Queer Lit Steals and Deals – March 18th

Another week, another awesome list of LGBTQIA books at affordable prices! Make sure you read to the end, cause there’s a bonus with a hot tip on getting dozens of books for less than a dollar each in preperation for the Trans Rights Readathon.

✨ BOOK OF THE WEEK ✨

Idle Hands

Cover for IDLE HANDS. A woman in a hoodie stands with a gun in one of her hands. Behind her, an eerie, glowing city burns.

Series: The Jackson Grey Situation #1

Aubrey Jones

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Queer, Other

Gritty urban fantasy in a neo-noir style, Idle Hands is perfect for readers who yearn for a fast-paced, hard-hitting thriller like a queer-leftist Sandman Slim or Something from the Nightside.

Guaranteed to be cathartic, inspiring reading for our times.

Jackson Grey, PhD did everything right and she's on the verge of a breakthrough in cancer treatment when corporate conspiracy takes it all—her career, her research, her colleagues. Callous profiteers have twisted her cure into a weapon, erasing her future and dooming countless others. Desperate, furious, and alienated on the streets of Philly, Jax makes a deal with an elusive new ally—a supernatural anarchist who says he's the Devil. With growing infernal powers, formidable wits, relentless will, and a custom machine gun, Jax will do whatever it takes to dismantle the engines of her misery and punish the shadowy men who profit from them. Dr. Grey's world is our own, but in Idle Hands, Jones tells a story where pride and pleasure are celebrated. Violence is an answer. And resistance isn’t stoic or pretty—it’s loud, raw, and unapologetic. This is a neo-noir fantasy where rage is power and the monster that goes bump in the night is a woman with nothing to lose.

Regular Price: 5.99

Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere


Glass Kanin

Series: Glass Kanin #1

Cover for Class Kanin. A mechanical thingmaob whirls through an office / library space. Illustrated.

Kia Leep

Join Kia’s newsletter to get a free short story about Kanin & co!

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Lesbian, Non-Binary, Ace

As a rising actor, Kanin's body is his career. His identity. His life. All that is taken from him when he dies and is reborn as a bottle of ink. Now living as the heart of a magical glass servant, Kanin's new purpose is to perform a senile wizard's yard work—a role this world's magic system seems intent on enforcing. That might have been manageable if a murderous shadow monster wasn't hunting his very soul. But he's not alone. Teaming up with an elf whose soul has likewise been trapped in a toy octopus, they recruit help from a devilishly handsome rogue and set off on a journey to break the spell that's trapped them in this state. A wizard owns his body. The magic system has determined his fate. A shadow monster wants to control his mind. But as long as Kanin's soul remains his own, he'll fight to win back his autonomy—or die trying. ...Again. Glass Kanin's blend of whimsy, humor, and horror will appeal to Ghibli fans looking for queer characters on a quest for their agency while exploring what it means to be human.

Book 1 will be on sale at $0.99 from March 17th – 23rd, and Book 2 releases on March 18th at $2.99!

**Discounted Price: $**0.99 || **Regular Price: $**4.99

Amazon


Crushed Hearts

Cover for Crushed Hearts. Illustrated in flat color style, two men stand at the center of a track ring.

Series: Crushed Hearts #1

Kae Ruby

Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Trans masc

All that Emery Theiss wants is to become an English professor, knowing his ADHD medication means his days of running sprints are over. But when the track team star, Beckett Delroy, unceremoniously hits him with a football, Emery's bad luck changes gears. Beckett needs Emery's advice to help his crush warm up to him, and Emery could use Beckett's confidence to win over his best friend and secure his future. But while coming to an agreement is easy, Beckett is the track rival who broke Emery's coveted record, and he can't stop himself from flirting, even with Emery. The charmingly annoying teasing, however, reveals Beckett has a softer side. The more time he spends with Beckett, the less important impressing his crush becomes. Faced with the possibility of losing his chance at his future, will Emery chase love or settle for certainty to ensure his heart isn't crushed?

Regular Price: 2.79 for 30 coins, or free if earned through watching ads.

WattPad


Of Masks & Men: An M/M Strangers to Lovers Romance Story

Cover for Of Masks and Men. A man with ruffled sleeves hold a porchelien and gold mask full of trim and feathers over his face

Daisy Fairchild

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Romance, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay

Marcus is an American in Brazil for Carnivale, expecting… he’s not sure what. But after a heated encounter in an alleyway with a masked man, Marcus finds himself in a cat-and-mouse chase across the city, searching for his mysterious lover. A series of charged trysts leaves Marcus only wanting more: more time, more answers, and more revelations. However, Carnivale has to come to an end — will this affair be over when the sun rises? Discover a heated story of anonymous romance in Daisy Fairchild’s 10K story, Of Masks & Men.

**Regular Price: $**2.99

Direct from Author || Amazon


Farzana's Spite

Felix Graves

Cover for Farzana's Spite. A swirling mix of purple satin and glittering silver with a crown shattering into pieces

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual

Life is about as good as it gets for an anxious and depressed bastard stripped of any social benefits of her caste. Farzana has a cushy job, a steadfast best friend, and a mother and younger brother who love her to bits. She was just as shocked as everyone else when Erasto of the House of Violets murdered the royal family in cold blood, and during a live broadcast in the middle of the night no less. But while everyone else was reeling from the loss of their nobility and the news that they now answer to a dictator, Farzana had a slightly more personal crisis going on: Erasto is her long-lost father she had always hoped to meet. Be careful what you wish for. In the bloody aftermath of Erasto’s coup, this traumatized lesbian pixie struggles to find a reason—any reason—to try to survive. And as the kingdom descends further into chaos, one thing becomes clear: if someone doesn’t step up soon to set things right, there won’t be much left worth saving.

Discounted Price: $2.99 on Itchio Regular Price: 3.99

Itchio || Elsewhere


Chasing Howe

Cover for Chasing Howe. A man in a buttoned up space like uniform holds a hologram in front of him, behind him is a giant gas planet in the sky

Series: Forging the Stars #1

J.F. Miev

Get a free bonus short story set before Chasing Howe when you join J. F. Miev’s newsletter

Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: LGBTQIA+

Aiden had everything—his dream career, a comfortable life and a fiancée he loved. But when she is murdered during a business trip to Mars, his perfect world shatters. An investigation and a trial soon follow, and the space smuggler, Darren Howe, is quickly convicted. However, when no motive is supplied and Howe is given a life sentence instead of the death penalty, things don't add up. No matter how hard Aiden tries, the authorities refuse to explain their decision, leaving him with no choice but to seek the answers elsewhere. Two years later, Aiden secures a job as the warden at Jupiter’s Horizons Space Prison. The plan is simple—find out the truth and kill Howe. But things get complicated when he approaches the charismatic man who awakens in him urges he hasn’t felt in years. The truths Aiden uncovers as he fights the attraction between them will reveal secrets he might not be ready for and make him question everything he knows about the life he’s lived so far. Chasing Howe is an enemies-to-lovers MM sci-fi romance mystery about an ex-architect who will stop at nothing until he avenges the death of his fiancée and the prisoner who will turn his world upside-down. It serves as an easy introduction to the low sci-fi genre and features hidden identities, a generous dose of mystery, high stakes, slow burn, pining, obsession and an intriguing plot.

Regular Price: $4.99

Amazon


STORIES FOR THE TRANS RIGHTS READATHON

Itch.io Bundle!

March 17th to March 31st. Several books in the colors of the transpride flag with sparkles also in the pink and blue of the flag.

$20 for 46 books, or $30 for 73 books!

In honor of the Trans Rights Readathon, over 40 authors and comic artists have joined forces to provide a plethora of options! Check it out on Itch and get all of these books DRM-Free!

Highlights from the Bundle:


Don’t forget, we’re celebrating Trans Visibility Day here at Queer Books Weekly. If you’re an author with a book with trans characters, please take a moment to submit it to be included in our list!