Queer SF - May 2025
May 1, 2025
A Spell for Change — Nicole Jarvis
Genre: Historical fantasy
Rep: Queer
In this sumptuous, atmospheric historical fantasy set in post-World War One Appalachia, three outcasts with misunderstood magical gifts search for their place in the world while battling the dark forces that circle their community.
Kate Mayer has always been troubled by visions of the future. No matter what she does, her disturbing premonitions come to pass—often with terrible consequences. But Kate has a secret: swirling, romantic dreams of a strange boy, and a chance meeting in the woods.
Oliver Chadwick Jr. returned from the Great War disabled, disillusioned, and able to see the dead. Haunted by the death of his best friend, Oliver realizes that his ability to communicate with spirits may offer the chance of closure he desperately seeks.
Nora Jo Barker’s mother and grandmother were witches, but she has never nurtured her own power. Always an outsider, she has made a place for herself as the town's schoolteacher, clinging to the independence the job affords her. When her unorthodox ideas lead to her dismissal, salvation comes in the form of a witch from the mountains, who offers her a magical apprenticeship. Yet as she begins to fall for another woman in town, her loyalties pull her in disparate directions.
Rumors of a dark force stalking the town only push Kate, Oliver, and Nora Jo onwards in their quest to determine their own destinies. But there are powers in the world stronger and stranger than their own, and not all magic is used for good...
Link: Goodreads
The Scavengers and the Stray — Rae Ryan
Genre: Science fiction, humor
Rep: Queer
The crew of the Who Wants to Know never met a wreck they couldn’t salvage or a fight they couldn’t win. But when their latest find drags them into a deadly corporate conspiracy, Sierra discovers old flames burn just as deadly as new enemies.
Two centuries after humanity’s banishment to the stars, Sierra and her ragtag crew have carved out a hardscrabble living salvaging long-dead spaceships, their eyes set on the prize of joining the prestigious mech battle circuit and securing their fortunes.
During a routine salvage run, Sierra and her crew stumble upon an AI companion brimming with corporate secrets worth killing for.
Now caught in the crossfire of a deadly blackmail scheme, Sierra must work with her almost-but-not-quite-ex-girlfriend who is at the center of this treacherous web. Forced to make uneasy alliances with the unscrupulous pirates from her past, Sierra and her chosen family must uncover the truth behind a devious plot that threatens not only their livelihoods, but their lives.
Link: Goodreads
Don’t Give a Nix — Ali Williams
Genre: Paranormal, contemporary fantasy
Rep: F/F
Series: Book 3 of Godstouched
Being a Nix is bad enough, what with water pollution and the world’s aversion to river demons, but when the River Arun’s Goddess turns matchmaker, nothing will be the same again.
Kit
Running a pub by a river isn’t easy for a Nix, but I’m determined to have an ordinary life. So what if my hands are covered in burns from accidentally touching steel kegs? It’s a small price to pay to see my best friend Marla every day. To be normal. But the river goddess Trisantona wants more from me, and I’ll be damned if I comply...
Welcome to the Godstouched Universe, where the Gods interfere in the lives of mortals, magic leaks back into our world, and love conquers all.
Link: Goodreads
May 2, 2025
The Killing Song — Felix Graves
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: Queer; sapphic
Romada, a fiercely independent water nymph who captains the pirate vessel the Guardian, is looking forward to retirement. After sailing the seas for over 50 years with her siren girlfriend, Neiara, as well as with her adoptive big brother, Injago, for another five decades prior, she’s tired of the high-stakes life. Unfortunately, the high-stakes life isn’t done with her or her loved ones yet.
When the crown prince of Ostrana is assassinated by a siren, the elven kingdom responds by rounding up every known siren and shipping them off to internment camps. Soon after, Injago and Romada mistakenly lead Neiara into a trap that tears her away from them, and Romada succumbs to a depressive darkness that has threatened her mind since childhood. It’s up to Injago to keep the crew and the ship safe and steady on the path to finding and rescuing Neiara.
As time goes on, Romada and Injago realize that no one else is willing to find and liberate these camps. They have a choice to make. They can attempt to free all sirens of their wrongful imprisonment, or abandon these lost souls in reckless pursuit of their stolen family member. Only one thing is certain: this won’t have a happy ending.
Link: Goodreads
May 5, 2025
The Consort and I — Aud Connelly
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: M/M
Heavy is the hand that swings the blade in this M/M court romance for fans of Captive Prince and A Knight’s Tale.
A slave has nothing, not even a name—or so believed the slave in holding cell #33, until he was whisked away from the upcoming auction in a suspicious, pre-empt sale to a cherubic young man in glittering finery named Isaac. In a world where slaves suffer and die without consequence to their keepers, what horrors did Isaac have in mind that he felt the need to hide?
Isaac reveals that he isn’t just rich, he’s royalty—and he wants to kill the king. Though not inclined to lose his head on the executioner's block, our narrator is won over by the allure of a future without slavery… sleeping with Isaac is just a perk.
Their affair swings from the palace kitchens, to the jousting arena, to the throne room, creeping ever closer to the king himself, forcing the lovers into ever riskier—and risque—positions. But can true love exist in the absence of freedom? And can a slave conditioned only to obey ever have what it takes to seize not only the course of his own fate—but an entire kingdom’s?
Link: Goodreads
May 6, 2025
The Sun Blessed Prince — Lindsey Byrd
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: M/M
Series: Book 1 of A Tale of Two Crowns Duology
On a hotly contested battlefield, a prince whose touch creates life meets a soldier chosen by death. But can they forge a future together, from opposite sides of a great war?
This is a lyrical and character-driven queer fantasy for those who loved She Who Became the Sun, The Song of Achilles and Lucy Holland's Sistersong.
Prince Elician is a Giver. With a touch he can heal any wound and bring the dead back to life. He also can't be killed, so is cursed to watch his country fight an endless war he can do nothing to stop. Reapers can kill with a single touch. And when one attacks Prince Elician near the battlefield, but fails, the Reaper expects to harshly punished. Instead, Elician offers him a chance at a new life and a new name on enemy territory. The Reaper didn’t realise he could still find something, or someone, to make life worth living—until Elician. And the prince is unaware that his kindness is part of his enemy’s plan, until danger engulfs him in turn.
As the pieces of a deadly plot come together, featuring abduction, treachery and forbidden magic, the stakes rise and tensions escalate at court and on the battlefield. As the fires of conflict burst into new flame, who will wield the powers of life and death? And could love really change a world and stop a war?
Link: Goodreads
A Letter From the Lonesome Shore — Sylvie Cathrall
Genre: Magical academia fantasy
Rep: MLM MC; sapphic MC
Series: Book 2 of The Sunken Archive
The charming conclusion to the Sunken Archive duology, a heart-warming magical academia fantasy filled with underwater cities, romance of manners and found family, perfect for fans of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries.
Former correspondents E. and Henerey, accustomed to loving each other from afar, did not anticipate continuing their courtship in an enigmatic underwater city. When their journey through the Structure in E.’s garden strands them in a peculiar society preoccupied with the pleasures and perils of knowledge, E. and Henerey come to accept—and, more surprisingly still, embrace—the fact that they may never return home.
A year and a half later, Sophy and Vyerin finally discover one of the elusive Entries that will help them seek their siblings. As the group’s efforts bring them closer to E. and Henerey, an ancient, cosmic threat also draws near...
Link: Goodreads
Disco Witches of Fire Island — Blair Fell
Genre: Historical fantasy
Rep: Gay MCs; bi LI
In the late 1980s, a coven of queer witches on New York's Fire Island strives to protect a young man facing a devastating tragedy.
A gripping novel of magic, romance, and hope—perfect for fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea, the Tales of the City series, and Red, White, and Royal Blue.
It’s 1989, and Joe Agabian and his best friend Ronnie set out to spend their first summer working in the hedonistic gay paradise of Fire Island Pines. Joe is desperate to let loose and finally move beyond the heartbreak of having lost his boyfriend to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The two friends are quickly taken in by a pair of quirky, older house cleaners. But something seems off, and Joe starts to suspect the two older men of being up to something otherworldly. In truth, Howie and Lenny are members of a secret disco witch coven tasked with protecting the island—and young men like Joe—from the relentless tragedies ravaging their community. The only problem is, having lost too many of their fellow witches to the epidemic, the coven’s protective powers have been seriously damaged.
Unaware of all the mystical shenanigans going on, Joe starts to fall for the super-cute bisexual ferryman who just happens to have webbed feet and an unusual ability to hold his breath underwater. But Joe’s longing to find love is tripped up by his own troublesome past as well as the lure of a mysterious hunk he keeps seeing around the island—a man Howie and Lenny warn may be a harbinger of impending doom.
The Disco Witches need to find help—fast—if they’re to save Joe and the island from the Great Darkness. But how? Fans of queer romances with a dash of fantasy will fall in love with this stunning novel of community, love, sex, magic, and hope in desperate times.
Link: Goodreads
Aurethia Rising — atlas laika
Genre: Space opera romance
Rep: Trans MMC; bi4bi M/M
Two centuries ago, House Henly of Aurethia and House Volkov of Griea penned an engagement, promising a union between rival houses and their respective homeworlds.
Elio Henly has been preparing for marriage his entire life. As the Henly heir and future steward of Aurethia, he will inherit great power, including control of a lucrative trade route, and ownership of the most precious substance in the Greater Universe—Avara. The mysterious blue crystal native to Aurethia is the sole treatment for parsec sickness, an epidemic ravaging space travelers within the Greater Universe. But when he meets Cael Volkov, the charming heir of the outfitted military planet, Griea, everything he thought he knew about his homeworld, his family, and his heart is turned upside down.
Cael Volkov has been raised to conquer. Champion in the Griean Tupinaire, commander of the Royal Reserve, and son to the mighty Legatus, Cael knows his mission is gain the Aurethian heir’s trust, learn everything he can about the forest moon, and prepare to take it by force. But the longer he spends with Elio Henly, the quiet, brilliant Aurethian prince, the more he questions everything he was taught, and begins to push back against the rhetoric seeded in him by a lust for vengeance.
Aurethia Rising is an Achillean space opera with a happily ever after promise. Content warnings are available inside the novel.
Link: Goodreads
The Manor of Dreams — Christina Li
Genre: Horror, gothic fantasy
Rep: Queer
Mexican Gothic meets Everything I Never Told You in Christina Li’s haunting novel about the secrets that lie in wait in the crumbling mansion of a former Hollywood starlet, and the intertwined fates of the two Chinese American families fighting to inherit it.
They say what you don’t know can’t hurt you. But silence can be deadly.
Vivian Yin is dead. The first Chinese actress to win an Oscar, the trailblazing ingénue rose to fame in the eighties, only to disappear from the spotlight at the height of her career and live out the rest of her life as a recluse.
Now her remaining family members are gathered for the reading of her will and her daughters expect to inherit their childhood Vivian’s grand, sprawling Southern California garden estate. But due to a last-minute change to the will, the house is passed on to another family instead—one that has suddenly returned after decades of estrangement.
In hopes of staking their claim, both families move into the mansion. Amidst the grief and paranoia of the families’ unhappy reunion, Vivian’s daughters race to piece together what happened in the last weeks of their mother’s life, only to realize they are being haunted by something much more sinister and vengeful than their regrets. After so many years of silence, will the families finally confront the painful truth about the last fateful summer they spent in the house, or will they cling to their secrets until it’s too late?
Told in dual timelines, spanning three generations, and brimming with romance, betrayal, ambition and sacrifice, The Manor of Dreams is a thrilling family gothic that examines the true cost of the American dream—and what happens when the roots we set down in this country turn to rot.
Link: Goodreads
A Fix of Light — Kel Menton
Genre: YA contemporary fantasy
Rep: Trans, queer
A trans love story with a dark magical twist, from an astonishing new Irish voice.
Be careful. The dark is listening.
Hanan is supposed to be dead. The forest outside Skenashogue sent him home alive—but changed. A strange new magic makes every emotion a physical force he can’t control.
Bright and gentle, fox-like Pax is everything Hanan is not. And when he touches Hanan he mutes his secret power, quiets the curse.
To survive their own darknesses they’ll need to be honest with each other. But Hanan isn’t sure Pax will like what he finds out…
Can their love help them find their way back to the light?
Link: Goodreads
The Vengeance — Emma Newman
Genre: Historical fantasy
Rep: Sapphic
Morgane grew up at sea, daughter of the fierce pirate captain of the Vengeance, raised to follow in her footsteps as scourge of the Four Chains Trading Company. But when Anna-Marie is mortally wounded in battle, she confesses to Morgane that she is not her mother.
The captain of the enemy ship reveals he was paid to kill Anna-Marie and bring Morgane home to France and her real family. Desperate to learn the truth about her lineage, Morgane spares him, leaving the Vengeance and everything she knows behind.
Her quest reveals a world of decadence and darkness, in which monsters vie for control of royal courts and destinies of nations. She discovers the bloody secrets of the Four Chains Trading Company, and the truth about her real mother’s death, nearly twenty years before...
Link: Goodreads
Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame — Neon Yang
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: Queer; non-binary MC
A new Queer, Asian-inspired fantasy novella about a renowned dragon slayer who never takes her armor off in public. Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame reads like She Who Became the Sun meets The Mandalorian, with dragons!
The fiercely independent nation of Quanbao is isolated, reclusive, and something of a mystery to the rest of the world. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper, but instead loved and worshiped.
Yeva is perhaps a strange emissary to these people. Not only because their face has never been seen in public, but because they are a hero born to a birthright that makes them suited for their task—hunting dragons.
And so the dragon hunter must woo Quanbao’s queen—the Lady Sookhee—to understand what secrets she is hiding. A woman reasonably suspicious of Yeva’s intentions, and the imperial might of the throne she represents, Sookhee bears the burden of the safety of her entire people. How can she trust this stranger newly arrived to her court, a weapon forged in blood and fire, to understand what her people need and how best to safeguard their future?
Link: Goodreads
May 10, 2025
Soul Burn — I.S. Belle
Genre: YA paranormal romance
Rep: M/M
Series: Book 3 of Blood Tethered
“This was always how it was going to end.”
Theo is the fallen golden boy.
Kade is tired of being trouble.
In two weeks, everything will be over. Kade and Theo will be able to touch each other. The threat that’s been looming over them all year will be put to rest and everybody will be safe.
Or they’ll both be dead and the town will get razed to ashes.
Theo’s sire is back in town and causing havoc. Classmates are going missing and Kade’s visions keep pointing them towards disturbing realizations.
Luckily, Kade has a plan. A genius plan that will stop the ritual and finally - finally - let them touch each other.
Or it will ruin everything. One or the other.
Link: Goodreads
May 13, 2025
The Duke Steals Hearts & Other Body Parts — Elias Cold
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: Queer
Wielding a magic that allows him to pop off limbs, con-artist Phyllis ransoms body parts to make a living. At least until his cold heart is moved when a mark claims his sister, Adeline, was taken.
Adeline is not the only missing girl in their seedy city, and Phyllis’ best chance to unravel the mystery is to become Lord Phillip of Rabbiton and strike a deal with the ambitious madame, Adeline’s former employer, for info on his leads. As a duke, Phillip finds the girls who are not dead—but undead. And when the madame finds out, she twists Phillip into helping her with her plans to rule the city.
To cement his future as a duke, save his new family of mostly-dead girls, and earn Adeline’s affection, Phillip will have to stop the madame and discover the depths of his magic—before his own lies destroy him.
Link: Goodreads
The Incandescent — Emily Tesh
Genre: Dark academia fantasy
Rep: Bi MC
Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
“Look at you, eating magic like you’re one of us.”
Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school’s boundaries from demonic incursions.
Walden is good at her job―no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from―is herself.
Link: Goodreads
Portalmania — Debbie Urbanski
Genre: Speculative short story collection
Rep: Ace & aro characters
If you could go anywhere, where would you go? And what happens to the people you leave behind?
From the author of After World comes a genre-busting collection of stories that reveal our lives in a startling new light, perfect for fans of Kelly Link and Carmen Maria Machado.
In Portalmania, Debbie Urbanski wields sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and realism to build a dark mirror that she holds up to the ordinary world. Within the sharply imagined landscape of this collection, portals appear in linen closets, planetary gateways materialize in boarding schools, monsters wait in bathroom vents, and transformations of women’s bodies are an everyday occurrence. Political division causes physical rifts that break apart the Earth’s crust. A son on another planet sends dispatches home to the mother who failed him, and a wife turns to the supernatural to escape her abusive marriage. Portals are not only doorways found in children’s classics, but separations, escapes, dead ends, desertions, and choices that will change these characters’ lives forever.
Against a fantastical backdrop, these stories dive bravely into the shadowy depths of betrayal, parenthood, revenge, murder, coercive sex, open marriages, asexuality, neurodiversity, and second chances. What if we’re not the ideal parents for our children? What if we’re not the ideal person to live our own life? Portalmania questions why we love as we do and asks if we have enough courage to reimagine desire.
Link: Simon and Schuster
May 16, 2025
The Divide That Binds Us — Michelle J
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: Demi MMC; ace FMC
In a world where dragons are the life source, their sudden mysterious deaths slowly push Zeala into peril.
When nineteen-year-old Alice Reid investigates the cause, she runs into members of a rival paramilitary organization for the first time. The encounter takes a violent turn, igniting Commander Rio Shackler’s curiosity for two reasons: Alice can summon a mythical being, and clues about the deaths conveniently point to her. With Rio's mission to enforce dragon safety, he pursues Alice to eliminate a potential threat. The two clash, unaware of the other’s agenda, and unknowingly fueling their divided organizations.
As more dragons perish, the world withers from the depletion of its life force. Trees die, fires lose oxygen, grass dries out, plants wilt into black rot, and the water supply dwindles. Alice and Rio find themselves on opposite sides of the truth but with a common enemy that binds them. In order to work together, they must set aside their bickering, scheming, and contrasting personalities, but mutual loathing won’t be their only obstacle. Questionable deities, a nefarious cult, and corruption brewing in the heart of the monarchy threaten each step they take toward saving their world. If Alice and Rio can’t unravel the mystery in time, the feud between their organizations will be the least of their worries.
Link: Goodreads
May 18, 2025
Echo Sight — Cian Verati
Genre: Science fantasy
Rep: Non-binary MC; disability & mental health rep
Series: Book 1 of Tainted Falculties
Having lost one leg already to the monstrous, parasitic senka, Enaka believes themself an imperfect shapeshifter among their perfect people, and they’re determined to prove their usefulness by continuing their dangerous job.
But when a routine monster hunt becomes an assignment to track down an artifact smuggler who may have lured senka to Akert City, Enaka is thrown out of their depth into a world of misinformation and systemic oppression. Their only local ally is a mage from an opposing government who claims to know more about Enaka than they do about themself.
As the two of them race against time to stop the senka plague before the double new moons, they’re confronted by forces both mundane and magical, and disturbing truths emerge that change Enaka’s life forever. Will their conviction be enough to save the two million souls who call Akert home? Or are the real monsters much closer than they appear?
Link: Books2Read
May 19, 2025
Pearly Gates — Bonnie Solomon
Genre: Cozy fantasy, humor
Rep: Queer; drag queen MC
Series: Book 1 of Pearly Gates (stands alone)
A dead drag queen. A cozy café. A shady deal—and an unexpected family.
Deceased drag queen Pearly Gates has the worst job in the cosmic sanitation worker. When her soulmate leaves her, claiming she’s incapable of growth, Pearly hatches a plan to win him back. By striking an illicit deal to take over the caseload of a burnt-out spirit guide, she’ll prove she’s worthy of love—and a second chance.
Her mission takes her to Thunderbolt Books & Coffee, a small-town Midwestern bookshop café haunted by a 1920s burlesque dancer. Tasked with guiding a grieving young widow, a terminally ill college graduate, and a struggling trans woman, Pearly uses her magic (and charm) to help them heal and connect. But when she discovers the café’s owner is her soulmate reincarnated, her plans take an unexpected turn.
As one of Pearly’s charges falls for the café owner, she faces a dilemma - be the good guide she promised to become or sabotage the relationship. Between saving the café, dodging celestial detectives, and surviving a lip-sync battle with her own body double, Pearly must decide what matters most. At her second chance, her soulmate—even her soul.
Pearly Gates is a humorous, heartwarming LGBTQ+ fantasy celebrating queer identity, found family, and self-discovery—even after life’s final curtain call.
Link: Goodreads
May 20, 2025
Dead Wrong — Alexander C. Eberhart
Genre: Urban fantasy, romance
Rep: M/M
Tobias Greene is dead. Or, at least, he was dead, before his ex-boyfriend woke him with news of his missing sister.
I wasn’t supposed to be here. Death should have been the end for me. A quiet erasure of all the terrible things I’d done in the almost thirty years of my first life. But then I was awake, and those memories came flooding back in, destroying the peace that had saved me in the crushing dark. To make matters worse, Bastien, the man I loved—and lost—was the one who tore me from Death’s icy grip. I couldn’t remember how things ended between us, but judging by the contempt in his eyes, I would guess it wasn’t pleasant.
Lynette was missing. My twin—my better half—vanished the night before she was to succeed our mother as Head of the Magi Council. I was the last one to be seen with her. Then I was murdered. Now, I had to piece together those moments leading up to my death if we were to have any chance of saving Lynette.
I wanted to forget the man I was in my first life. But with every step closer to Lynette, my past stalked ever closer. The hearts I’d broken. The lives I’d ruined. The men I’d left behind.
I thought I knew who I was, but I was wrong.
DEAD WRONG.
DEAD WRONG is a plot-driven, harem-style M/M romance with plenty of action, lots of magical men, and just the right amount of spice.
Link: Goodreads
Those Who Burn the Brightest — Kayla Morton
Genre: YA fantasy
Rep: Sapphic
“It is not the intensity of the flame, but whom you burn it for, that matters…”
Eira Isolde is one of the nine fae heiresses of the New Reign, burdened by a constant fear of their own inexplicable powers. But when she’s sent to live in a mortal kingdom because of it, it seems that the Fates have a different plan for her in mind—one that involves fellow heiress Meilin Azelie, a dagger-wielding pianist with whom she is suddenly, and indescribably, consumed by.
When a nefarious king reveals the dark web of deceit he has Eira and Meilin ensnared in, the pair find themselves stripped of their powers, forced to become pawns in the Demir Trials; a twisted game pinning them against the rest of the New Reign. The price of victory is a heavy thing, and with nine heiresses fighting for survival, the path to conquest is one carved out in blood. In the midst of it all, with their thrones and lives on the line, Eira and Meilin know that one wrong move could see everything they know and love reduced to ash—including one another.
Link: Goodreads
Don’t Let Me Go — Kevin Christopher Snipes
Genre: YA science fiction romance
Rep: M/M
From acclaimed author Kevin Christopher Snipes comes a moving romance about two star-crossed boys trapped in a millennium-spanning cycle of reincarnation whose only hope of escape may be a price that neither is willing to pay. Perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Eliot Shrefer!
Out and proud, Riley Iverson knows there’s nothing more cringe than crushing on a straight boy. But from the moment that the handsome, sporty, and painfully heterosexual Jackson Haines walks into his life, Riley can’t help but feel an instant and undeniable connection. Mainly because, as impossible as it seems, Jackson is the spitting image of the boy who’s recently appeared in Riley’s dreams—dreams set in another time and another place where he and Jackson were desperately in love.
At first Riley tries to dismiss the coincidence as a product of his hormone-fueled, overactive imagination, but as his friendship with Jackson deepens into something more, the dreams prove harder to ignore. Especially when Jackson begins having them too. Plunged into increasingly vivid visions of the past, the boys find themselves in various eras scattered throughout history. No matter where or when their dreams take them, though, two things remain Riley and Jackson are always together, and they always die at the end.
As it becomes increasingly difficult to view their dreams as anything but warnings, the boys are forced to consider the possibility that their burgeoning relationship might be propelling them headfirst into their own tragic ending. But is it worth staying apart to save their lives if the price is forsaking a love that has defied not only time and space but even death itself?
Link: Goodreads
The Starving Saints — Caitlin Starling
Genre: Historical fantasy, horror
Rep: Sapphic MCs
From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing, intensely atmospheric fever dream of medieval horror.
Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration.
Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar’s walls.
As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness—forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy—these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle’s new masters… or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.
Link: Goodreads
Behooved — M. Stevenson
Genre: Romantasy
Rep: Bi MCs; queer side characters; queernorm world
A charming slow-burn romantasy featuring a duty-bound noblewoman with a chronic illness, a prince who would rather be in a library than on a throne, and a magical ride through a world of cozy enchantment.
Bianca knows her duty comes before her heart. So when the threat of war looms, she agrees to marry the neighboring kingdom’s heir. But not all royal weddings are a fairytale, and Prince Aric, Bianca’s betrothed, is cold, aloof, and seems to hate her on sight.
To make matters worse, on their wedding night, an assassination attempt goes awry—leaving Aric magically transformed into a horse. Bianca does what any bride in this situation would do: she mounts her new husband and rides away to safety.
Sunset returns Aric to human form, but they soon discover the assassination attempt is part of a larger plot against the throne. Worse, Bianca has been framed for Aric’s murder, and she’s now saddled with a husband who is a horse by day and a frustratingly attractive man by night.
As an unexpected romance begins galloping away with their hearts, Bianca and Aric must rely on each other to unravel the curse and save the throne.
Link: Macmillan
May 21, 2025
The Wilding of Em’s Path — Ana K. Wrenn
Genre: Dystopian
Rep: Sapphic
A gripping, lushly told sapphic dystopian tale about daring to resist and love during the darkest times.
Untamed and wild, Cynda is an outdoorswoman holed up in the Appalachian backcountry. Her solitary existence is shattered when Kadija, a fierce, freedom fighter, tracks her down.
Kadija demands Cynda return to civilization to face the consequences of an out-of-control project Cynda worked on years ago. But how can she take on the destructive research institute preying on vulnerable, sensitive people when it almost destroyed her once? How can Cynda face the outside world again, now it’s awash in so much fear and violence that it suffocates her?
As the warring pair reluctantly journey into a dystopian world, the ties that bind them slowly draw them closer. But what happens if those delicate ties ever break?
Link: Goodreads
May 22, 2025
A Study in Black Brew — Marie Howalt
Genre: Science fiction
Rep: Non-binary MC; queernorm world; chronic illness
“They say life is a string of chances held together with grit and guided by passion, and who am I to disagree?”
Kellieth ReinAraneinth was headed for a career as a field chemist on a newly settled planet when their dreams and ambitions were crushed by coincidences and chronic illness.
They return broke to the wendek homeworld, Ganmak, where everyone’s basic needs are covered, but import luxuries like Kellieth’s favorite human-made beverage, black brew, is costly.
While piecing together a new life and recovering from their ordeals, Kellieth ends up sharing lodgings with the attractive, enigmatic, and infuriating Raithan WeinZalneinth.
When a human is found dead next to an alarming message on the wall in an empty house, Kellieth gets caught up in a gruesome mystery involving Raithan and the local peace corps.
Who is the human? How did he die? What is Raithan hiding? And when will Kellieth have the time to catch their breath?
Link: Goodreads
May 24, 2025
Shades of Spring — Niranjan
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: Queer
Series: Book 1 of Shades of Spring
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 her marriage.
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.
Link: Bookfunnel
May 25, 2025
Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me — Django Wexler
Genre: Fantasy, humor
Rep: Queer
Series: Book 2 of Dark Lord Davi
Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that binds her in this hilariously bloody conclusion to the Dark Lord Davi duology.
Davi has left the horde behind her, hoping to find a peaceful solution to keep the Kingdom from being destroyed this time. But her plan to guide the Kingdom to peaceful prosperity is thwarted when she finds her usual love interest, Prince Johann, already married and the bloodthirsty Duke Aster running the government. Johann’s new husband is everything Davi is not, but he holds a key to the one mystery she can’t solve—the origins of the time loop that has entrapped her.
With restless armies at her doorstep, Duke Aster reaching for power, and an ancient magician hounding her every turn, Davi must scheme her way to peace and uncover the truth behind her curse if she is to break the spell that binds her once and for all.
Link: Goodreads
May 26, 2025
Mesmerized — Nevaeh Ryn
Genre: Supernatural romance
Rep: Bi FMC
Series: Book 1 of Mesmerized
Kamika Suzanna LeBlanc’s heart broke when her grandmother passed away at age 78. With a funeral looming over them, she and her mother travel from Miami to Gaville, the small Louisiana town her mother grew up in.
As Kamika grieves and reflects on her complex relationship with her grandmother, she meets up with her ex and first romantic partner, Larissa Harris, and discovers that she has changed in... unforeseeable ways.
As if grieving her grandmother’s death wasn’t already a challenge, her situation becomes more complicated when she meets Delaney, Larissa’s charming older cousin, and a mysterious man known as Beau. Soon, Kamika’s world gets turned upside down when she unearths the secrets Gaville and her family have been harboring.
Link: Goodreads
May 27, 2025
A Game of Monsters — Ben Alderson
Genre: Romantasy
Rep: M/M
Series: Book 4 of Realm of Fey
The long-awaited fourth and final book in Ben Alderson’s bestselling Realm of Fey series sees the fate of Robin Icethorn’s world at stake, and a war that could ruin everything...
As the dust settles and the world ushers in a new era of stability, only Robin Icethorn knows the truth. Duncan Rackley, former fey Hunter turned lover, has become the host of the demon god Duwar, and the gentle peace that has been brokered is steps away from being shaken up.
Bolstered with the sudden help of his ex-love Erix, Robin embarks on a mission to save Duncan, seeking out the aid of the Nephilim once more. However, Robin finds that the game of the gods is not over, and those he can trust may have other motives.
Determined to protect his love, Robin and his allies must band together once more in hopes to destroy their enemies and prevent war on a celestial scale. But as old feelings for Erix return, and chaos brews among the realms, will Robin be able to usher in peace in the world… and in his heart?
Link: Goodreads
Costumes for Time Travelers — A.R. Capetta
Genre: YA fantasy, time travel
Rep: Queer; non-binary MC
Calisto and Fawkes are drawn to each other for the first time, again, as they travel from when to when to take on a threat to all they hold dear in this lyrical and playful fantasy from award-winning author A.R. Capetta.
Anyone who has hiked through time knows the town of Pocket. It’s the place travelers first reach after they stumble away from their hometime, passing through on their way to any other when.
To Calisto, Pocket is home. They love their grandmother’s shop, which is filled with clothes from every era that are used to make costumes for time travelers. Calisto has no intention of traveling—it’s too dangerous.
For Fawkes, traveling is life. He put on time boots when he was young and has been stumbling through eras ever since. When he floats into Pocket, Calisto meets him for the first time, though Fawkes has seen Calisto—in glimpses of what hasn’t happened yet. He’s also seen the villains chasing them both. Now Calisto and Fawkes must rush—from Shakespeare’s London to ancient Crete to California on the eve of a millennium—to save Pocket, and travelers, from being erased.
From the Lambda Literary Award–winning author of The Heartbreak Bakery comes a fairy-tale romance that weaves in and out of time, from kiss to kiss and costume to costume.
Link: Goodreads
Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume 2 — Ginn Hale
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: Queer
Series: Book 2 of Price of a Thousand Blessings
Having escaped conscription to the Storm Towers at the last moment―thanks to some very quick train-hopping―Cymin is thrilled to at last be living his dream of seeing new lands and making friends with the fascinating secular mages outside Lux Temple. There’s even a chance he could win over the enigmatic Laithondi and officially join the ranks of the student bound for Saigrath.
Laithondi has already entrusted him with his dazzling ancillary sword, as well as the sacred Fei’suul Scepter. But that trust may prove the undoing of them all, when it marks Cymin as the target for ancient, corrupted spells. As he battles for his life and those of his new-found friends, Cymin must confront the darkest secrets from their shared past lives as well as the deadly plots threatening their lives now.
Link: Goodreads
The Glade — Naseem Jamnia
Genre: MG supernatural mystery
Rep: Queer characters
Ellen Oh’s Spirit Hunters meets Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces in this middle grade supernatural mystery following a girl whose discovery of a magical clearing near her summer camp ends up putting her best friend in danger.
Pina’s first trip to summer camp is a chance to escape her overbearing parents and finally go on an adventure with her best friend, Jo. But Camp Clear Skies hides a secret: a clearing in the deep woods the older kids call “the Glade.” After falling asleep here, Pina and Jo are able to enter one another’s dreams, transforming into superheroes and knights in shining armor, fighting back their nightmares in epic adventures.
At first, the friends think they’ve discovered a secret more exciting than any video game—until Pina’s nightmares start leaking out into waking life. Worse, something seems to have followed them back from those dreams… and whatever it is, it’s taking over Jo. Jo has always been the superhero in their friendship, but Pina can’t just abandon them to their fate.
To save her friend, Pina journeys deeper into the Glade than she ever has before, facing the worst of her own fears and Jo’s. There, she must confront the consciousness trying to steal her friend’s body and learn what happened twenty years ago that shut down Camp Clear Skies and changed the Glade forever.
Link: Goodreads
Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity — Lee Mandelo (ed.)
Genre: Speculative anthology
Rep: Queer, trans
Revolutionary and visionary, these twenty-two speculative stories edited by Lambda, Nebula and Hugo finalist Lee Mandelo explore the vast potentialities of our queer and trans futures.
From self-styled knights fighting in dystopian city streets to conservationists finding love in the Appalachian forests; from social media posts about domestic “bliss” in a lottery-based, state-housing skyscraper to herding feral cats off of one’s scientific equipment; from street drugs that create doppelgangers to dance-club cruising at the edge of the galaxy—Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity interrogates the farthest borders of the sci-fi landscape to imagine how queer life will look centuries in the future—or ten years from now.
Filled with brutal honesty, raw emotions, sexual escapades, and delightful whimsy, Amplitudes speaks to the longstanding tradition of queer fiction as protest. This essential collection serves as an evolving map of our celebrations, anxieties, wishes, pitfalls, and—most of all—our rallying cry that we’re here, we’re queer—and the future is ours!
Inventive, moving, and hopeful, this fresh anthology contains never before published stories by some of our most prominent and emerging LGBTQIA+ writers.
Link: Goodreads
Demon Engine — Marten Norr
Genre: Nautical horror, dark fantasy
Rep: Trans MCs
Sally Delavega, the best demon-binder the world has ever seen, would do anything to banish the two hundred ghosts trapped in his head—even if it means swimming up from the bottom of his tankard. When the Navy that destroyed his life comes sailing back to offer enough coin to get the job done, Sally agrees.
All he has to do is help the crew of the Steadfast track down the ancient abyssal that lies sleeping at the heart of their drowned world. Why the Navy wants the demon isn’t Sally’s problem. But as they sail on, Sally begins to dredge up disturbing truths about how the world flooded and their ancient eldritch quarry that might just want to be found…
Imaginative and poignant, funny and bizarre, Demon Engine brings us a bold, queer high-seas adventure that asks how deep we might venture for what we aren’t willing to lose.
Link: tRaum Books
These Vengeful Gods — Gabe Cole Novoa
Genre: YA fantasy
Rep: Queer; non-binary MC
Years ago, the descendants of the god of Death were murdered. The few that remain are in hiding, including Crow, a teen who survived the genocide and hides their magic to stay alive. After fleeing their village, Crow now lives with their uncles in the lowest part of the city: the Shallows.
Life in the Shallows is tough, but Crow’s even tougher. Hiding their magic has made Crow resourceful, cunning, and unbeatable—which comes in handy as a fighter in the city's lucrative underground fighting ring.
Then, Crow’s uncles are arrested for harboring Deathchildren.
With fists tightly clenched, Crow vows to set their uncles free. But to do that, they’re going to need to enter a world that threatens Crow’s very existence. Carefully navigating the politics of the wealthy and powerful, they enter the Tournament of the Gods—a gladiator-style competition where the winner is granted a favor. As they battle their way towards the winner’s circle, Crow plans to ask the gods for their uncles’ freedom as their reward.
But in a city of gods and magic, you don’t ask for what you want.
You take it.
Link: Goodreads
Divine Blessings — K.R. Thompson
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: Sapphic
Series: Book 1 of The Divine Trilogy
Forbidden love. Divine powers. A vengeance that could tear the world apart.
Nsiria had always felt different—wishing she could learn to read instead of becoming her father’s perfect little noblewoman. After a forbidden kiss, Nsiria finds herself alone—exiled by her father to a foreign city.
Elara knows what it’s like to be alone. While mourning her mother’s death, she stumbles upon Nsiria. They find a home together in “the grove,” a refuge for the city’s outcasts. Soon, Nsiria’s renewed attempts at teaching herself to read catch the eye of the deity of wisdom, and she is granted powers that can finally make her dream of learning a reality. But her growing feelings for Elara could distract her from the path of knowledge.
When tragedy strikes and Nsiria believes Elara is dead, rage and grief consume her. She vows to exact revenge on the man responsible for her loss. But the path toward his destruction may be the path toward her own, for more than one of the seven deities have set their sights on her.
Link: Goodreads