Queer Books Weekly

Weekly List of Books of All Genres Featuring Queer Protagonists at Free or Nearly Free Prices Every Tuesday

Queer Books Weekly banner image with the crown and book and a rainbow gradient, but overlaid is an image of the Devon Ilsand Mars Colony book cover and the profile Image of Si Clarke, a woman wearing bright blue glasses and with white and red hair looking up and smiling slightly.

Today, we have the wonderful Si Clarke sharing a little behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes into her cozy-ish science fiction (without the pew-pew) books. Si Clarke is the author of the Devon Island Mars Colony series—a story about building a colony on Mars from the ground up! She shares a little bit with us today about exactly how much research needs to happen before you can enjoy a life on Mars.

Multi colored space backfround with a rainbow ringed-planet and sans-serif font reading "si clarke. sci-fi without the pew-pew"

About the time I used writing to boost my mental health…

At the start of 2018, I felt myself sinking into depression. I’d left my job in October, but I’d had plenty to keep me busy until the new year. Once January rolled around and my partner went back to work, I had nothing. Every morning, I would search for new job adverts and apply. 

So, I’d get up, spend ten minutes looking for work, then I’d go to the sofa – and I wouldn’t move again until my partner got home at dinnertime.

I did that every day for two weeks. I could feel my mental health deteriorating. I felt like I’d never find work and that my entire life had been wasted. 

On Monday morning of the third week, I sat down on the sofa – then immediately bounced back to my feet. ‘Nope. I’m not going to do that,’ I told my dogs. I walked over to my desk and sat down to write.

Except, I wasn’t ready to write. Not yet. 

The book I had in my head needed so much research and planning. In writing about the establishment of a fully independent colony on Mars, I researched the crap out of everything. Wherever there’s a bit of science in this story, it’s grounded in reality. There’s even a whole section on the science at the back of the book.

To give you an idea of the research that went into this series, I created endless spreadsheets and documents to calculate or understand:

  • MELiSSA:
The European Space Agency’s closed-loop life-support project
  • How much land is required to support human life on a per capita basis?
  • Hohmann transfer windows
 vs ballistic capture for getting to Mars
  • Pooping on Mars: How to deal with human waste 
  • How to eliminate low-gravity bone loss

  • Minimum viable population: Competing theories about the magic number

  • How to dispose of dead bodies in the most efficient way

For the next five months, I spent 60 hours a week at my desk working on both the story and the science that feeds into it. I finished the first draft of the first book six months after I started my job. I was on my lunch break, typing into my phone while weaving and dodging pedestrians in London’s Canary Wharf. 

As of today, I've published eight novels and I'm working on my ninth. And I'm never looking back.

An ereader floats in a cloudy bright space background, it is displaying the cover for the Devon Island Mars Colony. Lesbians in space. building a mars colony from the ground up. so much science. inclusive by design. found family.

You can pick up the Devon Island Mars Colony series in an exclusive web bundle on White Hart Fiction’s website.

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Bi, Gay, Lesbian, Non-binary. Queer, Sapphic, Trans masc

Devon Island Mars Colony – Complete Series

Bringing together two novels and three short stories, this is a work of neurodiverse, culturally diverse, gender-bendy, socio-politico-economic, drunken-arguments-in-the-pub science fiction – not bang-bang-pew-pew science fiction.

Devon’s Island (Book #1): Planning the first permanent Mars colony…

Before we can build a colony on Mars, someone has to decide how it’s going to work. With 160 slots to fill with experts from all over the world, Gurdeep and Georgie set about designing an all-new society with its own government, economy, and culture – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Livid Skies (Book #2): Building the first permanent Mars colony…

A fresh start, a queer social liberal dream, and a planet that wants to kill you. Grappling with the realities of human nature and with their batteries slowly dying, the fledgling colony’s 150 women and 10 men must overcome their differences to create a lasting community. But things aren’t always what they seem and maybe the colonists aren’t as alone as they thought.

The Invite (a Mars Colony short)

Before they were tasked with planning the first permanent colony on Mars, Gurdeep and Georgie were just an ordinary couple.

Stardust Wake (a Starship Teapot and Mars Colony short)

They’ve been friends since childhood. But can their friendship survive adult reality?

Past imperfect (a Mars Colony short) ebook

Isolated on Mars, anyone could start going stir crazy…

Si Clarke. Devon Island Mars Colony. A dome sits on top of a small colony on Mars while three people in space suits look aon.

Discounted Price: 7.99 GBP or 9.49 EUR/CAD/USD (Plus additional discount if you sign up for the newsletter!) || Regular Price: 10.95 GBP or 12.95 EUR/CAD/USD

Purchase Direct on White Hart Fictions Web Store!

You can learn more about Si Clarke and the rest of her catalog (such as The Left Hand of Dog—an extremely silly sale of alien abduction and Consider Pegasus—a space tale about unicorn rights) at Whitehart Fiction’s website. And don’t forget to sign up to join her newsletter.

We are so thankful for Si Clarke joining us today and sharing a very intimate look into her life as an author, not just the work that goes into it, but the reasons to keep going with it. We are looking forward to many more sci-fi stories with more cozy and less pew-pew.

Welcome to March! The first week of March is “Read an Ebook Week,” which the indie bookstore Smashwords always celebrates with a massive sale! Many of the discounts and deals you will find in this week’s Deals and Steals will be found only on Smashwords. But don’t worry! Smashwords provides DRM-free files and will walk you through how to send those files to your ereader of choice if you aren’t sure how to do it! Smashwords also has one of the highest royalties rates in from retailers for authors. So it’s a win-win! Smashwords sales usually work by providing a coupon code for participating books. The code for this sale is EBW50, EBW25, or EBW75 depending on the discount for the book!

✨ Book of the Week ✨

📚 New Release! 📚

Cold Steel

Cover for Cold Steel. Two young women each grasp the hilt of a sword as if to plunge it into the ground. A bright light shines down on them.

Series: Fire Heart #2

Joyce Ch'ng

Fantasy

Representation: Lesbian, Queer, Sapphic

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Wehia and Geri travel back to the fens to find the truth about the link between the border people and the matriarchal sword smiths. Are the two ready for the truth? Wehia is also holding a painful secret: her perfect sword is not perfect. When the threat of war comes knocking at Wehia's doorstep, will she be able to rise above failure, pain and pride? Will she be able to reforge the broken Council Sword and bring peace to the City of the Swords? Moreover, will Wehia and Geri find the happiness they both seek?

Itchio || Amazon || Direct

Triple Strike: Threads of Fate

Cover for Triple Strike. Two men stand at the helm of a technologically advanced ship, one with spikey purple hair and a lizard on his shoulders sits before a ships steering wheel while the other, sword in hand, leans against the chair with a knowing smirk.

Series: Triple Strike, #1

G.M. Gray

Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Aromantic, Bi/Pan.

Alan Beringer’s day takes an unexpected turn when he’s kidnapped by alien space pirates, but pirates aren’t the problem. The problem is Alan's job is curtailing space piracy. The problem is Alan may be more alien than he lets on. The problem is the pirate captain, Sven Jiordson, has a growing infatuation with Alan. The problem is Alan kind of enjoys being kidnapped. But the biggest problem of all is that a new organization is shifting the balance of power between all three interstellar species, and all signs indicate Alan is about to be caught in the middle of it…

Regular Price: 4.99

Itch || Amazon || BN || Kobo

Riyati Rebirth

Cover for Riyati Rebirth. A glowing green glyph full of strange symbols floats in a current of mist and magic.

Series: Riyati #1

Kai Zeal

Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Asexual, Lesbian

With great power comes your past incarnations and future self playing chess with your existence. Kylie Rae thought she was an average honors high school student but discovered during a life-threatening incident that she's the reincarnation of an ancient magic kingdom's crown princess. Now people she's never met want her dead, and she must learn how to survive in this new world while maintaining the façade that nothing's changed. Forget making A's, how will Kylie survive to the end of the year when she's constantly looking over her shoulder? Riyati is a new adult/adult contemporary, low dark fantasy series that seeks to explore themes of identity, legacy, the greater good, and finding your own path in life. The series includes multiple first person perspectives and multiple queer characters (currently including demisexual/romantic and lesbian representation with more to come in future books), set in the modern day United States.

Discounted Price: $1.24 || Regular Price: $4.99

Smashwords

My Lord

Series: The Transcended #1

A man with long dark hair is chained around the wrists in a threatening looking dungeon. He is on his knees as two cuts across his chest expose purple blood.

L. B. Shimaira

Sign up for L. B. Shimaira’s newsletter

Paranormal, Horror, Romance, Fantasy, Historical

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Sapphic, Pan, Other

“MY LORD is a queer, slow-burn erotic gothic horror novel about rediscovering yourself after trauma—with kinky, blood-drinking immortals and polyamory. ~ After losing hearth and home, Meya attempts to escape the traumatic memories by travelling east. In 13th century Tristanja, however, it’s not safe to be alone. A local slave trader catches wind of the kinless woman and abducts her in the dead of night. Beaten and abused, the now meek Meya is sold to Lord Deminas. He's known to be cruel, yet becomes strangely protective of his new chambermaid, punishing anyone who dares hurt her. After cutting her to drink her blood, he even uses his own to heal her wounds. Meya and her paramour wonder if Deminas’ dark secret is why servants regularly vanish, including the lord's previous chambermaids. However, the two women quickly learn that Lord Deminas isn't the only danger lurking in the castle's shadows.”

Discounted Price $0.99 || Regular Price $3.99

Smashwords

A Sharper, More Lasting Pain

Cover for A Sharper More Lasting Pain. Two hands with long claws stretch across the sover against a backdrop of Victorian era wallpaper.

Series: A Brutal, More Monstrous Dance #1

Alex Harvey-Rivas

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Sapphic, Trans masc

After their girlfriend’s best friend is wounded in a monster attack, Simone Allard stumbles across a plot much deeper than they anticipated. As they work to find a cure to their own forming illness and find out the truth, one question remains: how was Nadia involved in this? Nadia DuPont doesn’t know how much time she has or even what is ailing her, but it all gets more complex after meeting Simone on a field trip. As they both work to find a cure to her ailment, all Nadia is certain of is she's on the path to ruin.

Note from the Author: “…there would be a QPR if these people weren't so radioactive…”

Discount: FREE || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords || Elsewhere

By the Blood of Rowans

Cover for By the Blood of Rowans. Two men stand back to back, each looking hopeless, each naked, exposing wounds and a dark tree tattoo across the back of one of them. They stand among a dark forest.

Xan van Rooyen

Fantasy, Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual, Bi, Non-binary, Queer

The Sheehy witches are the most feared and detested family on the island of Inisliath, and none more so than Rowan, a deathwalker, who ferries island souls to the Otherworld, experiencing their deaths and carrying their memories like ghosts within him. When the magic on the island starts to seep away from the other founding families, everyone blames the Sheehys—especially when islanders start dying. Ash is sick of their father's fists and constantly having to apologize for who they are. Life on Inisliath might be the fresh start Ash and their mum need, and meeting soft-spoken, curly-haired Rowan feels like the ray of sunshine Ash has desperately needed—but everything goes sideways when Ash's mum becomes lead detective on a series of ritualistic murders allegedly tied to island magic, and Ash's family history. And worse still, the islanders are convinced Rowan is the perpetrator. When Ash does some investigating of their own, they discover Rowan is far more likely to be the next victim. With time running out to save Rowan, Ash will have to choose between a life free of their father or the boy they’re starting to love. Meanwhile Rowan will have to decide just how much he's willing to sacrifice to save his family from the darkness about to be unleashed on the island.

Discounted Price: $1.49 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

Cover for The Carnelian King and Other Stories. A knight on a rearing horse holds a sword aloft as a winged serpent with long whiskers dives at the knight.

Arden Powell

Check out Arden Powell’s Patreon for bonus content and epilogues!

Romance, Fantasy, Cozy. Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Sapphic

A collection of fifteen queer fantasy stories introducing dazzling new worlds. From a magical second-hand shop hidden between dimensions to rolling emerald hills dotted with ancient ruins, through carnivorous winter woods and across the war-torn steppes of a crumbling empire, this collection spans beloved fantasy genres from classic to cozy, action and adventure to sword and sorcery, and gothic horror to romance. Includes gay, sapphic, and nonbinary characters, with and without romance.”

Discounted Price: $1.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords || Itchio

Don’t forget to leave a review on Goodreads.

The Other Me

Two hand drawn images, one of a person with dark black hair and the other with long red hair, each against a backdrop of musical notation, vie for prominence on the cover, horizontal slices showing one or the other.

Xan van Rooyen

Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Trans masc, Questioning, Lesbian

Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott might be an alien: it's the only explanation for why she doesn't fit in with the preppy South African private school crowd and feels so claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez. Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he's perfect. It might even be love, as long as Gabriel doesn't find out she's a freak. As Treasa spends time with Gabriel, she realizes she might not love him as much as she wants to be him, and that the reason she feels uncomfortable in her skin might have less to do with extra-terrestrial origins and more to do with being born in the wrong body. But Gabriel is not the perfect boy Treasa imagines. He harbors dark secrets and self-destructive tendencies. Still, Treasa might be able to accept Gabriel's baggage if he can accept who she longs to be.

Discounted Price: $1.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

Obsidian Island

Cover for Obsidian Island. A large compas is surrounded by tentacles and red posies.

Arden Powell

Join Arden Powell’s Patreon for bonus content and epilogues!

Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Trans masc

Four shipwrecked sailors. An island of unimaginable beauty. And a nightmare determined to hunt them down and consume them, bodies and souls. Emery Lapwing is only interested in two things: exploring the natural world, and pretending that he's not in love with his closest friend, Captain James Rawlings of The Achillean. The first is easy: James will sail him anywhere he wants to go. The second, Emery has been doing for the past ten years. Emery's routine is shattered when he and James are swept overboard in a lightning storm. When the storm passes, they find themselves on the glittering pink beach of an unmapped island where no one has ever walked before. The island seems like the perfect place to recuperate as they wait for rescue, brimming with miraculous new species to be discovered. And a thousand miles from civilization, it's all too easy for Emery to imagine kissing James. In London, it was unthinkable—a kiss between two men meant the gallows if they were caught. On the island, it means risking James' friendship when they most need each other to survive. But attraction isn't the only peril they face. The island hides a dangerous secret, and James and Emery aren't the only castaways falling under its spell. Monstrous creatures stalk their every move and something is taking root in their dreams, luring them deeper into the island's deadly, tropical heart.”

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price $5.99”

Smashwords || Itchio

Engagement To Die For

Cover for Engagement to Die For. A long train track stretches into a dense forest.

Series: Harlow Mystery #2

Claris Lam

Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Gay, Lesbian

After everything Aubri went through at the resort, the last thing Aubri needs is more drama. However, meeting her previously-unknown twin sister for the first time, and attending her mother's engagement party, results in yet another murder. Due to the remote area of this crime, the police won't be able to make it for a few days, and Aubri realizes that she, once again, along with her friends and her sister, must take up the mantle themselves to solve the case or risk being new victims.

Discounted Price: 2.99 || Regular Price: 3.99

Smashwords

Bloody Fantasia

Cover for Bloody Fantasia. Handwritten musical notation / sheet music is torn up and scattered.

Series: Harlow Mystery #3

Claris Lam

Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Lesbian, Gay

“In “Bloody Fantasia,” Aubri Harlow and her friends believe that their days of investigating murders are over. However, when Aubri's sister, Aria, moves into her new music school, the Da Capo Music Institution, the school's acting president suddenly dies during the welcoming ceremonies. However, the acting president's death is far from the first murder committed on campus. A string of past murders haunt the school's reputation and its students. It doesn't take long before new corpses start piling up, and Aubri, Aria, and their friends realize they must take up the mystery-solving mantle once more and find out who the murderer is. Will they figure out the person responsible for causing these new tragedies, or will they become part of its bloody history? Find out by reading “Bloody Fantasia!””

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

Heart Wood

Cover for Heat Wood. A dark and forbidding background with golden branches intertwining with each other and the title of the book, among the twisting tangled branches are bright red flowers and blue humming birds.

Katey Hawthorne

Sign up for Katey’s newsletter to get a free prequel to Heart Wood!

Romance, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Gay, Non-binary, Queer, Aromantic, Asexual

“The Stone City and the Heart Wood: uneasy neighbors separated by the Bluebird River. In the City, Hendrik is about to lose the only life he's ever known, the only love he's ever wanted. In the Wood, corruption threatens the carefully cultivated ecosystem and Dagan's way of life. Two worlds, fated to collide at last. It could be the end. Or a new beginning. An M/M romantasy.

Discounted Price: 3.49 || Regular Price: 6.99

Direct from Author || Smashwords

The Warm Machine

Cover for The Warm Machine. A robot looks over a city as the sun sets. The title of the book is in neon sign with the M in Warm slightly faded out.

Aimee Cozza

Science Fiction, Dystopian

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Pan

When a robot built for construction work first sees an angular, sleek prototype military robot slink onto the base he's working outside of, he immediately falls in love. The problem is, only anomalous bots understand the concept of love, and the lowly laborbot has not deviated from his default programming once. So he thinks, anyway. When the laborbot is scheduled for decommission, the military bot cannot possibly live without him, and the two bots set out on a path to find the fabled anomalous robot utopia Root.

Regular Price: 4.99 || Discounted Price: 1.24

Smashwords

I Heart Robot

Cover for I Heart Robot. An older brick wall has several bricks missing, through which a glowing red circuit borad can be seen

Xan van Rooyen

Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopian

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Queer, Bi, Other, Lesbian, Queer, Pan

Sixteen-year-old Tyri wants to be a musician and wants to be with someone who gets her musical aspirations. Q-I-99, aka 'Quinn,' lives in a scrap metal sanctuary with other rogue droids. While some use violence to make their voices heard, demanding equal rights for AI enhanced robots, Quinn just wants a moment on stage with his violin to show the humans that androids like him have more to offer than their processing power. Tyri and Quinn's worlds collide when they're accepted by the Baldur Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. As the rift between robots and humans deepens, Tyri and Quinn's love of music draws them closer together, forcing Tyri to question where her loyalties lie and Quinn to question his place in the world. With the city on the brink of civil war, will Tyri's and Quinn's passion for music be enough to hold them together while everything else crumbles down around them, or will the truth of who they are tear them apart?

Discounted Price: $1.49 || **Regular Price: $**2.99

Smashwords

Obscura Burning

Cover for Obscura Burning. The silhouett of a man is seen against a large glowing orb with starlight and space plasma cover the cover.

Xan van Rooyen

Young Adult, Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Bi, Gay, Queer

The world's going to end in fire… and it's all Kyle's fault. Kyle Wolfe's world is about to crash and burn. Just weeks before graduation, a fire kills Kyle's two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. A fire that Kyle accidentally set the night he cheated on his boyfriend Danny with their female friend, Shira. That same day, a strange new planet, Obscura, appears in the sky. And suddenly Kyle's friends aren't all that dead anymore. Each time Kyle goes to sleep, he awakens to two different realities. In one, his boyfriend Danny is still alive, but Shira is dead. In the other, it's Shira who's alive… and they're friends with benefits. Bouncing back and forth is taking a toll not only on Kyle, but on the world too, which might perish along with him. Amid the collapse of his parent's marriage and with realities shifting every time he closes his eyes, Kyle must discover how these events relate to Obscura… and he's the only one who can prevent everything going down in flames.

Discounted Price: $1.99 || Regular Price: $2.99

Smashwords

In the Pit of Your Stomach: An Interactive Horror Story

Cover for In the Pit of Your Stomach. Illustrated. A decrepit house is seen in the distance, with a strange cryptid sneaking around the side near the woods. The road leading to the house has a skeleton painted on it.

Arden Powell

Join Arden Powell’s Patreon to get bonus content and epilogues!

Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Queer

You are being hunted by a bloodthirsty monster. Your choices: Escape to survive another day. Romance your best and only friend while you both still have the chance. Meet a violent death, ripped apart by the creature's needle-sharp teeth. Succumb to infection and give in to your new cannibalistic urges. A short, interactive choose-your-own-horror story with 18 possible endings.

Discounted Price: $1.49 || Regular Price: $2.99

Smashwords || Itchio

The Cradle of Eternal Night

Cover for Cradle of Eternal Night. Two women stand back to back, each reaching around to clasp the other's hand. one has a lute in her hand.

Ladz

Fantasy, Romance, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian

A sapphic horror romantasy in which two heroic lesbians, a witch and a bard, fight to release the light from the theocracy that plunged their world into ceaseless darkness.

Discounted Price: $2.49 || Regular Price: $4.99

Smashwords

Hymn of Memory

Cover for Hymn of Memory. A man with shaggy blond hair and wearing a hooded sweater, sits on a cushion staring up in contemplation. There are sunflowers near him and his head is hallowed with a shining circle.

S. Jean

Join S. Jean’s newsletter to get a FREE short story!

Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Lesbian

When Morgan's divine duties erase his memories until he can hardly remember anything beyond his name, he dreams of one thing: escape. And he finally gets his chance when the very familiar Fin falls into his life and whisks him away from everything he knows.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

Winner Takes All

**Series: **Harlow Mystery #1

Cover for Winner Takes All. A plethora of palm trees are seen in silhouette against an eerie green sky.

Claris Lam

Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Gay, Lesbian

Aubri Harlow thinks she’s found her dream vacation after winning a contest to an exclusive island resort for a whole week. However, her dream quickly turns into a nightmare when her ex-boyfriend Colin, ex-girlfriend Renee, and former university classmate Bastian end up on the same island as fellow contest winners. Even worse? Colin is found dead barely a day into the vacation. Terrible weather prevents the police from arriving on the island to investigate. To keep herself safe, as well as her other companions, Aubri must find out who the killer is…or risk becoming the next target.

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

In the Eye of the Beholder

Series: Trouvaille #1

Cover for IN the Eye of the Beholder. A single red rose against a black backdrop, the corners are decorated with white filigree.

Beverly Anne Michel

Romance, Cozy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual, Bi, Gay, Lesbian

In a modern Beauty and the Beast retelling Beau Nicholls is a freelance photographer. She finds herself in need of a temporary job to pay the bills. In desperation, she takes a housekeeping position for a disabled recluse. The recluse in question, Felix Astor, does not want her help, but his cousin hires her anyway.

FREE || Regular Price: $2.99

Smashwords || Itchio

Angels

Cover for Angels. A textured gray backdrop highlights a woman seen from behind, shown in grayscale with wings drawn over her. The only bit of color in the cover is the title itself and the rainbow heart patch on the pants of the woman. The blurb in the corner says It Takes Courage to Find Your Wings

Rachel Churcher

Get a FREE book, Making Trouble, when you subscribe to Rachel Churcher’s newsletter

Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Queer

Angels have lived among us for as long as we can remember. They don’t have powers, but they do have wings. They’ve always hidden their wings, and who they are – until Kane. Melodie Abbott remembers the day she saw Kane’s taboo-shattering billboard. A beautiful model showing his wings on Oxford Street, on a photo as tall as a building. When sixteen-year-old Mel finally meets her idol, disaster strikes. Can she find a way to free herself from his shadow, and what will her future hold? ‘Angels’ is a coming-of-age story, a university heartbreak novel with a twist, a celebration of friendship and desire, and an exploration of attraction, identity and self-expression. It takes courage to find your wings …

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

Zimanges

Cover for Zimanges. Illustrated. A man in a large coat and hands in pockets walks down a creepy alley way, a bright orange handprint on the stone walls the only flash of color.

MC Burnell

Get a free book, Learn to Swim, when you join MC Burnell’s newsletter Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Gay

When wizard Jendaiar Phos sets his life on fire on purpose to spite the father who just died, he and his estranged brother are forced to leave their homes. The mother he hasn’t seen in decades left him a house in an infamous city founded by a bandit king, but it’s too big for two people. In search of roommates to help pay bills, he finds instead a new family. Outcasts and rebels just like him who left their homelands for similar reasons. He couldn’t be happier, although life would be easier if they hadn’t just moved into a drafty mansion high in a mountain pass at the start of winter. Then there’s the part where a pile of leaves inhabited by a spirit has tasked this misfit crew with saving their new home from a demon, and even the pile of leaves doesn’t know what a demon IS. They’re going to have to get creative if they mean to save the day. Hopefully, somewhere along the way, they can also find the means to cope with the other problem: 63 West Cedar isn’t furnished.

Discounted Price: $3.5 || Regular Price: $6.99

Smashwords

Silenci

Cover for Silence. Illustrated in Art Nouvae style like a portrait. At the center is stylized drawing of a wolfs head with a circle around it with symbols. Below is an illustration showing the phases of the moon.

R.M. Sayan

Romance, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay

In Abadosos, nobody speaks of the werewolves—in fact, nobody likes to speak. Joaquím is attacked by a werewolf on a full moon in which he foolishly forgets to take shelter. But he lives to see the light of day, mostly unscathed. Nursed back to health with the help of his friend Zarif and his cousin Remei, he lives on unknowing whether he was bitten or not. But the curse of the lycanthrope proves to be more complex than it appears, and Joaquím begins to doubt not only himself, but those close to him and everything he knows about his hometown. The pressure and paranoia cloud his way, and nobody seems to have answers to his questions. After all, in Abadosos, nobody speaks.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $1.99

Major Retailers

The Elopement of Atticus & NEON

Cover for The Elopement of Atticus and Neon. Plain cream background with brightly colored illustrations of folowers and leaves.

Series: (Nothing But) Flowers #1

Al Hess

Science Fiction, Romance, Cozy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Bi, Queer, Non-binary, Gay, Aromantic, Asexual

In a world slowly unraveling under a gentle apocalypse, NEON—a flower merchant with a brain more AI than human—and Atticus—a shy farmer with fantasies of romance and freedom—are in love. In order to escape Atticus’s controlling stepfather and a community steeped in prejudice, they elope under the cover of night, determined to find a better future. But the road ahead is as uncertain as their plan. Their love and the reluctant blessings of NEON’s eccentric robot family won’t be enough in the face of reality: they’ll need money, they’ll need jobs, and they’ll need a place to call home that accepts the couple’s union. As doubts and fears threaten to ruin their honeymoon before it’s even begun, NEON and Atticus must learn to trust not just each other but the rhythm of a world that may still hold a place for two unlikely lovers.

Regular Price: $1.99

Smashwords || Itchio

The Edge of a World

Cover for The Edge of the World. Illustrated. Two adventurers stand on the edge of a cliff and look down at a giant city situated at the bottom of the cliff.

Series: Otar’s Universe #1

JD Rivers

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Bi, Trans masc, Non-binary

A scholar on a journey. A monster in his veins. An unbending truth. One wrong step and the monster in Otar’s veins kills. To find the truth about himself and the world he lives in Otar goes on a journey that will not only change his own life, but also for those closest to him. featuring: third chances at love, queer characters, ancient ruins, romance side plot, roadtrip.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

Awakenings

Cover for Awakenings. Three adventurers stand outside of a horseless wagon on a desert road. Before them, built into a butte, is a multileveld city, each part of the city under a large dome.

Series: Chronicles of Nerezia #1

Claudie Arseneault

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Fantasy, Cozy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual. Non-binary. Queer. Aromantic

Despite dozens of apprenticeships with eir city’s clans, Horace has never found somewhere to belong to—not until eir trial run as a guard, when the terrifying, soul-possessing shards that haunt the world broke through the city’s protective dome, only to be dismissed to vapor by a mysterious elf through a single phrase: your story is my story. It is eir story, too, Horace knows it in eir guts—the most trustable part of eir body. After an afternoon of caring for the recovering elf and playing board games in their quiet, sharp-witted company, Horace is ready to follow them across the world, to the forest that haunts their dreams. Awakenings is the first of nine novellas in a fantasy adventure blending cozy fantasy vibes and D&D style side-questing, imbued with an aspec-focused queernormative world and strong platonic bonds.

Discounted Price $1.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords

The Fall that Saved Us

Cover for The Fall that Saved Us. A demon with black wings and a red dress and horns reaches down as she falls from the sky. Below her is an angel, alos falling, with a dagger in her hand, reaching up towards the demon. Illustrated.

Tamara Jerée

Paranormal, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian

Cassiel has given up the family tradition of demon hunting, leaving behind her sacred angelic duty and fated sword. What she can’t leave behind are the scars. To cope, she spends her days immersed in work, pouring all her attention into New Haven Books, her small bookstore and anchor in the new world she’s carved for herself. But the past hasn’t let go of Cassiel yet. When a succubus named Avitue arrives to claim her angel-touched soul, Cassiel’s old hunter instincts flare, forcing her to choose between old knowledge and her truth. What should be a fatal seduction becomes a bargain neither woman expects. As they grow closer, Avitue is surprised to find her own pain reflected in Cassiel, a nephilim deemed fallen by her own family’s standards. By choosing trust, they reveal the lies that bind them. Falling for each other begins a path towards healing. But exorcising the effects of trauma is harder than naming it, and to explore the unfettered possibility Avitue represents, Cassiel must find a way to reclaim and redefine her angelic heritage.

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price: $5.99

Smashwords || Elsewhere

Cinders of Yesterday

Cover for Cinders of Yesterday. Two women stand back to back, each turning their head over their shoulders to look at the other. One is surrounded by flames and the other holds a glowing dagger.

Jen Karner

Join Jen Karner’s Newsletter

Fantasy, Horror, Romance

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual,

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

A medium who doesn’t remember magic. A hunter seeking revenge. Necromancers only want you for your body in Cinders of Yesterday.

Itchio || Kobo || BN || Amazon || Smashwords

Regular Price: $2.99

A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams

Cover for A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams. Three figures stand on the edge of a lake in a dark forest while two swans fly overhead under the full moon.

Dax Murray

Fantasy

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual, Non-binary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

The forest witch is not meant to fall in love with the princess she is keeping prisoner. A queer retelling of Swan Lake.

Smashwords

Discounted Price: $3.74 || Regular Price: $4.99

There are plenty more books on sale at Smashwords this week, so I encourage you to check it out! Before we sign off, we wanted to also let you know about a way to get NINE free books!

Cozies for Disability: Support Disabled People. Disabled people should have the right to equal access to education, health care, and other services. In the US, Section 504 and telehealth are under assault. . Contact your representatives in support of disabled rights and receive the ebooks below! https://lynnstrong.com/bundles The books: The Siren’s Cursed Kiss by Kat Kinney, Chai and Cat-tales:, Priye by Lynn Strong, The Rose Bridge by Steph Shangraw, Coffee, Milk & Spider Silk by Coyote J. M. Edwards, The Tale That Twines by Cedar McCloud, A Twist of Faerie by K. M. Jackways, Courage is the Price by S. L. Dove Cooper, Haroun’s Market of Wonders by Lynn Strong (only available here!), The Soul from the Supernova by A. M. Hart, Cozies for Disability: Support Disabled People. Disabled people should have the right to equal access to education, health care, and other services. In the US, Section 504 and telehealth are under assault. Contact your representatives in support of disabled rights and receive the ebooks below!

You can get multiple books of the cozy variety by contacting your elected officials and asking them to stand up for disability rights.

Step 1: Contact your government representatives in support of disabled people's rights

Step 2: Send a screenshot or email to cozybookbundle@gmail.com

Step 3: We'll send you 9 free cozy ebooks featuring disabled characters. Act, rest, repeat!

I asked Lynn Strong if the books had queer rep and was told that many of them do!

The Rose Bridge by Steph Shangraw: The main character is trans and there are two same-sex couples (MM and FF).

The Tale That Twines by Cedar McCloud: MC is agender and demisexual/demiromantic.

Courage is the Price by S. L. Dove Cooper: MC is lesbian and her new friend is trans. No romance.

Coyote's Coffee Milk and Spider Silk: LGBTQ+ rep throughout.

Priye by Lynn Strong: MC is ace, other characters are aroace, demi, pan, and trans.

Haroun’s Market of Wonders by Lynn Strong: Main character is grey aroace/demi, as well as pan and gay rep.

Six out of nine of the books have awesome queer rep, and you can get them for free! This is not limited to the United States, although the call to action highlights ableist actions being taken in the United States, it is meant to be world-wide call for people to stand up for disability rights.

That’s all for this week! Don’t forget to check our booking page if you want to see your book highlighted here, too!

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The second ever “New Release Round Up” and we couldn’t be happier! February might be the shortest month, but it had a good amount of new releases! If you have a release coming out in March that you want us to highlight, please checkout the booking page!

No Experience Necessary

Book cover for No Experience Nexessary. A man stands in a workshop, leaning against a counter, open shirt with suspenders, thumbs hooked into his pockets.

Alex Pendragon

Join Alex’s mailing list for a free short story!

Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay

Eighteen and desperate for work, Jake's prospects seem dire. Fate lands him a job, along with his first, confusing attraction to another man. Ashton's confident and ambitious, but as wary of their 7 year age gap as he is of Jake's inexperience. Can a relationship coexist with the expectations of Jake's community, or would it have been better had neither man realized his true desires?

Release Date: 2025-02-09

Regular Price: $4.99

Direct || Itchio || Elsewhere

Content Warnings:

It's high-heat and entirely open door. Some coming-out tension between the MC and his disapproving mother (which is largely resolved by the end).

The Hand That Feeds

Cover for the Hand that Feeds. A woman in a plain, cotton dress stands in profile, one hand reaching behind her back, neck turned to face the camera.

Sass Everett

Fantasy, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Queer

Ten years ago, Corin was King Starling's most trusted personal guard and Lady Yolantha's beloved. Once, he had dreams of marrying his lover and standing beside his king as they ushered in a new era of peace. But after a sudden betrayal, Corin was forced into a life of exile. Ten years later, an unexpected message from the king brings hope for a new life and a new chance at love... as long as Corin is willing to meet his demands. But Corin is not so easily bought, nor will he forgive the past so soon.

Regular Price: 1.99

B&N || Amazon || Kobo || Apple || Elsewhere

Release Date: 2025-02-14

Content Warnings:

Discussion of infertility and pregnancy.

The Smith

A dark castle is visible in the background with looming turrets and towers, in front is a ghostly figure holding with the title text also outlined in an unnerving misty glow

Marine St. Jean

Historical, Fantasy, Romance

Representation: Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Ama has been on the run from the people who destroyed her life. Moving quickly is all you can expect as a merchant with unnatural passions in 9th C France. Now a village needs her skills, and a woman her heart. Will she be able to choose love or put them all in danger?

Amazon

Release date: 2025/14/02

Content Warnings:

Themes of racism, homophobia, abuse, abandonment, cultural estrangement moderate violence, graphic lesbian sex

Silver Blood

Cover for Silver Blood. An ornate gold frame highlights the two men in formal wear reaching towards each other, one is pale and has long silver hair, the other is holding a book in one hand

T. L. Morgan

Follow T. L. Morgan on BlueSky

Gothic Romance

Representation: Gay, Trans, Bi, Queer

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

SILVER BLOOD is a gothic romance about the son of a famous vampire hunter on a mission to end the cycle of violence his family perpetrates. Alongside the heir to an elite vampire family, he seeks a way to save vampires from turning monstrous.

Itchio || Amazon || Bookshop

Release Date: 2025/11/02

Regular Price: $4.99

Content Warnings:

Blood, violence, and mild body horror; death of siblings and parents; depictions of emotional and physical abuse by family; drinking of blood; mentions of self harm and suicide; off-page suicide attempt; animal (horse) death.

Yelen & Yelena

Cover for Yelen and Yelena. A woman among flowers stares ahead inquisitively while in a dark forest.

C. M. Rosens

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Dark Fantasy

Representation: Aromantic, Bisexual, Sapphic, Achillean, Non-binary

YELEN & YELENA is a standalone dark Gothic Fantasy with strong elements of body horror, described as a monster-loving 'tour de force', perfect for fans of Beauty and the Beast re-imaginings, Mexican Gothic, and What Moves The Dead.

Itch || KoFi || Elsewhere

Regular Price: $4.99

Release Date: 2025/14/02

Content Warnings:

Family deaths; frequent suicide ideation; on-page violent suicide and murder; implied SA mention; depression; depersonalisation and derealisation; social ostracism; eviction; some body horror related to the rot (fungal infections, fruiting bodies, etc).

The Myriad of Simon Hansen

Cover for the Myriad of Simon Hanson. A man stands atop a tall pile of book, shown in silhouette.

SCH

Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation (Main Character): Gay, Achillean, Bi

“What if The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole had been written by an American in 1990s Ireland with a found family, a nervous taste for other guys, and a bad case of insomnia? “Tam is convinced he saw a nymph today. I saw her too, and nymph isn’t that far off the mark as a comparison, but Tam’s got it in his head that she’s a nymph maybe in the folkloric sense as well. What is definite—what we can both agree on—is that neither of us has ever seen anyone like her before.” When Simon and his pal stumble across a young woman with a dark past, life at their Dublin bookshop changes forever. Devoted to his Irish crew—and grateful to them for helping him escape his own bleak background—Simon puts more focus on making their dreams come true than he does on overcoming the trauma he’s still locked in, one that keeps him isolated in the middle of a growing crowd. He’s getting to know himself better through his journal entries, though—the ones no one else is ever allowed to read.”

Regular Price: $4.99

Itchio || Gumroad

Read the rest of the series

Release Date: 2025-02-04

Content Warnings:

Parental neglect; homophobic attitude among certain side characters; depiction of anxiety symptoms; depiction of drug use (marijuana) Brief mention of past confinement, sexual assault, home invasion and violence

Scene

Cover for Scene. A band in strong stage lighting stands naked with his hand in front of his throat. OVerlaid is a neon take-board from film sets

J. Tomala

Contemporary Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay, Bi, Queer, Pansexual

Adam discovers his dominant tendencies, Sebastian loves to be put in his places, and Chris just found out he might be pansexual and way in over his head. Adam landed his dream job as a hair and make-up artist on the hit show KaPow! The eye candy could not be better, and being friends with the stars of the show has its perks too. The only problem is his crush on Chris and his need to take apart Sebastian Winter. Adam’s always been intuitive, and the vibes coming from Sebastian are hard to ignore. He can’t help but imagine how the man would look on his knees waiting for Adam’s orders. But before Adam can make his move, Chris makes his. In his 31 years on this planet, Chris had never been in this situation before. Meaning: wanting to get into another man’s pants so badly. But there is something so alluring about Sebastian Winter. His fingers itch to take him apart every time they’re together lately. Sebastian’s career is going great, but his love life is a mess. Hooking up with your make-up artist, who’s ten years younger, in a sex club could not be called the greatest decision ever. Especially when you’re kind, sort of dating your costar, who had never shown any interest in men before. Choosing would be the adult option, but he can’t. Adam satisfies his every sexual need like no other Dom had ever before, and Chris looks at him like he hung the moon. He knows that he can’t keep these two sides of his life separate forever, but is afraid of what will happen if they crash into each other. Will he lose them both or gain everything he ever wanted?

Regular Price: 2,99

Amazon

Release Date: 2025-02-28

Scene is the first book in a series of interconnected stand alone stories.

Content Warnings:

D/s, stalking from an ex

Mela Súle

Cover for Mela Sule. Three cat-people chat in the woods under a crescent moon. Furthest left is sitting in a wheelchair with silver/gray hair and a scarf. The next has matching silver hair and looks on in anxiety. The third is clearly excited about something and clutching their hands in front of them. The last is seated wearing a military style jacket and sipping on a hot drink.

Astrid Abell

Young Adult, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual. Aromantic, Queer

It's Kaedan Beservera's first Mela Súle in a wheelchair. And, without his mother. With his father and grandfather both sick, this year's celebration will only be spent with his child, Inarora. As Kaeden worries he will disappoint his daughter, the two stumble upon a foreign family enjoying Mela Súle for the first time. It will be a memorable winter holiday season for all.

Itchio

Release Date: 2025-02-18

Content Warnings:

Brief mentions of war, brutal injuries, and death.

Men in Focus: A M/M Romance Anthology

Cover for Men in Focus. A slightly out of focus photo of a man that is naked, with soft pink lighting

Rena Butler

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Romance, Science Fiction, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay, Bi

Six stunning, steamy, and sassy M/M romances — now available in one anthology. From a hurricane in Florida to a diplomatic mission in outer space to the Wild West, this is a collection of stories with Rena Butler’s trademark humor and heat. Gathered together for the first time, Men in Focus is a romantic romp with characters who are flawed, funny, deeply human, and always loveable.

Regular Price: 7.99

Direct from Author || Elsewhere

Release Date: 2025-02-14

Content Warnings:

Some period-era racial language & homophobia in the Western story “The Heir and the Outlaw”

Rainsquall

Cover for Rainsquall. A man is consummed by smoke from a fire that is behind him. IT is a dark night and the smoke has a threatening aura as it wraps around the man.

Penny Moss

Romance, Fantasy, Historical

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay, Demisexual

Lone shepherd Folke is content to drift through life without the hassle of others. Yet his quiet days come to a thunderous end when a storm forces three enigmatic men to seek refuge in his secluded cottage. Suddenly, Folke’s world is crowded with all the things he worked to avoid, while opening up to many alluring possibilities. Warm skin, shared breaths, and the caress of lips beguile him into what he knows will lead to heartbreak. Each day he grows closer to the men is another day until their inevitable departure—and to secrets that could change all he knows.

Regular Price: $5.99 USD

Release Date: 2025-02-21

Amazon

Content Warnings:

“Mentions of animal death (sheep) and mentions of a dog passing, discussions of parental death, vague suicidal ideation, strong sexual content, foul language, British spelling, overarching themes of depression, violence”

Red, like my bleeding heart in your hand

Two figures sit on the edge of a cliff overlooking a patch of trees, slightly out of focus. Cover for Red like my bleeding heart in your hand.

Sarah B. Elisa

Romance, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Bi

Theodore Spinoza was crying the first time Nash ever saw him. With the principal's hand on his shoulder, she explained that Teddy was new to the school, new to the community, and needed their help to adjust. Everybody knew that only meant to not tease him about his red face and the streaks of snot on his sleeves. At that moment, looking at Teddy all sad and soppy with his sharp chin tipped up anyway, Nash made a decision. With all his six years of worldliness and wisdom, Nash decided no way did he want anything to do with that snot-faced kid. Not when he was already in charge of keeping his snot-faced sister right and happy, and not with Daddy's fits of violence already taking up more than their fair share of his concern. Theodore Spinoza was on his own. It's funny how life can take a decision like that and twist it into something precious and unexpected.

Multiple Retailers

Regular Price: 0.99

This book is part of the Wildflowers of Deliverance series. Read the rest of the series.

Release Date: 2025-02-19

Content Warnings:

Child abuse

The Powers That Be

Cover for The Powers that Be, illustrated. A masked heroine crouches in the streets of a city, poised to strike. A purple flame rises over the horizon behind her, the flames have two large eyes inside of them.

Temple Hart

Science Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian

Dr. Peril is a melodramatic supervillainess out to rule the world. Her nemesis, Diamond, is a kindly Midwestern gal who can lift a truck. Clearly, they're meant for each other. Too bad their employer, the Department of Unnatural Powers, disagrees and will do anything to keep them apart.

Regular Price: $5.99

Kobo || Amazon || BN || Apple

Release Date: 2025-02-11

This is the first book in a planned series.

Content Warnings:

Violence, sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault (thwarted)

My Obedient Girlfriend: A Lesbian BDSM Erotica

Cover for My Obedient Girlfriend. A woman with a leotard stands in profile, one hand raised above her head and another held under her chin, her hip popped out seductively.

Inanna Black

Contemporary, Erotica

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation : Sapphic, Lesbian

I love to dominate my girlfriend—and she loves to submit to me. When I discover her weakness for whipped cream, I find a new, delicious way to test her obedience. She’s hungry, and she’s going to get her fill. Today, I am her tasty treat. And if she’s a good girl, I’ll reward her handsomely for her service.

Amazon

Regular Price: 2.99

Release Date: 2025-02-02

Content Warnings:

BDSM, explicit sex between women, edging, bondage

Under the Light of the New Moon

Cover for Under the Light of the New Moon. A dark creepy forest with an overlay of a representation of the phases of the moon.

Kris Madigan

Follow Kris Madigan on Itch and get a free short story.

Contemporary, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic

The lights go out every new moon, blanketing the small town of Ashbury in darkness. Erin is restless to leave and start a new life in the city, but is tied to a dead-end job and a grandmother no closer to death than she. On the night of one particular new moon, she finds something more than she could have ever hoped in a mysterious woman who comes to visit.

Itchio

Regular Price: $2.50

Release Date: 2025-02-19

Content Warnings:

“Sexual content, vibes of blood-related rituals”

User Not Found

Cover for User Not Found. A swirl of 1s and 0s loops around a computer that is rather boxy and looks out of place. The computer has some static interference over it.

Dani Finn

Science Fiction, Dystopian

Representation: Trans, Non-binary, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Jack works for the Censorship Bureau of the Incorporated States, scanning transgressive fics for clues to the identities of the authors. It's a shit job, and it's getting to him. He finds himself unnaturally drawn in by transgressive a fic by UserNotFound26A6. He can't stop thinking about it and about the author he's nicknamed Oomf. He should just turn them in and be done with it, but his curiosity must be satisfied. What he discovers at the used bookstore where the fic was posted will change him forever. This 12,000-word dystopian short story is set in a not-too-distant future that is by turns bleak and oddly hopeful.

Itchio || Elsewhere

Regular Price: $2.00

Release Date: 2025-19-02

Content Warnings

This story is meant for adult audiences and contains drinking, drug use, societal transphobia, and explicit, consensual sex scenes.

Reborn at the Shores of Awakening

Illustrated cover for the Wonders of Mundus 1: Reborn on the Shores of Awakening. A foxgirl in adventuring clothing stands in a sea of water and stars next to the wreckage of a boat. A villainess with starwberry earings cackles, the back of her hand held to the side of her mouth.

Talia Elliott Belser

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Queer, Trans, Non-binary

Official Paperback Release!

A closeted transgender woman is about to get way too into her favorite MMO. It's 2047, and our protagonist wakes up face-down in the sands of the Shores of Awakening – a starter area of their favorite VRMMO, Another World Online: Mundane Phantasy Historia – as avatar Deedee Yeowoo, a foxgirl healer. Something's wrong – she can't log out, and as part of the late-game raiding guild Dungeon-Crawling And Chill, shouldn't be at first level. Moreover, she's not alone – at least some of her friends in the guild, as well as the innocent newbie and streamer Ace Striker, are along for the ride. How can they survive such an adventure friendly – which is to say, violent and monster-filled – world? Why are they here? And why does this avatar feel more comfortable to Deedee Yeowoo's player than her real life body ever did?”

Discounted Via IngramSpark

Regular Price: 19.95 Discounted Price: 14.95

This is the first book in the Wonders of Mundus series

Release Date: 2025-02-28

Content Warnings:

“Violence, transphobia”

A very happy release month to all who put out a new book, serial, novella, or other form of queer lit this month! Next month, we will be celebrating Trans Visibility Day in addition to our regular weekly discount posts and our end of the month round ups. You can sign up for all of them at our booking website. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an issue!

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Another week of awesome queer literature at affordable prices delivered straight to your inbox! Thanks so much for all the support of this little newsletter and of the authors we have featured! We also don’t want you to miss out if you’re a sapphic reader—tomorrow is the Year of Queer Lit Sapphic Stuff Your Kindle Event with dozens of sapphic books on sale!

While waiting for tomorrow, you should check out the books we have here today, including some amazing scholarly work, sexy paranormal serials, and a fairy tale told in verse!

✨ Book of the Week ✨

Trans/Rad/Fem

Cover for Trans / Rad / Fem by Talia Bhatt. A woman with dark hair is wrapped in a cowl against a red backdrop. She has make up on her forhead showing symbols and make up under her eyes that gives the appearance of tears. Overlaid is the title in all caps in serif font. "Essays on Transfeminism" is written at the top.

Talia Bhatt

Join Talia Bhatt’s Newsletter to stay up to date

Non-fiction, Social Sciences, Transfeminism

Spice Level: “Well, it’s a spicy book, but not for reasons of sex…” – Talia Bhatt

Representation: Trans Lesbian

This series of essays aims to reconstruct and reintroduce the radical feminist framework that its misbegotten inheritors seem determined to forget and in doing so boldly makes the claim that transfeminism, far from being antagonistic to radical feminism, is in fact its direct descendant. It shows how a comprehensive social theory of transsexual oppression flows almost naturally from radical feminist precepts and dares to declare that a materialist, radical transfeminism is the way forward to seize the foundations of patriarchy at the root.

Itchio || Amazon

Ebook: $5.99

Grace of Sorcerers

A woman with a lacy balck and red dress and gold leaves across her body and face leans forward in profile. The title is overlaid in bold sans-serif font. Cover for The Grace of Sorcerers by Maria Ying.

Maria Ying

Urban Fantasy

Representation: Trans, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶

A lesbian warlock summons an ancient, beautiful demon in her quest to avenge her mother. Rep: Trans women, lesbians, Chinese characters, Turkish character Spice level on a scale of candy to 5 peppers: 3 peppers Link to a cover file for your work:

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $4.99

PS: If you enjoy Maria Ying’s work, there is currently an Itchio bundle—Monsters, Mecha and Greek Myth—for Maria Ying’s novel The Hades Calculus as well as multiple authorized / official fan works, including a full color art book!

Gender Vampires Collection

Cover for Gender Vampires Collection. A swirld of red mist and sparkles envelopes a golden chalice engraved with the image of grapes on a vine. On the corners, gold filgree accents. The text is in fancy serif font.

Inilia Chayre

Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Representation: Trans, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

This is a series of short stories about lesbian vampires and their trans partner(s). Lots of focus will be on the intimacy between all parties involved, which may or may not include sex.

ScribbleHub

Free

Heaven and Hell Came Crashing Down Around UsCover for Heaven and Hell Came Crashing Down Around Us. Three candles are lit in a dark room next to an open bible and rosary. A whoip of smoke curls around the frilly lettering for the title.

Inilia Chayre

Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy

Representation: Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

When a young woman is faced with a medical bill for an immediate treatment she has no hope of paying, she turns to a tome her old friend gave her and summons a demon to make a deal. But is that really the end of the contract? Or will she find something more?

Scribble Hub

Free

Song of the Dryads

Cover for Song of the Dryads. A humonoid figure stands in the middle of a butterfly filled field strumming a stringed instrument. Rather than a neck or head, a tree sprouds from the shoulders of the dryad.

Bailey Saxon

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Fantasy

Representation: Trans

Spice Level: 🌶🌶

Gayle is a lonely man. A strong and well respected one, but alone nonetheless. He decides to put this strength to good use and investigate a string of suspicious hunter deaths. Each case reeked of foul play from more experienced hunters, numerous newbies going missing after going on request to gather materials from the forest with them. He ventures in, the determination to save who he can overriding his fear.

Bianca, the new girl in the forest, has a dark secret that she can't let a single Dryad in their secluded sequoia grotto know. They all love and respect her, but she worries that kindness could disappear all in a matter of seconds. Dryads are known for their affinity to nature, so she strives to make herself indispensable by helping everyone out. They saved her from being alone, and she can't tell them why or she may lose the community she so desperately wanted all along.

Itchio

Ebook: $1

PS: Baily Saxon is one of the authors included in the Monsters, Mecha and Greek Myth Bundle!

Cheerleaders from Planet X

Cover for Cheerleaders from Planet X. A cheerleader in her uniform stands facing a flying saucer hovering in an open field. She has a weapon in her hands hidden behind her back.

Lyssa Chiavari

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Science Fiction

Representation: Lesbian

Spice Level: 🍭

A tongue-in-cheek cross between Marvel comics and Space Invaders, CHEERLEADERS FROM PLANET X is a zany, quirky and snark-filled send-up of just about every sci-fi trope known to humankind—with 100% more lesbians.

Direct from Author || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $3.99

Failure to Communicate

Cover for Failure to Communicate. Two hominids, one human, another not human, stand in the brush of a strange world, crouching over a rivulette of water, staring at each other in confusion.

Kaia Sønderby

Science Fiction

Representation: Biromantic, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🍭

As the autistic head of the Carpathia’s Xeno-Liaison department, Xandri has become an expert in peaceful first contacts and convincing sapient species to join the Starsystems’ Alliance. The Anmerilli, however, are as xenophobic as they come… and they are developing a powerful weapon that caught both the attention of the Alliance and their bitter enemies. This time, Xandri’s mission is wrought with politics and the consequences of failure may well be genocide for the Anmerilli.

Amazon

Ebook: $2.99

The Ice Princess’s Fair Illusion

Two princesses in lacey gowns stand next to each other, leaning into one another and clasping hands.

S. L. Dove Cooper

Fantasy, Poetry, Cozy

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Sapphic

Spice Level: 🍭

Marian never wanted to get married, but then Marian's father promises he'll force her to wed the first beggar to arrive at the palace gates in a fit of pique. Edel only came to strengthen political ties, but she finds herself drawn to the haughty girl and determines to save her. This sapphic, queerplatonic retelling of King Thrushbeard is told in free verse.

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $4.99

Stars and Soil

Cover for Stars and Soil. Golden filigree and red tiger lilies line the cover with a dagger piercing and shattering a crwon at the center

Dax Murray

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Representation: Lesbian, Non-binary

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶

The prince demands Caitlin's hand, but an earl's daughter claims her heart. With power at court ever-shifting, rebellion roiling in the streets, and ancient evils lurking in the shadows, will Caitlin be a pawn or a queen in this dangerous game of revolution and love?

Itchio || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $0.99 – Regularly $5.99. On sale through 2/26/2025 as part of the Year of Queer Lit Sapphic Stuff Your Kindle Event.

ARC CORNER

“ARCs” are “Advanced Reader Copies.” ARC copies of books are usually given out for free ahead of release! These authors are currently looking for readers who would like to read their books before anyone else and leave an honest review on book or retailer websites. You don’t have to be a professional book reviewer to be an ARC reader. If you can leave 3 or 4 sentences on a website, you can be an ARC reader! You get a free book, and you help out a queer author!

Riyati Rivals

Cover for the ARC edition of Riyati Rivals. A glowing orange piral opens to show am emblem with extensive glyphs and magical symbols. The title is written in a combination of fancy handwriting font and exaggerated serif font. Arc Edition: Available May 15 2025.

Kai Zeal

Contemporary, Fantasy

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶

Representation: Asexual, Demisexual, Lesbian

Scheduled Release: May 2025

What would you sacrifice to alter an already guaranteed future?

The new school year has begun in the quiet town of Opal Pines, and with it, new problems for Kylie and Jordan: Kylie’s mother barely lets her out of sight, and Jordan’s new friend makes it clear he’s no fan of Kylie. Even their older selves are at odds with each other: Siani refuses to intervene in the events to come; meanwhile, Rotanu is not sure the ends justify the means needed to get there. To make matters even worse, a familiar woman from the June kidnapping is back and wants Kylie’s head.

What happens when the past is painful and still seeks vengeance, the present is lonely, and the future uncertain? Riyati Rivals is the second book of a new adult/adult contemporary, low dark fantasy series that seeks to explore themes of identity, legacy, the greater good, and finding your own path in life. The Riyati series includes multiple first person perspectives and multiple queer characters (currently including demisexual/romantic and lesbian representation with more to come in future books), set in the modern day United States.

ARC readers will also be provided with a complimentary copy of the first book, Riyati Rebirth.

Sign up for the ARC.

Shades of Spring

Trope Graphic showing the cover for Shades of Spring (a crown and roses with vine accents). Fantasy Novel. Secret Heirs. Hidden Supernatural World. Epic Fantasy. Queer as Fuck. Betrayals and Misunderstandings. Morally Grey Characters. Prophecies and Mystical Creatures. First In Series.

Niranjan

Fantasy

Representation: Queer

Spice Level: 🌶

Scheduled Release: May 2025

A dangerous prophecy, the survival of a whole world at stake.

A prophecy spoken by the Halvard Seer before his death warns of the end of the world, one which will come to pass unless the Halvard, Cailern, and Wizards can work together to prevent it. But the Halvard and Cailern had never seen eye to eye and the Halvard Chief, Leymon, has a past with the Cailern queen, Sylvania, that he cannot let go of.

Sylvania and her husband, Bresson have kept the Cailern united for years, but when they receive a message from the wizards, their hard won peace is about to end. Worse, secrets that Sylvania has kept for years are in danger of coming to light, threatening the foundations of their peace with the Halvard.

When creatures from the prophecy attack and fatally injure Bresson, only Leymon has the power to save him. But can he let go of past hurts and betrayals to save him or will he risk the fragile alliance with the Cailern and condemn the world to destruction?

Shades of Spring is an epic fantasy novel and the first in the Shades of Spring series. If you like world ending stakes, magic, mysterious prophecies, hidden identities, flawed characters and emotional conflicts, you will enjoy this book.

Sign up to recieve an ARC copy for free!

I hope you found your next favorite read and filled your TBR with some amazing queer literature! We’ll be back here again on the last day of February with our New Release Round-Up.

Are you an author and want to see your book here, too? Check out our Booking Page to get your book on our list! We have slots open for our weekly newsletter, new release round-ups, ARC corners, and special events such as our Trans Visibility event on March 31st!

Read more...

Hello, friends! I hope you’ve been having a great week full of amazing books! In honor of Aromantic Awareness Week, I come to you with a plethora of recommendations spanning genres! Aromantic people face unique stigma and shame from society that can leave people feeling unseen, which is why it’s so important to celebrate the literature that features aromantic characters living full, meaningful lives. Here is a but small selection of books to fill your shelves with!

The Thread That Binds

Three characters appear in arched windows, one doing magic from an ink well, another holding open a book, and the third displaying diviniation cards, each standing under a moon, a sun, or a star. Above is a bookshelf with books presented in a rainbow gradient. Cover for The Thread that Binds.

Cedar McCloud

Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic. Asexual, Non-binary, Queer

The books are restless. At the Eternal Library, books are more than the paper, ink, and thread they're made from—they're full of spirits. Only a handful of people will ever be invited to the Bindery to learn the craft of Illumination: the magical creation of intricate illustrated manuscripts, bound with a secret that will make them last forever. Tabby is a dreamwalker, a witch who escapes into the stories of sleep to avoid a birth family that's never loved em enough. Amane is a cartomancer, a medium who speaks for the Unseen, but doesn’t know how to speak her own needs. Rhiannon is a psychic, an archivist who can See into the past, but only has eyes on the future. Their stories intertwine as they discover the secrets of Illumination, the Library's archives, and those of their mentors—the three of whom are competing to be the next Head Librarian, the Speaker for all the books. How do you know who's truly worth being part of your family? Sometimes we must forge connections in order to heal; other times, those bonds must be broken.

Kobo || Amazon || BN || Elsewhere

Ebook: $2.99 (Regularly $4.99)

The Tale That Twines

Cover for The Tale that Twines. Top shows a book shelf with a gradiant of books, beneath are three arched windows, each showing a different character. Left most shows someone holding fire magic against a mountain at night with the moon, middle shows someone holding a stack of books against a backdrop of planets and a prominent start, third shows someone holding a cane in the wilderneess by a lake under the sun.

Cedar McCloud

Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Non-binary

Chosen to be Head Librarian Opaline Sweetfrond's last apprentice, Juniper Starstitch arrives at the Eternal Library looking to discover the magical manuscript art of Illumination—and to recover the memories lost to the trauma of the massive earthquake that killed one of eir parents a decade earlier. June quickly discovers that these memories can be recovered through the ancient art of reading etheric Threads, the spiritual ties that link the world together. But remembering can be painful, and living in the past means missing out on the present. Even to the point that June’s beloved apprenticeship is threatened by eir inability to let go. It will take the help of friends both old and new for June to untangle the knotted threads of time, including the mysterious and stern Aeronwy Greengrove, who June may or may not be falling in love with, one song at a time... The Tale That Twines is an adult fantasy novel about queer bookbinding witches, found family, memory, fandom, and the power of story to heal from trauma! It is the second book in the Eternal Library Series and the first of two prequels. It also has a companion divination deck called the Threadbound Oracle; the characters are on the cards, and the cards appear prominently in Book 1, The Thread That Binds.

Kobo || BN || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $2.99 (Regularly $6.99)

Journey Home

Illustrated cover for Journey Home by May Barros. Two witches take to the sky, one riding a broom like it was a skateboard toward a ringed planet, the other riding more traditionally with a look of trepidation.

May Barros

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Queer, Sapphic

Amara and Luiza are two witches in a queerplatonic relationship. When Luiza decides to embark on a journey throught the galaxy in search for the lost fortress of Laura, the Dragon Queen, she ends up finding more than she bargained for, while Amara follows her footsteps hoping it’s not too late.

Itchio || Elsewhere

Ebook: 4.99

The Shimmering Prayer of Sûkiurâq

Cover for The Shimmering Prayer of Sukiuraq by SL Dove Cooper. A figured in a snowy gazebo leaps in a ballet-like fashion.

S.L. Dove Cooper

Fantasy, Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Non-binary

A deliciously queer magical person story in a secondary world with floating cities and airships, perfect for fans of She-Ra and Steven Universe All thaes life, Oibe Ekêmai has wanted to become a lêqnaemi, a travelling dancer skilled at nudging the world's magic into making everyone's lives a little easier. Thae has trained years for their chance at the Festival of Paths, where new apprentices will be chosen. But the lêqnaemi have secrets they only reveal to those chosen to join their ranks and Oibe Ekêmai and thaes new friends soon find themselves thrust into an age-old conflict. With almost no preparation and certainly no training, their group will have to face the horrors all lêqnaemi have sworn to face and triumph, or the entire world may be lost to darkness forever.

Itchio || Payhip || Kobo || Amazon

Ebook: 3.99

Chai and Cat-Tales

Cover for Chai and Cat Tales. Three magical middle eastern cozy fantasy novellas. Cover shows a middle eastern pointed arch with a cat and a lamp next to it.

Lynn Strong

Join Lynn Strong’s newsletter for a free cozy fantasy short story!

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual

Three cozy fantasy novellas in one book: “The Prince of Her Dreams,” where the smart funny capable brown ace woman gets her happy ever after; “Priye,” where a nonverbal neurospicy kitten makes her way in a city full of words (and soap); “The Potter's Dream,” where a gentle priest tries to care for everyone, even the mice.

Amazon || BN || Elsewhere

Ebook: 2.99

STAKE SAUCE: Arc 1, The Secret Ingredient Is Love. No, Really

Illustrated cover for Stake Sauce by RoAnna Sylver. A pale hand with black fingernails and a spiked bracelet reaches out of a coffin. The coffin has stickers that say things like 'this machine kills fascists' and pride flags.

RoAnna Sylver

Subscribe to RoAnna’s newsletter to get 10 Stake Sauce short stories, 7 Chameleon Moon short stories, and access to a text-based dating sim called Date the Lizard

Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Aromantic, Asexual, Queer, Trans masc

ARC 1, IN WHICH: A cute punk-rock vampire and a disabled firefighter-turned-mall-cop with a dark past join forces to battle the forces of evil. Jude used to leap out of helicopters to rescue/protect people from terrifying infernos. Now, by day, he protects the local mall from rowdy teenagers who ride their skateboards inside. By night, he protects the the parking lot, and the rest of Portland, from undead, bloodsucking creatures of the darkness. Or would if he could find them. Pixie refuses to bite anyone. Assault/murder/draining fluids isn’t punk, even if being a vampire really kind of is. He’s very hungry by now, and the much bigger, meaner, deadlier vamps kick him around on the nightly. And Pixie could use some help staying… ‘alive.’ Time to make a deal.

Itchio || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $0.99 (Regularly 3.99)

The Space Ace of Mangleby Flat

Cover for The Sapce Ace of Mangleby Flat by Larre Bildston. Stylized large text with shadows and stripes over a purple space-like background with two astronauts in suits beneath it.

Larre Bildeston

Romance, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual

On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn't yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam's wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken. Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness 1. Get a pet dog 2. Find a friend. Just one. Not too intense. As Sam comes to terms with the shameful family secrets revealed in a series of letters left to him by his deceased uncle, Sam falls in love first with his adopted poodle-cross, and then, much more slowly, with a kind and generous trans woman from his tennis club. Reina is so visibly and proudly queer Sam can’t imagine the two of them share a single thing in common. If only humans came with a guide book...

Kobo || Amazon || Libro

Ebook: $3.99

Riyati Rebirth

The cover for Riyati Rebirth by Kai Zael. A glowing green-blue portal shimmers with a glowing star at the center. The title is displayed in a combination of script and serif fonts.

Kai Zeal

Contemporary, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual

With great power comes your past incarnations and future self playing chess with your existence. Kylie Rae thought she was an average honors high school student but discovered during a life-threatening incident that she’s the reincarnation of an ancient magic kingdom’s crown princess. Now people she’s never met want her dead, and she must learn how to survive in this new world while maintaining the façade that nothing’s changed. Forget making A’s, how will Kylie survive to the end of the year when she’s constantly looking over her shoulder? Riyati Rebirth is the first book of a new adult/adult contemporary, low dark fantasy series that seeks to explore themes of identity, legacy, the greater good, and finding your own path in life. The Riyati series includes multiple first person perspectives and multiple queer characters (currently including demisexual/romantic and lesbian representation with more to come in future books), set in the modern day United States.

Direct from Author || Itchio || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $4.99

Jack of Thorns

Cover for Jack of Thorns by AK Faulkner. A dagger with red jewels is bound by thorns and roses against a backdrop of pricker leaves.

AK Faulkner

Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Other, Bi, Asexual. Aromantic

“What do you do when a Celtic god rings your doorbell? Laurence Riley is a San Diego florist whose ex won't leave him alone. Quentin d'Arcy is a British earl on the run from his own family. Despite their dramatically opposite worlds, they have so much in common: they're both failing at life, sobriety, and controlling their supernatural powers. Desperate to get his life back on track, Laurence prays for help, and Jack answers. A Celtic deity, Jack has the power to help… For an undisclosed price. Laurence strikes a deal, but soon realizes he can't pay up. His only hope of surviving Jack's wrath is to join forces with Quentin, but can they overcome their differences — and past horrors that won't stay buried — or are their fates already sealed?”

Direct from Author

Ebook: £7.99

Link to your book cover

The Whisperer in White

Cover for the Whisperer in White by Y. R. Liu. A lone figure in a long white cloak with gold trim stands in the middle of the night with jagged trees

Y. R. Liu

Young Adult, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual, Aromantic

When the Whisperer speaks, the universe listens. Growing up, Talia had never given much thought to the gray-robed Whisperers and their powers over reality. Their business was protecting the world; hers was hunting in the forest around her village and trying to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately for Tal, one Whisperer in particular becomes her business when she accidentally injures his companion, a talking cat-shaped creature named Morel. As punishment, she becomes the Whisperer’s prisoner, whisked away to his island home for a year and a day of servitude. There is much to do — for both the Whisperer and for Tal — as he prepares for the ritual that must be completed every hundred years to ensure the safety of the world. Tal does as she is told; her priority is to simply finish out her sentence and return home to her family. Yet there are many secrets on the island, many oddities, and they tug at Tal like an itch. As the year goes on, she learns more of the Whisperer, his duties, and the horrifying evils that he and the other Whisperers keep at bay. But secrets still remain: a room that is always locked, a stone monument in the woods, crimson flowers whose very name causes the Whisperer to storm away. Unbeknownst to Tal, something is watching her, and what she does now may alter the fate of the world.

Itchio || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: “3.99”

Fire Becomes Her

Cover for Fire Becomes Her. A woman in along dress standing in the dark night. Her dress is grandoise and catches fire at the hems.

Rosiee Thor

Young Adult, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Bi

In Rosiee Thor's lavish fantasy novel with a Jazz Age spark, a politically savvy teen must weigh her desire to climb the social ladder against her heart in a world where magic buys votes. Flare is power. With only a drop of flare, one can light the night sky with fireworks . . . or burn a building to the ground — and seventeen-year-old Ingrid Ellis wants her fair share. Ingrid doesn't have a family fortune, monetary or magical, but at least she has a plan: Rise to the top on the arm of Linden Holt, heir to a hefty political legacy and the largest fortune of flare in all of Candesce. Her only obstacle is Linden's father who refuses to acknowledge her. So when Senator Holt announces his run for president, Ingrid uses the situation to her advantage. She strikes a deal to spy on the senator’s opposition in exchange for his approval and the status she so desperately craves. But the longer Ingrid wears two masks, the more she questions where her true allegiances lie. Will she stand with the Holts, or will she forge her own path?

Kobo || Amazon || BN || Apple

Ebook: “$11.99”

Tarnished are the Stars

Cover for Tarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor. A night sky filled with constallations overlaid with a mechanical clock. The typography shows the title in metalic pieces

Rosiee Thor

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level”: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual

A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher’s chest: An illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog — donning the moniker Technician — to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner’s tyrannical laws.​Nathaniel Fremont, the Commissioner’s son, has never had to fear the law. Determined to earn his father’s respect, Nathaniel sets out to capture the Technician. But the more he learns about the outlaw, the more he questions whether his father’s elusive affection is worth chasing at all.​Their game of cat and mouse takes an abrupt turn when Eliza, a skilled assassin and spy, arrives. Her mission is to learn the Commissioner’s secrets at any cost — even if it means betraying her own heart.​When these uneasy allies discover the most dangerous secret of all, they must work together despite their differences and put an end to a deadly epidemic — before the Commissioner ends them first.

Kobo || BN || Apple || Amazon

Ebook: $11.99

Nophek Gloss

Cover for Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen. A large mecha.

Essa Hansen

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Questioning

Fourteen-year-old mechanic Caiden was raised with a singular purpose, on an isolated planet serving only one function. When his whole colony is sent to slaughter, Caiden survives and is thrust into a gigantic, diverse bubble multiverse that he had no idea existed. Torn by grief and guilt, carrying only trauma and rage from his previous existence, he finds shelter in a unique starship that has a soul of its own, and he finds family in a quarrelsome crew of alien misfits. Caiden is introduced to worlds of strange species, technologies, and unfathomably powerful foes. He’s forced to grow up too fast physically and emotionally as he struggles toward justice against the slavers who destroyed his world. In the process, he’ll wrestle with his own mysterious origins and discover that the multiverse is much bigger, more advanced, mysterious, and dangerous than he ever imagined.

Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $9.53

A Stage Over Ruthless Stars

Cover for A Stage over Ruthless Stars by JJ Clapton. A flying trapeez pile dangles from the sky as someone falls below it. At the bottom, three circus tents are raised.

JJ Clapton

Science Fiction, Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Gay

Aznan is a chronically ill high school drop out living on a space station with an illness that hates gravity. But he's going to be a famous inventor… That's if he can win the biggest tech competition in the system. Held at his space station's circus, and judged by titans of industry, it's one massive showcase to demonstrate his homemade tech in front of a live audience. To win, he'll need his ex-best friend's help. Kairo hasn't spoken to him in three years, not since he left school to join the circus as an aerialist, but Aznan can handle that. Oh, and the local favourites just turned up dead. That, not so much. Everyone's saying sabotage. Murder and riches. A competition worth killing for. And when a second team dies right in front of Aznan's eyes, the official reassurances of glitches and accidents no longer hold. The body count is rising. The Grand Showcase is blasting closer. With nobody willing to stop the show, Aznan and Kairo must unearth the truth or risk their lives with one final act.

Kobo || BN || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $4.99

How to Share a Cat and Other Life Lessons

Cover for How to Share a Cat and Other Life Lessons by Evelyn Fenn. An orange cat sits on a desk next to a microphone and a mug of tea.

Evelyn Fenn

Contemporary, Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Lesbian

Seventeen-year-old Nessa Clarkson is full of questions and confusion. How does she fit into the new household Dad is forging with his partner, Cindy, and Cindy's son? What will being a lesbian mean in practice? And why is their neighbour so reluctant to talk about her past? Moira Cavendish had been famous for a while, in the 1980s. Then she fled the bright lights of London, leaving only a mystery behind her. Moira and Nessa shouldn't have anything in common. But when their paths cross, and they bond over their shared love of knitting and the ginger tomcat that can't decide whose home is best, they find themselves on intertwining journeys of discovery.

Direct || Waterstones || BN || Amazon

Ebook: $6.49

Friends Without Benefits

Cover for Friends without Benefits by Evelyn Fenn. Two people make their way down a winding road in a large van while a city skyline fades into the back, one of them is sticking their head and arm out the window and is waving an asexual pride flag.

Evelyn Fenn

Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual

Academic Clare is in a rut. She is in her forties, her job is stressful, and she feels worn down by the personalities and politics in the university department where she works. She has also just broken up with her latest boyfriend. During one of their regular get-togethers, Clare’s oldest friend shows Clare a newspaper article, pushing her into an exploration of what it means to be asexual. As Clare figures things out, she meets homoromantic couple, Tristan and Matt, nonbinary Ollie, student Jack, aromantic Janice, and Matt’s cousin, Natalia. Follow Clare and her new friends through a series of misadventures as they road trip, take part in Pride, suffer a series of misunderstandings, and forge new relationships.

Direct || BN || Kobo || Amazon

Ebook: “$6.49

Awakenings

Cover image for AWAKENINGS. Three characters stand in the foreground on a desert trail with a wagon behind them. Ahead of them is a domed city on a desert butte.

Claudie Arseneault

Fantasy

Representation: Non-binary, Aromantic, Asexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

Horace has more failed apprenticeships to eir name than e can count, yet that doesn’t stop em from risking the last one to befriend the powerful, amnesiac elf that saved em, and embark in a sentient self-propelling Wagon to help them figure out their past.

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $3.99

City of Spires

Cover for City of Spires. Illustrated. A large city of bridges, spires, and tall stairs.

Claudie Arseneault

Fantasy

Representation: Non-binary, Aromantic, Asexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

A hundred and thirty years have passed since Arathiel last set foot in his home city. Isandor hasn’t changed—bickering merchant families still vie for power through eccentric shows of wealth—but he has. His family is long dead, a magical trap has dulled his senses, and he returns seeking a sense of belonging now long lost. Arathiel hides in the Lower City, piecing together a new life among in a shelter dedicated to the homeless and the poor, befriending an uncommon trio. When one of them is accused of Isandor’s most infamous assassination of the last decade, what little peace Arathiel has managed to find for himself is shattered. In order to save his friend, Arathiel may have to destroy the shreds of home he’d managed to build for himself. Arathiel could appeal to the Dathirii—a noble elven family who knew him before he disappeared—but he would have to stop hiding, and they have battles of their own to fight. The idealistic Lord Dathirii is waging a battle of honour and justice against the cruel Myrian Empire, objecting to their slavery, their magics, and inhumane treatment of their apprentices. One he could win, if only he could convince Isandor’s rulers to stop courting Myrian’s favours for profit. In the ripples that follow Diel’s opposition, friendships shatter and alliances crumble. Arathiel, the Dathirii, and everyone in Isandor fights to preserve their homes, even if the struggle changes them irrevocably.

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $3.99

Baker Thief

Cover for Baker Thief. Illustrated. A Caped Hero looks out over a very Quebeqois-like city.

Claudie Arseneault

Fantasy

Representation: Non-binary, Aromantic, Asexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

Adèle has only one goal: catch the purple-haired thief who broke into her home and stole her exocore, thus proving herself to her new police team. Little does she know, her thief is also the local baker.

Claire owns the Croissant-toi, but while her days are filled with pastries and customers, her nights are dedicated to stealing exocores. These new red gems are heralded as the energy of the future, but she knows the truth: they are made of witches’ souls.

When her twin—a powerful witch and prime exocore material—disappears, Claire redoubles in her efforts to investigate. She keeps running into Adèle, however, and whether or not she can save her sister might depend on their conflicted, unstable, but deepening relationship.

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Common Bonds

Illustrated cover for Common Bonds, a speculative Aromantic Anthology. Two charactesr sit back to back reading a book and drinking from a mug amid a tangle of vines.

Multiple Contributors, edited by Claudie Arseneault, RoAnna Sylver, B. R. Sanders, and C.T. Callahan

Speculative Fiction

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

Common Bonds is an anthology of speculative short stories and poetry featuring aromantic characters. At the heart of this collection are the bonds that impact our lives from beginning to end: platonic relationships. Within this anthology, a cursed seamstress finds comfort in the presence of a witch, teams of demon hunters work with their rival to save one of their own, a peculiar scholar gets attached to those he was meant to study, and queerplatonic shopkeepers guide their pupil as they explore their relationship needs and desires. Through nineteen stories and poems, Common Bonds explores the ways platonic relationships enrich our lives.

Contributors include: Morgan Swim, Vida Cruz, Camilla Quinn, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Syl Woo, A. Z. Louise, Cora Ruskin, E. H. Timms, Thomas Leonard Shaw, Jeff Reynolds, Marjorie King, Avi Silver, Ren Oliveira, Mika Stanard, Ian Mahler, Adriana C. Grigore, Rosiee Thor, Polenth Blake

Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $9.99

Still don’t think that’s enough? I agree! If you have the means, I suggest supporting Common Bonds 2 on Kickstarter and help bring into existence an entire anthology focusing on platonic relationships and wonderful aromantic protagonists!

Read more...

It’s officially Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week and we have several books in today’s deals and steals that can help you out if you’re trying to read as many aro books this week as possible! Check back at the end of the week when we will have our Aro Week list!

✨ Book of the Week ✨

Awakenings

Cover image for AWAKENINGS. Three characters stand in the foreground on a desert trail with a wagon behind them. Ahead of them is a domed city on a desert butte.

Claudie Arseneault

Fantasy

Representation: Non-binary, Aromantic, Asexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

Horace has more failed apprenticeships to eir name than e can count, yet that doesn’t stop em from risking the last one to befriend the powerful, amnesiac elf that saved em, and embark in a sentient self-propelling Wagon to help them figure out their past.

Itchio

In honor of Aro Week, Claudie Arseneault has a special Itchio bundle! Get Awakenings for only $1.20 OR get SIX books for $15 in her special bundle! Along with RoAnna Sylver and Emery Lee, Claudie Arseneault is also running a Kickstarter for Common Bonds 2 – a second anthology of aromantic SFF fiction centering platonic relationships where you can get even more aro fiction as an add-on reward!

The Handler's Gambit

Cover for The Handler's Gambit. A large space ship charges forward through space despite an onslaught of blaster beams from a charge of fighter crafting heading toward it.

Ingrid Moon

Subscribe to Ingrid Moon’s newsletter to get two free short stories set in the same universe as The Handler’s Gambit!

Science Fiction

Spice Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Other

“Cmd. Boone hates working for the bad guy. He hates sending people to their deaths. But more than anything, he hates having to hide his deadly secret from his superiors. When assigned to handle a reckless assassin created to end humankind, he forms an escape plan. But the assassin has an agenda of her own, threatening to reveal his secret and end both their lives...horribly.”

Ebook: 2.99

Direct from Author || StoryOrigin || Itchio || Kobo || Amazon || Other Retailers

Moth and the Gloaming Lance

Cover art for MOTH AND THE GLOAMING LANCE. Illustrated cover of a knight weilding two curved swords in a dark corridor

Dorian Christo

Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Representation: Gay, Trans man

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶

Moth and the Gloaming Lance is the first in a series that follows runaway knight “Moth”. Together with his lover, a meek blacksmith named Shy, and his long-lost, illustrious friend, Godlef, Moth leaves his home to find out what has become of his parents, their kingdom, and the world at large.

Kobo || Smashwords || Elsewhere

THIS WEEK ONLY: Discounted to $4.99! (Regularly $7.99)

No Experience Necessary

Cover for No Experience Necessary. A man in dress pants and a dress shirt that is open in the front leans against a table. The man i wearing suspenders and has his thumbs hooked into his pant pockets.

Alex Pendragon

Get a free short story when you sign up for Alex’s newsletter

Romance

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay

Eighteen and desperate for work, Jake's prospects seem dire. Fate lands him a job, along with his first, confusing attraction to another man. Ashton's confident and ambitious, but as wary of their 7 year age gap as he is of Jake's inexperience. Can a relationship coexist with the expectations of Jake's community, or would it have been better had neither man realized his true desires?

Itchio || Kobo || Smashwords || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: “$4.99”

The Warm Machine

Illustrated cover for The Warm Machine by Aimee Cozza. A robot stands at the top of an industrial tower and looks out over a city skyline at sunset.

Aimee Cozza

Visit the special website to meet the robots!

Science Fiction, Dystopian

Spice Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay

When a robot built for construction work first sees an angular, sleek prototype military robot slink onto the base he’s working outside of, he immediately falls in love. The problem is, only anomalous bots understand the concept of love, and the lowly laborbot has not deviated from his default programming once. So he thinks, anyway. When the laborbot is scheduled for decommission, the military bot cannot possibly live without him, and the two bots set out on a path to find the fabled anomalous robot utopia Root.

Direct From Author || Itchio || Amazon || Nook || Smashwords ||

Ebook: 4.99

The Myriad of Simon Hansen

Cover for The Myriad of Simon Hansen Year One: 1992 by S.C.H - a black and white silhouette of a man stands on top of a tall pile of books.

SCH

Romance

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Gay

What if “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole” had been written by an American in 1990s Ireland with a found family, a nervous taste for other guys, and a bad case of insomnia? “Tam is convinced he saw a nymph today. I saw her too, and nymph isn’t that far off the mark as a comparison, but Tam’s got it in his head that she’s a nymph maybe in the folkloric sense as well. What is definite—what we can both agree on—is that neither of us has ever seen anyone like her before. ” When Simon and his pal stumble across a young woman with a dark past, life at their Dublin bookshop changes forever. Devoted to his Irish crew—and grateful to them for helping him escape his own bleak background—Simon puts more focus on making their dreams come true than he does on overcoming the trauma he’s still locked in, one that keeps him isolated in the middle of a growing crowd. He’s getting to know himself better through his journal entries, though—the ones no one else is ever allowed to read.

Ebook: 4.99

Itchio || Gumroad

Thanks so much for taking the time to check out these deals and steals in queer lit! Hopefully you found your next favorite read! And don’t forget to stop by again on Friday when we will be sharing our list of top Aromantic Reads!

Are you an author and want to submit your book for our aromantic list? There’s still time!

Read more...

With Valentine's Day here, Chace Verity (they/them) loves to talk about one of their quirky queer paranormal romances, Match with the Demon. The novella begins on Valentine's Day with a single dad accidentally matching with a demon on a dating app. Despite getting a little catfished, Harrison Hamilton is more than willing to keep seeing the alluring Lazlo as they both journey to learn what makes each other happy.

Read more...

✨ QUEER BOOK OF THE WEEK ✨

ΔΆΙΟΣ

Cover for Call me Icarus by Andromeda Ruins, a figure falls, updside down, away from the sun. Illustrated.

Andromeda Ruins

Fantasy

Representation: Gay, Trans man, Queer

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶

An anti-establishment retelling of the fall of Icarus. ΔΆΙΟΣ is a tragedy following Icarus as he takes a look behind the curtain of the Elysian Program and sees the disgusting framework that he was disillusioned to. Now the only thing on his mind is bringing down the program and the entire ATLAS corporation. Will he be able to?

Amazon || Itch

Ebook: $3.99

Cinders of Yesterday

Cover for Cinder of Yesterday by Jen Karner, two women stand back to back glancing over their shoulders at each other while one holds a knife and fire envelops the other.

Jen Karner

Urban Fantasy

Representation: Sapphic

Spice Level: 🍭

Dani Black wants revenge. A year ago, the rogue Necromancer Spectre murdered her partner during a hunt gone wrong. Dani has been looking for a way to kill him—and keep him dead—ever since. When rumors of a weapon capable of killing anything surface in Dawson Maryland, she sets out on a mission to get her hands on it. While unraveling a web of clues about her own past, Dani runs into the alluring Emilie Lockgrove, daughter of a magical family who are inexplicably tied to Spectre.

Emilie Lockgrove wants answers. Ten years ago she survived the catastrophic fire that killed her mother, and left her hospitalized. Now, Emilie has returned to Dawson, expecting to confront the trauma of her past and move on. Instead, she discovers magic is real and encounters ghosts, monsters, and the necromancer who has hunted the mediums in her family for generations.

Dani intends to kill Spectre or die trying. Emilie wants to reclaim the life of magic that was hidden from her. To survive, they'll need to work together to confront their past, break the spell holding back Emilie's magic, and destroy Spectre once and for all.

Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $2.99

The Broken Stars Trilogy

A combination of the covers from the Broken Stars trilogy, each showing a woman in silhouette against a cosmic background.

The Stars In Their Eyes, The Darkest Stars, The Stars Inside Us

Kristy Gardner

Science Fiction

Representation: Bisexual, Lesbian, Pansexual, Gay, Non-Binary

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️

The Broken Stars trilogy is about a woman who, four years into the alien apocalypse, is tasked with saving the woman she loves, the planet, and herself, and things go horribly, horribly wrong.

Ebooks: $4.99

The Stars in Their Eyes (Book 1): Amazon || Kobo || Smashwords || Elsewhere

The Darkest Stars (Book 2): Amazon || Kobo || Smashwords || Elsewhere

The Stars Inside Us (Book 3): Amazon || Kobo || Smashwords || Elsewhere

Loyalty of Severus

A lone figure with a big sword on their back wanders through a desert and astroids

Len Berry

Science Fiction

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Trans

In the distant future, the galaxy teeters on the edge of chaos. Vari, a trans woman and the rightful heir to a deposed empire, has spent her life hiding from a legacy she never asked for. Torn between expressing her true self and reclaiming her birthright, Vari embarks on a perilous journey that will test her courage, loyalty, and identity.

As ancient secrets and new alliances come to light, Vari must navigate a treacherous political landscape where betrayal lurks at every corner. With a diverse cast of allies—a snarky young woman with a foreign past, a shrewd warrior queen, and a disgraced pilot desperate to have his faith validated—Vari discovers strength in unity and power in authenticity.

From the glittering halls of amazonian palaces to the gritty underbelly of overworked refineries, Vari’s quest is fraught with thrilling battles, heart-stopping intrigue, and unexpected love. As she grapples with the weight of her heritage and the truth of her identity, Vari must decide what kind of leader she wants to be, and if she can truly reclaim an empire without losing herself.

Loyalty of Severus is a sweeping, epic sci-fi adventure about honor, identity, and the enduring fight for one’s true self. Join Vari as she stands at the crossroads of destiny, where the fate of the galaxy—and her soul—hangs in the balance.

Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $4.99

Revin’s Heart

Cover image for Revin's Heart. Window from an airship looks out upon a tall mountin.

Steven D. Brewer

Science Fiction

Representation: Trans

Spice Level: 🌶️

Revin, a young man from a poor mining town, has pulled himself up by his bootstraps to become the student apprentice of a law professor. But then, everything goes wrong: their airship is captured by pirates and Revin loses his mentor. Born female, Revin must make his way in a world oriented toward men while he struggles with his own identity.

Set against the backdrop of a war between island nations, Revin must navigate a world divided between the aristocracy and the common people. And, as a promising young man, he must choose whom to align himself with — and to serve.

Amazon || Kobo || Smashwords || Elsewhere

Ebook: $5.99

Foxfire in the Snow

Cover for Foxfire in the Snow. Illustrated, the main character, wrapped in a fur cloak and clutching mushrooms in one hand and fire in the other, stands tall in a blizzard.

J. S. Fields

Fantasy

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Non-binary

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the queen’s alchemist is just within reach. But on the day of the fair, Sorin’s mother goes missing, along with the Queen and hundreds of guild masters, forcing Sorin into a woodcutting inheritance they never wanted.

With guild legacy at stake, Sorin puts apprentice dreams on hold to embark on a journey with the royal daughter to find their mothers and stop the hemorrhaging of guild masters. Princess Magda, an estranged childhood friend, tests Sorin’s patience—and boundaries. But it’s not just a princess that stands between Sorin and their goals. To save the country of Sorpsi, Sorin must define their place between magic and alchemy or risk losing Sorpsi to rising industrialization and a dark magic that will destroy Sorin’s chance to choose their own future.

Amazon || Elsewhere (Paperback)

…Continue the series with Ocean of Fireflies

Ebook: $4.99

Thank you for taking the time to checkout some awesome queer literature and perhaps found your newest favorite book! If you are an author and want to see your book here, fill out the appropriate form here.

Another week of amazing books and stories full of queer representation for less than $5.99. Are you an author and want to see your own book featured here? Check out the options here.

✨Book of the Week: ✨

Cover for Quincunx by Steph Shangraw. A medical caduseus with several dots over it with stylized font.

Quincunx

Steph Shangraw

Fantasy

Representation: Gender-fluid pansexual

Spice Levels: 🌶

Queer isekai! Paramedic Nathan woke up in a peaceful and unfamiliar world. New friends think they know a way home, via five sites that each give Nathan a new form and abilities. For some reason, though, two earlier newcomers really don't want Nathan to reach all five.

ScribbleHub || Book 1 Itch || Book 2 Itch || Book 3 Itch

Serial is always free!

Epub version on itch is normally $3-$5 per volume but all are free through Friday to celebrate Vol 3!

FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION

Cover for Bloemetje by Amanda McNeil. A lone figure stands in a field of tulips against the mountains at sunset.

Bloemetje: A Queer, Decolonial, Space Fantasy Fairy Tale

Amanda McNeil

Fantasy, Science Fiction

Representation: Bisexual, Pansexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

A miniature girl, born from a tulip, leads humans and fairies to decolonize Venus while discovering her first love. Representation: pansexual, nonbinary, & sapphic. A portion of proceeds donated to the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness, a Native American-led 501c3 nonprofit.

Amazon || Apple || B&N || Bookshop || Kobo || Other Major Retailers

Ebook: $4.99.

Cover for Tide Breaker's Curse by Ivy H. Marikova. Two sailboats are tossed violently in a storm at sea.

Tide Breaker's Curse

Ivy H. Marikova

Fantasy

Representation: Bisexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

When Zale Aboron meets charming Marea, he has more to fear than just his curse and the god who cast it.

Amazon

Ebook: $0.99

Cover for Chai and Cat-tales by Lynn Strong. An illustrated tabby cat sits playfully next to a golden tea pot under a stylized, domed cut out.

Chai and Cat-tales

Lynn Strong

Get a free novella when you join Lynn Strong’s newsletter

Fantasy

Representation: Gay, Queer, Asexual, Questioning, Demisexual, Pansexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

Three cozy Middle Eastern fantasy novellas: The smart, funny, capable, asexual book-witch wins against the patriarchy; a little neurospicy kitten has big opinions in a big city; and a sweet anxious priest is so concerned to welcome everyone that he even makes a tiny feast for mice in the granary.

Amazon || B&N || Everand || Hoopla || Kobo || Overdrive || Queer Liberation Libary || Thalia || Vivlio

Ebook: $2.99

Cover for Journey Home by May Barros. Two witches fly through space towards a ringed planet, one riding a broom like a skateboard, the other a more traditional way.

Journey Home

May Barros

Fantasy

Representation: Queer, Aromantic, Asexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

Amara e Luiza are two witches in a queerplatonic relationship. When Luiza decides to embark on a journey throught the galaxy in search for the lost fortress of Laura, the Dragon Queen, she ends up finding more than she bargained for, while Amara follows her footsteps hoping it’s not too late.

Itch || Amazon || Apple || B&N || Kobo || Ko-Fi || Smashwords || Other Major Retailers

Ebook: $4.99

Cover for The Edge of the World by JD Rivers. Two adventurers stand on the edge of a cliff looking down ad a domed city beneath them set in the side of the cliff.

The Edge of a World

JD Rivers

Fantasy

Representation: Gay

Spice Levels: 🍭

A scholar on a journey. A monster in his veins. An unbending truth.

One wrong step and the monster in Otar’s veins kills.

When the monster slips his grasp—causing a tragic accident—Otar is ousted from the university, escaping execution under one condition: give back what the monster has taken.

His quest for a solution intwines him with the Ancients, a mysterious ancestor that left nothing behind but crumbling stones.

On his journey to a newly discovered ruin, he faces down slavers looking for easy money, and his former lover—who still makes his heart beat faster.

The excavation side is rich with secrets the ancients desperately tried to hide. Peeling them back layer-by-layer exposes not only who Otar is, but what is coming for the world.

Confronted with the truth, Otar must decide fast what he will sacrifice to save those he holds dear.

The Edge of a World is a Fantasy Sci-Fi story about self-discovery, destiny, and paving your own path.

featuring: fantasy world with an ancient civilization, second third chances at love, a scholar on a journey, queer characters

Itch || Amazon || Kobo || B&N || Apple || Smashwords || Other Major Retailers

Ebook: $3.99

A bright spider lily blooms in the ruins of a building while feathers fall from the sky.

Higanbana

Jake Vanguard

Fantasy, Contemporary

Representation: Gay

Spice Levels: 🌶

Nate has never known happiness, stuck in an abusive relationship and damned to work minimum-wage jobs. Until he meets Raziel, an angel wrongfully stripped of his grace and banished to life on Earth.

Will they save each other from their demons? Or will they drag each other deeper into Hell?

Amazon

Ebook: $2.99 or Kindle Unlimited

Cover for When They Came by Body Boye. A woman standing in the rubble checks over her shoulder to see several flying saucers above. Next to her, a crashed cop car is catching fire.

When They Came

Kody Boye

Visit Kody Boye’s website for more free books

Science Fiction

Representation: Bisexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

The world changed when aliens arrived. Now, six years later, one girl longs to join her community's civilian militia. What she doesn't realize is the act will change her life forever.

Amazon || Apple || YouTube (Audiobook)

FREE

Cover for the Potion Gardner by Arden Powell. Flowers, crystals, tea pots, potion bottles, and other related acoutrements adorn the cover surrounding two figures in silhouette sitting on a garden bench.

The Potion Gardener

Arden Powell

Find bonus epilogues and more at Arden Powell’s Patreon

Fantasy, Romance

Representation: Trans man, Non-binary

Spice Levels: 🌶

A low-stakes cozy fantasy romance with a nonbinary protagonist and a sapphic love interest. In which Florian, a wealthy layabout, flees London to take up residence in a witch’s garden shed. Farmer’s markets, HRT as magic potions, gender euphoria, and a lot of gardening.

Amazon

Ebook: $2.99

HORROR

Cover for Incorrect Eyes by Andromeda Ruins. Photo of an angel statue on a building. The angel is holding a wreath in their arms with their wings stretched wide.

Incorrect Eyes

Andromeda Ruins

Horror

Representation: Trans man, Queer

Spice Levels: 🍭

Incorrect Eyes is a psychological religious horror involving paranoia, angels with too many eyes, and the least mentally stable protagonist I've ever written. Please read with caution.

Itch || Amazon

Ebook: $0.99

Cover for The Dark Heart of Ilmoure by Cara N. Delandy. A woman in a lace up gown stands before a forboding and looming house.

Dark Heart of Ilmoure

Cara N. Delaney

Horror

Representation: Lesbian

Spice Levels: 🍭

Iris Grey returns to her hometown hoping to heal old wounds. Instead, she finds a cold welcome, and a family keeping secrets at every turn.

When Iris starts to dig deeper, she soon finds herself mired in a plot that threatens to swallow herself, the town, and the people she once loved.

Amazon || B&N || Kobo || Smashwords || Apple || Other Major Retailers

Ebook: $2.99

Cover for Coward by Ayrton Silva. A very large centiped crawls over the cover with stylized font.

Coward

Ayrton Silva

Fantasy, Horror

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

A young woman embarks on a bloody journey of self-discovery after her village is saved from a monster by a dashing outsider.

Amazon

Ebook: 0.99 USD

ROMANCE

Cover for Have It All by Beverly Anne Michel. Silhouettes of several people dancing ballet, each silhouette a different color of the rainbow.

Have It All

Beverly Anne Michel

Romance, Contemporary

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual

Spice Levels: 🍭

Liora King dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer. She leaves her small hometown to pursue her dream, but she meets trouble along the way. That trouble's name is Penelope Reyes. Penelope is already one of the best in Chicago and the lead of the troupe Liora wishes to join. They butt heads every chance they get as they rival for the starring role in their troupe's performance of The Nutcracker. They continue to fight until slowly but surely they develop feelings for each other. Neither of them wants to admit their feelings. Liora and Penelope must learn to get over their anger and let themselves be happy.

Itch || Amazon || Apple || Kobo || Other Major Retailers

Ebook on Major Retailers: $2.99

Itch Ebook: Pay What You Want

Cover for Sentence for Life. A tattooed man leans against a beam with light and shadow partially masking his features.

Sentence for Life

Maxime Jaz

Romance, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Erotica / Erotic Romance

Representation: Gay

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶🌶🌶

“Sometimes, we are in a place where we don’t want to be. And maybe, that place is the only place we should be after all.”

Theo knows he will become a star lawyer, like the one his Dad paid to keep him out of prison... he's wrong on both counts. He thinks the first day of jail is brutal; meeting his new cellmate redefines the word. Theo's world not only falls apart; it shrinks to the size smaller than a dorm bathroom he has to share with a man who doesn’t belong in his world.

Ryker is as strong as a fortress, one that he had to rebuild from the ruins of his own self. Serving the last year of his long sentence, he is terrified of having his freedom at arm's reach.

Ryker is everything Theo fears; Theo is everything Ryker loathes. But being locked up together in a tiny space is a powerful force sparking the fires of love, and neither of the men are prepared for the turmoil this raging inferno will unleash.

Are Ryker and Theo who they think they are? Or will new lives be born, like the phoenix etched in Ryker's skin, out of the fire of their love?

Amazon

Ebook: 3.25 USD or Kindle Unlimited

Cover for Violent Angel by Bianca Sommerland. A man with slicked back purple hair stares at the reader with bright lettering for the litle overtop.

Violent Angel (Pretty Broken Things Book One)

Bianca Sommerland

Thriller, Romance, Contemporary

Representation: Gay

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶🌶🌶

Survival can change a boy to a man.

Or a man to a killer.

Direct Store (50% off with Code ImNoAngel2025) || Amazon || Smashwords || B&N || Kobo || Apple

Ebook: $5.99

Cover for Love at the Rock Show by Katta Kis. Gradiant blue and green background with the Chariot Tarot Card and a concert ticket both show at the center. At the top, spotlights.

Love at the Rock Show

Katta Kis

Join Katta Kis’ newsletter for updates, behind the scenes updates, and freebies.

Romance, Contemporary

Representation: Pansexual

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶

A burnt-out former pop star

A sweet, broke psychic… who hates him

The festival tour that changes everything

Itch || Amazon || Apple || Kobo || B&N || Smashwords || More Retailers

Ebook: 3.99

Cover for E8g: Compression. Four men stand next to each other at sunset with the last rays of sunlight reflecting through their silhouettes.

E85: Compression

Derain Collier

Romance, Contemporary, Erotica / Erotic Romance

Representation: Bisexual, Questioning

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶🌶🌶

Four car guys have life-altering discoveries about themselves and each other while navigating their own lives and building the fastest cars in the region.

Amazon

Ebook: $4.99 or Kindle Unlimited

Thanks so much for checking out this week’s selection of queer stories and books! Don’t forget to subscribe so you get this delivered right to your inbox or use the RSS Feed. Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means QBW earns a small commission if you purchase. It’s how we keep the lights on! Are you an author who wants to see their book here? Checkout our scheduling page!

The first month of 2025 is over, and it’s been a month, to say the least. But here at QBW, we celebrate queer literature and refuse to stop, no matter what. Here are some awesome queer stories that came out this month.

Blade of Castrial

Blade of Castrial cover. Flowers adorning a sword among a pile of thorns. IN the background, magical portal / archway.

Author: Niranjan

Join Niranjan’s Newsletter

Release Date: January 31st, 2025

Genre: Fantasy

Representation: Bisexual

When Lucian is made Blade of Castrial, the second highest position in Castrial, next only to the King, it’s the culmination of an impossible dream. But when the Shield of Castrial is killed and all clues point to his lover and best friend, Alaric, Lucian has to make an impossible choice.

Kofi || Amazon || Kobo || Apple || B&N || Google Play || Everand || Smashwords

Ebook: $0.99

The Uncontinented Stars

Cover for The Uncontinented Stars. A blue planet with a chart overlaid and a black sky

Author: Haden Cross

Follow Haden Cross on BlueSky: @yavin4.bsky.social

Release Date: January 21st, 2025

Genre: Science Fiction

Representation: Queer trans man narrator; main cast also includes a queer trans woman, a butch lesbian, and two queer men.

A queer, science-fiction re-imagining of Moby-Dick. When celebrated xenozoologist Abelard Cousteau returns five years after his assumed death following an accident in deep space, he seeks out his former protégé, Noah Starbuck, to accompany him on his first post-resurrection assignment. The two of them are tasked with auditing the first batch of humanity's exoplanet research bases, but Abelard's attention is focused elsewhere—on the creature that allegedly caused his accident, the creature he and Noah studied as theory, the creature he now wants to kill.

Content Warnings: Animal death/cruelty, body horror, medical content, psychosis, colonization, emotional abuse, transphobia

Itch || Amazon || Kobo || Other Retailers

Ebook: $1.99

Europa University: Admissions

Author: Cori Catchthorne

Follow Cori Catchorne on BlueSky

Release Date: January 6th, 2025

Genre: Erotic kinky science fantasy web serial

Representation: Polyamorous nebularomantic pansexual-disaster sweet submissive trans man / charismatic quietly bloodthirsty queer trans man (with other pairings to come)

Privileged, polyamorous trans ingenue Emile Devigne is just starting at Europa University when he meets Cylus Keene, a young man with a shadowed past trying to secure a better future for himself and his twin, Cynthia. And even more entanglements await Emile on Europa…

Updates every other Monday!

Content Warnings: Enthusiastic yet dubious consent, eroticizing knives/blood, hypnosis/mindfuckery, BDSM

Author Website || Tumblr

FREE

Lillith of Endings: Otherworldly Anarchist, Book 1

Cover for Lilith of Endings: Otherworldly Anarchist, Book 1. Two characters drawn in anime style duel with magic. One is on the ground but aiming a blast of fire magic upward at the other who is being knocked back by it.

Author: Dreamer's Riot

Genre: Fantasy, Isekai, Portal Fantasy

Release date: January 21st, 2025

Representation (Series): Lesbian, trans masc, trans femme, polyam, just about everything

Annie Beckett, a teacher and biologist, wakes up in as Lillith. In a new world and a new body. She remains brilliant, fierce, and sapphic: three traits women are not allowed in the monarchy she has found herself in. But she had the fire to fight corruption on Earth, and that fire was reborn with her.

Content Warnings: Sensitive Content, Abuse, Suicidal ideation, mentions of (but not depiction of) sexual assault, Graphic Violence

Amazon || Royal Road

Ebook: $4.99

Cat/Mouse

Cover for Cat/Mouse by Eliza Mares. Lines of binary code run across at an angle while the title and author name are overlaid.

Author: Eliza Mares

Genre: Science fiction

Release date: January 14th, 2025

Representation: Nadine and Ulu'zah (love interest) are both lesbians. Nadine is a woman of color.

Veteran bounty hunter Nadine picks up the job of a lifetime — fifty thousand credits just to capture an art thief — but one look at her beautiful target tells Nadine that her “simple” contract is about to get very complicated.

Content Warnings: blood, violence, foul language

Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)

Ebook: $4.99

Stories from the Deep (The Chronicles of Nerezia 4)

Illustrated cover for Stories from the Deep. A giant Kraken flails it's tenticles in the water. At the center is an adventurerer looking rather beleagured.

Author: Claudie Arseneault

Genre: High Fantasy

Release date: January 9th, 2025

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Non-Binary

In which the Wagon crew runs afoul of the kraken and must piece together the Fragments’ mysteries to escape it.

Content Warnings: Shipwreck

Itch || Amazon || Kobo || Other Major Retailers

Ebook: $3.99

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