Jae's Blog, page 21
June 24, 2021
Character is a musician (Sapphic Reading Challenge #24)
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge post features sapphic books with a character who’s a musician. The protagonist could sing or play an instrument for a living or as a hobby they are passionate about.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
A free ebook for you
If you don’t already have my short story “Facing the Music,” you can download the free ebook here. It’s a mini sequel to my romance Perfect Rhythm, which features a pop star who returns to her hometown and falls in love with asexual nurse Holly.
15 sapphic books about a musician
I put together a list of 15 sapphic books that feature a main character who’s a musician. I hope you find at least one you’ll enjoy.
Perfect Rhythm by Jae
Pop star Leontyne Blake might sing about love, but she stopped believing in it a long time ago. What women want is her image, not the real her. When her father has a stroke, she flees the spotlight and returns to her tiny Missouri hometown.
In her childhood home, she meets small-town nurse Holly Drummond, who isn’t impressed by Leo’s fame at all. That isn’t the only thing that makes Holly different from other women. She’s also asexual. For her, dating is a minefield of expectations that she has decided to avoid.
Can the tentative friendship between a burned-out pop star and a woman not interested in sex develop into something more despite their diverse expectations?
Available at:
Uprooting by Suzie Carr
On a fateful spring afternoon, two strangers meet at a musical event and a spark of an idea brings them both the opportunity to right some wrongs.
Meet Harper Ray, an undiscovered musician who’s willing to dig weeds, clean houses, and give guitar lessons to stay afloat. A childhood tragedy has kept her blocked and has limited her ability to see and live her potential.
Ivy Homestead is a green witch and life coach. Her life purpose has always been to help people live their best lives. But after hurting her best friend over a year ago, Ivy has struggled with feelings of inadequacy.
What they both discover will test their strength and have them questioning what they’re willing to risk to find their way back home within themselves and each other.
Available at:
Requiem for Immortals by Lee Winter
What would make the most dangerous ice queen of them all, ruthless underworld assassin Requiem, hesitate?
Professional cellist Natalya Tsvetnenko moves seamlessly among the elite where she fills the souls of symphony patrons with beauty even as she takes the lives of the corrupt of Australia’s ruthless underworld. The cold, exacting assassin is hired to kill a woman who seems so innocent that Natalya can’t understand why anyone would want her dead.
As she gets to know her target, she can’t work out why she even cares.
Available at:
Let the Beat Drop by Cheri Ritz
There is nothing Sadie DuChamp loves more than rocking out on stage behind her drum set. Her music career is a dream come true. But when her band breaks up and she gets evicted from her New York City apartment all in the same week, her life suddenly feels more like a nightmare. She finds herself with no choice but to retreat to her mother’s home in the suburbs of Chicago. The return also forces Sadie to face the guilt she has choked down since the last time she left.
Jess Moran is fine with her love ’em and leave ’em reputation. She’s too busy with grad school to let herself be distracted by matters of the heart. Her plans for the summer break include lazy days in the sun and nights helping with her family’s craft vodka business. If she happens to stumble upon a few one-night stands along the way, all the better. But when she arrives home from school to find neighbor-turned-rock goddess Sadie swimming in her backyard pool her plans for a quiet summer disappear like free samples of vodka at happy hour.
The more the two neighbors butt heads, the more they are drawn to one another. Will they find harmony? Or risk missing the beat and losing the rhythm of love…
Available at:
Femme Tales by Anne Shade
Beast: Former hip-hop artist Ebony “The Beast” Trent has wrapped her persona around herself like a protective wall of bitterness. Belinda Jansen is confident, intelligent, sexy, and—to Ebony’s fascination—not the least bit intimidated by Ebony’s beastly demeanor. Can Beauty truly tame The Beast?
Awaken: Local celebrity chef Chayse Carmichael has achieved a level of success she’d only imagined while learning to cook. But when free-spirited Georgia peach Serena Frasier walks into her restaurant, Chayse realizes that success doesn’t always bring happiness if you don’t have someone special to share it with. Does love at first sight truly exist?
Stiletto: Music mogul Cass Phillips barely has a moment to sleep, let alone build a relationship. But an unexpected encounter with shoe designer Faith Shaw leads her to believe that maybe fairy tales do come true. Can true love really conquer all?
Available at:
Always A Love Song by Charley Clarke
When golden girl pop star Bridget Callahan’s broken engagement comes out, she heads back to her hometown for the first time in five years to write songs for her next album. And maybe while she’s there, she’ll finally be able to face the woman she left behind who she never let go.
Bar owner Alex Marlow has spent the past five years mending her broken heart by pretending she doesn’t have one. But Bridget’s return disrupts her ordered life and brings all those chaotic, buried feelings back to the surface. Can they forgive each other and themselves for mistakes made when they were younger?
Available at:
Forbidden Melody by Magnolia Robbins
Emma Harvey is a brilliant and gifted young pianist, accepted into one of the most prestigious music conservatories in the country and prepared to do whatever it takes to accomplish her dreams of playing professionally. With a renowned jazz musician for a father and a world-famous mentor growing up, she is convinced her path is easy. Until her world is suddenly silenced when she loses her hearing.
Juliet Hamilton is a prodigy violinist. First chair for nearly fifteen years in the New York Philharmonic and a professor at the conservatory, she is engulfed in her career with no time for distractions. Especially not a beautiful young graduate student with a spirited personality that challenges her every step.
When Emma and Juliet’s paths cross in the classroom, their connection is undeniable. When their music comes together, it is unstoppable. The bond they begin to form threatens to challenge more than just their opinions of music. Friendships, ethics, and careers are tested as Emma and Juliet find themselves lost in a concerto of fiery passion and heartbreak.
Available at:
Pas de Deux by MJ Duncan
Though she’s still struggling to put her personal life back together a year after leaving Los Angeles, Mallory Collingswood’s career is perfectly on track as she takes to the role of Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra like it’s her birthright. She’s determined to focus on her music and enjoy her second year back home when she’s approached about a collaboration with the Royal Ballet. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that only a fool would turn down…or accept, depending on the outcome.
Taking on the role will mean working harder than she ever has in her life, and performing in a way she never has alongside the Royal Ballet’s brightest star. Individually, they are opposites in almost every way, but together they form a perfect pair, and for the first time in ages Mallory wonders what it would be like to love, and be loved, again.
Available at:
On the Record by Raven J. Spencer
Out and proud lesbian singer/songwriter Emmy Whittaker is not amused when her manager books her on Andrea Stone’s show. She has worked hard to build a following. That includes many younger fans who trust her to have their backs.
Stone, who has a reputation for hearing differing opinions on controversial issues, doesn’t fit the bill. For the concessions Andrea has made, she’s been rewarded with a stellar career and considerable wealth. In her opinion, the sacrifices have been worth it.
Meeting Emmy shakes her beliefs.
A fateful decision they make leads her to understand that sometimes, the cost of compromise can be too high…
Available at:
Blood and Roses by MB Panichi
Arienne my love, if I can’t have you nobody can. -Celestian
It’s Earth Year 2453 and hot lead guitarist Ari Walker and her slam-thrash band Shattered Crystal Enigma (SCE) have just embarked on their first interstellar tour. But they are not alone. Somewhere among the thousands of devoted fans is a demented stalker named Celestian who is determined to win Ari’s devotion—or be her destruction.
Too intense and focused on her music for a real relationship, Ari’s always been the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. Until she meets a woman whose power and passion matches Ari’s playing—and her heart—beat by beat. Badass drummer Rhynn Knight, SCE’s newest member, is ecstatic to be in the band of her dreams alongside the woman of her dreams.
As the tour continues and Ari’s new relationship takes center stage, the danger around them grows. Even the superior skills of SCE’s bodyguards can’t stop the stalker’s psychotic wrath. Is Celestian lurking in the darkness of the concert hall or hiding in plain sight?
Available at:
Irregular Heartbeat by Chris Zett
After nearly a decade as a professional drummer, Diana Petrell leaves her rock-star life behind to continue her residency in emergency medicine. She’s determined not to let anything stop her—not even falling in love with her aloof mentor, Dr. Emily Barnes.
Emily has only ever focused on her career as a senior attending in the emergency department, and she isn’t happy about having to babysit a resident with a ten-year gap in her résumé, no matter how intriguing she is.
But every time they work together, it’s not just their patients’ heartbeat that gets a little irregular. Soon, the once-clear lines between work and personal life begin to blur.
When Diana’s unorthodox secret past is revealed, putting her job in jeopardy, Emily has to choose between her career and her relationship. A lesbian romance that asks how much we’d risk for love.
Available at:
Making a Comeback by Julie Blair
Jazz pianist Liz Randall is reeling from her wife’s death and struggling to keep their band together. An invitation to play at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival is an opportunity she can’t turn down, and a challenge she might not be up to until she enlists the help of a mysterious neighbor who’s surprisingly knowledgeable about jazz.
When Jac Winters reluctantly agrees to help, a past she wants to forget threatens to destroy the carefully ordered life she’s built with her guide dog, Max, in the quiet town of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
With music and love swirling around them like ocean currents, will Liz and Jac play it safe or risk everything on making a comeback?
Available at:
Hammers, Strings, and Beautiful Things by Morgan Lee Miller
Blair Bennett’s only twenty-four but already has an impressive résumé. A sought-after songwriter, she’s written an arsenal of hit singles for other artists. Now she’s ready to conquer the music industry with her own band, and touring with the biggest pop star in the world, Reagan Moore, will get her exactly where she wants to go.
It’s a lot harder than Blair expects, especially when she has to cope with the loss of her grandfather. She develops a close bond with Reagan, whose quick wit and easy charm keep her on her toes. As their attraction blossoms, Blair shows Reagan how to have fun again despite her fame, and their impulsive adventures ignite feelings neither can deny.
Everything would be fine, if only Blair could keep it together. But her unhealthy ways of dealing with her grief and her troubled past jeopardize not only her budding music career but her relationship with the only woman she’s ever fallen for.
Available at:
Some Part of Me is You by Adrienne Marsh
Alison has been in her brother’s indie rock band, Right Turn, since she was a teenager. Right as she’s about to graduate college and will have to start making real decisions about her future, there comes an offer for them to go on a small tour with pop-country sensation Kristen Nichols, who is looking to make serious changes to her sound and image and believes touring with indie darlings Right Turn will give the new ‘her’ credibility.
Kristen Nichols is the embodiment of everything about the music industry that Ali scoffs at, but she’s offering them an affordable, real tour, and that’s very hard to say no to. Putting up with a pop princess for a summer is a price worth paying–or so Ali thinks before she actually meets Kristen.
‘K-Nic’ does absolutely nothing for her, but Kristen Nichols in person? Yeah, that’s a different story…
Available at:
The Love Song of Sawyer Bell by Avon Gale
Indie rocker Victoria “Vix” Vincent knows a good thing when she hears it. The moment Sawyer Bell picks up her fiddle, magic happens. Beautiful and wildly talented, Sawyer is the perfect match for Vix’s band—and, just maybe, for Vix. The dynamic in any group is a delicate thing, but with Sawyer and Vix thrown together on tour, it’s not long before the line between bandmates and lovers gets a bit blurry.
The indie rock life is not what Sawyer ever saw for herself. She worked hard to get where she is—in her second year of Julliard, with a bright future in classical music. But instead of spending her summer working and rehearsing, she’s on tour with her secret high school crush. And even though it was only supposed to be temporary, Sawyer feels like she’s finally found a place she belongs.
This summer with Vix has been like a dream. But every tour must come to an end, and when Julliard comes calling, Sawyer will need to make a choice: continue on the path she’s chosen, or take a leap of faith and follow her heart.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know which book you’ll be reading for the “character is a musician” category!
The post Character is a musician (Sapphic Reading Challenge #24) appeared first on Jae.
June 17, 2021
Sapphic book recommended by a friend (Sapphic Reading Challenge #23)
This week’s category of the Sapphic Reading Challenge is a little different from the others. Instead of reading a book from a list I put together, I want you to read a WLW or lesbian book that was recommended to you by a friend. (And we’ll interpret the term “friend” very loosely here—any acquaintances you made on social media count as a friend as far as this category is concerned!)
So, if you have friends who are also avid readers of WLW & lesbian fiction, go ask one of them for a recommendation. If none of your friends (online or offline) read books about women-loving women, feel free to let us know what kind of books you enjoy and ask for a recommendation in the comments of this blog post or drop by my Facebook group for readers and ask for a book recommendation there.
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book was recommended to you for this category. You can also ask for a recommendation in the comments.
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The post Sapphic book recommended by a friend (Sapphic Reading Challenge #23) appeared first on Jae.
June 11, 2021
Sapphic Thriller (Book Unicorn #6)
It’s time for another Book Unicorn category: sapphic thrillers!
A thriller is a suspenseful, fast-paced novel with high stakes—if the protagonist doesn’t stop the villain, her life or even the fate of the world might be in danger.
There are several subgenres such as action thriller, spy thriller, crime thriller, disaster thriller, legal thriller, medical thriller, supernatural thriller, and psychological thriller.
15 sapphic thrillers to keep you on the edge of your seat
I put together a list of 15 sapphic thrillers. I hope you find at least one you’ll enjoy.
Steel City Confidential (Steel City Series Book 1) by Anne Hagan
Pam’s been on the run from the law for years and she was getting away with it. The statute of limitations ran out on most of her crimes. For her spouse Charlotte? Not so much. Though they were aging, they looked forward to enjoying their golden years and, hopefully, forgetting about the past.
Life got complicated when Charlotte became gravely ill, their daughter got pregnant with the child of a married man…a married man someone took shots at from a rare motorcycle Pam happens to own. When the man was shot again and killed in his office at Pitt a couple of weeks later, the police found all signs pointing to Pam.
Rochelle ‘Ro’ Rabinowitz, a second-generation Pittsburgh lawyer, and her little firm take on Pam’s case pro-bono. Ro thinks it’s a slam dunk for the defense and hands the case off to her new associate and – she hopes – her future partner in the firm, Dominique, to get her feet wet in a courtroom. Clients are never completely honest with their lawyers and Ro and Dominque soon learn this one is no exception.
Available at:
The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif
Jessie Archer is a member of the Athena Protocol, an elite organization of female spies who enact vigilante justice around the world.
Athena operatives are never supposed to shoot to kill—so when Jessie can’t stop herself from pulling the trigger, she gets kicked out of the organization, right before a huge mission to take down a human trafficker in Belgrade.
Jessie needs to right her wrong and prove herself, so she starts her own investigation into the trafficking. But going rogue means she has no one to watch her back as she delves into the horrors she uncovers. Meanwhile, her former teammates have been ordered to bring her down. Jessie must face danger from all sides if she’s to complete her mission—and survive.
Available at:
Killer Instinct by Barbara Winkes
Joanna’s career ends after she kills a murderer and fails to cover her tracks. After serving a prison sentence, she struggles to pick up the pieces.
She keeps her distance from her former colleagues, save for Vanessa, the Internal Affairs inspector who was the lead investigator on Joanna’s case.
When a predator resurfaces, Joanna can’t stay away, even at the cost of losing everything…Including Rue, the woman she’s been falling for.
Available at:
Requiem for Immortals by Lee Winter
What would make the most dangerous ice queen of them all, ruthless underworld assassin Requiem, hesitate?
Professional cellist Natalya Tsvetnenko moves seamlessly among the elite where she fills the souls of symphony patrons with beauty even as she takes the lives of the corrupt of Australia’s ruthless underworld. The cold, exacting assassin is hired to kill a woman who seems so innocent that Natalya can’t understand why anyone would want her dead.
As she gets to know her target, she can’t work out why she even cares.
Available at:
Forsaken Trust (Luce Hansen Thrillers, book 2) by Meredith Doench
Wallace Lake, Ohio, takes care of their own. Unwelcoming of outsiders, the community closes ranks when four women are found murdered along the water’s edge. Agent Luce Hansen of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation must find a way in before another woman loses her life to the ruthless serial killer.
With the help of her new team—a hot rookie and a smart, beautiful medical examiner—Luce uncovers a ring of devotion surrounding the prime suspect. As Luce works to unearth the dark secrets of this close-knit town, she learns to what extraordinary lengths people will go to protect the ones they love. And when Luce feels forsaken, both professionally and personally, she must regain trust in her most valuable investigative tool: herself.
Available at:
Operation Stop Hate by Jessie Chandler
Special Agent Cailin McKenna and her National Protection and Investigation Unit partners are drawn into a case that started with a pair of school shootings in Minneapolis. They soon learn that a hate group is recruiting teenagers on school grounds, handing out metal music rife with violent messages, and plotting a terrorist offensive on a major Twin Cities venue.
The case gets personal when the stabbing of Cailin’s brother is linked. To complicate matters, Cailin’s fiery new relationship is threatened by the return of a psycho stalker ex-girlfriend hell-bent on getting Cailin back.
Cailin soon finds herself in a fight for her life. And the clock is ticking–can she prevail in time to stop the worst terror attack that Minnesota has ever seen?
Available at:
Dirt Nap by Carolyn Elizabeth
Though still suffering side effects from the injuries she sustained in a serious fall, Corey Curtis is off restricted duty and back at work in the morgue. Within hours of cutting the cast off her arm with a bone saw she’s asked by her former mentor to assist on a body recovery. Now she’s elbow deep in decomposing human remains and a suspicious death that hits far too close to home.
Just when her relationship with Dr. Thayer Reynolds has reached a new milestone, the new case tests Corey’s limits while Thayer struggles with a difficult situation at work. Corey’s impulsive nature has her hurtling down an all too familiar road with trouble around every corner.
The only thing keeping the wheels from totally coming off is Thayer’s unwavering love and support. But when the investigation comes full circle, everyone is caught off guard…threatening a most unhappy ending.
Available at:
Little Lies by Lila Bruce
Getting shot was the last thing Lia Broderick expected to happen when she stopped by the bank on her way to work – that and having the gorgeous woman from the coffee shop down the street be the one to rescue her…
FBI Special Agent Dylan McKenzie is a woman with a mission – locate Steven Horton, the witness who could single-handedly bring down a notorious Crime Family. With Horton hiding from both the mob and the FBI, Dylan and her team are assigned the task of keeping tabs on Horton’s ex-wife after mounting evidence leads them to believe he will run to her. Keeping Lia Broderick under surveillance should have been just another day on the job for Dylan. But, when Lia becomes the victim in a bank robbery gone terribly wrong, Dylan has no choice but to break cover in order to step in and save her.
Despite her best efforts to maintain a professional distance from the attractive accountant, Dylan finds herself being reeled deeper and deeper into Lia’s life. As the investigation heats up—both under the covers and out—it becomes clear that Lia is the key to finding the evidence that the mob is willing to kill to get their hands on. When Dylan is betrayed by a rogue agent, she suddenly finds herself on the run with Lia, uncertain who she can trust. And as the mob closes in, Dylan realizes that the greatest risk is the one she’s taking with her heart.
Available at:
Queen of Humboldt by Tagan Shepard
Marisol Soltero’s life is built on big scores and fast women. From her nightclub she rules over the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago with ruthless calculation. Though everyone knows her as the Queen of Humboldt, Marisol lives part of her life in the shadows. When she hears of an impending assassination attempt against the Governor of Illinois, those shadows threaten to ruin everything she’s built.
Governor Sabrina Sloane has spent her life cleaning up the streets, first as State’s Attorney in Chicago and then as Governor of Illinois. Every criminal to cross her path has ended up behind bars—except one. When that criminal saves her life, she’s forced to shine new light on everything she thought she knew.
As a mutual enemy forces them together, Marisol and Sloane must work as a team in a fight for their lives. Can they overcome their differences and their growing attraction to find their way to freedom? And can Governor Sloane ever bring herself to trust the Queen of Humboldt?
Available at:
Out of the Flames (A Manhattan Sloane Thriller) by Stacy Lynn Miller
Newly minted San Francisco police detective Manhattan Sloane lets no one get close. Especially lovers.
Sloane has her reasons for keeping the world at arm’s length. But then her first childhood crush, DEA Agent Finn Harper, reappears and changes everything. Harper has arrived in San Francisco to investigate a new street drug weaving its way into the city—a drug that has personal ties for Sloane. The two find themselves thrown together as they team up to take down a ruthless cartel lord. Soon sparks fly as old feelings surface, forcing Sloane to face her past in order to build a new future.
Available at:
Cause of Death by Sheri Lewis Wohl
All Vi Akiak wanted when she came to Spokane was to earn her medical degree, get a job in the medical examiner’s office, and keep her biggest secret safe. She didn’t plan her attraction to Kate Renard, the beautiful K9 search and rescue handler who lived next door, and she really didn’t plan on chasing a serial killer.
Kate is delighted when Vi moves in next door. She’s attractive, fascinating, and best of all, she likes dogs. When dead bodies start turning up in forested recreational areas around Spokane, Vi and Kate must work together to find the killer before they end up the next targets. In the race for survival, they discover that love may be the biggest risk of all.
Available at:
The Target by Gerri Hill
Sara Michaels is the daughter of a prominent senator who has just announced his candidacy for President of the United States–the same senator who has been receiving death threats against his family.
Sara Michaels is also the owner of a self-help clinic and is hell-bent–despite the FBI’s warnings–on leading a group of ten women on a two-week sojourn through the Rocky Mountains.
In an effort to protect Sara, the FBI recruits homicide detective Jaime Hutchinson to infiltrate the group and secretly provide the protection they are so certain Sara will need. After some clever maneuvering, Jaime finds herself welcomed by the ten conservative women–who soon begin playing matchmaker with Sara and Jaime.
But then Jaime is reminded of the reason that she has joined this group of women when she’s forced to lead them out of the mountains and away from a sniper’s bullets.
Will Sara finally figure out who is behind the death threats? And will Jaime realize the truth–and be able to save Sara before it’s too late?
Available at:
Heart Stopper by RJ Samuel
Dr. Priya Joseph is an Irish-Indian coder working at a new pacemaker clinic in Galway, a small city on the west coast of Ireland that is a research and manufacturing hub within the multi-billion-dollar medical devices industry. Priya’s life is already off the rails; in fact, the train has disappeared screaming into a ravine when, after a night out that she does not remember apart from a vague memory of being with a mysterious woman, she wakes up in an unfamiliar apartment and finds the dead body of her boss, American cardiologist and inventor, Dr Daniel Fairer III.
Priya is dragged by his family into an investigation of Daniel’s death. As they uncover secrets about the groundbreaking pacemaker technology that Daniel and his research partners developed and the wireless controllers that communicate with the implanted pacemakers, their investigation threatens a multi-million dollar enterprise. Priya learns that she has unwittingly been involved in research that could have consequences far beyond the small city where she has been trying to hide from her life. She discovers that her past is not what she thought it was and now that she actually wants a future, she may not survive long enough as she is being pursued her and her pursuers will do whatever it takes to complete their mission but time is running out. And they have a problem. Which they need Priya to solve.
Available at:
Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide
Hello, Niveus High. It’s me. Who am I? That’s not important. All you need to know is…I’m here to divide and conquer. – Aces
Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students’ dark secrets to light.
Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can’t escape the spotlight when his private photos go public.
Head girl Chiamaka isn’t afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power.
Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they’re planning much more than a high-school game…
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They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.
Every year, Dr. Clark searches for the worst man at Gorman University—professor, student, or otherwise—and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself…but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Dr. Clark insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.
Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay…and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.
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The post Sapphic Thriller (Book Unicorn #6) appeared first on Jae.
June 10, 2021
Sapphic book with a character of a different ethnicity, culture, or race than you (Sapphic Reading Challenge #22)
For this week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge category, read a book in which at least one of the main characters is of a different race, ethnicity, or culture than you.
Please pick a book that is own voices, meaning the author shares the character’s racial, ethnic, or cultural background.
Read more diversely
Reading books is a wonderful way to walk in somebody else’s shoes for a while. I encourage you to read diverse books, including books by authors whose race, ethnicity, or culture is different from your own, for ALL categories of the Sapphic Reading Challenge, not just for today’s category. If you check my recommended reading lists, you’ll find suggestions for each category.
Books featuring a Latinx character, written by a Latinx author
Prize Money by Celeste Castro (all Latina and Indigenous cast of characters)
Eva Angeles is a professional barrel racer headed for her third world title when a competition mishap throws her in the path of an on-the-loose bull. She is saved from impending disaster by a tall, dark, and handsome bullfighter—a woman.
Toma Rozene is an equestrian stuntwoman fresh off the set of a blockbuster film when a family emergency calls her home to help run the family business: rescuing fallen rodeo riders before blustering bulls and bucking broncos trample their dreams.
Eva and Toma’s shared passions and competitive spirits make friendship easy, but, as their feelings deepen, they must decide if the divergent futures they seek will stand in the way of love.
Available at:
Queerleaders by M.B. Guel (latinx character, Mexican author)
“Mack snuck a look over her shoulder at the cheerleaders just as Veronica took her place at the top of the pyramid. Time seemed to slow as Veronica swung her long, blond ponytail over her shoulder, pompoms high in the air…”
Mackenzie is used to being different from other kids—and to being bullied for not fitting into the rigid social expectations of her Catholic high school. Luckily, Mack’s best friend Lila has her back so school isn’t the total hell it could be. But it’s pretty damn close.
Until something very mysterious happens—Mack becomes a cheerleader magnet. Even she has a hard time believing it. And Lila is not too happy about her friend’s sudden popularity with the cool kids.
Is Mack being set up for an epic fail? Or is she finally headed for acceptance–and maybe even romance…
Available at:
Mangos and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera (Dominican character)
Kiskeya Burgos left the tropical beaches of the Dominican Republic with a lot to prove. As a pastry chef on the come up, when she arrives in Scotland, she has one goal in mind: win the Holiday Baking Challenge. Winning is her opportunity to prove to her family, her former boss, and most importantly herself, she can make it in the culinary world. Kiskeya will stop at nothing to win, that is, if she can keep her eyes on the prize and off her infuriating teammate’s perfect lips.
Sully Morales, home cooking hustler, and self-proclaimed baking brujita lands in Scotland on a quest to find her purpose after spending years as her family’s caregiver. But now, with her home life back on track, it’s time for Sully to get reacquainted with her greatest love, baking. Winning the Holiday Baking Challenge is a no brainer if she can convince her grumpy AF baking partner that they make a great team both in and out of the kitchen before an unexpected betrayal ends their chance to attain culinary competition glory.
Available at:
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (Puerto Rican character)
Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that’s going to help her figure out this whole “Puerto Rican lesbian” thing. She’s interning with the author of her favorite book: Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women’s bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff.
Will Juliet be able to figure out her life over the course of one magical summer? Is that even possible? Or is she running away from all the problems that seem too big to handle?
With more questions than answers, Juliet takes on Portland, Harlowe, and most importantly, herself.
Available at:
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante (Salvadorian character)
Seventeen-year-old Marisol has always dreamed of being American, learning what Americans and the US are like from television and Mrs. Rosen, an elderly expat who had employed Marisol’s mother as a maid. When she pictured an American life for herself, she dreamed of a life like Aimee and Amber’s, the title characters of her favorite American TV show. She never pictured fleeing her home in El Salvador under threat of death and stealing across the US border as “an illegal”, but after her brother is murdered and her younger sister, Gabi’s, life is also placed in equal jeopardy, she has no choice, especially because she knows everything is her fault. If she had never fallen for the charms of a beautiful girl named Liliana, Pablo might still be alive, her mother wouldn’t be in hiding and she and Gabi wouldn’t have been caught crossing the border.
But they have been caught and their asylum request will most certainly be denied. With truly no options remaining, Marisol jumps at an unusual opportunity to stay in the United States. She’s asked to become a grief keeper, taking the grief of another into her own body to save a life. It’s a risky, experimental study, but if it means Marisol can keep her sister safe, she will risk anything. She just never imagined one of the risks would be falling in love, a love that may even be powerful enough to finally help her face her own crushing grief.
Available at:
Lobizona by Romina Garber (Argentinian character)
Some people ARE illegal.
Lobizonas do NOT exist.
Both of these statements are false.
Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who’s on the run from her father’s Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida.
Until Manu’s protective bubble is shattered.
Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past—a mysterious “Z” emblem—which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong.
As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it’s not just her U.S. residency that’s illegal….it’s her entire existence.
Available at:
The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado (graphic novel, Latinx main character, black main character)
Shudder-To-Think, Pennsylvania, has been on fire for years. The coal mines beneath it are long since abandoned. The woods are full of rabbits with human eyes, a deer woman who stalks hungry girls, and swaths of skinless men. And the people in Shudder-to-Think? Well, they’re not doing so well either.
When El and Octavia wake up in a movie theater with no memory of the last few hours of their lives, the two teenage dirtbags begin a surreal and terrifying journey to discover the truth about the strange town that they call home. Like so many women in Shudder-to-Think before them, all they have is a void where the truth once was. But as time passes, El finds herself needing to know more about what has happened, while Octavia wants nothing more than to forget the forgetting. Can these two teens reconcile their differences before the horrible things lurking beneath their town emerge and swallow them whole?
Available at:
Dear Taylor by Eija Jimenez (Latinx main character, black main character)
Taylor Phillips was working as a barista in NYC the day the twin towers came crashing down. Seeing her city in shambles, coated in ash, and American lives lost, she enlisted to fight the War on Terror.
Daniella Melo, a Rhode Island American History teacher, challenges her class to write letters to soldiers fighting overseas. With one name left and a student short, Daniella takes it upon herself to write letters to Private Taylor Phillips stationed in Afghanistan.
Over the next two years, the women exchange letters, sharing stories of their daily lives: Daniella trailing after her rambunctious daughter, Jackie, and dealing with overeager seniors planning prom while Taylor trudges through sand and dirt, driving her humvee in cold deserts. Their friendship continues to grow until it becomes something so much more than either woman expect.
Available at:
Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole (Cuban character)
What if you don’t follow the rules and it radically alters the course of your life?
What if you get kicked out of the house and lose all your friends and everyone you love?
Will you turn the corner into a world filled with unusual friends and create a new kind of family or self-destruct?
Available at:
Fiebre Tropical by Juliana Delgado Lopera (Colombian character)
Uprooted from her comfortable life in Bogotá, Colombia, into an ant-infested Miami townhouse, fifteen-year-old Francisca is miserable and friendless in her strange new city. Her alienation grows when her mother is swept up into an evangelical church, replete with Christian salsa, abstinent young dancers, and baptisms for the dead.
But there, Francisca also meets the magnetic Carmen: opinionated and charismatic, head of the youth group, and the pastor’s daughter. As her mother’s mental health deteriorates and her grandmother descends into alcoholism, Francisca falls more and more intensely in love with Carmen. To get closer to her, Francisca turns to Jesus to be saved, even as their relationship hurtles toward a shattering conclusion.
Available at:
Books featuring a Black character, written by a Black author
Friends and Lovers by Ava Freeman
Victoria’s long term relationship has gone stale and the beautiful stranger she meets on her trip to her hometown has her ready to risk it all.
Alexis is committed to her girlfriend Sera and wants to pop the question. That is until she discovers even the woman of your dreams can have secrets.
Stevie has been a player most of her life but she loves a challenge. Chloe is ready to give it to her but it may not have the outcome she expects.
New York is heating up but will the ladies be able to stand it?
Available at:
The Rules by S. Renee Bess
Blackmail, murder, missing persons, and hidden identities link lives that otherwise, would have remained unconnected.
London Phillips’ suburban black middle class background has made her vulnerable to the alienation she feels as she tap dances between the expectations she holds for herself and the expectations other people impose upon her. A full-time realtor and part-time writer, London encounters frustration when she tries to contact Milagros Farrow, a revered lesbian author whose work London would like to include in an anthology she’s compiling. Milagros has disappeared from the face of the earth.
Rand Carson is a prominent newspaper journalist who is forced to deal with the sudden loss of her financial security and the dissolution of her long term interracial relationship with Willa. Rand seems compelled to pursue London, although it’s possible she’s more attracted to London’s ethnicity than to London herself.
Candace Dickerson, a corporate event planner, is married to avarice. In order to chase a more lucrative future, Candace has abandoned her lover, Lenah and Lenah’s perceived lack of ambition. She’s moved into the city where she executes a plot designed to augment her earnings with other people’s money.
Lenah Miller is content with her job at a local hospital’s Emergency Department. For reasons known only to her, she distrusts women she considers too ambitious or from different social strata. Steeped in cynicism and memories held in secret, Lenah finds it easier to criticize a woman whose gentle nature differs from hers than to accept their differences.
The threads entwined around London’s desire to connect with a kindred spirit, Lenah’s wary skepticism, Rand’s inappropriate ardor, and Candace’s greed come undone when three people fall victim to blackmail, one reappears, and another succumbs to murder.
Available at:
SBF Seeking by LaToya Hankins
Four months before her wedding, Yvette Thurman realizes this might be her last chance to have a sexual fling with a white man. But she never thought placing a personal ad would lead her to discover she was a lesbian.
Yvette’s small town life in eastern North Carolina never prepared her for the personal journey she undertakes as she struggles to find her heart’s path.
Through personal ads and late night visits to an adult bookstore, Yvette learns more about her own personal desires than she ever did when she was engaged to be married. If she embraces her true self, can she find acceptance and love from her family and friends? Or will she be forced to hide who she really is from those she cares about the most?
Available at:
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.
But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz’s plans come crashing down . . . until she’s reminded of her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen. There’s nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington.
The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She’s smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?
Available at:
Big Girl Pill by KD Williamson
Maya Davis is done hiding. It’s left her empty and out of touch with her family. Now she’s a young woman on a mission: getting rid of residual feelings for her former best friend from college. Her plan is to put herself through a wringer by being in Nina’s upcoming wedding and burning away whatever emotions are left, so she can start anew. Her plan, however, has big holes, and everything she’s been feeling rushes through and leaves her thinking that this was a bad idea.
Nina Sterling is a work in progress, torn between being two very different things—the person others expect her to be and who she wants to become. For the past couple of years, it’s been easier to give in toher demanding, steamroller of a mother and her pleasant but controlling fiancé, but with Maya’s return for a lengthy stay in town, and encouragement from Nina’s hilarious cousin, seeds of rebellion are sown.
As Maya and Nina try to patch up the past and get closer, old sparks rekindle, and as they both grow into who they are meant to be, those sparks might just become a fire.
Available at:
That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole
Mercy Alston knows the best thing to do with pesky feelings like “love” and “hope”: avoid them at all cost. Serving as a maid to Eliza Hamilton, and an assistant in the woman’s stubborn desire to preserve her late husband’s legacy, has driven that point home for Mercy—as have her own previous heartbreaks.
When Andromeda Stiel shows up at Hamilton Grange for an interview in her grandfather’s stead, Mercy’s resolution to live a quiet, pain-free life is tested by the beautiful, flirtatious, and entirely overwhelming dressmaker.
Andromeda has staid Mercy reconsidering her worldview, but neither is prepared for love—or for what happens when it’s not enough.
Available at:
Femme Like Her by Fiona Zedde
Nailah Grant only dates studs, races her Camaro for therapy, and believes in leaving her exes in the past where they belong.
But with a layoff looming and her retired parents about to take a life-changing step Nailah isn’t ready for, her world becomes far from stable. Enter Scottie, the only femme she’s ever allowed close enough to touch her heart. They say trouble comes in threes, and this femme is one with a capital T.
Scottie is an ex though, and somebody Nailah never should have been with in the first place. Yet, when the foundations of her life crumble fast, Scottie is the one Nailah finds herself clinging to. Just as things settle into a semblance of something Nailah could only dream about, a shattering secret from Scottie’s past threatens to destroy everything the two women have built together.
Will Nailah stay the course with Scottie, or allow her fears to ruin her chance at a real and passionate love?
Available at:
Keile’s Chance by Dillon Watson
Sometimes, life offers you a chance to see what you’ve been missing…
Everything Keile Griffen ever loved was taken away, including her family. Surviving a youth in Child Support Services has left her driven to succeed as an adult—and she has. A successful, sought after planning consultant, she maps out solutions for other people, but never for herself.
When Hayden Davenport’s partner walked out on her in the midst of planning their family, she decided to go it alone. It hasn’t been easy, and she’s not used to help. When her missing son is found by a stranger at the park, she’s overwhelmingly grateful to the young woman. When her gratitude blossoms into something more, her first impulse is to protect her child—and her battered heart.
All Keile knows is that fateful day in the park she fell for a pair of big, brown eyes. But if she wants a family she has to take a chance, a big one. She could win it all…or lose everything.
Available at:
Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann
Alice had her whole summer planned. Nonstop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting—working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating—no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.
But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).
When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.
Available at:
When I Was Your Girlfriend by Nikki Harmon
How can you be sure that your first love wasn’t your true love?
In When I Was Your Girlfriend, African-American lesbian Dee Armstrong leads a seemingly charmed life. She has a successful midwifery practice, a supportive family, and an exciting romantic life. But when Dee mistakenly believes she will have to confront her first love and first heartbreak, Candace, it sends her tumbling back into her memories to re-live the terrifying and exhilarating joy of being a teenager in love … with another girl.
Convinced that Candace was her one true love, Dee sets off on a tumultuous cross country journey to find her in hopes of renewing their relationship. When she does not find the reconciliation she had hoped for, she dives into a new relationship with Noema, an outspoken artist. She feels completely vindicated until she makes the awful discovery that this too, has been more fantasy than the real love she desires. Dee’s quest leads to some serious soul searching and the realization that maybe love wasn’t the only thing that she lost all those years ago.
Available at:
Books featuring an Asian or Pacific Islander character, written by an Asian or Pacific Islander author:
It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura (Japanese American main character)
Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.
When Sana and her family move to California, she begins to wonder if it’s finally time for some honesty, especially after she meets Jamie Ramirez. Jamie is beautiful and smart and unlike anyone Sana’s ever known.
There are just a few problems: Sana’s new friends don’t trust Jamie’s crowd; Jamie’s friends clearly don’t want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore.
Sana always figured that the hardest thing would be to tell people that she wants to date a girl, but as she quickly learns, telling the truth is easy…what comes after it, though, is a whole lot more complicated.
Available at:
I Can’t Think Straight by Shamim Sarif (Indian main character & Palestinian main character)
Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship.
Moving between Middle Eastern high society and London’s West End, this story explores the clashes between East and West, love and marriage, and convention and individuality creating a humorous and tender tale of unexpected love.
Available at:
You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista (Filipino character)
Best friends Jo and Liza are as opposite as night and day. Sex worker Jo swears by the worry-free, one-day-at-a-time dance through life. Salesclerk Liza has big plans for her family’s future, and there is nothing bigger than a one-way trip to the U.S.
But an almost-kiss, a sex dare, and news of Liza’s engagement to her American boyfriend unveil feelings Jo and Liza never thought they had. Deciding between staying together and drifting apart puts Liza’s best-laid plans and Jo’s laidback life in jeopardy.
When love clashes with lifelong ambitions and family expectations, someone has to give in.
Question is: who?
Available at:
Deadline (Harrietta Lee #1) by Stephanie Ahn (Korean American character)
Disgraced witch Harrietta Lee has made a lot of mistakes in her life; there’s a reason she’s got a sizable burn scar slapped across the side of her neck and a formal letter of excommunication from the international underground magical community. But who has time to dwell on the past when you’re trying to make rent in New York?
Things are mostly clean and simple, until her next odd job is brought to her by the representative of a powerful corporate family—a family she once had close personal ties to. As she unwillingly digs through six years’ worth of personal baggage, she’s also got to contend with an inhuman admirer shadowing her in the street.
But hey, maybe it’ll be worth it for the beautiful women she gets to kiss…
Available at:
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan (Persian character)
Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is a relief. As an Iranian-American, she’s different enough; if word got out that Leila liked girls, life would be twice as hard.
But when beautiful new girl Saskia shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would. As she carefully confides in trusted friends about Saskia’s confusing signals, Leila begins to figure out that all her classmates are more complicated than they first appear to be, and some are keeping surprising secrets of their own.
Available at:
Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin (Taiwanese characters)
Set in the post-martial-law era of late-1980s Taipei, Notes of a Crocodile is a coming-of-age story of queer misfits discovering love, friendship, and artistic affinity while hardly studying at Taiwan’s most prestigious university. Told through the eyes of an anonymous lesbian narrator nicknamed Lazi, this cult classic is a postmodern pastiche of diaries, vignettes, mash notes, aphorisms, exegesis, and satire by an incisive prose stylist and major countercultural figure.
Afflicted by her fatalistic attraction to Shui Ling, an older woman, Lazi turns for support to a circle of friends that includes a rich kid turned criminal and his troubled, self-destructive gay lover, as well as a bored, mischievous overachiever and her alluring slacker artist girlfriend.
Available at:
Falling into Place by Sheryn Munir (Indian characters)
Romance is not for Tara. Embittered after a college fling, she vows to never fall in love again–especially since she believes there’s no future for same-sex love in her home in urban India.
Then, one rain-drenched evening, an insane decision brings the bubbly Sameen into her life and everything changes. Sameen is beautiful, a breath of fresh air…and almost certainly straight. All Tara’s carefully built-up defences start to crumble, one after the other. But is this relationship doomed before it can even start?
Available at:
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar (Bengali characters)
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:
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (Vietnamese American character)
Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.
But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.
Available at:
Parachutes by Kelly Yang (Chinese character)
They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the United States while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California.
Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.
Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. But Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course when her debate coach starts working with her privately.
As they steer their own distinct paths, Dani and Claire keep crashing into one another, setting a course that will change their lives forever.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know which book you’ll be reading for the “character of a different race, ethnicity, or culture than you” category! Feel free to also add more book suggestions in the comments.
The post Sapphic book with a character of a different ethnicity, culture, or race than you (Sapphic Reading Challenge #22) appeared first on Jae.
June 3, 2021
Age gap romance (Sapphic Reading Challenge #21)
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features age gap romance novels–meaning there’s a significant age gap between the two main characters. People’s definitions of what constitutes a “significant age gap” vary, but for the purpose of this reading challenge, one main character needs to be at least 8 years older than the other.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
Pride Month Giveaway
Before you take a look at the list of age gap romances, I wanted to point you toward my Pride Month Giveaway. To celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community, I’m giving away three of my books (winner’s choice of ebook or signed paperback of any of my books). Anyone can enter, no matter where they live.
To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is answer the question how many of my novel-length books you have read so far (If you don’t know the exact number, take an educated guess). Enter the giveaway here.
I’ll draw the winners on June 10, 2021, at 10 a.m. CET, and email you if you win.
15 sapphic age gap romance novels
I put together a list of 15 sapphic age gap romance novels. I hope you find at least one you’ll enjoy.
Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae
A single text message can change everything!
Flirting has never been Denny’s strong suit, but so what if she’s too shy to ask women out? She’s content with her simple life, working as a cashier and helping her sister raise her niece.
But then she gets a wrong-number text message from a stranger named Eliza, asking her of all people for dating advice!
Eliza is Denny’s total opposite: witty, outgoing—and straight. Despite their differences, the accidental text sparks an unlikely friendship. Soon, Eliza—self-proclaimed queen of disastrous first dates—would rather banter back and forth with Denny than to keep trying her luck at online dating.
When they meet in person, there’s an instant connection. But what Eliza is feeling can’t be attraction, right? It doesn’t mean a thing that she’s starting to wish the guys she dates would be more like Denny. Or does it?
Can the wrong number lead to the right woman after all?
Available at:
Ylva Publishing
Worthy of Love by Quinn Ivins
Nadine Bayani was at the top of her game. The brilliant, ruthless lawyer was in line to be White House chief of staff—until she confessed to campaign finance crimes that cost her party the election.
Now Nadine’s out of prison, broke, hated by millions, and stuck doing a menial retail job in rural Virginia where she barely earns enough to survive.
Bella Clarke has worked at Overstock Oasis since she flunked college. She wants to go back to school, but secretly doubts she’s smart enough. At least she’s not as clueless as her boss, who just accidentally hired the woman responsible for a national scandal.
However, Nadine seems to be nothing like the crook portrayed in the media, and Bella is drawn to her troubled, standoffish co-worker. As they grow closer, Nadine introduces Bella to the delights of Filipino food and opens Bella’s eyes to her own possibilities.
Before long, about the only thing harder to make sense of than Nadine’s past is their powerful chemistry together. Is Bella really falling for a woman who caused so much harm? And even if she is, how can two such different people ever be a match?
Available at:
Ylva Publishing
If You Kiss Me Like That by Harper Bliss
Ashley ‘Ash’ Cooper is still reeling after her recent divorce, throwing all her energy into her job in The City. When she’s seated next to one of her mother’s friends at a family party, falling in love is the last thing on her mind.
After losing her husband many years ago, Gloria Young rebuilt herself as a single parent. Now that her daughters are both at university, she’s perfectly content with her quiet life in the village of Murraywood.
An unexpectedly enjoyable evening with a friend’s daughter pushes Gloria into exploring a new side of herself.
Will she overcome her fear of what people think and allow herself a new chance at happiness?
And can Ash let go of the past and open herself up to love again?
Available at:
Ladylit Publishing
The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter
Aussie crime reporter Maddie Grey is out of her depth in New York and secretly drawn to her twice-married, powerful media mogul boss, Elena Bartell, who eats failing newspapers for breakfast. As work takes them to Australia, Maddie is goaded into a brief bet—that they will say only the truth to each other. It backfires catastrophically. A lesbian romance about the lies we tell ourselves
Available at:
Ylva Publishing
Coming Home by KJ
What would happen if your regular, ordinary, safe, everyday existence suddenly became…not any of those things? When Samantha Markson, Ordinary Person, is thrust into the life of Abigail Taylor, Not At All Ordinary Person, it proves to be an experience like she’s never had before.
World famous actress, Abigail Taylor, is in Melbourne filming her new movie, and is accompanied by her nine year old daughter, Grace, because Abigail wants her to experience an Australian education for three months. Sam Markson is a teacher at one of the best schools in Melbourne, and is perfectly happy doing that, thank you very much, when she’s suddenly redirected from the classroom into the job as Grace’s teacher; a move so fast that even blinking would feel like slow motion.
Sam has never met anyone like Abigail Taylor, and she starts to realise that her ordinary life might actually be missing something extraordinary.
Available at:
Amazon
Reservations of the Heart by TB Markinson
41-year-old doctor Stella Gilbert used to have it all. Her career was on fire, and she had a picture-perfect family–until she was blindsided by her wife doing the unthinkable. Three years after her divorce, Stella’s loved ones worry about her non-existent personal life and her stubborn belief that focusing on her career and raising her daughter are all she needs to be fulfilled.
Reeling from the revelation of a long-held family secret, 29-year-old Aurora Shirley is just over it all. If her parents could lie to Aurora all her life, won’t everyone else? Women are the last thing on her mind as she starts a temporary job at a local medical school. Unfortunately for Aurora, she needs to find a date for her best friend’s wedding or be deemed the worst maid of honor in history.
When Stella and Aurora unexpectedly come together, sparks fly. Neither is looking for a relationship, but what they discover in one another is so much more than a physical connection. Can two wounded women who believe love is the last thing they want overcome their fears to find healing?
Available at:
Amazon
New Lease of Love by Arizona Tape
It only takes the right person to turn everything around.
An evil stepmother drives Quinn away from home and desperate for money, she ends up working in Rainbow Central, a bar on the verge of going bankrupt. The only saving grace? The beautiful owner and divorcée, Olivia White.
Despite their age difference, the two women work well together trying to breathe a new lease of life into the bar. But what about a new lease of love?
Available at:
Amazon
Hungry for It by Fiona Zedde
Rémi’s had a crush on her best friend’s mother since she knew what lust was. Claudia is everything she wants in a lover but doesn’t think she deserves – sophisticated, brilliant, and a woman of substance. But Rémi has resigned herself to only lusting from afar.
Instead of reaching out for what she really wants, Rémi takes the easy pleasure offered by the many women she meets around Miami and at her exclusive jazz club, burying her desire for Claudia in their willing bodies and shutting down the part of herself that craves more. It works for a while.
But when a dangerous business rival starts making trouble for Rémi, she finds herself unexpectedly turning to Claudia for comfort. The heat that flares between the two women quickly becomes too explosive for either of them to ignore. Soon, their nights are devoted to pleasure – sex, food, and the sweetness of discovering each other in new ways. But Rémi knows very well they are loving on borrowed time. Because once her best friend finds out what she’s been doing, and who, it will put more than just their friendship at stake.
Available at:
Amazon
The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair
Laurie Holcombe is out of a job, out of luck, and out of time. When a prestigious law firm hires her as an assistant to one of its senior partners, it feels like she might finally get back on her feet. All she has to do is put up with the whims of her infuriatingly icy boss, Diana. How hard could that be?
Diana Parker is Atlanta’s top lawyer and isn’t afraid to let everyone know it. She’s driven, ruthless, demanding, and stuck in a failing marriage. Too bad she can’t run her personal life as well as she runs her ordered office.
When a young assistant shows up with bright blue eyes, a cute Southern accent, and a streak of pink hair, Diana’s sure she’s all wrong for the job. And yet something seems to be pulling her and Laurie Holcombe together, drawing them into a secret, thrilling dance that’s far too dangerous for a boss and employee.
Can they make rules for this powerful attraction, a way to keep each other at arm’s length? But how do you resist the irresistible?
Available at:
Ylva Publishing
Tomorrow’s Promise by Radclyffe
Adrienne Pierce, buffeted by fate and abandoned by love, seeks refuge from her past as well as her uncertain future on Whitley Point, a secluded island off the coast of Maine.
Tanner Whitley—young, wild, restless—and heir to a dynasty, desperately tries to escape both her destiny and the memories of a tragic loss with casual sex and wild nights, a dangerous course that may ultimately destroy her.
One timeless summer, these two very different women discover the power of passion to heal–and the promise of hero that only love can bestow.
Available at:
Bold Strokes Books
The Sex Therapist Next Door by Meghan O’Brien
Diana Kelley is a couples sex therapist with a problem: it’s her job to convince her clients of the importance of sexual and emotional intimacy, but after surviving a toxic relationship with an abusive ex, she’s sworn off love and can’t fathom ever making herself vulnerable again. When her best friend Ava is injured the night she is scheduled to assist with a hands-on sexual education workshop, Diana is forced to find a short-term replacement. The last thing she wants is a new lover, even a paid one.
After a year of living in the apartment next door, all Jude Monaco knows about her neighbor Diana is that she’s a gorgeous older woman and the inspiration for more dirty fantasies than she cares to admit. So when Diana knocks on her door with a shockingly delicious favor to ask, Jude seizes the opportunity to learn more.
Their professional relationship is supposed to be a clinical erotic arrangement between a sex therapist and her assistant, but at the intersection of sex and intimacy, anything is possible. Even love.
Available at:
Bold Strokes Books
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
Hollywood powerhouse Jo is photographed making her assistant Emma laugh on the red carpet, and just like that, the tabloids declare them a couple. The so-called scandal couldn’t come at a worse time – threatening Emma’s promotion and Jo’s new movie.
As the gossip spreads, it starts to affect all areas of their lives. Paparazzi are following them outside the office, coworkers are treating them differently, and a ‘source’ is feeding information to the media. But their only comment is ‘no comment’.
With the launch of Jo’s film project fast approaching, the two women begin to spend even more time together, getting along famously. Emma seems to have a sixth sense for knowing what Jo needs. And Jo, known for being aloof and outwardly cold, opens up to Emma in a way neither of them expects. They begin to realise the rumour might not be so off base after all . . . but is acting on the spark between them worth fanning the gossip flames?
Available at:
Amazon
Arbor Vitae by Susan X. Meagher
Even when you’re not expecting it, love can find you. The flames of passion can ignite so quickly that all of the impediments to love can seem immaterial. They’re not. Overcoming differences in age, sexual orientation, social status and familial expectations is daunting, but if it’s right, love will find a way.
Abby Graham is uncommonly lovely, happy and content with her life, but when she finds herself a widow just a week before her 40th birthday, the secure world that she thought was permanent is suddenly on very shaky ground. Struggling to work through her grief, she always puts her children’s needs first, leaving little time for herself.
Five years later her youngest child leaves for college and Abby decides to kick start a new lease on life by returning to the dating scene, as well as transforming the backyard of her home into an oasis of beauty and tranquility.
She hires Clancy O’Connor, a high-spirited young landscape architect who is trying to build a business and hopes to get recommendations from Abby’s upper-class social circle. Clancy develops a serious crush on the beautiful widow before their first meeting is finished. It’s a recipe for heartache; even though Abby seems remarkably comfortable with Clancy’s lesbianism, Clancy is unable to imagine that Abby would be willing to take the leap given the differences in their age, class, wealth and lifestyles.
As Abby reveals more of herself to Clancy during their many hours of consultation, the connection between them begins to spark. After an evening of small intimacies and shared dreams, the women can no longer fight their mutual desire. Although Abby has her doubts about the future, she and Clancy embark on a torrid love affair…but all too soon a threat develops that could destroy the tentative bond that holds them together.
Available at:
Brisk Press
Sidebar by Carsen Taite
Judge Camille Avery, newly appointed to the federal court, is finally back on her dream career path. She’s determined not to let any mistakes, past or future, get in her way, but a complex murder case and undeniable attraction to her rebellious law clerk threaten Camille’s carefully planned future at every turn.
Attorney West Fallon is a social justice crusader, reluctant to put her career plans on hold to clerk for a federal judge, even if the judge is the man who saved her life. When he’s suddenly forced to retire, West is stuck clerking for Judge Camille Avery, an infuriatingly stubborn—okay, brilliant, intense, and sexy—law-and-order jurist who seems just as unhappy to be saddled with her.
As Camille and West explore their growing desire and challenge the boundaries of their work and personal relationships, a big case threatens to destroy both their careers. Can their love survive?
Available at:
Bold Strokes Books
After Mrs. Hamilton by Clare Ashton
Clo is leading a loveless life as a high class escort for women. She’s always had a dream of the ideal partner, but after a bad experience with love when she was young, figures she is better off on her own. Right now, she’s supposed to be meeting her best friend. But tonight, Clo has to work.
It’s early evening and Mrs. Hamilton waits for an escort on the balcony of her London hotel suite. It’s cold, and she feels ice in her veins that has nothing to do with the chilly air. Too much pain, betrayal and lost desire. What is she thinking, that the touch of a stranger will heal her broken past? But her appointment is with Clo, and the touch of this beautiful young woman lights torches Mrs. Hamilton didn’t know she carried. Clo doesn’t even feel like a stranger. She feels dangerously like someone Mrs. Hamilton wants to know.
But love, passion, and desire never seem to know the right time, or place. Neither do secrets, especially when everyone’s keeping them, as call girl Clo and her friends are about to find out. From London to Oxfordshire, the past collides with the present with repercussions no one could imagine or will ever forget.
Available at:
Amazon
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know which book you’ll be reading for the “age gap romance” category!
The post Age gap romance (Sapphic Reading Challenge #21) appeared first on Jae.
May 27, 2021
Nerdy or geeky character (Sapphic Reading Challenge #20)
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features books with a main character who’s a geek or a nerd, meaning they are very enthusiastic about some kind of non-mainstream activity or specialized subject, e.g., a video games, science, technology, comic books, cosplay, collections, etc.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
15 sapphic books with a geeky or nerdy protagonist
I put together a list of 15 sapphic books that have a nerdy or geeky main character. I hope you find at least one you’ll enjoy.
Paper Love by Jae
Susanne Wolff isn’t thrilled when her mother sends her all the way across the country to Freiburg to save her uncle’s stationery store from bankruptcy. Freiburg is too provincial for her taste, and besides, pen and paper are outdated anyway.
Anja Lamm, Paper Love’s only full-time employee, takes an instant dislike to the arrogant, digital-loving snob who’s supposed to be her temporary boss.
But thanks to a meddling cat, a business trip to a stationery fair, and an armada of origami boats, Anja soon starts to see beneath Susanne’s aloof exterior, and Susanne discovers how sexy pens and notebooks can be—at least when Anja handles them.
As the end of Susanne’s three-month stay approaches, will she stick to her plan to leave, or will she open her heart to more than just paper love?
Available at:
Infinite Loop by Meghan O’Brien
Regan O’Riley has just about given up hope that she will ever find a woman into shy, geeky programmers. She yearns for a connection, but can’t seem to make the first move. Mel Raines knows all about making moves. After a childhood under the thumb of her alcoholic father, she avoids intimacy by drowning herself in fiery, fleeting encounters with strangers.
When Regan and Mel meet in a straight bar, of all places, their chemistry is unmistakable. Before they can begin to explore their new relationship, Mel’s world is rocked when a close friend is a victim in a shooting. Regan suggests they take a road trip to escape reality for a little while, and Mel is only too ready to shake things up. Together they embark upon a physical and emotional journey where they discover that breaking free of old habits may be the only way to change your life.
Available at:
The Love Factor by Quinn Ivins
Molly Cook is almost thirty, with dismal career prospects, and has given up on saving the world. It might be the nineties, and everything’s shoulder pads, Doc Martens, and The X-Files, but people won’t budge on gay rights. Molly decides to give a PhD a whirl but finds herself more interested in campus politics…and her strict and sexy statistics professor.
Professor Carmen Vaughn is stuck in small-town Maryland with smarmy blowhards for colleagues and ungrateful students who can’t handle her high standards. She has no intention of coming out, least of all to Molly, a troublemaking grad student who can’t stop picking fights with the conservative faculty.
But when Molly discovers evidence implicating a homophobic colleague in a scandal, Carmen can’t ignore it—even if the subject hits too close to home. As the two women work together to make their case, they grow closer than Carmen ever imagined. But she absolutely refuses to get involved with a student.
The thing is, as the chemistry builds between them, Molly isn’t sure she wants to be a grad student anymore…if she ever did.
Available at:
In Her Court by Tamsen Parker
Newly minted professor Evangeline “Van” Thompson’s academic dreams have turned into nightmares. She can’t wait to escape the pressure cooker of the university to spend the summer at Camp Firefly Falls with her bestie, Nate.
Unfortunately, Nate breaks his leg halfway through the season, and his little sister Willa fills in for him as resident tennis instructor. Van has fond memories of the blonde moppet, but when Willa shows up at camp, she’s not so little anymore. She’s grown into a bombshell and a menace on the tennis court—why do those skirts have to be so short, anyway?
Willa Carter has had a crush on Van Thompson since the third grade but Van’s always been more interested in hanging out with Willa’s older brother. Not much seems to have changed—Van’s managing the camp’s web presence while Willa rocks her tennis whites.
Camp will be closing in a few weeks, and Van’s barely spoken to Willa despite sharing a cabin. But when the two get thrown together to plan the last session of camp, s’mores might not be the only thing getting sticky and sweet before the season’s out…
Available at:
Neither Here Nor There by Nikki Harmon
Kim is your typical rebellious black gay nerd, biding her time in college until she can get to her dream job at NASA. Returning home from work-study in the biology lab one day, Kim experiences a strange kind of double vision. She can somehow see her “choices” before she makes them. Just as she begins to investigate her new skill, Kim is kidnapped. Held in a remote farmhouse, she discovers that her abilities are no accident but that she has been an unwitting subject of an experiment by the professor she is working for at the lab. Confused and overwhelmed, Kim is able to escape using her ability and jumps into a couple of versions of her life until she encounters a group of students with the same ability. They have been looking for her.
Duped and manipulated, the students have been used to re-shape the world for the financial and political gain of the mysterious benefactors who fund them. They convince Kim that she must help them put an end to these devious plans. She joins the group and sets off on a mission to save the world from those who seek to control it for themselves.
Available at:
Cinnamon Blade by Shira Glassman
Every time Cinnamon Blade, crime fighter making up for a bad past, rescues the sweet and nerdy Soledad Castillo from bad guys, the two women’s chemistry grows stronger. Now that she’s finally asked Soledad out, sparks fly — but is a normal date even possible in a city threatened by aliens and vampires on a regular basis?
Available at:
Gumroad (PDF)
Thinking About Her by Ophelia Alexander
Clare is seventeen, a popular straight-A student, and has her daily life completely determined by her controlling mother. Outwardly it appears she has everything figured out, but silently she feels lost in someone else’s life. Her only escape is behind the lens of her camera.
Hilda is forced to move back to the US and is looking to escape a painful past relationship and start over. Her alternative look and rough exterior don’t do her any favors as she struggles to be accepted by her peers and restart her athletic career.
When the two girls meet for the first time, something clicks. New and conflicting emotions stir within Clare that force her to question who she is and what she wants out of life. Hilda, being suddenly thrust into the spotlight of Clare’s popularity, fears that to fit in, she’ll need to hide her feelings of affection, which has never been her strong suit. Will the two be able to navigate the uncharted waters of their passion, or will they drown in a sea of their own expectations?
Available at:
The Scent of Rome by Lise Gold
In a last-ditch attempt to secure an investor for an app she’s developed, Rome Foster travels to her namesake city hoping her luck is going to change. Just as she’s about to pitch her life’s work, she meets the charming and captivating Nadine; a high-end escort who shocks Rome by flirting with her. Rome is straight, but Nadine sparks up a fire in her so strong that it seems impossible to extinguish.
Nadine Costa is pleased with the way her life is going. She lives in a fantastic apartment in the city she loves, and her lucrative job provides the funds she needs to support her expensive passion: perfume making. When Rome crosses her path, she knows she’s never smelled anything quite so exquisite in her life.
Rome is a loner and doesn’t let people in, but when an incident occurs and Nadine steps in to save her, she realizes her feelings go deeper than just lust. Neither of them was looking for something more than physical, but when the stars are aligned, it’s hard to escape destiny…
Available at:
Uncommon Emotions by Lynn Galli
As a turnaround specialist, Joslyn Simonini spends her days analyzing corporate profit margins and trying to keep her likeness from being turned into a voodoo doll by company employees. If she does her job well, they often lose theirs. So, it comes as a surprise when she finds herself being kissed one day at work. She’s even more shocked to find out that the mysterious kissing bandit is a woman.
Not in the habit of kissing women, Joslyn tries to brush off the unintentional mistake. But before long, she’s forced to examine the rush of emotions that accompanied the kiss, especially when she meets Raven Malvolio. At first, she needs Raven to complete her analysis, but she doesn’t expect to need the friendship that Raven offers. When those friendly feelings escalate to something more, Joslyn’s confusion and underdeveloped emotional range might ruin her chance at a relationship that could surpass even her dreams.
Available at:
Add Romance And Mix by Shannon M Harris
Briley Anderson hasn’t been in a serious relationship for the past two years. The pain of her last breakup has made her wary of giving her heart away again. She spends her days flipping houses and her down-time baking treats for her neighbors. Falling in love wasn’t in her plans, but then again, neither was her next-door neighbor.
Leah Daniels is a divorced mother of two and a grandmother at the age of forty-nine. Love was the last thing she was looking for, especially with a woman sixteen years her junior. All she was hoping for was a quiet neighborhood to raise her fifteen-year old son. What she hadn’t expected was the unavoidable draw she felt toward Briley.
Through laughter, heartache, love, and fear it’s up to Briley and Leah to figure out if what they’ve created is strong enough to make a relationship last and if taking the chance on love is really worth the risk.
Available at:
Slaying Dragons: A Love Story by McGee Mathews
Can you find love after a tragic loss?
Andrea Fenwick is too busy coping with grief, isolation, and guilt over losing Dani Powell, her partner of five years, to even consider this question.
Grasping for relief anywhere she can find it–counseling, grief groups, church–she turns her pain into purpose when she helps start a youth center to address issues related to the LGBT community and mental health.
And then there’s Tommie.
Tommie Andrews, a computer whiz and occasional dog trainer, discovers she’s developing a crush on her friend and co-worker as they struggle to repair the hole left in Andrea’s heart. The timing could not be worse. Or could it?
Andrea has bravely reached out for help through this tragedy. But will that bravery allow her to see a happy future with Tommie, or will the loss of Dani prove too painful to overcome?
Available at:
Captain of Industry by Karin Kallmaker
The world is at Jennifer Lamont’s feet–right where she wants it. She has made breaking hearts a blood sport, and the cool, calculated use of other people’s backs has led to the stardom she has craved from the first time she heard applause. Lust or fear is all she has ever believed she could see in the eyes of others.
Suzanne Mason has built the enviable life she was always told smart geeks could never have. Fortune, fame and the beautiful girls usually reserved for captains of football teams are all hers. She has everything she ever wanted, except the one woman who is no one’s trophy.
Expert combatants in the games of life know there can only be one winner. Regardless of the scorching attraction between them, the game of love is no different, is it?
Available at:
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the Countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away.
Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project—instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay. But as Catherine finds herself longing for Lucy, everything she believes about herself and her life is tested.
While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?
Available at:
Playing Passion’s Game by Lesley Davis
In most games, you play to win. In matters of the heart, you play for keeps.
Trent Williams’s entire world revolves around her love of gaming. She has little time for romantic distractions and prefers instead to be with her closest friends who, like her, live for the thrill that comes from a competition well played. Happy in her job, seemingly content with her life, Trent still finds herself haunted by the past that threatens to keep her alone forever. The self-imposed solitude she places on her heart only leaves her all too aware of just how lonely she is.
All work and no play in her executive job forces Juliet Sullivan to search for a different direction in life. Disillusioned by it all, Juliet is desperate to seek out new horizons. When Trent unwittingly comes to the rescue of her younger sister, Juliet immediately finds herself drawn to Trent’s silent strength and undeniable charm. Now the new direction Juliet so desperately desires seems intent on leading her straight into Trent’s arms.
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Just My Type by Lucy Bexley & Bryce Oakley
Since dying over 2,000 years ago, killing people is the closest Ero comes to feeling alive. She’s been lying low since arriving in Sorrow, Massachusetts. Until she breaks into a hematology lab at the local university one night after her fresh dinner is interrupted.
Dr. Annie Golden has been hitting dead end after dead end in her research on a rare blood disease. Everything changes when she accidentally attacks a stunning woman she finds lurking near her blood samples.
Annie can’t put her finger on what’s so enrapturing about this beautiful, dark-haired woman. And Ero can’t figure out why Annie is appealing to more than just her appetite.
When Ero’s true self is revealed, will Annie’s fear win out over her attraction?
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May 20, 2021
Sapphic historical fiction & historical romance (Sapphic Reading Challenge #16)
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge post features sapphic historical fiction, including but not limited to historical romance novels. For the purpose of this reading challenge, “historical fiction” means any sapphic novel that takes place at least 25 years in the past.
Yes, that includes the early 1990s. And yes, that makes me feel old.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
15 sapphic historical fiction novels
I put together a list of 15 sapphic historical fiction novels. They are listed in chronological order, starting with one that is set in Imperial Rome to one that is set in the 1980s.
Sword of the Gladiatrix by Faith L Justice (60 CE/AD)
An action-packed tale that exposes the brutal underside of Imperial Rome, Sword of the Gladiatrix brings to life unforgettable characters and exotic settings.
From the far edges of the Empire, two women come to battle on the hot sands of the arena in Nero’s Rome: Afra, scout and beast master to the Queen of Kush; and Cinnia, warrior-bard and companion to Queen Boudica of the British Iceni. Enslaved, forced to fight for their lives and the Romans’ pleasure; they seek to replace lost friendship, love, and family in each other’s arms.
But the Roman arena offers only two futures: the Gate of Life for the victors or the Gate of Death for the losers.
Available at:
Hild by Nicola Griffith (seventh century)
‘You are a prophet and seer with the brightest mind in an age. Your blood is that of the man who should have been king …That’s what the king and his lords see. And they will kill you, one day’
In seventh century Britain, a new religion is coming ashore while small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. Hild is the king’s youngest niece, with a glittering mind and natural authority,
She is destined to become one of the pivotal figures of the early Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby. But for now she has only the powerful curiosity of a child and the precarious advantage of a plotting uncle, Edwin of Northumbria, who will stop at nothing to beome king of the Angles.
Hild establishes herself at her uncle’s side as the king’s seer, and becomes indispensable – as long as all goes well for Edwin. The stakes are high – life and death – for Hild, her family and for all those who seek the protection of this strange girl who seems to see the future.
Available at:
The Queen’s Companion by Maggi Petton (16th century)
A fanatical religious group is trying to assist the Church in ridding itself of heretics. They terrorize the small kingdom of Montalcino. Catherine, its queen, is returning from Rome where she sought the pope’s help. She and her soldiers discover a woman being tortured. They rescue Lady Isabella. During her convalescence the women fall in love.
The sexual tension creates spiritual struggle for Catherine, who believes that their feelings doom them for eternity. The more she tries to deny her feelings, the more power they have over her. Eventually, Catherine gives into her love for Isabella. She marries to cover the relationship, but this only intensifies the danger because her Bishop is determined to expose her. His own life a web of secrecy, he seduces Catherine’s naïve daughter, Sofia, into friendship. Sofia plays out the Bishop’s intentions, propelling everyone toward disaster.
Set against the backdrop of one of the most wretched times in human history, The Queen’s Companion is an epic tale of lives torn apart by ambition, greed and betrayal. More, it is a story of how love can transform broken souls.
Available at:
Merchants of Milan by Edale Lane (16th century)
Love blooms between Florentina and Maddie, but Florentina’s role as the vigilante Night Flyer could lead to her death and Maddie’s broken heart.
Florentina, set on revenge for her father’s murder, creates an alter-ego known as the Night Flyer. Madelena, whose husband was also murdered, hires Florentina as a tutor for her children and love blossoms between them. However, Florentina’s vendetta is fraught with danger, and surprising developments threaten both women’s lives.
Available at:
A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian (1810s)
Lady’s maid Molly Wilkins is done with thieving—and cheating and stabbing and all the rest of it. She’s determined to keep her hands to herself, so she really shouldn’t be tempted to seduce her employer’s prim and proper companion, Alice. But how can she resist when Alice can’t seem to keep her eyes off Molly?
For the first time in her life, Alice Stapleton has absolutely nothing to do. The only thing that seems to occupy her thoughts is a lady’s maid with a sharp tongue and a beautiful mouth. Her determination to know Molly’s secrets has her behaving in ways she never imagined as she begins to fall for the impertinent woman.
When an unwelcome specter from Alice’s past shows up unexpectedly at a house party, Molly volunteers to help the only way she knows how: with a little bit of mischief.
Available at:
A Lady’s Desire by Lily Maxton (1810s)
Lady Sarah Lark has never had much interest in any of the suitors that surround her. She’s decided that, instead of choosing a husband, she’ll save her pin money and travel like she’s always wanted to. However, her plans are interrupted when her family invites her cousin’s widow, Winifred Wakefield, to stay with them.
Winifred and Sarah used to be best friends, but after Win married Sarah’s cousin and moved to London, their friendship fell apart. Neither Win nor Sarah are happy about being underneath the same roof, but after settling her late husband’s debts and being left with almost nothing, Win doesn’t have much choice other than to play nicely with the Lark family.
Though the memories of their friendship hurt them both, they’re too strong to ignore, and the more time they spend in each other’s company, the more they wonder if friendship is all they feel. Still, even if they admit their feelings, to each other and to themselves, Lady Sarah’s parents are determined to see both young women married to suitable gentlemen. Win and Sarah’s newfound love might be over before it even begins.
Available at:
Lucas by Elna Holst (1810s)
I thought ease would come, here, tucked away in the safe uneventfulness of Hunsford. It would seem I was mistaken.
In 1813, upon her marriage to Mr Collins, the rector of Hunsford Parsonage, Charlotte Collins née Lucas left her childhood home in Hertfordshire for Kent, where she is set to live out her life as the parson’s wife, in an endless procession of dinners at Rosings Park, household chores, correspondence, and minding her poultry. But Mrs Collins carries with her a secret, a peculiar preference, which is destined to turn all her carefully laid plans on their head.
Available at:
That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole (1820s)
Mercy Alston knows the best thing to do with pesky feelings like “love” and “hope”: avoid them at all cost. Serving as a maid to Eliza Hamilton, and an assistant in the woman’s stubborn desire to preserve her late husband’s legacy, has driven that point home for Mercy—as have her own previous heartbreaks.
When Andromeda Stiel shows up at Hamilton Grange for an interview in her grandfather’s stead, Mercy’s resolution to live a quiet, pain-free life is tested by the beautiful, flirtatious, and entirely overwhelming dressmaker.
Andromeda has staid Mercy reconsidering her worldview, but neither is prepared for love—or for what happens when it’s not enough.
Available at:
Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury (1850s)
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:
Backwards to Oregon by Jae (1850s)
“Luke” Hamilton has always been sure that she’d never marry. She accepted that she would spend her life alone when she chose to live her life disguised as a man.
After working in a brothel for three years, Nora Macauley has lost all illusions about love. She no longer hopes for a man who will sweep her off her feet and take her away to begin a new, respectable life.
But now they find themselves married and on the way to Oregon in a covered wagon, with two thousand miles ahead of them.
Available at:
The Price of Payback (Sarah Sawyer Series Book 2) by S.W. Andersen (1900s)
One year has passed since Sarah Sawyer avenged the death of her parents in a quest that nearly cost her life.
Now the gunslinger is living a life she never imagined. No longer roaming the trails alone, she and Jo Porter, the woman she loves, live in relative peace, working a thriving farm of their own.
But payback comes with a price.
The lingering fear of unsettled debts haunts them both, threatening their newfound peace. When ghosts from the past come to collect, Sarah risks losing herself to the darkness she’d fought so hard to escape.
Can she pull herself back from the depths or will the harsh world of the old west finally break her?
Available at:
Occasions of Sin by Elena Graf (1930s)
For seven centuries, the German convent of Obberoth has been hiding the nuns’ secrets—forbidden passions, scandalous manuscripts locked away, a ruined medical career, perhaps even a murder.
In 1931, Margarethe von Stahle, an aristocratic physician, arrives at the convent to interview Sister Augustine, a candidate for head nurse. The nun’s past is shrouded in mystery. She abandoned a medical career, and her final vows were delayed for an unspeakable reason. Determined to lift the veil of secrecy, Margarethe finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery, a complicated romance, and a domestic drama that threatens her orderly life.
At once a mystery and a love story, Occasions of Sin is part of the Passing Rites series, which follows the aristocratic Stahle family through the 20th Century. This novel, set in the twilight years of the Weimar Republic, touches on issues the Nazis would later address in frightening ways—the role of women, homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, and the rights of the individual versus duty to the group.
Available at:
Secrets Well Kept by Lynn Ames (1940s)
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.
Available at:
Penny on Parade by Penny Taylor and Gill McKnight (1970s)
In 1971, teenager Penny Taylor ran away from home and straight into the British Army at Guildford, the training camp for women who wanted to be soldiers.
Homosexuality had only just been decriminalized in England in 1967, and the first British gay pride rally was held in London in 1972, a year after Taylor joined the military. The UK’s feminist movement still battled for reproductive rights, equal pay, and employment protections. This was the climate in which Taylor decided she was not like the other women she knew.
Confused by her feelings for her female best friend, unhappy with her family life, and frustrated by the restrictive expectations of women, she sought a different path. For Penny Taylor, army life wasn’t easy, but she found not only herself, she also found family, friends, and a future.
This is her story. Based on real events in her life, it is a coming-of-age and a coming-out story, set against the backdrop of the British military and the turbulent social climate of the 1970s.
Available at:
Clio Rising by Paula Martinac (1980s)
In 1983, Livvie Bliss leaves western North Carolina for New York City, armed with a degree in English and a small cushion of cash from a favorite aunt. Her goal is to launch a career in publishing, but more important, to live openly as a lesbian. A rough start makes Livvie think she should give up and head home, but then a new friend helps her land a job at a literary agency run by the formidable Bea Winston.
Bea hopes Livvie’s Southern charm and “boyish” good looks will help her bond with one of the agency’s most illustrious clients—the cranky Modernist writer Clio Hartt, a closeted octogenarian lesbian of the Paris Lost Generation who has rarely left her Greenwich Village apartment in four decades. When Livvie becomes Clio’s gofer and companion, the plan looks like it’s working: The two connect around their shared Carolina heritage, and their rapport gives Clio support and inspiration to think about publishing again.
But something isn’t quite right with Clio’s writing. And as Livvie learns more about Clio’s relationship with playwright Flora Haynes, uncomfortable parallels emerge between Livvie’s own circle of friends and the drama-filled world of expatriate artists in the 1920s.
In Clio’s final days, the writer shares a secret that could upend Livvie’s life—and the literary establishment.
Available at:
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The post Sapphic historical fiction & historical romance (Sapphic Reading Challenge #16) appeared first on Jae.
May 14, 2021
Books about polyamorous relationships (Book Unicorn post #5)
It’s time for another Book Unicorn post! This one features books that include a sapphic character who’s in a polyamorous relationship.
The protagonist is in intimate, consensual relationships with more than one person.
15 sapphic books that feature a polyamorous relationship
I put together a list of 15 sapphic poly romance novels. I hope you find at least one you’ll enjoy.
Love Without Limits (Pink Bean Series Book 7) by Harper Bliss
Caitlin James and Josephine Greenwood have been happily in love and committed to each other for over a year.
Josephine has shed her insecurities and her musical star is on the rise, while Caitlin hosts her own television show under the supervision of a new intriguing boss.
When Josephine starts the conversation about opening up their relationship, Caitlin is faced with a shift in the power balance between them. Together, they embark on a sometimes scary but always thrilling journey to discover who they truly are.
Can Caitlin still practice what she has always preached? And will Jo be able to find her own way in their unconventional relationship?
Available at:
Double Six by Brenda Murphy
Elaine MacLeod, the most feared and revered Mistress of Rowan House, is frustrated. Overworked, still hurt and angry over the departure of her long-term lover, she refuses to admit Rowan House needs another Mistress to accommodate their guests. Unconvinced anyone will be able to meet her high standards, Elaine grudgingly agrees to audition the sole applicant, Petra Grendhal.
Robin Broadacre would do anything for the woman who rescued her from certain death at the hands of her previous employers. When she volunteers to assist Petra with her audition, Elaine is forced to reckon with her desire for Robin. Drawn to Petra’s fiery strength and icy demeanor as well Robin’s devotion, Elaine finds herself torn between her passion for both women. When Petra disappears on a trip to Oslo, Elaine and Robin’s search leads them to menaces from Robin’s past and a fight for their lives.
Available at:
Nights of Silk and Sapphire by Amber Jacobs
Abducted from a land of wealth and privilege, Dae is chained to a slaver’s caravan crossing the vast Jaharri desert. It is a strange world of blistering sun, rolling dunes, and wind-carved plains, ruled by the Scion Zafirah Al’Intisar, a powerful and mysterious woman with seductive eyes of sapphire blue.
When Zafirah liberates the caravan the rescue Dae prayed for is not as it seems; Zafirah’s carnal appetite is legendary. Dae is taken into Zafirah’s harem, a decadent world of excess and sexual freedom. At first, Dae struggles with desires she has never before experienced, but as love and lust collide these two women slowly forge a bond as one learns to listen to her heart, and the other to the call of her awakening body.
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Temper: Fated (Book 5 of the Temper Saga ) by Lila Mina
Fearsome Japanese warlord Date Masamune has a problem. A dashing Spanish ship captain-shaped headache who gives his dreams a spicy touch, to his wife’s great amusement. But when the handsome captain arrives in his domain, Date discovers that a mysterious woman travels with him. A strange and odd-looking woman who’s been plaguing his mind for months. Is she a god-sent promise or a demonic threat?
Four hundred years later in Tokyo, the lives of Lana Martin and her wife Yuki are turned upside down. The soul of their husband Naruhito disappears, replaced by the man he used to be in a previous life and who hates her with a vengeance. The unbreakable bonds of love that tie her to her spouses are cracking, threatening her life and everyone that she holds dear.
Old and powerful enemies are back, and this time, they’ll stop at nothing to change the fate of the world. A race to fix what should never have been broken begins… and the solutions might be buried in the past.
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Eden’s Garden by D.F. Krieger
My transient lifestyle as a government contractor makes it hard to have permanent relationships, especially when I prefer to spice my life up with BDSM. When my life-long friend, Rhett, introduces me to the local group, they welcome me with open arms…and a handful of women looking for a partner. There’s shy Wynn, sassy Maya, Cami the Kitten, and playful Denisha.
As our lives become intertwined, like roses in a garden, I’m left wondering if I can live without any of them. Each beautiful, unique woman fills my heart with their own special addition to our group rainbow. But my contract here is temporary, and I don’t know if I can handle the heartbreak of them fading out of my life, like everyone always does after I move.
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Building the Family by Amy DeMeritt
Can one wild weekend really be more than just a fun time?
Can it lead to a loving and lasting relationship?
When Kayla starts college in love with one girl she’s never been able to have a relationship with, and nursing her broken heart after being dumped by her girlfriend, she lands in the lap of a beautiful girl – a girl who could either fill the void in her heart, or open her heart for a life she only briefly dreamt of as a possibility.
Some say its only possible to be in love with one person at a time, but Kayla learns the “one love” rule doesn’t apply to her.
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Eight Kinky Nights: An f/f Chanukah romance by Xan West
Sometimes the perfect Chanukah gift can change everything.
Newly divorced stone butch Jordan moves into her friend Leah’s spare room, ready, at 49, to take on a new job and finally explore kink and polyamory. But moving to NYC during the holidays sends grief crashing through her, and Jordan realizes that when she isn’t solely focused on caring for others, her own feelings are unavoidable. Including her feelings for Leah.
51 year old queer femme Leah, an experienced submissive kink educator who owns a sex shop, has recently come to terms with being gray ace and is trying to rework her life and relationships to honor that.
Leah has a brainstorm to help them both: she offers Jordan eight kink lessons, one for each night of Chanukah, to help Jordan find her feet as a novice dominant, and to create a structured space where Leah can work on more deeply honoring her own consent, now that she knows she’s gray ace.
She’d planned to keep it casual, but instead the experience opens cracks in the armor Leah’s been using to keep people at a distance and keep herself safe. Now she needs to grapple with the trauma that’s been impacting her life for years.
Can these two autistic queers find ways to cope with the changes they are making in their lives and support each other, as they build something new they hadn’t thought was possible?
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Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver
The city of Parole is burning. Like Venice slips into the sea, Parole crumbles into fire.
The entire population inside has been quarantined, cut off from the rest of the world, and left to die – directly over the open flame. Eye in the Sky, a deadly and merciless police force ensures no one escapes. Ever. All that’s keeping Parole alive is faith in the midst of horrors and death, trust in the face of desperation… and their fantastic, terrifying, and beautiful superhuman abilities.
Regan, silent, scaly stealth expert, is haunted by ten years of anxiety, trauma and terror, and he’s finally reached his limit. His ability to disappear into thin air isn’t enough: he needs an escape, and he’ll do anything for a chance. Unluckily for him, Hans, a ghostly boy with a chilling smile, knows just the thing to get one. It starts with a little murder.
But instead of ending a man’s life, Regan starts a new one of his own. He turns away from that twisted path, and runs into Evelyn, fearless force on stage and sonic-superheroic revolutionary on the streets. Now Regan has a choice – and a chance to not only escape from Parole, but unravel the mystery deep in its burning heart. And most of all, discover the truth about their own entwining pasts.
They join forces with Evelyn’s family: the virtuosic but volatile Danae, who breathes life into machines, and her wife Rose, whose compassionate nature and power over healing vines and defensive thorns will both be vital to survive this nightmare. Then there’s Zilch, a cool and level-headed person made of other dead people, and Finn, one of Parole’s few remaining taxi drivers, who causes explosions whenever he feels anything but happy.
Separately they’d never survive, much less uncover the secret of Parole’s eternally-burning fire. Together, they have a chance. Unfortunately, Hans isn’t above playing dirty, lying, cheating, manipulating… and holding Regan’s memories hostage until he gets his way.
Parole’s a rough place to live. But they’re not dead yet. If they can survive the imminent cataclysmic disaster, they might just stay that way…
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Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi
Alana Quick is the best damned sky surgeon in Heliodor City, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. When the desperate crew of a cargo vessel stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually-advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away. Maybe her boldness will land her a long-term gig on the crew.
But the Tangled Axon proves to be more than star-watching and plasma coils. The chief engineer thinks he’s a wolf. The pilot fades in and out of existence. The captain is all blond hair, boots, and ego . . . and Alana can’t keep her eyes off her.
But there’s little time for romance: Nova’s in danger and someone will do anything—even destroying planets—to get their hands on her!
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The Three by Meghan O’Brien
Two lovers, Elin and Kael, struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where disease, lawless marauders, and fanatics threaten their existence.
When the two befriend Anna, another survivor, the fabric of their lives and the family they have made shifts in ways that challenge each woman to redefine the boundaries of love and friendship.
For in order to prevail, the two must become…The Three, and ultimately Anna and Kael must find a way to save the woman they both love.
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Third by Q. Kelly
Helen Franklin is horrified when her dying father leaves her a most unusual inheritance: a woman. The woman, Anne, is a time traveler with a tragic past. Helen tells herself she does not have time for Anne. Yalia, Helen’s wife, has been distancing herself from Helen for three years, and Helen needs to decide if she wants to save their marriage.
Then the unexpected happens. A romantic relationship develops among Yalia, Anne and Helen. Can the three of them figure out their lives together, especially when time might be running out for Anne?
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Three Times the Charm by A.M. Burns, Caitlin Ricci & Kimberly Cooper Griffin
When longtime friends Raine and Amelia meet new student Mel, a shameless flirt and open lesbian, it casts their feelings for each other in a different light. Soon the affection between the three girls grows into an attraction they’re eager to explore.
But even as new love blooms, a secret Amelia’s been hiding for years demands their attention. Amelia has an eating disorder, and even if she’s in denial, the disease is threatening her health—and her life. She’ll need the support of her friends to recover as the relationship faces its first test… one they must pass before it’s too late for Amelia.
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Winterbourne’s Daughter by Stephanie Rabig
When her parents are overthrown, Lisette is demoted from princess to servant. Refusing to stop caring for her people simply because she’s no longer royalty, Lisette cooperates with the new royal mistress, Emeline, to smuggle people out of the castle.
She also befriends the champion of the deathfights, and finds herself in the impossible situation of falling in love with both of them. Before she can sort the matter out, however, an assassination attempt sends Emeline fleeing for her life—with the new queen’s fearsome huntsman close on her heels…
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Three’s a Crowd by Cynthia Dane & Hildred Billings
Managing the frozen-food aisles at the market rarely brings excitement. Until average gal Maya Flores meets two female customers who want her to go out with them. Separately, of course!
Jocie Greer is the charismatic lover she’s always desired. When they’re together, they’re on an adventure. Maya doesn’t have to think about the crumbling family waiting for her at home, or the nowhere job keeping her chained to a paycheck.
Or she’s with Loren Hamilton, the professor who can quote classic literature and the latest hot romance novel. She makes Maya feel like the star of her own bestselling romance. The private tours of a college campus aren’t bad, either!
But Maya knows that every great romance novel has a catch. She simply has to believe it won’t happen to her…
Jocelyn Greer and Loren Hamilton go back all the way to boarding school, where they ruled as romantic rivals. Now, twenty years later, they’ve bumped into each other, and all hell is breaking loose!
This might require telling Maya the truth about their past. And if there’s one thing Jocie and Loren would rather do than go down that road, it’s admit anything is wrong. Or that they might still like each other, too.
Something has to give. Will it be Loren, who has turned her back on her old self, anyway? Or Jocie, who knows she’ll never stand a chance against a trust-fund academic from freakin’ Brentwood?
Maybe it will be Maya, as soon as she’s done milking this fling for all it’s worth!
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Forever Theirs by Anna Stone (Coming on May 30)
A billionaire executive. Her glamorous fashion designer girlfriend. Together, they’re determined to make one unassuming woman theirs.
For florist Chloe, life isn’t all sunshine and roses. Deep in debt and haunted by a past she’s desperate to leave behind, she can barely keep her little flower shop running. So when Mistress Media executive Gabrielle strolls into Chloe’s florist and hires her for her company’s event, Chloe jumps at the opportunity. She’s irrevocably drawn to the tantalizingly beautiful woman.
And when she comes face to face with Dana, Gabrielle’s girlfriend, Chloe is drawn to her too. A world-renowned fashion designer, Dana is just as beautiful, just as elegant, and just as enticing as Gabrielle.
Both women possess one characteristic that makes Chloe weak—they like to take control. They want Chloe. And they’ll do whatever it takes to get her.
Swept into a whirlwind of romance and sensual delights beyond her wildest fantasies, Chloe is unable to resist falling for her two Mistresses. As their relationship deepens, all three women begin to wonder if the love they’ve been searching for is within their grasp, but secrets and past shadows stand in the way. Can Dana and Gabrielle do what it takes to make Chloe theirs for good?
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The post Books about polyamorous relationships (Book Unicorn post #5) appeared first on Jae.
May 13, 2021
Books about coming out later in life (Sapphic Reading Challenge #18)
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge post is all about characters who come out later in life. For the purpuse of this reading challenge, let’s define “later in life” as a character who’s in her 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond.
Pick a book in which the protagonist comes out as LGBTQIA at 30+, either because it took them longer to figure out they aren’t straight or because they were struggling to come out to friends and family.
Kindle Deal of the Month (UK, Europe)
Before we jump into this week’s reading list: One of the books on the list, my latest romance Wrong Number, Right Woman, has been chosen by Amazon as their Kindle Deal of the Month for May, but only for Amazon UK and most European Amazon shops. So if you live in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, or the Netherlands, you can get the ebook for £0.99 or 1,14 € until the end of the month.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
15 sapphic books with an LGBT+ character who comes out later in life
I put together a list of 15 books with a protagonist who comes out as LGBT+ later in life. I hope you find at least one you’ll enjoy.
Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae
Flirting has never been Denny’s strong suit, but so what if she’s too shy to ask women out? She’s content with her simple life, working as a cashier and helping her sister raise her niece.
But then she gets a wrong-number text message from a stranger named Eliza, asking her of all people for dating advice!
Eliza is Denny’s total opposite: witty, outgoing—and straight. Despite their differences, the accidental text sparks an unlikely friendship. Soon, Eliza—self-proclaimed queen of disastrous first dates—would rather banter back and forth with Denny than to keep trying her luck at online dating.
When they meet in person, there’s an instant connection. But what Eliza is feeling can’t be attraction, right? It doesn’t mean a thing that she’s starting to wish the guys she dates would be more like Denny. Or does it?
Can the wrong number lead to the right woman after all?
Available at:
Worthy of Love by Quinn Ivins
Nadine Bayani was at the top of her game. The brilliant, ruthless lawyer was in line to be White House chief of staff—until she confessed to campaign finance crimes that cost her party the election.
Now Nadine’s out of prison, broke, hated by millions, and stuck doing a menial retail job in rural Virginia where she barely earns enough to survive.
Bella Clarke has worked at Overstock Oasis since she flunked college. She wants to go back to school, but secretly doubts she’s smart enough. At least she’s not as clueless as her boss, who just accidentally hired the woman responsible for a national scandal.
However, Nadine seems to be nothing like the crook portrayed in the media, and Bella is drawn to her troubled, standoffish co-worker. As they grow closer, Nadine introduces Bella to the delights of Filipino food and opens Bella’s eyes to her own possibilities.
Before long, about the only thing harder to make sense of than Nadine’s past is their powerful chemistry together. Is Bella really falling for a woman who caused so much harm? And even if she is, how can two such different people ever be a match?
Available at:
Ylva Publishing
Fearless by Shira Glassman
Lana Novak hasn’t played violin in over twenty years, her musical life these days confined to being a devoted band mom to her clarinet whiz daughter Robin.
She didn’t think she could get back into it after this long, but Melanie Feinberg, the outgoing, enthusiastic, and very cute butch orchestra director from Robin’s school, has other ideas.
Available at:
Gumroad (PDF)
Wild Things by Karin Kallmaker
Scholar and award-winning author Faith Fitzgerald has every reason to be happy: a wealthy, charming man who adores her and a family cheering her marriage prospects. But from the moment she meets Eric’s sister, Sydney Van Allen, she knows her safe, predictable feelings for him are a shadow of what could be.
Openly lesbian and running for Senator, Sydney can only succeed if she can live down her wild past. That means no liaisons, especially with the achingly alluring woman on her brother’s arm who looks at her with confusion–and desire.
Available at:
Dare to Love by A.L. Brooks
Investment banker Ash Taylor left her cut-throat world to set up a cool, cutting-edge tattoo studio. Her love life’s been a lot bumpier, though. Ever since a heart-breaking affair with a straight colleague, she’s vowed to steer clear of women unsure of their sexuality.
Talent-agency executive Carmen Lyttleton is straight, career focused, and not prone to distraction from her occasional casual relationships. When her best friend gets a tattoo at Ash’s studio, Carmen finds herself unexpectedly impressed by Ash and her business.
When they accidentally meet again, Carmen is shocked by the sparks between them and the realization that she feels a lot more than just admiration for Ash’s work ethic. It can’t possibly mean what it seems…can it?
The pull between the women is powerful but so are their fears, old baggage, and stubbornness. Can they dare to love?
Available at:
A Road Through Mountains by Miranda MacLeod
When Cecily Parker volunteers backstage at the Oakwood Theater, the only thing she wants is a few hours of relief from the doldrums of her upper class suburban existence. The last thing she expects is to be reunited with the only person she ever truly loved, a woman she left behind almost twenty years ago.
Rorie Mulloy has built a career as an award winning production designer in Hollywood, but her personal life is anything but a success. When she agrees to design the sets for a community theater production of A Streetcar Named Desire in Connecticut, she has no idea that the woman who broke her heart and ruined her for love will be assigned to her crew.
As the sparks are rekindled between them, these star-crossed lovers just might have a second chance at a life together. But only if they can overcome the ghosts of their past, and survive the evil suburban soccer moms and reality television divas determined to keep them from their happily ever after.
Available at:
Undertow by Jazzy Mitchell
Maggie Ambrose is a fifty-six-year-old career politician who plans to run for president. To kick off her presidential bid and introduce herself to the masses, she’s writing a revealing memoir.
Her publisher insists she divulge more than her political pedigree to gain the nation’s attention, but Maggie’s not eager to confess the details of her challenging childhood, complex familial relationships, or her failed first marriage.
Will the nation embrace a female lesbian candidate after she opens the door to a painful past?
Available at:
Love in Action by Frankie Duncan
When Hollywood comes to Scotland, for the filming of a new epic tale of highland romance, the boundaries between reality and fairytale become blurred. It takes a brave heart to keep believing and this romantic comedy challenges you to find out if you too would be brave enough to trust your own heart.
Kat is a force of nature; a free spirited woman who knows how to have fun and never wants to be tied down. Kat, loves life, women, gin and sex although not always in that order.
Jennifer Michaels is an oscar winning American actress, often described as “one of the best actresses of her generation.” At 53, she had led a full career but little is known about her personal life although that has never stopped the rumour factory.
When Jen arrives in Kat’s village she is handed an opportunity, to which she cannot say no. A simple “yes” sets in motion a series of events with an outcome, neither expected.
Available at:
Breaking Character by Lee Winter
Life has become a farcical mess for icy British A-lister Elizabeth Thornton. America’s most-hated villain stars in a top-rated TV medical drama that she hates. Now, she’s been romantically linked to her perky, new co-star, Summer, due to the young woman’s clumsiness.
As a closeted actress, that’s the last thing Elizabeth needs. If she could just get her dream movie role, life would be so much better. The only problem is that the eccentric French film-maker offering it insists on meeting her “girlfriend”, Summer, first.
Summer Hayes is devastated when her co-star shuns her for accidentally sparking rumors they’re lovers. Now the so-called British Bitch has the audacity to ask Summer to pretend to be her girlfriend to get her a role? Elizabeth doesn’t even like Summer! Oh, how she’d love to tell her no.
And Summer definitely would if it wasn’t for the fact she’s maybe a tiny bit in love with the impossible woman.
Available at:
The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair
Laurie Holcombe is out of a job, out of luck, and out of time. When a prestigious law firm hires her as an assistant to one of its senior partners, it feels like she might finally get back on her feet. All she has to do is put up with the whims of her infuriatingly icy boss, Diana. How hard could that be?
Diana Parker is Atlanta’s top lawyer and isn’t afraid to let everyone know it. She’s driven, ruthless, demanding, and stuck in a failing marriage. Too bad she can’t run her personal life as well as she runs her ordered office.
When a young assistant shows up with bright blue eyes, a cute Southern accent, and a streak of pink hair, Diana’s sure she’s all wrong for the job. And yet something seems to be pulling her and Laurie Holcombe together, drawing them into a secret, thrilling dance that’s far too dangerous for a boss and employee.
Can they make rules for this powerful attraction, a way to keep each other at arm’s length? But how do you resist the irresistible?
Available at:
Embracing the Dawn by Jeannie Levig
Jinx Tanner is an ex-con trying to piece together a life on the outside and heal her relationship with her half-sister who hasn’t spoken to her in over twenty-five years. Romantic love is nowhere on her radar. E. J. Bastien is a business executive with her life and heart under control. She has a successful career, a woman in her bed whenever she wants one, and a healthy relationship with her grown children—as long as they don’t find out she’s gay. She has no desire for romantic entanglements.
When these two women awaken after a one-night stand to find their lives inextricably entwined, love has its work cut out for it.
Available at:
Etched in Shadows by KG MacGregor
For 39-year-old Johnelle Morrissey, the American Dream is a successful career in medical technology, a stately home in historic Charleston, South Carolina, and happy times with the people she loves most—her husband Dwight, their teenage son Ian and her oldest friend Alice Choate. That dream shatters on an airport runway when her plane goes down, leaving her with only clouded memories of her former life.
Devastated by the tragedy, Alice teams with the family to help Johnelle recover. For hours on end Alice shares memories of the moments that formed their friendship over the years, but she holds back one secret—that she’s been in love with Johnelle for as long as she can remember.
Johnelle struggles to reassemble her past—college life, her wedding day and the joys of raising her son. Once her physical injuries heal, her family expects life to go back to the way it was. But the love she must have once felt for Dwight remains deeply shadowed, eclipsed by yearning for a new life…with Alice.
Available at:
Never Too Late by Julie Blair
What happens when a single night of unexpected passion with a stranger leaves you wanting more?
Twenty years later, Dr. Jamie Hammond thinks she’s put that night far behind her. She’s a successful chiropractor and is about to celebrate a ten-year anniversary with her partner. But instead of reaping the benefits of responsibility and hard work, she finds herself fighting to save her business and relationship as doubt, betrayal, and disappointment tear at the fabric of her life.
Carla Grant is looking for a new challenge after settling her daughter at college. She never imagines that applying for an office manager position will change her life.
As Jamie and Carla work to save Jamie’s business, they will have to examine everything they thought they knew about love, responsibility, and family. Can two women dare to believe that it’s never too late for happily ever after?
Available at:
Close to Home by Rachel Spangler
When a CPA is forced to hire help for tax season, she resents the presence of her brash, young intern.
The intern only wants to complete the internship so she can chase her dream job in D.C.
Will the CPA’s past and the intern’s future add up to something greater than the sum of their escalating attraction?
Available at:
Bliss by Fiona Zedde
Bliss Sinclair’s life of dull routine and unhappiness makes her imagination the only place she can find fulfillment. Until she meets Regina, a provocative writer who pulls her out of her head and into a sensuously real world alive with flavors and sensations beyond any she’d ever imagined. This real world is exciting and rich with irresistible pleasures, but Sinclair quickly learns these pleasures are not what they seem.
She discovers that lust can simply be another illusion, and passion without love can poison just as easily as it redeems. To cleanse herself of Regina’s poison, she escapes to Jamaica, the place where she was born, in hopes that the sun and ocean breezes will heal both old and new wounds. But among the brilliant flowers and crystal waters of the island, Sinclair finds ghosts from her past as well as strangers who challenge her very understanding of life and love.
From hidden grottos bubbling with desire to dangerous streets where violence is just a breath away, Sinclair must fight for the love she deserves, fight for herself, and for the life of satisfaction that was meant to be hers all along.
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The post Books about coming out later in life (Sapphic Reading Challenge #18) appeared first on Jae.
May 6, 2021
Character is a teacher or professor (Sapphic Reading Challenge #17)
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge post features books in which the main character is a teacher or a professor.
I know some readers stay away from teacher romances because they assume these books always include a teacher/student romance, but that’s not the case with the books I picked for this category. In most of the books recommended, the romance is between the teacher and a colleague or someone who’s not involved with her professional life at all. If the romance is between the teacher or professor and one of her students, the author handled it in a way that avoids crossing ethical boundaries as much as possible.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
15 sapphic books with a character who’s a teacher or a professor
I put together a list of 15 novels featuring a protagonist who’s a teacher or professor. I hope you find at least one you’ll enjoy.
Hidden Truths by Jae
Everyone on the Hamilton ranch seems to be harboring a secret: Luke has been living as a husband and father for the past seventeen years, telling no one but her wife that she’s not the man she appears to be. Nora hides her past as a prostitute, while their daughter Amy is trying to keep her attraction to women secret.
Into this tricky situation arrives Rika Aaldenberg, a mail-order bride who traveled to Oregon to marry the family’s foreman. She, too, has her own secret: she’s not the woman who wrote the letters.
At first, Amy isn’t happy about having to show the newcomer around, but soon, Rika earns her respect…and maybe even her heart.
When hidden truths are revealed, will their family fall apart, or will love keep them together?
Available at:
The Love Factor by Quinn Ivins
Molly Cook is almost thirty, with dismal career prospects, and has given up on saving the world. It might be the nineties, and everything’s shoulder pads, Doc Martens, and The X-Files, but people won’t budge on gay rights. Molly decides to give a PhD a whirl but finds herself more interested in campus politics…and her strict and sexy statistics professor.
Professor Carmen Vaughn is stuck in small-town Maryland with smarmy blowhards for colleagues and ungrateful students who can’t handle her high standards. She has no intention of coming out, least of all to Molly, a troublemaking grad student who can’t stop picking fights with the conservative faculty.
But when Molly discovers evidence implicating a homophobic colleague in a scandal, Carmen can’t ignore it—even if the subject hits too close to home. As the two women work together to make their case, they grow closer than Carmen ever imagined. But she absolutely refuses to get involved with a student.
The thing is, as the chemistry builds between them, Molly isn’t sure she wants to be a grad student anymore…if she ever did.
Available at:
Blessed Twice by Lynn Galli
The problem with starting over in another state after losing your partner is that your new friends don’t understand why you can’t just get over it. They never saw how you were together, how much you loved her, how she was your life. They only see a number: three, as in, the number of years since she died. That’s all the evidence they need to begin pressuring you to get back out there again. It doesn’t matter that you’ve told them to back off. No, they feel it is their duty to butt into your life and ambush you with blind dates.
This wasn’t a predicament Briony Gatewood anticipated when she relocated for tenure at a prestigious university. Yet after a year with her new friends, they’ve ceased being merely concerned and moved on to obnoxious. As if being fixed up wasn’t bad enough, the dean at her college just volunteered her to teach a potentially career damaging class. Along for the experimental course is the socially challenged M Desiderius, a fellow professor who won’t ever win a faculty popularity contest. But as they start working together, Briony begins to understand M’s aloofness and is intrigued by the shy, brilliant, passionate woman. Enough so that she’s starting to believe her friends when they say it’s time to move on. And M, as complicated as her past has been and reticent as she seems now, may be the perfect person to help Briony finally heal and love again.
Available at:
Everything We Never Wanted by Sienna Waters
In the space of five months, Alex Blakely has gone from party-girl traveler who never wanted to settle down, to house-owner and guardian to seven-year-old Libby. The responsibility terrifies her, she never wanted this.
In the course of a year, Kat Stein has gone from happily married second-grade teacher, to divorced, broke and hanging onto her job by a thread. The loss of her perfect life is devastating, she never wanted this.
And when travel-crazed hippy meets disciplined, strait-laced teacher, it’s hate at first sight. Alex and Kat couldn’t be more different, and neither is exactly living her best life. Until a rigged school election, a painful accident in the woods, and the re-appearance of Libby’s mysterious father mean that the two are reluctantly bound together…
Getting everything you ever wanted is hard enough. But getting everything you never wanted? That’s a whole lot trickier…
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:
Art of Magic by KJ
Cath Monroe loves her teaching job, her friends, her family, and her colleagues. They fill her life and her heart. She knows that it’s important to share love with actions and words, but that last one? About the words? That’s a problem. Because when it comes to saying ‘I love you’ to her forever person, Cath discovers that she doesn’t really know anything about love at all.
Then, Rica Diamandis strolls into her life. Rica is all stardust and sexy, and Cath is intrigued. The sudden availability of a romantic blank canvas takes Cath’s breath away. But when her father is taken to hospital with a life-threatening disease, Cath boxes up the romance with Rica, and packs it into the back of her heart. Fortunately, the Universe has other ideas and Cath begins to realise that embracing emotional chaos is actually the art that creates the magic.
Available at:
Memoir in the Making by Adrian J. Smith
The first day of her junior year in college was supposed to go off without a hitch. But when Ainsley Jacobs sat in her memoir class with a professor she’d never had before, her life took an unexpected turn. She couldn’t get her well-dressed professor, Meredith Frenz, out of her head.
Meredith had lived a lonely yet comfortable life for the past fifteen years, and despite flings here and there, she had no desire to jump head first into a relationship, especially one with her student. Despite all her thwarted efforts, Meredith was determined to keep to herself and push Ainsley away.
Forbidden love is often the most attractive.
Available at:
Beowulf for Cretins by Ann McMan
English professor and aspiring novelist, Grace Warner spends her days teaching four sections of “Beowulf for Cretins” to bored and disinterested students at one of New England’s “hidden ivy” colleges. Not long after she is dumped by her longtime girlfriend, Grace meets the engaging and mysterious Abbie on a cross-country flight. Sparks fly on and off the plane as the two strangers give in to one night of reckless passion with no strings attached, and no contact information exchanged.
Back home at St. Albans, the college rocks Grace’s world when it announces the appointment of a new president, the first woman in its 165-year history. Cue Abbie—and cue Grace’s collision course with a neurotic dog named Grendel, a fractious rival for tenure, and a woman called Ochre, in what very well might be Grace’s last real shot at happiness.
Available at:
A Heart to Call Home by Jeannie Levig
Dakota Scott has spent her entire adult life trying to outrun her past, but even the privilege and reputation her family name affords her haven’t helped her forget. Her mother’s mental illness and the memory of the night that haunts her from so long ago won’t release her. When the one woman with the power to set her free shows up, Dakota is drawn to her, but she is a painful reminder of everything Dakota has been trying desperately to escape.
When Jessie Weldon returns to her hometown after thirty years of avoiding it, she knows she has demons to face and a conflicted past to resolve, but she has no idea love awaits her. Can she give her heart to Dakota with the tragic past that lies between them?
Available at:
Connection by Kim Pritekel
Julie Wilson lives a charmed life as a beloved teacher and aunt in the small town of Woodland. Close to her brother and guardian of two adorable Yorkies, she loves her life, the only negative being ex-boyfriend, Ray who can’t seem to understand the phrase, “We’re done.” Believing that’s her only problem, Julie has no idea what hell awaits her during a normal summer afternoon.
Remmy Foster is the quirky, friendly drifter who has never found roots after a difficult childhood, as well as the difficulties her very special gift brings into her life. Though she may call it exploring, the truth is she’s running from ghosts that haunt her every step.
After a chance meeting with Julie while hitchhiking, Remmy will be thrown head first into darkness she could never have foreseen, regardless of her abilities. As the clock ticks, life and death is on her shoulders to make the right connection.
Available at:
Dear Taylor by Eija Jimenez
Taylor Phillips was working as a barista in NYC the day the twin towers came crashing down. Seeing her city in shambles, coated in ash, and American lives lost, she enlisted to fight the War on Terror.
Daniella Melo, a Rhode Island American History teacher, challenges her class to write letters to soldiers fighting overseas. With one name left and a student short, Daniella takes it upon herself to write letters to Private Taylor Phillips stationed in Afghanistan.
Over the next two years, the women exchange letters, sharing stories of their daily lives: Daniella trailing after her rambunctious daughter, Jackie, and dealing with overeager seniors planning prom while Taylor trudges through sand and dirt, driving her humvee in cold deserts. Their friendship continues to grow until it becomes something so much more than either woman expect.
Available at:
Hooked on You by Jenn Matthews
Anna’s life’s in a bit of a rut. As a teacher with two great kids and a boyfriend, she seems to have it all. Except…she’s bored as hell. Perhaps a new hobby’s in order? Something…crafty? Divorced mother and veteran Ollie has been through the wars, emotionally and physically. To relax, she runs a quirky crochet class in her London craft shop. She can’t help but notice the attractive, feisty new student. A shame Anna’s straight as an arrow.
But somewhere between the chain stitches, doubles and trebles, Ollie and Anna form a powerful connection they never expected.
Available at:
Winter Jacket by Eliza Lentzski
It all started with a broken classroom heater…
Graduate school prepares you for many things – the rigor of academic life, how to pull consecutive all-nighters, and living off a meager stipend without having to be roommates with cockroaches.
Elle Graft might have made it through six years of graduate school, but she’s not convinced she’ll survive her first position as an Assistant Professor.
Because for all she learned, graduate school never prepared her for dealing with a student crush.
Available at:
The Secret Chord by Virginia Hale
When Kate York accepted a temporary position as the music teacher at her former Catholic boarding school, St. Joan of Arc, she expected to deal with rowdy adolescents, strict nuns, and memories of her intense friendship with her old roommate, Tilly Wattle. The last thing Kate expected, however, was for Tilly to show up as the substitute teacher.
The last time the two had seen each other, Tilly had her heart set on joining the sisterhood of nuns that had raised her as an orphan. Tilly longed for a simple life devoting herself to God while Kate longed for a simple life devoting herself to Tilly. Now, twelve years since she forced herself to say goodbye, Kate realizes that she never really got over her sweet, beautiful friend—or the secret kisses they shared as girls.
In her heart of hearts Kate believes that Tilly can match her passion with equal intensity. When Tilly steadfastly refuses to talk about their past, what choice does Kate have but to try to control her own longings and concentrate on renewing their friendship?
But what if Kate isn’t the only one desperate to hide her true feelings…
Available at:
The Lucky Ones by KG MacGregor
Scarred by her mother’s betrayal, Brittany Iverson left home half a lifetime ago for the promise of California, with its vibrant, cosmopolitan lesbian community. She wouldn’t go back to Kentucky for a million dollars. But several million? That’s a different kettle of fish. All Britt has to do is help resurrect her father’s failing business so they can sell it to the highest bidder.
Thanks to a college softball scholarship, Ninah Faust escaped her upbringing as well, leaving eastern Kentucky’s impoverished coal country for the quaint small town of Leland. Now a high school history teacher, she enjoys a laid back lifestyle, a close-knit circle of lesbian friends, and the Longdogs, Leland’s minor league baseball team. Ninah knows better than to fall for newcomer Britt, whose plan is to get in, get rich, and get out. Britt knows better too, since the last thing she needs is a girlfriend in Kentucky. But fall they do—so which one will give up her perfect life for the other?
Available at:
The “character is a teacher” book I’m most looking forward to
The f/f romance featuring a teacher that I’m most looking forward to being published this year is my own. Chemistry Lessons will be out this summer! It’s a friends-to-lovers romance between a high school chemistry teacher and a school cafeteria worker who insist they have no chemistry and agree to go on three dates to prove it.
If you want to make sure you don’t miss it, feel free to sign up for my reader newsletter and I’ll send you an email once it’s out.
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know which book you’ll be reading for the “character is a teacher or professor” category!
The post Character is a teacher or professor (Sapphic Reading Challenge #17) appeared first on Jae.
