Jae's Blog, page 8
February 22, 2024
Character with the same or similar job as you (Sapphic Book Bingo #5)
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category is an unusual one. For this square, read a sapphic book with a main character who has the same or a similar job as you.
It can also be a job you used to do in the past. If you can’t find a book that matches your job exactly, pick one that comes as close as possible.
Also feel free to join my Facebook group for readers to ask for a book recommendation if you have problems finding a book. The readers in my group are amazing at finding the perfect book for everyone!
400 sapphic books & jobs represented in them
Below, you’ll find a long list of sapphic books, sorted by the job of the main character in alphabetical order:
Academic researcher: One Degree of Separation by Karin KallmakerAccountant: Something in the Wine by JaeActivist: An Outsider Inside by RJ SamuelActress: Damage Control by JaeAdministrative assistant: Under a Falling Star by JaeAdvertising: A Holly Jolly Christmas by Emily WrightAdvice columnist: The Love Project by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeodAircraft accident investigator: Free Fall at Angel Creek by Julie TizardAir Force pilot: The Road to Wings by Julie TizardAirline captain: Flight to the Horizon by Julie TizardAnimal feed store manager: What Now by Jamey MoodyAnimal shelter manager: Chasing Dreams by A. L. BrooksArborist: Enthralled by Her by Chelsea M. CameronArcheologist: The Queen’s Sister by T.J. MindancerArchivist: Bearfaced Lie by Ryann FletcherArmy officer: The Heart Wants by Krystina RiversArmy surgeon: If I Don’t Ask by E. J. NoyesArtist: Reality In Check by Emily BantingArt curator/Museum curator: Love’s Portrait by Anna LarnerArt history professor: Gnarled Hollow by Charlotte GreeneArt teacher: The Forever and The Now by KJArtistic Director for Royal Ballet: Evolution by MJ DuncanAssistant District Attorney: Next of Kin by JaeAssistant professor: Strange Attractors by Ana K. WrennAttorney: Defining Moment by K. A. MollAuthor: Souls Aligned by Najee JamersonBaker: Not the Marrying Kind by JaeBakery assistant/sales: Uninvited House Ghosts by Rachel FordBanker: When It Feels Right by Tagan ShepardBank manager: Playing for Pride by Natalie FalkenwrathBank president: What Now by Jamey MoodyBank teller: Alpha’s Choice by C. A. HallBarista: The Christmas Memory by Barbara WinkesBarrister: Here You Are by Jo FletcherBartender: Howl by Lucy BexleyBDSM club owner: What Works For Us by TL TravisBeauty therapist: The Christmas Checklist by Zoey LennoxBed-and-breakfast owner: Tapping into Love by Monica McCallanBike repair: My Dream Woman by C H ClepittBioTech engineer: Watch Over Me by Kate HennessyBlogger/vlogger: Lesbian Speed Dating: A Short Story by L.M. BennettBoat captain: The Only Fish in the Sea by Angie WilliamsBodyguard: What You Need by Torrance SenéBook binder: Enthralled by Her by Chelsea M. CameronBookkeeper: Something to be Thankful For by Carrie L. Carr#Book marketing/strategist: Another Chance by Chelsea M. CameronBookseller: Christmas at Rainbow Falls by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeodBookstore assistant manager: Journey to Her by Linda M. FordBookstore manager: Spirit Warrior: Maiden’s Path by Tracey LoveBookstore owner: Vengeance Planning for Amateurs by Lee WinterBotanist: The Lily and the Crown by Roslyn SinclairBrewer: The Deal by Sabrina BlaumBrewery employee: Winter’s Spell by Ursula KleinBroadway/theater actress: It’s in Her Kiss by Rachel LaceyBudget analyst: My Favorite Wife by Elizabeth AndreBus driver: Looking for Trouble by Jess LeaBusiness analyst: Ice Quake by Tiffany E. TaylorBusiness consultant: Say Cheese by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeodCafé hostess: Demon Hunters of Kitty Cat Café by Davina LeeCafé manager: Dark Horse by A. L. BrooksCafé owner: Novel Gossip by Elizabeth LulyCafeteria worker: Chemistry Lessons by JaeCampground manager: Passing Through by Katia RoseCampground owner: A Perfect Place to Cry by S-Jay HartCanadian Mounted Police Officer: For the Love of Charley by Patty SchrammCardiology attending: Heart Failure by Chris ZettCardiothoracic and trauma surgeon: A Calculated Risk by Cari HunterCarpenter/interior painter: Not for a Moment by Cheyenne BlueCashier: Wrong Number, Right Woman by JaeCatering chef: Return to Paradise by Laina VilleneuveCatering company owner: Girl Crush by TL TravisCEO of an advertising agency: Business of the Heart by Claire ForsytheCEO of a charity: A Question of Sincerity by Sabrina BlaumCEO of a hotel company: Boss of Her by Anna StoneCEO of mixed media business: Changing Times by Jen SilverCEO of publishing company: Getting Back by Cindy RizzoCEO of talent agency: Dare to Love by A.L. BrooksCEO of video game software development company: Leveling Up by Jazzy MitchellCharity worker: Green For Love by E.V.BancroftCheesemaker: Sweat Equity by Aurora ReyChef: Off the Menu by Alaina ErdellChemist: Quill & Still by Aaron SofaerChemistry teacher: Chemistry Lessons by JaeChurch office administrator: Return to Paradise by Laina VilleneuveCity manager: Seashells and Sleigh Bells by Jennie DavidsCity mayor: Sweet Sweet Revent by Lyn DenisonClothing designer: The Gaunt by Genta SebastianCoffee shop owner: Bloodline by Jenn AlexanderCollege administrative assistant: Something’s Different by Quinn IvinsCollege president: Beowulf for Cretins by Ann McManCollege professor: Beowulf for Cretins by Ann McManCollege student: Second Chances by Eliza LentzskiComputer engineer: Bliss by Fiona ZeddeComputer programmer: To Be With You by TJ O’SheaConductor: Evolution by MJ DuncanContractor: Sweat Equity by Aurora ReyCOO: Under a Falling Star by JaeCopy editor: Another Chance by Chelsea M. CameronCopywriter: Only A Bridesmaid by Haley DonnellCorporate attorney: The No Kiss Contract by Nan CampbellCorporate turnaround exec: Queen V.s Queen by Barbara Winkes, Alysia D Evans, Anne HaganCounty sheriff: Cutlass Cadaver by Anne HaganCruise ship singer: Eritis Mea by Anna FerraraCustomer service: Returning to You by Gwen ToliosCyber security expert: Just Like Her by Fiona ZeddeDancer: A Kind Deception by Skye Von TriessenData analyst: Nice Jewish Girls by Elizabeth AndreDepartment store buyer: Nice Jewish Girls by Elizabeth AndreDepartment store manager: Love By Design by S.W. AndersenDermatologist: Playing for Pride by Natalie FalkenwrathDiner owner: Pack of Her Own by Elena AbbottDirector of marketing: Table for Two by Kate GavinDivemaster scuba diver: Endless Quest by S. Y. ThompsonDJ: The Stepmother by Melissa TerezeDoctor/physician: Bachelorette Number Twelve by JaeDoggie day care owner: I Dare You to Love Me by Lori G. MatthewsDog groomer: Birds of a Feather by Laina VilleneuveDog trainer: Collie Jolly by Leigh LandryDog walker: Hounded by E.J. CochraneDrama teacher: Loser of the Year by Carrie Byrd (out in August 2024)Economics professor: The Visitor by Angela McKennaEditor in a publishing company: Make the Yuletide Gay by Ivy L. JamesEducation officer: Highland Whirl by Anna LarnerEMT: Through the Storms by Rita PotterEngineer: Beneath the Surface by Rebecca LanghamEngineering student: A Perfect Fifth by Jaycie MorrisonEnglish literature professor: I’m Perfectly Fine by Kelli Jae Baeli & Melissa Walker BaeliEnglish teacher: The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee (out on May 21, 2024)ER attending: Irregular Heartbeat by Chris ZettER resident: Irregular Heartbeat by Chris ZettEvent planner: Fake Marriage Planning Inc by Anne HaganExecutive assistant: Boss of Her by Anna StoneExecutive director of a nonprofit: Just Like Her by Fiona ZeddeFarmer: Pumpkin Spice by Tagan ShepardFarmers market seller: Heart Failure by Chris ZettFashion designer: These Thin Lines by Milena McKayFashion magazine editor: Truth and Measure by Roslyn SinclairFashion photographer: These Thin Lines by Milena McKayFBI agent: An Exclusive Game by Persephone BlackFencer: En Garde by MJ DuncanFilm maker: Take Two by Stephanie SheaFinance department at a university: Pumpkin Spice by Tagan ShepardFirefighter/paramedic: Souls’ Rescue by Patty SchrammFisherman: The Only Fish in the Sea by Angie WilliamsFitness instructor: All the Wrong Places by Karin KallmakerFlamenco dance performer: A Troublemaker May Surprise by Genta SebastianFlight attendant: The Woman in 3B by Eliza LentzskiFlorist: Not the Marrying Kind by JaeFood stylist: Christmas Wrapping by Blythe H. WarrenFood truck owner: Go Truck Yourself by J.R. HartFreelance editor: Country Living by Jen SilverFuneral director: Taming of a Rebel by Eada FriesianGallery curator: A Curious Visit by Jess LeaGame developer: Good Vibes by Cara MaloneGardener: The Sting of Victory by SD SimperGeologist: Bearfaced Lie by Ryann FletcherGoat farmer: Heroes by Serena J. BishopGraduate student: The Love Factor by Quinn IvinsGraphic artist: Caring for Amelia by Eva ReddyGraphic designer: Roll With Me by Elizabeth AndreGuitarist: Live It Out by Jenn AlexanderGym owner: Prewrath and Rapture by TJ DallasHairdresser: Trust in Me by Tiffany E. TaylorHandyperson: The Number 94 Project by Cheyenne BlueHardware and feed store manager: Vintage Woman by D.J. Fronimos and Elke LakeyHeadmistress: Magdalene Nox by Milena McKayHelicopter pilot: A Monster’s Touch by S. Y. ThompsonHigh school principal: The Dark Side of Midnight by Erin WadeHigh school student: Is She Lying? by Frances LucasHigh school teacher: A Perfect Fit by Kellan McKnightHistory professor: Not Like Before by Lily Seabrooke and Jacqueline RamsdenHome healthcare: Perfect Rhythm by JaeHomemaker: Shay’s Gamble by Amber PerezHomicide detective: Angel Diarys1/Babylonian Spell by Arzu GokyolcuHorse trainer: A Bittersweet Garden by Caren J. WerlingerHospice nurse: Grave Consequences by Sandra BarretHotelier: Reality In Check by Emily BantingHotel receptionist: Dark Horse by A. L. BrooksHousekeeper: Blackpoint by Kate HershbergerHousewife: The Woman Who Tried To Be Normal by Anna FerraraHR consultant: The Woman in 3B by Eliza LentzskiHR manager: Miles Apart by A. L. BrooksHR professional: Love Where You Work by Anna PulleyIndie film director: Can’t Fight Love by KC LuckInnkeeper: Cheerfully Yours by Laura W ChanceInsurance fraud investigator: Cutlass Cadaver by Anne HaganInsurance office worker: Souls’ Rescue by Patty SchrammIntelligence analyst: Leverage: Book Two in the Halcyon Division Series by E. J. NoyesInterior design: Love By Design by S.W. AndersenInvestigative reporter: Scoop by Eva ReddyInvestment banker: Love’s Portrait by Anna LarnerIT administrator: Starting Over by Nance SparksIT consultant: Country Living by Jen SilverIT manager: Reaping the Benefits by E. J. NoyesIT project manager: Miles Apart by A. L. BrooksJewelry maker: Carving a New Shape by Rhiannon GrantJournalist: The Brutal Truth by Lee WinterJudge: Getting Back by Cindy RizzoLandscape architect: Year of the Monsoon by Caren J. WerlingerLandscape gardener: Surviving Christmas with the Family by Hartley BlazeLandscaper: #Cassinova by Lori G. MatthewsLaw student: On My Way There by Jaycie MorrisonLecturer: Stone Memory by AiméeLGBTQ youth worker: Playing For Keeps by Zoey LennoxLibrarian: Jericho by Ann McManLibrary director: It’s a Fabulous Life by Kelly FarmerLife coach: Taming of a Rebel by Eada FriesianLife guard: Pacific Pack by Harlowe FrostLingerie designer: Party Favors by Erin McLellanLiquor store owner: Cory Sloan is Swearing by Jamey MoodyMagazine editor: Surviving Christmas with the Family by Hartley BlazeManager of a homeless shelter: Family is Forever by Rita PotterMarine Corps captain: Call of Love by Lee HavenMarketing consultant: Just a Touch Away by JaeMarketing manager: Hotel Queens by Lee WinterMassage teacher: Heart Failure by Chris ZettMathematician: Once in Berlin by Jo HavensMechanic: Her Mafia Bride by Persephone BlackMedia company executive: Forever Theirs by Anna StoneMedical scientist: Only Human by Audrey WilsonMedical examiner: Beyond the Blue by TJ O’SheaMedical helicopter critical care paramedic: For the Love of Charley by Patty SchrammMetal worker: I Do by Cheyenne BlueMeteorologist: Through the Storms by Rita PotterMiddle school teacher: Her Festive Dragon Mate by Arizona TapeMidwife: A Sweet Sting Of Salt by Rose SutherlandMinister: She is a Love Song by Aunt Georgia LeeMuseum manager: A Curious Woman by Jess LeaNanny: Never Say Never by Rachael SommersNewspaper intern: Catboat Road by Kate RoundsNightclub singer: In the Shadow of the Past by J.E. LeakNun: Sister Matthew and Sister Rose: Novices in Love by Carol Anne DouglasNurse: Truly Home by J.J. HaleNurse practitioner: Guarded Hearts by Sam KestrelOccupational therapist: Beyond Any Experience by Anne E. TerpstraOffice admin: Make Her Wish Come True by A. L. BrooksOffice clerk: But By Degrees by Kit EyreOffice manager: For All Time by Lyn DenisonOrchestra conductor: Ensnared in Her Symphony by Jolie DvorakOrnithologist: Love and Other Rare Birds by Angie WilliamsOwner of a barbershop: Lucky Number by Jo CoxOwner of a cheese factory: Say Cheese by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeodOwner of general and hardware store: Cabin Fever by Addison M. ConleyOwner of a hardware store: Always and Forever by Lyn DenisonOwner of private security company: Unbreakable by Cari HunterOwner of a real estate firm: Family is Forever by Rita PotterPainter: Truly Enough by J.J. HaleParamedic: Paisley’s Breakthrough by Amber PerezParking monitor: Not Too Old by Ann TonnellParalegal: You Matter by Jazzy MitchellPark ranger: Fire, Water, and Rock by Alaina ErdellPastor: House of Refuge by CJ MurphyPastry chef: Honeymoon for One by Rachel BowdlerPediatrician: Bloodlines by Shireen MagedinPersonal assistant: Like They Do in the Movies by Nan CampbellPersonal trainer: The Christmas Checklist by Zoey LennoxPharmacist: Breakthrough by Terri CutshallPharmacy technician: Dump Stat by Alex SilverPhilosophy teacher: The Planck Paradox by Taryn J DallasPhotographer: Departure from the Script by JaePhotojournalist: Within My Reach: A Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion by Amy BlythePhysical therapist: Fall into Me by Terri CutshallPhysician assistant: Defining Moment by K. A. MollPhysicist: Envy and the Geek by Natalie FalkenwrathPhysics teacher: The Planck Paradox by Taryn J DallasPhysiotherapist: Meeting Millie by Clare AshtonPianist: A Perfect Fifth by Jaycie MorrisonPilates instructor: Freedom to Fall by Fiona ZeddePilot: Virgin Flight by E.V. BancroftPlumber: When To Let Go by Jo CoxPodcaster: Falling All In by Laina VilleneuvePolice chief: Blood Hero by T.J. MindancerPolice inspector: Ignis by KJPolice officer: Conflict of Interest by JaePolitician: 46 by Lynn AmesPool tech: Falling All In by Laina VilleneuvePostal inspector: Dead Letters from Paradise by Ann McManPostal worker: Playing Catch-Up by Zoey LennoxPostmistress: Dead Letters from Paradise by Ann McManPR agent: Damage Control by JaePR executive: The Tree of Life by S.A. MossmanPR specialist: Temptation at Randy’s by Emily AlterPreschool teacher: The Love Project by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeodPrivate investigator: A Place Somewhere by RJ SamuelProbation officer: Falling Through the Night by Gail Marlene SchwartzProduct marketing manager: Lavash at First Sight by Taleen VoskuniProfessional cuddler: Just a Touch Away by JaeProfessional golfer: The Long Shot by A. L. BrooksProfessional poker player: Bad Beat by L.M. BennettProfessional runner: For the Long Run by Cheyenne BlueProfessor: Take Two by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeodProgrammer: Snowed In With Summer by Tiana WarnerProject manager: Truly Wanted by J.J. HaleProtection enforcement strategist: The Panther and the Dove by Tiffany E. TaylorProtection service: Please Lie to Me by Erin WadePsychologist: Conflict of Interest by JaePsychology student: Whispering Oaks by Stephanie SheaPsychiatrist: Manhattan Moon by JaeQuality analyst: When Dreams Change by Violet MorleyRadiographer: Warm Pearls and Paper Cranes by E.V. BancroftRadiologist: Flipping Hearts and Homes by Chris ZettRancher: Hidden Truths by JaeRanch hand: Remember Me by Del RobertsonReal estate agent: Tell Me What You Want by Johana GavezReal estate broker: Last New Beginning by Krystina RiversRealtor: Beyond Always by Carrie L. CarrRealtor’s assistant: The Warrior Within by Brooke CampbellReceptionist: Lexi’s Cup of Tea by Amber PerezRecord producer: Christmas Wrapping by Blythe H. WarrenRecruitment: When To Let Go by Jo CoxReporter: Love Me Not by Emma ThingstedResearch scientist: Grave Consequences by Sandra BarretResort entertainer: All the Wrong Places by Karin KallmakerRestaurant owner: V.A.M.P. Book Three—Bloodlines by Kimberly A. ToddRestaurateur: Chef’s Kiss by Stephanie SheaRetail worker: Worthy of Love by Quinn IvinsRetired: Every Path Leads To You by Hayden QuinnRock climber: Calculated Risk by Katherine RupleySales person for medical laboratory equipment: Cabin Fever by Tagan ShepardScientist: Remember Me, Synthetica by K. AtenSchool counselor: Breaking Out by Lise MacTagueScientist in genetics research: Breakthrough by Terri CutshallScreenwriter: Like They Do in the Movies by Nan CampbellSeamstress: A Troublemaker May Surprise by Genta SebastianSearch and rescue: Secret Sanctuary by Nance SparksSecondary school teacher: Changing Gears by L A WrightSecretary: Perks of Office by Liz RainSecurity: The Roommate Arrangement by JaeSex club manager: The Club Revisited by A. L. BrooksSex club owner: The Club by A. L. BrooksSex shop owner: Good Vibes by Cara MaloneSex therapist: Coffee Breaks by Eva ReddySex worker/escort: Follow Spot by Brenda MurphySheriff: Blackpoint by Kate HershbergerSinger: Perfect Rhythm by JaeSki instructor: Honeymoon for One by Rachel BowdlerSki resort manager: Fall into Me by Terri CutshallSoap and candle maker: Unwrap Me by Abigail TaylorSoccer coach: Loser of the Year by Carrie Byrd (out in August 2024)Soccer player: Onside Play by Liz RainSocial media manager: Three’s a Crowd by Kate GavinSocial worker: Live It Out by Jenn AlexanderSoftball coach: When Dreams Change by Violet MorleySoftware engineer: Wicked Fem by Edie MarrSolicitor: Meeting Millie by Clare AshtonSommelier: Corked! An Enemies-to-Lovers Short by L.M. BennettSpa owner: Old Flame, New Fire by Serenity SnowStand-up comedian: The Roommate Arrangement by JaeStatistics director: Fragments of the Heart by Ally McGuireStock clerk in a grocery store: Vicarious by Chloe SpencerStone mason: Music from Stone by Brenda MurphyStorm chaser: Through the Storms by Rita PotterStripper: At First Glance by Melissa TerezeStuntwoman: Just Physical by JaeSupermodel: These Thin Lines by Milena McKaySurgeon: If It’s Meant to Be by Skye Von TriessenSurveillance technician: Watch Over Me by Kate HennessySwimming instructor: Broad Awakening by Mickey BrentTattoo artist: Dare to Love by A. L. BrooksTeacher’s aide: Love or Hate by Rita PotterTeaching assistant: The Summer We’ve Had by Katherine BlakemanTelevision anchor: The Price of Fame by Lynn AmesTelevision executive: No Strings by Lucy BexleyTemp worker: Becoming Her by Abigail TaylorTennis player: Match to Love by Johana GavezTexas Ranger: Doomsday Cruise by Erin WadeTheater director: Winter’s Spell by Ursula KleinTour guide: Velvet in Venice by Karin KallmakerTranslator: In the Roses of Pieria by Anna BurkeTravel writer: Changing Gears by L A WrightTruck driver: On My Way There by Jaycie MorrisonTrumpet player: Face the Music by AiméeTV production assistant: A Heart to Trust by A. L. BrooksUber driver: Uninvited House Ghosts by Rachel FordUnemployed: Carmilla & Laura by SD SimperUniversity librarian: Lust in the Stacks by Natalie FalkenwrathUS Marshall: Secret Sanctuary by Nance SparksVeterinarian: Mending Fences by Angie WilliamsVeterinarian student: Pack of Her Own by Elena AbbottVeterinary assistant: We Met in a Bar by Claire ForsytheVeterinary behaviorist: An Atlas to Forever by Krystina RiversVicar: Always Believe by AiméeVideogame graphic designer and animator: Leveling Up by Jazzy MitchellVintage clothing store owner: Party Favors by Erin McLellanViolin player: Ensnared in Her Symphony by Jolie DvorakVirtual assistant: Falling Hard by JaeVlogger: The Road Trip Agreement by Tiana WarnerVoice-over actor: Full Circle by Susan X MeagherVP Sales: The Honeymoon Mix-Up by Frankie FyreWaitress: Heart Trouble by JaeWall Street stockbroker: What the Heart Sees by KC LuckWeb designer: Puppy Love by Alex SilverWedding planner: Checking It Twice by Lucy BexleyWildlife biologist: Second Nature by JaeWinemaker: Something in the Wine by JaeWinery manager: A Foreign Affair by Linda M. FordWriter: Good Enough to Eat by Jae & Alison GreyYouth worker: Call to Me by Helena HarteZoologist: A Monster’s Touch by S. Y. ThompsonLeave a comment
What book will you be reading for the “same or similar job as you” category? If you know of any books in which the main character has a job that isn’t already listed, please let us know in the comments below!
The post Character with the same or similar job as you (Sapphic Book Bingo #5) appeared first on Jae.
February 15, 2024
Sapphic Valentine’s Day romances (Sapphic Book Bingo #4)
Since it’s the week of Valentine’s Day, this category of the Sapphic Book Bingo features sapphic Valentine’s Day romances.
At least one scene of the book needs to take place on Valentine’s Day.
15 sapphic Valentine’s Day romances
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic Valentine’s Day romances:
Bachelorette Number Twelve by Jae
A kind ER nurse accidentally wins a date with a prickly doctor at a singles auction
Ellie Fisher loves most things about being a nurse in the emergency department…just not working with Regina Novak, an icy attending physician who acts as if she’s God’s gift to medicine.
The dislike is completely mutual. Regina thinks Ellie is a starry-eyed romantic with a sentimental attitude that has no place at work.
When Regina gets talked into volunteering at a singles auction, Ellie accidentally bids on her—and ends up winning. Oops!
Since the money raised is for a good cause, they reluctantly decide to go through with the dates. Thanks to a baking class that turns into a competition and a hot-as-hell road trip snack incident, the ice between them starts to thaw. Is it possible the ER isn’t the most unromantic place on earth after all?
Available at:
All I Want for Valentine’s by Clare Lydon
They’re finally together. Cue family chaos…
Tori & Holly hooked up just before Christmas, and now they’re ready to face the New Year as a loved-up couple. Well, that was the initial plan. Enter Holly’s dad, step-mum, toddler sister and all manner of distractions… The next six weeks aren’t what they envisaged, but it’s amazing how romance can still bloom in the strangest circumstances!
Available at:
Miss Havisham Says Yes by Eule Grey
Kind-hearted redhead Cindi has a lot on her mind: Gran, college exams, bills, and what to wear at the Valentine’s Day student ball. She needs a Cinderella dress, glittery shoes, and a girlfriend to cuddle up with. What a pity fairy tales are only for kids. Aren’t they? All is not lost. It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and the sweetest magic is in the air … Cindi takes a tumble while mopping the floor and bangs her head. She opens her dizzy eyes to the gift of one magical wish. What will it be?
Tara, the climber. Childhood friend and daughter of Cindi’s employers. Wealthy, lithe, sexy, and thoughtful. Tara’s wish? To climb Mount Everest and to spend time with gorgeous Cindi. She’d love to take her best friend on a date to the college ball — and then go all the way from blushing student to confident girlfriend, from shy Cinderella to dancing queen. Pumpkin to … moped.
When two wishes collide, a spark is ignited, powerful enough to tickle anyone’s peak. When everything is laid bare, only one sparkling question remains: Will Miss Havisham say yes?
Available at:
Take Two by Stephanie Shea
Being in love is Whitney Dimaano’s favorite past time. Though lately, she can’t seem to get it right. She’s tried—she is trying—but it just hasn’t…clicked, and maybe her time would be better spent focusing on all the things that are actually good in her life. The gym she all but built with her own two hands, the new-found bond with her brother and sister, her friends… Anything but chasing the ghost of how it felt with the woman who left her behind.
Award-winning documentarian Andy Vahn dreamed of being an extraordinary filmmaker. Her recipe for success is a fusion of meticulous planning, diligence, and never letting anything stand in her way. Not even love. When a trip to convince a misanthropic celebrity chef to appear in her docuseries leads her home, Andy knows it won’t be easy. Least of all because she hasn’t been back in six years. Hasn’t seen Whitney in six years. Still, it’s true what they say. You never forget your first.
Maybe Andy’s return is the closure Whitney needs. But what if all it does is reaffirm Andy’s deepest fear?
She should never have left.
Available at:
Unwrap Me by Abigail Taylor
Ashton and Willow have been engaged for over a year, but their wedding has been pushed to the back burner as life becomes too busy.
Willow has been focused on growing her candle and soap company, and Ashton has been busy helping and supporting her along the way. However, she misses the intimacy they used to share and the passionate lovemaking that has become less frequent.
Deciding that they need to find their way back to each other, Ashton books a Valentine’s getaway, hoping to spice things up with Willow.
Could this trip be just what they need to bring romance back into their lives, or has their desire been overshadowed by ambition?
Available at:
Lancelot: Her Story by Carol Anne Douglas
A young girl sees a man rape and murder her mother. She grabs a stick and puts out his eye. Her father raises her as a boy so she will be safe from men’s attacks. She practices and practices until she becomes a great fighter – Lancelot. She wants to protect women, and she does. Lancelot hears about King Arthur, a just king across the sea, and journeys to earn a place at Camelot. She vows to serve him, but fears that Arthur and his men will discover that she is a woman and send her away. Lancelot is shocked to realize that she is falling in love with the king’s wife, Guinevere.
Guinevere is a strong woman who would have preferred to be queen in her own right, not through marriage. Saxons attack Arthur’s kingdom, and Lancelot finds out that fighting a war is far different from saving women in single combat. The savagery of war devastates her.
Available at:
The Wedding Setup by Charlotte Greene
Ryann is thrilled when her friend Stuart asks her to help him plan his last-minute wedding. He moved across the country over a year ago, and she misses him like crazy. As an executive with event planning experience, Ryann’s the best person to help him fulfill his wildest wedding dreams.
However, things in Colorado are not what she expects, especially Maddie, the maid of honor for the other groom. Maddie is attractive, and while she’s certainly Ryann’s type, she has some different ideas about the wedding. Also, flirting with her is incredibly distracting, especially when Ryann just wants to keep things professional. With just two weeks to the big event on Valentine’s Day, can Ryann help Stuart to wedded bliss, and avoid his well-intentioned attempts to set her up with Maddie?
Available at:
Heart of Murder by Edale Lane
Love and murder are in the air.
The rape and murder of a young woman in the park launches Lt. Ferrari and her team into high gear. Was a deadly predator stalking the city, or was it a crime of passion?
Then, Jenna’s long-lost first love Tori shows up unexpectedly, jarring Jenna’s emotions when she needs to focus on the case, and prompting her to determine who she truly loves.
Randi lays down the law when she witnesses a Facebook video of Jenna being shot at during a street chase after being told, “it was just a regular day.” However, her dog, Byron, may be the key to solving Jenna’s murder case.
Who killed the woman in the park and why? And what revelations will Valentine’s Day bring for Jenna, Tori, and Randi?
Continue to match wits with Detective Jenna Ferrari and the criminals she encounters while pursuing her romantic ventures with college professor Randi McLeod. Can a tough cop and a tender teacher weather the trial of an interfering ex?
Available at:
The Ex Emergency by J.R. Hart
Taylor just wanted to spend a Valentine’s Day alone.
Last year, Taylor spent Valentine’s Day with her ex, and that ended… explosively, to say the least. This year, she has everything planned out: wine, chocolate, and a good movie on TV.
There’s only one issue.
When Beck lands in the emergency room after a skateboarding mishap, they’re expecting to take it easy for the evening, but a concussion leaves them unable to drive and in need of an emergency caregiver. The hospital resorts to their emergency contact—their ex, Taylor, who they forgot to remove from their medical records.
Stuck taking care of Beck for the night, Taylor has to see if she’s ready to reconnect, or if they’re both destined for a repeat of the disastrous date from the year before.
Available at:
Keeping Score by Jo Cox
Life isn’t a fairy tale and Jax knows that all too well. She’s practical, pragmatic, and able to cope with anything the world throws at her, including a bar stool in a blackout or the slimy advances of her so-called arch nemesis, who seems hell bent on exploiting The Blues for his own gains.
Even when confronted with the woman who broke her heart, she knows what she has to do. After all, Carolyn is everything the club needs, and everything Jax wants. Why wouldn’t she let her back in?
But can Carolyn really believe that no one is keeping score and if they are, who’s winning?
Available at:
The Perfect Match by Milena McKay
A cupid’s life is hard.
There are so many rules.
Rule Number 1: Graduate from the Cupids’ Academy.
Rule Number 2: Attend the Annual Cupids’ Convention in Las Vegas.
Rule Number 3: When shooting your arrows and bringing love to people, strive for the Perfect Match.
When junior cupid Abby Angellini, fresh from Cupid Academy, heads to Sin City, she runs smack into her idol. Sabine Goddard is the one cupid who has a faultless record when it comes to slinging arrows and bringing people together. The stats for her own love life, however, aren’t nearly as great.
Sparks fly as Cinnamon Roll meets the Queen of the Perfect Match and the word quiver takes on an entirely new meaning.
Available at:
Destiny by Cara Malone
It’s the most romantic time of year, and the Emerald Mountain Ski Resort staff are working overtime to transform it into a Valentine’s Day destination.
Travel photographer Haley Thomas arrives on the mountain reluctant but determined to cover the festivities for her magazine. Single and recently scorned, she’s dreading the next two weeks of couple’s massages, wine tastings and moonlight walks surrounded by people in love. Even the staff are hot and flirty… or maybe that’s just Haley’s heartache talking.
But when a white-out catches Haley unprepared and underdressed, romance is the least of her worries.
She’s disoriented and shivering when someone reaches through the storm and pulls her into an unoccupied cabin. As the blizzard rages outside, Haley meets her savior—the admirer she’d noticed before, a tall, dark and handsome woman named Destiny. And those sultry looks? Haley wasn’t imagining them.
Des builds a fire in the hearth and kindles another in Haley’s core. Snowed in on Valentine’s Day, Haley can’t resist Cupid’s arrow—or Des herself. At least until the storm lets up.
Available at:
The Valentine’s Gift by Sage Donnell
Kade and Aiesha have been dating for a little over a month now. Everything is great, except maybe that their dogs are still working on getting to know each other.
When Kade gets a Valentine’s card in the mail from Aiesha, she’s thrilled at the invitation within. However, she hadn’t given Valentine’s Day nearly as much thought. Will she be able to come up with a commiserate gift or is she the worst girlfriend ever?
Available at:
Tell Me What You Want by Johana Gavez
A failed blind date turns into the start of an unexpected connection.
Since her divorce four years before, love hasn’t been in the cards for Olivia Fernández. She focuses on work, her children, and the occasional fleeting encounter that never becomes more. The last thing she wants for Valentine’s Day is to be set up on yet another date that will end with her bed warm but her heart as lonely as ever.
Canceling the date arranged by her nosy friends should be simple and the end of any interaction with Isabela Santamaría, CEO of Santamaría Media. Except, life insists on putting Isabela on Olivia’s path and she can’t deny her attraction and the easy connection they share.
Not falling for the woman she initially rejected becomes harder than expected the more time they spend together and explore their chemistry in bed. Will passion turn into love for Olivia and Isabela?
Available at:
Charm City by Monica McCallan
Taylor Tate has one last chance to turn things around. As the owner of Charm City Events, she needs her upcoming week of Valentine’s Day events to go off without a hitch. She’s painstakingly planned every detail down to the last red heart decoration, but what Taylor doesn’t plan on is the less than enthusiastic bar manager she’s paired with stumbling into her life at the worst possible time, making things more difficult every step of the way.
Carson Smith is getting by fine. She loves her job as the bar manager at Second Chances, a dive bar staple of the Baltimore landscape, and she doesn’t need anything or anyone disrupting the delicate balance she’s finally created. Especially for a stupid Valentine’s gimmick to take advantage of desperate singles. When the owner of the bar forces her to work with an event planning company to drum up business, she has no choice but to begrudgingly agree. It’s either play along or see the bar close, and she can’t let that happen.
It’s only a week, but time passes differently when there’s love in the air and too much on the line, and both women soon find their lives, and hearts, intertwined as they work together to make the week a success.
Available at:
Win a book during Sapphic Romance Week
We are celebrating a popular sapphic romance trope every day this week, each one with a big book giveaway! Four of the giveaways are already up: Ice queen romances, fake relationship romances, age gap romances, and enemies-to-lovers romances.
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What book will you be reading for the “sapphic Valentine’s Day Romance” category? Are there other books that are a good fit for this category? Let us know in the comments!
The post Sapphic Valentine’s Day romances (Sapphic Book Bingo #4) appeared first on Jae.
February 8, 2024
Sapphic books with sex toys (Hidden Gems #2)
For the second Hidden Gems post of the 2024 Sapphic Book Bingo, we’re highlighting sapphic books with steamy sex scenes in which the characters use a sex toy.
From passionate encounters with a strap-on to thrilling escapades with a pair of handcuffs or exhilarating adventures with a vibrator, this category embraces the exploration of pleasure and intimacy in sapphic romances.
15 recommended sapphic books with sex toys
Below, you’ll find a list of 15 sapphic books featuring sex toys:
Love Where You Work by Anna Pulley
For Clare Kolikov, her work is her life. A successful HR manager with a heart of gold, Clare has no time for relationships or anything else that might distract her from climbing the career ladder at a San Francisco Bay Area matchmaking startup, W;nkdIn.
When she’s force-volunteered as an LGBTQ beta date tester at W;nkdIn, the buttoned-up Clare teeters on the edge of despair, especially when the “experiences” involve pole dancing meet-n-greets, plant healing workshops, and miming.
But Clare has her real work cut out for her when she meets Julia Dawes, the hot coworker who’s organizing her dates. Julia is a free-spirited, multiracial fashionista with “roller-blade confidence” and a Kristen Stewart haiku fan blog, whose attraction to Clare is as immediate and crippling as the debt she’s drowning in, thanks to the failed essential oils business her ex left her saddled with.
Workplace rules aim to keep Clare and Julia apart––especially after Clare becomes Julia’s boss––but their attraction only grows like an out-of-control Excel spreadsheet.
When an office rival threatens to expose their budding, secret relationship, Clare is left with an impossible choice: Give up her dream job or lose out on the girl of her dreams.
Available at:
Worth the Wait by Jae
When struggling actress Jill lands her dream TV role, she rushes home to celebrate with her girlfriend, stuntwoman Crash.
A steamy shower leads to sheet-rumpling passion as they try out a new sex toy. Will their intimate celebration turn out to be worth the wait?
“Worth the Wait” won the Good Sex Awards 2021 in the Best Use of Sex Toys category. It’s a short sequel to Jae’s lesbian romance Just Physical but can be read as a steamy standalone.
Available at:
Saving Mia by Anna Stone
To break free, she auctioned off the one thing she’s been saving…
Mia Brooks needs money, fast. Deep in debt to help pay her sister’s medical bills, her loan shark is coming to collect. Her solution? Auctioning off the one thing she’s been saving—herself.
The highest bidder is Cassandra Lee, self-made businesswoman and CEO. Her heart hardened by a past she keeps buried, Cassandra doesn’t want a relationship. What she wants is a woman who takes pleasure in serving her. And Mia is the perfect prize. She’s enthralled by Cassandra and the sweet surrender she commands. For the next 30 days, Mia is hers.
As the chemistry sizzling between them intensifies, so does their connection. But a figure from Cassandra’s past has returned, determined to destroy her no matter who gets hurt in the process. As the end of the month draws near and Cassandra’s dark secrets threaten to tear them apart, will Mia and Cassandra be able to put it all on the line, including their hearts?
Available at:
A Game of Romance and Ruin by Ruby Roe
In a game of power, can love be the deadliest weapon?
Stirling Grey, legendary negotiator, is on a mission: to mend her broken heart and avenge its ruin.
Morrigan Lee, hidden princess and heir to the throne, is harbouring a dark secret.
For years, Stirling and Morrigan navigated the perilous games of power and politics, shared clandestine moments, and ultimately… fell in love…
Until a deal with fate forced them apart.
When the Queen sets a formidable challenge, Stirling and Morrigan are thrust into a treacherous labyrinth of danger.
The task?
Protect the kingdom from a terrifying threat or lose the crown forever.
But this is not a simple mission.
With the clock ticking, they’re going to have to trust each other…
And that’s not easy when their past is filled with betrayal.
It’s even harder when their hearts are entangled amidst the chaos.
Now, neither woman is sure if it’s the throne they want to rescue or a love they want to rekindle.
Two hearts, one kingdom, and a romance that could lead to their ruin… or just maybe their redemption.
Available at:
Just Like Her by Fiona Zedde
Delphine’s life is made up of secrets. About her job, her sexual identity, and even her past.
She coasts along on a tide of half-truths until a familiar “straight” woman pushes into her world, threatening her tenuous peace of mind. This woman wants to be everything Delphine has never had before – a confidant, a seductress, a lover. Delphine is terrified of taking the risk, yet she’s oh so tempted…
By giving in to this siren, is she setting herself up for heartbreak, or worse?
Available at:
The Club by A. L. Brooks
Welcome to The Club—leave your inhibitions at the door and indulge in an evening of anonymous, woman-on-woman action in a sizzling, award-winning lesbian erotica that includes characters over fifty, plus-sized women, coming-out stories, and toe-curling fun.
For many of the women who visit The Club, no-strings excitement is exactly what they are looking for and what they get. For others, however, with emotions running high, one night of sex changes their lives in ways they couldn’t have imagined.
For Lou, her weekly visits enable her to set aside her shyness and loneliness and feel intimacy, however briefly. Kath, who cares for her mother at home, finds The Club a welcome escape from her everyday toil; while Max needs distraction from her troubled relationship, even as she tries to tell herself she isn’t really cheating.
Tania and Jacky find an outlet for a tricky block in their sex life. Cassie and Nina, two bar staff at The Club, find themselves staying on after hours. And, Stephanie, struggling with her sexuality, finds her life changing in so many ways once she plucks up courage to enter.
The lives of these women intersect, merge, and mingle, and watching over them all is Mandy—the owner, whose own ghosts play a pivotal role in the existence of The Club.
Available at:
Love and Other Rare Birds by Angie Williams
Ornithologist Dr. Jamie Martin doesn’t have time for romance. She’s spent her life living up to her biologist-turned-conservative-senator father’s idea of who she should be. When she discovers that a bird thought to be extinct has been sighted in Alaska, Jaime seizes the opportunity to finally step out of her father’s shadow and make her career her own.
As a park ranger in Alaska’s largest national wilderness, all Rowan Fleming wants is to escape the stress of her failed marriage in the lower forty-eight. She needs solitude to heal her broken heart, so being ordered to act as a guide for an entitled senator’s daughter isn’t exactly a walk in the park.
Jaime and Rowan couldn’t be more different, but as the landscape grows treacherous and remote, they’re forced to work together to find the elusive bird. Three arguments, two whispered confessions, and one rogue bear later, they’re beginning to suspect love isn’t extinct, after all.
Available at:
Always Emilie by Alyson Root
Charlie Baxter has it all. A beautiful house, successful company and a set of tattoos that light women on fire at the mere sight of them. Not to mention, she’s tall and gorgeous! Life is good… Well, that is until her old music teacher calls insisting she return to her old school to take part in their annual charity ball. Charlie left Pickerton Academy behind twenty years ago. She also left behind the heartache caused by the only girl she ever loved.
Emilie Martin is an international superstar. She’s had fame and fortune for the past two decades, but what she really wants now is a break. Maybe a couple of weeks in the English countryside and a visit to her old school is just what she needs. Sounds perfect, and it would be if it weren’t for the fact it meant seeing the one person Emilie has pined over for twenty years. The girl that got away. No, the girl Emilie threw away.
With both women on a collision course with their past, can they put all the hurt behind them and start again? Can they keep their hands off each other long enough to really figure out what they want?
Available at:
Good Vibes by Cara Malone
The little details have never interested Libby. From her eclectic style to her carefree attitude about her adult toy shop, she’s all about the big picture. But when her business partner retires, Libby’s safety net disappears and it’s up to her to sink or swim.
For old-school card game nerd Theo, the details are everything. Her anxiety demands to know the rules, the players and the goal in any situation, and it can be hard to even leave her apartment unless she knows exactly what’s coming her way.
When Theo’s sister gets engaged, she’s forced out of her comfort zone and into Libby’s shop on the hunt for bachelorette party supplies.
Opposites attract and Theo is drawn into Libby’s chaotic world. She wants to help Libby save the shop and together they come up with a plan, but will they be brave enough to play the game of love?
Available at:
Beyond Any Experience by Anne E. Terpstra
Olivia Northman’s world shattered the day she lost her wife to a drunk driver. Three years later, she still struggles with grief and the demands of being a single parent to their autistic son, Ben. After her first attempt at a new relationship crumbles, Olivia retreats to the simple, the predictable. It’s what’s best for her son and her heart.
Ellie Vasquez isn’t simple or predictable. In fact, she’s charmingly impulsive, as well as gregarious, confident, and attracted to Olivia, which she reveals in an unguarded moment. Olivia doesn’t know what’s more surprising—Ellie’s interest, or her own—but a quiet conversation over drinks soon spins into something more. As Olivia’s caution gives way to hope, she sees another chance at love, both for her, and for Ben, who takes to Ellie with a tender openness. Ellie is fearless about love in a way that makes Olivia want to be brave, but the deeper their passion, the closer she gets to drowning—in grief, in fear, in guilt. To have a future with Ellie, Olivia must come to terms with her past. If she can’t, she risks losing the second love of her life.
Available at:
Round Trip by D.A. Hartman
This fun and quirky story is told by two mentally unbalanced main characters, a delusional homeless woman and a writer with abandonment issues. Virginia the sapphic author insists nothing not even love can save Tori who is of unsound mind and destined to remain on the streets forever. Tori believes it’s Virginia who needs saving.
Novelist Virginia Lopez bases her characters on real people who subsequently suffer the same fate as those in her manuscripts. Her bad karma has run amok, and so she vows never to use someone she cares about as a protagonist again. But Tori Laurengo is forlorn at best. What harm could Virginia’s words and rotten luck cause the disheveled woman who talks to herself?
Tori is homeless until a stranger offers her a place to stay at a luxurious apartment building in California. There, the socially awkward woman falls madly in love with Virginia unaware that she was chosen to be the doomed character in the author’s latest novel Round Trip.
Available at:
Mistress: Found (Home Kinky Home #1) by Emily Alter
Finding her was only the beginning.
When Iria moved to Cádiz, Spain, and she became a member of the local kink club, she hadn’t been expecting Nerea. A sub who had been deemed unsafe to play with by most Dommes. After their first scene, Iria should’ve stayed away, but she didn’t.
Nerea had been drifting, going through the motions. Iria forced her to confront her demons, her past. She made her connect with all the emotions she’d all but blocked years ago.
If only she could learn how to do that, then she could enjoy everything Iria was offering. Every experience Mistress was willing to give her, to test her limits with.
Available at:
Party Favors by Erin McLellan
Three…
Amanda Ellis knows three things: she’s tired of doing what’s expected of her, she hates her job at her family’s business, and the last thing she wants to do is attend her parents’ boring New Year’s Eve ball with a date her mother picked. A few days of fun with her online best friend is exactly what she needs to ring in the New Year on her own terms.
Two…
Wren Rebello is impulsive and always ready for fun. A last-minute girls’ getaway sounds like the perfect way to spend New Year’s. But even Wren isn’t prepared for the spark of attraction she feels when she meets Amanda in person for the first time. Good thing Wren loves popping Amanda’s cork.
One…
After days spent sharing end-of-year resolutions and the one bed in their cottage, the clock strikes midnight and the ball drops on their time together. As Amanda and Wren go their separate ways, they leave new resolutions unfulfilled. Is there enough New Year’s magic left to turn their online friendship into real-life love?
Available at:
I’m Perfectly Fine by Kelli Jae Baeli & Melissa Walker Baeli
Two women, one steeped in the past, the other, trying to outrun it.
In the heart of Plymouth, Michigan, thirty-five-year-old Monica Hayes favors living each day as it comes, keeping her past carefully behind her. Gregarious and sweet, she’s the out and proud owner of a struggling all-inclusive bookstore, and dreads the day she will have to admit defeat.
Professor Alexandra Craig is approaching fifty and firmly planted in a closet of her own making, while seeking tenure. Staid and insular, Alex prefers being surrounded by the same classic literature she teaches at the local liberal arts college, content with maintaining the status-quo. She lives a life of antiquity, fearful of anything in her present that might threaten her carefully-constructed plans.
Sparks fly when these two wildly different women meet under less than ideal circumstances. But can a prim and proper heiress find love with the daughter of a handyman?
As they struggle to find common ground, will their relationship, forged in fire, survive the searing flames?
Available at:
Biting Down by Torrance Sené
In the dim lights of The Crimson, Mollie’s world ignites when she crosses paths with werewolf beauty, Cam.
Will the danger Mollie faces overpower the inexplicable and lustful pull she feels toward Cam and her world? Or will desire overcome all obstacles and bond both women closer than they’d ever imagined?
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Join us for Sapphic Romance Week
On February 12-18, I’m hosting Sapphic Romance Week, a fun, week-long event for readers of sapphic romance. Every day, we celebrate one of the 7 most popular romance tropes, and you have the chance to win one of 10+ books that fit the trope of the day. Sign up for the reminder emails so you won’t miss any of the giveaways!
Leave a comment
What book will you be reading for the “sapphic books with sex toys” category? Are there other books that are a good fit for this category? Let us know in the comments!
The post Sapphic books with sex toys (Hidden Gems #2) appeared first on Jae.
February 1, 2024
Sapphic books that started as fan fiction (Sapphic Book Bingo #3)
Fan fiction–fan-created stories using characters and settings from original movies or TV shows–has always been popular among sapphic readers, probably because we had so little representation of sapphic characters in movies and TV shows…
Even if we got any representation, it often ended with one of the queer characters being killed off (the dreaded “bury your gays” trope) or the couple splitting up. So sapphic writers set out to rewrite those stories and give the characters their deserved happy ending.
Plenty of fan fiction writers later went on to become published authors, and some are now among the most popular sapphic fiction authors.
For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, read a published book that started out as fan fiction.
For the record: You can’t publish fan fiction because it would be a violation of copyright. So any published works that started out as fan fiction have been extensively revised so the books are now able to stand on their own.
15 sapphic books that started out as fan fiction
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic books that started out as fan fiction:
Conflict of Interest by Jae
Workaholic Detective Aiden Carlisle isn’t looking for love—and certainly not at the law enforcement seminar she reluctantly agreed to attend. But the first lecturer is not at all what she expected.
Psychologist Dawn Kinsley has just found her place in life. After a failed relationship with a police officer, she has sworn never to get involved with another cop again, but she feels a connection to Aiden from the very first moment.
Can Aiden keep from crossing the line when a brutal crime threatens to keep them apart before they’ve even gotten together?
Available at:
Truth and Measure by Roslyn Sinclair
Jules Moretti is newly single, an aspiring writer, and the hyper-competent assistant to the most powerful woman in fashion. It’s a tough job, but her ice queen boss won’t settle for less than perfection.
Vivian Carlisle helms the internationally revered fashion publication Du Jour. She might be smack in the middle of a messy divorce, but you have to make sacrifices to be the best. That’s what she tells herself, anyway.
When the unthinkable happens, Vivian’s regimented world is turned upside-down. Her life is about power, success, and dominance—not a baby!
This single, shocking moment throws boss and assistant together into an intimacy neither could have imagined. With their lives in chaos, every day brings a new challenge bigger than the last. But everything will work out…just so long as they don’t do anything totally ridiculous.
Like fall in love.
Available at:
The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter
Australian crime reporter Maddie Grey is working the night shift, out of her depth in New York, miserable, and secretly crushing on her twice-married, media-mogul employer.
Elena Bartell is a brilliant, fierce, ice queen boss who eats failing newspapers for breakfast and believes to her core that everything would be much simpler if people told each other the whole, unvarnished truth.
As work takes them to Australia, Maddie is goaded into a brief, seemingly harmless bet with her enigmatic boss—where they can’t lie to each other. The bet backfires spectacularly as Elena realizes that the brutal truth might not be what she wanted after all.
Available at:
Second Chances by Eliza Lentzski
High school can be Hell. Especially when you grow up in a small town where everyone knows your business and you can’t avoid the gossip about your past. That’s why, as soon as she graduated, Reagan Murphy moved to New York City to start again. Now in her junior year at NYU and with her childhood firmly positioned in the rearview mirror, the future looks limitless. But when she unexpectedly runs into the one person responsible for the misery of her high school years, will she keep running or will she stick around long enough for a second chance?
Allison Hoge, statuesque and beautiful, made sure she remained at the top of the social pyramid, even if it meant stepping on a few heads to get there. But even she had her own secrets to evade after graduation. College can change a person – it can be a new start – an opportunity for reinvention. So when she unexpectedly runs into the one person for whom she made high school especially miserable, will history repeat itself or has she changed enough to be given a second chance?
Available at:
The Best Mistake by Emily O’Beirne
Uptight, icy Ava Harris, rocked by grief and terrible romantic decisions, moves to Melbourne for a new university job. She definitely doesn’t expect to encounter the ghost of a dirty weekend in her first week there.
Kind, charismatic Sofia Juma, who runs a campus tutoring program for migrant students, barely recognises Ava as the charmer she met months ago, given the woman’s frosty brush-offs.
When the universe keeps hurling them together, and that old attraction flares again, Ava keeps giving in to Sofia’s charms. Sex is easy, but intimacy takes courage. While Sofia is brave, a wounded Ava is still running scared. If she ever catches up, will it be too late?
Available at:
Turning In: More stories of Brenna and Cassidy by Lara Zielinsky
More stories about Cassidy and Brenna after the events of Turning Point and Turn for Home.
The End of the Beginning
Brenna and Cassidy film the final scenes of their Time Trails series and enjoy time together with their castmates and alone in their trailers.
Becoming Family Cassidy and Brenna spend domestic time at home with their sons between dinner, a family game night, and bedtime.
Family Functions Cassidy and Brenna visit Cassidy’s home to collect some of her and Ryan’s things and Ranger gets into trouble at the neighbors, leading to a need to reassure Ryan.
Galway Getaway
The combined Hyland and Lanigan families take a vacation trip to Ireland before Brenna has to report for filming of an on-location movie.
Handling the Holidays
Cassidy and Brenna navigate the holiday programs at Ryan’s elementary school and then James’ high school before the entire family goes camping in northern California with new friends.
The Premiere
Cassidy is Brenna’s plus-one at the small venue premiering the Irish film she worked on and they mix and mingle with the movie’s other cast and the director.
Available at:
Blurred Lines by KD Williamson
Kelli MacCabe is a no nonsense detective with a tough exterior. Only a select few know her as a loyal, loving friend. Committed to her family, her friends, and her job, Kelli puts her needs behind everyone else’s.
As a surgeon, Nora Whitmore is used to being in control. The hospital is her life and leaves room for little else. Respected by her colleagues, but misunderstood by the residents, Nora takes what she needs and keeps everyone at arm’s length. In the process, she creates unexpected enemies.
Tragedy brings them together. As chaos grows around them, the lines between them begin to blur. Despite being from different worlds, friendship grows between them, turning quickly to attraction. Will these two strong, independent women find a way to deal with their individual baggage? Or will they be overcome by it?
Available at:
#Cassinova by Lori G. Matthews
Samantha Cassidy, award-winning actress, up-and-coming Hollywood “It Girl”, is missing three things in her life: an Oscar, a special someone to share her life with, and a baby goat in pajamas.
Alex Novato married her college sweetheart, but tragedy struck and the love of her life was ripped from her arms. Now she refuses to open her heart again, choosing casual sex over deeper commitments, until a not-so-chance meeting with her favorite Hollywood starlet turns her world upside down.
Will Alex give love another try? Will Sam find the courage to follow her heart, Hollywood be damned? Will anyone get a baby goat in pajamas?
Available at:
Never Say Never by Rachael Sommers
Ambitious corporate shark Camila Evans might have just lost her marriage but she decides she doesn’t need love to build a television empire and raise her young son alone. What she does need is a nanny, but the incompetent idiots sent her way make her lose faith in ever finding anyone useful.
Enter Emily Walker—fresh out of college, bright, a little naive, and new to New York City. Emily is everything Camila is not and frankly it’s a little unsettling how innocent and gentle the young woman is.
That’s not all that’s unsettling. Camila’s growing feelings for Emily are making it hard to maintain a professional distance. Surely she can’t possibly be falling for the nanny? God, it’s such a mid-life crisis cliché. But would it be too impossible?
As time goes on, Camila starts to wonder if maybe even she can get her happy ending after all.
Available at:
Always Believe by Aimée
Lieutenant-Colonel Greyson Walsden returns to her hometown of Gloucester after a fulfilling career as an Army doctor. She takes a position as a general practitioner while pursuing ordination as an Anglican priest. Overworked and naturally reserved, she doesn’t have time or patience for socializing, let alone for falling in love.
For Angela Arlingham, life as she knows it is over. God played a cruel trick on her by robbing her of her daughter, Sybil, and Angela refuses to believe in Him any longer. When she meets Greyson Walsden, she’s impressed by the handsome doctor, but struggling with her loss makes falling in love with a priest all but impossible.
As circumstances throw them together again and again, the choice to follow their hearts may be the most difficult one of all.
Available at:
Birthday Letters by Helen West
Brooke Blackwell and Julietta Alvarez have been secret girlfriends for years and Brooke can’t take it anymore. She breaks up with Julietta and attempts to move on with her life. Then she receives a letter on her birthday from Julietta, and so begins a tradition of birthday letters between the two.
Available at:
Doll Face by Shannon O’Connor
Barbara Ann (Barbie) as her friends know her, is the CEO of her parents toy company Up, Up, Away toys. All Barbie wants to do is pop a bottle of champagne, create and sell the best toys in the world and maybe forget about the girl who broke her heart.
Kenzie might be one of the world’s top models right now but under the lipstick and dresses, all she can think about is her first love. She left Barbie years ago to pursue her career in modeling and has been lonely ever since. So when a week long shoot in NYC lands her back in town with Barbie, she can’t help but want to rekindle things. She has a week to convince her that they belong together.
Can she get back her one true love or will she be thrown out like a used toy?
Available at:
All Things Beautiful by Alaina Erdell
Leighton Vaughn’s prestigious fine art atelier—and her life—appear to be settling down after a messy divorce. She prioritizes her daughter, art, and, teaching—that is until gifted Casey Norford joins the close-knit New York academy.
Casey didn’t receive the artistic education she expected from her bachelor’s degree, but a spot at Atelier Vaughn will remedy that. Even more than the opportunity to study with the famed Leighton Vaughn, Casey wants to give her son a stable childhood that won’t resemble her own. She’s not sure of the true extent of her artistic talent, but she’s keenly aware of her attraction to her instructor, and that attraction appears mutual.
Their sticky teacher-student relationship puts the future of the atelier in jeopardy, the needs of their young children are at odds with their dreams, and Leighton’s obsessive ex tracks her down. Will they sacrifice everything to be together?
Available at:
The Last Scion of Ra by K. Aten
Eighteen years after the Chromodec Uprising of 2020, the world is a very different place.
Kaelen Ra-Evon lands on Earth, a planet where aliens exist and refugees are fast-tracked to
citizenship in many countries. Her tale encompasses the age-old notions of loss, love, and found
family. Kaelen tries to navigate her new life on Earth, as well as a romance with genius CEO,
Leah Lockheed-Tuck, all while honoring her family’s legacy as the last of her house.
She’s wary of the Chromodec Office of Restraint and Protection, a US agency tasked
with policing people of power regardless of their race or planet of origin. In an attempt to protect
the woman she loves, Kaelen becomes a vigilante: Scion. She won’t let laws or the CORP stop
her from doing what’s right.
Available at:
The Price of Fame by Lynn Ames
When local television news anchor Katherine Kyle is thrust into the national spotlight, it sets in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever. Jamison “Jay” Parker is an intensely career-driven Time magazine reporter; she has experienced love once, from afar, and given up on finding it again…That is, until circumstance and an assignment bring her into contact with her past.
Kate and Jay’s lives intertwine, leading them on a journey to love and happiness, until fate and fame threaten to tear them apart. What is the price of fame? For Kate the cost just might be everything. For Jay, the price could be the other half of her soul.
Available at:
Falling Blindly by Abigail Taylor
Shay is an attractive tomboy with everything going for her except self-belief.
She works from home as a statistical analyst but spends all her free time working on her popular cult fan page, Lost-and-Found Girl, which doesn’t leave much time for socializing.
But everything changes when Shay meets Charlotte, an enthusiastic fan, who lives life to the fullest and loves Shay’s individuality.
As their online friendship develops, Shay’s confidence rises, and she begins to claim her life back, starting with finding her self-worth and eliminating people who didn’t belong in her life no matter how long they’d been there.
Available at:
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What book will you be reading for the “sapphic book that started out as fan fiction” category? Let us know in the comments!
The post Sapphic books that started as fan fiction (Sapphic Book Bingo #3) appeared first on Jae.
January 18, 2024
Sapphic medical romance novels (Sapphic Book Bingo #2)
I hope you’ve been enjoying the Sapphic Book Bingo so far!
This week’s bingo category is a popular subgenre of sapphic romance: medical romance novels.
Readers really enjoy the blend of heart-warming romance and the high-stakes world of medicine.
For this category, read a book with a medical setting. At least one main character is a doctor, a nurse, or a healthcare professional. For the book to count as a medical romance, we need to see them at their job. At least a couple of scenes need to take place in the medical setting.
15 sapphic medical romance novels
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic medical romance novels:
Bachelorette Number Twelve by Jae
A kind ER nurse accidentally wins a date with a prickly doctor at a singles auction
Ellie Fisher loves most things about being a nurse in the emergency department…just not working with Regina Novak, an icy attending physician who acts as if she’s God’s gift to medicine.
The dislike is completely mutual. Regina thinks Ellie is a starry-eyed romantic with a sentimental attitude that has no place at work.
When Regina gets talked into volunteering at a singles auction, Ellie accidentally bids on her—and ends up winning. Oops!
Since the money raised is for a good cause, they reluctantly decide to go through with the dates.
Thanks to a baking class that turns into a competition and a hot-as-hell road trip snack incident, the ice between them starts to thaw. Is it possible the ER isn’t the most unromantic place on earth after all?
Available at:
Blurred Lines by KD Williamson
Kelli MacCabe is a no nonsense detective with a tough exterior. Only a select few know her as a loyal, loving friend. Committed to her family, her friends, and her job, Kelli puts her needs behind everyone else’s.
As a surgeon, Nora Whitmore is used to being in control. The hospital is her life and leaves room for little else. Respected by her colleagues, but misunderstood by the residents, Nora takes what she needs and keeps everyone at arm’s length. In the process, she creates unexpected enemies.
Tragedy brings them together. As chaos grows around them, the lines between them begin to blur. Despite being from different worlds, friendship grows between them, turning quickly to attraction. Will these two strong, independent women find a way to deal with their individual baggage? Or will they be overcome by it?
Available at:
Fated Love by Radclyffe
What do you do when your carefully planned life takes a wrong turn into hell? When Quinn Maguire, a dashing young trauma surgeon, unaccountably accepts a position as an ER physician, her new boss, Honor Blake, suspects that Quinn is hiding a dark secret. While the two declare an uneasy truce in an effort to work together, both struggle with mutual, and unexpected, attraction. Honor, however, has more than one reason to resist her growing feelings for the attractive newcomer—not the least of which is that her heart belongs to the woman whose wedding ring she wears. Amidst the chaos and drama of a busy emergency room, Quinn and Honor must contend not only with the fragile nature of life, but also with the mysteries of the heart and the irresistible forces of fate.
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:
If I Don’t Ask by E.J. Noyes
Rebecca Keane has it all figured out. With a successful career as an Army surgeon and a fresh promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, she loves her life leading a surgical team. Even if that life means she’s spent years hiding her sexuality and ignoring her desires under the Army’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Then Captain Sabine Fleischer’s arrival sets off an attraction that cracks Rebecca’s carefully cultivated armor and brings about fresh complications.
As Sabine’s direct commanding officer, Rebecca knows she cannot act on her attraction, but that knowledge does nothing to squash her desires. Unable to keep her thoughts about the alluring other woman under control, Rebecca resigns herself to years of censoring her thoughts and feelings until Sabine’s time in the Army is done. She’s spent decades suppressing parts of herself for her job, so what’s a few more years?
But as Rebecca and Sabine work closely together on Army bases in Afghanistan and the States, the undeniable sparks between them begin to ignite. And despite Rebecca’s constant self-censure, her denials and her knowledge of every obstacle standing between them, her resolve crumbles with each passing day. But when the consequences of your love run deeper than just breaking one of the unbreakable rules of the military, you risk losing more than just your heart.
Available at:
Hearts in Motion by Miranda MacLeod
After tragedy strikes, can love blossom out of grief?
As an emergency room doctor, 41-year-old Hadley Moore has spent a decade perfecting the art of shutting down her emotions to focus on saving lives. But when her younger sister and brother-in-law die tragically, the pain of loss is too great to ignore. Reeling from guilt over letting her family take a back seat to her career, Hadley seizes the opportunity to make things right by returning to her hometown to raise the infant son her sister left behind.
At 29, Tyne Briggs knows firsthand how hard it is to grow up without a loving family. After being saved from a hostile foster home as a queer pre-teen, the young artist dotes on her large and boisterous adoptive family. When she loses her brother and sister-in-law in a car accident, her top priority is to make sure her baby nephew has the happy childhood she was denied.
Shared grief and mutual attraction bring the two women together, where they find solace and passion in equal measure. But they are soon at odds when each decides she is the best choice to give baby Owen a permanent home. Without a will to guide them, and with the two aunts unable to reach a compromise, a lengthy custody battle looms.
Cooperation and a common purpose could lead to true love and the creation of a new family together, but not if impulsive decisions and unsavory lawyers tear them apart first.
Available at:
Reservations of the Heart by TB Markinson
Can two wounded souls find solace together?
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:
L.A. Metro by RJ Nolan
Dr. Kimberly Donovan’s life is in shambles. After her medical ethics are questioned, first her family, then her closeted lover, the Chief of the ER, betray her. Determined to make a fresh start, she flees to California and L.A. Metropolitan Hospital.
Dr. Jess McKenna, L.A. Metro’s Chief of the ER, gives new meaning to the phrase emotionally guarded, but she has her reasons.
When Kim and Jess meet, the attraction is immediate. Emotions Jess has tried to repress for years surface. But her interest in Kim also stirs dark memories. They settle for friendship, determined not to repeat past mistakes, but secretly they both wish things could be different.
Will the demons from Jess’s past destroy their future before it can even get started? Or will L.A. Metro be a place to not only heal the sick, but to mend wounded hearts?
Available at:
Queen V.s Queen by Barbara Winkes, Alysia D Evans, Anne Hagan
She meets her match!
When ice queens converge at a business conference, they exhibit ultimate control, authority, and strength. The conference forces the women to show their vulnerabilities. Will they thrive in the training situation? Is there a chance that any romantic unions could form? Or will any sparks of romance remain hidden beneath the icy exteriors of the attendees?
Three novellas of power and passion, all with a Happily Ever After.
***
Sunset to Sunrise by Barbara Winkes
When ice meets ice, can passion melt away the pain?
Isabel Windsor is confident in her leadership qualities. When her bosses send her to a seminar at the International Leadership Institute for Women after a confrontation with a client, she sees it as an affront. She is determined to make it clear that she doesn’t need any help.
Grace McAllister has decided to make the best of a bad situation: After getting fired from her old job, she plans to start her own business, and hopes to make connections at the same institute. What she doesn’t expect is to run into a woman she has met before—Isabel.
Sparks fly—again—when Isabel and Grace try to navigate these complicated circumstances. Against the picturesque backdrop of Quebec City, they must choose whether they want to be enemies or allies in a cutthroat world, and if there’s a future for them beyond another chance meeting.
***
Adrenaline Kisses by Alysia D. Evans
When insubordinate Meryl and uptight Polly meet at a business coaching conference, there is instantaneous conflict and friction.
Forced by a conference organizer to work together, the pair agree to complete the assigned activity, tick the box, and then go their separate ways. Ideally, this was the perfect solution, until Meryl provokes confrontation by delving into Polly’s personal life.
In response to Meryl’s intrusive behavior, Polly suffers a seizure, and onlookers expect Meryl to help her so-called friend. Polly’s illness reluctantly pushes the twosome together. They are compelled to endure activities outside of the conference and demonstrate they can develop a supportive network.
Is it possible for two women from contrasting ends of the social spectrum to find common ground, enjoy spending time together, and develop an intimate rapport? Find out in this irresistible ice queen romance.
***
Turning Two by Anne Hagan
If your flame constantly singes others, maybe you need a dose of your own medicine.
Tonya and Abigail, two forces of nature from different worlds, face off against their own worst enemy: themselves. Tonya, a sharp-tongued trailblazer in a man’s world, and Abigail, a surgical mastermind with a bedside manner worse than her scalpel.
When they come to realize they have been both sent to a conference to learn and grow, their simmering rage boils over. To rid themselves of their mutual disdain, they must take a dose of their own medicine: learning how to co-exist.
With their tempers flaring, they face off in a fierce battle of wit and will. Will they learn to work together, no matter how much they clash? Or will they be forever changed by their own flames? The only thing certain is that the outcome will leave a mark.
Available at:
Stunted Heart by Helena Harte
A stunt rider who lives in the fast lane. An ER doctor who can’t take chances. A passion that could turn their worlds upside down.
Taryn Taylor wants it all, and she wants it fast. As a stunt rider she’s always looking for the next big jump, the next adrenaline fix, and the next scorching encounter with an irresistible woman. Settling down isn’t her style and she’s sworn never to stay in one place long enough to grow roots. But when her team is asked to do a longer running show in Vegas, she gives in. It’s temporary, after all. And in Vegas, anything goes…
Dr. Cassandra Kennedy doesn’t understand why people engage in risky behavior when life is so precious and death so final. As an ER doctor she sees the devastation wrought by people being reckless, and she’s felt the pain of loss herself. There’s no way she could ever get involved with someone who didn’t take the road more cautious.
When they meet, passions ignite with off-the-charts chemistry. They both know it’s only temporary—after all, Taryn will soon be back on the road chasing the ultimate rush, and Cassandra will go back to her orderly life where she’s the one in control. Will they decide that love is worth betting on, or will caution keep them apart forever?
Available at:
The Fifth Surgeon by Faith Prize
Nadia Keating has barely started her cardiothoracic fellowship training, but she already has the archetype nailed—she’s direct, uncompromising, and suffering from a God complex.
Before she can focus on her impressive research, deeply closeted Nadia has a personal project: getting her inconvenient attraction to women out of her system. She picks a stranger online for a one-night stand.
Ashley Rylan, the chief of Nadia’s department, is her polar opposite—sweet, agreeable, and soft-spoken—and the stranger Nadia unwittingly chooses.
The two women’s meeting is a hostile disaster and they would love nothing more than to never see each other again. However, their paths keep colliding as Nadia embarks on an ambitious experiment that could lead to a historic medical breakthrough.
Despite warring egos and the secrets they keep, their connection is powerful and growing. Maybe having sex would help them get over their distraction at work? Or would that just ruin everything?
Available at:
Major Surgery by Lola Keeley
Skilled surgeon Veronica Mallick runs her London hospital department like she runs her surgeries: with hawkish efficiency. Then her perfect world is turned upside down by the arrival of a new Head of Trauma.
Cassie Taylor is a brash, no-nonsense army surgeon, fresh from the front lines, and trying to find her way in civilian life. She’s all action and sharp edges, not too interested in rules. She’s even less interested in bureaucracy, or playing nice with her uptight, paper-pushing colleague, Veronica.
While they’re circling each other warily at St. Sophia’s hospital, Cassie becomes entangled in some shady financial dealings.
Their shared search for the truth draws them closer together, sparking heated moments as they try to see justice done. But in exposing a scandal, can they also find some common ground? How will they both deal with being attracted to a woman they don’t even like?
Available at:
Who’d Have Thought by G Benson
Top neurosurgeon Samantha Thomson needs to get married fast and is tightlipped as to why. And with over $200,000 on offer to tie the knot, no questions asked, cash-strapped ER nurse Hayden Pérez isn’t about to demand answers.
The deal is only for a year of marriage, but Hayden’s going into it knowing it will be a nightmare. Sam is complicated, rude, kind of cold, and someone Hayden barely tolerates at work, let alone wants to marry. The hardest part is that Hayden has to convince everyone around them that they’re madly in love and that racing down the aisle together is all they’ve ever wanted. What could possibly go wrong?
Available at:
Souls’ Rescue by Patty Schramm
Kelly McCoy is a firefighter and paramedic who’s lived most of her adult life in New York. After 9-11, she relocates to Cincinnati, nursing a broken heart and looking for a new start. She takes one day at a time, trying not to let her losses overwhelm her.
Talia Stoddard is an insurance wiz who’s always been smart on the job, but unlucky in love. After years of being told that she’s too big, too tall, too black, too lesbian, and not a very snappy dresser, Talia has resigned herself to a life alone with only her dear gay friend Jacob for a diversion.
When Kelly and Talia’s lives crash into one another, it’s under the most stressful and threatening circumstances. Talia is in terrible danger, and it’s up to Kelly to rescue her. In the horrendous situation they end up in, neither expects to find a friend, much less a soul mate.
Will they rescue one another and heal the wounds of their pasts? Or will they both continue to believe that they’re not worthy of the kind of love the other might offer?
Souls’ Rescue is the story of opening up to love, taking chances, and building a life that everyone dreams about, but few people ever find.
Available at:
If It’s Meant to Be by Skye Von Triessen
Dr. Alexandra Edison lives a life that many would be envious of. A beautiful world-famous fiancée, more money than she could spend, and a career that she loved. To honor her grandfather’s wishes, she moved from L.A. to Seattle to take over one of her family’s hospitals. When her perfect life fell apart, the last person she expected to be there to help her pick up the pieces was Dr. Blake Westmore. The woman who was cold and indifferent towards her since the day they met. But one touch from Blake made Alexandra question everything she knew about her life. In the end, life forced her to make choices that could end up costing her more than she bargained for.
Dr. Blake Westmore thought she had all she needed. A career that she loved and her fill of women with no commitments as she did not do relationships. When her very engaged new boss arrived on the scene, the last thing Blake wanted was to be attracted to her. Despite doing everything in her power to stay away from Alexandra, when her world fell apart, Blake could not stay away. When she got her first taste of Alexandra, she knew there was no going back. Always in control of her emotions, Blake felt anything but in control around Alexandra. Consumed with lust and possessiveness, she just had to have her. Consequences be damned.
One night of passion turned into a week of romance in Paris. A week of romance in Paris turned into a love affair filled with passion that will change both women forever. Circumstances beyond their control forced Alexandra to choose between her past and her present and Blake thought she had no choice but to let her go. In the end, life made choices for them and maybe it was just not meant to be, or was it?
Available at:
Subscribe to my blog for more Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your inbox, subscribe to my blog. The next recommended reading list will be posted next Thursday, when I’ll post a long list of books for the “same or similar job as you” category.
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What book will you be reading for the sapphic medical romance novel category? Let us know in the comments!
The post Sapphic medical romance novels (Sapphic Book Bingo #2) appeared first on Jae.
January 11, 2024
Both main characters over 40
Welcome to the first Hidden Gems post of the Sapphic Book Bingo 2024!
As you might remember, the Hidden Gems categories represent themes, tropes, and character archetypes that aren’t quite as common in sapphic fiction.
While age gap romances—where one character is usually over 40, while the other isn’t—are very popular, sapphic books in which both characters are over 40 are harder to find. LGBTQ+ books, romances in particular, tend to focus on younger characters, missing a chance to explore the nuances of identity, love, and life after 40.
For this category, choose a book with TWO main characters in their mid-age and beyond.
Check out the rules & download your Sapphic Book Bingo card
If you haven’t done so already, check out the rules of the Sapphic Book Bingo and download your Hidden Gems bingo card. Then come back here to take a look at my suggestions for the first Hidden Gems category below.
15 recommended sapphic books with two main characters over 40
Below, you’ll find a list of 15 sapphic books that have two main characters over 40:
Midlife is the Cat’s Meow by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeod
A witch without powers. A secret to die for. A midlife sapphic awakening.
A few months ago, I thought I had it all. My life as a forty-something suburban mom in Cleveland might not have been stimulating, but sometimes excitement is overrated. Like when FBI agents knock down your door on the hunt for your crook of a husband. Thrilling? Maybe. But I wouldn’t recommend it.
After twenty-five years, I’m returning home without a penny to my name. But there are far worse things than living in your family’s bed-and-breakfast on a remote island in Maine. Being a witch who’s lost her powers, for example. Or having two daughters on the brink of getting their magic and having no idea they’re witches.
Available at:
Of Love and Libraries by Brenna Bailey
Dylan Lavoie won’t take retirement sitting down. After four decades as head librarian, the septuagenarian has one month to raise enough funds to save her library and her job. Not even the unexpected return of the adventurous childhood confidant who once abandoned her can stop her from saving her sanctuary.
Fifty years ago, Frankie Chan fled heartbreak in Juniper Creek to chase excitement as a wildlife photographer. When the recent retiree reluctantly returns home for her mom’s funeral, she finds her beloved library under siege and the snarky bibliophile she still pines after fighting its closure. How can Frankie ignore the excuse to reconnect with the only woman she’s ever loved—even if she can’t stay?
As the two fundraise at the Pumpkin Days events, Frankie dares to hope the years have changed Dylan’s mind about them—but what if she’s wrong? Can Dylan and Frankie forgive their painful past to save the library and find their second chance at love before it’s too late?
Available at:
Write Your Own Script by A. L. Brooks
Beloved famous British actress Tamsyn Harris is in her early fifties and works hard to prove she’s still got “it”, despite her age. That means never revealing she’s a lesbian, for fear it would threaten her acclaimed career. After an on-set incident blows up, she disappears to a retreat to lay low for a while.
Maggie Cooper is a successful author with two pseudonyms and suffering from burn out. It’s hard enough trying to maintain both worlds, let alone keep them separate from real life. After checking herself into a retreat in Norfolk, the last thing she expects to find is the respected, beautiful actress she’s had a crush on her whole life.
As passion sweeps them up, they agree it can only be a holiday fling. But is that enough? Can they just return to their lives and leave each other behind?
Available at:
Mending Bones by Merlina Garance
Claire, a Detective Inspector in her late forties, has known and worked with Estelle for many years. Ever since they met, it felt like there could have been something more there: Estelle’s gentle flirting and compliments have been a constant in Claire’s life, but her self confidence never allowed her to truly believe the other woman meant anything by it.
Until one day, Claire breaks her leg and finds out soon after that Estelle has decided to retire from the police, at only 56. Something doesn’t feel right there, but before Claire can begin to ask more questions, Estelle offers to take her away to her seaside cottage for a week. After all, with Claire on sick leave and Estelle retired, they both have the time.
Surely a week of lazy mornings, too much food and wine, and walks through the countryside aren’t enough to make Claire fall when she’s resisted for so long?
Available at:
Not Too Old by Ann Tonnell
Who says steamy relationships are only for the young? In Not Too Old, Samantha (Sam) Avery challenges the parking monitor to avoid getting a ticket. Deb Martin admits her error, but surprisingly, she facilitates an up close and personal encounter. Neither expect the resulting fireworks. Both sixty-something women recognize life’s temporal nature as they negotiate a new relationship while maneuvering personal loss and grief.
Available at:
Sovereign Chance by CJ Murphy
Sheriff Chance Fitzsimmons and her wife Jax have had more than their share of turmoil in the last few years since reconnecting. The couple has finally settled peacefully into married life. A tragic twist of fate shifts their focus to something they couldn’t have been prepared for.
Self-declared Sovereign Citizens are discovered within Tucker County, one with ties to a violent group in the Midwest. Concern turns into a dangerous reality when a simple vehicle accident sends Chance, and Chief Deputy Taylor Lewis, down a path of investigation with more hairpin turns than the backroads of Tucker County.
In this fourth book of the Five Points Series, the winds of change, both political and natural, are blowing into Tucker county. Chance and Jax’s family comes under scrutiny as they stand together to protect someone with the deck stacked against them. The stakes are high as the Fitzsimmons clan proves nothing is impossible when you have love on your side.
Available at:
What Works For Us by TL Travis
A lady walks into a bar…
Isn’t that the way it always starts? Bad joke or not, this is what my life had been reduced to. How does one begin again over the age of forty?
Instead of China, as was the customary gift for your twentieth anniversary, my husband decided to serve me with divorce papers. Literally that very day. Instead of citing irreconcilable differences, he informed me that not only did he have a girlfriend, but she was pregnant.
It took me weeks until I felt strong enough to venture out into the land of singles. And when I did, I quickly found it wasn’t the place for me. I’d resigned myself to call it a night after dismissing the final tool spewing his BS pick up line, when all I thought I knew about myself was swiftly cast aside when she spoke.
Her voice alone sent shivers down my spine…
Available at:
Return to Paradise by Laina Villeneuve
Do you believe in destiny?
Guest-ranch manager Madison Carter certainly does. Abandoned as a small child, she knows little of her past but is convinced that uncovering it will lead her to healing and home. On a journey of self-discovery to the town where she was born, she meets Lacey McAlpine. The self-assured, straight-talking entrepreneur Lacey is blessed with loving family and friends and has always shaped her own destiny—or so she believes.
The sparks fly almost immediately, but the women’s contrasting personalities and what Lacey perceives as Madison’s secretive nature keep them from igniting—just yet. Their friendship deepens to passionate romance, however, when Madison moves into town to open her own guest ranch—and begins to open up about herself.
A lock without a key, a box of childhood treasures and a scruffy white horse begin to illuminate Madison’s shadowed past. Despite her Miss-Fix-It attitude, Lacey will soon learn that it will take a little destiny to repair a broken soul.
Available at:
Cheerfully Yours by Laura W Chance
It has been one year since Julie, wife and partner of Hilary (To Cornwall, with Love), passed away from cancer. Now, Hilary is trying to figure out life on her own again, but is struggling to pull herself out of her grief and depression. During her first year of bereavement, Alice has never been far away, always hoping that Hilary will be with her one day. But once they form a romantic relationship, Hilary wonders if she can love Alice as much as she deserves to be loved.
Available at:
Secret Keepers by K. A. Moll
Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of love, secrets, and surprises in Secret Keepers, the fourth book in the captivating Dallin series. When famous actress Melanie Dyson arrives in the small town of Dallin seeking medical treatment from her old friend, she never expects to find love with the shy and handsome waitress Margaret Miller at Dinah’s Bistro. Despite their differences, they share undeniable chemistry, and romantic sparks sizzle. But when a nosy reporter exposes Melanie’s health condition and sexual orientation to the world, their lives are thrown into chaos. Can they find their way back to one another? Their journey is a heartwarming tale.
Available at:
Honey in the Marrow by Emily Waters
Stella Carter is a former criminal prosecutor and new widow facing down middle age alone in Los Angeles. Without being a prestigious lawyer and someone’s wife, she’s not sure who she is anymore or where her life is headed.
When she invites her niece to move in with her, Stella accidentally reconnects with her former colleague, LAPD Captain Elizabeth Murphy. The woman is beautiful but cold; someone she was always at odds with on the job.
Surprisingly, Stella finds herself leaning on her niece and Elizabeth more and more to navigate her loss. But as time goes on, Stella can’t keep seeing Elizabeth and pretending she’s not attracted to her. Besides, there’s absolutely no way Elizabeth feels the same way. Is there?
Available at:
The Visitor by Angela McKenna
Lesbian Professor Helen Miller arrives in England from America. The last thing she expects is to be lodging with her friend Sophie’s reserved and anxious mother, Ingrid, but Sophie has told a big lie which pushes them all together under one roof and when Ingrid catches them both in what appears to be a compromising position, sparks fly.
Helen lurches from one calamity to another as she attempts to navigate through the storm of a family drama, teetering on the verge of being cast out, but desperate to stay. You see, despite Ingrid’s angry words and cold demeanour, Helen likes her, in fact, she likes her rather a lot and she’s wondering if, underneath all that cold fury, Ingrid likes her too…
With only three weeks left until she must return home to San Francisco, Helen fights for the true love she has always craved but will her own past, and Sophie’s lies, wreck any chance of future happiness? The clock is ticking.
Available at:
Cabin Fever by Addison M. Conley
Kate Minton’s life is collapsing. She’s fired, her estranged father dies, and her girlfriend dumps her. Her older half-brothers inherit everything, and all Kate gets is a remote, rundown Idaho cabin that no one knew existed. But if Kate lives there for a year, she’ll inherit half a million dollars. The move leads her to family secrets and an infuriating, and inconveniently sexy, contractor. She goes for the money, but will she stay for something deeper?
Riley Anderson lives in rural Idaho, helping her aunt run the family store and maintaining her construction business, while also avoiding dealing with a past that continues to haunt her. When she takes on Kate’s cabin renovations, she’s not impressed with the city slicker. But as they’re forced to spend time together, they find they have more in common than either of them could have ever imagined.
Will the pull of the big city be too much to resist? Will Riley find the strength to trust Kate, or will cabin fever be too much to bear?
Available at:
Two Lives, One Heart by Barbara Lynn Murphy
When techie Josie Molina is volunteered by her boss to visit an elementary school to discuss careers in Technology, she reluctantly agrees. Her reluctance vanishes when she meets and befriends teacher Trish McCann. Josie, an unapologetic lesbian, tries to ignore her attraction to Trish because getting involved with a straight woman is always a bad idea. For her part, Trish realizes that what she thought she knew about her sexuality is all wrong, and she allows herself to give in to her attraction to Josie. Once Trish is sure of her feelings, she knows she must break the news to her mother, Marilyn. In doing so, she learns of a long-buried family secret involving her grandmother Anna and her decades-long affair with her best friend Mary.
Anna O’Brien is a typical 1920s housewife with a husband and two small children. When she meets her new neighbor Mary Monahan, her world is turned upside down when they fall deeply in love. In a time when such a relationship was considered both taboo and immoral, Anna struggles to keep her family intact as she navigates her overpowering feelings for Mary.
This story traverses both past and present to depict the lives of Anna and Trish as they discover their true, authentic selves.
Available at:
Country Living by Jen Silver
When Peri Sanderson achieves her dream of moving from London to a cottage in the English countryside, she expects her domestic bliss will be complete when her wife, Karla, leaves her London job to join her. Peri sees their future together as growing vegetables, tending some chickens, and chatting with the locals by a roaring log fire in a quaint village pub. Sexy urbanite, Karla, has other ideas and they don’t include a move to the countryside. Secrets are everywhere. Peri quickly senses something not quite right among her rural neighbours, and Karla is not quite the worldly wise woman-about-town that she thinks she is. Temptation, betrayal and intrigue combine to change the lives of both women beyond anything they could have imagined.
Available at:
Subscribe to my blog for more Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your inbox, subscribe to my blog. The next recommended reading list will be posted next Thursday, when I’ll post the recommended reads for the “sapphic medical romance” category.
Leave a comment
What book will you be reading “sapphic books with both main characters over 40” category? Let us know in the comments!
The post Both main characters over 40 appeared first on Jae.
January 4, 2024
Must-read sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo #1)
Welcome to the Sapphic Book Bingo 2024! I hope you had a good start into the new year and are ready for the first category of our 2024 reading challenge—must-read sapphic books!
Check out the rules & download your Sapphic Book Bingo card
If you haven’t done so already, check out the rules of the Sapphic Book Bingo and download your bingo card. Then come back here to take a look at my suggestions for the first square below.
How I picked the recommended reads for the must-read sapphic books category
I admit that the first category of this year’s Sapphic Book Bingo—must-read sapphic books—is a very subjective one. A must-read to me might not be a must-read to you and vice versa, and coming up with a “must-read sapphic books” list that everyone agrees on is an impossible task. However, if you ask plenty of avid readers of sapphic fiction, you’ll start to see a certain pattern emerge.
And that’s exactly what I did: Rather than pick my personal must-reads, I asked the readers on my mailing list, on Twitter (I refuse to call it X), and in various Facebook groups for sapphic fiction, including my own, where all 4,300 members answered a question about their favorite sapphic books when they joined the group.
As a result, I got input from more than 6,000 readers. I tallied the results and determined the top 50 most popular sapphic books.
As you will see below, the book that got most mentions was one of mine. I considered leaving it off because I didn’t want to skew the results, but then decided against it. First, every readers’ vote is valid. Second, I spent hundreds of hours on the Sapphic Book Bingo every year. I hope everyone will understand that I’m not going to punish myself for that hard work by leaving off my own books. I did, however, add an additional book so I wouldn’t take space from a fellow writer, so strictly speaking, there are 51 books in my top 50 list.
The top 50 must-read sapphic books
Here are the 50 must-read sapphic books according to 6,000+ readers. They are sorted in order of the number of votes they got, with the most-popular books being listed first.
I included only one book by each author—the one with the most votes—but noted if a second book by the same author also got a lot of votes. Feel free to read any of the books mentioned in this post for the “must-read sapphic books” category.
Backwards to Oregon by Jae (Wrong Number, Right Woman also got a lot of votes)
The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter (Breaking Character also got a lot of votes)
Fated Love by Radclyffe
Hunter’s Way by Gerri Hill
Ask, Tell by E.J. Noyes (Alone also got a lot of votes)
A Breathless Place by Harper Bliss
Starting from Scratch by Georgia Beers (96 Hours also got a lot of votes)
Kiss the Girl by Melissa Brayden
Before You Say I Do by Clare Lydon
Being Hers by Anna Stone
Flight Plan by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeod (The AM Show also got a lot of votes)
Those Who Wait by Haley Cass
The Trip by Robin Alexander
The Devil Inside by Ali Vali
Touchwood by Karin Kallmaker (Captain of Industry also got a lot of votes)
Poppy Jenkins by Clare Ashton (The Goodmans also got a lot of votes)
The Headmistress by Milena McKay (A Whisper of Solace also got a lot of votes)
Jericho by Ann McMan
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (Fingersmith also got a lot of votes)
Truth and Measure by Roslyn Sinclair (The Lily and the Crown also got a lot of votes)
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
Plain English by Rachel Spangler
The Night Off by Meghan O’Brien
Listen by Kris Bryant
By Design by J.A. Armstrong
Flight SQA016 by Amanda Radley
No Good Reason by Cari Hunter
Heart of the Pack by Jenny Frame
Who’d Have Thought by G Benson
Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
Don’t Call Me Hero by Eliza Lentzki
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Casting Lacey by Elle Spencer
Stars Collide by Rachel Lacey
No After You by Nicole Pyland
Tropical Storm by Melissa Good
The Origins of Heartbreak by Cara Malone
Awakenings by Susan X. Meagher
Darkness Falls by KC Luck
Back in Your Arms by Monica McCallan
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (The Fiancée Farce also got a lot of votes)
All That Lies Within by Lynn Ames
Mrs. Middleton by Melissa Tereze
Anyone But Her by Erica Lee
Invisible, as Music by Caren J. Werlinger
Destination You by J.J. Arias
The Forever and the Now by KJ
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
And Playing the Role of Herself by K.E. Lane
Bonus: Three new authors to watch out for
“New author” will be a Sapphic Book Bingo category of its own, but I wanted to mention three new authors. While they didn’t quite make the top 50 list (yet), their books did get plenty of votes too, so check out:
The Senator’s Wife by Jen Lyon
The Flight Risk by Macon Leigh
The Honeymoon Mix-Up by Frankie Fyre
More must-read sapphic books
If none of the books above appeal to you (I don’t think that’s possible, but anyway…), or you have already read them all, here are a few more links to must-read sapphic books you could check out:
Sapphic classics such as The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde, and The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Most-read books of the 2023 Sapphic Book Bingo
Most-read books of the 2022 Sapphic Book Bingo
Sapphic five-star reads (Books with an average of 5 stars on Amazon or Goodreads)
I Heart SapphFic’s “Best of the Best” winners (nominated and voted on by readers—this one will be a bingo category of its own too)
The Lesbian Review’s Hall of Fame (Books that got favorite badges from at least 4 The Lesbian Review’s reviewers)
Sagacious Sapphic’s first 10 sapphic books to read (according to 470 votes from readers on Twitter)
Subscribe to my blog for more Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your inbox, subscribe to my blog. The next recommended reading list will be posted next Thursday, with my recommendations for the “both main characters over 40” category.
Leave a comment
What sapphic must-read book will you be reading for this category? What sapphic books would make your personal must-read list? Let us know in the comments!
The post Must-read sapphic books (Sapphic Book Bingo #1) appeared first on Jae.
January 1, 2024
Sapphic Book Bingo 2024
Happy New Year and welcome to the Sapphic Book Bingo 2024!
This is the sixth reading challenge I’m running, and I hope it will help you discover new favorite sapphic books and authors all year long. Whether you’re a regular or joining the Sapphic Book Bingo for the first time, let’s make 2024 a year of great reads!
What is the Sapphic Book Bingo?
The Sapphic Book Bingo is a fun, year-long event for readers of sapphic fiction. It runs from January 1 to December 31, 2024. You can join any time you want.
Why is it called Sapphic Book Bingo?
In case you aren’t familiar with the term sapphic: It comes from the Greek poet Sappho, who wrote about love and passion between women.
During the past few years, I’ve come to use sapphic rather than F/F or lesbian when I’m talking about our genre because it’s more inclusive.
Lesbian is a perfectly fine word, but not every book with a love story between two women is a lesbian romance. Some of the characters in these stories are bisexual, pansexual, or homoromantic asexual women, or they prefer the label queer–or no label at all.
The term sapphic includes any woman who’s attracted to women, but unlike the term WLW (women-loving women), it also includes nonbinary people and intersex people who identify as sapphic (not all nonbinary or intersex people do).
The rules of the Sapphic Book BingoThe Sapphic Book Bingo will run from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, and you’re welcome to jump in at any point without the need for registration—just dive into your reading!The aim is to complete the entire bingo card by reading one book for each square. If tackling 25 sapphic books in 2024 seems a bit much, consider aiming for just one line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) of the bingo card, which requires reading 5 sapphic books.Two bingo cards are available for you to choose from: a regular 25-square card and a Hidden Gems card featuring 12 harder-to-find categories. You can opt for the regular card, the Hidden Gems card, or challenge yourself by completing both—it’s entirely up to you.Each book you choose must feature at least one sapphic main character (see the definition of sapphic above).Each book can only be used once per card, even if it fits several different squares. Exception: If you read the same book twice in 2024, you can use it for two different squares.I’ll post book recommendations for a different square on my blog three to four times a month. You’re free to select a book from these lists or pick any other sapphic book that fits the category. If you want to get each recommended-books list sent to your inbox, you can sign up for my blog here .Only books started and finished in 2024 will count towards the challenge.Books can be any format—ebook, paperback, or audiobook.Books can be any language. In fact, there’s even a German version of the reading challenge.The books you’re reading for the Sapphic Book Bingo don’t have to be exclusively novels. Novellas, anthologies, fanfiction, and graphic novels count too. You can even throw in a few short stories.Not every book you read for the Sapphic Book Bingo needs to be new-to-you. Re-reads of books you’ve previously enjoyed count too.Email me your filled-out bingo card by December 31, 2024 at 10 am German time, to be entered into the drawing (see below for the prizes you can win).If you are a voracious reader who reads more than 25 sapphic books a year, feel free to send in several bingo cards. You’ll get one entry into the giveaway for each completed card.
The prizes of the 2024 Sapphic Book Bingo
The real prize, of course, is discovering a lot of awesome books and new favorite authors.
But there’ll also be a big giveaway at the end of the year. Everyone who sends in their bingo card with at least one complete line will be entered into the drawing.
There will be 15 winners:
I’ll draw 5 winners among those readers who send in a bingo card with one complete line. Each of these winners wins 1 ebook.I’ll draw 5 winners among those readers who send in a completed Hidden Gems card. Each of these winners wins 2 ebooks.I’ll draw 5 winners among those readers who send in a complete bingo card, with all 25 squares filled out. Each of these winners wins a bundle of 5 books—a mix of paperbacks and ebooks or all ebooks (winner’s choice).Email me your filled-in bingo card—either the filled-in PDF you can download below or a screenshot/photo of it—by December 31. I’ll draw the winners on December 31, 2024, at 10 a.m. Central European Time, using a random numbers generator.
The Sapphic Book Bingo card
Option 1 is a regular bingo card with 25 squares/categories. I put together a mix of popular tropes and topics as well as categories that’ll push you to try new books and diversify your reading. I encourage you to read diversely, from a wide spectrum of authors and genres.
You can download a PDF of the regular bingo card here. Fill it in with the titles of the sapphic books you read in 2024. You can either type in the PDF or print it out and fill it in by hand.
The categories for the Sapphic Book Bingo card
I’ll add links to each category as I post the book recommendations for each square. I’ll post a recommended books list three times a month.
Must-read sapphic book: Read a sapphic book that is a “must-read” according to the 6,000 readers I’ve polled. I’ll post a list of 50 must-read books on January 4.Medical romance: Read a sapphic romance with a main character who’s a medical doctor, nurse, or other healthcare professional. The medical setting must play a significant role in the story.Same or similar job as you: Read a sapphic book with a main character who has the same or a similar job as you. It can also be a job you used to do in the past.IHS Best of the Best: Read a sapphic book that won one of the I Heart SapphFic “Best of the Best” polls. It doesn’t need to be the “gold” winner; the top 3 books in each poll count as the winners.Valentine’s Day romance: Read a sapphic romance with at least one scene set during Valentine’s Day.Started out as fan fiction: Read a sapphic book that started out as fan fiction before the author rewrote and published it as an original work.Speculative fiction: Read a sapphic book with strong fantastical, supernatural, or futuristic elements, e.g., sapphic fantasy, science fiction, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, superheroine fiction, or fairy tale retelling.New or new-to-you author: Read a sapphic book by an author who is either new (hasn’t published more than two full-length novels) or new to you.Hurt/comfort: Read a sapphic book in which one main character is in physical pain or emotional distress and the other main character takes care of them.No third-act breakup: Romance novels often have the main characters break up temporarily in the third act (around the 75-80% mark of the book). For this category, read a sapphic romance in which there is no third-act breakup.Free book or free choice: Read a sapphic book that you (legally) got for free. Many authors have a free story for you to download on their website (you’ll find mine here). I’ll post a huge list of free books for you to download in May. Note: Books in Kindle Unlimited are not free since you pay a monthly subscription fee. Alternatively, you can read any book of your choice for this square.Rivals-to-lovers romance: Read a sapphic romance in which the main characters start out as rivals before falling in love.Spunky grandparent: Read a sapphic book with a spunky grandparent who adds a humorous element or tries to matchmake.Character with a disability: Read a sapphic book featuring a main character who has a physical disability, a chronic illness, or a mental disorder.Competency is sexy: Read a sapphic book featuring a main character who is especially competent in their job.Sporty sapphics: Read a sapphic book with a main character who’s either a professional athlete or loves sports as a hobby.Found family: Read a sapphic book in which the characters form a family of choice with people they aren’t related to.Kiss in the rain: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters share a kiss in the rain.Fall/autumn cover: Read a sapphic book with a cover that has an autumn/fall motif, e.g., yellow, orange, red, and brown leaves.Historical fiction: Read a sapphic book that takes place at least 25 years in the past. Usually, the book is set before the author’s lifetime.Coming out later in life: Read a sapphic book in which the main character comes out as LGBTQ+ later in life, 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. What “later in life” means is subjective, of course, but the character should definitely be older than 30.Fierce sapphics: Read a sapphic book in which the main character goes on an adventure, is in danger, or fights crime. You’ll usually find these elements in suspense fiction such as mysteries, thrillers, or action/adventure stories.Foster care or adoption: Read a sapphic book with a main character who was either adopted or grew up in the foster system. Alternatively, the main character can also adopt or foster a child.Character is a CEO: Read a sapphic book with a main character who is the CEO (chief executive officer) of a company.Holiday romance: Read a sapphic holiday romance—a romance that revolves around the holidays at the end of the year, e.g., Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or Diwali.The Hidden Gems bingo card
The Hidden Gems represents harder-to-find themes and categories. In previous years, this card was called “Book Unicorn,” but I realized that the categories often include books about marginalized groups such as people of color, trans people, or people with a disability, and I want to make sure nobody feels like we’re comparing them to a fantasy creature. So I’ve renamed it the Hidden Gems card. This name fits well because many of these books don’t get the attention they deserve in the publishing world. As a result, they are harder for readers to find.
As you can see below, the Hidden Gems card is a 3×4 grid instead of the usual 5×5 grid, so there’s a total of 12 categories.
I’ll post a recommended-reads list for a category of the Hidden Gems card once a month.
You can download a PDF of the Hidden Gems card here. You can either type in the PDF or print it out and fill it in by hand.
The categories for the Hidden Gems bingo card
I’ll add links to each category as I post the book recommendations for each square.
Both characters over 40: Read a sapphic book in which two main characters are at least 40 years old.Sex toys: Read a sapphic book in which the characters use a sex toy.AAPI character, written by an AAPI author: Read a sapphic book with an Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander main character. Important: It should be a book written by an AAPI author.Nonbinary or trans character: Read a sapphic book with a trans or nonbinary main character. Ideally, pick a book written by a trans or nonbinary author.Consent is sexy: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters check in with each other and ask for explicit consent during the sex scene.Sapphics with swords: Read a sapphic book in which the main character handles a sword (or a similar weapon).Interracial couple: Read a sapphic book featuring a couple where the two people belong to different races or ethnicities.Butch main character with a non-butch name: Read a sapphic book featuring a butch main character who doesn’t have a unisex name or doesn’t go by a butch nickname.Morally ambiguous character: Read a sapphic book with a main character who isn’t purely good or evil and whose actions, motivations, or values straddle the line between right and wrong.Asexual character: Read a sapphic book featuring an asexual main character or a main character on the ace spectrum.Sapphics in space: Read a sapphic book set in space. It can be a sapphic sci-fi novel or a contemporary book featuring astronauts.Long-distance relationship: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters are involved in a relationship yet live far away from each other.Don’t miss the first square of the Sapphic Book Bingo
I’ll post the book recommendations for the first category of the Sapphic Book Bingo on Thursday, January 4. We’ll start with the “must-read sapphic books” category.
To make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe to my blog, and I’ll send the post to your inbox!
Need more book recommendations to fill your bingo card?
As I said, you’ll get weekly book recommendations on this blog. I’ll share 15 books for one category every Thursday.
But if you need more book recommendations, here are a few options:
If you are on Facebook and want book recommendations from other readers to fill your bingo card—or you just want to chat about the books you love, feel free to join my Facebook group for readers. It’s a private group, so only members can see who’s in it and what we are discussing. We keep a folder to which authors are adding little cards that help you see what categories of the Sapphic Book Bingo their books fit into. Here’s an example:
If you prefer Goodreads over Facebook, I also set up a Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.
I also put together a site that shows you where my own books fit into the Sapphic Book Bingo as well as the I Heart SapphFic Reading Challenge.
Leave a comment
Please leave a comment below and let us know which bingo card you will pick for this year’s reading challenge. Are you aiming to complete the 25 squares of the regular bingo card? Just one line? Or will you take on the Hidden Gems card?
Previous reading challenges
Sapphic Reading Challenge in 2021
F/F Fiction Crossword Challenge in 2020
Lesbian Book Bingo in 2018
The post Sapphic Book Bingo 2024 appeared first on Jae.
December 31, 2023
Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 – Stats, winners & most-read books
2023 is about to end, and with it the Sapphic Book Bingo 2023. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
A big thank-you to all the readers who participated, all the authors who donated books for the big giveaway, and to Erin, who helped me look up all the blurbs and links for each post.
Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 stats
Here are some interesting stats about the Sapphic Book Bingo 2023:
3,378 readers downloaded a Sapphic Book Bingo card. Many more followed the weekly book recommendation posts to find new books to read, even if they didn’t officially participate in the Sapphic Book Bingo.907 readers joined the Sapphic Book Bingo Goodreads group.821 readers sent in a completed book bingo card. Note: Cards are still arriving in my inbox, but I only counted the books that were send in by the deadline (10 a.m. German time on December 31).A total of 39,352 sapphic books were read for the Sapphic Book Bingo. Most likely, it was more than that, but that’s the official count from the bingo cards that were sent in.64% of the participating readers completed not just a regular bingo card, but also at least one Book Unicorn card, which represents harder-to-find genres and themes.The reader with the most books read for Sapphic Book Bingo read a total of 604 sapphic books in 2023!What’s even more important than the number of books read is how much the participating readers enjoyed the Sapphic Book Bingo. I heard from so many readers who said the reading challenge introduced them to many new authors and made them fall in love with reading all over again.
I even heard from one reader who said that the Sapphic Book Bingo brought her and her mom closer. They adjusted the book bingo for her mom, an avid reader of M/F romances, so they could do the reading challenge together. She said it was the first time they could talk about sapphic things amicably. How amazing is that?
The winners of the Sapphic Book Bingo giveaway
Using a random number generator, I drew 15 winners:
5 winners who sent in a bingo card with one complete line. They each won 1 ebook. The winners are: Emma S., Holly B., Mirielen A., Nicole M.-C., and Zoey P.5 winners who sent in a completed Book Unicorn card. They each won 2 ebooks. The winners are: Ásta P., Camden M., Elyssa W., Janet M., and Lou M.5 winners who sent in a completed regular bingo card. They each won a bundle of 5 books (ebooks or paperbacks or a mix of both—winner’s choice). The winners are: Ange A., Anna R., Catalina G., Deesha W., and Shannon H.Congratulations! If you are one of the winners, keep an eye on your in-box. I’ll email you today to send you the list of book prizes to choose from.
The most-read books for Sapphic Book Bingo 2023
It was very interesting to take a look at the bingo cards as they came in and see what books readers were reading for each category. I put together a list of “most-read books” for each category of the main bingo card. Unfortunately, it’s a very time-consuming process, so I didn’t have time to do the stats for the Book Unicorn card too.
Here are the top 5 books for the Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 categories:
Sapphic age-gap romance:
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl WilsnerTruth and Measure by Roslyn SinclairThe Duet by Harper BlissDestination You by J.J. AriasFinding Jessica Lambert by Clare Ashton
Sapphic book with a bodyguard or security guard main character:
Guarding Evelyn by Erin ZakThe Bodyguard Affair by Anna Stone & Hildred BillingsThe Roommate Arrangement by JaeHer Bodyguard by Emily Hayes TIED WITH Keep Her Safe by Claire Highton-StevensonGuarded Desires by Anna Stone TIED WITH Secret Sanctuary by Nance Sparks
Sapphic book featuring a blind date:
Blind Date at the Booklover’s Lair by JaeWritten in the Stars by Alexandria BellefleurSomething in the Wine by JaeThe Setup by T.B. Markinson TIED WITH 30 Dates in 30 Days by Elle SpencerThe Game Changer by Finley Chuva TIED WITH Matzo Match by Roz Alexander
Sapphic book with “heart” in the title:
Heart Trouble by JaeHeart Failure by Chris ZettEnsnared Hearts by Anna StoneChange of Heart by Clare LydonA Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe
Co-authored sapphic book:
The AM Show by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeodGood Enough to Eat by Jae & Alison GreyShe Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott & Alyson DerrickMidlife Is the Cat’s Meow by Miranda MacLeod & T.B. MarkinsonExecutive Liaison by Anna Stone & Hildred Billings
Sapphic roommate romance:
The Roommate Arrangement by JaeFor the Long Run by Cheyenne BlueJust Three Words by Melissa BraydenUp on the Roof by A.L. BrooksJust a Touch Away by Jae TIED WITH Warm Pearls and Paper Cranes by E.V. Bancroft
Sapphic book with an inheritance:
Just a Touch Away by JaeThe Fiancée Farce by Alexandria BellefleurThe Number 94 Project by Cheyenne BlueThundering Pines by Rita Potter TIED WITH The Inn at Netherfield Green by Aurora ReyCabin Fever by Addison M Conley TIED WITH Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters
Free sapphic book:
The Welcome Party by JaeThird Act by Emily BantingWelcome to Ruby’s by KC LuckOff the Rails by Rachel Lacey TIED WITH Prelude to Murder by Edale LaneThe Romance Bet by Jae
Sapphic book set in a country or state you haven’t visited:
Meeting Millie by Clare Ashton (England)A Curious Visit by Jess Lea (Tasmania)Paper Love by Jae (Germany)Velvet in Venice by Karin Kallmaker (Italy)Bliss by Fiona Zedde (Jamaica)
Sapphic book featuring a single parent:
The Loudest Silence by Olivia JanaeFalling Hard by JaeBetter Than Expected by Haley Cass TIED WITH When You Least Expect It by Haley CassDance With Me by Georgia Beers TIED WITH The Forever Factor by Melissa BraydenComing Out by Jourdyn Kelly TIED WITH Truly Wanted by J.J. Hale AND Discovery by Melissa Tereze
Sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance:
Read Between the Lines by Rachel LaceyThe Devil Wears Tartan by Katia RoseJust a Touch Away by JaeFor the Long Run by Cheyenne BlueHotel Queens by Lee Winter TIED WITH The Red Files by Lee Winter
Sapphic book with a Pride scene:
Wrong Number, Right Woman by JaeHowl by Lucy BexleyDown to a Science by Haley CassPride Festival by Nicole PylandTake Two by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeod AND The Glow Up by Cara Malone
Sapphic book featuring a same-sex wedding:
Not the Marrying Kind by JaeD’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. HigginsThe Business of Love by Charley ClarkeUnder Your Skin by Lee WinterThe Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur TIED WITH I Do by Cheyenne Blue
New or new-to-you author:
Ana K. WrennJen LyonAnna BurkeAlaina ErdellFrankie Fyre
Sapphic angsty romance:
A Whisper of Solace by Milena McKayConflict of Interest by JaeHoney in the Marrow by Emily WatersTruth and Measure by Roslyn SinclairThese Thin Lines by Milena McKay
Sapphic low-angst romance:
The Roads Left Behind Us by Kat JacksonChanging the Script by Lee Winter TIED WITH A Purrfect Gift by JaeWrong Number, Right Woman by JaeStars Collide by Rachel LaceyMajor Surgery by Lola Keeley TIED WITH A Lesbian’s Guide to Women by Erica Lee
Sapphic coffee shop romance:
Just for Show by JaeNo Strings Attached by Harper BlissEverybody Needs a Hero by KC LuckLegends & Lattes by Travis BaldreeWhen You Least Expect It by Haley Cass
Sapphic boss/employee romance:
Something’s Different by Quinn IvinsThe Brutal Truth by Lee WinterTruth and Measure by Roslyn Sinclair TIED WITH Under a Falling Star by JaeSomething to Talk About by Meryl WilsnerLove Where You Work by Anna Pulley TIED WITH If I Don’t Ask EJ Noyes AND Executive Liaison by Anna Stone & Hildred Billings
Second book in a series:
Damage Control by JaeChaos Agent by Lee WinterIn the Name of the Father by Gerri HillReality In Check by Emily BantingAbove All Things by Roslyn Sinclair AND A Woman Ignored by T.B. Markinson
Sapphic book with a workaholic character:
Truth and Measure by Roslyn SinclairThe Fixer by Lee WinterUnder a Falling Star by JaeHunter’s Way by Gerri HillPresidential by Lola Keeley TIED WITH Irregular Heartbeat by Chris Zett
Sapphic vineyard romance:
Something in the Wine by JaeIt Started With a Kiss by Clare LydonSour Grapes by Eliza LentzskiEntangled by Melissa BraydenBlend by Georgia Beers TIED WITH Accidental Honeymoon by Miranda MacLeod
Sapphic book with a cowgirl or rancher main character:
Two of a Kind by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeodHidden Truths by Jae TIED WITH Beyond the Trail by JaeIndigo Blues by Adrian J. SmithBackwards to Oregon by JaeCowboys and Kisses by Karin Kallmaker
Sapphic book with an interesting sibling relationship:
Something’s Different by Quinn IvinsDelilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring BlakeIf the Shoe Fits by E.J. NoyesA Family Affair by Harper BlissPresidential by Lola Keeley TIED WITH In a Heartbeat by RJ Nolan AND Paper Love by Jae
Sapphic book with a character wearing a tool belt:
Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring BlakeFixer Upper by Cara MaloneThe Number 94 Project by Cheyenne BlueFool for Love by Rachael SommersNot for a Moment by Cheyenne Blue
Sapphic fake relationship romance:
The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria BellefleurJust for Show by JaeNot for a Moment by Cheyenne Blue TIED WITH Breaking Character by Lee WinterPurposefully Accidental by G Benson TIED WITH No Rings Attached by Rachel LaceyThe Girlfriend Arrangement by Anna Stone & Hildred Billings TIED WITH Fly With Me by Andie Burke AND She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly QuindlenJoin the Sapphic Book Bingo 2024!
I’ll be running another year-long reading challenge in 2024. It will be another Sapphic Book Bingo, and you can again choose between a regular bingo card and a bingo card with harder-to-find themes—this time called Hidden Gems card.
I’ll post the rules and categories tomorrow (January 1) and the book recommendations for the first square (must-read sapphic books) on January 4.
Click here to subscribe to my blog to get each book bingo post sent to your inbox!
The post Sapphic Book Bingo 2023 – Stats, winners & most-read books appeared first on Jae.
December 14, 2023
Sapphic books with an unusual setting (Book Unicorn #12)
Can you believe it’s time for the final post of the Sapphic Book Bingo 2023?
Drumroll, please! Let’s wrap up the reading challenge with something quirky and interesting: For this last category, your mission is to read a book with an unusual setting. Think places that make you go “Ooh! I’ve never read a book set there before” or even “Wait, what? I never thought anyone would ever set a story there!”
Below, you’ll find sapphic books set on a remote island, in Santa’s production factory…and even in Purgatory!
15 sapphic books with an unusual setting
Below, you’ll find 15 sapphic books with an unusual setting:
Backwards to Oregon by Jae
“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:
Hell Bent by Calista Lynne
Jules Tolliver has a completely sensible reaction to the death of her favorite movie star: she summons a demon named Ash to accompany her on an epic road trip through the afterlife to save her celebrity crush. But when the dynamic duo takes a hard left into Purgatory, they encounter the cheeky Fates along with a nasty horde of demons and monsters dead set on derailing their mission.
And then, of course, Ash is kidnapped because, Hell.
One backroom deal later, and Jules kidnaps a beautiful girl as payback for freeing Ash—which is awkward because Jules comes to the unexpected realization that she likes girls, and not just in a friendly way. Complications ensue when Faith, the beautiful girl, is left behind and our reunited dynamic duo continues their quest to rescue the dead celebrity crush and return him to the mortal plane.
But things don’t always go as planned in Purgatory, especially when The Fates spring an unholy mission on you when you least expect it. And as Jules stands face-to-face at the convergence of morality, theology, and fan culture, the only question left for her to answer is whether or not she can find her Faith in the beautiful girl in the rearview mirror.
Available at:
Hounded by E.J. Cochrane
Dog walker-turned murder investigator Matilda Smithwick is stressed out. Thankfully, her best friend Dottie has the perfect solution—a weekend getaway to a private island off the coast of Maine.
When one of the guests is found dead in the wine cellar, Dottie “volunteers” Maddie to hunt for the killer among them. No easy feat on a remote island with no internet or cell phone reception. Add in Dottie’s questionable assistance, an impending storm, a captive and unruly pool of suspects, a growing body count and Dottie’s insistence that the party must go on, and Maddie certainly has her hands full.
Can Maddie stay out of trouble long enough to catch a killer?
Available at:
The Child Riddler by Angela Greenman
Despite the angry scars she carries from her childhood training, Zoe Lorel has reached a good place in her life. She has her dream job as an elite operative in an international spy agency and she’s found her one true love. Her world is mostly perfect—until she is sent to abduct a nine-year-old girl.
The girl is the only one who knows the riddle that holds the code to unleash the most lethal weapon on earth—the first ever “invisibility” nanoweapon, a cloaking spider bot. But Zoe’s agency isn’t the only one after the child. And when enemies reveal the invisibility weapon’s existence to underground arms dealers, every government and terrorist organization in the world want to find that little girl.
Zoe races to save not only the child she has grown to care about, but also herself. The agency prescribed pills—the ones that transform her into the icy killer she must become to survive—are beginning to threaten her engagement to the one person who brings her happiness. Can she protect the young girl and still protect the one thing she cares more about than anything else?
Available at:
Finding Hekate by Kellie Doherty
Mia Foley is running away from the attack that changed her life. She’s captain of a new spaceship when the Acedians find her and try blasting her peaceful crew from the black. She must sever her bonds in order to run, again. But she’s grown fond of this crew, particularly Cassidy Gates. Staying with them will jeopardize their safety, and they have much closer fears than the Acedian hunters. Mia’s time is running out. She’s becoming one of them.
Available at:
Lost in Paradise by Rachel Lacey
When a Manhattan businesswoman and a reclusive French artist are stranded together on a deserted island, opposites attract…and sparks fly. But with love on the horizon, will they survive to claim their happy ending?
Nicole Morella boards a private Mediterranean cruise with one goal: to reclaim herself after her divorce. When she sits next to a beautiful blonde in the ship’s lounge, she’s knocked off balance by the immediate attraction between them, and it’s not just because Nicole hasn’t found her sea legs yet. Fiona stirs things in Nicole that haven’t been stirred in a long time, but a fiery kiss turns dangerous when the ship is hijacked. The women launch a daring escape, leaving them adrift in an empty lifeboat.
Fiona Boone has been adrift most of her life, but never in such a literal sense. She’s a survivor, though, so when they land on a deserted island, Fiona’s ready to do whatever it takes to stay alive until they’re rescued. In the meantime, she can’t get enough of the feisty woman she’s stranded with, despite her usual fiercely independent nature. Although they’re lost, Fiona finds something unexpected in the comfort of Nicole’s touch. But when an injury puts her life in jeopardy, they begin to worry help won’t arrive in time. If she survives their ordeal, Fiona might just face her biggest challenge yet: falling in love.
Available at:
A Touch of Truth by Nita Round
In a world of steam and science, the magic of the gifted is barely tolerated.
Lucinda sees the truth in everything she touches, and sometimes wishes she didn’t.
She knows one thing when it comes to her visions. If there is blood, there is trouble, especially if the body is missing. Or in this case, bodies.
Something not quite human is roaming the streets. No one knows that it exists, never mind what it might be.
Lucinda must see for herself the monster of her vision. Uniting with an airship captain and crew, they set out on a perilous journey. One from which they may not return.
Can she stop the loss of innocent lives, or will her nightmares be the end of her?
Available at:
Lost in Love (The Nunswick Abbey Series Book One) by Emily Banting
Historical tour guide Anna Walker is determined to make a good impression on her new bosses, but juggling a full-time job with caring for her ailing father is putting her own health – and potentially his – at risk.
When she meets Dr Katherine Atkinson, a charming yet intimidating new arrival to the village, Anna is infuriated by the doctor’s attempts to convince her that her father needs professional, full-time care. She’s even more frustrated by her growing attraction to the classy, wealthy doctor.
Anna’s determination to prove she can cope forces Katherine to divulge a painful event from her past that still haunts her, hopeful it will make Anna see sense before it’s too late.
With Katherine’s heart lost to the past and Anna’s overwhelmed in the present, can the two women help each other overcome their struggles and move forward? Will a curtain-twitching busy body curtail any blossoming attraction before it even has a chance to bloom?
Available at:
Who Stole Santa’s Squeakers by Elle Armstrong
Hedera, who works at Santa’s production factory, can’t stand the noise made by the squeakers that they put inside the Christmas Toys. That she is greatly annoyed by them is no secret, so when the latest batch goes missing, everything points to her as the most likely suspect.
Hedera fears she will be forced to move away from the North Pole, putting an end to her chance of ever telling her crush, Ilexa, how she feels.
But Ilexa, who is harbouring a secret crush of her own, is on Hedera’s side and makes it her mission to clear Hedera’s name and find the real culprit.
Will Ilexa solve the mystery of who stole Santa’s squeakers in time to stop Hedera leaving? Or has she already gone?
Available at:
Carmilla & Laura by S D Simper
In the late 19th century, Laura lives a lonely life in a schloss by the forest, Styria, with only her doting father and two governesses for company. A chance accident brings a new companion, however – the eccentric and beautiful Carmilla.
With charm unparalleled and habits as mysterious as her history, Carmilla’s allure is undeniable, drawing Laura closer with every affectionate touch and word. Attraction blossoms into a temptation Laura fears to name, a tantalizing passion burning brighter than the fires of hell. But when a mysterious plague begins stealing the lives of young women in her home and the village beyond, Laura wrestles to reconcile the truth – that the gentle, fragile woman she loves may be a monster cast out of heaven.
Available at:
Catalyst by L. A. Rae
Sometimes chasing your dreams doesn’t go quite the way you expect.
Lykos is challenged in all new ways when she sets off to find the link between her vivid dreams and a magical tug she’s felt all her life. When the unknown ‘what’ becomes a ‘who,’ Lykos’ world is flipped upside down. Now she must figure out which is the real her, the version from previous lives or her present self? The answer will mean the difference between life and death–otherwise, the Mad King will take her soul.
It only takes one Catalyst to change the course of the world, but will it be for better or worse?
Available at:
The Salbine Sisters by Sarah Ettritch
She gave up everything to become a Salbine Sister, member of a religious order of powerful female mages. But when Maddy nearly dies while trying to draw forth elemental fire, she learns that Salbine has withdrawn from her the gifts every sister works to master. Feeling trapped in an order to which she no longer has any right to belong and believing herself unworthy of the love of Lillian, one of the most powerful mages in the sisterhood, Maddy begs the abbess to let her travel to another monastery to research her condition. On her journey, Maddy’s faith in herself and Salbine are tested to their limits. When she attempts to draw fire and fails horribly, frightened townsfolk throw Maddy into prison. The only bright spot in Maddy’s existence is Emmey, the pickpocket with whom she shares a cell.
Available at:
Aurora’s Angel by Emily Noon
Joined in a battle for survival, a broken-winged angel and a shapeshifter huntress with a bloody past form a bond that may change their world. Alone since her father’s murder, Aurora has spent years hunting his killers. Battle-weary she’s ready to start over where no one knows who or what she is – she just has one last mission. Everything is going to plan until she discovers the beautiful winged girl caged underground. Her decision to rescue Evie and to help her get home safely, despite avians being infamous for selling out shifters like Aurora to cutters and black-market flesh dealers, will put her on a perilous path.
As the women travel together their attraction grows but Aurora is guarding her lonely heart almost as much as her dangerous secrets and Evie is struggling to accept how important Aurora has become to her.
With their enemies conspiring to kill them, they may be each other’s only hope. Aurora is powerful but she’s also emotionally scarred. It will be up to Evie to save her from herself and to fight for them, or innocent people will die along with the guilty ones and Aurora will disappear from Evie’s life forever.
Available at:
For the Love of Life by Sue Graham
Danielle Van Rijk has the life of which she has always dreamed. Using her hi-tech skills to study wildlife in a private game reserve, she is drawn into the war against poaching. Obsessed and driven, she is on the brink of achieving success when a deadly escalation in poaching and heart-wrenching losses bring about a crisis in confidence. Danny has no idea how her hi-tech protective system development is about to jeopardize her life.
Carmen Franks is at a loss, standing at a crossroads in her life. Until recently, she was a highly successful businesswoman at the helm of the business she built from nothing. Having lost her passion and purpose, Carmen seeks a retreat to give herself time to gather her energy and find a path forward.
Africa seems about as far away from her aimless life as Carmen can get, and Botshelo Lodge attracts her with the promise of providing what she needs to set a new course for herself. She finds more than she bargains for in this fascinating yet contradictory place. As she becomes embroiled in the danger that lurks beneath the idyllic surface, she’s falling in love, but is it with the glorious beauty of the African bush or with the elusive, enigmatic woman at the centre of a vicious conflict?
The African bush, a tapestry of life so bountiful and rich, is disappearing before our eyes. As the threat begins to spiral out of control, the protection of this vestige of Eden falls to these two brave women as they fight for life and learn to love.
Available at:
Thundering Pines by Rita Potter
Returning to her hometown was the last thing Brianna Goodwin wanted to do. She and her mom had left Flower Hills under a cloud of secrecy and shame when she was ten years old. Her life is different now. She has a high-powered career, a beautiful girlfriend, and a trendy life in Chicago.
Upon her estranged father’s death, she reluctantly agrees to attend the reading of his will. It should be simple—settle his estate and return to her life in the city—but nothing has ever been simple when it comes to Donald Goodwin.
Dani Thorton, the down-to-earth manager of Thundering Pines, is confused when she’s asked to attend the reading of the will of her longtime employer. She fears that her simple, although secluded life will be interrupted by the stylish daughter who breezes into town.
When a bombshell is revealed at the meeting, two women seemingly so different are thrust together. Maybe they’ll discover they have more in common than they think.
Available at:
Send in your bingo card(s)
If you have completed one or more bingo cards–or even just a line of your bingo card–make sure you send it to me so I can add you to the big giveaway on December 31. You can send me the PDF or a screenshot or just the list of books you read for each category in an email. You can find my email address on the contact page of this website.
Join the 2024 Sapphic Book Bingo
I hope you enjoyed this year’s reading challenge and will join the 2024 Sapphic Book Bingo too! It starts on January 1, when I’ll announce the brand-new categories and you can download the bingo cards. Make sure you subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss it!
The post Sapphic books with an unusual setting (Book Unicorn #12) appeared first on Jae.
