In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Sunday (or when I’m feeling spicy) I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community from a Latina perspective. Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
P.S. I, Lyra Hale, do not give any site permission to copy or repost my work in any form. If you are reading this on any site besides Fangirlish, it has been stolen.
With the holidays and Christmas here, we’re wrapping up the year with even more LGBTQ+ books. Because if there’s anything that we need this time of year is unwinding after a long day with family or after shopping for holiday presents. So, from falling in love thanks to holiday shenanigans to actually being on the Titanic and pulling off a heist, we’ve got you covered for the month of December with a list of LGBTQ+ books coming out this month.
A special shoutout goes to Netgalley, the premier source of getting books in advance if you’re looking to review books. Most of the summaries were sourced from Netgalley and we hope this helps get readers interested in these creative queer writers!
1. A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar
Summary: Josefa is an unapologetic and charismatic thief, who loves the thrill of the chase. She has her eye on her biggest mark yet—the RMS Titanic, the most luxurious ship in the world. But she isn’t interested in stealing from wealthy first-class passengers onboard. No, she’s out for the ultimate prize: the Rubiyat, a one-of-a-kind book encrusted with gems that’s worth millions.
Josefa can’t score it alone, so she enlists a team of girls with unique talents: Hinnah, a daring acrobat and contortionist; Violet, an actress and expert dissembler; and Emilie, an artist who can replicate any drawing by hand.
They couldn’t be more different and yet they have one very important thing in common: their lives depend on breaking into the vault and capturing the Rubiyat. But careless mistakes, old grudges, and new romance threaten to jeopardize everything they’ve worked for and put them in incredible danger when tragedy strikes.
While the odds of pulling off the heist are slim, the odds of survival are even slimmer…
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
2. A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson
Summary: Xavier Reynolds is doing less than stellar. He just got dumped, was passed over for a prestigious fellowship, and to top it all off he’s right back home in Harper’s Cove, Maine (population: 9,000). The last thing he wants to do is to work as a prep chef in the kitchen of the hip new restaurant in town, The Wharf. Especially since the hot, single-father chef who owns it can’t delegate to save his life.
Logan O’Hare doesn’t understand Xavier or why every word out of his mouth is dipped in sarcasm. Unfortunately, he has no choice but to hire him—he needs more help in the kitchen and his tween daughter, Anne, can only mince so many onions. It might be a recipe for disaster, but Logan doesn’t have many options besides Xavier.
Stuck between a stove and a hot place, Logan and Xavier discover an unexpected connection. But when the heat between them threatens to top the Scoville scale, they’ll have to decide if they can make their relationship work or if life has seasoned them too differently.
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
3. Felix Navidad by ‘Nathan Burgoine
Summary: Felix doesn’t do impulsive anymore. But attending a friend’s wedding reminds Felix he’s the only one of his friends attending solo, and recent losses have him thinking he’s swung too far in the not-impulsive direction.
So, impulse decision number one? Cutting in on a dance with handsome farmer Kevin, the ex of one of the grooms, for a spin at the reception. Impulse decision number two? Planning his first holiday vacation off work. Christmas in Hawai’i will be a gift to himself.
When dancing doesn’t work out, Felix keeps high hopes for his vacation right up until the first flight cancellation. After bumping into a stranded Kevin, who lost his flight home, Felix gives impulse a third try: Why not drive to Toronto together? But after ice rain strands them halfway, it looks like Felix isn’t going to get to give himself his gift after all. Instead, this Christmas is a small cabin—and Kevin.
Then again, sometimes unexpected gifts turn out to be the best.
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
4. Presidential by Lola Keeley
Summary: High-flying pediatric surgeon Emily Lawrence is new to Washington DC. Her first week in her new job puts her on a collision course with the most powerful woman in America, President Calvin.
Constance “Connie” Calvin’s first term is proving turbulent thanks to trying to juggle work and life as a widowed single mother to a 12-year-old boy. Running for re-election is imminent, and the critics are gunning for her. Worse, her famed icy cool is in danger of melting in the face of Emily’s passion, commitment, and charm.
Admitting the rising sexual tension between the women is just the start. How can they act on it while in the public glare? Giving into temptation comes with such risk. In a world that lives and dies on opinion polls, what will the country make of them?
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
5. Reindeer Games by Finley Chuva
Summary: Charlotte Sutton is an honest person. Perhaps that’s why, when she does lie, it turns into a mess. She invented a girlfriend as a way to get out of one too many hangouts with her Denver Defiant teammates, but now it’s coming back to bite her.
Danielle “Dani” Gilbert is not Charlotte’s girlfriend. But she’s also not one to turn down an all-expenses-paid ski resort getaway, even if it means pretending that she is. After all, it’s only three days, and she and Charlotte will just be two friends doing a little acting. What could possibly go wrong?
Except for the fact that Charlotte maybe, possibly, might want the whole thing to be real.
So. There is that.
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
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Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
7. I Saw Mommy Kissing the Nanny by Shannon O’Connor
Summary: Morgan loves three things; Books, women, and being single. But when Grad school costs more than her rent, she needs to come up with a way to make some money and fast. After a one night stand with a beautiful woman, she wakes the next morning in a hurry to make it to her interview as a live in nanny.
Despite acing the interview, she has to pass one final test; meeting the mother—who just so happens to be her one night stand. They both decide to call it a one night thing and move forward, with Morgan becoming her son’s nanny.
As a divorced, single mom Lucy can get all the help she needs. But as the mistletoe is hung and the stockings are filled, are sparks flying too? As Lucy begins to fall for her son’s nanny, she shows her love in a series of her favorite books. Counting down the 24 days of Christmas with Morgan, by trying to tell her how she feels, worried she doesn’t feel the same.
Morgan devours each book, desperate to know if Lucy is sending her a sign. But as Christmas approaches, will each woman get what they want? Or will they be stuck out in the cold as the days of Morgan’s nannying contract are up?
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
8. Crimson Desires: Eternally Hers by K.L. Bone
Summary: Doctor turned immortal, Yelena has resisted the darker side of her vampiric thirst for nearly sixty years. Reclusive, she diligently focuses on her research from her French countryside lab, until an unexpected invitation from the French court thrusts her into the seductive path of Lady Suzette Dieudonnée.
A 2,000-year-old pureblood vampire, the alluring beauty shares none of Yelena’s moral qualms. Falling into a forbidden and tumultuous romance, passions burn through steamy nights as Suzette teaches Yelena she can remain true to her Hippocratic oath while fully embracing her vampiric nature.
Along the path of their newfound passion, Suzette realizes she’s found her destined mate, but has to convince skeptical Yelena their bond is unique. Together, they must reconcile their love and fears, or be doomed to walk eternity alone.
Get it HERE.
9. Picture-Perfect Christmas by Charlotte Greene
Summary: When Nicole Steele left the small mountain town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, she thought she’d never look back. Almost twenty years later, all she wants is to move home. She’s delighted to be hired to take photographs for Glenwood’s new tourism campaign. Instead of her usual week-long visit, she gets to spend the entire holiday season in town. But there’s a hitch: Quinn Zelinski.
Quinn’s working on the tourism project, too, and she and Nicole have a history: high school rivalry, teenage longing, and one memorable kiss. Then Nicole left for college, Quinn stayed, and except for a few fleeting glimpses, they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since.
Nicole and Quinn can’t avoid each other forever, and the magic of the Christmas season might rekindle the romance between them if they don’t let old hurts and rivalry ruin a picture-perfect reunion.
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
10. Lenny And His Jackrabbit Lumberjack by Colbie Dunbar and Lorelei M. Hart
Summary: Human Omega Lenny’s car breaks down at the worst time and place imaginable. The snow is falling, his cell phone has no reception, and he’s going to be late for a job interview a hundred miles away. As the temperature begins to plummet and the sun has mostly set, Lenny sees no other option other than to trek in the direction of the house he sees lit up in the distance. It’s better than freezing to death in his car as it gets buried in the snow.
Alpha jackrabbit shifter Conall is happy to have two entire weeks off. He loves his job as a lumberjack, and his crew are like brothers to him, but Conall longs for the bit of peace and quiet and time in his fur that comes with shutdown. Only his time off turns out to be nothing like what he planned.
When Conall hears a cry for help while he’s in his fur, he races towards the sound to discover a human caught in a hunting trap, his leg bleeding and most likely broken. Without thinking, he shifts into his human form to help and is shocked to hear, “I know you,” just as the man passes out. What was that about?
Get it HERE. Add it to your Goodreads HERE.
Is there an LGBTQ+ book you’re excited about this December? Let us know in the comments below!
Queerly Not Straight posts every Sunday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
