Jae's Blog, page 16
May 18, 2022
Sapphic books that includes safer sex (Book Unicorn #5)
For this week’s Book Unicorn post of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book in which the characters practice safer sex. Maybe there’s a scene in the book in which they talk about safer sex, or we find out they’ve gotten tested for STIs (sexually transmitted infections) before sleeping together, or we see them use dental dams or condom-covered sex toys, etc.
As I mentioned in a post that I wrote for the Ylva Publishing blog a few years ago, sapphic romances and erotica rarely depict safer sex practices. The characters never seem to worry about contracting sexually transmitted infections, even if they have only just met and don’t know each other’s sexual history.
I get that it can interrupt the buildup and flow of a steamy scene, but as an author, I try to find a way to incorporate it, especially if I’m writing a story in which one of the characters had a lot of one-night stands in the past.
P.S. I’ve been asked why I use the term “safer sex” instead of “safe sex.” Calling it “safe sex” would be misleading because sex can never be 100 percent safe, but following safer sex practices can make it, well, safer and lower the risk of STIs.
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 that include safer sex
Here are my 15 book recommendations for the “sapphic books that include safer sex” category:
Falling Hard by Jae
A womanizing surgeon falls hard for a single mom in this lesbian medical romance.
Dr. Jordan Williams devotes her life to two things: saving patients in the operating room and pleasuring her latest conquest in the bedroom. Her idea of commitment is spending a few hours together in bed.
Single mom Emma Larson is Jordan’s polar opposite. Family and fidelity mean everything to her. After an ugly divorce from her wife, a plastic surgeon, she and her five-year-old daughter move in next door to Jordan. While she finds Jordan undeniably attractive, falling in love with another womanizing surgeon is the last things she needs.
When a bad fall leaves Jordan in need of assistance, Emma decides to help her while she recovers.
Could those six weeks turn out to be the beginning of a happily ever after, or will they both end up with a broken heart?
Available at:
Chasing Dreams by A. L. Brooks
Powerful venture capitalist Claire Pressley is done with stressful New York and has set her sights on a “treechange”— renovating a homestead in Eagle Cove, Oregon to make a gorgeous guesthouse.
Her plan isn’t quite so simple when it turns out Eagle Cove’s beloved town librarian Ruby Jordan had been saving to buy the homestead herself. Worse, Ruby had some grand, beautiful dream to turn it into an animal shelter.
Claire couldn’t look more like a villain in her new town if she tried. Now she has to find a way to make peace with the locals, as Ruby furiously works out a Plan B for her animal shelter.
But even as the hot-headed women keep clashing, it’s hard not to notice their sizzling chemistry, and how attractive they find each other.
It seems unlikely they’ll even manage to be friends at this rate. And being more than friends…that would be just ridiculous! Right?
Available at:
Get It Right by Skye Kilaen
A butch lesbian parolee. The pretty pansexual nurse who got away. Is this their second chance at a happily ever after?
Finn is finally out of prison, which is great. Having no job, no car, and no place to sleep except her cousin’s couch? Not so great.
Plus, her felony theft conviction isn’t doing wonders for her employment prospects, so she can’t afford her migraine meds without the public clinic. The last thing she ever expected was for the gal who stole her heart to come walking down that clinic’s hallway: Vivi, the manicure-loving nurse who spent two years fighting the prison system to get proper medical care for her patients, including Finn.
Finn could never believe she imagined the attraction and affection between them. But acting on that in prison, especially as nurse and patient, had been a serious No Way. She’s had eight months to get over Vivi, who abruptly left her job without saying goodbye. Finn is over it. Honest! It’s totally and completely fine.
Except Vivi, here and now, doesn’t seem fine. And Finn couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try to help.
Is fate offering Finn a second chance? Or is finding love as likely as finding a job with health insurance?
Available at:
Heart Failure by Chris Zett
Dr. Jess Riley’s life is perfect, ticking all the boxes—successful cardiologist, newborn daughter, and a luxurious condo. That is, until she suddenly collapses from acute heart failure. Her entire world crumples along with her exhausted body.
Jess is forced to face facts—she can’t keep working endless hours, and she’ll have to move back home to recover.
To her shock, her mother has already taken in Lena Walker, a struggling artist who isn’t a stranger to heartbreak either.
At first, an unimpressed Jess resents Lena’s cheerful presence. Gradually, though, the two women form a tentative friendship over tai chi, picking fruit, and evening walks with the baby. A sexy massage leads to friends-with-benefits fun. But is it all too soon? Should two barely mended souls try to risk a future together?
An enemies-to-lovers lesbian romance about daring to open your heart.
Available at:
The People We Trust by Donna Jay
When Soraya Jansen took over the exotic Libellule’s from her boss, she understood two things: The beauty parlour offers certain “extra” services that need to be handled with discretion. And there’s a strict no-fraternising rule between staff or clients.
But Soraya’s in charge now and can bend the rules to suit her management style. Besides, no one will get under her guard—not the ex-employee she allows back to work, the flirty new hire, or the hot police officer client who definitely shouldn’t be so interesting given they’re on opposite sides of the law.
So why, after forty years of protecting her heart like a fortress, is Soraya suddenly having the pesky urge to lower her walls and take a chance? Maybe the no-fraternising rule was a good idea after all.
Available at:
No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey
From award-winning author Rachel Lacey comes the second installment in the Ms. Right series: a captivating romance about a reluctant bookseller finding love in unexpected places.
Lia Harris is tired of being the odd one out. She’s never quite fit in with her uptight family, and now that her roommates have all found love, she’s starting to feel like a third wheel in her own apartment. Fed up with her mother’s constant meddling in her love life, Lia drops hints about a girlfriend she doesn’t have. But with her brother’s London nuptials approaching, she needs to find a date to save face. Lia turns to her best friend, Rosie, for help, and Rosie delivers—with the fun, gorgeous Grace Poston.
Grace loves to have a good time, hiding her insecurities behind a sunny smile. Her recent move to London has provided her with a much-needed fresh start. Grace isn’t looking for love, and she hates weddings, having weathered more than her fair share of heartache. Friendships are different, though, so for Rosie’s sake, she reluctantly agrees to pose as Lia’s adoring girlfriend for the wedding festivities.
Both Grace and Lia are prepared for an awkward weekend, complete with prying family members and a guest room with only one bed. As it turns out, they get along well—spectacularly, in fact. Before they know it, the chemistry they’re faking feels all too real. But is their wedding weekend a fleeting performance or the rehearsal for a love that’s meant to last?
Available at:
The Shaded Parlor by Nanisi Barrett D’Arnuk
Mistress JuliAnn Clayton owns one of the most renowned bars and alternative restaurants in the area. But when she allows her staff to talk her into listing herself in the “Flog-a-Dom” auction to benefit the LGBTQ Pride Clinic, she’s sure something will go wrong. But with an audience watching and the Dungeon Master officiating, how bad could it get? And there’s always her vanilla lover, Dr. Shelley ready to alleviate any injury, real or imagined. With a starting bid at five thousand dollars, it will definitely raise money for the Clinic. But when the bidding gets out of hand, will it open all those doors JuliAnn has spent fifteen years trying the lock closed? Will the memories sink her back into those dreaded days that even millions of dollars haven’t erased?
When the mystery bidder turns out to be the Mistress who abandoned her fifteen years ago; the one JuliAnn swore she’d never go back to, her memories come crashing down on her. Can she fulfill her promise to help the Clinic, or will the past throw her bar, her restaurant and her reputation into chaos?
Available at:
No Strings by Lucy Bexley
Fun is the one thing Elsie Webb takes seriously. Though she’d be having a lot more of it if Haelstrom Media paid her enough to actually get out of debt. She’s determined to hold out on contract negotiations for her kids’ television show Fangley Heights until she gets what she deserves. There’s only one problem, the head of the network just died and left her future more uncertain than ever.
Forty-eight hours and one funeral–that’s all Jones Haelstrom has to get through before she can return to her life in LA that’s as ordered and sparse as an IKEA showroom. When she steps in as CEO of her father’s media company, Elsie Webb is her first problem to deal with. Elsie ends up challenging Jones in ways she never could have predicted, starting with an attraction neither can avoid.
As their attraction teeters on the edge of something more both agree to keep it casual. A no-strings agreement and disclosure to HR should be enough to keep things between Jones and Elsie from getting tangled, right?
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:
Show Off by Renee Dahlia
Burlesque dancer Charlie Kent should be happy performing and hooking up with sexy people now the pandemic is over, just like before. Instead it feels empty. The audience is always missing Elle, her friend-with-benefits. They were just casual, but Charlie now realises she wants more. Much more. When Elle arrives at the Seraph’s Burlesque Club for business only, Charlie is not going to let this second chance go to waste.
Elle’s interior design business has boomed since the pandemic with so much work she’s barely thought of the sexy-as-sin burlesque dancer who she used to hook up with… Except when she’s lonely all night. But she can’t be just friends anymore, so she stays away. When she is commissioned to refit Seraph’s Burlesque Club, Elle bumps into Charlie, and all her best intentions go out of the perfectly dressed window.
Elle must keep her professional reputation intact, and can’t allow her attraction to Charlie to derail her work and her need for love. . . Unless she can have it all?
Available at:
Missed Connection by Stephanie Shea
Avery Dimaano is good at most things. No, she’s better. She has amazing friends, a family that’s only slightly more dysfunctional than others, and an affable way of strutting through the world that makes her the quintessential person for the role of HR at Gia, San Francisco. There’s only one problem, she has no one to spend her weekends with.
Travel influencer Ky Logan doesn’t play by anyone else’s rules. Her life of jet-hopping across the world is the envy of two million followers, even if her family doesn’t exactly approve. It’s a simple, adventurous existence with no one to answer to but herself.
Six months after her trip to Sydney, Ky still can’t stop thinking about the woman she sat next to on the plane. Avery. Beautiful, clever, straight Avery. When a leak in Avery’s apartment leads them to share a bed for two weeks, lines inevitably become blurred, especially after the kiss they shared in San Francisco International.
Maybe Ky is the person Avery has been waiting for, even if she’s never considered being with a woman. But is Ky’s time with Avery just another one of her vacations?
Available at:
Leveled by Serena J. Bishop
After having her travel papers stolen to research in India, Dr. Persephone ‘Perse’ Teixeira succumbs to living in her sister’s basement and working in retail. Just as she’s about ready to hit rock bottom, Perse is offered an opportunity to teach anthropology and history at Chesapeake Bay University. Perse is thrilled; now her only worry is managing her anxiety. However, that changes once she meets a science professor, Dr. Stefanie ‘Stef’ Blake.
Stef is cute, quick-witted, and a touch neurotic. She’s also very interested in dating Perse. When Perse declines her romantic advances because it is imperative that she focuses on her new job, Stef explains she has a relationship system that consists of six levels, which will ensure perfect compatibility before marriage. It’s casual, slow, and, really, what are the odds of getting to level six?
Perse is amused, yet intrigued by Stef’s analytical approach, and agrees to go out with her. But logic only goes so far and when feelings start to grow, Perse must contend with her anxiety issues, because history has taught her nothing good comes out of falling in love.
Are Perse and Stef compatible enough to get through the levels? Will Perse’s past cause her to run before they can find out? Or did Stef create the perfect system for happily ever after?
Available at:
Table for Two by Kate Gavin
Trying to take a few brief moments away from a stressful situation, Reagan Murphy snags the last table at a bustling downtown lunch spot. When another woman walks into the crowded restaurant seeking a table, Reagan offers to share hers.
Jillian Jacobs just wanted a quick bite before she’d have to focus on a new and unreasonable deadline. Irritated by her empty stomach and by the prospect of waiting, Jillian resentfully accepts a seat at a stranger’s table.
Their shared lunch is filled with hostility, snide comments, and shades of derision from Jill and Reagan finds herself relieved at the end of the encounter.
But then the two are thrown back together when Jill becomes a catering client of Reagan’s. Soon navigating a professional relationship becomes complicated as their attraction begins to smolder. Will it get in the way and cause even bigger problems? Or will this be the start of something they’ve both been looking for all along?
Available at:
Pausing by Renee MacKenzie
Jordy Chapman is the Emergency Service Coordinator at Cypress Haven mental health facility in Naples, FL. She sees so much instability at work that she has adopted a zero-tolerance policy in her personal life. Jordy is content to run, hanging out with her best friend Steph, or to stay home and snuggle with her cat, Sammie. Romance the last thing on her mind.
Keira Yeager’s family owns an upscale furniture store in Naples. A family tragedy and personal heartbreak has her concentrating on working at the store, or swimming in the pool behind her house. When Keira orchestrates a generous donation of furniture to Cypress Haven, she has no idea how this one event will change her life.
When the two meet, they hit it off immediately and things heat up and turn passionate. Will the Yeager family’s anguish and misunderstanding threaten their new relationship?
Available at:
Awakenings by Susan X Meagher
Despite the questions of her roommates and the objections of her fiance, Jamie Evans persists in enrolling in a college course that seems an odd choice for a young woman of her background. What no one can know is that the course, The Psychology of the Lesbian Experience, will propel Jamie onto a journey of self-awareness and realization. For the required fieldwork, Jamie is paired with the darkly beautiful Ryan O’Flaherty – a boldly “out” and sexually adventurous lesbian. This somewhat unlikely pair, slowly, and sometimes painfully, becomes aware that what they feel for each other is more than just friendship. The temptation to live life on her own terms is great, but so are the costs, as Jamie struggles to break out of her establishment-fashioned, pre-ordained mold. If she can summon the courage, however, she might find out that love, and life, have so much more to offer than she ever dreamed.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you are reading for the “sapphic books that include safer sex” category!
The post Sapphic books that includes safer sex (Book Unicorn #5) appeared first on Jae.
May 11, 2022
Sapphic book that is out of your comfort zone (Sapphic Book Bingo #10)
For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, read a sapphic book that is a bit—or a lot—out of your reading comfort zone.
It can be a genre or subgenre you don’t usually read, a trope or topic you normally avoid, or a format you don’t typically read. If you stick to reading novels most of the time, you could try a short story, a biography/memoir, poetry, nonfiction, or a graphic novel. If you normally read ebooks, you could read a paperback or try an audiobook. If you mostly read contemporary romances, you could try a historical romance, a paranormal romance, a mystery, or book of another genre.
If there’s a certain point of view that you usually avoid, you could search out a book written from that point of view for this category–that’s what I might be doing.
Below, I’ll give you some resources and suggestions.
A special book sale: Get Paper Love for 99 cents!
Before I get to the recommendations for this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post, I’d like to share a special offer with you: One of my most popular romance novels, Paper Love, is on sale for only 99 cents on Amazon worldwide this week (May 11-14)!
Paper Love is a sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance set in my charming hometown, the sunniest city in Germany. Stationery store employee Anja and her ice queen-ish new boss, Susanne, take an instant dislike to each other. But thanks to a meddling cat, a stationery road trip, and an armada of origami boats, Susanne discovers how sexy pens, notebooks, and certain stubborn employees can be.
Get the 99-cent ebook at Amazon
Listen to one of the 10 most-recommended sapphic audiobooks
If you don’t usually listen to audiobooks, this could be the perfect time to try one.
To find the best audiobooks to recommend to you, I asked the members of the Facebook group Lesbian Audiobooks for their favorite sapphic audiobook since they are avid listeners with great taste.
Here are their top 10, sorted by number of votes (Note: I picked only 1 book by each author—the one that got most votes):
Breaking Character by Lee Winter, narrated by Angela Dawe The Lily and the Crown by Roslyn Sinclair, narrated by Angela Dawe Aurora’s Angel by Emily Noon, narrated by Abby Craden Ask, Tell by EJ Noyes, narrated by Abby Craden Those Who Wait by Haley Cass, narrated by Lori Prince Just for Show by Jae, narrated by Angela Dawe Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, narrated by Moira Quirk Second Chances by Amanda Radley, narrated by Kim Bretton Who’d Have Thought by G Benson, narrated by Tanya Eby Jericho by Ann McMan, narrated by Christine WilliamsIf you would like to try out audiobooks but are hesitant to buy one or get a subscription, check out the free audio version of my short story “The Romance Bet,” narrated by Erin B. Lillis from The Sapphic Cast. It starts at minute 2:10 of the recording. This one is also a good fit for the “free books” category for all of you audiobook listeners.
Read one of the 10 most-recommended sapphic short stories
If you usually prefer longer works, you could read a short story for the “out of your comfort zone” category.
The readers of my Facebook group voted on their favorite sapphic short story.
Here are their top 10 short stories or short story collections, sorted by number of votes:
The Midnight Couch by JaeThe Brutal Lie AND Love Is Not Nothing by Lee Winter (both are available in Lee’s short story collection Sliced Ice ) Shotgun Rider by Ali Spooner Three Ways to Ruin a Perfect Wedding by Chris Zett (which you can download for free on BookFunnel) The One by KC Luck Tinsel by Kris Bryant (This is actually a novella, not a short story, but it’s a shorter work, so I included it) F Is For Five Sapphic Tales by Donna Jay Distant Gardens: Ten Stories of Exploration, Biodiversity, and Found Family by J.S. Fields & Heather Tracy (Editors) Glimpses by Jae, Lee Winter, Lola Keeley, A.L. Brooks, Cheyenne Blue, Fiona Zedde, Chris Zett & Quinn Ivins (This anthology is available as a free download on BookFunnel)Try a book written from a point of view or in a tense you usually avoid
Here’s a confession: I usually avoid books written from a first-person perspective (which tells the story from the viewpoint of the main character using “I” and “me” pronouns). That said, while I don’t often enjoy first-person POV books, some of my favorite sapphic books were actually written in first person. I guess it takes a special author to pull it off!
I also typically avoid books written in present tense, yet there are a few I enjoyed.
If you are like me and usually avoid books written in first person and/or present tense, here are some sapphic books written from a first-person perspective or in present tense that I really enjoyed:
Ask, Tell by EJ Noyes (written in first-person point of view) And Playing the Role of Herself by K.E. Lane (written in first-person point of view) Perks of Office by Liz Rain (written in first-person point of view) Uncommon Emotions by Lynn Galli (written in first-person point of view) Far From Home by Lorelie Brown (written in first-person point of view) When You Least Expect It by Haley Cass (written in present tense)Try a sapphic book from a different genre
If you would like to read a book from a genre you don’t usually read for this category, check out the “genre you don’t usually read” post from last year’s Sapphic Reading Challenge. It lists 10 sapphic books in genres such as historical romance, paranormal romance, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and romantic comedy.
For sapphic biographies and memoirs, a good starting point could be this list of Lambda Literary Award winners and finalists in the lesbian biography/autobiography category.
They also have lists for poetry and for nonfiction.
For sapphic graphic novels and comics, take a look at what the Lesbrary recommends or check out this Goodreads list of lesbian graphic novels.
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “out of your comfort zone” category!
Subscribe to this blog to get future Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
The post Sapphic book that is out of your comfort zone (Sapphic Book Bingo #10) appeared first on Jae.
April 28, 2022
Free sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo #9)
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post offers you dozens of free sapphic books that you can download for your enjoyment!
Traditionally, the center square of a bingo card is a free space, but I thought it would be more fun to make it a square for free books. For this category, you can read any book that you got for free. It could be a free story that the author offered on their website or a retailer or a free ebook the author sent to new newsletter subscribers. Of course, it can also be a book that you got as a gift or that you won in a giveaway.
By the way, there are monthly book giveaways in my Facebook reader group, so feel free to join us.
Below, you’ll find a list of 20 free sapphic books for you to download and enjoy.
Helpful tip: If you have never downloaded a free ebook to your Kindle, here’s an easy-to-follow instruction.
You can download as many of these free books as you’d like. Some are available as a free download via online bookstores such as Amazon, while others are offered by the author via a site like BookFunnel. For some books, you get the option to also sign up to the author’s newsletter, but it’s usually not a must. It might be worth it, though, since many authors also send out more free books to their new subscribers.
Caveat: Before you download any of these ebooks, please make sure they are still free—sometimes, publishers, authors, or retailers change their prices.
20 free sapphic books to download right now
Sex Sells by Jae: Lesbian mystery writer Mara McKinney has had a crush on her editor, Hayley, for ages, so when Hayley calls to suggest she introduce more romance into her novels, this might be Mara’s chance to work on her own happy ending. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
A Place to Call Home by Jae: Luke and Nora have survived the Oregon Trail and are looking for a place to call home in this short story sequel to Backwards to Oregon. Free ebook on Amazon.
Three Ways to Ruin a Perfect Wedding by Chris Zett: Lena and Jess plan the wedding of their dreams. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
Off the Rails by Rachel Lacey: Two women who sit beside each other during their daily commute embark on a wild ride to love! Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
Glimpses by Lee Winter, Jae, Lola Keeley, A.L. Brooks, Fiona Zedde, Cheyenne Blue, Chris Zett & Quinn Ivins: Eight authors of women-loving-women fiction have come together to reveal glimpses into the lives of some of their most popular characters. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
Laid Bare by Anna Stone: Two women trapped together. Five hours, intimately close. All their desires laid bare. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
Leap to Love by Johana Gavez: Leap to Love is a second-chance romance short story between two gymnasts. Free ebook on Amazon, Apple Books, and other retailers.
Randi and Zoey Save the World by Rita Potter, Lori G Matthews, and Suzanne Lenoir: An ongoing, episodic story about Randi Carter, an out of shape, has-been, lesbian superhero and her lying, cheating, stealing sidekick, Zoey Finch. Free ebook on BookFunnel.
Sweet & Spicy Sapphic Short Stories by Tiana Warner: A collection of bite-sized sapphic stories ranging from sweet to extra-spicy, including multiple genres and all of your favorite tropes. Free on Tapas.
Shattered Paradise (Salvaggio’s Light – Book 1) by C.L. Cattano: Join the journey with book 1 of the Salvaggio’s Light serial, a contemporary drama filled with romance, comedy, lust, danger, thrills, regret, tragedy, suspense, and love. Free ebook on Amazon.
The Visitor by Angela McKenna: A late in life, over fifty love story with a bit of angst. Free ebook on Amazon for a limited time only!
False Starts & Artichoke Hearts by Sofi Keren: When Jules takes a job at Chef Daniela Restrepo’s up and coming new vegan restaurant, they connect instantly, but will they be able to overcome their pasts and start over together? Free ebook on Amazon for a limited time only!
The Bounty Hunter by Tiffany E. Taylor: When best friends discover love, magic happens. Free ebook on BookFunnel.
Necessary Repairs by Skye Kilaen: A sci-fi short in which two bounty hunters, who are married but estranged, must take on a joint mission… and their damaged relationship. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
One by Brenda Murphy: On a trip to Italy Mac encounters the woman of her dreams, and it all comes down to one race, one love, one chance at forever. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
Lost & Found by Cade Haddock-Strong: The keys to an old farmhouse help Casey Edwards solve a decades old disappearance. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
The Third Act by Emily Banting: When widowed Fiona meets her new art teacher, Raye, she rediscovers her sexuality, but can she follow her heart and push her daughter’s objections aside, or will she be destined to spend her third act alone? Free ebook on BookFunnel.
Breathless: An F/F Hades and Persephone short story by Lianyu Tan: A few weeks into their marriage, Persephone is still learning how to please Hades, dreaded goddess of the underworld. Free ebook on BookFunnel.
The Ice Inside by Jo Havens: When an interplanetary conference takes Lady Cie and Jemma to a luxury playground in the frozen south, Cie takes a sudden delight in showing Jemma all the pleasures of a world made entirely of snow. Free ebook on BookFunnel.
Doing Summer Right by Frankie Fyre: When Hazel’s friend-with-benefits and an old fling arrive for a summer event, sizzling attraction and more than cooking lessons heat up between the three women. Free ebook on BookFunnel (newsletter signup is optional).
10 more free sapphic books
Here’s a tip if you are looking for more free sapphic books: Many authors send a free ebook to readers who sign up for their reader newsletter. Unlike the free books I listed above, the newsletter signup is not optional, but these newsletters are usually very entertaining and allow you to get to know your favorite authors better as they share free books, giveaways, book news, and bits and pieces about their lives.
Here are the links to a few places where you can subscribe to popular sapphic authors’ newsletters and get a free ebook sent to your in-box:
Subscribe to my newsletter so you won’t miss an upcoming 99-cent sale!
In May, one of my most popular books, Paper Love, will be on sale at 90% off (which means you can get it for 99 cents), but only for a few days. If you want to make sure you don’t miss the sale, sign up for my reader newsletter now!
The post Free sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo #9) appeared first on Jae.
April 21, 2022
Sapphic books based on a historical event (Book Unicorn #4)
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post features sapphic books that are based on a historical event.
This category, of course, overlaps with historical fiction, but it isn’t identical. For the book to count for this category, it needs to include a specific historical event such as the Great Earthquakes and Fires in 1906 in my novel Shaken to the Core.
The book can also be contemporary fiction that contains an important event that happened in more recent years.
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 based on a historical event
Here are my 15 book recommendations for the “sapphic books based on a historical event” category:
Shaken to the Core by Jae
Kate Winthrop, the only child of a wealthy shipping magnate, has the course of her life charted for her by her parents. She’s expected to marry well and produce a successor to the Winthrop empire. But Kate has a very different path in mind. Her true passion lies with photography—and with women.
Alone in the city after losing her brother, Sicilian immigrant Giuliana Russo starts working for the Winthrops as a maid. Despite their different social status, Kate and Giuliana become friends, much to the dismay of Kate’s parents.
As the connection between the two women grows, a devastating earthquake hits San Francisco and ignites fires that sweep through the city for three days and nights.
Will the disaster shatter their tentative feelings for each other, or will they find the courage to save each other’s lives—and their hearts?
Join Kate and Giuliana on a journey of danger and discovery in the action-packed historical romance Shaken to the Core, set against the backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Available at:
Johnny’s Girls by Vesna Kurilic
Could you fall for someone who looks just like you?
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:
Secrets Well Kept by Lynn Ames
It’s March, 1943. World War II rages across the globe, and twenty-five-year-old Nora Lindstrom is about to take a huge leap of faith. One of the few women in the male-dominated field of physics, she travels to an undisclosed destination to undertake a vital, top-secret project that the government insists could help the Allies win the war.
At eighteen, Mary Trask is ready to put high school and the boy who wants to marry her in her rearview mirror. But what alternative could the future hold for the dyslexic daughter of a train conductor? When a cousin in Tennessee provides Mary with a cryptic job opportunity, she jumps at the chance to rewrite her life.
Nora and Mary are drawn together under impossible circumstances. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, they find solace in their love for each other. But in a place where secrecy is paramount, their relationship is forever changed by the consequences of secrets well kept.
In this new historical fiction novel, award-winning author Lynn Ames returns us to a time where the contribution of women was often overlooked and the casualties of war were not always limited to the battlefield.
Available at:
Love’s Portrait by Anna Larner
Newly appointed art curator Molly Goode is committed to diversifying her museum’s collection. When Georgina Wright, the museum’s aloof benefactor, asks for Molly’s help in identifying the provenance of a 19th century portrait of social activist Josephine Brancaster, Molly welcomes the opportunity, even if it means spending time with the standoffish financier. But passions soon flare as the women uncover the heartbreaking story of doomed lesbian love behind the watercolor painted by Josephine’s lover, Edith Hewitt.
As their love blossoms, Molly is determined to display Edith’s portrait of Josephine and to tell their story in the museum, but she needs the influential Georgina to help convince the board. When an unforeseen twist in the painting’s provenance forces Georgina to confront her own painful past, will history repeat itself, or can Molly and Georgina’s love prevail?
Available at:
Basic Training of the Heart by Jaycie Morrison
Socialite Elizabeth Carlton impulsively joins the Women’s Army Corps to escape love’s disappointments and her father’s attempts to control her life. Still, she has never been one to accept discipline imposed by others—not even someone as intriguing as her new sergeant.
Sergeant Gale Rains is accustomed to challenges, but she’s never had a recruit quite like this one. Rains surrendered much of her Sioux heritage to the Army to escape the hardships and pain of her youth. Now a drill instructor, her calm, steady manner and firm hand have molded women from all walks of life into WACs. But not one of them has ever touched her. Why should this spoiled party girl be any different?
With the whole world at war, victory is never certain as two women wage their own battles of will and desire.
Available at:
Galveston 1900: Swept Away by Linda Crist
On September 7-8, 1900, the island of Galveston, Texas, was destroyed by a hurricane, or ‘tropical cyclone’, as it was called in those days. This story is a fictional account of Mattie and Rachel, two women who lived there, and their lives during the time of the ‘great storm’. Forced to flee from her family at a young age, Rachel Travis finds a home and livelihood on the island of Galveston. Independent, friendly, and yet often lonely, only one other person knows the dark secret that haunts her. Madeline “Mattie” Crockett is trapped in a loveless marriage, convinced that her fate is sealed. She never dares to dream of true happiness, until Rachel Travis comes walking into her life. As emotions come to light, the storm of Mattie’s marriage converges with the very real hurricane. Can they survive, and build the life they both dream of?
Available at:
The Breath Between Waves by Charlotte Anne Hamilton
Penelope Fletcher gave up everything to board the RMS Titanic.
Forced to travel to America for her father’s new job, Penelope left her home in Scotland, her beloved grandmother, and even her girlfriend, who promptly got engaged to someone else. Heartbroken, Penelope isn’t looking forward to the weeklong journey. Or that her parents want her to find a husband in America. To make matters worse, she also has to share a cabin with a complete stranger.
Ruby Cole, her spunky Irish roommate, is unlike anyone Penelope ever met. They become fast friends as they bond over crushing family expectations and sneaking into lush parties together. That Ruby likes women, too, comes as a surprise to Penelope, but she knows their affair can only be temporary. Because as soon as the Titanic arrives in New York, Penelope will have to marry someone of her father’s choosing.
Before long, though, they’ll both have to decide what–and who–is really worth fighting for.
Available at:
Once in Berlin by Jo Havens
It’s 1938 and Europe teeters on the edge of war.
In Berlin, life for Mila Nessian – genius mathematician, billionaire and womaniser – is one long party. A spot of rocket science by day, the Third Reich’s prettiest daughters by night. She knows what they whisper behind their hands – that Germany’s most dazzling mind has nothing but a calculator where her heart should be, a sliver of ice instead of soul. She smirks through yet another boring cocktail party and hopes they’re wrong.
Cecelia Balfour is dragged to Berlin by her socialite mother – and it’s the last place she wants to be. Cecelia has lost a lover and worries that her heart is too bruised to ever properly love again. To distract her, to maybe get her back in the game, her cousin at MI6 sets up a play: flirt with Mila Nessian, capture her secrets, lure her back to London.
Because what Mila is working on could steer the course of the coming war. The Nazis want her brilliance, British Secret Intelligence wants her silence, and Cecelia – once she has laughed with her, slept with her, sipped champagne on a zeppelin with her and lost her heart to her – Cecelia wants her love.
Can she win Mila’s trust and save her from the powers that control both their lives?
Available at:
96 Hours by Georgia Beers
9/11.
Numbers carved on the hearts of every American.
Numbers that transformed millions of lives.
Numbers that threw two women together.
Erica Ryan is flying home from London after a disastrous business trip. Free spirit Abby Hayes is flying into New York City to visit her mother before jetting off again when their flight is diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. The people of Gander are generous, and Erica and Abby are invited into a stranger’s home. It’s a simple act of kindness, and it draws the unlikely pair together.
For 96 hours Erica and Abby share a rollercoaster of emotions and eventually find themselves drawn to one another. Will their nascent connection survive everyday life when they return home?
Available at:
Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant
In 1974, when Ann Ahern begins her junior year of high school, South Boston is in crisis—Catholic mothers are blockading buses to keep Black children from the public schools, and teenagers are raising havoc in the streets. Ann, an outsider in her own Irish-American community, is infatuated with her beautiful French teacher, Mademoiselle Eugénie, who hails from Paris but is of African descent. Spurred by her adoration for Eugénie, Ann embarks on a journey that leads her beyond South Boston, through the fringes of the Black Power movement, toward love, and ultimately to the truth about herself.
Available at:
In Every Port by Karin Kallmaker
Jessica has it all. An expensive condo in the city of dreams, San Francisco. A high-powered, prestigious career as a management consultant that takes her all over the country… To passionate Roberta, in Chicago. To delicious Marilyn, in San Antonio. To all those cities and all those willing women Jessica has recorded in her well-used little black book.
Sex with these women doesn’t really mean a thing, Jessica tells herself. It’s all just good times. Because she is not really a lesbian. No, of course not. Her sexual adventures are merely keeping her occupied until she decides to settle down … with a man.
Then she meets Cat, the alluring young hotel executive who lives across the hall from her new condo. What is Jessica to make of her chaotic feelings, her yearning — and yes, her deepening love — for the sensuous, captivating Cat, who offers entrancing friendship, but nothing more?
Available at:
Waiting for the Violins by Justine Saracen
Antonia Forrester, an English nurse, is nearly killed while trying to save soldiers fleeing at Dunkirk. Embittered, she returns to occupied Brussels as a British spy to foment resistance to the Nazis. She works with urban partisans who sabotage deportation efforts and execute collaborators, before résistante leader Sandrine Toussaint accepts her into the Comet Line, an operation to rescue downed Allied pilots. After capture and then escape from a deportation train headed for Auschwitz, the women join the Maquis fighting in the Ardenne Forests. Passion is the glowing ember that warms them amidst the winter carnage until London radio transmits the news they’ve waited for. Huddled in the darkness, they hear the coded message, “the long sobs of the violins” signaling that the Allied Invasion is about to begin.
Available at:
Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury
In 1856 Philadelphia, runaway slave Genie Oliver uses her dress shop as a front for her work with the Underground Railroad; and reluctant heiress Abby Read runs a rooming house not just because she hates the life of the idle rich society woman, but because she has no intention of ever marrying a man. When the daughter of Abby’s free black servant is grabbed by rogue slave catchers, an unlikely group of people come together, first out of necessity, and then, gradually, in friendship. And in the case of Abby and Genie, something much more.
Available at:
The Sea Hawk by Brenda Adcock
Dr. Julia Blanchard, a marine archaeologist, and her team of divers have spent almost eighteen months excavating the remains of a ship found a few miles off the coast of Georgia. Although they learn quite a bit about the nineteenth century sailing vessel, they have found nothing that would reveal the identity of the ship they have nicknamed “The Georgia Peach.” Consumed by the excavation of the mysterious ship, Julia’s relationship with her partner, Amy, has deteriorated. When she forgets Amy’s birthday and finds her celebrating in the arms of another woman, Julia returns alone to the Peach site. Caught in a violent storm, she finds herself separated from her boat and adrift on the vast Atlantic Ocean. Her rescue at sea leads her on an unexpected journey into the true identity of the Peach and the captain and crew who called it their home. Her travels take her to the island of Martinique, the eastern Caribbean islands, the Louisiana German Coast and New Orleans at the close of the War of 1812. How had the Peach come to rest in the waters off the Georgia coast? What had become of her alluring and enigmatic captain, Simone Moreau? Can love conquer everything, even time? On a voyage that lifts her spirits and eventually breaks her heart, Julia discovers the identity of the ship she had been excavating and the fate of its crew. Along the way she also discovers the true meaning of love which can be as boundless and unpredictable as the ocean itself.
Available at:
As War Goes By by Aimée
1940, England. War has a way of engineering the most unlikely encounters. When Penelope Lowes sits next to Clarissa Cartrew in the packed train, she has no idea they are both going to the same place, about which they’ve both been sworn to secrecy. Nor that her journey will take her much further than her original destination, Bletchley Park.
As World War Two wreaks havoc in the world, it also makes people grow up faster. Penelope’s initiation to love during her stint as a Women’s Auxiliary Air Force has not been the most auspicious, and if anything has made her even shyer and more gauche than before. Meanwhile, Clarissa enjoys the social scene, and does not lack admirers. She is decided to make the most of her opportunities, away from the constraints of her aristocratic background.
When Penelope – Penny – is recruited by the Special Operations Executive to become a Special Agent, she doesn’t hesitate long before agreeing. Only the thought that she may not see her friends ever again could make her waver between heart and duty – a young driver has recently shown her the power of a simple kiss, and her friendship with Clarissa is blossoming. Duty wins, and life and war go on…
No one knows what the future entails – will they get a second chance?
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you are reading for the “sapphic books based on a historical event” category!
Subscribe to this blog so you won’t miss the FREE BOOKS post!
The next Sapphic Book Bingo post will feature free books with links to where you can download them. To make sure you get the free books post sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
Happy reading!
Jae
The post Sapphic books based on a historical event (Book Unicorn #4) appeared first on Jae.
April 14, 2022
Sapphic fake relationship romance novels (Sapphic Book Bingo #8)
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post features sapphic fake relationship romance novels—books in which the two main characters pretend to be in a relationship with each other.
The “fake relationship” trope is very popular with romance readers, so you will find 10 additional book recommendations in the “favorite trope” post of the Sapphic Book Bingo.
I think what readers love about “fake girlfriend” or “fake fiancée” stories is that the plot throws together two characters who are often total strangers and who might not even like each other. Under normal circumstances, they would never consider dating each other, but now they are forced to spend time together and pretend to be a couple. As you can imagine, they get into some hilarious situations, and after a while, they discover that their feelings are no longer fake…
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “sapphic fake relationship romance novels” 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 sapphic fake relationship romance novels
Here are my recommendations for sapphic romane novels with a fake relationship:
Something in the Wine by Jae
An introverted 30-year-old woman tries to prank her brother—and finds out what it means to be herself in this lesbian fake-relationship romance.
All her life, Annie Prideaux has suffered through her brother’s constant practical jokes. But Jake’s last joke is one too many, she decides when he sets her up on a blind date with his friend Drew—neglecting to tell his straight sister one tiny detail: her date is not a man, but a lesbian.
Annie and Drew decide it’s time to turn the tables on Jake by pretending to fall in love with each other.
At first glance, they have nothing in common. Disillusioned with love, Annie focuses on books, her cat, and her work as an accountant while Drew, more confident and outgoing, owns a dog and spends most of her time working in her beloved vineyard.
Only their common goal to take revenge on Jake unites them. But what starts as a table-turning game soon turns Annie’s and Drew’s lives upside down as the lines between pretending and reality begin to blur.
Something in the Wine is a story about love, friendship, and coming to terms with what it means to be yourself.
Available at:
Her Royal Happiness by Lola Keeley
Keeping a secret isn’t easy when you’re in the most visible family in the world. It’s even harder when you’re a lesbian who has just fallen madly in love. An opposites attract, charming royal romance with a dash of fake dating.
When tabloid darling Princess Alice, the first out member of the British royal family, meets an opinionated single mother, the encounter goes viral. It seems the anti-monarchist education specialist Sara has a view on all things and doesn’t mind sharing.
So when Alice later has to ask Sara to help diagnose her young nephew’s learning difficulties, it’s seriously awkward. At least until they discover how beautifully they click together.
With the press sniffing around them, and Alice desperately wanting to protect her nephew’s privacy, they agree to claim they’re dating.
But as their fake dates start to feel like much more, Sara and Alice must navigate having a real relationship in the public eye. Is that even possible, though, while keeping Sara’s daughter safe and happy, and facing the Queen’s disapproval?
Can they overcome their doubts for love? A love they can no longer hide?
Available at:
Elemental Attraction by K. Aten
Two people find themselves in a quandary: Aderri, a powerful dragon shifter with some light defensive magic, and Ellys, a half-elven swordswoman for hire, one of the best across the six nations.
When Aderri gets news that she must come home for the naming ceremony of a new hatchling, she’s forced to hire Ellys and her telepathic steed, Roccotári, to see her safely there. Of course, things are never as simple as they seem. Not only do they have to traverse the land between two kingdoms on the brink of war, but Aderri’s Clan expects her to return with a romantic interest. So, for the added promise of triple Ellys’s normal fee, the half-elf agrees to pretend to be Aderri’s suitor.
Ellys and Aderri have to convince a Clan full of magical mixed-shifters for a week that creatures of differing elements can burn with the flames of love, without actually lying. A situation made even more difficult by a matchmaking mare, steamy baths, and an innkeeper with mischief on the mind.
Caught between the weight of the past and expectations of the future, they must find their true destiny within the heat of fire.
Available at:
The Marriage Masquerade by Toni Logan
Taylor Braxton needs to get married, then divorced, with no strings attached.
Taylor, a physical trainer, has just inherited her grandfather’s B&B on Maui, but there’s a catch. She can’t have the deed until the day after her one-year wedding anniversary. She’d rather stick a fork in her eye than get hitched, but the B&B is a dream come true. So all she has to do is find a woman who will agree to fake a marriage. How hard can it be?
Jayden Wheaton could use a year in paradise to help her recovery. After a crippling accident, she hires Taylor in the hope of gaining back some mobility. When Taylor casually mentions her dilemma, Jayden jumps at the chance, hoping the warm island temperatures will help with her chronic pain. A marriage masquerade in exchange for a year in Paradise? Yes, please. After all, it’s not like either of them are looking for romance, so there’s zero chance of their feelings complicating the arrangement. Right?
Available at:
Love’s No Joke by Cheri Ritz
The only commitment Mara Antonini ever made was to her career on the Vegas stand-up scene. Putting romance on the back burner, she’s long accepted the role of ‘the player’ among her friends. Landing a gig as the emcee of a fund-raiser seemed like the perfect way to get some positive career exposure. If she happened to make a new friend with benefits along the way, so be it. She didn’t count on the stunning redhead representing a rival casino throwing her off her game.
All Victoria McHenry needed was a date to her grandmother’s birthday gala to keep her high-society mother off her back. But she wasn’t exactly ready to dip back into the dating pool after her last disaster of a relationship. So when she’s coerced into representing her family’s casino at a local fund-raiser, she takes it as an opportunity to find that date. Naturally she’s drawn to the charismatic comedian headlining the event.
When the women are paired up on a planning committee, Victoria proposes the Fake Date Deal: she gets her date for the soirée, and Mara gets the chance to finally shake her playgirl reputation. It’s not long before hearts and emotions tangle, and soon the women find themselves wondering if the only people they are fooling are themselves.
Available at:
D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins
D’Vaughn and Kris have six weeks to plan their dream wedding.
Their whole relationship is fake.
Instant I Do could be Kris Zavala’s big break. She’s right on the cusp of really making it as an influencer, so a stint on reality TV is the perfect chance to elevate her brand. And $100,000 wouldn’t hurt, either.
D’Vaughn Miller is just trying to break out of her shell. She’s sort of neglected to come out to her mom for years, so a big splashy fake wedding is just the excuse she needs.
All they have to do is convince their friends and family they’re getting married in six weeks. If anyone guesses they’re not for real, they’re out. Selling their chemistry on camera is surprisingly easy, and it’s still there when no one else is watching, which is an unexpected bonus. Winning this competition is going to be a piece of wedding cake.
But each week of the competition brings new challenges, and soon the prize money’s not the only thing at stake. A reality show isn’t the best place to create a solid foundation, and their fake wedding might just derail their relationship before it even starts.
Available at:
No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey
From award-winning author Rachel Lacey comes the second installment in the Ms. Right series: a captivating romance about a reluctant bookseller finding love in unexpected places.
Lia Harris is tired of being the odd one out. She’s never quite fit in with her uptight family, and now that her roommates have all found love, she’s starting to feel like a third wheel in her own apartment. Fed up with her mother’s constant meddling in her love life, Lia drops hints about a girlfriend she doesn’t have. But with her brother’s London nuptials approaching, she needs to find a date to save face. Lia turns to her best friend, Rosie, for help, and Rosie delivers—with the fun, gorgeous Grace Poston.
Grace loves to have a good time, hiding her insecurities behind a sunny smile. Her recent move to London has provided her with a much-needed fresh start. Grace isn’t looking for love, and she hates weddings, having weathered more than her fair share of heartache. Friendships are different, though, so for Rosie’s sake, she reluctantly agrees to pose as Lia’s adoring girlfriend for the wedding festivities.
Both Grace and Lia are prepared for an awkward weekend, complete with prying family members and a guest room with only one bed. As it turns out, they get along well—spectacularly, in fact. Before they know it, the chemistry they’re faking feels all too real. But is their wedding weekend a fleeting performance or the rehearsal for a love that’s meant to last?
Available at:
Restrained Desires (Rehoboth Pact #3 ) by Katherine McIntyre
One rule: don’t fall for your best friend’s straight sister. Especially not when she’s pretending to be your fake girlfriend.
Chelsea Moore is officially divorced from her asshole husband, and after wasting her early twenties putting up with his shit, she’s burning to get out there and play the field—especially a certain kinkier side he made her feel like garbage about.
Kyle Walker’s terrified to put herself out there. According to her mother, she doesn’t have the looks to hook anyone, but what makes it worse is that her dating history falls in line. However, when her family tries to claim she’s not really a lesbian, she tells them she’s bringing her girlfriend to Christmas. Only problem? She doesn’t have one.
In comes sexy, newly divorced, and straight Chelsea Moore to the rescue—her best friend Aubrey’s little sister. She’s doing Kyle a favor—like any friend would—except Kyle’s half in love with her from the moment they start hanging out. All too soon those lines begin to blur—lingering touches, flirting, kissing…. And when they connect on kink and begin hooking up, that’s when Kyle knows she’s screwed.
Chelsea might have Aubrey to protect her heart, but Kyle could lose both her best friend and the only woman who’s made her feel like she’s worth more.
Available at:
Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura
When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind.
That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer.
Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she’s better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it’s not long before Nozomi’s schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn’t plan for.
Available at:
Never Mine by Bryce Oakley
Sage Carson has a messy reputation. Sure, she’s a soccer star with World Cup trophies and Olympic medals, but she’s almost as well known for her rebellious behavior off the pitch. She’s left enough gorgeous women with broken hearts in her dust to fill a roster. That was, until she got injured. Now, her frustratingly-slow recovery means she’d better secure this new squeaky-clean endorsement deal in order to get back on top.
Sweet, sunshiny Willa Bellamy has a crisis on her hands. She’s used to it — as an events coordinator for the Denver Zoo, it’s her job to handle crises. But when she receives an invite to her ex’s wedding, she’s not so sure it’ll be as easy to handle as an escaped emu during a Girl Scout sleepover. Even worse, when the bachelorette party invite mentions that couples are welcome, she realizes she’s the sole single person invited.
Fifteen years ago, Willa and Sage roamed the same halls of Edgelake High School. When their paths cross again, they decide to team up to solve both their problems — a stable, albeit fake, relationship to snag the endorsement deal and a hot soccer star to make the couples getaway sting a little less… But when the lines between real and fake start to blur, will they be able to keep the growing heat between them just a game or will they start playing to win?
Available at:
Mutual Benefits by H.P. Munro
Coming out to your loved ones is stressful, so when Hannah Melville’s family not only accept but celebrate her accidental announcement, it should be a relief. Which it would be, if Hannah was gay.
Ashley West isn’t looking for a relationship. When she’s set up by her mother on a blind date, she’s ready to nip any expectations in the bud. She’s less prepared for her love interest to be straight.
What do you get when you combine a fake relationship with two meddling mothers? A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that will have you glued to the page!
Available at:
Who’d Have Thought by G Benson
Top neurosurgeon Samantha Thomson needs to get married fast and is tightlipped as to why. And with over $200,000 on offer to tie the knot, no questions asked, cash-strapped ER nurse Hayden Pérez isn’t about to demand answers.
The deal is only for a year of marriage, but Hayden’s going into it knowing it will be a nightmare. Sam is complicated, rude, kind of cold, and someone Hayden barely tolerates at work, let alone wants to marry. The hardest part is that Hayden has to convince everyone around them that they’re madly in love and that racing down the aisle together is all they’ve ever wanted. What could possibly go wrong?
Available at:
The Missus by Natasha West
Keira Evans likes an easy existence. That goes double for her love life. She’s happy to remain single and wants every woman she takes to bed to know exactly what the deal is. Trouble is, some of them don’t heed the warning and fall in love with her anyway. Keira doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, nor does she want to have to take out restraining orders every week. It’s a pickle.
But when Keira is trying to pry yet another lovesick woman out the door, her next-door neighbour, Alanna Hall, decides to come to her rescue – pretending to be Keira’s serious girlfriend who is furious at catching her in the act of cheating. The one-night stand, shocked at Keira’s seeming deceit, decides to ditch the drama and never bothers her again. Keira’s amazed by the effectiveness of the charade and becomes convinced that a fake girlfriend could be the solution to all her woes. But how the hell can she convince Alanna to take on the position of phony girlfriend full time?
With spectacular timing, Alanna finds herself abruptly homeless when her relationship implodes. And look who happens to have a bed going spare in exchange for a little quid pro quo? Alanna’s uncertain about repeating her spontaneous performance for her philandering neighbour. But she’s a hell of a lot more uncertain about where’s she’s gonna sleep. And Alanna is nothing if not a practical woman.
Keira thinks she’s got it made now that Alanna’s ready to chase off every casual sex partner who doesn’t know when it’s time to leave. But living with Alanna creates more chaos in Keira’s perfect little world than she’s expecting. Particularly when the sham starts to feel real…
Available at:
Casting Lacey by Elle Spencer
Coming out is easier when you’ve got someone by your side. At least that’s how the hyper-private Quinn Kincaid sees it. When her publicist suggests a good old-fashioned sham of a Hollywood relationship, Quinn reluctantly agrees. And that’s how the star of Jordan’s Appeal, TV’s highest rated legal drama, ends up with a fake girlfriend—the very real, very sexy, and very gay soap star, Lacey Matthews.
The two clash immediately, and often hilariously, as they figure out how to fake a budding romance. And of course, things are never as simple as they seem. A freak accident, some reluctant caregiving, and a chance to work together on Jordan’s Appeal force Quinn and Lacey closer together—for better or worse.
In Casting Lacey, Elle Spencer gives us a funny new take on a classic storyline, complete with nosy mothers, fawning assistants, and two beautiful actresses who might learn about true love. If they don’t kill each other first.
Available at:
Take Me Home by Lorelie Brown
Thanksgiving arrives in one week and one day. Feeling hemmed in by parental expectations? Are they disappointed by your sapphic proclivities? I can help! The only pay I want is the holiday meal!
I didn’t know what I was looking for until I saw her Craigslist ad.
I love my family. I’m lucky to have them — well, most of them. But my aunt? I’m so tired of her giving my mom crap because I happen to be a lesbian. So one pink-haired tattoo artist pretending to be my girlfriend will annoy my Christian fundamentalist aunt right back and make my Thanksgiving perfect.
Only . . . Brooke turns out to be cuter and more complicated than I expected. And before you can say “yorkiepoo,” we kiss…and abduct a dog together. I want to keep them both — but Brooke isn’t the kind to be kept. Lucky for me, I’m the kind to chase what I want.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic fake relationship romance” category!
Subscribe to this blog to get future Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
The post Sapphic fake relationship romance novels (Sapphic Book Bingo #8) appeared first on Jae.
March 31, 2022
Sapphic books featuring an established couple (Sapphic Book Bingo #7)
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post features sapphic books with an established couple, meaning the main character needs to already be in an established romantic relationship at the beginning of the book.
There aren’t that many “established couple” books within the romance genre because, by definition, the plot of a romance novel revolves around two (or more) characters falling in love. The central question is whether they’ll end up with getting their happily ever after. But while the “happily ever after” is the end of a romance novel, it’s not the end of the couple’s story. Sometimes, readers would love to see how the couple handles problems life throws at them or whether they start a family.
So for this category, read a book in which the characters are already together at the start of the book. The book can be part of a series, with the characters getting together in an earlier book, or it could be a novel that isn’t a romance at all.
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “established couple” 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 sapphic books featuring an established couple
Here are my recommendations for sapphic books featuring an established couple:
Next of Kin by Jae
For years, ambitious Deputy District Attorney Kade Matheson has taken case files and law books, not lovers, to bed, ignoring her personal life in favor of her career. When she finds herself with a stalker, she tries to handle the situation the way she always does: on her own.
Lieutenant Del Vasquez has admired the standoffish lawyer for a while, and she’s determined to protect her at all costs.
When Kade’s stalker situation escalates and she and Del have to hide at her mother’s, Kade is finally forced to face her attraction to women for the very first time.
Suddenly, she’s no longer sure which one is more dangerous—the threat to her life or to her heart?
Available at:
Miracles by Serena J. Bishop
After three years together, Aurora and Leela have settled into a cozy life. The only complaint is their lack of quality time together. When the opportunity arises for a trip to paradise, they can’t turn it down. A week of romance among Hawaii’s natural wonders is exactly what they need to reconnect. When they return home, their relationship is the strongest and most stress-free it’s ever been.
Then, Aurora learns she’s pregnant.
There was no infidelity. There was no assault. There’s no logical explanation for the conception, but the pregnancy is undeniable. And it feels right to Aurora.
Aurora and Leela debate whether a scientific or spiritual reason is the cause, but the mystery takes a backseat as maternal instincts take over. Aurora’s connection ranges from the ordinary to psychic, but her experiences are nothing compared to Leela’s. A new, primal voice from within directs her to do whatever is necessary to protect their child.
Can they keep the cause of the pregnancy and the psychic connection to their child a secret? Can they come to terms with the uniqueness of their child and the circumstances around her conception? And can they accept the grandest miracle of them all?
Available at:
A Lover’s Mercy by Fiona Zedde
Mai Redstone prowls Atlanta as its hero, Mercy, trying to save people from themselves and each other. With her newly discovered, stronger powers, she acts as if she’s invincible. To those who know her though, she’s as delicate as a cobra lily.
Xóchitl is the complete opposite. Violence comes naturally to her. Hard-hearted and thick-skinned, the softest thing about her is her love for Mai. As part of an elite law-enforcement team in the secret Meta community, Xóchitl hunts and punishes anyone who dares to break their rules.
But when Mai is in danger from her own powerful family, Xóchitl’s soft underbelly is exposed. How can she protect Mai when she can’t even tell allies from enemies? For the first time in her life, Xóchitl feels as threatened as the vulnerable humans Mai protects.
Xóchitl is used to being the strongest one in the room, but when she suddenly isn’t, will she allow herself to surrender to her lover’s mercy?
Available at:
Covenant by Ann McMan
COVENANT continues the beloved saga of the residents of Jericho, a sleepy town in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Six weeks have passed since the fateful unfolding of events at the town Fourth of July celebration. Questions swirl about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the town nemesis, Gerald Watson. Was it an accident, or was Watson murdered? As the scorching summer gives way to an early autumn, suspects in the potential homicide abound, and everyone seems to be keeping secrets.
Throughout it all, bonds of love and fealty are stretched and tested as the endearing residents of this once-idyllic community weigh the covenants they keep against the secrets that threaten to tear them apart.
Available at:
Crossing Lines by KD Williamson
Nora Whitmore has been through the ringer both professionally and personally. Now, her life is more than she ever thought it could be, especially with Kelli McCabe in it. The walls have come down, and she is open to new people and experiences.
Kelli McCabe watched all the broken pieces of her life come together. The situation with her family settled down, and she’s right where she wants to be back at work and in Nora’s arms.
For both of them, this quiet time is just the devastating calm before the massive storm hits and brings with it the violence of a vengeful enemy and the reality of drug abuse. The chaos surrounding them exposes old wounds and individual vulnerabilities that seem to multiply when they are together. Is it too much for them to withstand? Or is what they have strong enough to overcome it all?
Available at:
Under Your Skin by Lee Winter
What do a stolen food-delivery robot, a woman from the past, and a bizarre scheme to microchip military veterans have in common?
The infamous Caustic Queen, DC bureau chief Catherine Ayers, would love to find out but she has a lot on her plate right now. She and her fiancée, reporter Lauren King, are busy meeting the family and wedding planning in Lauren’s home town in Iowa.
That means facing a lot of beefy mechanic brothers, a haughty cat, and the sharp-tongued Meemaw. Catherine’s sure she can play nice with everyone. Well, pretty sure. How hard can it be, anyway?
Available at:
Almost-Married Moni by Cheyenne Blue
Three years ago, lawyer Sue Brent proposed to doctor Moni Kratzmann in the corridor of the Royal Flying Doctor Base. Now, their wedding is on. As friends and family from near and far gather at Jayboro Outstation in outback Queensland, Australia, Moni and Sue strive to keep their wedding plans—and their lives—on track.
Between well-meaning families, ex-girlfriends, and a community that just wants to party, their wedding is set to be bigger than Moni’s home state of Texas. But is that what they want?
It’s a simple outback wedding. What could possibly go wrong?
Available at:
Forever Home by Ali Spooner
Nat, Marissa, and Maggie survived their first winter by the ocean, and spring brings new growth and perils. Unwelcome visitors to the homestead leave Maggie and Luna wounded. An enraged Nat hunts the invaders down seeking justice. Tom and Smithy join Nat for the bison hunt they have waited on for months and begin building their future cabins. A successful proposal brings Ruth and Tom together as newlyweds Nat and Marissa’s tiny community continues to grow and prosper.
Available at:
Graffiti Red Murder (A Monica Spade Novel) by Alexi Venice
Recharged from a romantic spring break, Attorney Monica Spade is hired to represent a plastic surgeon whose patients are being murdered and spray-painted with a sinister message.
An impending deadline forces Monica to take matters into her own hands, so she dives into the serial murder case, dissecting clues from surgeries, chasing down leads from smarmy nightclubs, and drawing criticism from the police for interfering.
In her personal life, Monica discovers her fiancée, Shelby St. Claire, hanging out with a former flame, Coco Rivelli, the yogi sensation. Can Monica keep a lid on her hot temper when provoked by Coco?
Fighting for life and love during a pandemic, Monica transforms her legal practice into an action-packed, killer ride through the lake country north of Apple Grove, Wisconsin.
Available at:
On the Fence by Cade Haddock Strong
After a Mercedes rear-ends Wallace Mahar, her annoyance evaporates the moment the offending driver steps out of the car. Much to her dismay, the stunning woman hands her $10,000. Then disappears.
Ellen Church hoped throwing money at the woman she rear-ended would make her go away, but when she sees her at a bar, she realizes Wallace may be a bigger complication than she first thought. Ellen doesn’t have time for relationships, even if she is attracted to the cute swim coach. She has her eyes on a bigger prize—a Warhol painting with something very special hidden in the frame.
Reformed art thief Mattie Pearson is trying to live on the straight and narrow. After their failed heist at the Schuyler House, she married Alex Holland and the two women couldn’t be happier. But when Mattie’s old friend Ellen shows up with a big-payday proposal, the lure of her old life proves too strong to resist.
The Warhol job draws Wallace deep into the world of female art thieves, and even deeper into the dangers of romance with a woman who steals art—and hearts—for a living.
Available at:
Religious Experience by K’Anne Meinel
Marissa and Reanne, after years of invitro fertilization are finally having the baby they so desperately sought. There is a surprise though, there isn’t just one, there are three. The mothers-to-be happily look forward to telling their families about the impending births. Unfortunately, Marissa’s mother and father vehemently refuse to accept these extra children. They believe that multiple offspring are the work of the devil and they will stop at nothing to rid their misguided daughter and her wife of these unwanted offspring.
This is based on a true story.
Available at:
Sara’s Choice by Patty Schramm
Sara Hyatt knows what it is to be in love. She’s been there, done that twice in her life. The second time she was sure would be the last. She’d found the woman who owned her heart; except that woman chose to stomp on it instead.
Now Sara’s single again and attracting interest. Problem is, neither woman is Terry.
Terry Alexander moves herself and her daughter to Whitehorse, Canada, to live with her mom after realizing she couldn’t continue on her own in Quebec. She never expected she’d ever date again, much less fall in love. She never expected to meet Sara Hyatt. When she did, she fell hard. Until she was forced to break up with her. Now she sees her on every street corner and she aches to talk to her. But Sara isn’t exactly inviting her over for coffee.
Can she find a way to convince Sara that she still loves her and they should be together or will she end up spending the rest of her life alone?
Available at:
Shadow Dancers by Suzie Clarke
Security specialist Rachel Portola and her wife Claire have begun to rebuild their lives and hope for their future. Rachel has made a promise to stay far away from danger, but her loyalties are tested when two of her team go missing while searching for Eshee Yumiko, the woman who will stop at nothing to see Rachel suffer. Rachel must find a way to become the hunter rather than the hunted, and put an end to Eshee’s vendetta. But all Claire sees are Rachel’s broken promises, and her obsession to keep them all safe by putting herself in peril may be the very thing that tears them apart for good.
Available at:
Struggles in a Boston Marriage by Ellen M. Levy
Deborah and Miriam are two young women whose love has survived the many obstacles life has thrown their way in their first years together. Now they find themselves in Boston, raising a young child whose been diagnosed as a Mongoloid Idiot, in an era where little was known about how to care for such a child at home.
Deborah’s thrilled that her writing is due to become published and she also pleased to be part of a growing and thriving business. Despite having found the woman of her dreams, she finds herself irritable and untrusting of Miriam’s love.
Miriam has given her heart and soul to Deborah and feels fulfilled now that she has a child and has meaningful volunteer work. She is proud of all their accomplishments at the printing and publishing shop and with her own ability to stand firm in her beliefs, even when Deborah challenges her.
The world around them is changing. The Suffrage movement is trying to give women the freedom to vote and they feel guilty that they do not have enough time to continue their work for this cause. Also, people fear their country may go to war. During this time of uproar, Deborah and Miriam find their relationship becomes tested by an outsider. Will their love be strong enough to endure?
Available at:
The Real World by Kathleen Jowitt
Colette is trying to finish her PhD and trying not to think about what happens next. Her girlfriend wants to get married – but she also wants to become a vicar, and she can’t do both. Her ex-girlfriend never wanted to get married, but apparently she does now. Her supervisor is more interested in his TV career than in what she’s up to, and, of the two people she could talk to about any of this, one’s two hundred miles away, and the other one’s dead.
Welcome to…
The Real World.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “established couple” category!
Subscribe to this blog to get future Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
The post Sapphic books featuring an established couple (Sapphic Book Bingo #7) appeared first on Jae.
March 17, 2022
Sapphic book by a full-time writer (Sapphic Book Bingo #6)
For this week’s category of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book by an author who writes full-time. Not a lot of authors are able to support themselves with their writing, especially not in a niche genre such as sapphic/women-loving-women fiction, so I thought full-time writers of sapphic fiction deserve a category of their own.
I put together a list of full-time writers below. Some of these authors retired from their day jobs; others gave them up to write full-time, as I did in 2013, and now make a living off their writing. Most of them write sapphic books exclusively, while some also write M/F or M/M romances or books in other genres.
Birthday Book Giveaway
Before I share the list of full-time writers, I want to make sure you won’t miss a big giveaway later this week. It’s my birthday week, and as one of my annual birthday traditions, I’ll be giving away some of my books as a gift to my readers to say thank you for your support! Winners will get to pick which book they want and in what format (most are available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook).
Make sure you follow me on social media or subscribe to my newsletter to make sure you don’t miss it!
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “sapphic sports romance” 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.
Sapphic books by full-time writers
Instead of sharing 15 books recommendations, I thought I would list all full-time writers of sapphic books I could find. There are 60 authors on the list below. They are listed alphabetically by the author’s first name, and the link will take you to their website or a webstore where you’ll find a list of their books.
Leave a comment
Readers, leave a comment and let us know what book you are reading for the “sapphic book by a full-time writer” category!
Authors: If you write sapphic fiction full-time and you want me to include you in the list, please send me an email.
Subscribe to this blog to get future Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
Happy reading!
Jae
The post Sapphic book by a full-time writer (Sapphic Book Bingo #6) appeared first on Jae.
March 10, 2022
Sapphic books about faith and religion (Book Unicorn #3)
It’s time for another Book Unicorn category of the Sapphic Book Bingo. This week’s post features sapphic books about faith and religion.
For this category, read a sapphic book in which faith, religion, or spiritual experiences play an important role. It could be any faith or religion, including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Bahá’í, Shinto, Jainism, or Zoroastrianism. You could also read a science fiction or fantasy novel with a fictional faith.
The main character could embrace faith or religion as a positive influence on their life or end up rejecting it.
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 about faith or religion
Here are my 15 book recommendations for the “sapphic book about faith” category:
When Tara Met Farah by Tara Pammi
Sunshine Girl needs math lessons…
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:
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
Everyone likes Hani Khan – she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they don’t believe her, claiming she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship… with a girl her friends can’t stand – Ishu Dey.
Ishu is the polar opposite of Hani. An academic overachiever, she hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for university. Her only problem? Becoming head girl is a popularity contest and Ishu is hardly popular. Pretending to date Hani is the only way she’ll stand a chance of being elected.
Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.
Available at:
Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
The guy of her dreams… or the girl in her heart?
Lara’s had eyes for exactly one person throughout her three years of high school: Chase Harding. He’s tall, strong, sweet, a football star, and frankly, stupid hot. Oh, and he’s talking to her now. On purpose and everything. Maybe…flirting, even? No, wait, he’s definitely flirting, which is pretty much the sum of everything Lara’s wanted out of life.
Except she’s haunted by a memory. A memory of a confusing, romantic, strangely perfect summer spent with a girl named Jasmine. A memory that becomes a confusing, disorienting present when Jasmine herself walks through the front doors of the school to see Lara and Chase chatting it up in front of the lockers.
Lara has everything she ever wanted: a tight-knit group of friends, a job that borders on cool, and Chase, the boy of her literal dreams. But if she’s finally got the guy, why can’t she stop thinking about the girl?
Available at:
The Olive Conspiracy by Shira Glassman
A love story between women, between queen and country, and between farmers and their crops.
When Ezra tries to blackmail Chef Yael about her being trans, she throws him out of her restaurant and immediately reports him to the queen. But when police find Ezra stabbed to death, Queen Shulamit realizes he may have also tried to extort someone more dangerous than a feisty old lady.
The royal investigation leads straight to an international terrorist plot to destroy her country’s economy—and worse, her first love, Crown Princess Carolina of Imbrio, may be involved. Since she’s got a dragon-shifting wizard at her disposal, contacts with friendly foreign witches, and the support of her partner Aviva, Shulamit has hope. What she doesn’t have is time.
Available at:
Speak Its Name by Kathleen Jowitt
A new year at the University of Stancester, and Lydia Hawkins is trying to balance the demands of her studies with her responsibilities as an officer for the Christian Fellowship. Her mission: to make sure all the Christians in her hall stay on the straight and narrow, and to convert the remaining residents if possible. To pass her second year. And to ensure a certain secret stays very secret indeed.
When she encounters the eccentric, ecumenical student household at 27 Alma Road, Lydia is forced to expand her assumptions about who’s a Christian to include radical Quaker activist Becky, bells-and-smells bus-spotter Peter, and out (bisexual) and proud (Methodist) Colette. As the year unfolds, Lydia discovers that there are more ways to be Christian – and more ways to be herself – than she had ever imagined.
Then a disgruntled member of the Catholic Society starts asking whether the Christian Fellowship is really as Christian as it claims to be, and Lydia finds herself at the centre of a row that will reach far beyond the campus. Speak Its Name explores what happens when faith, love and politics mix and explode.
Available at:
Higher by Roz Alexander
Tali Blue is definitely going back to finish her last semester of rabbinical school…eventually. When she moved back to her hometown seven years ago to help her grandparents raise her younger sisters, she planned on it being temporary. Now though, she has a stable job and a stable life surrounded by the people she’s known forever. It’s all just fine – and then there’s the incredibly annoying surprise of Maple.
Maple just wanted to make weird art and practice her Ladino. And just like that, 15 years of adulthood has built a solid career, a great reputation as an art instructor, and a lackluster love life. It doesn’t help that she’s been spending all her free time consumed with making it as a Sephardic Jew into the Jewish art world that never seems to have space for her.
When Tali’s love of family, Maple’s art ambitions, and a Rosh Hashanah effort to #savethebees force these two together, both of them may learn that the only way out is up, together. This new year the honey is dripping on a lot more than apples. Higher is a steamy, butch for butch, grump-sunshine lesbian romance about what happens when you choose to take your dreams higher.
Available at:
Carmilla & Laura by S D Simper
In the late 19th century, Laura lives a lonely life in a schloss by the forest, Styria, with only her doting father and two governesses for company. A chance accident brings a new companion, however – the eccentric and beautiful Carmilla.
With charm unparalleled and habits as mysterious as her history, Carmilla’s allure is undeniable, drawing Laura closer with every affectionate touch and word. Attraction blossoms into a temptation Laura fears to name, a tantalizing passion burning brighter than the fires of hell. But when a mysterious plague begins stealing the lives of young women in her home and the village beyond, Laura wrestles to reconcile the truth – that the gentle, fragile woman she loves may be a monster cast out of heaven.
Carmilla, the classic vampire novella written by J Sheridan LeFanu, receives new life in this gorgeous retelling, centered on the provocative, controversial leads of the original, Carmilla and Laura.
Available at:
Posterity by Jess Newton
Fifty years ago, Captain Nina Brooke hand-picked a crew from across the world to accompany her on the mission of a lifetime. Today, they’re all waking up. The Posterity is making her final approach to their new home planet, and the work is about to begin. Humanity wasn’t an endangered species when they set off on this mission, but it’s a darn sight closer to being one now. No pressure, then.
The new planet seems perfect; plenty of resources, good settlement locations, habitable climates. After what happened to Earth, Nina is conscious that they need to take better care of this one. It takes all sorts to make a world, and Nina’s got all sorts asleep in her cryobay; not only the people required to build it, but the ones to make it feel like home, too. After all, what good is saving humanity if you leave the best parts of it behind?
Some people find it easier than others to start new lives here on the other side of the galaxy, but then, it all depends on what they left behind. As Nina navigates relationships old and new, will she finally find the one thing she’s never had: a home?
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:
Romance at Stonegate by Ellen M. Levy
Deborah and Miriam, young Jewish girls vacationing in Western Massachusetts the summer of 1910, are immediately attracted to one another, though neither understands. As they explore their intense connection with one another, they face challenges in their community, their families, their religion, and within themselves. These young women are products of the turn-of-the-century values, yet have discovered love with one another, a rarely accepted behavior in post-Victorian America. They explore ways to fit into a culture that is unforgiving of the choices they make to be together.
Set in rural Massachusetts during their two summers together, and later in Boston and New York, Miriam and Deborah explore their communities through each other’s eyes. They visit local sites in each location, focusing on the culturally rich aspects of each other’s worlds. They also explore their Jewish heritage, finding that old-fashioned beliefs challenge their love.
Deborah and Miriam find loneliness in their love for each other. Their secret connection makes them feel disconnected from their families. They face discrimination from Miriam’s rabbi, her sister, and later other family members. They seek to find other girls who love girls, but they struggle to find those connections in 1911 New England. They look to the suffrage movement, where they heard there are women “who wear pants” and are rewarded with their first connection with other homosexuals.
Join Deborah and Miriam as they explore the physical and emotional pull of young love. Passion pulls them together but separates them from everything that is familiar. It is exciting, yet frightening to discover what it means to be a lesbian in a world that is not ready for them.
Available at:
Olivia by Genevieve McCluer
How does a centuries-old vampire suffering from severe PTSD take her parrot to the vet? With Olivia’s intense fear of humans, what sounds like the start of a joke is instead the start of therapy. Only when she has help can her parrot receive his.
Veterinarian Mia Sun knows all about being damaged, and she and Olivia slowly build a friendship that develops into something a lot more intriguing. When a figure from Olivia’s past surfaces, hell-bent on ruining any happiness she’s managing to find, Olivia must fight back if she wants to forge a new life with Mia. Will she be strong enough to face her own worst fears for love?
Available at:
Always Believe by Aimée
Lieutenant-Colonel Greyson Walsden returns to her hometown of Gloucester after a fulfilling career as an Army doctor. She takes a position as a general practitioner while pursuing ordination as an Anglican priest. Overworked and naturally reserved, she doesn’t have time or patience for socializing, let alone for falling in love.
For Angela Arlingham, life as she knows it is over. God played a cruel trick on her by robbing her of her daughter, Sybil, and Angela refuses to believe in Him any longer. When she meets Greyson Walsden, she’s impressed by the handsome doctor, but struggling with her loss makes falling in love with a priest all but impossible.
As circumstances throw them together again and again, the choice to follow their hearts may be the most difficult one of all.
Available at:
The Papercutter by Cindy Rizzo
A deeply polarized and ungovernable United States of America has separated into two nations—the God Fearing States (GFS) and the United Progressive Regions (UPR).
Judith Braverman, a teenager living in an Orthodox Jewish community in the GFS, is not only a talented artist accomplished in the ancient craft of papercutting, she also has the gift of seeing into peoples’ souls—and can tell instantly if someone is good or evil.
Jeffrey Schwartz has no love for religion or conformity and yearns to escape to the freedom of the UPR. When he’s accepted into an experimental pen pal program and paired with Dani Fine, an openly queer girl in the UPR, he hopes that he can finally find a way out.
As danger mounts and their alarm grows, Judith embeds a secret code in her papercuts so that she and Jeffrey can tell Dani what’s happening to Jews in the GFS without raising suspicions from the government. When the three arrange a quick, clandestine meeting, Jeffrey is finally faced with the choice to flee or to stay and resist. And Judith is reeling from a pull toward Dani that is unlike anything she has ever felt before.
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:
Vision of Virtue by Brey Willows
Clio Ardalides loves being in the limelight. As the Muse of History and Virtue, it’s her job to share all the laudable traits and accomplishments of the gods, and she’s turned her work into a national television show. For Clio, the perception of events and highlighting the positive is sometimes a little more important than authenticity. Who wants reality when there’s glamour and beauty in the world?
Kit Kalloway wants the truth. And not the shiny, polished version people are getting from the news or shows like Clio’s. As the headline reporter for Truth Spotter, she uncovers the things not getting done and the people being left behind. To Kit, Clio has sold out. No matter how sexy and vivacious she is, she’s just another self-obsessed influencer only interested in being admired.
When disaster strikes and they must depend on one another, desire and passion are ready and waiting. But will it be enough for them to find a shared vision?
Available at:
Bold Strokes Books (on pre-order; out in September 2022)
Amazon (on pre-order; out in September 2022)
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you are reading for the “sapphic book about faith” category!
Subscribe to this blog to get future Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
Happy reading!
Jae
The post Sapphic books about faith and religion (Book Unicorn #3) appeared first on Jae.
March 3, 2022
Sapphic books – author’s pick (Sapphic Book Bingo #5)
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post features a special category: author’s picks.
For this category, choose an author and have them suggest one of their books to you to read.
You can either email the author of your choice and ask for their pick, or you can choose a book from the list of 185 authors I asked for you. You’ll find the list below.
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 the reading challenge. Read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and then start reading!
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.
The big list of sapphic books authors picked for you:
I asked 185 authors of sapphic books which of their books they would pick for you to read. Here are their author’s picks (sorted alphabetically by first name):
A. L. Brooks: Write Your Own Script A. L. Lester: The Fog of WarAlison Grey: Contract for Love Abby Crofton: Say Yes to the Cheerleader Adrian J. Smith: Memoir in the MakingAimée : Always Believe Alexandra Beaumont: Testament of the Stars Alexi Venice: Conscious Bias, A Monica Spade Novel Ali Spooner: Cowgirl UpAlison R. Solomon : Timing Is Everything Alli Temple: Uncharted Amanda Radley: Fitting In Angela Greenman: The Child Riddler (out in July 2022)Angela McKenna: The Visitor Ann Aptaker: Murder And Gold Ann Greyson: The Lonely Vampire Ann McMan: Beowulf for Cretins: A Love Story Anna Larner: Love’s Portrait Anna Stone: Tangled Vows Anne Hagan: Relic Antonija Meznaric: What Do Nightmares Dream of Aprille Canniff: Finding Sarah Ashley Bartlett: Cash Braddock Barbara Valletto: Pulse Points Barbara Winkes: Indiscretions Belinda Harrison: Princess of Thermopylae Benna Bos: Investigating Helen Brenda Murphy: On the Square Brey Willows: Fury’s Bridge Brooke Campbell : The Warrior Within C H Clepitt: My Dream WomanC.L. Clark: The Unbroken Cade Haddock Strong: Fare Game Caren J. Werlinger: When the Stars Sang Cari Hunter: Unbreakable Carren Strock: Tangled Ribbons Carsen Taite: It Should be a Crime Cassidy Storm: Girl Talk Catherine Maiorisi: A Matter of Blood Cathy Pegau: Rulebreaker Chelsea M. Cameron: Just One Night Cheri Ritz: Vacation People Cheyenne Blue: A Heart This Big Chris Zett: Irregular Heartbeat Cindy Rizzo: Exception to the Rule Claire Highton-Stevenson: Blinded by LoveClare Ashton: The GoodmansClare Lydon: Before You Say I Do Clifford Mae Henderson: The Middle of SomewhereCoffee Quills: Spells, Snow, & Sky Crystal Chard: Worth the Risk Danielle Grainger: Wrecking Bernadette Davina Lee: All the Feels Delilah Night: Comet’s First Christmas Donna K. Ford: Love’s Redemption E. J. Noyes: GoldElena Graf: Imperative of DesireEliza Lentzski: Don’t Call Me HeroElizabeth Andre: Love’s Perfect Vintage (Lesbian Light Reads 1) Elke Lakey & D.J. Fronimos: Foreign Facades Elle Armstrong: A Marine’s Conflict Elle E. Ire: Threadbare Elle Hyden: Lost & Found: A Mystic Meteor Tale Ellen M. Levy: Romance at Stonegate Emily Alter: Rub on Her (to be released in 2022)Emily Banting: Lost in Love Emily Noon: Aurora’s Angel Emma Wallis: This is Not A Love Story Erica Ridley: The Perks of Loving a Wallflower Eule Grey: Emily Bronte and the Punky Pixie E.V. Bancroft: Warm Pearls and Paper CranesFaith Prize: The Fifth SurgeonFiona Zedde: Bliss Genevieve McCluer: A Fae Tale Haley Cass: Those Who WaitHarper Bliss: About That Kiss Hayden Quinn: Taking a (Second) Chance Iona Kane: Sleepless Nights Ivy L. James: Make the Yuletide Gay J. X. Sleator: Bleeding For Eurydice Jacqueline Ramsden: The Art of Growing Jae: Perfect Rhythm Jamey Moody: No More Secrets Jane Cuthbertson: Game Changers Jaycie Morrison: Basic Training of the Heart Jazzy Mitchell: Undertow Jenn Matthews: Hooked On You Jennie Davids: Seashells and Sleigh Bells Jess Lea: A Curious Woman Jess Newton: PosterityJesse J. Thoma: The Chase Johana Gavez: Match to Love Jordan Meadows: Kissing Practice Julie Tizard: The Road To Wings K. Aten: Remember Me, Synthetica K. A. Moll: Seeing by Heart K. L. Gallagher and Ali Spooner: Diamond Dreams K’Anne Meinel: Doctored Kate Gavin: Table for Two Kate Hershberger: The Calling Katherine McIntyre: Strength Check (Dungeons and Dating #1) Katherine Rupley: Calculated Risk Kathleen Jowitt: Katia Rose: Catch and Cradle Kaya LaSalle: Do It for the Prestige KC Luck: Everybody Needs a HeroKelly Farmer: Out on the Ice KG MacGregor: A Proper Cuppa Tea Kim Hartfield: Mine Kimberly A. Todd: A.M.P.: Serena & Katerina KJ: Coming Home Kris Bryant: ListenKrystina Rivers: Something Between Us Lee Winter: The Brutal Truth Lianyu Tan: Captive in the Underworld Lila Bruce: Love Bites Lily Seabrooke: Fake It Lily St. Michael: Something or Everything Liz Rain:Perks of Office (out in May 2022)Lola Keeley: The Music and the Mirror Lori G. Matthews: #CassiNovaLucy Bexley: No StringsLyn Denison: Friends and Lovers Lynn Ames: All That Lies Within Lynn Galli: Uncommon Emotions Lynnette Beers: Saving Sam Mar Romasco Moore: I Am The Ghost in Your House Mari SanGiovanni: Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer Max Ellendale: Rabbit MB Austin: Strictly Need to Know (Maji Rios #1) MB Guel: Internet Famous Melanie Mitzner: Slow Reveal Melissa Tereze: Mrs Middleton Mickey Brent: Underwater Vibes Milena McKay: The Headmistress Miranda MacLeod: Accidental Honeymoon MJ Duncan: Veritas Monica McCallan: Back to the Start Morgan Lee Miller: All the Worlds Between Us Morgan Rogers: Honey GirlNance Sparks: An Alaskan Wedding Nancy J. Hedin: Bend Nanisi Barrett D’Arnuk: The Power to Rise Neen Cohen: Cold As Hell Nico J. Genes: Magnetic Reverie Nicole Pyland: The Meet Cute Café (out May 2022)Olivia Janae: The Loudest Silence (out in July 2022)Patty G. Henderson: The Burning of Her Sin Patty Schramm: Better Together Quinn Ivins: Worthy of Love Rachael Sommers: Never Say Never Rachel Lacey: Don’t Cry for MeRachel Spangler: Thrust Rae D. Magdon: Lucky 7 Regina Hanel: Cassethea of Mercia Regina Jamison: Choosing Grace Renée Bess: The Butterfly Moments Renee Dahlia: Her Pregnant Rival Renn Loraine: Moon Over Old HollywoodRita Potter: Thundering Pines (out on March 15; now on pre-order)RJ Layer: Dreams Unspoken S D Simper: The Fate of Stars Sage Donnell: Puppy Love Sally Bellerose: The Girls Club Sam Ledel: Rocks and Stars Sandra Barret: Blood of a Traitor Sandra de Helen: The Illustrious Client Sarah Bell: The Murder Next Door Scarlett Knight: The Neon Fishnets: Playing With Fire Serena J. Bishop: Leveled Sheri Lewis Wohl: The Talebearer Shira Glassman: Knit One Girl Two Skye Kilaen: If I Were A Weapon (All These Gifts Book 1) Stacy Lynn Miller: Out of the Flames (Manhattan Sloane Thriller Series #1) Stephanie Shea: Chef’s Kiss Susan X Meagher: Almost Heaven Suzie Clarke: Moon Shadow Tagan Shepard: Swipe Right TB Markinson: The Setup Tiana Warner: The Valkyrie’s Daughter Tiffany E. Taylor: Whimsical Haven TJ Dallas: Prewrath and Rapture Toni Logan: The Marriage Masquerade Veronica Gutierrez: Vesna Kurilic: Johnny’s Girls Violet Morley: Under the Sitka SkyWendy Hudson: The Island Between Us Zoey Lennox: Playing Catch-UpLeave a comment
Readers: Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “author’s pick” category!
Fellow authors: If you have written one or several books with sapphic main characters, and your author’s pick isn’t on my list, please leave a comment below to tell us which of your books you would pick for readers to read.
Subscribe to this blog to get future Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
The post Sapphic books – author’s pick (Sapphic Book Bingo #5) appeared first on Jae.
February 17, 2022
Sapphic sports romance (Sapphic Book Bingo #4)
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post features sapphic sports romances.
A sports romance is a book with a main character who’s an athlete or otherwise involved in a sport, e.g., a coach, physical therapist, etc.
In order for the book to count for this category, the sports setting needs to be essential to the book, not just be mentioned in passing a couple of times.
It can be any sport, from the more well known, e.g., soccer, baseball, tennis, etc., to lesser known ones such as curling, lacrosse, or ultimate frisbee.
How to get started if you are new to Sapphic Book Bingo
If you have only just discovered the Sapphic Book Bingo, read up on the rules, download your book bingo card, and take a look at my suggestions for the “sapphic sports romance” 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 sapphic sports romances
Here are my recommendations for the sapphic sports romances category:
Thrust by Rachel Spangler
Fencing prodigy Jess Kidman has always been ahead of her peers. At the age of thirteen she made the varsity team, won a state championship, came out, and fell head over heels in love with her team captain, Lauren Standish. After being gently rebuffed by the high school senior, young Jess vowed she would return for her some day when their age difference became irrelevant and her own accomplishments made her not merely an equal, but an Olympian. Ten years later, Jess makes good on her promise, but when she arrives back in Buffalo a few months before the big games, she’s intrigued to find that the woman she’s always dreamed of could also be exactly the coach she needs to win gold.
Lauren, however, isn’t the bubbly team captain she’d been at eighteen. After a stellar collegiate career of her own, circumstances forced her to put her dreams on the shelf and return to Buffalo. She’d made peace with a quiet life spent running a rust belt fencing club and coaching kids when Team USA’s hottest young fencer waltzes back into her life. As much as Lauren finds Jess’s confidence and athleticism alluring, she also sees the hotheaded superstar as a threat to the carefully controlled world rebuilt in the wake of the traumatic loss she is desperate to avoid reliving. Never one to turn her back on a friend in need, Lauren agrees to coach Jess on the condition that they focus only on the swordplay and not the sharp point of attraction threatening to sever the bonds of her professionalism.
The two women set to work preparing for the biggest event, but as tension mounts in the lead-up to the Olympic Games, the pressure and the passion building between them also grows, leaving both to wonder if Jess is trying to win the gold, or win the girl.
Available at:
Code of Conduct by Cheyenne Blue
A lesbian sports romance about breaking all the rules.
Viva Jones was great once. A top ten tennis player with a grand slam trophy to her name, she had the world at her feet. Then an overzealous lineswoman’s bad call knocked her out of the US Open, and a persistent injury crushed her career. While battling to return to the game she loves, a chance meeting with the lineswoman, Gabriela, forces Viva to rethink the past…and the present.
Away from the court, Gabriela is sexy, athletic, and lives for her career as an umpire. She seems to be falling for Viva as hard and fast as Viva is for her. There’s just one problem: players and officials can’t date.
Available at:
Pas de Deux by EJ Noyes
Caitlyn Lloyd has the world at her feet. Or more accurately—under her horse’s hooves. With the 2016 Rio Olympics just around the corner, nothing is going to derail her long-held dream of winning a medal or two in Olympic dressage. Not even the reappearance of a childhood so-not-a-friend throwing her perfectly balanced life into disarray.
Addie Gardner’s career is at its peak, and accepting a last-minute fill-in position as the veterinarian for the US Olympic Dressage Team was a no-brainer. The fact that her old crush from Pony Club is on the team is just a bonus. Not a distraction at all. And it might just offer the chance to be friends with the girl who wouldn’t even give her the time of day twenty years ago.
But Caitlyn and Addie have very different memories of their time together at Pony Club and their first meeting as adults is less like a reconnection and more like a butting of heads. With the Olympics looming, they’ll need to set aside their history and learn to work together. And maybe Caitlyn and Addie will realize childhood memories aren’t always accurate, and that they have more in common than they would ever have thought. Maybe. Just maybe.
Available at:
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?
Without warning, a tragic accident changes all the rules of the game for both of them. Is there light at the end of the tunnel or will the flame be extinguished?
Available at:
Switchback by S.W. Andersen
Sierra Cody is on fire. A rising star in women’s professional downhill mountain bike racing, she has all the tools to become a world champion. All she needs to do is fully commit herself. Something far easier said than done. As stubborn as she is independent, Sierra has always carved her own path, refusing to fall in line with the controlling, commercialized aspects of the sport. Her trademark no-holds-barred, reckless style of riding has earned her as many cheers as it has jeers.
Dr. Kara Davies, a highly regarded and accomplished physician, is well on her way to achieving her dreams in chiropractic research. Commitment to her goals has never been an issue, but her personal life is a different story. Preferring the comfort and safety of her lab over personal relationships, Kara’s one-track mind allows no deviation. But life is full of twists and turns.
After an accident on the track lands Sierra in Kara’s on-site medical center, the doctor suddenly finds she has more on her mind that work. Blindsided by mutual attraction, Sierra and Kara struggle to accept their feelings for each other and to deal with the change it brings. Will love be enough? Or will life’s little switchbacks send them both careening off course?
Available at:
Unadulterated Something by MJ Duncan
Emma Beauchamp and Campbell Jordan’s rivalry on the ice was legendary. Retirement should have closed that chapter of their lives, but when Campbell joins the faculty at Stonebridge—the prestigious Berkshires boarding school where Emma now teaches—it takes on a brand new life. There’s plenty of distrust and lingering animosity, but as circumstances force them to find a way to not only coexist, but work together, Emma and Campbell find that being on the same team isn’t as awful as they’d feared. Will their years spent battling it out for team and country be too much to overcome? Or will they finally acknowledge the truth behind the electric connection they share?
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:
Catch and Cradle by Katia Rose
Thou shalt not date thine teammates.
The UNS Women’s Lacrosse team doesn’t have an official policy against inter-teammate relationships, but those words might as well be carved into stone tablets in the middle of the field. After witnessing way too much drama in the past, Captain Becca Moore is intent on keeping her players’ love lives out of the locker room.
Becca has no time or tolerance for any distractions from the game. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Hope Hastings has been since the day she showed up for tryouts: one walking, talking, charismatically dorky and way-too-kissable distraction.
Hope knew she was headed straight to the danger zone from the moment she saw Becca’s flame-red hair and surly captain smirk. She’s spent the past two years writing off her attraction as a harmless crush, but starting a new semester fresh out of an awful relationship makes Hope realize just how far from harmless the heat between her and Becca really is.
The friendships of a tight-knit team and their shot at the title are all lying on the line, but as Hope and Becca get closer to bending rules they’ve sworn never to break, they realize they’ve put their hearts on that line too. Losing has never been an option, but winning might cost more than they’re willing to pay.
Available at:
Out on the Ice by Kelly Farmer
Caro Cassidy used to be a legend.
During her career, Caro was one of the best defense players in women’s hockey. These days, she keeps to herself. Her all-girls hockey camp is her life, and she hopes it’ll be her legacy. Sure, her new summer hire is charming and magnetic, but Caro keeps her work and personal life strictly separate.
Amy Schwarzbach lives life out loud.
Amy’s as bright and cheerful as her lavender hair, and she uses her high-profile position in women’s hockey to advocate for the things she believes in. Ten weeks in Chicago coaching a girls’ training camp is the perfect opportunity to mentor the next generation before she goes back to Boston.
Letting love in means putting yourself out there.
When the reticent head coach offers to help Amy get in shape for next season, her starstruck crush on Caro quickly blossoms into real chemistry. As summer comes to an end, neither of them can quite let go of this fling—but Amy can’t afford a distraction, and Caro can’t risk her relationship becoming public and jeopardizing the one thing that’s really hers.
Available at:
All the Worlds Between Us by Morgan Lee Miller
Seventeen-year-old Quinn Hughes needs to be in top shape if she wants to medal at the swimming World Championships in ten months. This means no easy distractions, no matter how pretty they are.
She’s still piecing her confidence back together after not qualifying for the Olympics, her relationship with her twin brother is getting worse the more he hangs out with the popular kids, and then Kennedy Reed suddenly squeezes herself back into Quinn’s life. The girl who was her best friend. The girl who gave Quinn her first kiss. The girl who hasn’t spoken to her since.
Soon, Quinn finds herself juggling her new girlfriend, training for the biggest competition of her life, and discovering she’s not the only Hughes twin with a crush on Kennedy Reed. All these distractions are getting to her, and if she wants that medal she needs to find a way to stop drowning on dry land.
Available at:
Underwater Vibes by Mickey Brent
How to survive that pivotal moment when admiration turns to attraction?
Hélène Dupont, a scientific translator in Brussels, Belgium, cherishes two things: flowers and her cat. She writes bad poetry to help her survive her painful existence with her husband, until she is forced to undergo a radical lifestyle change. Sylvie Routard, a young, Greek photographer, enters Hélène’s world as her new private swim coach. During their daily lessons, Hélène’s admiration toward Sylvie turns to attraction. As unsettling feelings hijack Hélène’s mind and body, daydreams featuring Sylvie enter her world—even her poems. While the two athletes increasingly feel underwater vibes in the pool, Hélène questions her relationship at home, and everything else in life.
Underwater Vibes is the first of a two-book series. Broad Awakening is its sequel.
Available at:
The Long Shot by A. L. Brooks
Talented golfer Morgan Spencer has never won a major but it’s so close she can taste it—no thanks to her sexist father, a golfing legend who won’t even give her the time of day.
Television producer Adrienne Wyatt has thrown herself into her career after her lover left her a year ago. She has a brilliant new plan: a documentary featuring Morgan’s rise and rise, capitalizing on the young woman’s star appeal.
The main problem is that the reserved golfer treats Adrienne’s plan like an invasion of privacy. The other issue is her growing feelings for the irritatingly attractive woman—an unprofessional lapse that would get her ridiculed by her peers if anyone found out.
When things come to a chaotic head, as fierce desires, risked careers, age differences, and dreams all come into play, what will win?
Available at:
Hat Trick by K.L. Gallagher & Ali Spooner
Alexandra “Alex” Hawthorne is on the fast track to the top of one of the most formidable, white-collar, criminal defense law firms in New York. She can ill afford any distractions, especially those with dark-brown eyes, who can rock a power suit while coaching professional hockey players. Not now. Not when Alex is so close to making senior partner. Not after all she has sacrificed.
After a devastating end to her playing career, Janelle Leblanc channeled her passion into coaching and reached the pinnacle of success as the first female head coach in NHL history. Despite her accomplishments, she hears whispers that she was hired as nothing more than a publicity stunt. Janelle’s focus needs to remain on the ice if she is to prove them wrong, not on a certain curly haired attorney with the most arresting emerald-green eyes she has ever seen.
Once the spark is lit, their chemistry is impossible to ignore. Can Janelle break down Alex’s walls to give them a real chance? Or will Alex’s past heartache be too much for them to overcome?
Available at:
Romancing the Kicker by Catherine Lane
Parker Sherbourne has a talent for sports and seduction—and the body to prove it. When the High Rollers, the professional football team from Las Vegas, chase after her to be their point-after specialist, she jumps at the chance. Sure, the position is only a publicity stunt, but she has always been able to turn any situation to her advantage. Carly Bartlett joins the Rollers as the newest athletic trainer and the only other female on the payroll. This dream job could bring the financial security her family desperately needs. The head trainer has only one warning: don’t get involved with a player. Not a problem. She doesn’t go for guys. When Parker reaches out to Carly for treatment, sparks fly. Will Carly fall for Parker’s charms and put her own desires ahead of her family’s? Has Parker finally found the woman who’ll make her slow down and stop playing the angles? With the macho world of football against them, can they beat the odds in this lesbian sports romance?
Available at:
Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler (pre-order; to be published on June 7, 2022)
Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose.
The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she’s only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.
Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can’t stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the sapphic sports romances category!
Subscribe to this blog to get future Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
The post Sapphic sports romance (Sapphic Book Bingo #4) appeared first on Jae.
