Ice queen or grumpy characters
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post features one of the most popular character types in sapphic fiction: ice queen or grumpy characters.
For this square of the bingo card, read a sapphic book featuring a main character who’s either an ice queen—cold, aloof, and powerful—or a grumpy character with a prickly personality.
Ice queen characters were featured in a couple of previous reading challenges too, so if you need more book recommendations, check out the ice queen post of the 2021 Sapphic Reading Challenge as well as the post on ice queens who are younger than their love interests.
15 sapphic books with ice queen or grumpy characters
Below, you’ll find 15 sapphic books with ice queen or grumpy characters.
Strap In by Lou Morgan
Jean is married to her job and there is no room in her life for romance. Until she meets someone who takes her breath away.
There’s just one catch. Ava’s a woman. And Jean’s straight… isn’t she?
The chemistry’s scorching but there’s no place for Ava in Jean’s world. But free-spirited Ava is irresistible. And open to a purely physical relationship. This way Jean gets to have her cake and eat it too.
Yet spending time with Ava makes Jean question everything she thought she knew.
Is it time to start again?
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Devil’s Advocate by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeod
Ashley Tanner’s only desire after losing her father to a prescription overdose as a teenager has been to support her working-class family. Now an ambitious lawyer, she’s on the verge of achieving the coveted partnership she’s worked for her entire career. But with her goal in sight, the return of a mysterious woman from Ash’s past puts the promotion at risk and forces her to confront the sacrifices she’s made to win at all costs.
Caitlyn Brewster is a self-made woman who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Guarding that secret has kept her from cultivating meaningful relationships. In fact, only one woman has managed to pierce Caitlyn’s defenses. A woman who runs more cold than hot. A woman best forgotten. A woman who, when a family emergency forces Caitlyn to move back home to Boston and accept a job at her uncle’s law firm, suddenly becomes her biggest rival.
Their volatile chemistry makes them a powerhouse legal duo, but the energy crackling between them might be more than they’re willing to admit. The closer they work together, the harder it becomes to control their desires, even as they’re faced with a case with stakes that could change everything for them both.
They’re both used to doing whatever it takes to win. What happens when only one of them can be victorious in the end?
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The Roommate Arrangement by Jae
Comedian Stephanie Renshaw hopes to finally get her big break in LA. A chance encounter lands her the perfect apartment close to the comedy clubs, but it comes with a catch: she needs a roommate to afford the rent.
Enter Rae Coleman, a former police officer working the door at one of the top comedy clubs. After getting injured in the line of duty and losing her job with the LAPD, Rae guards her wounded soul behind a tough exterior.
At first, the two clash horribly before a tentative friendship develops. Bit by bit, Steph manages to break through the walls Rae has built around her.
But Steph has never been in a relationship, preferring casual flings, and Rae isn’t sure she’s ready to be happy again. Will they find the courage to open themselves up to love?
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The Mended Hearts Bookshop by Sienna Waters
When loner Ash Wells inherits a bookshop from an aunt she doesn’t remember, she thinks a jaunt to the seaside to figure things out is just what she needs to escape from her annoying London neighbors. The plan is simple: have a holiday, sell the bookshop, move on with her life. Oh, and maybe find out who this mysterious Aunt Mary is.
Plus-sized baker Pen Robson is an eternal optimist. So when she meets her grumpy new next door neighbor, she’s determined to win her over, no matter how many sticky buns and biscuits that takes. But her tall, dark, and handsome neighbor doesn’t even seem to like the ever-generous Pen, let alone want to settle into a story book grumpy-sunshine romance.
Yet when Pen comes up with a madcap plan to save the little bookshop, Ash decides she might as well stick around for a while, especially after an unexpected revelation leaves her wondering just who she really is.
Pen’s relentless optimism slowly starts to melt Ash’s frozen heart. But as the tiny seaside town begins to grow on Ash, and her plans for life begin to change, her suspicions are beginning to grow as well. And what happens if this all turns out to be a mistake? Does love really conquer all?
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Courtship by Anna Pulley
Reaux Briggs is no stranger to cruising; each night a different woman warms her bed. She doesn’t exactly mind it, as intimacy is something she gave up on long ago. But when her hot nights land her in hotter water and she’s ousted as drummer by her metal band, Reaux thinks things couldn’t possibly get worse. Then she walks onto the deck of a long-awaited holiday cruise only to run face-first into the woman who broke her heart.
Catherine “Fitz” Fitzgerald is an up-and-coming divorce lawyer too busy trying to make partner to care about her love life, or anything approximating one. But thanks to an antiquated norm at her family’s firm, Fitz needs to find a partner in order to get promoted. As if her mother setting her up on horrible blind dates wasn’t bad enough, Fitz also has to contend with being in forced proximity to Reaux, her high school sweetheart and the girl she’s never really been able to get out of her head.
Increasingly pulled together by feelings they can’t quite ignore—not to mention a tropical hurricane that threatens the lives of everyone aboard the ship—Reaux and Fitz must learn to navigate the emotional and literal storms swirling about them. Will they be able to mend their past hurts and reach safe harbors, or has their ship sailed once and for all?
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Boss of Her by Anna Stone
Small-town girl Jade Fisher has sacrificed everything for her dream of a high-powered career in Los Angeles. Fresh out of grad school, she’s one step away from landing the perfect job as executive assistant to Simone Weiss, LA’s hotel queen. So when her friend invites her to the opening night of Club Velvet, a luxury club for women to explore their wildest desires, Jade decides to let loose a little, just this once.
She isn’t expecting an encounter with a commanding older woman who makes her heart race and her body burn. And she’s even more surprised to come face to face with the same woman days later. Simone Weiss. Her new boss.
CEO by day, part owner of Club Velvet by night, Simone built her hotel empire from the ground up. She knows what she wants. She’ll stop at nothing to get it. And now, she has her sights set on her curvaceous new assistant.
One sensual night of surrender is all it takes for Jade to fall under her spell. Neither woman is looking for romance. Both bear scars from the past. But the more Simone awakens Jade’s submissive desires, the harder it becomes to ignore the feelings between them. Can love conquer all, even the walls around their hearts?
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The Floral Arrangement by Elizabeth Luly
Roz Kennedy has dedicated her life to a high-powered consulting career. That is, until she’s passed over for a promotion and learns that Red Tractor Farm—a place close to her heart—is on the brink of financial ruin. Fuming and ready for a change, Roz leaves her corporate life behind and buys the struggling business. But to keep the farm afloat, she needs to find an investor willing to fund some crucial changes—and get rid of those dreadful flower fields.
When Olivia Mitchell discovers the farm’s new owner plans to stop supplying flowers to her beloved flower shop—jeopardizing everything she’s worked so hard to build—she’s outraged. She’s even more shocked to find that the new owner is Roz, the stunning but infuriating woman she met at a lesbian bar six months ago.
When a potential investor mistakenly assumes Olivia is Roz’s girlfriend, the two play along, each hoping to further their own agenda. But as sparks fly, they begin to wonder: just how fake is this blossoming relationship?
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Christmas at Bergfels Palace by Claudia Haase
Charlotte Weinhold has a degree in history and is striving to complete her Ph.D. Her earnings from a newspaper job keep her just above water. When the editor-in-chief demands insider news about the Count of Bergfels-Blumenheide and his family, on whom she is writing her dissertation, she sees this as an opportunity to obtain previously unpublished documents at the same time.
Arriving in Bergfels, she unexpectedly gets a job in the only café in town – its owner is not only attractive but also happens to be the best friend of the Count’s publicity-shy daughter. What a unique opportunity to get the desired internal information about the Count’s family without much effort!
Countess Ida doesn’t care about her title. She lives in a city apartment and works for a non-profit children’s aid organization. When her father asks her to take over an archival tour of Bergfels Palace in his place, she agrees. In return, this gives her an excuse to spend the approaching Christmas holidays away from the Count’s clan.
But everything turns out quite differently than either Charlotte or Ida could ever have imagined.
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Highland Fling by Anna Larner
Eve Eddison describes her ideal woman to her best friend, Roxanne, over pints in their local pub a few days before she travels to the Scottish Highlands. There she falls head over heels for an enigmatic local, Moira Burns, and the usually reticent Eve wants more than a holiday romance. Forestry officer Moira Burns has no intention of letting go—either of past pain or for present pleasure. If that means she misses out on her chance at happiness, so be it. Convinced Eve is headed for heartbreak, Roxanne advises her to let Moira go…but has Eve found her ideal woman at last?
From the breathtaking Highlands of Scotland to the buzz of a Leicester gay bar, family and friendship are tested to breaking point, as letting go proves painfully hard.
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A Marine’s Conflict by Jax Meyer and Elle Armstrong
Mags Newsome has already given over a decade of her life to the Marine Corps. She’s learned to compartmentalize her life to survive the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that keeps servicemembers from serving openly. But that’s also kept her from any meaningful relationships.
Elaine ‘Lane’ Chapman moved to the US from England with her girlfriend who soon left her. Remaining in sunny southern California, Elaine built a life for herself as a college math professor, content to experience love through romance novels rather than risk her heart again.
A chance encounter in a bookstore cafe brings the two women together where they discover an off the charts attraction. As they battle their feelings to maintain their ‘friends with benefits’ agreement, another war looms in the Middle East, threatening everything they’ve built.
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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.
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Reverence by Milena McKay
It’s the carefree ’80s and Juliette Lucian-Sorel has it all. She’s the greatest dancer to ever grace the floorboards of Palais Garnier, she’s royalty to her adoring fans, and Paris is at her feet. Or so it seems…
Katarina Vyatka is defecting from behind the Iron Curtain, desperate to save herself and her career. Or so she claims…
What happens when the Princess of Paris rescues the brightest star in the history of Bolshoi? Will the Paris ballet stage be big enough for both of them? Sparks fly and rivals become lovers as they set their lives ablaze in a torrent of secrets, intrigue and grands jetés!
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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.
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Rhapsody in Flames by Ryann Fletcher
Monsters among us!
Is anywhere safe?
Chaos in Verdance City!
In the aftermath of a cataclysmic rupture, beings previously believed to be mythical are revealed, and communities fracture as fear reigns supreme.
Virginia Vane is a disgraced former cop. Her ex is back in town, her lover is a siren, and her home has become a playground for vicious crews in their quest for ultimate power.
And someone is killing mythics.
How can one jaded P.I. protect her clients in a world where hiding in plain sight is no longer an option?
Being different has never been more dangerous.
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Spellbound by Tiffany E. Taylor and Lisa Caro
Noelle Fontaine, the proprietor of Wafflelicious specialty waffle shop in Angel Cove, Florida, has loved the Christmas season her entire life. Her sweet, bubbly personality and effervescent optimism sees the good and love in everyone—no matter what the season—making her one of the Cove’s most beloved locals. And it doesn’t take long for the dimpled, golden-haired femme to sense a wounded soul hiding under the stoic, cynical exterior of Angel Cove’s newest and most guarded resident. Noelle decides a little dose of Christmas magic is exactly what Quinn Williamson needs to break out of her shell.
A recent transplant from Chicago, Quinn has moved to Angel Cove looking for a fresh start after her ex-girlfriend abruptly left her. Guarded, jaded, and accustomed to not expecting much out of life, Quinn takes a job as the local news and crime reporter journalist for the weekly Angel Cove Observer, a far cry from the big city daily papers she has labored on over the past twenty years. Taken aback (and slightly irritated) by Noelle’s constant cheerfulness at first, she is eventually stunned to realize she is actually settling comfortably into small town life—in no small part because of a golden-haired sprite who refuses to let an increasingly spellbound Quinn hide away from the camaraderie of the town any longer.
However, when Noelle discovers not long before Christmas that the building housing Wafflelicious is going to be sold to an out-of-town property developer—who plans to demolish the structure to make way for luxury condos—the usually optimistic shop owner finds the blow to her heart more than she can handle. Sinking into depression, Noelle cuts herself off from everyone in town as she mourns the loss of her lifelong dream, unable to deal with the devastation.
But the residents of Angel Cove, led by a grumpy journalist hell-bent on restoring the sunshine in Noelle’s soul, scheme to save Wafflelicious from the wrecking ball. Through grit, resolve, and a refusal to lose the charm of their seaside town to a greedy developer only concerned with profit, the Angel Cove inhabitants set out to prove the magic of Christmas and family can overcome even the most seemingly-impossible obstacles when fueled by pure love.
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Breakout For Love by Valden Bush
Flick Colonna is stuck behind a desk at Department 6, itching for action but haunted by the fallout of her last mission. When a high-stakes rescue lands on her desk, ready or not, she’s thrust back into the field.
Zamira Saliev thought she’d escaped her past, but then she’s kidnapped by the regime that shattered her family. She’s left with no way out. And no one’s coming to save her.
As Flick fights to extract Zamira from a country on the brink, danger, secrets, and shared scars threaten to derail the mission. Getting out alive is one thing. Trusting each other may be the harder part.
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What book will you be reading for the “ice queen or grumpy characters” category? Let us know in the comments!
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