, her grey British Shorthair, plays that to his advantage.

Sophie Keegan hates hackers with a passion. They make everything in life difficult, as if having her friends constantly pressuring her to date wasn’t hard enough.

Will a chance encounter bring Number One’s catnip empire to it’s knees? Will a story of insecurity, gender identity and confrontation become an unconventional tale of love and peace with oneself?

Available at:

One Golden Summer by Clare Lydon & TB Markinson

Saffron Oliver is the golden girl. Golden hair. Golden skin. Golden movie career.

Only one problem: she hates it.

She flees to her sister’s seaside town – where she meets the confident & charming Kirsty McBride.

Kirsty is everything Saffron wants to be. Perhaps also, everything she wants.

But Saffron can’t have it all. So now, she has to decide: does she crave Kirsty enough to blow up her golden life?

Available at:

Jawbreaker by Max Ellendale

It isn’t everyday that the citizens of Seattle witness shadows passing out of the corner of their eye or hear the whoosh of something taking flight from the pavement beside them, but when a Shadow Protector descends on their city, they find themselves thrust into comic-book endings on the regular.

History Professor Veyda Halpern takes on the mission of protecting her city and the people she loves by channeling the gifts bestowed to her by Andromeda. For the most part, she manages to keep her identity a secret, until her private world collides with a local museum curator who catches her sneaking into the exhibits at night.

Entranced by the brazen, and sometimes cold, Harlow Misner, Veyda’s visits increase until the two finally face each other, cracking the fragile foundations of the lives they’ve both worked to build in hope of cultivating something more meaningful.

Available at:

The Disappeared by Nicole Pyland

Ten years ago, Ada Cramer’s brother went missing. Her brother had always been the favored child, and Ada had been the only witness to his disappearance. Her life changed the day the police officer assigned to the case made Ada a promise that she’d find Noah Cramer.

Dylan Easton had many cases over the course of her career as a detective, but only one she would describe as the one she’d never let go of. It had started the day she’d made a promise to a fourteen-year-old girl that she would find her brother.

Ten years after Noah’s disappearance, the two women are reunited when a true crime series wants to highlight the anniversary of the missing boy. Ada is now ten years older and still bitter about the way her life had taken a turn that day, and Dylan is now a detective, on her way to running her own team. When the two women meet up after all these years, there’s an unwanted spark between them that they attempt to deny.

A new lead in the case, mixed with some startling discoveries, has these two women attempting to balance their new and confusing attraction to one another along with the possibility of finding Noah Cramer.

Available at:

Scoop by Eva Reddy

Elkie Kransky was just six years old when a man grabbed her older brother, Bryan, from a playground near their home in Perth, Western Australia. He’d yelled for her to run and not to look back and she’d done as he’d ordered; running straight home to tell her mother.

Bryan was never seen again and Elkie’s distraught mother was unable to cope with his loss. She sent Elkie to boarding school and told her “…it was for her own safety.” A six-year-old Elkie assumed this meant the man might come back for her, too.

Now a grown woman. Elkie has become a nationally respected investigative reporter, writing for newspapers across Australia and internationally. She investigates and exposes pedophiles and paves the way for the justice system to deal with them.

But the ‘law is an ass’ and in Elkie’s opinion so is Detective Sergeant Steven Jolly of the Major Crimes Squad. Legal trickery and police bungles provide a means for some of these men to slip through the legal system and receive minimal if any punishment.

A new investigation leads Elkie to mother of two, Leila White with whom she falls instantly and hopelessly in love. Unfortunately, the door is slammed shut on what might have become a beautiful friendship when Leila’s son dies from an overdose of veterinary tranquilizers. Elkie later discovers the overdose the young boy took had been traded for sex with a pedophile veterinarian. The vet insists the drugs had been stolen and it’s difficult to prove otherwise.

Incensed and frustrated by the injustice of it all, Elkie begins to plot how she might dispense justice on behalf of the victims. Unable to save her own brother, perhaps she can save someone else’s. She’s not afraid of bad men anymore – bad men are afraid of her. And so they should be.

Available at:

Undercover by Barbara Winkes

KENDALL

I swore to avenge my father’s death. I have to do it not only for my peace of mind, but to make sure everyone, from my family to the Biancos, knows that I am in charge now.

It’s lonely at the top. Jess is exactly who I need by my side, and I can’t let her go, even knowing about the danger that’s coming. Even after I learn of her true identity…

JESS/ROBYN

I began this undercover mission with good intentions and an infatuation for my target, Kendall Mancini, heir to a crime empire. My mission: to convince her to give up her vendetta and work with the authorities instead. For that, I had to get close to her.

I did get close to her. I couldn’t resist.

Now there’s no way back.

If we both want to survive this, we must do the impossible: Trust each other.

Available at:

On The Record by Raven J. Spencer

Out and proud lesbian singer/songwriter Emmy Whittaker is not amused when her manager books her on Andrea Stone’s show. She has worked hard to build a following. That includes many younger fans who trust her to have their backs.

Stone, who has a reputation for hearing differing opinions on controversial issues, doesn’t fit the bill. For the concessions Andrea has made, she’s been rewarded with a stellar career and considerable wealth. In her opinion, the sacrifices have been worth it.

Meeting Emmy shakes her beliefs.

A fateful decision they make leads her to understand that sometimes, the cost of compromise can be too high…

Available at:

An Unusual Year by Mia Kazi

When flirtatious Jo wonders whether she has lesbian tendencies, she begins a relationship with Izzy, a fellow teacher.

Then, Jo moves on to Julia, and agrees to go on a holiday with her to Laos, where she meets Jonno, who isn’t what he seems, and he tricks Jo into becoming a drug mule.

Leaving Laos in great haste, Jo and Julia are stunned when Jonno appears threateningly at their flat in London, and Jo realises she has to solve not only the dilemma of his arrival, but also coming to terms with the fact that she has completely fallen in love with another woman.

Available at:

For the Long Run by Cheyenne Blue

A koala ruined her life. Well, that’s how elite athlete Shan Metz sees it.

When an idiot charity runner in a koala suit trips Shan during a community fun run, her knee blows out, destroying her dream of making the Australian Commonwealth Games team. Recovering from knee surgery will be bad enough, but living on her building’s fourth floor will make it a nightmare.

Consultant Lizzie Carras, aka the dream-wrecking koala, does guilt like a pro. The only decent thing to do is offer Shan her spare bedroom during recovery. Their incompatible lifestyles don’t help matters. Neither does Shan’s training partner, the haughty and possessive Celia. But they’ll muddle through until Shan’s knee has healed enough to get out of Lizzie’s life.

Because it’s not like Shan would ever miss a dream-wrecking koala or anything. Right?

Available at:

A Curious Woman by Jess Lea

Bess Campbell has escaped to the windswept Australian coastal town of Port Bannir, determined to begin her life again. She is loving her fresh start, thanks to her fun job running a hip gallery, her territorial chickens, and a lot of self-help books to find her new, better self. Port Bannir local Margaret Gale runs an austere maritime museum, and rules her staff with an iron fist. She has no time for that crazy modern gallery or upbeat, earnest Bess sweeping around town on her hipster bicycle. After a heated dispute over an antique collectible dildo, there’s little hope Margaret and Bess will ever see eye to eye. But when Port Bannir is rocked by a senseless murder, both women find themselves implicated. Can they work together to expose the truth––or will the truth prove far too dangerous?

Available at:

Heart Failure by Chris Zett

Dr. Jess Riley’s life is perfect, ticking all the boxes—successful cardiologist, newborn daughter, and a luxurious condo. That is, until she suddenly collapses from acute heart failure. Her entire world crumples along with her exhausted body.

Jess is forced to face facts—she can’t keep working endless hours, and she’ll have to move back home to recover.

To her shock, her mother has already taken in Lena Walker, a struggling artist who isn’t a stranger to heartbreak either.

At first, an unimpressed Jess resents Lena’s cheerful presence. Gradually, though, the two women form a tentative friendship over tai chi, picking fruit, and evening walks with the baby. A sexy massage leads to friends-with-benefits fun. But is it all too soon? Should two barely mended souls try to risk a future together?

Available at:

Onside Play by Liz Rain (Out in July)

Knockabout Australian Keeley McGee is living her childhood dream of playing soccer at the World Cup. The only thing that could kill her focus is coming up against the cool and dispassionate US team’s star striker.

Beautiful, brilliant Christine Delacourt was the college girlfriend who dumped Keeley out of the blue years before.

What will it be like reuniting under the stadium lights, especially since they know the other’s game—and each other—so intimately?

Despite a strict “no distractions” rule from her coach, Keeley finds herself drawn to Christine in a way that feels almost dangerous. Will Keeley be able to rekindle what she once shared with her now on-field enemy with the eyes of the world on them? Dare she even try?

Available at:

Ylva Publishing

Don’t miss the upcoming Pride Month event!

There will be 30 questions, which means 30 free books, discounted books, and book giveaways.

Leave a comment

Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance” category!

The post Sapphic enemies-to-lovers romances (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #11) appeared first on Jae.

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Published on May 18, 2023 00:00

May 11, 2023

Sapphic books with an unusual first date (Book Unicorn #5)

This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category features sapphic books in which the main character goes on an unusual first date.

What makes it an unusual first date is totally up to you. It could be an unusual date activity, the setting could be unusual, or something unexpected could happen. So there’s a lot of room for interpretation, but you’ll find some suggestions below.

15 sapphic books with an unusual first date

Below, you’ll find 15 recommended books in which the main characters go on an unusual first date.

Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae

A single text message can change everything!

Flirting has never been Denny’s strong suit, but so what if she’s too shy to ask women out? She’s content with her simple life, working as a cashier and helping her sister raise her niece.

But then she gets a wrong-number text message from a stranger named Eliza, asking her of all people for dating advice!

Can the wrong number lead to the right woman after all?

Available at:

The Proposal by T.B. Markinson

Marley Royce has just two goals for her seventy-two-hour stay in London: land a career-making business deal and finally meet the woman of her dreams face to face.

Fate has something else in mind.

The mega conglomerate Marley works for wants to acquire the venerable but struggling Braithwaite Books. The centuries-old shop is owned by Cleo Braithwaite, a woman with a fierce and frightening reputation. Cleo turns out to be nothing like the rumors but refuses to sit still long enough to be dazzled by the meticulous spreadsheets and slides Marley has prepared to seal the deal. Instead of making her proposal, Marley soon finds herself on an impromptu walking tour of London with the charming Cleo.

Even though Marley has a dinner date that night with the woman she’s been chatting with online and was convinced was her soulmate, she can’t ignore the feelings her bewitching guide stirs up inside as they explore the historic city on foot. What’s more, the longer she’s with Cleo, the more Marley begins to question the business deal she’s been sent to make.

Should Marley stick with the plan, or is a single life-changing day with Cleo worth blowing up the future Marley was so certain she wanted?

Available at:

The Missing Piece by Kat Jackson

Order. Purpose. Predictability.

Dr. Renee Lawler organizes her life around those principles, and rarely does she stray from them. After all, they’ve brought her this far in life, where she enjoys her role as English department chair at a small but reputable New England university. She isn’t known for being lenient or a pushover; Renee very much appreciates that her academic reputation instills sparks of fear in students’ hearts.

Whether there’s room in her own heart for anything more than literature and bossing people around—truthfully, Renee hasn’t allowed herself time to discover that possibility. While she doesn’t love being described as “problematically independent,” she takes pride in how much she’s accomplished on her own.

Everything in Renee’s life is perfectly in order until one fall weekend, when her world collides with possibility and the past, setting off a tidal wave of changes even she couldn’t have predicted.

Available at:

Bella Books

Taking a Chance on Love by Catherine Maiorisi

Officer Quincy Adams is a hero. She pulled eleven people from burning cars and risked her own life to save the twelfth—a woman trapped in a car that could explode at any moment. But the event begins to trigger flashbacks to another time. Another tragedy. Trying to avoid the depression that she’s certain is just around the corner, Quincy heads to the local lesbian bar in search of light and life.

Lindy James is a loner. She’s only at the bar to celebrate her best friend’s birthday. But something about the bedraggled woman, whose image is breaking news on the TV, touches her heart and she agrees to drive the stranger home.

But Quincy doesn’t want to be alone and Lindy agrees to stay as long as Quincy doesn’t expect sex or ask personal questions. One night turns into three intimate but sexless nights. Then Monday morning Quincy asks Lindy for a date. And Lindy flees.

Thrown together by a devastating accident, but kept apart by fears from the past—will Quincy and Lindy take a chance on love?

Available at:

Bella Books

A Perfect Fifth by Jaycie Morrison

Two divides perfectly into four, not five.

Zara Keller is a survivor turned piano phenomenon living for a big dream. When she’s invited to spend the weekend with four long-time friends outside of London, she has little use for luxurious Fullerhill Manor—but Lady Jillian Stansfield might be a different story.

The obligations thrust on Jillian Stansfield as Lady of the Manor center on home and family. Even her best friends expect her to put aside the desire for a meaningful life and carry on her legacy through marriage and children. Will the arrival of a fifth person be enough to tip the balance of their “gang of four” in her favor?

Zara challenges Jillian to pursue grander plans and stirs something new and profound, compelling Jillian to be true to herself and make the hardest decisions of her life. But when tragedy strikes, saving Jillian may cost Zara the goal of a position at the Royal College of Music, and the chance at love.

Available at:

Free Fall at Angel Creek by Julie Tizard

Hundreds of people on Flight 402 vanish in an instant.

When the airplane carrying her sister is reported missing, then later found a smoking wreck, Detective Dee Rawlings never had the chance to finally reconcile after years of estrangement. She’s desperate to find out why the plane crashed, but Dr. River Dawson, the exacting and relentless aircraft accident investigator, believes Dee’s good intentions are interfering with her case and wants her gone. All that changes when Dee discovers critical evidence that doesn’t add up.

Dee and River must find a way to work together to solve the mystery of what happened to Flight 402, all while keeping their inconvenient and unprofessional attraction in check. Their search for answers at Angel Creek will risk their lives and maybe even their hearts.

Available at:

Petrichor Blooms by Mindi Briar

Danya Xiang would rather dig potatoes than wield a blaster. Raised as a member of the Greenjacket rebel organization, she’s content to stay away from military glory and spend her days in food production—until her soldier twin, Nox, is injured right before a mission. Nox begs Danya to take her place, hoping to use their secret telepathic link to spy through Danya’s eyes.

Available at:

Transistor: Hearts of Heroes 2 by Molly J. Bragg

When Naomi Woodward’s doctor recommended her for a clinical trial, it seemed like the answer to her prayers. She was finally able to get her gender confirmation surgery and the surgery was a resounding success. She finally looked and felt like the woman she always knew she was.

Her new face and new body finally helped her work up the nerve to ask out Anika, the beautiful nurse that lived across the hall. To her delight Anika said yes, but when they are attacked during their date, Naomi quickly discovers that the experimental procedure she went through had some unexpected side effects, and that when Anika told her things with her family were complicated, she really should have listened.

Now, armed with superpowers she barely understands, a snarky artificial intelligence in her head, and allies that include a Superhero, a Dragon, and the literal Devil, she has to keep Anika safe from the archangel who’s out to kill her while they work desperately to prevent a second civil war in heaven.

Available at:

Desert Palm Press

Sister Matthew and Sister Rose: Novices in Love by Carol Anne Douglas

Maureen Collins, recently named Sister Matthew in the novitiate at St. Euphrosnye’s convent in Western Maryland in 1962, doubts the existence of God. She entered the convent for several reasons: she thinks being surrounded by believers might help her believe; she knows she’s attracted to women and wants to avoid pressure to date men and marry; and she feels guilty about something that happened when she was in high school.

She quickly falls in love with Rose Clancy, now Sister Rose, another novice who also is attracted to women. Rose is more religious, but she reciprocates Sister Matthew’s feelings. She grew up with an alcoholic mother and found a refuge among the nuns who taught her.

As the two move through postulancy and the novitiate, they encounter many challenges from the strict rules to memories of their respective pasts. The memory of an old murder intrudes in the present.

Available at:

May I Call You Mistress? by Ruby Scott

If the woman that filled your teenage sexual fantasies walks back into your life seventeen years later, more beautiful and bolder than you thought possible, would you be able to resist?

Photographer Abby Mason comes to her friends rescue, stepping in at the last minute to cover a product shoot, but when she meets the client, the stunning redhead, Victoria Fraser, Abby’s world changes forever.

When the power of fantasy consumes reality, Abby has only one question, “May I Call You Mistress?”

The most intoxicating moments in life are ones we earn. But how hard would you work for one of those moments?

Available at:

Must Love Silence by Lucy Bexley

Reese Walker doesn’t like people. What she likes is silence and being left alone. The thing she loves most about recording audiobooks is that she doesn’t have to leave her Chicago apartment to do it. And she hasn’t for nearly a year. But with an unavoidable bill going to collections that puts her sister’s treatment at risk, she has no choice but to take a job that pushes her out of her comfort zone.

After a disastrous blow to her career, Arden Abbott needs a comeback. Step one: a successful book launch, including an audiobook. She doesn’t trust anyone else to oversee every aspect of the project. It has to be flawless. Arden knows she’s ready to resume the life she had before her dreams fell apart, all she has to do is prove it to everyone around her.

When Reese and Arden meet, sparks fly and then they combust. Will Reese crack under the constant pressure from Arden? Can she possibly read a sex scene with the woman who wrote it interrupting to correct her pronunciation of words she is saying 100% correctly? Or can they step outside their comfort zones long enough to meet in the middle…

Available at:

Sigrid & Elyn: A Tale from Norvegr by Edale Lane

Sigrid the Valiant is legendary throughout the kingdoms of Norvegr for her heroic deeds, but her love has yet to find a home. Now, racing on the heels of her father’s murder, a neighboring kingdom’s raids signal an all-out conflict.

Elyn is a young shieldmaiden with a score to settle, fighting her own insecurities along with enemies who threaten her homeland, but she suspects a more menacing danger lurks on the horizon.

When the two clash on opposite sides of their shield walls, sparks fly from both their swords and passions. But when they talk, the fierce women discover an antagonist’s plot has pitted their kingdoms against each other.

Can Sigrid and Elyn move past their suspicions and differences to forge a binding love and foil the villain’s scheme, or will the enemy’s assassins end their search for the truth?

Available at:

Finding Faith by AC Adams

Kalili’s a demon. In 10th century Rome, her job is simple: corrupt humans. It’s also dead boring. Her latest assignment, a pimply teenager named Octavianus who might someday be pope, is a case in point. After all, there are only so many ways Tab A can go into Slot B. But she’s content with her life, easing through her days, until she’s told of a new angel in town.

One sent to kill her.

Faith has a simple job. Go to Earth, find a demon, slay her for demonic acts, and return. Of course, it’s always the simplest things which are the trickiest. Finding Kalili is easy enough when you’re given directions, but actually killing her proves more difficult. Not because Kalili resists, but because there’s…something between them.

When they can no longer deny their attraction, they’re left with the question: what next? What they discover will shatter their perception of the world and may give them the chance at love they seek.

Available at:

Cure for Insomnia by Laina Villeneuve

According to her family, Karla Hernandez spends far too many hours working in the lab. A dedicated research scientist, she has contributed to a drug that could vastly improve the quality of life in diabetic patients. Her quality of life, however, could use some help.

She thought she would sleep better when she finished grad school or her post-doc, but launching a cutting-edge clinical trial isn’t helping. So when her eleven-year-old niece approaches her about participating in a school science project about insomnia, Karla agrees. Finding a girlfriend was not the conclusion she had anticipated, but Karla is not one to deviate from protocol—especially not when the judge at the science fair has some ideas about helping to cure her insomnia.

All research requires troubleshooting, but Karla isn’t prepared for the complications that threaten to shut down more than her love life. Does she need to find a new project or dig in deeper to her professional work? Or will putting faith in her niece’s research project be the key to her ever elusive sleep?

Available at:

Bella Books

Whispering Wildwood by Emma Sterner-Radley

Korinne Woodsorrow is trapped. Not only at her parents lumbermill but also in a village where she’s shunned. Worse than that, she’s stuck sacrificing the life she wants for the person she loves.

Next to the lumbermill looms the deadly Whispering Wildwood, with its magical creatures and mystical plants. The wildwood is not to be spoken of and not to be entered.

Yet, when disaster strikes, Korinne has to take her brother–who is all muscles and heart but not much brain–with her into the wildwood on a death-defying quest. Guided by a dashing rogue of a pirate and hunted by mysterious monsters, this quest soon goes deeper into a world of fairytales, danger, and wonder.

Korinne quickly has to figure out who and what to trust. As well as her new future, her sexuality, and of course – what happens if a quest changes into something completely different while you’re on it?

Available at:

Leave a comment

Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic book with an unusual first date” category!

The post Sapphic books with an unusual first date (Book Unicorn #5) appeared first on Jae.

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Published on May 11, 2023 05:50

May 4, 2023

Sapphic Book with a single parent (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #10)

For this week’s category of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book with a main character who’s a single parent–at least for most of the book. Some of the characters might find a new partner who takes on the role of a co-parent during the course of the book.

Sapphic books featuring a single parent

Here are 15 recommended sapphic books featuring a main character whose a single parent:

Falling Hard by Jae

Dr. Jordan Williams devotes her life to two things: saving patients in the operating room and pleasuring her latest conquest in the bedroom. Her idea of commitment is spending a few hours together in bed.

Single mom Emma Larson is Jordan’s polar opposite. Family and fidelity mean everything to her. After an ugly divorce from her wife, a plastic surgeon, she and her five-year-old daughter move in next door to Jordan. While she finds Jordan undeniably attractive, falling in love with another womanizing surgeon is the last things she needs.

When a bad fall leaves Jordan in need of assistance, Emma decides to help her while she recovers.

Could those six weeks turn out to be the beginning of a happily ever after, or will they both end up with a broken heart?

Available at:

Chef’s Kiss by Stephanie Shea

Valentina Rosas has always known what she wants. Mostly. Sort of. At least, she does now. And what she wants is the coveted staging role at Gia, San Francisco. With four years at the top of her class in culinary school and enough tenacity to fuel the entire Mission, no one doubts she is about to land the job of her dreams—including the three-person cheer squad made up of her best friend and adorably overbearing parents.

Renowned chef Jenn Coleman is not a people person. Her rise to the top of the culinary industry stems from a cultivated blend of top-tier schooling—from her nonna—and bouts of carefully managed misanthropy. Owning and operating two Michelin starred restaurants doesn’t leave time for much else anyway. Just ask her ex.

When the new stage at her restaurant trips into her with all the grace of a baby giraffe, it’s a sure recipe for disaster. But for all of Jenn’s reserve, Valentina has twice the allure, and the chemistry between them is just… chef’s kiss.

If only Jenn wasn’t Valentina’s boss with nearly ten years between them.

Available at:

The Loudest Silence by Olivia Janae

Rising star cellist Kate Flynn is new to Chicago and her job at the Windy City Chamber Ensemble. On day one, she is surprised by the board’s intriguing president, Vivian Kensington. Not only does the woman come with a formidable reputation, but she’s also Deaf.

However, between a familiar face Kate isn’t ready to see again and the difficulties of being a single mom, she isn’t sure Chicago is the right place for her.

When tendrils of friendship develop with Vivian, Kate finds beneath her prickly ice queen persona unexpected kindness and warmth. Is the promise of more enough to make her stay? Can two such different women, one from a world of sound and one a world of silence, truly understand one another?

Available at:

Always Believe by Aimée

Lieutenant-Colonel Greyson Walsden returns to her hometown of Gloucester after a fulfilling career as an Army doctor. She takes a position as a general practitioner while pursuing ordination as an Anglican priest. Overworked and naturally reserved, she doesn’t have time or patience for socializing, let alone for falling in love.

For Angela Arlingham, life as she knows it is over. God played a cruel trick on her by robbing her of her daughter, Sybil, and Angela refuses to believe in Him any longer. When she meets Greyson Walsden, she’s impressed by the handsome doctor, but struggling with her loss makes falling in love with a priest all but impossible.

As circumstances throw them together again and again, the choice to follow their hearts may be the most difficult one of all.

Available at:

Reading Her by Amanda Radley

Awkward teenager Hugo Whittaker doesn’t know a cross-trainer from an elliptical, but getting strong is the only way to fight off the bullies who won’t leave him alone. Lauren Evans loves her job as a fitness instructor, and she wants to guide him. Unfortunately, Hugo paid for his gym membership by stealing his mother’s credit card, and it doesn’t take his mother long to track down her wayward son.

In a courtroom, shrewd barrister Allegra Whittaker is unstoppable, but when it comes to her son Hugo, she’s afraid she’s losing her touch. She reluctantly allows him to continue using the gym as long as she can keep an eye on him—and his undeniably intriguing instructor.

As each encounter leaves them wanting more, Lauren and Allegra learn love and happiness are right where they least expect it. There’s just one little problem: Lauren has a huge secret she absolutely cannot tell anyone, and Allegra knows she’s hiding something.

Available at:

Other Girls by Avery Brooks

Once upon a time, Sam and Ashley were other girls.

Three years after the loss of her wife to a brain aneurysm, 34-year-old Samantha Parker focuses her energy on caring for her young son, Jake. She can’t imagine ever falling in love again, so she focuses on putting one foot in front of the other and being the best mom she can be. It’s not a perfect life, but as long as her son is happy and her softball team keeps winning, everything is fine. That is, until Ashley Valence, the girl who bullied Sam throughout high school, moves back to New Orleans and joins the softball team. As tensions rise on the field, unexpected chemistry between the two women begins to grow.

No matter how much Sam wants to hate Ashley for the pain and anguish those teenage taunts caused, Ashley’s eyes hold only warmth now. And, as Sam slowly introduces Ashley into her life with Jake, she begins to let go of the past. But as their relationship progresses, all of the former hurts and resentments resurface for Sam, and she lashes out at Ashley. Sam understands that her anger is a byproduct of the events of the past and that Ashley isn’t the same girl she used to be. But when Sam begins to realize that she’s fallen in love with Ashley, she has to decide if she can truly trust her heart and find happiness with the woman who once hurt her so deeply.

Available at:

Bywater Books

Hugs & Quiches by Candace Harper

Though for Zoe Cooper and Amelia Hughes, it’s the very first step toward their happy ending.

It’s been a year since Zoe Cooper packed up her daughter and fled her abusive husband with only the clothes on her back. But life as a waitress, food blogger, and “roommate” to her supportive mother has turned into a holding pattern, and her dream of launching her own catering company and cooking school feels like just another fairy tale ending–when she’s no Cinderella.

Until the newest cooking competition comes to town, and suddenly magic just might be at Zoe’s fingertips with the chance to audition for Heating Up the Kitchen.

If only she can beat Amelia.

Fresh out of a disastrous relationship and determined to prove her ex wrong, Amelia’s got a chip on her shoulder and is ready for a grudge match in the kitchen. When she locks horns with Zoe, there’s more steaming than their buns as the two competitive young chefs vie for the top spot on the show…

…and the top spot in each other’s hearts.

There’s more cooking in this kitchen than the food, and romance is on the menu. When hatred turns to heat and threatens to boil over, their rivalry might just end in disaster.

Or Zoe and Amelia might just find the future they need in each other–in between stolen hugs and quiches.

Available at:

And Then She Kissed Me by Harper Bliss

TV cop Sadie Ireland needs a break from her Hollywood life. She heads home to the beach town where she grew up to celebrate her 40th birthday with her family.

Devon Douglas can’t believe it when she comes face-to-face with Sadie again. They were inseparable in high school until Devon did something she has regretted for more than twenty years—she ruined their friendship on a lovestruck whim.

Sadie is as dazzling as Devon remembers—and she can still hold her own surfing the wild waves of Clearwater Bay.

Devon’s first priority is her five-year-old son, but getting to know Sadie all over again is taking up more and more of her headspace.

Sadie is inexplicably drawn to Devon. It could be nostalgia. It could be remnants of their old friendship flaring up. But what if it’s more than that?

Available at:

Sleepless Nights by Iona Kane

Alex Knight is a rock star at the top of her game. Her life might be a little secretive and a lot lonely, but she’s selling out stadiums around the world on her most successful tour yet. Who wouldn’t want a piece of her success?

Tyra MacLean has been there, done that, ripped the sleeves off the T-shirt. Still scarred by her own experience of fame, she hates celebrity and everything that comes with it. All she wants is a quiet life. But when Alex decides she wants Tyra and her band to join her tour, Ty has to put her bandmates first and return to the world that nearly destroyed her.

As Alex and Tyra tour America together can they put aside their fears and their differences to find love?

Available at:

Truly Wanted by J.J. Hale

After a chaotic childhood in a long line of foster homes, Sam McKenna found her version of serenity in her friendship with Brooke Fields. When tragedy forces Brooke to become a single mother, Sam is there for her. Sam ignores the crush she’s had on Brooke since college. Their relationship is too precious to risk.

After the loss of her husband, Brooke finally dips her toes back into the dating world only to have each encounter end in disaster. If it wasn’t for Sam by her side picking her back up, she might give up on ever finding love again.

After a night of unexpected passion when Brooke and Sam cross the line of friendship, Brooke can’t help but yearn for more with Sam. A chance encounter leads Brooke and Sam on a journey to Sam’s birth family, uncovering the ghosts of Sam’s past and revealing wounds that threaten the friendship both once believed to be indestructible, and any chance for something more.

Available at:

You Matter by Jazzy Mitchell

Chrissy Kramer became pregnant during her senior year of high school and was abandoned by her parents, her boyfriend, and her friends. She became a loner, working hard to provide for her son. It was her and him against the world. She eventually earns a paralegal degree and works for a powerful female attorney, Reggie Esposito, a senior law partner at a leading Boston law firm.

Chrissy’s smitten from the beginning, but she refuses to jeopardize her job by acting on her feelings. When a disgruntled former client attempts to kill Reggie after she loses his lawsuit, Chrissy prevents him from shooting Reggie, but she’s hurt in the process. While Chrissy and her son, Ben, stay in Reggie’s home to recuperate, Chrissy’s connection with Reggie deepens, and they embark on a romantic relationship.

Available at:

Flight To The Horizon by Julie Tizard

Airline captain Kerri Sullivan has a perfect life. Only one thing is missing—a woman to share it with. She’s had plenty of women on the road to success, but she’s never met “the one.” Flight attendant Janine Case is beautiful beyond measure, but comes across as aloof and untouchable. When Kerri and Janine are crewmembers on a flight to Hawaii, an unexpected kiss leads to smoldering attraction.

After Kerri is forced to make an emergency water landing mid-flight and the two women survive a harrowing rescue mission, all Kerri wants to do is follow her heart into Janine’s arms. But Jeanine is hiding a dark secret from her past, one that makes falling in love impossible. She’s on the run from her abusive ex-husband, and she’ll stop at nothing to protect her daughter, even if the cost is her own happiness.

Available at:

Love Bites by Lila Bruce

The last person Ashley Baldwin expected to see when she walked into Ridgeview Animal Clinic was the gorgeous ex-love-of-her-life, Peyton Maxwell. Their break-up in college had been an explosive one, and now, some twelve years later, Ashley was still picking up the pieces of her broken heart.

Peyton Maxwell knew better than anyone that life rarely turned out the way you planned. After spending more than a decade away from her hometown, she’d finally decided to move back in order to raise her young daughter closer to family. She was just beginning to settle into her new job when Ashley walked into an exam room at the vet clinic and back into her life. Peyton thought she’d put that part of her life firmly in the past, but one look at her former lover and it all comes rushing back.

Ashley has waited a long time for answers, but walks away from their encounter with only questions. Could it really hurt to pursue a friendly, platonic relationship as Peyton suggests? Or will Ashley find herself rekindling a flame that never really died?

Available at:

Presidential by Lola Keeley

High-flying pediatric surgeon Emily Lawrence is new to Washington DC. Her first week in her new job puts her on a collision course with the most powerful woman in America, President Calvin.

Constance “Connie” Calvin’s first term is proving turbulent thanks to trying to juggle work and life as a widowed single mother to a 12-year-old boy. Running for re-election is imminent, and the critics are gunning for her. Worse, her famed icy cool is in danger of melting in the face of Emily’s passion, commitment, and charm.

Admitting the rising sexual tension between the women is just the start. How can they act on it while in the public glare? Giving into temptation comes with such risk. In a world that lives and dies on opinion polls, what will the country make of them?

Available at:

Ylva Publishing

Sprinkled in the Stars by Violet Morley

AJ Beckett is just trying to get Parker, her seven-year-old autistic daughter, through life in one piece. As a paramedic, AJ puts others’ needs above her own; in her personal life, she keeps everyone an arm’s length away. That distance disappears when a chance run-in with actor Melanie Cooper leaves her sticky, angry, and fed up.

Melanie Cooper has just signed her last movie. The media keeps portraying her as cold and hard to work with, and Mel has absolutely nothing more to give. As she begins to imagine a new life, a challenging part of her past comes back on the scene, determined to cause problems for Mel.

After a series of coincidental meetings, AJ battles her desire for control while Mel struggles with trust. Despite the challenges and complications, Mel finds herself drawn to the Beckett ladies, and AJ can’t deny their connection, either.

Falling in love has never been so sweet.

Available at:

Heal Their Hearts by Claire Highton-Stevenson

Georgia Samuels lives her life with no commitments other than the love of her job, and the flashy little apartment overlooking the Thames.

That is until tragedy strikes and her sister, Aston, and Aston’s husband Ben are both killed when the plane they’re returning home on crashes, leaving the family rocked, and three kids orphaned.

Will Georgia step up like her sister wanted? And what happens when her sister’s best friend, Pippa, turns out to be someone worth hanging around for? Can Georgia give up her dream life and hot hook-ups, for a ready-made family, village life, and maybe, the love of her life?

Available at:

Leave a comment

Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic book with a single parent” category!

The post Sapphic Book with a single parent (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #10) appeared first on Jae.

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Published on May 04, 2023 03:04

April 27, 2023

Sapphic paranormal fiction & urban fantasy giveaway

Sapphic speculative fiction, especially sapphic paranormal fiction and urban fantasy, doesn’t get as much attention as contemporary romance. But what’s not to love about lesbian vampires, sapphic werewolves, bisexual witches, asexual sirens, queer demons, and other fantastical creatures?

That’s why I decided to put together a big giveaway for everyone who loves speculative fiction with sapphic characters! I teamed up with 30+ authors, so you can win one of 36 amazing books.

There are ebook, audiobook, and paperback prizes. Most are paranormal romances or urban fantasy novels, but we also have several paranormal mysteries and paranormal women’s fiction novels.

Our book prizes

Here are the 36 sapphic paranormal fiction and urban fantasy novels you can win in our giveaway. Check out the descriptions and then tell me in the giveaway form which one(s) you’d like to win.

Midlife is the Cat’s Meow by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeod

Signed paperback | Paranormal women’s fiction

A witch without powers. A secret to die for. A midlife sapphic awakening?

If you’re hungry for a paranormal story that celebrates women over 40 and strong female friendships, with snarky humor, quirky family members, a mischievous cat, a murder mystery, time travel, ghosts, and a leather wearing, motorcycle-riding physician who sparks an unexpected midlife sapphic awakening, look no further than Midlife is the Cat’s Meow!

Second Nature by Jae

Ebook, signed paperback, audiobook | Paranormal romance

For solitary novelist Jorie Price, true love seems as fictional as the shape-shifting creatures she writes about in her paranormal romances.

Griffin Westmore doesn’t believe in love either, but she’s one of those not-so-fictional shape-shifters who secretly live among humans.

When Jorie’s writing gets uncomfortably close to the truth, Griffin is sent to investigate and, if necessary, kill the author to protect the secrets of her kind.

But when Griffin unexpectedly finds herself drawn to Jorie, her world is turned upside-down. Hell, she’s supposed to kill the human, not fall in love with her! How can she complete her mission now?

The Dragon and Her Thief by Ariel Marie

Signed paperback | Paranormal romance

A possessive dragon. A sexy thief. A job gone wrong…or did it?

Kelsey Rose wasn’t crazy. She was determined. A family heirloom was stolen years ago, and she was the perfect person to recover it. No job was too big for her, but this one was going to be a challenge for her.

The only obstacle?

A dragon shifter.

Mythia Zinfina spent centuries protecting and growing her hoard. The powerful dragon shifter was patiently waiting for the day she would find her mate. Never did she expect the tiny slip of a woman breaking into her castle to be the one who was destined to be at her side for all eternity.

The second their eyes met, Mythia’s dragon determined she would never let Kelsey go.

Venandi by KC Luck

Signed paperback | Paranormal romance

The dark and mysterious Saxon Montague is Hollywood’s most sought-after movie director. Savvy and brilliant, she is a rising talent—and secretly a two-hundred-year-old vampire.

Faye Stapleton knows her movie career is at a crossroads. Quickly becoming too old to be America’s rom-com sweetheart, she yearns to play a serious role.

When the two women meet, their chemistry is electric. Tensions mount as each woman struggles to control their mutual desires. When their passions and secrets collide, both quickly realize not everything is as it appears and that following their hearts could lead them into disaster.

Consecrated Ground by Virginia Black

Ebook | Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy

Joan Matthews is a war witch who uses spellcraft to fight vampires. Upon news of her estranged father’s death, she returns to her hometown to find it besieged by a vampire lord’s attacks—and the key to stopping him lies with the woman who chose a rival over Joan.

Leigh Phan once believed her heart was safe and her future set. Now Leigh harbors a dark secret. Her only hope of survival lies in trusting the war witch who left her behind.

With their town on the brink of destruction, Joan and Leigh join forces and face inconvenient truths to save their town—and each other.

Wicked Girls by Kinsey Leigh & Cara Malone

Ebook (international), audiobook (US or UK only) | Urban fantasy

You’re a witch, Teagan!

That’s what my new roommate tells me – not exactly what I was expecting from my first week of college.

My first thought is she’s off her rocker, but when she brings me to a huge, gothic building in the middle of town that I somehow never noticed before and welcomes me to Lilith Academy – a school for witches – it starts to feel real.

And so do my powers, especially when my roomie and two of the other girls from class are nearby. They make my newfound magic go wild and if I don’t find a way to tame it, the academy will take away my power – and sever my bond to the three girls who’ve become my whole world.

Love, Blood, and Sanctuary by Brenda Murphy, Megan Hart & Fiona Zedde

Ebook | Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy

Haunted? Hunted? Welcome to Sanctuary, New York’s most exclusive club for magical beings and the backdrop of three sexy stories from three award-winning authors.

We Choose to Be by Megan Hart: When hemomancer Hadassah meets the woman of her dreams, she is a blood demon. What is love, after all, unless it’s bound by blood?

Sanguine Faith by Brenda Murphy: When a seductive spirit offers Laurel a means of escaping the life her uncle has planned for her, she learns free doesn’t mean without cost.

Promises Made by Starlight by Fiona Zedde: Abandoned by her wife years before, devastated Izzy loses nearly everything. When her wife reappears, Blood gods walk the earth her ex is back to reclaim what’s hers.

Finding Faith by AC Adams

Audiobook (US & UK codes only) | Paranormal romance

Can an angel and a demon find love?

Provocative. Scandalous. Taboo. Irresistible.

Kalili’s a demon. In 10th century Rome, her job is simple: corrupt humans. It’s also dead boring. But she’s content with her life, easing through her days, until she’s told of a new angel in town. One sent to kill her.

Faith has a simple job. Go to Earth, find a demon, slay her for demonic acts, and return. Of course, it’s always the simplest things which are the trickiest. Not because Kalili resists, but because there’s…something between them.

When they can no longer deny their attraction, they’re left with the question: what next? What they discover will shatter their perception of the world and give them the chance at love they seek.

Midnight Snack by Aunt Georgia Lee

Unsigned paperback | Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy, Paranormal women’s fiction

If you could choose from one of three delicious treats from the southern belle of black sapphic erotic romances, which would you choose? If you’re like most of Aunt Georgia Lee’s fans, you will settle for nothing less than the three. Well, it’s a good thing; our author thinks just like you. So, enjoy this compilation of three of her tales: The Bad Girls, Caught Up and Strapped Up, and Stalk Her Much.

Hecate’s Hollow by Tallie Rose

Ebook (international), signed paperback (US only) | Paranormal romance

Hecate’s Hollow is a paranormal sapphic romance set in Appalachia about a witch falling for the jewel thief she is trying to cure of a vampiric curse.

Coven Be Charmed by Caitlin Ryan

Ebook | Urban fantasy

A little charm goes a long way.

Rose Cromwell is a life coach but that doesn’t mean she believes in all that woo-woo stuff. When her romantic weekend away at the mysterious Honeydrop House turns supernatural, she doesn’t believe it. A witch? She can’t be.

It turns out it’s harder to escape who you are than it is to outrun a bushfire. Rose is thrust into a world of witches, warlocks, witch hunters, and demons where ancient tensions put her in the middle of a fight to destroy not only the coven but Rose herself.

Forced to rely on a coven she never wanted to join, Rose discovers nothing in her world is what it seems. Not even her girlfriend.

Remember, November by Cameron Darrow

Ebook | Historical fantasy

Britain has won the Great War, but for Millie Brown and her sister witches, it doesn’t feel like victory. Brought together to try to end the war more quickly with magic, their failure could mean the disbanding of their budding coven and the overturning of lives already shattered. It could also mean the beguiling Elise Cotillard being sent back to France before Millie can tell her how she truly feels.

But when Millie’s best friend goes missing, she’ll have to find much more than just her courage. With powers unheard of in the history of witchcraft but no memory of who she is, bringing her home becomes Millie’s last, best chance at keeping her chosen family together.

A Bittersweet Garden by Caren J. Werlinger

Ebook, signed paperback | Paranormal women’s fiction, Paranormal mystery

Nora McNeill’s summer in Ireland is living up to her dreams, except for the ghost in her cottage.

Briana Devlin isn’t interested in a fling with an American who’s leaving in a few months. As Nora’s ghost becomes more demanding, Briana watches Nora seem to fade away. Past and present are on a collision course, leaving Nora and Briana caught in a ghostly intrigue.

Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff

Ebook | Paranormal/Small-town fantasy

Becca Thornton is newly divorced, just turned 50, has a crush on her cute lesbian neighbor and is about to meet Wolf’s Point’s menopausal werewolf pack. Nothing is ever going to be the same…

Pack of Her Own by Elena Abbott

Ebook, signed paperback | Paranormal romance

Natalie Donovan is looking to get over her past. Wren Carne is a lone Alpha werewolf who has no intention of having a pack. When the two meet in the sleepy town of Terabend, sparks fly as the connection between the two of them flares.

As the two women dance around and towards each other, fallout from both their pasts encroaches on the small town. Wren has to push past the secrets of her past to embrace her nature as Natalie worries that her own secret – that she’s transgender – will be too much for Wren to handle.

Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde

Ebook | Paranormal romance

Desire can be dangerous. No one knows better than Naomi McElroy who, during a moment of intense ecstasy, is transformed into Belle, a ruthless beast whose hungers know no bounds. Hungers that inevitably endanger the people she loves. Set in the lush landscapes of modern-day Jamaica and Alaska, Every Dark Desire is a vampire’s tale of passion, discovery, and survival under starlight.

Pacific Pack by Harlowe Frost

Ebook | Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy

Tamsin Hath, the rightful leader to her family’s werewolf pack, left them in the care of her older, more experienced beloved uncle. She now lives in Chicago and is at the mercy of the local pack. The death of her uncle in a dominance fight left her angry, but she understood. When her aunt was found dead, due to supposed natural causes, Tamsin suspects her pack’s new leader is at the bottom of it all. Unable to count on the police, with their lack of insight into the werewolf world, to whom can she turn?

Paige Glass spent her days monitoring the beaches of Santa Cruz and her nights reporting on crime. On the trail of information into a local murder, she finds herself in a world people only read about in books. One in which vicious beasts attack you for coming too close to the truth. Can she find an ally in this world of monsters and murders?

Neither Tamsin nor Paige was looking for love when they found each other. Theirs was a mission to solve the murder of Tamsin’s aunt. Will their forced proximity and conjoined efforts bring them more than the pleasure of solving the crime?

Carmilla & Laura by SD Simper

Paperback | Paranormal romance

In the late 19th century, Laura lives a lonely life in a schloss by the forest, Styria, with only her doting father and two governesses for company. A chance accident brings a new companion, however – the eccentric and beautiful Carmilla.

Carmilla, the classic vampire novella written by J Sheridan LeFanu, receives new life in this retelling, centered on the provocative, controversial leads of the original, Carmilla and Laura.

Wake the Dead by Sophie Whittemore

Ebook | Urban fantasy, Paranormal romance, Paranormal mystery

An ominous presence awakens in the small town of Gamin.

Fairies murdered by crazed monsters. Magic that makes immortals lose their heads (literally). Whispers of a vendetta against the fairy crime lords who own the infamous Kraken Club.

One ace siren detective, Lili, is dragged back into defendING her turf…and hopefully, she doesn’t die this time around.

Wolf Healer by Huckleberry Rahr

Ebook | Urban fantasy

A young shifter excited to take her place in the pack. A savage attack that could destroy her future.

Jade Stone cherishes her family. With loving parents and a supportive community, the fifteen-year-old queer soon-to-be-werewolf can’t wait to take her place in the pack as a healer. But when she’s invited to vacation in Florida, she discovers the shocking existence of werepanthers… after one bites her.

Returning to her native Wisconsin with feline blood coursing through her, Jade is confused and disappointed when former packmates shun her. As she navigates a brand of bigotry she never knew existed, Jade fears she may be exiled from the home and family she loves.

Ostracized and alone, will Jade find a place she belongs?

Heart’s Claim by Issy Waldrom

Ebook | Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy

Riley’s a dragon, Elara an author just trying to make her way in life. But when their paths cross again, five years after the Convergence, when their worlds touched, it ends up being more than just a chance meeting, their lives suddenly very much intertwined.

A low angst sappphic shifter romance about learning to follow your heart, of magic, dragons, and two rather different worlds. One just like our own, and the other, of fantasy.

An Unlikely Partnership by Katie Trapp

Signed paperback (US only), Ebook (international) | Paranormal mystery

A reluctant witch and an overworked detective find themselves forced to work together to stop a murderer on a rampage. The pair struggles to navigate their new partnership while attempting to squash the feelings fluttering within them.

V.A.M.P. Book One—Serena & Katerina by Kimberly A. Todd

Signed paperback (US only) | Paranormal romance

Is it possible to find a second chance at love?

Being rich, powerful, and thirty years old for eternity has its perks. Being a heartbroken, 800-year-old lesbian vampire, not so much.

Serena Vanderen is chairman and CEO of V.A.M.P. Global. Advertiser by day; scientist, murderer, and cleanup artist for her pharmaceutical client by night.

Since her girlfriend was killed thirty years ago, Serena has been going through the motions of running her advertising agency while grieving and trying to armor her heart against any more pain. But when Katerina Davenport attends her company gala, everything changes.

Can this captivating, gorgeous, sexy redhead help Serena find love again? Will she reignite Serena’s long-dormant sexual desires?

All My Hexes by Leigh Landry

Ebook (international), signed paperback (US only) | Paranormal romance

Pastry chef & witch Crystal left all her exes (and hexes) behind in Texas… or so she thought.

Carving pumpkins with her ex wasn’t part of head chef Erin’s figure-out-a-new-life plan.

Will trick-or-treating together cast a spell on them both?

Chasing Shadows by Lila Bruce

Ebook, signed paperback | Paranormal romance, Paranormal mystery

Avery Smith, who returned to her hometown of Bethel Springs after time spent away in the big city, is finally beginning to absorb the culture shock and settle into her job at the local Sheriff’s Department. The pay’s not great, there’s a decided lack of decent coffee and available women in town, but those are sacrifices she’s willing to make to in order to be closer to her aging and increasingly eccentric grandmother.

When the discovery of a dead body in the county coincides with the arrival of attractive but irritating tv personality Cameron Reinhart, Avery has to put aside her feelings of skepticism and disbelief when Cam claims to have seen Avery’s murder victim—after she was murdered.

Kissed the Mark by Lila Gwynn

Ebook | Urban fantasy

A fairy bounty hunter stumbles into a vampire conspiracy and gets more than she bargained for…

Olympia Carter is the fourth-best bounty hunter in the supernatural town of Mayfair, Missouri, which isn’t exactly an accomplishment she’s proud to take home to her Unseelie fairy parents.

Enter Leandra, a vampire who’s high up on the vampire food chain. She has a proposition for Olympia that could make her a ton of money, if the target is even real…

And if it isn’t, what is Leandra plotting?

The Wolf’s Consort by Max Ellendale

Ebook (international), signed paperback (US only) | Paranormal romance, Paranormal women’s fiction

When reporter Mack Parker accepted the task of an exclusive article about suspicious activity at a local hospital, she never expected to stumble into a preternatural world hidden in plain sight. A near-death rescue launches Mack into the arms of Zara Weston; a grumpy, reclusive police officer who impedes Mack’s investigation at the brink of every discovery. Her officious, vigilant demeanor forces Mack to take matters into her own hands. Can the reporter slip under the radar of the meddlesome cop to uncover the truth? Or will their crossed paths bring them closer to each other and to the dangerous world of werecreatures and vampires that haunts the fringes of society?

No Bones About It by Rachel Ford

Ebook (international), unsigned paperback (US only) | Urban fantasy

He’s a skeleton who used to be a cop. I’m a Freak who used to be a detective. Together, we’re going to find the woman I love.

My fiancée, the star witness in the biggest embezzlement case in a century, is missing, and I’m going to find her. But not alone.

In a world of magic and undead beings, Normies avoid Freaks like me like the plague. Our magic terrifies them.

There’s one place I know I can turn to find the help I need: the undead. So here I am, trusting the fate of my career and the love of my life to a 150-year-old undead investigator.

And that’s a recipe for disaster. No bones about it.

Fur & Fangs (Volumes 1-10) by Rae D. Magdon

Ebook (international), signed paperback (US only) | Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy

Moving to big, bustling New York City from rural Georgia is already exciting for country wolf Riley Evans, but it becomes downright exhilarating when she spots a beautiful woman in a yellow dress on her morning commute. The only problem is, she has no idea what to say to city girls…especially one that happens to be a vampire.

Her Wolf in the Wild by Rien Gray

Paperback (US, Canada, or Mexico only) | Paranormal romance

Christiana Arjean needs to get out. She tried to fix her relationship, but making a break for it is her only shot. She almost doesn’t make it, until a butch biker tosses Christiana on the back of her bike.

Micah Nubilo knows a lot about keeping secrets. Rescuing Christiana is a bad idea, and letting her hang around is even worse. But there’s something calling to Micah: an impossible bond no werewolf should ever feel for a human, even one as beautiful as Christiana.

Christiana and Micah must fight against threats both outside the pack and inside themselves for a chance at putting it all behind them and finding a way forward—together.

The Grass Witch’s Song by Serenity Snow

Ebook | Paranormal mystery

Axton Kennedy has always known she was different and that it would take a special woman to win her heart. However, she doesn’t expect to come face to face with the love of her life.

As they drive to save a teenager, both Danica and Axton’s lives are put in danger and their growing bond is put to the test. When Danica is investigated for a hit man’s murder, not even danger can stop the lure of Grass Witch’s Song.

Stalk Her Much: It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye by Aunt Georgia Lee

Audiobook | Urban fantasy

What if a room carried the whispers and stories of a certain type of town folk from a little place called Social Circle, Georgia? What would these walls say if they could talk? They would tell a story about a witch with a bad attitude, so sassy and unpredictable that only her lover would enjoy. They would sigh with sweet sorrow as they mourned for the defiant lover’s defeat when she must heel to her assignment.

Oh, but the girlish giggles they would perfume the environment with at the mischievous and sinful pleasures that the witch’s familiar would enjoy in the name of love.

They would release the most satisfying moan from the depths of their yoni as they relived the passion play of their occupants.

But as they empty their entire contents, they would howl like the mightiest wind as they relived the conquering and devouring made possible by the mighty big black wolf!

How To Get A Girlfriend When You’re Dead by Angela McKenna

Signed paperback (UK only) | Paranormal mystery, Paranormal women’s fiction

A lesbian paranormal murder mystery with demons, witches, and a sprinkling of the undead!

Curses aren’t real, are they?

Easy-going genealogist Ally Brooker knows three things. First, she’s in love with best friend, Char. Second, there’s a chance Char might love her back. Third, she won’t live long enough to find out because of the curse.

You shall know undying death!

The witch’s words have haunted Ally for decades, and now her fortieth birthday has arrived. Deep down, she doesn’t believe the curse is real, and neither does Char. But later that night, undying death arrives to prove them both wrong.

But there’s good news; Ally can break the curse. The bad news is that to do it, she must find and help the one who won’t be helped, then source a soul for Azagor the crow demon, and deliver it to him in Hell. Easier said than done when the only clues available are a handful of long-lost items from her childhood; one of them possessed by the restless spirit of Elvis Presley.

Assisted by Char and her thirteen-year-old sister Emma, Ally sets out to solve the mystery.

The Bad Girls: They love to play for sin by Aunt Georgia Lee

Ebook | Paranormal romance, Paranormal women’s fiction

The Bad Girls is an erotic Halloween tale of two lovers who are in for a treat of unmeasurable pleasures on Hallow’s Eve night. But is it real or just a dream? By the end of this story, readers will be thinking they’ve seen a ghost of their own; one that’s filled with carnal desires waiting to be satiated with sweet pussy nectar from the objects of their desires.

Cougar Woods by Tiana Warner

Ebook | Paranormal romance

A sapphic age-gap shifter romance novella about overcoming the forces that control you.

When Liza’s twin brother vanishes from Vancouver Island without a trace, Liza packs her bags to investigate his disappearance. But as she looks for clues in Cougar Woods, the town where he was last seen, she discovers a mysterious history of animal attacks.

Then Liza meets a woman named Winter, who lives an affluent life on the coast and has a dark secret. As Liza works to unravel the ancient legend of cougar shifters, she fights her attraction to the one woman she should fear the most.

Under the Moon by Tiffany E. Taylor

Ebook | Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy

Rian MacNiall is the Alpha of the MacNiall pack—a Lycan shifter carrying energy called féarúil or butch. All Lycans—féarúil and baineann, or femme—were condemned to infertility because of their past disregard for life. When an alpha is gifted a rare Luminara mate, the curse is broken.

Luminara Fallon Conroy not only carries the Fae magick Rian’s pack needs to break the curse, it also allows féarúil shifters to impregnate their baineann mates… and Fallon is Rian’s long-awaited mate. But only the final bonding ceremony during the full moon will keep Fallon safe. When a rival pack hunts Fallon with help from a MacNiall pack traitor, Rian’s pack must fight to keep their Luminara out of treachery’s way.

How to enter the giveaway

Anyone can enter the drawing for one of our 36 book prizes, no matter where you live.

To participate, fill out this short form and let me know which book(s) you prefer.

Entries close on May 1, 2023, at 10 a.m. Central European Time, when I’ll draw the winners using a random number generator. The winners will be notified via email.

Don’t miss future giveaways

In June, I’ll run another big month-long event with book giveaways, free ebooks, and books on sale. If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss it, please subscribe to my blog.

The post Sapphic paranormal fiction & urban fantasy giveaway appeared first on Jae.

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Published on April 27, 2023 01:00

April 24, 2023

100 books with lesbian characters for Lesbian Visibility Week

It’s Lesbian Visibility Week, so to celebrate, I have put together a list of 100 lesbian books.

Each book features one or more lesbian main characters who are explicitly lesbian on the page, contributing to the visibility of lesbian women and nonbinary people.

The books have been submitted by the authors, with a focus on books published by sapphic indie authors and small LGBTQ+ publishing houses. They are listed in the order in which I received the submissions.

I hope you’ll enjoy the list and find many new favorite lesbian books and authors!

Don’t miss the giveaway

Coinciding with Lesbian Visibility Week, I’ve put together a big giveaway of sapphic paranormal fiction and urban fantasy, with books from 30+ authors to win! The giveaway will start this Thursday (April 27) and end on May 1, 2023. If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe to my blog.

100 books with lesbian characters

Just for Show by Jae

Perfectionist Claire hires impulsive actress Lana as her fake fiancée, but their feelings soon become very real.

A Woman Lost by TB Markinson

Can Lizzie find her way?

She’ll Steal Your Heart by Rachel Lacey

A thief seeking redemption forms an unlikely connection with a former lawyer looking for a fresh start of her own, but what starts as friendship soon feels like much more.

Heart Failure by Chris Zett

Grumpy cardiologist (and new mom with acute heart failure) meets sunshine artist in an opposites attract medical romance.

Broken Beyond Repair by Emily Banting

What price is an Ice Queen willing to pay to hide her true self from the world?

Her Surrender by Anna Stone

When April has a sizzling one night stand with a woman she met at the bar, she has no idea that Vicki is about to become her biggest rival.

Not for a Moment by Cheyenne Blue

Desperate situations call for desperate lies in this charming, fake-relationship lesbian romance.

Hungry For It by Fiona Zedde

The forbidden desire Rémi has for her best friend’s mother has absolutely no chance of being reciprocated–right?

The Lesbian Billionaires Club by KC Luck

As hot as it gets – period.

What Now by Jamey Moody

When love dares to alter a carefully crafted life plan, does the heart win?

The Sting of Victory by SD Simper

Love the monster; become the monster.

V.A.M.P. Book One—Serena & Katerina by Kimberly A. Todd

Is it possible to find a second chance at love?

The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair

An ice queen lawyer can’t resist her beautiful, feisty young assistant.

Musings of a Madwoman by Jazzy Mitchell

Three women navigate life and love, all while dealing with the effects of a close encounter with a meteorite

Maverick by Max Ellendale

With the turn of the seasons, a lonely doctor meets a wandering craftswoman and the two awaken like blooming lilacs in the spring, guiding them toward an adventure set just for them.

Thunder by Barbara Winkes

She wants her, but she has a job to do.

The Planck Paradox by Taryn J Dallas

An opposites attract, meet-cute, sapphic romance novella between a physics teacher and a philosophy teacher.

Don’t Quit Your Daydream by Adrian J. Smith

What happens in the elevator doesn’t stay in the elevator.

These Thin Lines by Milena McKay

Some lines should never be crossed.

One Last Shot by Jacqueline Ramsden & Lily Seabrooke

Impersonating a popstar should never lead to love.

Faith and Kalili go to Rome by AC Adams

When immortals go on vacation, things get wild!

From Fan to Forever by Tiana Warner

An age-gap celebrity romance between a medical physics student and a middle-aged actress.

Destination Bedding by Allison Temple

This bridesmaid romcom is rated 3F: Fast, funny and flirty!

If We Meet Again by Nicole Spencer-Skillen

Can a chance meeting change your whole life?

The Turkey Baster Diaries by Elizabeth James

It is a myth universally acknowledged that lesbian couples use turkey basters to get pregnant. A humorous, poignant and empowering autobiography of a British female couple’s turbulent quest for parenthood.

Swipe Right For Love by Cyan LeBlanc

How many duds do you have to date before you find your perfect match?

The Child Riddler by Angela Greenman

Can a badass spy quit the drugs that make her ruthless and still protect a child from terrorists?

Sunscreen & Coconuts by Eliza Lentzski

Midwest-to-Boston transplant Mercy Lewis has always been responsible, so why is she having such a hard time remembering that when she meets a beautiful expatriate on a tropical island?

Broken Chains by Siobhan Muir

Some inheritances are to die for.

Lexi’s Cup of Tea by Amber Perez

Does type matter when feelings begin to brew?

The Perfect Blend by Teresa Purkis

When all appears lost, sometimes the end is just the beginning, allowing two older women to find unexpected love.

Bourbon Chase (The San Francisco Mystery Series, Book 1) by Alexi Venice

Dr. Jen Dawson sticks up for a physician colleague during a murder investigation even though DA Amanda Hawthorne, the most eligible lesbian in San Francisco, challenges Jen in ways she never imagined.

Once in Berlin by Jo Havens

The woman she loves is brilliant, mercurial, and in possession of secrets that could shape the course of the war.

Queen Vs. Queen by Alysia D. Evans, Anne Hagan & Barbara Winkes

She meets her match!

Out of the Ashes by Rita Potter

Which will erupt first—the volcano or their feelings for each other?

My So Called Bloody Life by Mia Kazi

Yashica’s painful coming out story in a British Indian family

A Dance Towards Forever by Alyson Root

Two women, forever connected by a single moment in time.

Chasing Dreams by A. L. Brooks

A warm, feel-good, enemies-to-lovers, lesbian romance about chasing your dreams—wherever they might lead.

Off the Menu by Alaina Erdell

Celebrity fixer Erin Rasmussen and Restaurant Redo will arrive in Chef Taylor Mobley’s kitchen in less than 48 hours…and she just found out.

Foreign Facades (Gittie-Up Ranch Book 1) by D.J. Fronimos and Elke Lakey

Can two fake cowgirls find real love?

If It’s Meant to Be by Skye Von Triessen

In the end, life made choices for them and maybe it was just not meant to be, or was it?

Looking for Trouble by Jess Lea

In this quirky lesbian romantic mystery, a political reporter and a party volunteer who can’t stand each other join forces to find the truth behind an ice queen derailing Australia’s weirdest election.

Sleepless Nights by Iona Kane

When Tyra MacLean, damaged by her own experience of being an out lesbian musician in the 1980s, meets closeted rock star Alex, will she find love?

The Rules of Forever by Nan Campbell

Former high school classmates Cara and Lauren agree on the rules for an uncomplicated friends-with-benefits relationship, but rules are made to be broken!

When It Feels Right by Tagan Shepard

Freshly out of the closet Marlene hasn’t been lucky in love, but when it comes to her quirky new roommate Abby, everything just feels right.

The Mountain Town Series by Leandra Summers

Emma has lost her spark for life, can she allow herself to love as she needs to?

Outcast by KJ

A realm-hopping romance where finding yourself means saving the world.

Diving Into the Turn by Carrie L. Carr

Sparks fly when bull rider Shelby Fisher runs into barrel racer Rebecca Starrett at a county rodeo.

Old School Lovin’ – Book 2: Black Don’t Crack (Real Lesbians of Atlanta) by Aunt Georgia Lee

Sexy, sassy, 60-year-old Yvette Leigh-Dixon is getting her groove back after a six-year period of grieving over the death of her wife, Althea.

She’s the Boss by S.L. Brown

When ex-lovers Kathryn and Kitrina join forces to win the Big Town Bourbon distillery pitch and contract renewal, the gloves are off, and so are the bras and panties!

A Deeper Love by Shonia Brown

With the help of a few friends, Angel and Paula search for a place in their hearts and minds where negative beliefs no longer exist, and only love prevails.

Zamira Saliev (A Dept 6 Operation Book 1) by Valden Bush

When a rescue mission goes bad, can they survive against the odds?

Broken to Belong by Charity Muse

When lesbian musician Dani Williams takes the summer off to help LGBTQ youth in the South, she finds love and friendship she has yearned for, but when all becomes threatened, she must face her own wounds and use her gifts to overcome deep divisions.

The New Shore by Caren J. Werlinger

Life on Little Sister Island is idyllic. Until it isn’t.

Christmas at Winterbourne by Jen Silver

Four days of Christmas festivities at a lesbian guesthouse run by lesbians – what could possibly go wrong?

Tamara King by Emily Wright

Is it your last chance to be with her, or finally time to let go?

The Hideout by Melissa Tereze

A dangerous past doesn’t need a membership card to get a foot in the door.

An Unlikely Partnership by Katie Trapp

A tale of magic, murder, and accidental romance.

Exception to the Rule by Cindy Rizzo

Can an out rebel writer and a closeted Southern belle break their own rules about dating and love and come together in their college dorm?

Underwater Vibes by Mickey Brent

How to survive that pivotal moment when admiration turns to attraction?

Sweete & Sinn by Char Dafoe

Can love mend two broken hearts struggling to stay afloat?

Crowns & Swords by J.L. Meyrick

A runaway princess finds the pirate ship with the sole female captain, adventure ensues.

Starting Over by Nance Sparks

It’s never too late for starting over.

The Touch of Her Voice by Sara Scott

Jensy and Sophie: some love stories are meant to be read.

Sweet Paladin by Alex Washoe

They soon discover a deeper bond – one that was forged on the day they were born and could be destined to rewrite the history of the world.

Crash Dance by Elle Armstrong

What happens when the worst day of your life turns into the best?

Stealing A Thief’s Heart by C. L. Cattano

Crime and love… two reasons to meet online.

The Sorceror’s Lament by Sam Dogra

A talented Magician and reclusive Enchanter must join forces to stop a devastating magic…if they don’t tear each other apart first.

Daisy by Karmellah Howlett

Sunshine Daisy meets grumpy Po when she moves into town

The Intensive Course by Anna Parsifal

A year after their first meeting, Anna travels back to Perugia to find out if she can win the heart of Martina, the mysterious Italian she fell in love with.

Drifting by Lyn Hemphill

Mermaid warrior is stranded on land and falls in love with the human who tries to help her get home.

The Binding of Bloom Mountain by Siggy Chambers

A 30-something autistic lesbian binds the magic of a cursed mountain in an alternate Appalachia.

Iron Goddess (Shea Stevens Outlaw Biker Book 1) by Dharma Kelleher

Her niece is kidnapped… and the clock is ticking.

First Comes Marriage by Shannon M. Harris

Falling in love with a ray of sunshine wasn’t on Brynn’s to-do list, and no matter how convincing Micah was, Brynn planned to keep it that way.

The Island Between Us by Wendy Hudson

A survival course turns real in this adventure romance.

Chef’s Special by Susan X Meagher

Top-notch chef sets her sous chef aflame in this romantic romp through a New York kitchen.

Cities of Steel and Blood by Rita-Audrey Crawford

Adriana is a magi; a rare breed in a world that died long ago, she has to navigate through the city of crime and danger to a find a life among it all.

1140 Rue Royale by Karen D. Badger

Long-term lesbian couple Elliot and Lia agree to begin again in New Orleans, only to discover why their new home was such a bargain as a series of horrid events takes over their lives, and they learn the terrifying truth about 1140 Rue Royale.

Honeymoon for One by Rachel Bowdler

A festive sapphic opposites-attract romance set with a wintry backdrop and found family.

The Lesbian and the Homophobic President by Judy Ramsook

Is Kelly truly a bad influence as thought by many?

A Secret Love Affair by Amber M. Kestner

A lesbian college romance that someone gets karma and a possible happy ending?

Touchwood (30th Anniversary Edition) by Karin Kallmaker

Classic lesbian romance: A pre-Stonewall survivor, an out, proud woman of the Gay 90s. Even when the world disapproves, love finds a way.

My Mimosa Pudica by Amy DeMeritt

They have their own reasons not to date, but when the figurative door is opened, Nina and Mariana can’t resist the impulse to see where it leads.

An Outsider Inside by RJ Samuel

Winner of the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, An Outsider Inside is set in Ireland and France and tells the story of an Irish-Indian lesbian activist who finds the troubling manuscript left behind by a missing Indian woman.

How Sweet the Sound by Ann Tonnell

Val Scott hopes to build a non-profit casino in a rural, economically depressed area in Georgia (USA).

The Warrior Within by Brooke Campbell

A thrilling chance at love puts more than Libby’s heart at risk.

Beyond Any Experience by Anne E. Terpstra

After her wife is killed in an accident, Olivia struggles to raise their autistic son alone, but an unexpected encounter offers another chance at love, if only she can find the courage to share her heart—and her son—with another woman.

She Who Earned Her Wings by Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea

A trans lesbian angel leaves her home to learn about magic and gets embroiled in the dating shenanigans of two polyamorous lesbian dragons.

Becoming by Jourdyn Kelly

Can a Dominant allow herself to be dominated?

Catnip by Vyria Durav

Transfem lesbian egg travels to Venus to rebuild a failed colony for her polycule, only to find love and gender she never expected.

THIS: A Simple, Complex Love Story by Naomi Rivers

An alluring portrait of love revealed through parallel conversations of Jasmine, a pragmatic social worker, and Teresa, an elusive artist.

Abaddon by Cheyenne Browning

Out here searching for the lost soul, and I never thought I would find them instead, my women.

Traveller by Caitríona Page

Ríona is torn between leaving home to find herself or staying when she falls for her best friend’s cousin.

When Angels Fall by Sherryl Hancock

Skyler Boché survived the war as well as a horrific crash that should have killed her and her entire crew. Now, every day she has to deal with the aftermath and the crippling PTSD that’s tearing her apart.

Pirates of Aletharia by Britney Jackson

Emilia Drakon’s quest for vengeance will lead her right into the arms of the most dangerous pirate in Aletharia, Captain Maria Welles.

The Last Girls on Earth by Hayley Anderton

Three girls try to survive in a futuristic Britain where overpopulation and radical politics has led to chaos.

Highland Fling by Anna Larner

What happens when the passion of a holiday romance turns into something real…

We Are H.E.L.L. by JC Rowe

Be careful what you wish for, because it might just kick you in the ass.

Chasing Fireflies by Addison Clarke

They were supposed to be just friends.

Allured By Her by Chelsea M. Cameron

Mia isn’t sure why she lies about being a lesbian AND agrees to pretend to be Tenley’s fake girlfriend to make her ex-boyfriend jealous, but she’s not going to analyze it too much.

Beards by Serena J. Bishop

Four people. Two fake marriages. One epic love story.

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The post 100 books with lesbian characters for Lesbian Visibility Week appeared first on Jae.

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Published on April 24, 2023 06:15

April 20, 2023

Sapphic book set in a country or state you haven’t visited (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #9)

This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post is a big one, with a long list of book recommendations. It features sapphic books that are set in a country or a US state you haven’t visited yet.

One of the greatest things about reading is that it transports us to new, faraway places. It enables us to travel the world without leaving the comfort of our homes. For this category, I invite you to travel to a place you haven’t experienced before.

Sapphic books set in a country you might not have visited yet

Below, you will find sapphic books that are set in countries around the world, sorted alphabetically by country.

Afghanistan: Ask, Tell by E.J. NoyesArgentina: The Escape Artist by Judith KatzAustralia: Not for a Moment by Cheyenne BlueBangladesh: Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini IslamBelgium: Underwater Vibes by Mickey Brent; if you want to try an audiobook: Worth the Risk by The Lesbian RomanticBali: Lily’s Fire by Lise GoldCanada: Just Might Work by Katia RoseChina: The Language of Light by Kathleen BradyCroatia: What Do Nightmares Dream of by Antonija MeznaricEngland: The Secret of Matterdale Hall by Marianne RatcliffeFinland: Fair Play by Tove JanssonFrance: French Kissing (Season One) by Harper BlissGermany: Paper Love by JaeGreece: Broad Awakening by Mickey BrentGreenland: Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq KorneliussenHong Kong: High Rise by Harper BlissIceland: Visions of Virtue by Brey WillowsIndia: Falling Into Place by Sheryn MunirIran: If You Could Be Mine by Sara FarizanIreland: Heart Stopper by RJ SamuelIsrael: A Small Country About to Vanish by Victoria AvilanItaly: Velvet in Venice by Karin KallmakerJamaica: Bliss by Fiona ZeddeJapan: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata KabiJordan: I Can’t Think Straight by Shamim SarifKenya: Not Yet Uhuru by Dolar VasaniKuwait: A Map of Home by Randa JarrarLanzarote: Lanzarote Love by Amanda RadleyMexico: A Lover’s Mercy by Fiona ZeddeNetherlands: Bunny Finds a Friend by Hazel YeatsNew Zealand: Changing the Script by Lee WinterNigeria: Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo OkparantaNorway: Blind Goddess (Hanne Wilhelmsen #1) by Anne HoltPatagonia: Rock and a Hard Place by Andrea BramhallPeru: The Copper Egg by Catherine FriendPhilippines: Don’t Tell My Mother by Brigitte BautistaPoland: The Escape Artist by Judith KatzRussia: Comrade Cowgirl by Yolanda WallaceSaudi Arabia: The Others by Seba al-HerzSingapore: The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu TanScotland: First Comes Love by Frankie DuncanSouth Africa: The World Unseen by Shamim SarifSpain: Spanish Surrender by Rachel SpanglerSudan: Easy Nevada and the Pyramid’s Curse by Georgette KaplanSweden: Once in Sweden by Emma Sterner-RadleySyria: Cinnamon by Samar YazbekTaiwan: Last Words from Montmartre by Qiu MiaojinTanzania: Worth Every Step by KG MacGregorTenerife: In Too Deep by Rachael SommersWales: Poppy Jenkins by Clare AshtonZambia: Whitewater Awakening by Rita Potter

Sapphic books set in fantasy worlds

Below, you will find sapphic books that are set in fantasy worlds or on an alternate earth:

Ghost Walk by Kay Solo The Last Scion of Ra by K. Aten Aurora’s Angel by Emily Noon Copper Throne by Emma Sterner-Radley Errant, Volume One by L. K. Fleet

Sapphic books set in US states

Below, you will find sapphic books that are set in every state of the US. The books are sorted alphabetically, by state.

Alabama: Broken to Belong by Charity MuseAlaska: Under the Sitka Sky by Violet MorleyArizona: Bright Lights of Summer by Lynn AmesArkansas: Becka’s Song by Frankie J. JonesCalifornia: Impact by Nikki MarkhamColorado: Top of the World by Jodi PayneConnecticut: V.A.M.P.: Book Two—Born by Kimberly A. ToddDelaware: Confined Desires by Katherine McIntyreDistrict of Columbia/Washington, D.C.: 46 by Lynn AmesFlorida: Almost Perfect by Tagan ShepardGeorgia: Love Bites by Lila BruceHawaii: Flight to the Horizon by Julie TizardIdaho: The Price of Payback by S.W. AndersenIllinois: Thundering Pines by Rita PotterIndiana: You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah JohnsonIowa: Heart’s Orders by Jaycie MorrisonKansas: Indigo: Blues by Adrian J. SmithKentucky: The Lucky Ones by KG MacGregorLouisiana: Sing the Blues by Leigh LandryMaine: Kissed By Her by Chelsea M. CameronMaryland: Worthy of Love by Quinn IvinsMassachusetts: Howl by Lucy BexleyMichigan: Beyond the Blue by TJ O’SheaMinnesota: Starting Over by Nance SparksMississippi: Saving Sam by Lynnette BeersMissouri: Perfect Rhythm by JaeMontana: Riding the Storm by Franci McMahonNebraska: Traveller by Caitríona PageNevada: All’s Fair in Love & Vegas by M Leigh Morhaime & Shannon O’ConnorNew Hampshire: The Roads Left Behind Us by Kat JacksonNew Jersey: The No Kiss Contract by Nan CampbellNew Mexico: Harsh Reality by Elle E. IreNew York: A Crime of Secrets by Ann AptakerNorth Carolina: Strange Attractors by Ana K. WrennNorth Dakota: The Plague of Doves by Louise ErdrichOhio: Music from Stone by Brenda MurphyOklahoma: Securing Ava by Anne ShadeOregon: What the Heart Sees by KC LuckPennsylvania: The Business of Love by Charley ClarkeRhode Island: Wisdom by Jesse J. ThomaSouth Carolina: Reverie by Eliza AndrewsSouth Dakota: Loving Blue in Red States: Wall South Dakota by Anne HaganTennessee: Secrets Well Kept by Lynn AmesTexas: Score to Love by Johana GavezUtah: Wildflower Words by Sam LedelVermont: Sweat Equity by Aurora ReyVirginia: Skimming around Murder by Edale LaneWashington: The Executive Liaison by Anna Stone & Hildred BillingsWest Virginia: Almost Heaven by Susan X. MeagherWisconsin: The Journey Home by K’Anne MeinelWyoming: Choosing Yellowstone by Carol Anne Douglas

Don’t miss the posts & giveaways for Lesbian Visibility Week

Lesbian Visibility Week starts next week, on April 24. To celebrate, I’ll post a list of 100 books with lesbian main characters, and I have also put together a big paranormal fiction & urban fantasy giveaway with LGBT characters. Make sure you are subscribed to my blog so you won’t miss it!

The post Sapphic book set in a country or state you haven’t visited (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #9) appeared first on Jae.

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Published on April 20, 2023 02:38

April 13, 2023

Both main characters have brown eyes (Book Unicorn #4)

For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, read a sapphic book in which both main character have brown eyes.

In real life, brown is the most common eye color. 70-80% of the world’s population have brown eyes. It’s not rare to find characters with brown eyes, but usually, only one of the main characters has brown eyes, while authors will often give the other protagonist a different eye color to set the two characters apart and not make them look too similar. That’s why a sapphic book with two main characters who have brown eyes is pretty rare—at least if both main characters are white.

In books in which both main characters are people of color, this isn’t a Unicorn category at all. But then again, women of color are still very underrepresented in sapphic fiction.

15 sapphic books in which both main characters have brown eyes

Below, you’ll find 15 recommended books in which both main characters have brown eyes.

Not the Marrying Kind by Jae

Small-town florist Ashley Gaines loves her little flower shop and putting together the perfect bouquets for weddings and other happy occasions. Her own love life, however, is far from blossoming. Ash has decided that staying in the closet is safer than risking her heart again.

Local bakery owner Sasha Peterson hasn’t had much luck mixing it up with romance either. Besides, she’s too busy whipping up delicious treats to have time for a relationship.

But when their town’s first lesbian wedding forces them to work together, Ashley and Sasha discover they have more in common than they imagined.

During food fights, cake tastings, and slow waltzes, they begin to see each other in a new light. Soon Ashley has to admit to herself that Sasha is tempting more than just her sweet tooth.

Available at:

Consecrated Ground by Virginia Black

Like her father before her, Joan Matthews is a witch. For generations, their family of binder witches has protected Calvert, Oregon from vampires by strengthening the land with spellcraft. Pushing back against tradition, Joan defied her father and left town to become a war witch, one who fights the monsters hand-to-hand. But when her father dies, Joan returns to find her hometown assailed by a vampire lord’s endless attacks—and the answers lie with the one woman who chose a rival over Joan.

Leigh Phan once believed her heart was safe and her future was set. When Joan left town, Leigh’s choices led to ruin and unintended consequences. Now Leigh harbors a dark secret forcing her to live a moment-to-moment existence. Her only hope of survival lies in trusting the war witch who left her behind.

Now it’s up to Joan to fight for a town she left behind, while Leigh faces a destiny she never imagined was possible. With Calvert on the brink of total destruction, Joan and Leigh join forces and face inconvenient truths in order to save their town—and each other.

Available at:

Bywater Books

Just Like Her by Fiona Zedde

Delphine’s life is made up of secrets. About her job, her sexual identity, and even her past.

She coasts along on a tide of half-truths until a familiar “straight” woman splashes deeper into her world, threatening her tenuous peace of mind.

This woman wants to be everything Delphine has never had before – a confidant, a seductress, a trusted lover. By giving in to this siren, is Delphine setting herself up for heartbreak?

Available at:

As You Look by Veronica Gutierrez

Former LAPD cop-turned private investigator Yolanda Ávila blames herself for her mother’s death. If she’d only followed her cop instincts instead of the juju—her random prophetic dreams—the perpetrator would have been off the streets and her mother would still be alive. The only salve against her guilt is Yolanda’s vow to reject that juju crap, and to solve cases using only good solid detective work.

But when her godson is kidnapped and his parents are suspected of murder, Yolanda finds herself caught between what she feels and what she knows. And with the escalation of the case comes the escalation of her dreams. Until she can no longer ignore their importance.

If she wants to overcome the guilt and deal with her pent-up grief, Yolanda must confront the juju and learn to trust its place in her life. If she doesn’t, she risks losing yet another loved one. And she can’t possibly let that happen.

Available at:

In the Way of All Flesh by Caitlin Alise Donovan

Gloomy teenager Manee Srikwan wears long sleeves and keeps her hands to herself for a good reason–whenever she touches a person for the first time, she sees a vision of how they will die. Manee’s weird powers cause those around her nothing but misery and she’s long resigned herself to a life of loneliness. But her vivacious classmate, Stephanie Pierce, changes all that. She smashes through every wall Manee puts up and overturns every expectation. Much to Manee’s shock, Stephanie believes her about her powers. What’s more, she insists they can stop the deaths Manee sees from happening. When the two of them are together, it feels like they can do anything.

As the girls grow closer, Manee’s feelings for Stephanie blossom into love. She yearns to be more intimate but is anxious about breaking her all-important “hands-off ” rule. When she finally gives in to temptation, she sees a terrifying future where Stephanie is murdered — and Manee is her killer! Now Manee has a choice to make— will she fight this fate or let it rule her?

Available at:

Flashpoint Publications

Not for a Moment by Cheyenne Blue

Andi Barrons has no time for kids or the chaos they bring—certainly not when she runs a high-end decorating business. Mischief and little fingers around expensive materials? No thanks!

But then her gorgeous friend, Sarah Santoro, winds up in a custody battle with Sarah’s former in-laws and now… Well, somehow Andi’s agreed to pretend she’s Sarah’s live-in partner.

She’s still not quite sure how she got stuck playing a role she’s so utterly clueless about and that’s everything she doesn’t want in life. But as long as Sarah and Noa, the world’s cutest seven-year-old, don’t get a hold of her heart, she’ll be fine.

Easy, right?

Available at:

Ylva Publishing

Inked with a Kiss by Jennie Davids

Sometimes everything you shouldn’t want is exactly what you need.

Tattoo artist Jamie Winston is used to caring for others. Between her assistant manager position at a tattoo parlor, single-parenting her twelve-year-old daughter, and supporting her alcoholic parents, Jamie rarely prioritizes her own needs—unless Sierra Clark is in her chair. The bubbly, younger woman somehow manages to make Jamie feel like the carefree teenager she never got to be, making anything seem possible.

For Sierra, time with Jamie is a much-needed escape. She takes her work as a social worker seriously, but with budget cuts threatening her job, there’s a lot riding on the fundraiser she’s planning with Jamie. The fact that it means working closely with the sexy, older tattooist is a bonus—a deliciously tempting bonus. Sierra isn’t one for relationships, but she’s never felt such a strong desire to mix business with pleasure.

Sizzling chemistry quickly erodes Jamie’s fears of being too old for Sierra, but navigating a romance with someone who’s at such a different stage in life is no easy task. They’ve each come to rely on themselves more than anyone else, but having a future together will mean letting their guards down, and accepting each other as a safe place to fall.

Available at:

Simply the Best by Karin Kallmaker

Simply the Worst…Alice Cabot’s only great love is science, but a lapse in judgment has exiled the New York journalist to the glitzy Gallerias and vapid bubble-babble of Beverly Hills. The assignment to do a flattering feature series on Simply the Best and the superficial nonsense it sells threatens to crush what little is left of her spirit.

Simply the Best…Pepper Addington can’t believe she’s moved up from grunt intern to personal assistant for Helene Jolie, the celebrity socialite founder of SimplytheBest.com. Succeeding at the job she worked so hard to get is her only priority. Keep a cynical know-it-all reporter in check? She promises Helene that she can.

Simply Irresistible…Expecting nothing but games from the beach-blond surfer girl that Helene Jolie has assigned to keep an eye on her, Alice is fully prepared to resist any and all of California’s charms. Or so she thinks.

Available at:

The Forever and The Now by KJ

Bron McIntyre, forty-two, has it all together. Terrific job. Loving family. No desperate need for a girlfriend but would be interested if one came along. Bron McIntyre is Teflon.

Kate Agostino, forty-eight, is not Teflon. Yes, she has a terrific job. But a loving family? Not really. And her personal life is rapidly disintegrating and turning into dust.

When her orange smoothie explodes all over her business suit while she’s on her afternoon walk, Kate simply shakes her head in resignation.

Bron, having witnessed the smoothie eruption, races to help, and suddenly her life takes an unexpected turn.

Falling in love is like watching the grandest sunset on the calmest ocean where the tiniest ripples wear silver sparkles as their hats. Kate and Bron find that sunset on that ocean with those ripples of love, but what happens when you take that love for granted? What happens when your person disappears? The answers are hard to hear and Bron chooses not to listen.

After a relationship break, a family intervention, and conversations that rip apart seams, Bron and Kate eventually find themselves, each other, and their now. And what they discover is that love is the large and the deliberate, and the simple and the small.

So when tragedy strikes, they call on its strength because, when you think about it, love can live on in the forever, particularly if it lives courageously in the now.

Available at:

Match Play: A WLW Sports Romance by Lainee Ash

Wren is a hustler, a shadow quietly picking the pockets of the unsuspecting. Her golf skills are the best-kept secret in this city, one that earns her boss a lot of money from illegal gambling. Billionaire Mio Fukuda is the greatest female golfer in the world. She never expects her most thrilling challenge to come from a woman who doesn’t even own her own clubs. When Wren and Mio crash into each other’s lives, it sparks an instant attraction. But escaping their circumstances won’t be so easy.

Available at:

Amazon (Kindle Vella)

Worthy of Love by Quinn Ivins

Nadine Bayani was at the top of her game. The brilliant, ruthless lawyer was in line to be White House chief of staff—until she confessed to campaign finance crimes that cost her party the election.

Now Nadine’s out of prison, broke, hated by millions, and stuck doing a menial retail job in rural Virginia where she barely earns enough to survive.

Bella Clarke has worked at Overstock Oasis since she flunked college. She wants to go back to school, but secretly doubts she’s smart enough. At least she’s not as clueless as her boss, who just accidentally hired the woman responsible for a national scandal.

However, Nadine seems to be nothing like the crook portrayed in the media, and Bella is drawn to her troubled, standoffish co-worker. As they grow closer, Nadine introduces Bella to the delights of Filipino food and opens Bella’s eyes to her own possibilities.

Before long, about the only thing harder to make sense of than Nadine’s past is their powerful chemistry together. Is Bella really falling for a woman who caused so much harm? And even if she is, how can two such different people ever be a match?

Available at:

She’ll Steal Your Heart by Rachel Lacey

Last year, Lauren Booker fled New York with a warrant out for her arrest. Now she’s back and ready to make amends for her crime. She wants to rebuild her life, and Brooklyn is home. There’s not much waiting for her here now, though, nothing except an online friend who’s brought her so much joy during one of the hardest years of her life. When they finally meet in person, Lauren’s unprepared for her attraction to Mia, but she’s even less prepared to discover that Mia has an unexpected connection to her crime, putting Lauren’s plans in jeopardy.

Mia Solano has also had a difficult year. Recently divorced, she walked away from her legal career after a health scare caused her to reexamine her priorities. Now Mia owns a cat café, and she’s struggling to adjust to a slower pace of life. She finds an unlikely friend in Lauren, but Lauren’s legal troubles force Mia to revisit a part of her life she’s trying to leave behind. She can’t explain why she’s so drawn to Lauren. They shouldn’t have much in common, and yet, they just seem to click.

As the connection between them strengthens, Lauren and Mia wrestle with growing feelings, but neither wants to risk their friendship by crossing that line. With Lauren’s court date looming ever closer, they might lose everything, including each other.

Available at:

The Price on Her Head by Suzanne Clay

Consummate hunter Myrine’s one focus in life is keeping her son Zale safe. Sometimes the danger is the wild animals that prowl outside the city of Kepithos. Sometimes the threat is the memory of a lethal plague that once decimated the townsfolk. But in the forefront of her mind is always the sacrifice of ten children every five years to the vicious minotaur that lives beneath the king’s castle—a ritualistic practice to keep the plague at bay.

So when it’s discovered that the minotaur has escaped its labyrinth, an enormous bounty to hunt it down is on the line. It’s not just to keep the forests safe. It’s to assure that the deities will not punish them for letting their weapon run loose.

When Zale comes down with an illness that mimics early symptoms of the previous plague, Myrine’s one hope for his healing is to take down this creature, receive the bounty, and pay the doctor’s high fee for both medicine and silence. The last thing she needs is a city full of panicked citizens considering his sickness an omen.

But a chance encounter in the forest shows her that everything she was taught was a lie. This minotaur is no mindless monster. Her name is Eleonora, and they have far more in common than they could ever imagine.

Available at:

The Planck Paradox by Taryn J Dallas

Cole Maclean is a philosophy teacher who also fosters service dogs through puppyhood. While she trains cute little Paradox to help a paraplegic friend, she can’t help but notice the pretty new professor with whom she finds herself sharing a supply closet.

Kenzie Philips teaches physics and likes her world to be grounded in the hard sciences. She also fears dogs, so she has no reason to be thinking about the sexy-as-hell teacher who asks head-scratching questions and takes a dog everywhere she goes.

But a shared interest in She-Ra, and a Deaf student needing help with his education, practically guarantee that they can’t ignore the magnetic attraction between them.

Available at:

Under the Sitka Sky by Violet Morley

Cam Porter is a charter pilot living a quiet life in the small island town of Sitka, Alaska. She’s spent most of her adult life avoiding any kind of affection and has put off romantic relationships. Her small but mighty family circle includes her exuberant dog Goose who gets her through the days between doing what she loves most, flying.

Skyler Callaghan had to leave Sitka while she was still attending high school. Despite the time and distance, a childhood crush on her best friend’s older sister never went away—a little fact she almost forgot about until an unplanned trip back home reminds her.

When the two women find themselves stranded in the Alaskan wilderness, it isn’t exactly the setting Skyler always dreamt of when she pictured nights with Cam. She tries to put her feelings aside for the sake of her sanity and survival but she feels herself being drawn even closer to Cam. As things start to shift between them, Cam has to decide if she can learn to trust and let go.

Available at:

Leave a comment

Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “both main characters have brown eyes” category!

The post Both main characters have brown eyes (Book Unicorn #4) appeared first on Jae.

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Published on April 13, 2023 01:31

April 6, 2023

Free sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #8)

This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category features free sapphic books.

Free book means any book that was gifted to you by either a friend or family member or that the author offered for free. Below, you’ll find a list of 20+ sapphic books that you can download for free right now.

Review copies are considered free books, as are books you borrowed from a library. A book that you read in Kindle Unlimited isn’t free since you pay a monthly subscription fee.

20+ free sapphic books

Below, you’ll find more than 20 free sapphic books. Some of them are only free for a few days on Amazon and other retailers, so please make sure you double-check before you hit the “buy now” button. Others are free with BookFunnel for a longer time. For some of these books, you’ll be able to check the checkbox to sign up for the author’s newsletter, but that’s totally up to you.

Blind Date at the Booklover’s Lair by Jae

Tricia goes on a blind date in a bookstore, but the woman she meets in the LGBT+ section isn’t who Tricia thinks she is.

Contemporary romance short story

Get your free copy on BookFunnel

The Miracle Girl by TB Markinson

To secure a loving future, she must shed an addicting past.

Contemporary romance novel

Free on April 5-9, 2023

Get your free copy on Amazon

Three Ways to Ruin a Perfect Wedding by Chris Zett

After two years, Lena and Jess plan their perfect wedding: small, only close friends and family. What could go wrong?

Contemporary romance short story

Get your free copy on BookFunnel

The Third Act by Emily Banting

At the suggestion of her daughter, Amy, widowed Fiona attends an art course at the local college, where she meets the confident, inspirational teacher Raye, who awakens feelings long suppressed.

Contemporary romance novella

Get your free copy on BookFunnel

Open Spaces by Barbara Winkes

Attraction brings Lauren and Summer together for one night, but could there be more to their story?

Contemporary romance novella

Free on April 6-10, 2023

Get your free copy on Amazon

Where Secrets Are Safe by Jamey Moody

Will this celebrity sapphic hideaway be exposed or will secrets lead to love?

Contemporary romance novel

Free on April 6-7, 2023

Get your free copy on Amazon

A Place to Call Home by Jae

Luke and Nora have survived the Oregon Trail and are looking for a place to call home in this short story sequel to Backwards to Oregon.

Historical romance novelette

Get your free copy on Amazon US or on BookFunnel for all other countries & formats

Welcome to Ruby’s by KC Luck

Everyone is family and everyone comes to Ruby’s.

Contemporary romance novel

Free on April 5-9, 2023

Get your free copy on Amazon

Pas de Trois by Karin Kallmaker

In this sweet and sexy story of moving on, is it comfort in the midst of grief, or the beginning of something new?

Contemporary romance short story

Get your free copy in Karin Kallmaker’s webstore

Off the Rails by Rachel Lacey

Two women who sit beside each other during their daily commute embark on a wild ride to love!

Contemporary romance short story

Get your free copy on BookFunnel

Castleton Hearts Boxed Set (Books 1-3) by Chelsea M. Cameron

Three bestselling sapphic small-town romances in one collection!

Contemporary romance novel

Free on April 4-8, 2023

Get your free copy on Amazon

The Origins of Heartbreak by Cara Malone

A med student and a paramedic learn to lean on each other in this medical romance about loss, love, and redemption.

Contemporary romance novel

Get your free copy on BookFunnel

Prelude to Murder by Edale Lane

When the symphony director drops dead during a concert, Jenna Ferrari is called in to investigate, but the deeper she digs, the more disturbing direction the case takes.

Cozy mystery novella

Get your free copy on BookFunnel

Scoop by Eva Reddy

Elkie’s not afraid of bad men anymore – bad men are afraid of her; and so they should be.

Romantic suspense novel

Free on April 6-10, 2023

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Bumping into Her by Lisa Elliot

Can tangled dog-leads turn into tangled hearts?

Contemporary romance short story

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Testing Faith by AC Adams

Kalili and Faith – demon and angel – will find out if their love is enough to fend off both Heaven and Hell in this sequel to Finding Faith.

Fantasy historical romance novel

Free on April 6-8, 2023

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The Secret Sappho Society & When Harlow Graves Popped Her Con-Cherry by C. L. Cattano

Literary conventions are exciting and fun, unless you are an introverted first-time author confronted with a mystery and the elusive Secret Sappho Society.

Contemporary comedic mash-up short story

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Bound by Aveda Vice

A vicious harpy is captured by a pack of polyamorous werecreatures.

Polyamorous monster/paranormal romance novella

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These Glittering Treasures by Tiana Warner

A pirate captain returns to plunder her favorite port, where she and a ravishing young lady play a familiar game.

Pirate romance short story

Free in April 2023

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Only for the Summer by Shannon O’Connor

Two best friends, one summer wedding, and a fake relationship that doesn’t go to plan.

Contemporary romance novel

Free on April 5-18, 2023

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Shattered Paradise (Salvaggio’s Light Book 1) by C. L. Cattan

Settle into this epic ten book romantic serial entwined comedy, lust, danger, thrills, regret, tragedy, suspense, and love.

Contemporary romantic suspense novel

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Dress-Tease by Jae

Lauren is convinced nothing could be more erotic than watching the woman you love taking off her clothes in front of you–until she witnesses her girlfriend, celebrity actress Grace Durand, dressing up for a movie premiere.

Steamy sapphic short story

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More free sapphic books

If you are looking for more free sapphic books to choose from, many authors offer a free book on their website or to new newsletter subscribers. For example, you’ll find the free books I’m offering here.

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Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “free sapphic books” category!

The post Free sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 #8) appeared first on Jae.