In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Tuesday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx/WOC community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
With fall right around the corner it’s time to start planning what we’ll be reading! From epic romances to fantasy novels that will sweep you away, we’ve got you covered for the month of September with a list of LGBTQ+ books you should read.
Special shoutout goes to Netgalley, the premiere source of getting books in advance if you’re looking to review books. All the summary’s were sourced from Netgalley and we hope this helps get readers interested in these creative queer writers!
1. Last Resort by Angie Williams
Summary: Katie Fausch is content with her single life in San Francisco. When her lovingly pushy family surprises her with a weeklong trip to a singles getaway humorously named Last Resort, Katie only agrees to go if they promise not to nag her about her love life for a year.
Rhys Morgan is a true romantic at heart. She knows there’s more to life than work and wants to find someone to spend hers with. When she discovers that a local resort for singles is having a “lesbian week,” she has to give it a try.
Amid the sand and saltwater of Last Resort, Katie and Rhys endure the enforced dating of total strangers, group socializing where everything that can go wrong actually does, and must answer the ultimate question: What happens if you meet the girl of your dreams but she isn’t looking for a happily ever after?
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
2. Lady of Stone by Barbara Ann Wright
Summary: Lady Sylph’s only concerns should be inheriting her title, marrying well, producing an heir, and lording it all over the peasantry. It’s what her father insists upon, and she never knew she needed anything or anyone else until her magic comes, an ability her class is not supposed to possess.
Thana never coveted the title of monarch’s pyradisté because her knowledge exceeds her ability. She hopes the royals will never depend on her, but then the palace’s pyramids go haywire. On top of that, a beautiful, spoiled noblewoman needs her help to conceal a new power.
Could Sylph’s ability and Thana’s magical mystery be related to a new kind of crystal being smuggled into the kingdom or a possible pyradisté coup? They’ll have to work together and overcome their biases, admit their feelings, and maybe surrender to their fierce desire before time runs out.
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
3. Bet Against Me by Fiona Riley
Summary: Trina Lee would sell her own mother’s house out from under her if it meant securing a sale, no joke. Her reputation as a ruthless deal closer and her record sales year in Boston’s luxury property market should’ve landed her Realtor of the Year, so when the award goes to new girl rival Kendall Yates, Trina is left speechless. And, okay, turned on.
Kendall made more enemies than friends the night of her big win, but she couldn’t care less. She’s the best, and she has the obnoxious glass paperweight to prove it. This is the edge she needs to escape the shadow of her family’s reputation. When her boss accepts a friendly bet that she can close the holy grail of property deals, she’s not about to fold for anyone. Especially not to overly cocky and annoyingly beautiful Trina. Even if it breaks her heart.
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
4. Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
Summary: Xochitl is destined to wander the desert alone, speaking her troubled village’s stories into its arid winds. Her only companions are the blessed stars above and enigmatic lines of poetry magically strewn across dusty dunes.
Her one desire: to share her heart with a kindred spirit.
One night, Xo’s wish is granted—in the form of Emilia, the cold and beautiful daughter of the town’s murderous conqueror. But when the two set out on a magical journey across the desert, they find their hearts could be a match… if only they can survive the nightmare-like terrors that arise when the sun goes down.
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
5. Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore
Summary: There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history.
But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands.
So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
6. The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen
Summary: Alison Green, desperate Valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be “out” and what she might be willing to give up for love.
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
7. Under Shifting Stars by Alexandra Latos
Summary: Audrey’s best friend was always her twin, Clare. But as they got older, they grew apart, and when their brother Adam died, Clare blamed Audrey for the accident. Now, Audrey’s attending an alternative school where she feels more isolated than ever. Tired of being seen as different from her neurotypical peers, Audrey’s determined to switch to the public high school, rebuild her friendship with Clare, and atone for Adam’s death . . . but she’ll need to convince her parents, and her therapist, first.
Clare knows her sister thinks she’s the perfect twin, but Audrey doesn’t realize that Clare’s “popular” status is crumbling—she’s begun to question old friendships, dress in Adam’s clothes, and wonder what feelings for a nonbinary classmate, Taylor, might mean. As she grapples with not only grief but also her gender fluidity, Clare wonders where she’ll belong if she sheds her carefully constructed image and embraces her true self.
Will first crushes, new family dynamics, and questions of identity prove that Audrey and Clare have grown too different to understand each other-or that they’ve needed each other all along?
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
8. The Holiday Detour by Jane Kolven
Summary: Sometimes it takes everything going wrong to make you see how right things are. Dana Gottfried is a stressed-out Jewish lesbian who’s just quit her job and wants to get home to see her grandmother. When her car breaks down in Indiana on Christmas Eve, Dana is stranded—until she’s rescued by Charlie, a pig farmer who doesn’t identify as male or female. Although they come from different worlds, Dana is intrigued by Charlie’s sense of humor and kindness. Despite her better judgment, Dana says yes when Charlie offers a ride.
But the journey home is paved with detours. From car accidents to scheming exgirlfriends to a snowy and deserted Chicago Loop, everything that could go wrong on their road trip does, but it leads Dana on a path of self-discovery that just might end in love.
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
9. Too Hot to Ride by Andrews & Austin
Summary: Hot-tempered and outspoken Rae Starr came home to the Oklahoma prairie, bought a ranch, and started a riding school with her partner who subsequently left her for another woman. Rae has a history of the things she loves leaving her, so she’s not very trusting.
Meanwhile, the ranch next door just changed hands for the fifth time, and the new owner, Jane Barrow, is a world famous cutting horse champion and industry legend who, rumor has it, won the ranch in a poker game. Jane is all glitz and charisma, in addition to being knockdown sexy in the way she moves, talks, and rides. Everywhere she goes, people flock to her.
Rae is determined not to get involved with this womanizing gambler. Jane is determined she will. But neither ever thought their relationship would become an incendiary love affair.
Get it off Amazon HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Tuesday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
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