With Spring here and Summer around the corner, we’re continuing our journey of supporting LGBTQ+ books and the authors within our community. From bros who want to kiss each other to what it means to find your soulmate, we’ve got you covered with a list of LGBTQ+ books coming out May 2026.
A special shoutout goes to Netgalley, the premiere source of getting books in advance if you’re looking to review books. Most of the summaries were sourced from Netgalley, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble and we hope this helps get readers interested in these creative queer writers!
Also, make sure to check out whether any of the books listed below for May 2026 are available at your local indie store here.
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1. Girls Like Us by Jennifer Dugan
Synopsis: Ruby and Morgan fell for each other during their senior year of high school, and now, almost a year later, they are determined to keep their spark alive, even while they are apart. Morgan is studying public policy on a track scholarship at a university several hours away, while Ruby stayed in their hometown and is exploring her love of mechanics in the automotive engineering program at the local community college.
Despite their best efforts, the space between them begins to weigh on the girls, with new friendships and flirtatious classmates adding complications. Still, the two are counting down the days to a spring break getaway and the bliss of a whole summer vacation together. But when Morgan discovers she’s a finalist for the perfect internship and Ruby gets a shot to appear on her favorite automotive TV show, their plans are thrown into question. With both girls unwilling to stand in the way of each other’s future, they wonder: Can their relationship still go the distance even if they’re on separate paths?
Release date: May 5th
2. You Pierce My Soul by Jessica Mary Best
Synopsis: In the utopian city of New Ionia, everyone gets a soulmate and Zada can’t wait for hers. Now that she’s eighteen, it’s her turn to meet her destiny with the help of Heartsong, an algorithm that chooses your perfect match for you.
Then Zada crashes into her soulmate, setting off their shared Heartsong, and the unthinkable happens: She feels nothing for him. But the program doesn’t make mistakes, and by the end of the night, Zada is engaged to a man she doesn’t love.
Desperate, Zada turns to a surprising ally: her daringly beautiful former best friend, Daphne. Despite their estrangement, Daphne may be the only person who can help Zada uncover the truth about Heartsong. But can she trust her after all this time? And if what they find upends everything, can Zada find the courage to choose what she believes—and who she loves?
Release date: May 5th
MORE: 10 LGBTQ+ Books Coming Out This April 2026
3. Bromantasy by Máire Roche
Synopsis: Juniper O’Reilly is good at only two things: demolishing a pint of mead and finding the perfect skincare routine. Everything else—taking care of the farm, bartering for goods, any sort of manual labor—falls to Juniper’s best friend, the absurdly capable, endlessly patient Mo Elmthorn.
But when Juniper accidentally volunteers them both for a quest to kill a fearsome monster, he knows he’s finally gotten in over his head. Juniper hates camping, he hates the dark, and there’s no way all these foraged mushrooms are going to sit well in his stomach. One thing he doesn’t hate? How good Mo’s thighs look in his questing pants—he doesn’t have time to think about that, though, with a monster to hunt and their futures on the line.
But monsters come in all shapes and sizes. When Juniper and Mo realize that the terrifying beast they’ve sworn to kill is just a scared little girl torn from her family, they’re off to find not only the true villain of the story, but maybe even a happy ending.
Release date: May 26th
4. Smash or Pass by Birdie Schae
Synopsis: Ellie dates the Right Guy, says all the Right Things, and acts the Right Way to avoid being ridiculed for her autism. When that Right Guy unceremoniously dumps her right before they’re supposed to go to beach volleyball camp together, Ellie’s perfectly curated world comes crashing down and she’s labeled the boring, weird girl.
Desperate to regain her good reputation (and yeah, sure, the boy…), Ellie goes to Camp SMASH, which is nothing like she expected. There, she’s paired with Sierra, a mysterious, standoffish volleyball legacy who makes Ellie’s quest to get her boyfriend back even more complicated…
Release date: May 12th
5. In Your Court by Kit Haley
Synopsis: Matteo Russo is the first and only openly gay tennis pro. Once a brilliant junior, he was slated for a bright future – until a freak accident derailed his career. Now, he’s fed up, he’s struggling to qualify for tournaments, and he’s not sure he can afford dinner tonight.
After losing to his old rival—the rich, arrogant, American superstar Miles Callahan—Mat throws the man’s privilege in his face and sets him a challenge – one he’s sure Miles would never accept. But he does. Determined to prove he’s earned his success, Miles travels to Wimbledon on a tight budget – no support team, no coach, no fancy hotel. And now the American needs a hitting partner, and someone to explain laundromats, and what started as a dare soon becomes a searing off-court fling.
Mat should be focussing on his career, not falling for a glamorous star. But Miles believes in his game in a way Mat hasn’t for a long time, and is fast becoming everything he’s ever wanted. Only… love and tennis just don’t mix, because one day soon they’ll have to face each other on the court. And in tennis, someone always has to lose.
Release date: May 21st
6. Meet Me at the Picket Line by Jasper Sanchez
Synopsis: Eli Goldstein might be the only teenager looking forward to earning minimum wage at his objectively terrible summer job. Not only will he be working at the kitschy roadside museum he loves, he’ll finally have the down payment for his top surgery with a first-class surgeon.
But the museum really is a late-stage capitalist hellscape, and Eli’s co-workers—led by his irritatingly self-righteous and annoyingly attractive school rival, Efraín—plan to unionize. With his sanity and safety at risk on the job, Eli knows he has to join their campaign.
If he and Efraín can stop bickering long enough to keep their ragtag union together, they might actually have a shot. But when management begins to grow suspicious, Eli will have to make a choice: Is he willing to stand in solidarity with his friends and the boy he’s starting to fall for, even if it means risking his job and the key to his life-changing surgery?
Release date: May 26th
7. Breakfast and Break-ins by Elle Kleos
Synopsis: In sunny Los Angeles, there are millions of people hustling every minute of every day, but for Detective Ashland Sterling, failure is not an option. Not this time. When the wealthy owner of the Reinhardt hotel is murdered in a break-in gone wrong, nothing is going to stop Ash from catching the culprit. Not the suspicious employees, not the creditors circling the hotel, and certainly not the mysterious PI who is as infuriating as she is attractive.
Charlie Roman might be a private investigator and chronic bisexual disaster about three seconds away from being evicted at any given time, but as long as she can still afford a breakfast sandwich in the morning, things could be worse. Her lack of funds certainly won’t stop her from taking on yet another pro bono case to find her childhood friend’s missing watch before the hotel he’s working at gets shut down. If that means Charlie has to hang around the new detective with an attitude problem and legs for days, that’s just a happy accident.
Between high-stakes interrogations and late-night rendezvous, these detectives will discover all the dangerous secrets the Reinhardt Hotel is hiding. And maybe Ash and Charlie will even start a few rumors of their own along the way…
Release date: May 22nd
8. Marooned by Ben Chalfin
Synopsis: Ryan Levine is a contestant on the newest season of Marooned, the hit reality show where eighteen people are stranded on a desert island, competing in challenges and voting each other out until one is left to claim the million-dollar prize. All he cares about is bringing home the money, and he’s determined to not let anything stand in his way.
That all changes when he meets Cole Walker, his handsome tribemate with a ready smile and a quick laugh–and, of course, a perfect body. In other words, Cole is a distraction, and that’s the one thing Ryan can’t afford, not when the slightest mistake could get him voted out. Will he be able to navigate the twists and turns of the game and win the million? Or will he go home with nothing but empty pockets and a broken heart?
Release date: May 26th
9. Black Hole Guns For Hire by Friday Strout
Synopsis: The empire made them soldiers. The void made them rebels.
Lina Bho captains a beat-up transport at the galaxy’s ragged edge, running aid missions with veterans who’d rather fight than follow orders. She left the United Earth Marines behind, with its politics, its prejudice, and the boot she wore too long. Her Chief, Zuri Josmith, keeps the platoon sharp and the Captain honest. She’s also the only woman who’s ever made Lina want to take orders.
A black hole is swallowing their star system. No one is coming.
When Lina discovers the United Earth deliberately stranded nine billion people to wipe out a rebel stronghold, she turns her crew against the government that raised them. Pirates stalk her vessel; alien predators nest in her cargo hold; and her hired guns look to her for a plan she hasn’t finished writing.
They’ll fight their way out or die as the Black Hole Guns.
A jump-capable freighter at the sector’s edge is their only ride out. Between Lina and escape sits a pirate captain with a personal vendetta, alien cyborg predators, and her own unraveling mind. Zuri can hold her together or hold the crew together. She can’t do both.
Release date: May 28th
10. Second Helpings by Dylan Morrison
Synopsis: Sam Adelson has spent over a decade pouring his heart into Silverman’s Deli, the beloved Cleveland institution his family has run for seventy-five years. So when a scathing review tanks his business, Sam develops some strong feelings about the critic responsible. Fantasies involving expired clam juice may be involved.
Then Jake Thompson walks through the door—Sam’s first love, the one who got away. Reconnecting after twelve years feels like coming home, and having Jake around makes even the chaos of saving the deli feel manageable. But Sam’s fought to move on from the disaster that tore them apart, and now pretending it never happened is becoming more impossible every day.
As Sam falls harder than he ever meant to, Jake’s past begins to catch up with both of them. Some recipes are worth perfecting, even when the first attempt was a disaster—Sam just hopes this one doesn’t blow up in his face…
Release date: May 21st
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays on Fangirlish with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community. Posts are ONLY published on Fangirlish.
