For Part I, click here.
The Siren’s Kiss by Leslie Vedder (YA)
A Prince Among Pirates by Katie Abdou (YA)
Devils Like Us by L. T. Thompson (YA)
Rears & Vices by E.M. Caro
Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland
Fave Five: Books for Fans of Our Flag Means Death, Part II
Exclusive Cover Reveal: Exquisite Decay by Xan van Rooyen
Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Exquisite Decay by Xan van Rooyen, a trans YA sci-fi thriller releasing from Tiny Ghost Press on December 1, 2026! Here’s the story:
Rian Gray wasn’t born in the slums of Axis City.Â
They were left there to rot.
When their estranged grandmother dies, Rian is plucked from the gutter and thrust into the upper echelons of society and the hallowed halls of Curzon Academy. The opportunity of a lifetime to some, for Rian, this will be a tactical infiltration. Their mission: dismantle the corporatocracy that destroyed their family. But to burn it all down, they need access, and their inheritance comes with strings. Rian will have to excel at both the rigorous academics and the complex social politics of the elite school.
Enter Baz Hallward, a reclusive yet brilliant scholarship student, who is instantly enthralled by the new transfer, and who agrees to tutor Rian if they’ll submit to uploading their memories through an AI cyborg as part of Baz’s final science project; a project which will guarantee him success and acceptance from the uppercrust.
As Rian navigates this treacherous yet seductive world, their thirst for vengeance is threatened by the mind-altering allure of the privilege they swore to destroy. And with Baz’s experiments chipping away at Rian’s mind, their humanity is at risk of decay.
In a city where identity is a commodity and wealth is the measure of human worth, can Rian tear down a corrupt system before the world they despise consumes them entirely?
Dark academia meets cyberpunk, in this visceral and immersive, queer retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray from the visionary author of My Name Is Magic and Waypoint Seven.
And here’s the killer cover by Cael Lyons!
Xan van Rooyen is an award-winning autistic and non-binary storyteller from South Africa, currently living in Finland. Xan has a Master’s degree in music, and–when not teaching–enjoys conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. You can find Xan’s stories in the likes of Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Daily Science Fiction, and Galaxy’s Edge among others. They have also written several books including Waypoint Seven (Mirari Press), and My Name is Magic (Tiny Ghost Press). Xan is also part of the Sauútiverse, an African writer’s collective, with stories in the multi award-nominated anthology Mothersound as well as the forthcoming Sauúti Terrors anthology (Flame Tree Press). Xan has also had a number of non-fiction articles published, which you can find in the Locus Award winning Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction (Bloomsbury, Australia) among others. You can find Xan online here: https://linktr.ee/xanvanrooyen
Fave Five: New LGBTQ Murder Mysteries, 2026 Edition
Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli
A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas DiDomizio
Don’t Cross Mo Ellery by Birdie Horne
All We Hide by Robyn Gigl
The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev AC Rosen
Bonus: These are all either standalones or series openers, but for two series continuations, continue Tom Ryan’s Treasure Hunters Club series with Return to Breakneck Island, and Holly Stars’ Misty Divine series with Missing in SoHo
Queer Villains, Not Just Victims: a Guest Post by Serial Husbands author Travis Warman
Today on the site, we’re welcoming Travis Warman, author of Serial Husbands, to discuss writing moral complexity in queer characters, particularly as it relates to this thriller set prior to Obergefell. Before we get to the post, here’s the story:
Michael Denton and Ryan Hayes are the perfect neighbors. They are also judge, jury, and executioner. The two devoted husbands have spent years secretly hunting the predators who walk free from courtrooms, logging every kill in a heavily encrypted dark web archive called The Ledger.
When a sixteen-year-old girl goes missing in their town, a local detective starts working the timeline, finding gaps in the story the town believes. As the investigation gets closer to home, Michael and Ryan find their system unraveling, forcing them to protect what they have built at all costs.
Serial Husbands is a character-driven psychological thriller featuring a dark, LGBTQ-centered narrative. It blends suburban realism with high-stakes suspense, exploring themes of vigilantism, the cost of secrecy, and dual identities.
Buy it: Amazon
And now, here’s the post!
Fave Five: Adult M/M Romances with Black MCs, Part II
For Part I, click here.
I Think They Love You and Last First Kiss by Julian Winters
American Love Story by Adriana Herrera
I’m So (Not) Over You by Kosoko Jackson
More to Love by Georgina Kiersten
One and Done and Love is a Contact Sport by Frederick Smith
New Releases: June 30, 2026
Young Adult
Winners & Liars by Aleema Onotoni
Derin’s acceptance into Cambridge University is the end of an era—just not the one she expected.
When she and her ultra-competitive Uni prep group, the Kenfield Set, were first invited to Professor Darnley’s summer ball, they planned on celebrating the group’s success, surrounded by the riches of his historical Kenfield estate—not kicking off the festivities with the professor’s will reading.
But when the Darnleys’ aristocratic children are disinherited, the students are offered the opportunity of a lifetime: compete in a Victorian, literary-inspired inheritance competition to be named the new heir—winner takes all!
For Derin, it’s a chance to help her working-class family. But the remaining Darnleys won’t take losing their stately home and its multimillion-pound inheritance lying down. And added to the mix, a mysterious note is slipped under Derin’s door alluding to a dark family secret lying in wait.
Now Derin must balance the cutthroat games; scheming relatives; and a cute Kenfield intern amid her dawning realization that the history of this inheritance might be soaked in lies . . . and blood.
June 2026 Deal Announcements
Adult Fiction
Alt-pop country singer-songwriter ‘s EVERYWHERE ISN’T TEXAS, following a queer used electronics store employee in 1980s small-town Texas who is drawn into an alternate dimension through a mysterious TV; blending speculative, horror, sci-fi, and western elements to explore questions of identity and belonging, to Pilar Garcia-Brown at Dutton, in a pre-empt, by Julie Flanagan at CAA (NA).
Fave Five: Queer Spy Novels
The Torqued Man by Peter Mann
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
Vera Kelly by Rosalie Knecht
The Tuxedo Society by Paul Rudnick
The Perfume Thief by Timothy Schaffert
Exclusive Cover Reveal: In Your Starlight by Marina Baker
Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of In Your Starlight by Marina Baker, a lesbian romcom releasing December 15, 2026 from Contrarian Publishing! Here’s the story:
Engaged to the supposed love of her life and starring in a major motion picture, Regan Marshall was supposed to have it all. But her rising star falls abruptly when her fiancé’s cheating scandal breaks and his fans turn on her, crash landing her into Chester Ridge, the small hometown that she hasn’t visited properly in years. And everything is the same yet so, so different.
When her childhood best friend gets engaged, he asks Regan to be his best man. On one condition: Regan must play nice with their former best friend, Maia Fischer. Maia, who now runs her grandfather’s bakery. Maia, who she had a falling out with the night of high school graduation. Maia, who Regan has been running away from ever since.
Forced into their friend’s wedding party together, Regan and Maia slowly begin mending fences and discover there might even be something more between them. But when Hollywood begins calling Regan’s name again, she must decide whether to risk everything she’s been building in Chester Ridge or to let go of the string pulling her back toward the big screen.
And here’s the dreamy cover by Emily Nolan!
Buy it: Amazon
Marina Baker has lived in Ventura, California their entire life, and they have been writing for the majority of that time. She is a lesbian interested in telling sapphic love stories, as she believes the romance genre could use more queer love stories. Queer love and queer joy are such a light in the stories that people tell, and she is honored to be a part of LGBTQ+ storytelling. Their hope is that young queer people can look to their writing as a source of comfort, just as they have.
Fave Five: M/M Standalone Romantasy
For more m/m Romantasy, click here.
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers
Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland
Swordcrossed by Freya Marske
Bromantasy by Máire Roche
