Jae's Blog, page 15
August 11, 2022
Sapphic book with BDSM elements (Book Unicorn #8)
For Book Unicorn category #8 of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book that contains elements of BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism).
BDSM encompasses an entire spectrum of activities, from blindfolds and light restraint to flogging and more restrictive bondage, etc., so pick whatever you prefer.
What is the Book Unicorn?
A quick reminder: The Book Unicorn bingo card is an additional bingo card that you can tackle in addition to the regular bingo card or by itself. The goal is to read one book for each of the 12 squares of the Book Unicorn card. Each square represents a harder-to-find theme.
I’ll post book suggestions for one Book Unicorn category each month.
Download your Book Unicorn bingo card
If you haven’t done so already, download your Book Unicorn bingo card here. The PDF is clickable, so you can fill in the titles of the books you read on your computer, or you can print it out and fill it in by hand.
15 sapphic books with BDSM elements
Here are my recommendations for sapphic books with BDSM elements:
The Club Revisited by A. L. Brooks
Lesbian erotica sizzles in this return to The Club, where the clients watch and make love to each other in the UK’s sexiest women-only nightclub.
Welcome back to The Club. The rules are the same but the players have changed. Mandy still runs her unique nightclub. These days she’s ready to bring love and passion back into her own life, but finding it? Well, maybe the universe has a sense of humour. Lindsey has come out late in life and is looking for a confidence boost, and a club regular is only too happy to help her out. Caitlin would love to test her limits after being shamed by an ex for her desires. Jody thinks no one will want to be intimate with her again after a tragic accident left her body forever changed. Her best friend Kris has other ideas. Joanna and Suzanne have been together for years. They’re still in love but something’s missing. Maybe The Club can help add some zest to the bedroom? Laura has overcome most of her grief from losing her wife, but wonders if she still has it in her to be intimate with someone.
Whatever they need, they can find. Anonymity, sweetness, sexiness, and unexpected opportunities abound at The Club, as Mandy watches over them all.
This tantalising follow-up to the award-winning The Club can be read as a standalone book.
Available at:
Being Hers by Anna Stone
Melanie has spent her entire life working her way up in the world. By day, she studies at law school, and by night, she serves drinks at an exclusive club to afford her tuition. But the hard-working Melanie will never admit her true desire: to escape from her fast-paced, high-pressure life, if only for a moment.
When Melanie meets Vanessa, a glamorous executive and a regular at the club, she is drawn to the enigmatic raven-haired woman. Vanessa is relentless in pursuing what she wants—and what she wants is Melanie. Soon, Melanie finds herself caught up in Vanessa’s sensual games of submission.
Melanie insists that her affair with Vanessa remain purely physical. But as her limits are tested, so is the line between lust and love. When ghosts from the past reappear, both women must face their deepest fears. Can Melanie surrender her everything to Vanessa, or will old wounds prove too great?
Available at:
At Her Feet by Rebekah Weatherspoon
During a night of Web surfing for celeb gossip and masturbatory material, digital marketing producer Suzanne Kim stumbles across an intriguing thread while checking her profile on kinklife.com. Suzanne isn’t exactly looking, but the request for a very specific type of submissive from the attractive mistress, Mami-P, is hard to resist. Though the two hit it off during their first online conversation, Suzanne never imagines how strong their real life attraction and compatibility will be. After a few missteps in training, trust, and communication, Suzanne finds a deep love with her mistress, Pilar.
Overworked and overstressed in her daily life, Suzanne comes to crave their relationship for the visceral escape it provides, but before they can make the ultimate commitment, someone from Suzanne’s professional life threatens to disrupt their perfectly balanced bliss.
Available at:
Wrath War and the Woe Trumpets by TJ Dallas
The fate of Caledonia hangs by a thread.
When a chance encounter reveals that the archangels are close to finding the key Persephone stole from them, Astar must convince Emilia to return to Caledonia. If Michael gets hold of the key and manages to break the final seal, he would command the sounding of seven trumpets, instigating the next stage of the apocalypse. With the help of Pride and Envy, three Deadly Sins now join the four Horsewomen in the second battle between good and evil.
Come and see.
Available at:
Brat by Kim Hartfield
Sara’s landscaping business is her pride and joy – but her latest client is unexpectedly difficult. Emery is a rich, spoiled, utterly gorgeous former child actress… who keeps trying to coax Sara into bed.
Emery likes what Sara’s doing to her yard, and she’s dying to find out if her authoritative attitude extends beyond closed doors. But that doesn’t mean she plans to submit sweetly. Once she gets Sara between the sheets, she’ll tease, talk back, and misbehave as much as she pleases.
Can Sara learn to tame this brat? And even if she does, who’s really in charge?
Available at:
The Child Riddler by Angela Greenman
Despite the angry scars she carries from her childhood training, Zoe Lorel has reached a good place in her life. She has her dream job as an elite operative in an international spy agency and she’s found her one true love. Her world is mostly perfect—until she is sent to abduct a nine-year-old girl.
The girl is the only one who knows the riddle that holds the code to unleash the most lethal weapon on earth—the first ever “invisibility” nanoweapon, a cloaking spider bot. But Zoe’s agency isn’t the only one after the child. And when enemies reveal the invisibility weapon’s existence to underground arms dealers, every government and terrorist organization in the world want to find that little girl.
Zoe races to save not only the child she has grown to care about, but also herself. The agency prescribed pills—the ones that transform her into the icy killer she must become to survive—are beginning to threaten her engagement to the one person who brings her happiness. Can she protect the young girl and still protect the one thing she cares more about than anything else?
Available at:
The Taste of Her by Jess Lea
In the first of this two-part tantalizing collection of erotic lesbian short stories, strong women let their masks slip and explore thoughts they never dared imagine.
Discover the stern lingerie boutique boss’s secret when her ambitious salesgirl takes a peek where she shouldn’t.
Receive a naughty literary festival lesson and enjoy the hottest cold war between rival movie make-up artists.
Slide back to a decadent 1930s cabaret bar, where the jaded star watches her back-up dancer rise to fame at a dangerous time.
Experience the sensual, unexpected spark between two Medieval nuns.
The Taste of Her is for everyone who has ever dreamed of giving orders or disobeying them. And everyone else who loves to watch.
Available at:
Johnny’s Girls by Vesna Kurilic
An apprentice Cartographer, working for a secret society in a city which has just barely made it out of World War II, Lina is just about to embark on her first job assignment in a parallel world. For her, the answer is about to become tricky. Because Karol, the parallel world engineer looking for her help in a missing persons case, is everything she never thought she could be. Including irresistible. Coincidentally, the engineer is also Lina’s exact copy, a one in a million doppelgänger—the one person you’re never supposed to meet. As the two women team up to find a murderer in this decadent dieselpunk mystery, they will soon discover there’s more to each other than the surface likeness which the eye can see—making this, unfortunately, a matter for the heart to resolve. And accepting her heart’s desires was never Lina’s strong suit.
Available at:
Whimsical Haven by Tiffany E. Taylor
When Rowan Holland of Woodbridge, Virginia lands squarely in the crosshairs of a psychotic stalker, fleeing to Whimsy, Florida might be her only chance of escape.
There, she’ll meet the head of lesbian-owned Armstrong Protection Services. Possessive. Protective. Deadly.
Bryn Armstrong, one of the owners of APS, is immediately captivated by an equally-mesmerized Rowan, and vows she will do everything in her power to protect Rowan from this psychopath.
When the stalker follows Rowan to Whimsy, staying hidden in the shadows, it’s up to Bryn—along with her twin, Riley, and “the Seven,” the butch management team of APS—to cut him down and put an end to Rowan’s nightmare.
But, as the stalker draws closer to Rowan and the increased danger to Bryn’s woman becomes more real, Bryn and her team know they must find and stop the psychopath, who just may be a killer in disguise.
Available at:
Bookends by Brenda Murphy
The life of university librarian, Amari Foster, is neatly cataloged. Work, home, and securing a future for her daughter are her focus. Hard-edged and handsome, she manages her private life with ruthless precision, cutting ties, and maintaining distance to protect her battered heart.
Plumber Thalia Makris has given up her dream of long-term love after a series of bad relationships. Desperate to have her own business, Thalia fills her days working overtime and her nights with fantasy novels.
After a chance encounter leaves both women wanting more than a one-night stand, they find themselves on the precipice of love. Will they take the plunge?
Available at:
Shadow Haven by AJ Schippers
Julia’s holiday on a private island, ordered by her boss, comes with an erotic surprise when she encounters the alluring Alexandra, a professional dominatrix. An explosive first meeting leads to friendship and something more sensual…and a little kinky.
Can Julia overcome her fears to explore a submissive relationship with her? Can she overcome her doubts about Alexandra’s unusual career? And what happens when power is not just left to the imagination?
Available at:
Give Me Thorns: A Lesbian BDSM Romance by Elizabeth Andre
The worst day Megan has ever had is about to transform her life in ways she never believed possible.
Megan, a long-haired femme lesbian with beautiful pale skin and chestnut brown hair, is having a very loud and public fight with her soon to be ex-girlfriend when a woman on a motorcycle comes to her rescue. Against her better judgement, Megan hops on, and they ride off into the setting sun.
Stevie, a handsome African American butch lesbian with a lock of blonde hair curling out of the front of her helmet, loves rescuing damsels in distress. Sometimes, she just gives them a ride home when they need it. Sometimes, she ties them up in her playroom when they are both ready to have some fun. At first, Megan is terrified of Stevie’s playroom, but soon admits that BDSM is something she’s always wanted to try. Stevie is initially willing to give Megan a chance, but isn’t sure about playing as hard as she really wants to with a total newbie.
Together they explore Megan’s limits as well as Stevie’s and discover that true love requires knowing yourself most of all.
Available at:
Awakening by Cassidy Storm
You awaken to complete darkness.
You’re blindfolded, gagged, tied to a chair, arms bound tightly behind you. Completely naked – and completely helpless. You have no idea how you got here. Or where “here” is.
This is just a dream, you decide.
Unable to see, you listen instead. What you hear around you is both intriguing and frightening. Other women being punished – and pleasured.
All too soon, your own ordeal begins as three women take turns subjecting you to excruciating torment – and orgasmic bliss.
It must be a dream.
Or is it?
Available at:
Finding Love Down Under by Donna Jay
When Claire discovers her fiancée has abused her trust in the most heinous way possible, she severs all ties.
A year down the track, she couldn’t be happier living a life of solitude on a vineyard. That is, until a quick trip into town changes everything.
Suddenly on her own in New Zealand, and on the edge of despair, Zoe never expected to find her salvation in the form of a beautiful and complex woman.
The following months are fraught with highs and lows as Claire and Zoe learn to navigate their way around each other. Both women need to overcome huge trust issues if they have any hope of forging a relationship.
Available at:
Amazon (KU)
Desiring Bernadette (Book Four in the Bernadette Series) by Danielle Grainger
Rikki Carmichael finally feels that deep D/s relationship she has been craving since her Aunt Tilda introduced her to the life. She embraced her Dominant side early on but finding a suitable submissive woman who wanted more than a quick roll in the dungeon proved elusive.
That is until Professor Bernadette Garneau arrived on the scene. Now collared and committed to Rikki, will Bernadette prove to be different, or will she turn out like all the others—fickle and full of lies and deception?
And will this perfect sub stay with her when she realizes that Rikki’s ship is a sinking one? She’d almost lost the coffee shop she owns when creditors came knocking down her door en masse seeking payment for debts that weren’t hers. Rikki managed to keep her staff and most of her friends in the dark about it, but she has not been able to get out from under it. With high stakes all around, Rikki looks for the peace she is seeking within her relationship with Bernadette. If this one fails, then it may be time to leave the life entirely and go live in a cabin in the woods somewhere isolated. But buying a cabin takes money—money she just doesn’t have.
Available at:
Searching for the Spark by Kaya LaSalle
Even the toughest armor can be shattered with the right leverage…
LINA
Love is a lie. I’ve had that lesson beaten into me ever since I was a child. Some people might think that’s a tragedy, but not me. Because you know what’s even better than love?
Power.
I clawed my way to the top of the food chain and became the leader of the Beaufort crime syndicate at only twenty years old. Now, nobody crosses me and lives to tell the tale. There’s just one little problem:
You don’t build an empire without making a few enemies.
My past is coming back to haunt me with a vengeance, but I have no intention of going down without a fight. Hiring a K-9 handler for added security was a simple business decision.
But I wasn’t counting on Ayla. Aloof attitude, dark hair, tattoos–exactly my type. She’s far more than just a K-9 handler, and I want to peel back that carefully composed exterior and see what’s underneath.
I know I’m bad for her, but sometimes, being bad feels too good to stop. I just hope we both make it out of this alive.
AYLA
I’ve always had three rules for how I handle my work: Get in. Get the job done. And don’t get invested.
When a mysterious client offered me a fabulous sum of money to come work for them, I jumped at the opportunity. I thought it would be just another job.
Turns out I probably should have asked a few more questions.
Now I’m stuck working for a woman who is equal parts terrifying and gorgeous. My new employer has a reputation for being ruthless, and I’ve seen firsthand what she’s capable of. She crushes hardened criminals beneath the point of her stiletto heels without breaking a sweat.
I should be running away from her as fast as I can.
So why can’t I get her out of my head?
Available at:
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Leave a comment and let us know what book you are reading for the “sapphic books with BDSM elements” category!
Upcoming free “Meet-Cute” anthology
For the “Meet-Cute” square of the Sapphic Book Bingo, I will share a free anthology full of “first meeting” excerpts from books by some of the most popular authors of sapphic romance! Make sure you are subscribed to this blog so you won’t miss it!
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The post Sapphic book with BDSM elements (Book Unicorn #8) appeared first on Jae.
August 4, 2022
Sapphic book with a disabled character (Sapphic Book Bingo #16)
This week’s category of the Sapphic Book Bingo features sapphic books with a disabled main character. It can be a physical disability, a chronic illness, or a mental disorder.
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, you can still join us! Read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “sapphic book with a disabled character” square below.
If you’d like to get more book suggestions, talk about the books you are reading, and chat with other readers participating in the Sapphic Book Bingo, join either my Facebook group for readers or the Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.
15 recommended sapphic books featuring a character with a disability
Here are my book recommendations for sapphic books featuring a disabled main character.
The Roommate Arrangement by Jae
Comedian Stephanie Renshaw hopes to finally get her big break in LA. A chance encounter lands her the perfect apartment close to the comedy clubs, but it comes with a catch: she needs a roommate to afford the rent.
Enter Rae Coleman, a former police officer working the door at one of the top comedy clubs. After getting injured in the line of duty and losing her job with the LAPD, Rae guards her wounded soul behind a tough exterior.
At first, the two clash horribly before a tentative friendship develops. Bit by bit, Steph manages to break through the walls Rae has built around her.
But Steph has never been in a relationship, preferring casual flings, and Rae isn’t sure she’s ready to be happy again. Will they find the courage to open themselves up to love?
Available at:
What the Heart Sees by KC Luck
Four years after a horrible car accident takes her sight and kills her parents, Sage Montgomery has learned to adapt to her new circumstances in Spruce Creek, Oregon. A new life that includes running the Montgomery horse ranch, which has been in her family for generations. As the place where she grew up, Sage has only the fondest memories. But when she learns her home is at risk because of unpaid taxes, Sage must find a way to raise the money. While the bank threatens and unwanted buyers circle, she is faced with decisions she doesn’t want to make for the ranch… and her heart.
With two decades of hard work on Wall Street, Julie Aspen has everything she wants. A career she loves, the perfect Manhattan condo, and a sexy, young girlfriend. People envy what Julie has and she could not be happier. At least until the firm she works for is accused of fraud. Suddenly stripped of everything and risking indictment, Julie returns to where she grew up. The small town she hates—Spruce Creek. Things couldn’t be more miserable until she meets the daughter of a long-lost friend. Suddenly, Julie has second thoughts about what may be important in life and if it is too late to change.
What the Heart Sees is a stand-alone novel with a coming home plot involving an age-gap romance and a happy ending.
Available at:
Style by Chelsea M. Cameron
Kyle Blake likes plans. So far, they’re pretty simple: Finish her senior year of high school, head off to a good college, find a cute boyfriend, graduate, get a good job, get married, the whole heterosexual shebang. Nothing is going to stand in the way of that plan. Not even Stella Lewis. Stella Lewis also has a plan: Finish her senior year as cheer captain, go to college, finally let herself flirt with (and maybe even date) a girl for the first time and go from there. Fate has other plans for Kyle and Stella when they’re paired up in their AP English class and something between them ignites. It’s confusing and overwhelming and neither of them know what to do about it. One thing they do know is that their connection can’t be ignored. The timing just isn’t right. But is there ever a good time for falling in love?
Available at:
The Loudest Silence by Olivia Janae
A beautiful, opposites attract lesbian romance about hearing the music in your heart.
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:
Amazon (KU)
This Is Not A Love Story by Emma Wallis
This is not a love story, this is a story about growing up, leaving home, making friends, and stopping your mother from blackmailing them.
Scarlet is off to university. She’s trying to leave behind the strained relationship with her narcissistic mother, who wants her to find a rich older woman to marry.
Then Scarlet meets Dr Rhys Hunter, the head of the psychology department. Will her mother get what she wants after all?
Remember, this is not a love story.
Available at:
Before She Left by Alison R. Solomon
Ella Jay has vanished without a trace. Her passionate, strong-willed fiancée, Breezy Carmichael, is terrified that something sinister has happened to her. The detective assigned to the case thinks Breezy should accept she’s been dumped. But Breezy senses something strange going on. For no apparent reason, in this small town of Gulfport, Florida, where everyone knows everyone else’s business, husbands and wives are deserting their spouses. Could Ella’s disappearance be part of the same mystery? When the detective makes a shocking discovery about Ella, Breezy must decide whether to listen to her head, which tells her to walk away, or to her mostly unreliable gut which tells her to keep searching. The decision she makes could be the difference between life and death.
Available at:
Threadbare by Elle E. Ire
All cybernetic soldier Vick Corren wanted was to be human again. Now all she wants is Kelly. But machines can’t love. Can they?
With the computerized implants that replaced most of her brain, Vick views herself as more machine than human. She’s lost her memory, but worse, can no longer control her emotions, though with the help of empath Kelly LaSalle, she’s holding the threads of her fraying sanity together.
Vick is smarter, faster, impervious to pain… the best mercenary in the Fighting Storm, until odd flashbacks show Vick a life she can’t remember and a romantic relationship with Kelly that Vick never knew existed. But investigating that must wait until Vick and her team rescue the Storm’s kidnapped leader.
Someone from within the organization is working against them, threatening Kelly’s freedom. To save her, Vick will have to sacrifice what she values most: the last of her humanity. Before the mission is over, either Vick or Kelly will forfeit the life she once knew.
Available at:
Invisible, as Music by Caren J. Werlinger
Henrietta Cochran has spent nearly forty years dealing with the effects of the polio she contracted in 1945. Her braces and crutches restrict her, define her, but they also give her independence. Almost. She hates that she has become increasingly reliant on a series of live-in companions to help her. For some reason, the companions never seem to want to stay very long. So Henrietta retreats further and further into her art, where her physical limitations don’t matter.
Into her life sails Meryn Fleming: out, outspoken, and fiercely political. She’s young, enthusiastically diving into her first job as a history professor at the local college. When she falls, almost literally, into Henrietta’s path, she seems like a godsend.
Little does Henrietta know that this young woman is about to upend her carefully structured existence. Ryn challenges everything, barging right through the walls Henrietta has built to keep others at a distance.
To Ryn, Henrietta is an enigma: prickly and easily insulted at the slightest suggestion that she can’t do things for herself; a brilliant artist capable of producing the most beautiful paintings; and sometimes, when Henrietta doesn’t realize she’s letting her guard down, a tender and sensitive woman.
With Meryn’s youthful optimism pitted against Henrietta’s jaded acceptance of the world as it is, life will never be the same for either of them.
Available at:
The Found Jar by Jaycie Morrison
Horror fiction writer Emily Harris just wants to be left alone with her work. But plagued by writer’s block, she reluctantly agrees to join her friends at their luxurious beach house for the summer. Maybe a change of scenery will inspire her.
Local housekeeper Beck Reynolds keeps her life simple—saving for a boat and avoiding the town bullies while she attends art classes. Meeting successful but prickly Emily leaves her feeling awestruck, and she wants to make a good impression, even though Emily seems determined to run her off. But Beck’s not the one who is just visiting.
Emily knows all about loss, and guilt, and rejection. Opening her heart has always gotten her hurt, and she’s absolutely not letting anyone in, even someone good, or good-looking, like Beck.
Available at:
Seneca Falls by Jesse J. Thoma
Seneca King is alone in life, the pain of her past her only companion. The idyllic confines of the women’s college Seneca attends prove more isolating than she imagined possible, and her scars, emotional and physical, deter everyone from getting close to her. Until she meets Dylan Walker. Dylan, a college senior, sees more to Seneca than the fragile body and tortured soul. Dylan is looking for something real in her life, not the unattainable expectations of her family, or the superficial friendships she thought would last a lifetime. There is nothing more real than Seneca King. Carefully, slowly, they begin a delicate courtship, helping each other learn the meaning of true love. But when her dark past once again steps out of the shadows, Seneca is dragged back into the world that broke her in the first place. Can Dylan and Seneca stand together to vanquish the past once and for all, or this time, will it end up breaking them both?
Available at:
Swipe Right by Tagan Shepard
Kieran Hall has never been lucky in love. She married her high school sweetheart only to have him leave when she came out as pansexual. Then there was the rebound relationship that turned serious. It wasn’t long before they were out the door, too.
For years Kieran avoided any attempts at finding the next person to break her heart, building a life that was comfortable but lonely. That loneliness finally pushes her to give dating another shot. The only problem is, without freshman homeroom or a chance meeting in a bar, she doesn’t know how to meet someone new.
With the help of her best friend, Penelope, Kieran takes the plunge into the intimidating world of dating apps. It’s just as bad as she knew it would be, but Pen is always there to pick her up and dust her off after another disaster. In fact, hanging out with Pen quickly becomes her main motivation to keep swiping right.
When one of her dates suggests that maybe her dating problems stem from her feelings for her best friend it leads Kieran to wonder, could love have been right there in front of her all along?
Available at:
Wounded Souls by RJ Nolan
Dr. Ashlee Logan’s world changed forever on a snowy December night in Boston. She has spent the last two years on the road, trying to escape the memory of that fateful night. With only her Great Dane, Drake, as her companion, she has worked her way across country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, working as an ER physician along the way.
While serving her country, former Navy doctor Dale Parker had her life shattered in a single moment on a hot, windswept desert roadside. Now, three years later, although her physical wounds have healed, Dale is forever changed by the experience. Struggling with her self-image, she has dedicated her second chance at life to helping other wounded veterans.
LA Metropolitan Hospital brings the two women together. Drawn together as kindred spirits, neither wants to face the stirring of emotions the other woman invokes.
Together can Dale and Logan move past the horrific events of their pasts, or are they forever destined to be…Wounded Souls?
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The Smell of Rain by Cameron MacElvee
Air Force Lieutenant and military interpreter Chrys Safis lost her leg fighting alongside Kurdish forces in Syria. Once back home in DC, her fiancée leaves, her military career ends, and her faith in humanity evaporates. With prescription drugs and alcohol her only relief from the pain, Chrys is on her way to becoming a statistic.
That is until the State Department calls and offers her an important assignment—to serve as a diplomatic liaison and interpreter for a Turkish national living in exile. Reyha Arslan, a wise and elegant woman with a tragic past, shows Chrys that there’s still beauty to embrace and reason to hope despite the world’s cruelty. With Reyha’s help, Chrys’s broken spirit starts to heal and she learns that the most significant love is often the shortest lived.
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The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh
The Conjuring meets Sadie in this queer ghost story, when seventeen-year-old podcaster Dare finds herself in a life-or-death struggle against an evil spirit.
Dare Chase doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as the host of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, she knows to keep her doubts to herself if she wants to win over listeners.
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Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi
Alana Quick is the best damned sky surgeon in Heliodor City, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. When the desperate crew of a cargo vessel stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually-advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away. Maybe her boldness will land her a long-term gig on the crew. But the Tangled Axon proves to be more than star-watching and plasma coils. The chief engineer thinks he’s a wolf. The pilot fades in and out of existence. The captain is all blond hair, boots, and ego . . . and Alana can’t keep her eyes off her. But there’s little time for romance: Nova’s in danger and someone will do anything—even destroying planets—to get their hands on her!
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Upcoming free “Meet-Cute” anthology
For the “Meet-Cute” square of the Sapphic Book Bingo, I will share a free anthology full of “first meeting” excerpts from books by some of the most popular authors of sapphic romance! Make sure you are subscribed to this blog so you won’t miss it!
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The post Sapphic book with a disabled character (Sapphic Book Bingo #16) appeared first on Jae.
July 21, 2022
Sapphic book with a POC character (Sapphic Book Bingo #15)
This week’s category of the Sapphic Book Bingo focuses on sapphic books with a main character who is a person of color. The book needs to be written by an author of color.
Of course, I encourage you to read diverse books, including books by authors whose race, ethnicity, or culture is different from your own, for ALL categories of the Sapphic Book Bingo, not just for today’s category. You’ll find books with POC characters in all my recommended reading lists for the Sapphic Book Bingo, but this category is all about them.
You’ll also find recommendations for more sapphic books with Black main characters, Latinx main characters, and Asian & Pacific Islander characters in last year’s reading challenge.
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, you can still join us! Read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “sapphic book with a POC character” square below.
If you’d like to get more book suggestions, talk about the books you are reading, and chat with other readers participating in the Sapphic Book Bingo, join either my Facebook group for readers or the Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.
15 recommended sapphic books with a POC character
Here are my book recommendations for sapphic books featuring a main character who is a person of color. Each book is written by an author of color.
Prize Money by Celeste Castro
Eva Angeles is a professional barrel racer headed for her third world title when a competition mishap throws her in the path of an on-the-loose bull. She is saved from impending disaster by a tall, dark, and handsome bullfighter—a woman.
Toma Rozene is an equestrian stuntwoman fresh off the set of a blockbuster film when a family emergency calls her home to help run the family business: rescuing fallen rodeo riders before blustering bulls and bucking broncos trample their dreams.
Eva and Toma’s shared passions and competitive spirits make friendship easy, but, as their feelings deepen, they must decide if the divergent futures they seek will stand in the way of love.
Available at:
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
In an epic fantasy unlike any other, two women clash in a world full of rebellion, espionage, and military might on the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire.
Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.
Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet’s edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.
Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren’t for sale.
Available at:
Give Me Thorns: A Lesbian BDSM Romance by Elizabeth Andre
The worst day Megan has ever had is about to transform her life in ways she never believed possible.
Megan, a long-haired femme lesbian with beautiful pale skin and chestnut brown hair, is having a very loud and public fight with her soon to be ex-girlfriend when a woman on a motorcycle comes to her rescue. Against her better judgement, Megan hops on, and they ride off into the setting sun.
Stevie, a handsome African American butch lesbian with a lock of blonde hair curling out of the front of her helmet, loves rescuing damsels in distress. Sometimes, she just gives them a ride home when they need it. Sometimes, she ties them up in her playroom when they are both ready to have some fun.
At first, Megan is terrified of Stevie’s playroom, but soon admits that BDSM is something she’s always wanted to try. Stevie is initially willing to give Megan a chance, but isn’t sure about playing as hard as she really wants to with a total newbie.
Together they explore Megan’s limits as well as Stevie’s and discover that true love requires knowing yourself most of all.
Available at:
You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista
Best friends Jo and Liza are as opposite as night and day. Sex worker Jo swears by the worry-free, one-day-at-a-time dance through life. Salesclerk Liza has big plans for her family’s future, and there is nothing bigger than a one-way trip to the U.S. But an almost-kiss, a sex dare, and news of Liza’s engagement to her American boyfriend unveil feelings Jo and Liza never thought they had.
Deciding between staying together and drifting apart puts Liza’s best-laid plans and Jo’s laidback life in jeopardy.
When love clashes with lifelong ambitions and family expectations, someone has to give in. Question is: who?
Available at:
When Tara Met Farah by Tara Pammi
Nineteen-year-old Tara Muvvala didn’t mean to lead a double life. But her bone-deep aversion to math + a soul-deep desire to please her mother = her failing math grade + exploding food vlog ‘this masala life’. Enter her mother’s research intern and resident math genius Farah Ahmed. Tara makes a deal with Farah – help her pass the math course and she’ll welcome Farah into the local Bollywood Drama & Dance Society.
Grumpy girl gets life lessons…
After losing her mom to a heart attack, dumping her small-minded boyfriend (she’s bisexual, not confused) and reluctantly moving to the US to be near her dad – all in the span of eighteen months, twenty-three-year-old Farah has hit the full quota on LIFE. Two things keep her going – her internship with a brilliant statistics professor and the possibility of meeting her dancing idol through the Bollywood Drama & Dance Society. That is, if her new hot-mess housemate will let her.
Soon Tara and Farah are bonding over chicken biryani, dancing to Bollywood Beats at midnight and kissing against all the odds. And maybe beginning to realize that while life’s even more complicated than math, love is the one variable that changes everything!
Will Tara and Farah realize that together they have the recipe for a Happily Ever After?
Available at:
My Little Green Girlfriend by Kimberly Hart
When Marsha’s broken teleporter sends her to Earth, her only priority is to get back to civilization. Unfortunately, she has no way to get off this primitive planet or even contact home. Since she’s stuck here indefinitely, she’ll have to make the best of it.
Sophie is surprisingly calm when the beautiful woman wandering the streets says she’s from outer space. Having often felt like an alien herself, she’s determined to help Marsha however possible – even if that means letting the complete stranger move in with her.
As Marsha tries to settle in on Earth, Sophie realizes she’s unique in the universe. It’s not just Marsha’s unearthly good looks; Sophie is drawn to her kind and curious nature. Meanwhile, Marsha realizes that even a backwards planet can be home to intelligent life – and that the life form called Sophie is also downright sexy.
Will Marsha find her way home? Or will her heart convince her to change her plans?
Available at:
Stud Like Her by Fiona Zedde
Chance has been in love only once, but it wasn’t with the girlfriend she stayed with for far too long. The same girlfriend who dropped Chance when she became too inconvenient. Or maybe just boring.
To bury her disappointment, Chance tries to return to the woman she loved back when she was too afraid to be herself. A stud attracted to other studs.
Instead of her old love, though, Chance finds Garet – a new and persistent admirer with the kind of swagger that leaves Chance weak in the knees. Garet is hot and very popular with her half a million followers on social media. She’s also a lot younger than Chance is used to. Not to mention there’s something familiar about her, something dangerous, that Chance can’t quite put her finger on.
Available at:
Match to Love by Johana Gavez
An internet friendship becomes so much more in this light-hearted lesbian sports romance.
World-renowned tennis player Daniela Martinez has everything she could wish for, except love. When romance knocks on her door, she will have to find a balance between her athletic ambitions and her desire for a relationship or risk sacrificing one for the other.
Law student Ari Nunez is struggling with managing the expectations of her family and dedicating her life to a profession she dislikes more every day. Her relationship with Daniela, full of international travel and vacations, is the perfect escape, even if it feels too good to be true.
Follow their journey from a chance online meeting to power couple taking on the world together.
Available at:
The Makings of You by Ava Freeman
After living recklessly for years, Giselle Turner knows the negative feelings her family has towards her. She’s determined to prove herself once and for all but that’s easier said than done. When she decides to move in with a relative for a fresh start, the last person she expects to run into again is Aaliyah, the woman who awakened her sexuality. As she fights to get her life in order, she discovers that there may be something sweet on the other side of sobriety.
Aaliyah Spencer has a good life. Great friends, a job she enjoys, and loving parents. What she doesn’t have is someone to share it all with. Fear of letting anyone in has rendered her unable to truly connect romantically leading to one failed relationship after another. Giselle is a breath of fresh air and her arrival challenges what Aaliyah thinks she knows about love.
Despite an undeniable attraction, their respective journeys couldn’t be more different. Yet each may have just what the other needs to become whole.
Available at:
Whispering Oaks: A WLW Romantic Suspense by Stephanie Shea
A missing sister, an unexpected romance, an impossible mystery…
Nothing ever happens in Whispering Oaks.
The air is clean; uncorrupted by a tawdry downtown. Birds twitter. Crime is nigh non-existent. It’s the picture-perfect suburb with all the effects of classy restaurants and diverse nightlife. Not to mention block parties marked by face-forward flattery and back-biting.
Cassidy Linden hates it. Rather, the false mystique of it all disturbs her.
Nothing ever happens in Whispering Oaks.
So, when Cassidy’s younger sister vanishes one night, it’s not just surprising, it’s unfathomable—the only trace of her disappearance a trail of red petals and her cell phone left in the grass of her backyard.
No witnesses.
No suspects.
A police department who claim to be doing everything they can, and the poorly-timed return of a family friend.
When a one-night stand with the charming, enigmatic Ashlyn Castille reveals an unforeseen connection, Ashlyn and Cassidy realize they have more in common than either expected.
But one thing is certain, seventeen-year-old girls don’t just disappear. Someone must have taken her. Can Cassidy prove it in time to bring her little sister home? Or is she a fated anomaly?
The perfect mystery for a perfect suburbia.
Available at:
Between a Rock and a Soft Place, Collected Works by Renée Bess
The short stories in this collection invite you to walk alongside characters in the midst of their journeys. Meet the Black high school student who dares to take a glimpse of her future-self while she sits at the mercy of the straightening comb in the beauty parlor. Observe the newly-degreed journalism major who travels alone to 1920’s Paris in search of truths and secrets. Tread gently beside the woman who struggles to cope with her lover’s departure. Indulge the faithless entrepreneur who’s convinced she’ll be betrayed. Listen to the woman whose bitter memories bring her clarity as well as rewards among the folds of forgiveness. Join two friends who bump into America’s original sin during their visit to a women’s bar. And smile along with the proud older woman who is determined to cast her vote in honor of her forebearer’s legacy.
Some of the poems in this book are personal. Others are political. Each poem traveled a path from the author’s heart straight to her pen. Each poem breathes with each reader’s breath. Each poem says whatever it says to whomever reads it.
The creative non-fiction pieces are born of the necessity to think during the last four years of our nation’s constant stress and socio-political chaos. May these essays inspire the reader to ask questions and seek answers.
Available at:
Love and Lotus Blossom by Anne Shade
Janesse Crawford spends her teenage and young adult years trying to balance her tomboy, girl-loving side with being the picture-perfect daughter her mother wants. It’s difficult, and Janesse is full of self-doubt, but she manages to find a way to make it work. Then Janesse meets sexy, confident Maya Lawson, who is everything she didn’t realize she wanted, and her world is turned upside down. But Janesse makes a choice and doesn’t look back.
Thirty years later, Janesse is married to a man who loves her, has raised two wonderful children, and has a successful career doing what she loves. But when a chance meeting with Maya brings her past rushing back, the lie Janesse has been living comes crashing in on her. She let Maya get away once, but her second chance at true love could cost her the picture-perfect world she’s spent a lifetime building. It’s not too late for Janesse to blossom into the woman she’s always wished to be. But on her path to self-acceptance, she will risk everything—and possibly everyone—she loves.
Available at:
Internet Famous by MB Guel
Billie Alvarez is your average punk rock loving high school senior who just wants to hang out with her best friend, Rex, and get her ex-girlfriend back. In a half-baked attempt to impress her by auditioning for the lead part in the school musical, Billie gets turned down because she’s a girl trying out for a traditionally male part. When her online rant about the school being homophobic goes viral, she must navigate her newfound fame along with the typical drama that comes with getting through high school.
Between rehearsals, trying to get her band back together and an endless onslaught of online admirers, Billie must decide what’s important to her. Is it the fleeting happiness of getting attention online? Figuring out what she wants to do after high school? Or getting her ex back?
Then there’s her co-star in the school play, who’s getting much more interesting now that they’re spending more time rehearing together.
Available at:
Guardian by Jen Lawrence
Every Guardian was born a warrior with powerful magic and a soulmate to complete her. All except for Luna, it seemed, who despite having mastered her craft, continued her fight in solitude. She was an enigma in their society—alone for far longer than any Guardian before her. Still, Luna remained hopeful that one day her soulmate would find her, and all the tender yearning would have been worth it.
Then Gia stumbles into her life. Gia—who lives a Human life, in Human glamour, with a Human fiancé.
Now Luna finds herself questioning everything that she—and the Guardians—have believed in for millennia.
“Love isn’t always enough.” Luna had always understood the words, but she had never actually believed them.
Available at:
Choosing Grace by Regina Jamison
As a young African American woman from Durham, North Carolina, Sky Valentine is tired of being boxed in by small minds and Southern expectations. To escape the restraints of her Southern upbringing, Sky flees to Rhode Island to attend college. Once there, Sky doesn’t just work on her degree, she also works on shedding many of the things that peg her as a Southerner.
Sky also falls head over heels with the sexy and vibrant Zenobia, solidifying what she had felt in her heart all along―that she loves women. But their affair is brief and interrupted by Zenobia’s sudden departure from school.
With college completed, Sky returns home to find that her domineering mother has promised her hand in marriage to a rich and arrogant man. But it’s 1986, and Sky is determined to live her own life. She gathers her courage and flees to New York City, where she lands a teaching job and an apartment.
In time Sky meets Grace Webster and it’s love at first sight. But then Zenobia comes back into Sky’s life and Sky is faced with an impossible choice―finish what she started with Zenobia years ago, or fight for the relationship she is building with Grace. What will she choose?
Available at:
SBF Seeking by LaToya Hankins
Four months before her wedding, Yvette Thurman realizes this might be her last chance to have a sexual fling with a white man. But she never thought placing a personal ad would lead her to discover she was a lesbian.
Yvette’s small town life in eastern North Carolina never prepared her for the personal journey she undertakes as she struggles to find her heart’s path.
Through personal ads and late night visits to an adult bookstore, Yvette learns more about her own personal desires than she ever did when she was engaged to be married. If she embraces her true self, can she find acceptance and love from her family and friends? Or will she be forced to hide who she really is from those she cares about the most?
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic book with a POC main character” category!
Don’t miss the upcoming book giveaway
I’m planning a big sapphic book giveaway for National Paperback Day on July 30. If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss it, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter.
The post Sapphic book with a POC character (Sapphic Book Bingo #15) appeared first on Jae.
July 14, 2022
Sapphic books with over 400 pages (Book Unicorn #7)
For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo square, read a sapphic book with more than 400 pages. There aren’t that many sapphic books that are 400+ pages long, which is why this is a Book Unicorn category.
If you know the word count, which is more accurate than page numbers, pick a book with more than 130,000 words. If you choose an audiobook, pick one that is at least 13 hours long.
What is the Book Unicorn?
A quick reminder: The Book Unicorn bingo card is an additional bingo card that you can tackle in addition to the regular bingo card or by itself. The goal is to read one book for each of the 12 squares of the Book Unicorn card. Each square represents a harder-to-find theme.
I’ll post book suggestions for one Book Unicorn category each month.
Download your Book Unicorn bingo card
If you haven’t done so already, download your Book Unicorn bingo card here. The PDF is clickable, so you can fill in the titles of the books you read on your computer, or you can print it out and fill it in by hand.
15 sapphic books with more than 400 pages
Here are my recommendations for sapphic books with 400+ pages:
Hidden Truths by Jae
Everyone on the Hamilton ranch seems to be harboring a secret: Luke has been living as a husband and father for the past seventeen years, telling no one but her wife that she’s not the man she appears to be. Nora hides her past as a prostitute, while their daughter Amy is trying to keep her attraction to women secret.
Into this tricky situation arrives Rika Aaldenberg, a mail-order bride who traveled to Oregon to marry the family’s foreman. She, too, has her own secret: she’s not the woman who wrote the letters.
At first, Amy isn’t happy about having to show the newcomer around, but soon, Rika earns her respect…and maybe even her heart.
When hidden truths are revealed, will their family fall apart, or will love keep them together?
Available at:
Jericho by Ann McMan
Librarian Syd Murphy flees the carnage of a failed marriage by accepting an eighteen-month position in Jericho, a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Her plans to hide out and heal her wounds fall by the wayside as she gets drawn into the daily lives of the quirky locals.
When Syd gets a flat tire and is rescued by the town physician, Maddie Stevenson, the two women form a fast friendship—but almost immediately begin struggling with a mutual attraction. And, if that’s not enough, Syd is straight and going through a divorce—and Maddie somehow forgets to mention her sexual orientation to her new best friend. Almost everyone who crosses their paths believes it’s only a matter of time until they figure it out, but sometimes, it takes a while to see the obvious. Together, Syd and Maddie learn that life and love can have as many twists and turns as a winding mountain road.
Available at:
Symphony in Blue by MJ Duncan
It was just supposed to be a working weekend in Maui and not anything remotely life-altering, but all that changes the moment Gwen Harrison holds a hotel elevator for Dana Ryan. Beautiful and charming, Dana is a breath of fresh air that Gwen is helpless to resist—something she dearly regrets when their whirlwind weekend is over and reality sets back in. The course of true love is notorious for being anything but smooth, but the truths and consequences of an inauspicious beginning such as theirs are enough to put that old adage to the ultimate test.
Available at:
V.A.M.P.: Serena & Katerina by Kimberly A. Todd
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? Will Katerina be able to accept that she is falling in love with a vampire? What dark secrets does the agency conceal that challenges their love—and Katerina’s safety?
Serena & Katerina is the first book of the V.A.M.P. series, beginning the erotic romance that follows the lives of the title characters and transcends time.
Available at:
Hotel Queens by Lee Winter
Ice meets fire in this opposites-attract lesbian romance, as layered, sassy, and smart as its characters.
Over one long night at a bar in Las Vegas, two powerful hotel executives meet, flirt, and challenge each other—having no clue they’re rivals after the same dream deal.
Brilliant ice queen Amelia Duxton is a hotel vice president who thrives on control, truth, and efficiency. She’s in no mood for love or the mess it brings. All she wants is to buy the coveted Mayfair Palace—a massive deal that could finally help her land the CEO job in her family’s hotel empire.
Fiery Kai Fisher is charming and chaotic and renowned for closing ambitious deals. Her sights are set on snatching the Mayfair Palace out from under the nose of her hated arch rivals, the Duxton family.
But when secrets emerge and everything starts to fall apart, how can either of the warring women win—especially when they’ve just met their match?
Available at:
Aurora’s Angel by Emily Noon
Joined in a battle for survival, a broken-winged angel and a shapeshifter huntress with a bloody past form a bond that will change their world.
Alone since her father’s murder, Aurora has spent years hunting his killers. Battle-weary she’s ready to start over where no one knows who or what she is, she just has one last mission. Everything is going to plan until she discovers the beautiful winged girl caged underground. Her decision to rescue Evie and to help her get home safely, despite avians being infamous for selling out shifters like Aurora to cutters and black-market flesh dealers, will put her on a perilous path.
As the women travel together their attraction grows but Aurora is guarding her lonely heart almost as much as her dangerous secrets and Evie is struggling to accept how important Aurora has become to her.
With their enemies conspiring to kill them, they may be each other’s only hope. Aurora is powerful but she’s also emotionally scarred. It will be up to Evie to save her from herself and to fight for them, or innocent people will die along with the guilty ones and Aurora will disappear from Evie’s life forever.
Available at:
Valkyrie by Meg Ludwa
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Helping these people. Non-citizens. You don’t owe them anything. You had a life back in the Dome you could’ve escaped back to, been protected by your uncle. Why do any of this?”
“None of this would’ve happened if it wasn’t for my mother, right? I can’t just walk away from it, can I?”
Life is a paradise for the privileged on Odin Prime. Dr. Shea Tristan, a loyal Statesman and Chancellor’s niece, learns firsthand how broken the state is when she falls into the hands of Shadow- the station’s most dangerous criminal organization. A disgraced Valkyrie named Victoria Hammond and an emerging threat among the station’s most vulnerable force Shea to confront her mother’s shameful past. Shea will question everything she knows about herself, her notorious family, and the state that once protected her.
Available at:
Standby Counsel (A Monica Spade Novel) by Alexi Venice
Monica Spade insists she isn’t a trial lawyer, much less one who represents dangerous criminals. Despite her protests, Judge O’Brien orders Monica to serve as standby counsel for a young woman accused of repeatedly stabbing her boyfriend.
Setting aside her abject fear, Monica drags herself to the jail to meet her new client, Stela Reiter. A demure Romanian, Stela looks more like a meek librarian than a person capable of overpowering and stabbing a young man to death. Stela is coy and secretive during their interview.
Meanwhile, Monica’s girlfriend, Shelby St. Claire, is keeping secrets of her own, forcing Monica to question the foundation of their relationship. Monica digs into the backgrounds of both women.
Monica uncovers sexual innuendo and layers of international intrigue. Stuck between an unrelenting judge and a killer in a pink cardigan, Monica pursues the truth in court while fighting to keep Shelby and herself out of harm’s way.
Available at:
Invisible, as Music by Caren J. Werlinger
Henrietta Cochran has spent nearly forty years dealing with the effects of the polio she contracted in 1945. Her braces and crutches restrict her, define her, but they also give her independence. Almost. She hates that she has become increasingly reliant on a series of live-in companions to help her. For some reason, the companions never seem to want to stay very long. So Henrietta retreats further and further into her art, where her physical limitations don’t matter.
Into her life sails Meryn Fleming: out, outspoken, and fiercely political. She’s young, enthusiastically diving into her first job as a history professor at the local college. When she falls, almost literally, into Henrietta’s path, she seems like a godsend.
Little does Henrietta know that this young woman is about to upend her carefully structured existence. Ryn challenges everything, barging right through the walls Henrietta has built to keep others at a distance.
To Ryn, Henrietta is an enigma: prickly and easily insulted at the slightest suggestion that she can’t do things for herself; a brilliant artist capable of producing the most beautiful paintings; and sometimes, when Henrietta doesn’t realize she’s letting her guard down, a tender and sensitive woman.
With Meryn’s youthful optimism pitted against Henrietta’s jaded acceptance of the world as it is, life will never be the same for either of them.
Available at:
Mosaic by Susan X Meagher
When you’re a single lesbian who’d prefer to be partnered, it pays to keep your eyes peeled—even at work.
Kelsey Maliar blew into Summer Hayes’ shop on a frosty cold morning, and within a few minutes things had warmed up significantly. By the end of the week they were having a great first date, followed by another, and still another.
Everything seemed perfect, something neither of them had a lot of experience with. But they were both ready to put in the work this time, having learned that the end result was well worth the effort.
Nearly every couple reaches a few forks in the road when they’re starting out, but things sailed along very smoothly—until they didn’t.
What do you do when a woman who’s remarkably close to perfect struggles with an issue that wouldn’t bother the vast majority of people—but is a hot-button for you? Is it a positive grown experience to work through an emotional challenge together? Or is self-protection the wise choice?
They’ve both tried to understand the path to love, but the manual’s really hard to comprehend. If they can stick to their resolve, they should be able to hurdle this roadblock. But can they?
Available at:
Kicker’s Journey by Lois Cloarec Hart
In 1899 two women from very different backgrounds are about to embark on a journey together – one that will take them from the Old World to the New, from the 19th century into the 20th, and from the comfort and familiarity of England to the rigours of Western Canada, where challenges await at every turn.
The journey begins simply for Kicker Stuart when she leaves her home village to take employment as hostler and farrier at Grindleshire Academy for Young Ladies. But when Kicker falls in love with a teacher, Madelyn Bristow, it radically alters the course of her tranquil life.
Together, the lovers flee the brutality of Madelyn’s father and the prejudices of upper crust England in search of freedom to live, and love, as they choose. A journey as much of the heart and soul as of the body, it will find the lovers struggling against the expectations of gender, the oppression of class, and even, at times, each other.
What they find at the end of their journey is not a new Eden, but a land of hope and opportunity that offers them the chance to live out their most cherished dream – a life together.
Available at:
Those Who Wait by Haley Cass
Sutton Spencer’s ideas for her life were fairly simple: finish graduate school and fall in love. It would be a lot simpler if she could pinpoint exactly what she should do when she graduates in less than a year. Oh, and if she could figure out how to talk to a woman without feeling like a total mess, that would be great too.
Charlotte Thompson is very much the opposite. She’s always had clear steps outlining her path to success with no time or inclination for romance. Her burgeoning career in politics means everything to her and she’s not willing to compromise it for something as insignificant as love. Fleeting, casual, and discreet worked perfectly fine.
When they meet through a dating app, it’s immediately clear that they aren’t suited for anything more than friendship. Right?
Available at:
Callie’s Secret by T.J. Jones
Callie Fisher is young, beautiful, and falling in love with her best friend. No one knows she’s gay, and her mother would take her back to the shrink if she knew about the visions. Callie dreams of a dark night, gunshots in a city street, and a tall, beautiful black woman. Is this woman Callie’s future, or is it Jennifer, the bubbly redhead that’s always been there for her?
As she tries to understand her visions and searches for love, Callie is pulled deeper into the dark future of her dreams. She discovers there are others like her, a group of women trying to make the future a better place. But Callie has learned the hard way that changing the future can be a dangerous business. There are always unintended consequences, and sometimes people die!
Available at:
The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan
An orphan with a shameful secret must choose whom to love: her vampire mistress or the woman trying to save her life. A provocative tale of seduction, violence, and despair from dark lesbian romance author Lianyu Tan.
1927, colonial Singapore
Monsters don’t scare Gean Choo. And there are monsters aplenty among the Europeans on sultry Singapore island, all of them running away from something—or someone.
When she starts her new job as a lady’s companion, she can’t imagine falling for the impassioned, demanding mistress of Ambrosia Hall, nor the gruff, brooding woman who serves as her lady’s majordomo.
The latter holds her heart; the former, her body, blood, and loyalty.
Both want her.
Both need her.
And one of them will die for her.
Available at:
Tropical Storm by Melissa Good
Dar Roberts, corporate raider for a multi-national tech company, is cold, practical, and merciless. She does her job with razor-sharp accuracy. Friends are a luxury she cannot allow herself, and love is something she knows she’ll never attain.
Kerry Stuart left Michigan for Florida in an attempt to get away from her domineering politician father and the constraints of the overly conservative life her family forced upon her. After college she worked her way into supervision at a small tech company, only to have it taken over by Dar Roberts’ organization. Her association with Dar begins in disbelief, hatred, and disappointment, but when Dar unexpectedly hires Kerry as her work assistant, the dynamics of their relationship change. Over time, a bond begins to form.
But can Dar overcome years of habit and conditioning to open herself up to the uncertainty of love? And will Kerry escape from the clutches of her powerful father in order to live a better life?
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you are reading for the “sapphic books with more than 400 pages” category!
Don’t miss the Give Something Away Day Giveaway!
Tomorrow (July 15) is Give Something Away Day! To celebrate, I’m hosting a huge sapphic fiction giveaway: 50 authors are giving away 110 sapphic books (ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks). I’ll be sending out a newsletter as soon as the giveaway starts, so sign up to make sure you don’t miss it!
The post Sapphic books with over 400 pages (Book Unicorn #7) appeared first on Jae.
July 7, 2022
Sapphic book with a non-human character (Sapphic Book Bingo #14)
For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo square, read a sapphic book with a main character who is not human.
It could be a book about a lesbian vampire, a bisexual werewolf, a pansexual shape-shifter, a queer alien, or any other sapphic main character who isn’t human.
Usually, you’ll find those characters in all subgenres of speculative fiction such as fantasy, science fiction, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction, etc.
My lesbian vampire romance “Good Enough to Eat” is on sale (July 5-8)
Before I share my list of book suggestions, I’d like to point you toward a book sale that fits the “non-human character” square: My lesbian vampire romance Good Enough to Eat, which I co-wrote with Alison Grey, is on sale this week! You can get it for 99 cents on Amazon worldwide until tomorrow (July 8).
Sapphic Speculative Fiction Giveaway
I’m hosting a Sapphic Speculative Fiction Giveaway right now, with 50 book prizes (ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks) from 35 authors such as JJ Arias, Adrian J. Smith, Emily Noon, S D Simper, K. Aten, Eliza Andrews, Tiana Warner, Roslyn Sinclair, Serena J. Bishop, Skye Kilaen, Rae D. Magdon, KC Luck, Eliza Andrews, and many more! Enter the giveaway here.
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, you can still join us! Read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “coming-out story” square below.
If you’d like to get more book suggestions, talk about the books you are reading, and chat with other readers participating in the Sapphic Book Bingo, join either my Facebook group for readers or the Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.
15 recommended sapphic books with a non-human character
Here are my book recommendations for the “non-human character” square of the Sapphic Book Bingo:
Good Enough to Eat by Jae & Alison Grey
Robin’s New Year’s resolution to change her eating habits is as unusual as she is. Unlike millions of other women, she isn’t tempted by chocolate or junk food. She’s a vampire, determined to fight her craving for a pint of O negative.
When she goes to an AA meeting, hoping for advice on fighting her addiction, she meets Alana, a woman who battles her own demons.
Despite their determination not to get involved, the attraction is undeniable.
Is it just bloodlust that makes Robin think Alana looks good enough to eat, or is it something more? Will it even matter once Alana finds out who Robin really is?
Available at:
Amazon – book sale: 99 cents for a few days only!
Lead Me Astray by Sondi Warner
Welcome to Overlay City in New Orleans—a shadowy in-between where the paranormal and the real world meet. Its newest resident: Aurie Edison.
A victim of a hit-and-run, Aurie now exists as a ghost in this mysterious realm. Convinced there is more to her death than what she remembers, Aurie sets out to uncover the truth. She soon finds herself in the company of Mys, a psychic empath, whose need to help others trumps all else, and Zyr, a werewolf detective able to work both the human and occult worlds.
As they begin to piece together the events leading up to her death, Aurie can’t deny the deeper connection developing between them. Yet, with each new secret suggesting a more sinister danger at play, they realize they may not make it out (dead or) alive.
Undeniably queer and devilishly sexy, Lead Me Astray will take you to the shadowy depths of New Orleans and never let you go.
Available at:
The Lonely Vampire by Ann Greyson
This folklore horror style novel is about Ileana Vladislava, a vampire who flees Transylvania in 1578 in the midst of eradicating vampires from the region and reestablishes herself in Newcastle upon Tyne, a city in Tyne and Wear, England. Hundreds of years later, Ileana lives out a lonely existence in Wightwick Hall, a castle within the Jesmond Dene woodland valley. When Ileana sees the young and beautiful Myrna Ivester at a public library, there is something about her that sets her apart from anyone else. She decides to take a risk and transform Myrna into a vampire believing it is her destiny. With the impending threat against the vampires by Claymor, a vampire hunter in the form of a grudge bearing werewolf, the war between good and evil finds a new battlefield in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Available at:
The Warrior Within by Brooke Campbell
Libby struggles with a debilitating disease and is resigned to singlehood. When she goes out one evening with co-workers, the last thing she expects is to stumble into the woman of her dreams: Jo.
It isn’t long until she falls head over heels for her. But Jo’s stunning revelation could spell the end of their new relationship, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, the 150-year-old half-vampire has powerful enemies – including her father.
Entering Jo’s dangerous world, Libby is drawn into a web of secrets and danger. Can she overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds and survive?
Available at:
Cold Blood by Genevieve McCluer
In a single night, Kalila lost everything—her wife, their son, and even her life. Now, forced to live as the very monster she despises, she’s hunting down the vampire responsible, no matter how long it takes, or how many other vampires she has to kill along the way.
Dorenia is all too familiar with Kalila’s story. Her own vampiric nemesis has tormented her for over a century as retribution for his mistake in turning her. As an information broker in Toronto, the city of fiends, she’s managed to stay one step ahead by gathering all the intel she can and never staying in the same place very long.
When Kalila inadvertently saves Dorenia’s life, the two strike up an unlikely alliance. Maybe together, they’ll have a chance of taking down the vampires who have eluded them all these years. And maybe, in each other, they can find a love worth living for.
Available at:
Shattered by Lee Winter
Earth’s first black, lesbian superhero has had enough of humanity and disappeared. A stubborn tracker is sent to bring her home…any way she can.
Shattergirl is a brilliant but aloof black, alien superhero who can hurl and destroy large objects. The world reveres her and other guardians like her, yet she’s suddenly refusing to save people and has suddenly disappeared.
Lena Martin, the street-smart human tracker with a silver tongue and a disdain for the rogue guardians she chases, has only days to bring Shattergirl home.
As the pair clash heatedly, masks begin to crack, and brutal secrets are exposed that could shatter them both.
An award-winning, opposites-attract, lesbian science fiction story about embracing the special people who pass through our lives and change us forever.
Available at:
The Perfect Match by Milena McKay
A cupid’s life is hard.
There are so many rules.
Rule Number 1: Graduate from the Cupids’ Academy.
Rule Number 2: Attend the Annual Cupids’ Convention in Las Vegas.
Rule Number 3: When shooting your arrows and bringing love to people, strive for the Perfect Match.
When junior cupid Abby Angellini, fresh from Cupid Academy, heads to Sin City, she runs smack into her idol. Sabine Goddard is the one cupid who has a faultless record when it comes to slinging arrows and bringing people together. The stats for her own love life, however, aren’t nearly as great.
Sparks fly as Cinnamon Roll meets the Queen of the Perfect Match and the word quiver takes on an entirely new meaning.
Available at:
Racing the Dawn by Sandra Barret
Jade Murphy is bored. A century and a half of hopping from night job to night job will do that to a vampire. After narrowly escaping a house fire, she’s unexpectedly intrigued by gorgeous firefighter Beth Jenssen, and her undead existence might just be perking up a bit.
When her neighbor’s illegal side business triggers Jade’s serious anger management issues, things start to get complicated. Running around the streets of Boston trying to extricate herself from the mess she’s made, while keeping Beth’s attention on anything other than her vampire foibles, isn’t exactly a recipe for romance.
Undead existence still too boring, Jade?
Available at:
All That Remains by Sheri Lewis Wohl
Search and rescue volunteer Johnnie Lancaster and her dog, Cougar, serve their community by bringing home the skeletal remains of the lost no one could save. But sometimes being the best at what she does isn’t good enough. Nothing has trained her for a serial killer who appears to chew on the bones of their victims, and it’s not long before Johnnie is convinced the killer walks by day as a human and hunts by night as a werewolf.
Forensic anthropologist Shantel Kind has never seen a case like this one. That doesn’t mean she’s prepared to believe in a preternatural killer. As she works closely with Johnnie, their attraction is impossible to deny, but the death toll keeps rising, and time is running out. They might have to risk their lives—and their love—to stop a werewolf.
Available at:
Outsider by W. Freedreamer Tinkanesh
Rooted in the music scene of London, UK, and inspired by a life-long passion for music and a peculiar interest in private dark sides, ‘Outsider’ is a study of human emotions, disturbed by vampires and punctuated with rock music.
Sid is a medicated musician who has lost her rhythm, but strangely is finding her voice as a writer. Her involvement in this story starts when she attends one of Second Look’s gigs for the first time. The rock band inspires her to write short stories sprinkled with monsters.
For Joy, the bored blood-drinker, it might have started when a powerful vampire turned her into a creature of the night at the dawn of the 20th century. Death would probably claim that it started at Sid’s birth, when she thought this soul would make a perfect travelling companion. For Toni and Dee-Dee, it was the night the mighty predator made the unwilling musician into an extremely angry fledgling. The entity known as Life, meddling with mortals’ private lives and nights, clinched her own private deal.
The curious Sid wonders and inquires about vampires. The cynical Joy rediscovers the art of feeling and finds herself willing to protect her mortal lover, even against an over-righteous vampire.
Is everything as it seems? Is everyone as they appear? With offbeat sense of humour and twisted realism, the author guides you down a trail of bodies (alive, dead and undead) until the final showdown.
‘Outsider’, a story tainted with mental disorders, will appeal to lovers of dark fantasy and supernatural thrillers, and readers curious of alternative lifestyles.
Available at:
The Anti-Quest by Angel Martinez
Brave paladin. Royal princess. Fierce dragon. Simple. Being all three at once? Way too complicated.
Paladin Snillek’s mother was human and ruled a planet. That’s about the extent of her knowledge since they didn’t see each other much. When her mom dies in a freak accident, her father tells Snillek she’s inherited the title, and she has to learn how to pass as the mostly human Princess Siel for a planet she never thought about much. The dresses alone are horrifying and the courtiers aggravating.
In a moment of frustrated rage, Snillek’s princess persona slips and frightened palace staff misinterpret what they see. Now Paladin Snillek has been called upon to rescue Princess Siel…from herself.
Gruyere wants desperately to journey into the wilds of Tarribotia, but it’s too dangerous to go alone and so far, everyone’s laughed at her for suggesting it. When she spots a Dzedek paladin sulking in a tavern, she offers her services, hoping to pass herself off as a rogue guide.
Two women with secrets and possibly opposing goals head out into the hinterlands of a planet neither one of them knows well. They might both make it back by Winterfest if nothing eats them first.
Available at:
Captive in the Underworld by Lianyu Tan
In the land of the dead, Queen Hades’ word is law. Hades gets what she wants–always–and what she wants is a certain goddess of the springtime.
Innocent Persephone chafes beneath her mother’s hawkish gaze and mercurial temper. Demeter has rebuffed all her daughter’s suitors, but she is not yet satisfied; she strives to crush Persephone’s spirit.
Still, when Hades pulls her into the dark realm of the underworld, Persephone longs for the world above, even if it means an eternity under her mother’s thumb.
With her tears and pleas for freedom ignored by pitiless Hades, Persephone must learn to satisfy her keeper in all ways, lest she suffer the consequences.
And though she cannot deny that something blooms within her, something forbidden, Persephone despairs of ever feeling the sun upon her skin once more.
No matter the cost, Hades intends to keep her.
Forever.
Available at:
Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde
Naomi lives an almost idyllic life in Jamaica. She has a daughter who adores her, a close-knit community that looks out for its own, and paradise as her playground. But she secretly longs for the touch of other women. It is a longing she finally gets to satisfy during a trip into the tourist heart of Jamaica. When she surrenders to the seduction of a compelling stranger, however, she is savagely transformed into Belle, a ruthless beast whose hungers know no bounds.
Now Belle is part of a vampire clan, reveling in an existence that lays bare the dark hungers within every soul. Part of her hates her new world, but another part glories in it and in the explosive sexual connection she shares with the powerful head of the clan. But as magical as her new world is, it also has its dangers. Dangers that threaten the people she loves.
Available at:
Tangled Ribbons by Carren Strock
A novel of Earthly—and otherworldly—relationships.
Unexplained sexual longings, and fragments of unidentified images, consume Jenna’s Earth-life, and she dies with those haunting questions unanswered—but for her, death is not the end.
Although Jenna finds herself on the Celestial Tableland—a land of Spirits—her existence is interwoven with Bev’s, a woman in her last Earth incarnation. Bev helped Jenna to die, and now Jenna must help Bev to meet Anne, her soul mate, as the two women are destined to become a Perfect Pairing. But Cornelia, a vengeful Spirit, will stop at nothing to destroy this pairing.
Unless she can discover the cause of Cornelia’s rage, Jenna will be unable to help Bev. But Jenna’s investigation only leads to more questions: Why is Cornelia out to destroy this Perfect Pairing? Why is Cornelia’s past hidden from her? Why do no other Spirits see Cornelia’s destructive behavior? And what do the other souls who call out to Jenna have to do with Cornelia?
Eventually, Jenna’s search leads her to some surprising answers—and to a forgotten past of her own.
Available at:
Reaping the Benefits by EJ Noyes
Morgan Ashworth isn’t having a good day. The award for Minion of the Year is slipping out of reach, and she has to administer an afterlife package to one of her human employees. An employee she’s attracted to. An employee who’ll soon know Morgan isn’t quite what she seems.
Jane Smith was having a great day. Until her hot boss dropped a bombshell. It’s time for Jane to complete the questionnaire to decide where she’ll spend her afterlife. Oh, and her boss is immortal and also Death’s Head Minion. Yes, Death, as in the Grim Reaper.
Jane decides to bargain—if Morgan needs her to sign the afterlife document, she can use her unlimited resources to help Jane with her bucket list. Seems straightforward. Except for the matter of their mutual attraction, and the fact one of the items on Jane’s list is “Sleep with my boss.”
The more time Morgan and Jane spend together, the more they realize mutual attraction barely scratches the surface. But can Jane heal the broken heart Morgan has nursed for centuries? And will Morgan risk loving, then losing, another mortal woman when she knows it means an eternity of heartbreak?
Available at:
Without a Front: The Producer’s Challenge by Fletcher DeLancey
Alsea is fractured in the aftermath of war. So is its leader. Though devastated by a personal loss, Lancer Andira Tal must somehow stitch her world together and move it forward when all the rules have changed. Every decision is fraught with risk, and her enemies wait for her to stumble.
During a global debate over alien technology, Tal stuns the world when she accepts a challenge from her most vocal critic in the producer caste. By trading the staff of office for the tools of a field worker, she hopes to swing the producers to her side.
In the peaceful fields of Hol-Opah, Tal finds both a shocking secret and a lost dream. It is here that she will take her greatest risk—and give her enemies their greatest weapon.
This sequel to The Caphenon moves into a deeper exploration of Alsean culture, while stirring up a mixture of romance, humor, and political intrigue.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “non-human character” category!
The post Sapphic book with a non-human character (Sapphic Book Bingo #14) appeared first on Jae.
June 23, 2022
Coming-out story (Sapphic Book Bingo #13)
For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, read a sapphic book in which the main character comes out as LGBTQIA+ during the course of the book.
Maybe the character has known for a while that they weren’t straight or weren’t cis but only now comes out to family, friends, and colleagues. Or it could be a book in which the main character discovers that they aren’t as straight or as cis as they had assumed, so the coming out is mostly to themselves first and foremost, perhaps followed by coming out to friends and family.
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, you can still join us! Read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “coming-out story” square below.
Make the Sapphic Book Bingo more interesting!
If you’d like to get more book suggestions, talk about the books you are reading, and chat with other readers participating in the Sapphic Book Bingo, join either my Facebook group for readers or the Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.
15 recommended sapphic books with a coming-out story
Here are my book recommendations for “coming-out story” square of the Sapphic Book Bingo:
Not the Marrying Kind by Jae
Can a closeted florist and a too-busy-for-a-relationship bakery owner mix up the perfect recipe for love in this lesbian small-town romance?
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:
Camptown Ladies by Mari SanGiovanni
Just when you thought it was safe to pitch your tent, the Santora family shows up. Lisa’s taken over a rundown campground, baby sister Marie’s been dumped (again!) by the actress, and the Santoras don’t know the meaning of minding their own business. When the whole clan decides to fix things for their girls, it’s a hilarious recipe for havoc. Camptown Ladies is the sequel to Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer.
Available at:
Dreams Unspoken by RJ Layer
Getting it right before it’s too late…
Jo Marchal is home again, hoping to mend long-broken fences with her family before time erases that chance forever. She has other, deeply painful reasons for leaving behind her horse breeding and training business and starting over. Ohio’s pastures do look greener the moment she meets Maria West.
Love, marriage and children—Maria West has dreamed of those things, but her life is far from picture perfect picket fences. Developing a friendship with the ruggedly attractive cowgirl Jo is a surprising turn of events…and that’s only the first of many.
Available at:
The Love Factor by Quinn Ivins
Molly Cook is almost thirty, with dismal career prospects, and has given up on saving the world. It might be the nineties, and everything’s shoulder pads, Doc Martens, and The X-Files, but people won’t budge on gay rights. Molly decides to give a PhD a whirl but finds herself more interested in campus politics…and her strict and sexy statistics professor.
Professor Carmen Vaughn is stuck in small-town Maryland with smarmy blowhards for colleagues and ungrateful students who can’t handle her high standards. She has no intention of coming out, least of all to Molly, a troublemaking grad student who can’t stop picking fights with the conservative faculty.
But when Molly discovers evidence implicating a homophobic colleague in a scandal, Carmen can’t ignore it—even if the subject hits too close to home. As the two women work together to make their case, they grow closer than Carmen ever imagined. But she absolutely refuses to get involved with a student.
The thing is, as the chemistry builds between them, Molly isn’t sure she wants to be a grad student anymore…if she ever did.
Available at:
Style by Chelsea M. Cameron
Kyle Blake likes plans. So far, they’re pretty simple: Finish her senior year of high school, head off to a good college, find a cute boyfriend, graduate, get a good job, get married, the whole heterosexual shebang. Nothing is going to stand in the way of that plan. Not even Stella Lewis.
Stella Lewis also has a plan: Finish her senior year as cheer captain, go to college, finally let herself flirt with (and maybe even date) a girl for the first time and go from there.
Fate has other plans for Kyle and Stella when they’re paired up in their AP English class and something between them ignites. It’s confusing and overwhelming and neither of them know what to do about it. One thing they do know is that their connection can’t be ignored. The timing just isn’t right.
But is there ever a good time for falling in love?
Available at:
The Headmistress by Milena McKay
A chance encounter. An unforgettable night.
And back home, trouble is brewing on the remote island of Three Dragons, where nothing feels like it used to. Alone and lonely, Sam Threadneedle wishes upon a star, hoping for change. But when said change comes, it’s with a roar and not a whimper.
Torn between loyalty and lust, Sam is forced to re-evaluate everything.
Can she and the Home of Dragons withstand the storm that is Magdalene Nox, or will any and all crumble?
Not everything is as it seems, and as she slowly unravels the mysteries behind the centuries-old walls, Sam realizes that home is much more than oak and stone.
Available at:
Not-So-Straight Sue by Cheyenne Blue
Lawyer Sue is totally, completely straight. Then she meets cute doctor Moni. Things get awkward. And kind of gay. And awkward again. A coming-out romance about small towns and big dreams.
“Sorry, I’m straight.” Those words, along with a smile, are how Sue Brent turns down women. The Australian lawyer, living in London, has the line down pat, but the truth is buried deep. So deep that sometimes Sue even manages to convince herself she’s not a lesbian. The only person in London who has ever seen through her façade is Moni, an American tourist.
After a date goes disastrously wrong, Sue has to confront the truth about herself. Leaving London, she returns home to Australia and buries herself in running an outback law practice in Queensland.
When Moni arrives in town to work as a doctor, Sue starts to see a path to happiness for the first time. But can their exciting new relationship survive the arrival of an unexpected visitor? Sue’s teenage, first love, Denise, has tracked Sue down to Mungabilly Creek to ask a favour. Okay, definitely not awkward at all…
Available at:
For All Time by Lyn Denison
It’s the 1960s. Life was different then. But Tyneholme, the magnificent, historic home of one of Brisbane’s pioneering families, the well-known Chaseleys, endures. Dickie Chaseley, grandson of the first Chaseley to arrive in Australia, is a respected businessman, and his vivacious wife, Vivienne, is a much loved patron of a large number of charities.
Circumstances have drastically changed young Laura Dawson’s comfortable and sheltered life and she gratefully accepts what she sees as a lifeline, a job working with Viv Chaseley. Laura moves into Tyneholme and into the unbelievably amazing world of the Chaseleys. Working with Viv gives Laura the confidence she knows she lacks, and it brings new meaning to her previously uninspiring life.
She meets Dickie and Viv’s elder son, Richard, and his lovely wife, Sara, and their younger son, the dark and slightly dangerous, Nicholas. Then the Chaseleys’ only daughter arrives home from the UK. Viv had said she was sure her daughter and Laura would become great friends, but nothing could have prepared Laura for her meeting with the poised, worldly, so very attractive Rosemary Chaseley.
Available at:
Playing Catch-Up by Zoey Lennox
Twenty-three-year-old Alexis Lenz’s life is a mess: she hates her job, has lost touch with most of her friends, and her love life is non-existent.
When she meets LGBTQ youth counsellor Ramie Ramirez at a dinner party, sparks fly. But Ramie is still putting herself back together after an acrimonious split from her long-term girlfriend and is only looking for something casual. If living with the repercussions of her ex’s lies has taught her one thing, it’s to keep her heart locked up tight.
As the two women begin to date, Alexis finds herself in a predicament. She’s never dated a woman before and is afraid Ramie will dump her sorry arse once she finds out.
What’s a girl to do? A little white lie can’t hurt, can it? It’s not like they’re going to do something stupid like fall in love…
Available at:
Puppy Love by Sage Donnell
Who knew that adopting a rescue puppy would be so challenging? When Greta can’t leave the house without Chloe freaking out, she realizes she needs support. She’s new in town, but she does have a friend who might be willing to help out. Livy is fun to talk to, helpful, and cute, but also straight. Greta decides she needs to push her social circle even wider to avoid crushing on her friend. Chloe, again, is just the ticket to broaden her horizons. When she meets the intriguing Ril at the dog park, it’s on.
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Choosing Grace by Regina Jamison
As a young African American woman from Durham, North Carolina, Sky Valentine is tired of being boxed in by small minds and Southern expectations. To escape the restraints of her Southern upbringing, Sky flees to Rhode Island to attend college. Once there, Sky doesn’t just work on her degree, she also works on shedding many of the things that peg her as a Southerner.
Sky also falls head over heels with the sexy and vibrant Zenobia, solidifying what she had felt in her heart all along—that she loves women. But their affair is brief and interrupted by Zenobia’s sudden departure from school.
With college completed, Sky returns home to find that her domineering mother has promised her hand in marriage to a rich and arrogant man. But it’s 1986, and Sky is determined to live her own life. So she gathers her courage and flees to New York City, where she lands a teaching job and an apartment.
In time Sky meets Grace Webster and it’s love at first sight. But then Zenobia comes back into Sky’s life and Sky is faced with an impossible choice—finish what she started with Zenobia years ago, or fight for the relationship she is building with Grace. What will she choose?
Available at:
The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter
Australian crime reporter Maddie Grey is working the night shift, out of her depth in New York, miserable, and secretly crushing on her twice-married, media-mogul employer.
Elena Bartell is a brilliant, fierce, ice queen boss who eats failing newspapers for breakfast and believes to her core that everything would be much simpler if people told each other the whole, unvarnished truth.
As work takes them to Australia, Maddie is goaded into a brief, seemingly harmless bet with her enigmatic boss—where they can’t lie to each other. The bet backfires spectacularly as Elena realizes that the brutal truth might not be what she wanted after all.
A beautiful lesbian workplace romance about the lies we tell ourselves.
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Dare to Love by A. L. Brooks
Investment banker Ash Taylor left her cut-throat world to set up a cool, cutting-edge tattoo studio. Her love life’s been a lot bumpier, though. Ever since a heart-breaking affair with a straight colleague, she’s vowed to steer clear of women unsure of their sexuality.
Talent-agency executive Carmen Lyttleton is straight, career focused, and not prone to distraction from her occasional casual relationships. When her best friend gets a tattoo at Ash’s studio, Carmen finds herself unexpectedly impressed by Ash and her business.
When they accidentally meet again, Carmen is shocked by the sparks between them and the realization that she feels a lot more than just admiration for Ash’s work ethic. It can’t possibly mean what it seems…can it?
The pull between the women is powerful but so are their fears, old baggage, and stubbornness. Can they dare to love?
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And the Truth Is… by Jamey Moody
When the love you’ve been searching for magically appears in the most unexpected person.
Lauren Nichols’ longtime marriage was over. She’d done what was expected, married her high school sweetheart, raised two great kids and now what? There had to be more to life than work. She wanted to share the passion she knew lived deep in her heart.
When she meets the bigger-than-life award-winning actress Tara Holloway something kindles deep inside her.
Can passion pull Tara all the way from Hollywood to a small Texas lake town? Is this the true love they have both been seeking? And can love overcome distance, fame, and family objections? Or is this love so hot they both get burned?
Let’s go back to Lovers Landing for another romance on the lake with Krista and friends. Can Lovers Landing cast it’s magical spell on Tara and Lauren? The truth is …
Available at:
Mrs Middleton by Melissa Tereze
Their love could heal their hearts…but destroy the relationships they both hold dear.
Emma Bradley is trembling. And not because of the climate difference between England and Africa, where she’s just ended an 18-month stint teaching sports to kids. She’s about to see Vanessa again.
Golden hair, luminous blue eyes, a smile to light up a room. The woman Emma loves. The woman she spilled her heart out to, then ran away to another continent to avoid a humiliating scene—because Vanessa is her best friend’s mum. If Emma is lucky, maybe Vanessa chalked it up to too much wine. Or better yet, forgot all about it.
Vanessa Middleton is fighting a serious case of uncertainty. Emma’s confession is crystal clear in her memory, and now that Vanessa is divorced from her cheating husband, the strongest barrier between them is gone. But there are others no less challenging.
Because if Vanessa couldn’t keep her husband’s attention, what could bright, beautiful, much younger Emma possibly see in her? Worse, if the two of them act on their attraction, their affair could jeopardise the relationship they both hold dear: Vanessa’s daughter—Emma’s closest friend.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “coming-out story” category!
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The post Coming-out story (Sapphic Book Bingo #13) appeared first on Jae.
June 16, 2022
Sapphic book with a main character over 50 (Book Unicorn #6)
For this week’s Book Unicorn post of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book in which at least one of the main characters is over 50.
In WLW and lesbian fiction, especially in romance, most of the protagonists seem to be in their 20s and 30s. Lately, I’ve seen more books with characters in their forties, but characters who are in their fifties and beyond are still rather rare.
So for this week’s category, I’d like you to read a book with a main characters in their 50s or older. It could be an age gap romance, in which the other main character is considerably younger, or all of the protagonists could be over 50. I’ll leave that choice up to you, as long as at least one of the main characters is 50 or older.
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Book Bingo now
In case you are only discovering the Sapphic Book Bingo now: The Book Unicorn is an additional bingo card that you can tackle in addition to the regular bingo card or by itself. The goal is to read one book for each of the 12 squares of the Book Unicorn card. Each square represents a harder-to-find theme.
I’ll post book suggestions for one Book Unicorn category each month.
If you haven’t done so already, download your Book Unicorn bingo card here. The PDF is clickable, so you can fill in the titles of the books you read on your computer, or you can print it out and fill it in by hand.
15 sapphic books with a character over 50
Here’s a list of 15 recommended sapphic books with a main character over 50:
Never Too Late For Heroes by A. L. Brooks
This cracking adventure with a side of romance is for lovers of tough, jaded, lesbian cops, superheroes and villains, and feisty retirees who don’t take retirement lying down.
Agent Geena Fox is counting down the days to her retirement. On one bittersweet day six years ago, her team of superheroes defeated Jewel, the world’s most evil villainꟷbut Geena’s secret lover died in the process. Now her boss has assigned her a rookie partner, Leigh Walker, and that’s the last thing Geena needs. She sends the woman off on a wild goose chase searching for a long-lost missing person to get her out of her sight. However, what Leigh finds will turn Agent Fox’s world upside down.
Meanwhile, over in a retirement home in Missouri, four old women sharing the surname Power are arousing suspicion with their strange behavior. Their nosy nurse is convinced they are not what they seem. Geena and Leigh meet with the mysterious Powers, and realize the women might hold the key to stopping Jewel, once and for all.
Available at:
Fishwives by Sally Bellerose
Eighty-nine-year-old Regina and ninety-year-old Jackie met in 1955, an era when women were rounded up and jailed simply for dancing together or dressing like a man. On a cold winter day, they manage to get themselves out of the house with the help of TJ and Ramon, two young men from their workingclass neighborhood in Western Massachusetts. They tie their long-dead Christmas tree to the top of their car and, using a screwdriver in place of a broken gearshift, slowly make the drive to the dump.
This is also the day when everything changes.
During the course of their adventure, memories are triggered. Their history as a passionate and devoted, but troubled couple at the intersection of historic cultural and political change unfolds via scenes from the past—including their first meeting during a police raid on a bar and Regina’s epiphany that she could truly love another woman. In the early years, they often live apart as they flee landlords who discover their secret. As their journey leads them to seek jobs and a sustainable life, they are sometimes separated—but always find their way back to each other.
Combining the pathos and social significance of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café and the humor of The Golden Girls with a cast of diverse characters worthy of the musical Rent, Fishwives chronicles a lifetime through the eyes of two old women behaving badly.
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Old Love by Nancy J. Hedin
Mary Caine is pushing sixty and newly recovered alcoholic. She keeps to herself running the General Store. She openly adores the Midsummer Carnival and secretly hopes each year that her mom, who abandoned her as a child, will return with the carnival company. And Mary passionately loves Sadie Barnes, her first love who left town thirty years ago. Mary wants a second chance and feels like she might get when Sadie comes back to town.
Suddenly, everything goes to pieces: the carnival is in jeopardy, there’s two dead bodies by the lake, and Sadie is implicated in both catastrophes. With the help of her pilfering, talking crow and her dog, Bob Barker, Mary is determined to win back Sadie’s love, exonerate her from murder, solve the suspicious deaths, preserve the carnival, and for extra credit, help Sarah–the pregnant teen Mary has working at her general store.
Old Love proves that a second chance at love can come at any age–even in a small town.
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Game Changers by Jane Cuthbertson
Writer Rachel Johnston’s solitary life is upended by an unexpected encounter with pro soccer player Jaye Stokes. Jane is younger, confident, attractive…and dedicated to pursuing a relationship with Rachel.
Despite the disapproval of Jaye’s best friend, their connection deepens. Jane plays her best soccer ever, and Rachel begins to dream of happiness with a loving partner. But can she trust Jaye enough to share her long-buried secret?
Available at:
That Woman Next Door by Harper Bliss
Sometimes what you’re running from is exactly what you need
Olivia Chevalier is perfectly happy living a quiet life of solitude with her two cats in the tempestuous countryside of Brittany.
Olivia’s peace is disrupted when heartbreaker extraordinaire Marie Dievart moves in to the holiday home next door after an event at work makes her flee her everyday life.
Olivia hates having a neighbour and Marie is put off by Olivia’s cranky ways.
But maybe these two women have more in common than they first believe.
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What the Heart Wants by KC Luck
Four years after a horrible car accident takes her sight and kills her parents, Sage Montgomery has learned to adapt to her new circumstances in Spruce Creek, Oregon. A new life that includes running the Montgomery horse ranch, which has been in her family for generations. As the place where she grew up, Sage has only the fondest memories. But when she learns her home is at risk because of unpaid taxes, Sage must find a way to raise the money. While the bank threatens and unwanted buyers circle, she is faced with decisions she doesn’t want to make for the ranch… and her heart.
With two decades of hard work on Wall Street, Julie Aspen has everything she wants. A career she loves, the perfect Manhattan condo, and a sexy, young girlfriend. People envy what Julie has and she could not be happier. At least until the firm she works for is accused of fraud. Suddenly stripped of everything and risking indictment, Julie returns to where she grew up. The small town she hates—Spruce Creek. Things couldn’t be more miserable until she meets the daughter of a long-lost friend. Suddenly, Julie has second thoughts about what may be important in life and if it is too late to change.
Available at:
The Visitor by Angela McKenna
Lesbian Professor Helen Miller arrives in England from America. The last thing she expects is to be lodging with her friend Sophie’s reserved and anxious mother, Ingrid, but Sophie has told a big lie which pushes them all together under one roof and when Ingrid catches them both in what appears to be a compromising position, sparks fly.
Helen lurches from one calamity to another as she attempts to navigate through the storm of a family drama, teetering on the verge of being cast out, but desperate to stay. You see, despite Ingrid’s angry words and cold demeanour, Helen likes her, in fact, she likes her rather a lot and she’s wondering if, underneath all that cold fury, Ingrid likes her too…
With only three weeks left until she must return home to San Francisco, Helen fights for the true love she has always craved but will her own past, and Sophie’s lies, wreck any chance of future happiness? The clock is ticking.
Available at:
The Goodmans by Clare Ashton
The lovely doctor Abby Hart lives in her dream cottage in the quintessential English border town of Ludbury, home to the Goodmans.
Maggie Goodman, all fire and passion, is like another mother to her, amiable Richard a rock and 60s-child Celia is the grandmother she never had.
But Abby has a secret. Best friend Jude Goodman is the love of her life, and very, very straight. Even if Jude had ever given a woman a second glance, there’d also be the small problem of Maggie – she would definitely not approve.
But secrets have a habit of sneaking out, and Abby’s not the only one with something to hide. Life is just about to get very interesting for the Goodmans.
Things are not what they used to be, but could they be even better?
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Undertow by Jazzy Mitchell
Maggie Ambrose is a fifty-six-year-old career politician who plans to run for president. To kick off her presidential bid and introduce herself to the masses, she’s writing a revealing memoir. Her publisher insists she divulge more than her political pedigree to gain the nation’s attention, but Maggie’s not eager to confess the details of her challenging childhood, complex familial relationships, or her failed first marriage. Will the nation embrace a female lesbian candidate after she opens the door to a painful past?
Available at:
No More Secrets by Jamey Moody
When Krista Kyle’s world is turned upside down, there’s only one person that can save her.
First love is a mighty strong emotion. Krista knows this and has been given several chances over the years to have the life she dreamed of, but something always got in the way.
Melanie Zimmer has loved Krista Kyle for over half her life. She now has the courage to do something about it. All she has to do is help Krista find hers and she knows just the place.
Does Lovers Landing still have the magic that brought them together over thirty years ago? Will Krista finally be brave enough to hold on to her true love?
This is the second book in The Lovers Landing Series. Come along on this first love, second chance romance and see if Krista and Melanie can find their courage in one another.
Available at:
46 by Lynn Ames
It’s November 3, 2020, and Emma McMasters has just been elected the 46th president of the United States. She’s facing a divided Congress and nation, allies that no longer trust America, enemies that have been emboldened, and the legacy of destruction left by the last administration. She must rebuild and reestablish trust in government, in the media, and in the electoral system, all the while carrying the mantle of first female president, and along with it, the hopes and dreams of millions of women and little girls who need her to prove that a woman can get the job done.
Palmer Estes has devoted her life and her career to the military, rising to become the highest-ranking female officer in the US Army. An enigmatic, battle-tested hero, she’s the perfect choice to brief the new president on one last, urgent, highly sensitive mission before she retires.
Two strong women, both driven to serve the country they love, neither prepared for the sparks that fly between them.
Available at:
Reading Her by Amanda Radley
Awkward teenager Hugo Whittaker doesn’t know a cross-trainer from an elliptical bike, but getting strong is the only way to fight off the bullies who won’t leave him alone. Lauren Evans loves her job as an instructor at Fitness Zone, and she wants to guide him. Unfortunately, Hugo paid for his 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:
Times of Our Lives by Jane Waterton
Set against the backdrop of OWL Haven, Australia’s first exclusively lesbian retirement community, an irreverent cast of residents share their lives, hopes and dreams together.
At 65, Meg Sullivan is very clear about what and who she wants in life. Despite a string of lovers Meg’s first loyalty has always been to her best friend, Allie Richards. After reading about OWL Haven in a magazine, she knows the lesbian retirement village would be perfect for them both.
Allie Richards has shared the best part of her life with Meg. For over forty years they’ve traveled the world, and love and trust each other completely. Moving to OWL is perfect, as a new group of friends join their comfortable circle of two.
After her last relationship ended, Sparrow Hopkins was left with a broken heart. Quietly resigned to being alone for the rest of her life Sparrow discovers a feisty, vibrant group of women who are not afraid to take chances. Despite her promise to never fall in love again, life, as she is to find out, has other plans.
Pat and Bella have been together for nearly fifty years. To them OWL represents the secure and loving community they rarely experienced in the homophobic Sydney of the 60’s. But life is never simple, and safety is sometimes elusive as they face their own personal challenges.
Daphne Williams has always been a loner. Despite her preconceptions of retirement villages she discovers peace and happiness at OWL Haven. However, when her tightly controlled world goes into freefall, Daphne has to make a major decision. Does she keep control or open up a new world of joy and hope.
Through laughter, tears, and joy these woman prove that no matter what your age, you’re never too old to fall in love.
Available at:
Georgetown Glen: Queermunity Living at its Finest by Annette Mori
Lucy Manetti is positively euphoric over her recent purchase of an old ghost town. Unfortunately, she failed to consult with her wife, Bea, before buying the abandoned village. Predictably, Bea is not as enamored with transforming the ghost town into a sapphic retirement community, but Bea’s love for her wife trumps her displeasure over Lucy’s impulsiveness. The mature couple hires Fiona, an expert at restoring old houses, and Saville, a certified electrician, to bring the ghost town back to its glory days.
According to the adorable real estate agent who recommended the pair, Fiona and Saville have history. Lucy detects a spark between the two young women and decides, against the advice of her wife, to play matchmaker, bringing her beautiful niece into the mix. As the ragtag team begins their work on the old saloon, they discover a lot more than they bargained for, including ghosts, long-buried secrets, an abused golden retriever, and maybe even love.
Available at:
Slow Reveal by Melanie Mitzner
Set in 1990s New York, Slow Reveal paints an extraordinary portrait of artists who defy the arbiters of culture and challenge social norms. Art, addiction, and family dynamics capsize the Kanes when they discover the parallel life of Katharine, film editor, mother, lover, and wife.
“A poem is never finished, only abandoned,” wrote Paul Valéry, an outcome echoed in her decade-long affair with Naomi, a lesbian poet. Katharine’s marriage to Jonathan collapses in his struggle with sobriety when he’s ostracized for politicizing art and abandons his career for advertising. Faced with confrontations from her two grown daughters, an installation artist and an aspiring writer, Katharine hangs onto her former life. When her love for the poet prevails, devotion and commitment to her marriage are not the guardrails that keep her work or relationship on track but rather a form of entrapment.
A captivating story about relevance at the end of the 20th century, the novel questions the voracious demands of contemporary society through a riveting portrayal of turbulent family life, impacted by art shaped by the media and influenced by social and political injustice. Success is redefined by the courage to embark on the artistic process, as risky, messy and unpredictable as building intimacy and trust in love.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you are reading for the “sapphic books with a character over 50” category!
The post Sapphic book with a main character over 50 (Book Unicorn #6) appeared first on Jae.
June 9, 2022
Sapphic book by a newbie author (Sapphic Book Bingo #12)
For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, I would like you to read a book by a new author to give some attention to writers who are just starting out.
For the sake of this reading challenge, I’m defining “newbie authors” as a writer who has published only one or two novel-length books.
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, you can still join us! Read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “sapphic classics” square below.
Make the Sapphic Book Bingo more interesting!
If you’d like to get more book suggestions, talk about the books you are reading, and chat with other readers participating in the Sapphic Book Bingo, join either my Facebook group for readers or the Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.
81 new authors of sapphic fiction
I compiled a list of 81 new authors of sapphic books, listed alphabetically by their last name.
Emily Alter, author of YA/NA romance novels Confidence and Stability .Elle Armstrong, author of lesbian romance Cafe A’Moor and Crash Dance , a sapphic age-gap celebrity romance.E.V. Bancroft, author of sapphic historical romance Warm Pearls and Paper Cranes .Emily Banting, author of sapphic romance Lost in Love and lesbian contemporary romance Forgive Not Forget .Alexandra Beaumont, author of sapphic fantasy novel Testament of the Stars .Sarah Bell, author of queer historical mystery The Murder Next Door .A.G. Bennett, author of Shepherd’s Derelict , a lesbian novel about family secrets.Sabrina Blaum, author of LGBTQ+ fantasy novel The Well of Shadows .Mickey Brent, author of sapphic sports romances Underwater Vibes and Broad Awakening .KT Brodland, author of An Unfortunate Incident , a lesbian mystery novel with characters in their 50s.Mary P. Burns, author of f/f romance Forging a Desire Line and sapphic age-gap romance Suspecting Her .Valden Bush, author of sapphic sci-fi romance Nero .Brooke Campbell, author of The Warrior Within , a butch/femme paranormal romance, and its sequel, A Warrior For Her .Aprille Canniff, author of Trust , a women-in-uniform romance, and Finding Sarah , a WLW romance with a character who has PTSD.C.M. Castillo, author of The Pages of Adeena , a lesbian historical romance set in the 1950s.Crystal Chard, author of lesbian romance Rough Around the Edges and gritty psychological romance Worth the Risk .C.L. Clark, author of sapphic epic fantasy The Unbroken .Neen Cohen, author of sapphic urban dark fantasy novella Cold as Hell .Jane Cuthbertson, author of sapphic sports romance Game Changers .Terri Cutshall, author of LGBT medical drama Breakthrough .Rosy Dee, author of lesbian romantic comedy I Love You, Lola Bloom Kelly Farmer, author of sapphic sports romances Out on the Ice and Unexpected Goals .Julie Forester, author of sapphic adventure/romance Marmalade Martini .K.L. Gallagher, co-author of lesbian romance Hat Trick (written with Ali Spooner).Johana Gavez, author of sports romance Match to Love and steamy novella Tell Me What You Want .Kate Gavin, author of young adult romance Full of Promise and sapphic romance Table for Two .Sue Graham, author of Playing with Fire , a sapphic romance set in South Africa, and sapphic mystery For the Love of Life .Angela Greenman, author of sapphic thriller The Child Riddler (out in July).Eule Grey, author of sapphic sci-fi romance I, Volcano .M.B. Guel, author of sapphic young adult romance Queerleaders and Internet Famous .Verónica Gutiérrez, author of lesbian mystery As You Look .Lily Gwynn, author of sapphic urban fantasy novels Kissed the Mark and Falling for the Fugitive .Jo Havens, author of sapphic sci-fi/fantasy romance The Blood We Spill and sapphic historical romance Once in Berlin .B.W. Hope, author of lesbian romance novels Chrome Painted Heart and Romancing the Dish .Elle Hyden, author of Lost & Found: A Mystic Meteor Tyle , a lesbian contemporary romance with a mystical twist, and its sequel Evermore .Quinn Ivins, author of sapphic age-gap romance The Love Factor and Worthy of Love , a sapphic opposites-attract romance with a neurodivergent character.Ivy L. James, author of lesbian holiday romance Make the Yuletide Gay .Regina Jamison, author of Choosing Grace , a lesbian fiction novel set in the 1980s.Olivia Janae, author of sapphic ice queen romance The Loudest Silence (out in July).Diana Jayne, author of slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance What Memories Are Made Of Iona Kane, author of sapphic celebrity romance Sleepless Nights. Lara Kinsey, author of f/f historical romances Budding Romance and Blooming in the Sun .Jane Kolven, author of LGBT romance The Holiday Detour , which features a Jewish lesbian and a nonbinary character, and The Queen Has a Cold , a queer royalty romance with an intersex character.Jen Lawrence, author of sapphic fantasy romance Guardian .Jess Lea, author of lesbian cozy mystery A Curious Woman and lesbian romantic mystery Looking for Trouble .J.E. Leak, author of lesbian historical novel In the Shadow of the Past .Renn Loraine, author of Moon Over St. Augustine and Moon Over Old Hollywood , a sapphic romantic thriller series.Meg Ludwa, author of sapphic science fiction novel Valkyrie .Kit Mallory, author of LGBTQ teen/YA dystopian fiction novels Blackout and Sparks .Lori G. Matthews, author of WLW romcom #CassiNova .Jordan Meadows, author of sapphic YA novel Kissing Practice , which is set in the 1980s.Antonija Mežnarić, author of sapphic horror novella, What Do Nightmares Dream of .May Mirsky, author of sapphic erotic novella The Moon and Her Landlady .Melanie Mitzner, author of Slow Reveal , an LGBTQ novel about family.Jess Newton, author of lesbian science fiction novel Posterity .Nived, author of sapphic fantasy romances Eternal Love and Destiny .J.P. Noether, author of sapphic fantasy romance novella Improbably Heaven .Emily Noon, author of sapphic dark fantasy romance Aurora’s Angel , which won a Lambda Literary Award.Caitríona Page, author of sapphic new adult romance Traveller .Simonetta Pastorini, author of lesbian romance Heartlines and its sequel, Drift .Faith Prize, author of lesbian medical romance The Fifth Surgeon . Coffee Quills, author of sapphic paranormal romance Spells, Snow & Sky .Liz Rain, author of lesbian workplace romance Perks of Office .Krystina Rivers, author of sapphic second-chance romance novel Something Between Us .Morgan Rogers, author of sapphic romance Honey Girl .Mar Romasco-Moore, author of sapphic young adult novel I Am the Ghost in Your House .Emma Rossi, author of lesbian young adult romance One Last Summer .Katherine Rupley, author of lesbian sports romance Calculated Risk .J.X. Sleator, author of sapphic horror/romance novel Bleeding for Eurydice .Rachael Sommers, author of lesbian romance Never Say Never and sapphic second-chance romance Fool for Love .Nance Sparks, author of contemporary lesbian romance Cowgirl and An Alaskan Wedding , a second chance romance with a bisexual main character.Lily St. Michael, author of steamy lesbian romance Something or Everything .Cate Summers, author of LGBT teen romance The Rainbow Race .Lianyu Tan, author of Captive in the Underworld , an F/F dark lesbian romance retelling of the Hades/Persephone myth, and The Wicked and the Willing , an F/F gothic horror vampire novel set in 1920s Singapore. Freedreamer Tinkanesh, author of LGBT vampire novel Outsider and LGBT dark fantasy short story collection Tales for the 21st Century, Vol. II .Kimberly Todd, author of lesbian vampire romance A.M.P.: Book One and V.A.M.P.: Book Two .Emma Wallis, author of contemporary fiction novel This is Not a Love Story .Emily Waters, author of lesbian enemies-to-lovers romance Honey in the Marrow (out in October).JD Wilburn, author of lesbian romantic suspense novel A Far Better Thing .Ana K. Wrenn, author of lesbian psychological thriller Strange Attractors (out in August).Chris Zett, author of sapphic medical romances Irregular Heartbeat and Heart Failure .
Are you a newbie author of sapphic books?
If you are a new author of sapphic books, with no more than two novels published, and you want me to add you to the list, please email me with your book information (title, genre, book link). You’ll find my email on my contact page.
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “newbie author of sapphic books” category!
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The post Sapphic book by a newbie author (Sapphic Book Bingo #12) appeared first on Jae.
June 3, 2022
Sapphic audiobook giveaway for Audiobook Appreciation Month
June is not only Pride Month; it’s also Audiobook Appreciation Month, so 23 authors of sapphic fiction put together an audiobook giveaway for you!
You can win one of 65 sapphic audiobooks.
What sapphic audiobooks can you win?
There are a total of 65 audiobook prizes from 23 different authors. Here’s the list of audiobooks you can win, sorted by the authors’ last names:
46 by Lynn Ames
Narrated by Abby Craden
The first lesbian president of the United States kicks butt!
Chain Reactions by Lynn Ames
Narrated by Emily Beresford
Women in STEM rock and one hundred year old women in STEM with mysterious pasts REALLY rock!
Secrets Well Kept by Lynn Ames
Narrated by Emily Beresford
The (mostly) true story of the women who made the feud for the atomic bomb that ended World War II.
Princess of Dorsa by Eliza Andrews
Narrated by Elizabeth Saydah
Spoiled Princess Natasia must rise to the occasion to defeat a threat to the Empire in this first of three epic fantasy novels.
Soldier of Dorsa by Eliza Andrews
Narrated by Elizabeth Saydah
Princess Natasia fights to regain her crown while Joslyn of Terinto fights back an encroaching darkness in this second of three epic fantasy novels.
Crash Dance by Elle Armstrong
Narrated by Ashleigh Binder
What happens when the worst day of your life also becomes the best.
The Number 94 Project by Cheyenne Blue
Narrated by Cat Gould
Renovation takes a sexy turn when a cute country girl rocks up with a tool belt and plans that throw the whole gay neighbourhood into disarray in this light-hearted lesbian romance.
A Heart to Trust by A.L. Brooks
Narrated by Anastasia Watley
What happens when you find out your stuck-up, blissfully straight colleague may be none of those things?
Dare to Love by A.L. Brooks
Narrated by Sienna Frances
A slow-burn lesbian romance about leaving the past behind and opening your heart to new possibilities.
Never Too Late for Heroes by A.L. Brooks
Narrated by Abby Craden
This cracking adventure with a side of romance is for lovers of tough, jaded, lesbian cops, superheroes and villains, and feisty retirees who don’t take retirement lying down.
Up on the Roof by A.L. Brooks
Narrated by Justine Eyre
A quirky romance, laced with classic British humor, about the power of opposites attracting.
The Island Between Us by Wendy Hudson
Narrated by Ruth Urquhart
A survival exercise turns real in this adventure romance.
Chemistry Lessons by Jae
Narrated by Abby Craden
Chemistry teacher Regan and her best friend, Kylie, set out to prove that there’s no chemistry between them.
Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae
Narrated by Angela Dawe
Shy butch Denny receives a wrong-number text from Eliza, who assumes herself to be straight.
In the Shadow of the Past by J.E. Leak
Narrated by Abby Craden
Romance, secrets, and intrigue swirl around two women navigating duty and love amidst the backdrop of New York City during World War II.
The Flowers of Time by A. L. Lester
Narrated by Zoe Brookes
A determined lady botanist; a non-binary explorer; mystery, suspense, monsters and romance; England and the Himalayas in 1780.
What the Heart Sees by KC Luck
Narrated by Rose Raddatz
“What the Heart Sees” is a novel exploring the relationship between a visually-impaired ranch owner and a wall street broker on the run who come together in the small town where they both grew up.
A London Love Story by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeod
Narrated by Lori Prince & Marisa Calin
Four young American women form an unlikely bond as they search for sapphic love and the meaning of life in London.
Back in Your Arms by Monica McCallan
Narrated by Lori Prince
Seventeen years is a long time for a second chance at first love.
Where Secrets Are Safe by Jamey Moody
Narrated by Amanda Wrege
Beloved actress Krista creates a secret sapphic Hollywood hideaway, but an icy journalist dares to expose all.
No More Secrets by Jamey Moody
Narrated by Amanda Wrege
When Krista Kyle’s world is turned upside down, there’s only one person that can save her.
And the Truth Is… by Jamey Moody
Narrated by Amanda Wrege
When the love you’ve been searching for magically appears in the most unexpected person.
Aurora’s Angel by Emily Noon
Narrated by Abby Craden
Two extraordinary women, a dangerous journey and the start of an epic love story.
Go Around by E. J. Noyes
Narrated by Abby Craden
Federal Air Marshal Avery has an unexpected meeting with her famous actress ex-girlfriend Elise.
If I Don’t Ask by E. J. Noyes
Narrated by Abby Craden
US Army surgeon Lieutenant Colonel Rebecca Keane finds herself struggling with her rigid control over her feelings when Captain Sabine Fleischer joins her unit.
Broken Not Shattered by Rita Potter
Narrated by Heidi Bindhammer
Even when things seem hopeless, there can always be a better tomorrow.
Darcy Comes Home by Jen Silver
Narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent
Second chance romance set in Sycamore Haven, a village in North Yorkshire, England.
The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair
Narrated by Anastasia Watley
A powerful ice queen lawyer and her young personal assistant find themselves drawn into a high heat game of seduction.
Admissible Affair by Adrian J. Smith
Narrated by Lois Ridge
Neither are prepared for what lies ahead or just how much they will have to risk to protect the ones they love.
Guarded Desires by Anna Stone
Narrated by Lexy Rebe
A headstrong bodyguard and a commanding heiress clash in this dangerously sexy romance.
Uncharted by Alli Temple
Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
A swashbuckling sapphic fantasy adventure.
The Amnesia Project by Barbara Winkes
Narrated by TJ Richards
Dani will leave no stone unturned until she finds Paige, but is she prepared for the truth?
Killer Instinct by Barbara Winkes
Narrated by TJ Richards
On the hunt for a predator, Joanna can’t use any distractions, but she can’t help falling for Rue.
Who can participate in the sapphic audiobook giveaway?
Anyone can enter, no matter where you live.
Entries close on July 1, 2022, at 10 am Central European Time, when I’ll draw the winners using a random number generator. Winners will be notified via email, so please don’t forget to enter your email.
How to enter the giveaway?
The enter the giveaway, all you have to do is to fill out this short form. Don’t forget to provide your email because that’s how I’ll notify winners!
Upcoming giveaways
I’ll run another big giveaway with audiobook, ebook, and paperback prizes in July. If you want to make sure you don’t miss it, feel free to subscribe to my blog.
The post Sapphic audiobook giveaway for Audiobook Appreciation Month appeared first on Jae.
May 26, 2022
Classic sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo #11)
For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, read a book that is considered a classic sapphic book—one of the trailblazing books published in the 20th century or before, at a time when most mainstream publishers wouldn’t publish LGBT+ literature and sapphic characters often didn’t get a happy ending.
Today, we are lucky to live in a time when more sapphic books are published every year than most of us can read, across all subgenres, and we owe it all to these amazing authors who blazed the trail for us!
For the sake of this reading challenge, I would considered any sapphic book that was first published (or first written) before the year 2000 a “sapphic classic.”
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, you can still join us! Read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “sapphic classics” square below.
Make the Sapphic Book Bingo more interesting!
If you’d like to get more book suggestions, talk about the books you are reading, and chat with other readers participating in the Sapphic Book Bingo, join either my Facebook group for readers or the Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.
20 classic sapphic books
Here are my recommendations for the sapphic classics category, sorted by year of publication. Since there were so many deserving books that played an important role in the history of sapphic literature, I listed 20 books instead of just 15.
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (published in 1928)
The Well of Loneliness, first published in 1928, is a timeless portrayal of lesbian love. The thinly disguised story of Hall’s own life, it was banned outright upon publication and almost ruined her literary career as the subject was that of an obscenity trial and forbidden at the time in England. The novel tells the story of Stephen, an ideal child of aristocratic parents-a fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a bestselling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and is attracted to women. As her ambitions drive her, and society incarcerates her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions.
Although Gordon’s attitude toward her own sexuality is anguished, the novel presents lesbianism as natural and makes a plea for greater tolerance. It became an international bestseller, and for decades was the single most famous lesbian novel.
Available at:
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (published in 1952 under the pen name Claire Morgan; reissued as Carol under her own name in 1990)
Therese is just an ordinary sales assistant working in a New York department store when an alluring woman in her thirties walks up to her counter. Standing there, Therese is wholly unprepared for the first shock of love. She is an awkward nineteen-year-old with a job she hates and a boyfriend she doesn’t love;
Carol is a sophisticated, bored suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce and a custody battle for her only daughter. As Therese becomes irresistibly drawn into Carol’s world, she soon realises how much they both stand to lose . . .
First published pseudonymously in 1952 as The Price of Salt, Carol is a hauntingly atmospheric love story set against the backdrop of fifties New York.
Available at:
Odd Girl Out (Beebo Brinker #1) by Ann Bannon (published in 1957)
In the 1950s, Ann Bannon, the queen of lesbian pulp fiction, broke through the shame and isolation typically portrayed in lesbian pulps by offering up women characters who embraced their sexuality.
Odd Girl Out, the first book of the Beebo Brinker series, introduces Laura Landon, whose love affair with her college roommate Beth launched the lesbian pulp fiction genre.
Available at:
Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule (published in 1964)
Against the backdrop of Reno, Nevada, in the late 1950s, award-winning author Jane Rule chronicles a love affair between two women. When Desert of the Heart opens, Evelyn Hall is on a plane that will take her from her old life in Oakland, California, to Reno, where she plans to divorce her husband of sixteen years. A voluntary exile in a brave new world, she meets a woman who will change her life. Fifteen years younger, Ann Childs works as a change apron in a casino. Evelyn is instantly drawn to the fiercely independent Ann, and their friendship soon evolves into a romantic relationship. An English professor who had always led a conventional life, Evelyn suddenly finds all her beliefs about love, morality, and identity called into question. Peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, this is a novel that dares to ask whether love between two women can last.
Available at:
Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller (published in 1971)
Set in the nineteenth century, Isabel Miller’s classic lesbian novel traces the relationship between Patience White, an educated painter, and Sarah Dowling, a cross-dressing farmer, whose romantic bond does not sit well with the puritanical New England farming community in which they live. They choose to live together and love each other freely, even though they know of no precedents for their relationship; they must trust their own instincts and see beyond the disdain of their neighbors. Ultimately, they are forced to make life-changing decisions that depend on their courage and their commitment to one another.
First self-published in 1969 in an edition of one thousand copies, the author hand-sold the book on New York street corners; it garnered increasing attention to the point of receiving the American Library Association’s first Gay Book Award in 1971. McGraw-Hill’s version of the book a year later brought it to mainstream bookstores across the country.
Patience & Sarah is a historical romance whose drama was a touchstone for the burgeoning gay and women’s activism of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It celebrates the joys of an uninhibited love between two strong women with a confident defiance that remains relevant today.
Available at:
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (published in 1973)
A landmark coming-of-age novel that launched the career of one of this country’s most distinctive voices, Rubyfruit Jungle remains a transformative work more than forty years after its original publication. In bawdy, moving prose, Rita Mae Brown tells the story of Molly Bolt, the adoptive daughter of a dirt-poor Southern couple who boldly forges her own path in America. With her startling beauty and crackling wit, Molly finds that women are drawn to her wherever she goes—and she refuses to apologize for loving them back. This literary milestone continues to resonate with its message about being true to yourself and, against the odds, living happily ever after.
Available at:
Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley (published in 1974)
A groundbreaking novel of two very different women, one black and one white, and a remarkable love threatened by prejudice, rage, and violence
A struggling African American musician, Renay married Jerome Lee when she discovered she was pregnant with his child. Yet even before their daughter, Denise, was born, Renay realized what a terrible mistake she had made, tying herself to a violent, abusive alcoholic. Then, while performing at an upscale supper club, Renay met Terry Bluvard. Beautiful, wealthy, and white, Terry awakened feelings that the talented black pianist had never realized she possessed—and before long, Renay was leaving the nightmare of Jerome Lee behind and moving with little Denise into Terry’s world of luxury and privilege.
Now, in this strange and exciting new place, Renay can experience for the first time what it is to have everything she needs for herself and her little girl. The rules here are different—often confusing and sometimes troubling—but in Terry’s home, and in Terry’s arms, Renay can be who she truly is . . . and be loved with caring tenderness and respect. Yet the storm clouds of her previous life still threaten, and Terry’s love alone may not be enough to protect Renay and her little girl from the tragedy that looms on the horizon.
Available at:
Riverfinger Women by Elana Dykewomon (published in 1974)
Written when she was just twenty-four years old, Riverfinger Women is Elana Dykewomon’s beloved, intimate coming-of-age novel about Inez and her circle of friends—the Riverfinger women—struggling to find themselves amid the changing social mores of the Civil Rights era. Inez has known she was a lesbian since childhood, and while moving between Highland, her boarding school, and her friends’ Greenwich Village apartment, she experiences longing and disappointment, friendship and romance, and her first real relationship, with schoolmate Abby. Along with their experimental and outgoing friend Peggy, Inez and Abby graduate from Highland and move into adulthood, confronting the prejudices of the larger world as they go.
Told in an engrossing interweaving narrative, Riverfinger Women explores the characters’ brushes with sexual violence, prostitution, drugs, love, and, ultimately, happiness amid the thrills and challenges of lesbian life during the second women’s liberation movement.
Originally published in 1974, this groundbreaking novel was honored with the 2018 Lee Lynch Classic Award.
Available at:
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (published in 1982)
A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia.
Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown.
Abused repeatedly by the man she calls ‘father’, Celie has two children taken away from her and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker – a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny.
And gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.
Beloved by generations of readers, The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker’s epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.
Available at:
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (published in 1982)
When Liza Winthrop first lays eyes on Annie Kenyon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she knows there’s something special between them. Soon, their close friendship develops into a deep and intimate romance. Neither imagined that falling in love could be so wonderful, but as Liza and Annie’s newfound sexuality sparks conflict in both their families and at their schools, they discover it will take more than love for their relationship to succeed.
One of the first books to positively portray a lesbian relationship, Annie on My Mind is a groundbreaking classic of the genre. The subject of a First Amendment lawsuit over banned books and one of School Library Journal’s “One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century,” Nancy Garden’s iconic novel is an important story for anyone discovering who they’re meant to be.
Available at:
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde (published in 1983)
If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.
A little black girl opens her eyes in 1930s Harlem, weak and half-blind. On she stumbles – through teenage pain and loneliness, but then to happiness in friendship, work and sex, from Washington Heights to Mexico, always changing, always strong. This is Audre Lorde’s story. A rapturous, life-affirming autobiographical novel by the ‘Black, lesbian, mother, warrior poet’, it changed the literary landscape.
Available at:
Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest (published in 1983)
The intimacy of a cabin at Lake Tahoe provides the combustible circumstances that bring Diana Holland and Lane Christianson together in this passionate novel of first discovery.
Candid in its eroticism, intensely romantic, remarkably beautiful, CURIOUS WINE is a love story that will remain in your memory.
Available at:
The Swashbuckler by Lee Lynch (published in 1985)
Frenchy Tonneau leaves her closeted home in the Bronx for the bars of New York City, the freedom of Provincetown, and the liberation of Greenwich Village in the 1960s and 1970s. Her hangouts, her women, her small yet universal world tell the stories of the times – and the stories of lesbians today. A timeless journey and a riveting read, The Swashbuckler is heart-wrenching, heartwarming, and unforgettable.
Available at:
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (published in 1985)
‘Like most people I lived for a long time with my mother and father. My father liked to watch the wrestling, my mother liked to wrestle; it didn’t matter what’
This is the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her mother as one of God’s elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one of her converts.
At sixteen, Jeanette decides to leave the church, her home and her family, for the young woman she loves. Innovative, punchy and tender, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a few days ride into the bizarre outposts of religious excess and human obsession.
Available at:
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg (published in 1987)
Rediscover the ultimate comfort read in the classic story of friendship, loyalty and secrets set in the deep south of America in the 1930s.
The day Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison opened the Whistle Stop Cafe, the town took a turn for the better. It was the Depression and that cafe was a home from home for many of us. You could get eggs, grits, bacon, ham, coffee and a smile for 25 cents. Ruth was just the sweetest girl you ever met. And Idgie? She was a character, all right. You never saw anyone so headstrong. But how anybody could have thought she murdered that man is beyond me.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a mouth-watering tale of love, laughter and mystery. It will lift your spirits and above all it’ll remind you of the secret to life: friends.
Available at:
Lessons in Murder (Carol Ashton #1) by Claire McNab (published in 1988)
0n a hot summer day at Bellwhether High School in Sydney, Australia, teacher Bill Pagett lies murdered, the hole in his head accomplished with neat efficiency by a Black & Decker drill.
Detective Inspector Carol Ashton investigates, bringing with her a formidable reputation for competence. She soon uncovers tangled relationships and motives for murder among the six teaching staff, along with a maze of malicious anonymous letters and threatening phone calls. And then there is yet another corpse.
Carol’s investigation is further complicated by the flashfire attraction between herself and prime suspect Sybil Quade. Carol fights her desire, knowing its potential to compromise her investigation. Nor does Sybil welcome an ” unnatural” obsession with the alluring woman who is inexorably gathering the evidence to convict her of multiple murder.
Available at:
Touchwood by Karin Kallmaker (published in 1991)
Fleeing the ruins of her life and relationship, Rayann Germaine rents a room from bookstore owner Louisa Thatcher. Decades older, Louisa offers shelter and work—and eventually passion that takes them both by surprise.
Falling in love, and into bed, turns out to be the easy part. Rayann’s mother disapproves of a liaison with a woman her own contemporary. Louisa’s son blames Rayann for revelations about his mother’s past and present that he does not want to accept. Friends universally agree that it can’t last.
These doubts would be easier to withstand if Rayann wasn’t already worried about sustaining the interest of a fascinating woman with a lifetime of experiences. Louisa isn’t sure she has any right to lay claim to the future of a much younger woman. Their only common ground seems to be the searing attraction that they simply can’t deny.
Available at:
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison (published in 1992)
In a novel that’ll make you want to hug every kid you know, Dorothy Allison captures the shame, anger, and helplessness of an abusive childhood. Ruth Anne, known as Bone, is a victim of the relentless horror that her supremely unlikable stepfather, Glen, inflicts on her. Her mother’s blind deference to him makes matters much worse. Allison’s raw narrative spares nothing, from family dinners of crackers and ketchup to Bone’s hope that her hands will be as strong as her tormentor’s one day. By the book’s gripping climax, Bone’s show of strength in the face of pain makes it clear why this was adapted into a TV movie—and why that movie won an Emmy.
Available at:
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (published in 1993)
Published in 1993, this brave, original novel is considered to be the finest account ever written of the complexities of a transgendered existence.
Woman or man? That’s the question that rages like a storm around Jess Goldberg, clouding her life and her identity. Growing up differently gendered in a blue–collar town in the 1950’s, coming out as a butch in the bars and factories of the prefeminist ’60s, deciding to pass as a man in order to survive when she is left without work or a community in the early ’70s. This powerful, provocative and deeply moving novel sees Jess coming full circle, she learns to accept the complexities of being a transgendered person in a world demanding simple explanations: a he-she emerging whole, weathering the turbulence.
Available at:
Amazon (Unfortunately, it’s not available as an ebook)
Love in the Balance by Marianne K. Martin (published in 1998)
Real life has a way of sneaking up on you.
Connie likes men. Sure, she’s just dumped one, but she’ll find another one soon enough. Instead she finds Kasey. Who happens to be a woman—a lesbian, actually. Connie reckons they’ll be good friends, and she soon realizes she wants more.
But Kasey has already had her heart broken. Her ex-girlfriend turned out to like men. Kasey won’t take a chance on that happening again. And her friends won’t let her, either. Especially not Sharon.
If this is love, Connie has a lot of convincing to do and a lot of people to win over. Just when it seems like maybe she has, real life comes sneaking up again. Some people hate lesbians—hate them enough to kill. And it’s not obvious that the authorities care. Connie and Kasey and Sharon must each put their doubts to the side and work together to get justice.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic classics” category!
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The post Classic sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo #11) appeared first on Jae.
