April New Release Round Up
** Hello wonderful readers of queer literature! April was #IndieApril and many queer authors took the opportunity to release some great new books! Here’s a fantastic selection of recent releases in queer lit!**
Beautiful Disasters
Series: Other Girls Series
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Romance, Contemporary
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Representation: Lesbian, Queer, Sapphic
Author Avery Brooks returns to the steamy city of New Orleans with a smart and sexy sapphic romance that asks, Can workplace rivals fall in love and find a happily ever after? Drea Cordeira likes to have fun. She has quite the reputation for it, having slept with most of the queer women of New Orleans. But behind the humor, charm, and sexy drawl, there's a lot more to Drea, and she's not too keen on sharing it. Organized, reliable Cassie Sullivan has learned to be resilient through a lifetime of loss. She longs for a stable, loving relationship and someone she can count on, not a one-night stand, and definitely not with her new coworker, Drea. In the office and under the hot lights of the dance floor, Drea and Cassie's competitive spirits collide, unearthing a sexy tension and healthy dose of witty banter. As their connection deepens, threatening the safety of the worlds they've carefully crafted, Drea and Cassie must both decide if the risk of revealing their true selves and taking a shot at a love greater than either of them could have imagined outweighs the pain of their pasts and the potential for rejection.
Regular Price: 9.99
Amazon || Bywater Books || Bellabooks
Release Date: 2025-04-08
Content Warnings:
References to alcohol addiction (not explicit)
Errant Wings
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Fantasy, Contemporary
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️
Representation: Achillean, Gay, Asexual
On their sixteenth birthdays, foundlings grow wings—either angel wings or devil wings—and their value to the city depends on which one. To Asher, devil wings mean the freedom to do what he pleases: using the city as a canvas for his graffiti art; being with his loving, devil-winged boyfriend; riding the dark, glittering streets without a care in the world. But when his wings finally sprout, already three years late, they’re angel wings. Now, the city expects his obedience. His freedom. His everything. Bowing to the system and being a proper angel wing is the last thing Asher wants, except now with every plan he’s ever made in pieces, he doesn’t know what to do or where he belongs. He’d rather burn it all to the ground, but that’s not an option… Or is it?
Regular Price: 3.99
Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere
Release Date: 2025-04-22
Content Warnings:
Self-destructive behaviors, sexual situations, references to underage drinking, smoking, language, arson
Maiden of Despair
Series: Forest of the Morning
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Fantasy
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Representation: Achillean, Bi, Gay, Sapphic, Lesbian
The second part of the epic Forest of the Morning trilogy, Maiden of Despair continues the saga at 112,000 words. The blood sorcerer Arran Sylvaissen has clenched the continent in an iron fist, sacking the city of Ülhard and laying siege to the surrounding villages. Yet amidst the storm of war, a tentative resistance now arises to thwart him. Having brought Velda safely within the magical borders of Qwu’Mallorn, Albryan struggles to understand the purpose of her divinely bestowed power to undo magic. Meanwhile, as they recover from the wounds of their last battle, the former assassins Nico and Fish must make a choice that will chart the course of the war.
Regular Price: $4.50
Discounted Price: $2.25 on itch
Itchio || Ko-Fi || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere
Release Date: 2025-04-11
Content Warnings:
I wanted to write a book about the victims and survivors of war, ethnic cleansing, and abusive family structures, so the themes in this series are quite heavy. However, it's not intended to be grimdark or kinky, and all the on-page sex scenes are fully consensual. Specific warnings: Abusive family dynamics: ongoing father/daughter incestuous relationship; implied sexual assault, abuse Scenes of self-harm, panic attack; references to suicide, depression Sexual assault & abuse in character backstories Magical pet death Childbirth scene, references to traumatic pregnancy, some of it relates to the SA warnings Torture of prisoners-of-war Fantasy racism, ethnic cleansing as result of same
Garden of Rotten Roses
Series: World Without Love
Fantasy, Romance
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️
Representation: Lesbian, Trans fem, Non-binary, Gay, Aromantic
While investigating the kidnappings of young, impoverished girls, Arianell Acraea uncovers a sinister conspiracy involving rogue Champions of Ares and forbidden sacrificial rituals fuelled by a magic that defies the laws of the Supreme Goddess herself. Ellis, a nomad with an aversion towards divinity, wants nothing but the peace of a quiet life, away from the Gods and their glorified slaves. But a deadly encounter with Arianell pulls both women into a web of mysteries that connects all the way back to the heart of Aphrodite’s Vengeance and how she created her World Without Love.
Regular Price: $2.99
Itchio || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere
Release Date: 2025-04-29
Content Warnings:
Blood and gore, torture, grief, suicide, explicit sex scene
Tales of Scales
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Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Story Anthology
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭
Representation: Bi, Gay, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Trans feminine
Dragons come in all shapes and sizes, this is of course, a given. In this collection of 10 short stories, dragons and their scaled relatives abound! Build a union with kobolds, take a trip to the stars in search of loved ones, remember for a moment the ache of new love, hold close the joy of sharing your hoard with others, frolic with spirits in a secret wood on the edge of existence, and keep those wits sharp, for dragons are always eager to surprise.
Regular Price: 20.99
Paperback via The Publisher || Purchase PDF version via Publisher || Purchase PDF and Paperback Together
Release Date: 2025-04-02
Content Warnings:
- Unpredictability: mentions of physical abuse
- Distress Signal: discussions of disability
- Letters From Nathaniel Hedgeworthy Addressed with Great Long- ing and Adoration to Symon the Dragon: violence
- Brunhilda: ghosts
- The Wyrm in the Mountain of Apples: implied violence, death
- At Sunset, She Flew: suicidal ideation, suicide attempt • My Greatest Treasure: Threats of violence
- The Guardian of the Grove: children in danger, child death
- The Unionization of Kobolds: death, violence, mentions of worker abuse
- A Gentle Rustling of Leaves: death
Shoot Your Best Shot
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Contemporary
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Representation: Queer, Questioning, Bi
Freshman Chase is desperate for some time to himself. Taking care of personal business is hard enough when you're nineteen and painfully shy, never mind when your pleasure preferences require balancing upside-down. The chance of getting caught in his dorm room isn't the only precarious part of his playtime. A side-hustle housesitting gives Chase the opportunity he's been thirsting for, only to run headlong into Elias. Handsome, sexually-omnivorous, and breathtakingly blunt, the beguiling older guy instantly triggers Chase's prey instinct. How can he run, though, when Elias' hedonistic confidence steamrolls Chase's indecision so addictively? When Chase's roommate stumbles on their secret play, he doesn't need to pry about what Chase is into: the answer's abundantly clear on his face. And once that messy truth is out, Chase's weakness for power play and exposure are about to get put to the test. The intentions are good but the aim can be questionable, in this high-heat queer coming-of-age erotica.
Regular Price: 3.99
Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere
Release Date: 2025-04-19
Content Warnings:
Unprotected sex, exhibitionism
Motes of Inspiration
Series: Chronicles of Nerezia
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Fantasy
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭
Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Non-binary
Your story is my story. Fate and friendship brought Horace, Rumi, Keza, and Aliyah together in Rumi’s sentient self-propelling wagon. They seek the forest haunting Aliyah’s dream, hoping for answers about the elf’s past and unique abilities—but first, they need to traverse a world haunted by Fragments, dangerous shards that can possess travellers and react to Aliyah’s presence. They’ve reached Virze, a marvel of art and engineering and a city in which all acts of creation are beloved. A perfect occasion to explore and rest before the next leg of their journey… except that Rumi desperately wants to avoid his hometown and the demons of his past. When the Wagon crew realises half of those might be fears of his own making, however, they refuse to leave. But between the curse that ran him out of town and the source of his engineering skills, Rumi has been keeping even more secrets than they’d expected. He’ll need all their support to face the loved ones left behind and prove to all, himself first and foremost, what he is truly capable of.
Regular Price: 3.99
Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere
Release Date: 2025-04-09
Content Warnings:
Childhood bullying, Panic Attack, Risk of drowning
At First Belonging
Romance
Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Representation: Achillean, Gay, Queer
Dying is simple. It is a much more complex thing to sustain oneself. Graham Faulkner has no idea where his life is going. He was forced out of what he thought would be his lifelong career. He's almost finished with the college degree he feels much too old for, and once he has it he has no idea what to do next. And he can't bring himself to believe that any man could be sincerely interested in him, romantically, sexually, or even platonically: at least, not without certain very specific stipulations. Joshua Driscoll is a drifter who gets by on sex work as an excuse to find the next meal, the next roof over his head, the next chance at a shower. He's been at it long enough to know what he's doing, and to have a rule: don't get attached. He won't be answering questions about how he learned that one. And this job might be a little weird, but it's only another job. Neither of them, for different reasons, is living what could be called a sustainable situation. But fixing one another will not be a simple thing. This is a prequel novella to the book Of Late Belonging,' coming soon from Fenris Publications and Bewere Books.
Regular Price: $1.00
Release Date: 2025-04-02
Content Warnings:
Explicit and detailed sexual content, sex work, kink, BDSM, slave roleplay
Thanks so much for being a loyal reader of queer literature! We hope you found your next favorite book today! If you’re an author and want to see your book featured here, don’t forget to checkout or scheduling page!