For Part II, click here.
Emma and the Love Spell by Meredith Ireland (MG)
The Cuffing Game (YA) and Love in Focus (F/F Romance) by Lyla Lee
Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min (YA)
I Leave it Up To You by Jinwoo Chong (Litfic)
Something Close to Nothing by Tom Pyun (Litfic)
Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander
I Think They Love You by Julian Winters
I’m So (Not) Over You by Kosoko Jackson
Never Been Kissed by Timothy Janovsky
Ancient History by A.J. Truman
Bonus: Coming up in June, Love is a Contact Sport by Frederick Smith
Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Mars Lauderbaugh’s Hollow Magic, a queer YA Fantasy releasing August 11, 2026 from Feiwel & Friends! Here’s the story:
Seventeen-year-old Rosefinch has been traveling along the weather-beaten coast for two years on a quest to find a witch strong enough to help her control her magic. Her magic is volatile, hard to wield, and Rosefinch is tired of the pain of magical backlash. When she’s directed to the sea-side village of Harp, she discovers the ancient castle of a long-lost Witch Queen with the inhabitants long gone; the only remaining soul is a knight encased in solid ice guarding the door.
When she attempts to lift the curse, she frees Thierry, a human with no memory of who they are, wrapped in cursed magic so strong that they cannot leave the castle. Thierry is soft spoken, strong, and in possession of a fey sword that should be impossible for them to have. But they have secrets of their own, as do other members of the Harp family still hidden within the walls.
Harp castle was left in ruins for a reason, and Rosefinch must find a way to cure the curse or lose Thierry—and the chance to learn the truth about the Witch Queen—forever.
And here’s the stunning cover, done by the incredibly talented author/artist themself!
Buy it: Bookshop | Charlie’s Queer Books | Always Here Books | Third Place Books
The Queen Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu
The Best At It and Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
Where the Lost Ones Go by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Emma and the Love Spell by Meredith Ireland
Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome back queer YA icon Lee Wind to reveal the cover of his upcoming YA, A Different Kind of Enemy, which releases May 19th from Interlude Press/Duet Books! Here’s the story:
Perfect for YA fans of Heartstopper and Red, White & Royal Blue, A Different Kind of Enemy is the sequel to the Gay teen globe-trotting adventure Kirkus Reviews called “Thrilling. Positively thrilling.”
An anomaly in space has stopped in Earth’s path in a way not accounted for by astronomical physics. Is it aliens? With only six days before inevitable contact, newly married teen spies Nicolas “Nico” Hall and Samuel “Sam” Solomon are enlisted to investigate—each young man sworn to secrecy even from the other.
Nico is in the field looking for answers and tracking a mysterious Person of Interest. Sam is working first contact scenarios on the thirteenth floor of a Manhattan building that doesn’t officially have a thirteenth floor. And they’re both wondering if the rules of love change if it’s the end of the world.
As humanity slips into the grip of alien invasion panic, Nico and Sam realize they’re going to have to work together to save the world—and their marriage.
And here’s the gorgeously bold cover by CB Messer!
Buy it: Amazon
LEE WIND is not currently a spy. Mind you, he never was a spy. But he did spend fourteen years undercover (what most people call “in the closet”). So now he writes the books that would have changed his life as a Gay Jewish kid and teen. Lee is the award-winning author of nonfiction for ages eleven and up (No Way, They Were Gay? and The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie ), picture books (including Like That Eleanor and Love of the Half-Eaten Peach ), and YA novels (Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill and A Different Kind of Brave ). To help go on the offense against book banning, Lee cocreated the national campaign We Are Stronger than Censorship, which buys and donates two books to offset every one book challenge. He also runs the popular blog I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? —words his teenage self only dreamed of saying. Visit Lee online at leewind.org.
Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frazier, Val Wise, and Oscar O. Jupiter
Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa
Lovely Recipe by Maya Rose Nino
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
Basil and Oregano by Melissa Capriglione
‘s UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT, part of the Penalty Box hockey romance series, in which a tightly wound, picture-perfect all-star is forced to babysit a bad boy waiver pickup, on a team decimated by injury, where it’s unclear what could be more devastating—losing the season, or losing their hearts, to Leyla Erkan at Carina Press, in a two-book deal, by Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency (world English).
The Ink Witch by Steph Cherrywell
Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker
Magical Princess Harriet by Leiah Moser
Glitch Girl! by Rainie Oet
Joy, to the World by Lisa Bunker and Kai Shappley
Bonus: These are all prose novels, but for graphic novels, check out The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith and The Ojja-Wojja by Magdalene Visaggio and Jenn St-Onge
These are M/F Romances where half the couple is bi. For part I (and links to bi4bi posts), click here.
Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson
People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young
For One Night Only by Jessica James
Unromance by Erin Connor
Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
Maybe this is possession; maybe this is truly what it is to be haunted.
There’s a ghost hanging out in Drew Larpin’s new room. He’s a fellow Pine Hollow high schooler named Liam, and technically, it’s his old room. Now he’s stuck haunting it―unsure of how he died or why he hasn’t moved on to the afterlife. Drew knows she has to help him. . . . She has to figure out how to resolve Liam’s earthly regrets. Otherwise, he’ll degrade―just like any ghost who hangs around the living for too long―until all that’s left is a hungry, mindless husk of who he used to be.
So, Drew interviews Liam about his life, getting the rundown on her new classmates in the process. She slowly falls into Liam’s old group of friends, experiencing their grief with the painful knowledge that Liam is watching it all play out from right beside her. Things get more complicated when Drew realizes she and Liam share a hopeless attraction to valedictorian-to-be, walking sunshine Hannah Sullivan. Liam was Hannah’s best friend in life, and at first, he doesn’t seem to mind being Drew’s wingman in death. But his unrequited feelings boil under the surface. The spectral energy cast off by his emotions is so powerful that it catches the attention of something truly sinister.
It’s lurking in the woods, watching Liam, attracted by the intensity of his grief and frustration. Whatever this “Watcher” has in store for him, it’s a fate far worse than death. Drew is determined to save him from it. But with Hannah slowly catching on that Liam might not be totally gone, the tangled mess of everyone’s emotions only draws the Watcher closer. It becomes a race against the clock to help Liam come to terms with his own death―even if it means shattering the fragile, painful normalcy his loved ones have built in his absence.
Continue reading Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: January-June 2026
