For Part I, click here.
You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
Check Your Work by Skye Kilaen
A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria
Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur
Today on the site I’m thrilled to be revealing the cover for Derek Milman’s upcoming dark academia YA thriller, A Darker Mischief, which releases from Scholastic on July 2, 2024! Here’s the story:
The Honeys meets The Secret History in a work of dark academia like no other — a boarding school thriller about a queer teen from Mississippi who finds himself swept into a world of old money, privilege, and the secret society at the heart of it all.
Continue reading Exclusive Cover + Excerpt Reveal: A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman
Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Look No Further by Rioghnach Robinson and Siofra Robinson
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Echo After Echo by AR Capetta
Bonus: Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler is set half in NYC, half in LA, and Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land is set half in NYC, half in the Dominican Republic
Today on the site, I’m delighted to be revealing the cover of Darkhearts author James L. Sutter’s The Ghost of Us, a YA romance billed as Ten Things I Hate About You meets Ghost that releases from Wednesday Books on June 11, 2024! Here’s the story:
Eighteen-year-old ghost hunter Cara is determined to escape life as a high school outcast by finding proof of the supernatural. Yet when she stumbles upon the spirit of Aiden, a popular upperclassman who died the previous year, she learns that ghosts have goals of their own. In the wake of his death, Aiden’s little sister, Meredith, has become a depressed recluse, and Aiden can’t pass on into the afterlife until he knows she’ll be okay. Believing that nothing pulls someone out of a slump like romance, he makes Cara a deal: seduce Meredith out of her shell and take her to prom, and Aiden will give Cara all the evidence she needs for fame. If not, well—no dates, no ghost.
Wooing the standoffish Meredith isn’t going to be easy, however. With Aiden’s coaching, Cara slowly manages to win Meredith over—but finds herself accidentally falling for her in the process. Worse yet: as Meredith gets happier and Aiden’s mission nears completion, his ghost begins to fade. Can Cara continue to date Meredith under false pretenses, especially if it means Aiden will vanish forever? Or should she tell Meredith the truth, and risk both of them hating her? And either way, will she lose her only shot at proving ghosts are real?
And here’s the hauntingly romantic cover, designed by Kerri Resnick with art by Sivan Karim!
James L. Sutter is a co-creator of the best-selling Pathfinder and Starfinder roleplaying games. He’s the author of the young adult romance novel Darkhearts, as well as the fantasy novels Death’s Heretic and The Redemption Engine. His short stories have appeared in Nightmare, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, the #1 Amazon best-seller Machine of Death, and more. James lives in Seattle, where he’s performed with musical acts ranging from metalcore to musical theater.
Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis (Uruguay)
Brickmakers by Selva Almada (Argentina)
The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel (Brazil)
Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk (Argentina)
Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener (Peru)
Bonus: While a fantasy novel, The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz is set in a Venezuelan- and Colombian-inspired world.
Today on the site we’re revealing the cover of Girls Night by I.S. Belle, a Sapphic YA Fight Club releasing from Tiny Ghost Press on April 16, 2024! Here’s the story:
Gossip queen ALEX longs to be seen.
Cheerleader TULSI is sick of cutting people on her sharp heart.
New kid CLEMENTINE can’t escape the violence inside.
And wallflower SUNJU is tired of keeping quiet.
When a twist of fate brings this unlikely quartet together, sparks and punches fly.
They call it ‘Girls Night,’ an underground fight club that’s girls only.
Soon every girl at Sterling High is showing up to class with bruised knuckles and split lips.
Alex, Tulsi, Clementine, and Sun have never felt more alive. Until demonic head cheerleader, Quentin Scarhill, steps in the ring with her eyes on Alex.
As Quentin’s hold over Alex tightens, Girls Night spirals out of control.
Can they take back the reins before things turn deadly?
And if Girls Night ends will they throw in the towel their newfound friendships?
Here’s the badass cover by Bhavna Madan!
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
I.S. Belle writes dark queer YA books with happy endings. She works in a bookshop and stops to pat dogs in the street. She has a Masters of Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters. You can find her on Tiktok at @i.s.belle_writes and on Instagram @isbelleauthor.
For even more, check out Part I and Part II.
The Song of Us by Kate Fussner (MG)
Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood (YA)
Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane
HERC by Phoenicia Rogerson
Crown of Starlight by Cait Corrain
Bonus: Lion’s Legacy by L.C. Rosen is inspired by Greek history, and The Palace of Eros by Carolina de Robertis isn’t available for preorder yet, but keep it on your radar!
Today on the site, I’m delighted to welcome author and gay blogging pioneer Lee Wind to the site to reveal the cover of A Different Kind of Brave, a romantic YA adventure releasing March 5, 2024 from Duet Books! Here’s the story:
Nicolas “Nico” Hall is sixteen when he escapes from Dr. H’s religious gay reprogramming institute in California. On his own, he assumes one identity after another to avoid recapture as he flees south to Peru, and then Mexico.
Seven days younger than Nico, Samuel “Sam” Jonas Solomon is a privileged Upper West Side only child who idolizes James Bond. When his heart is broken, he vows that, like Bond, he’s never going to trust in love again. Then he meets Nico, and his heart won’t listen to any logic.
Nico’s survived by living only for himself—until his love for Sam has him risking his freedom for others. And as much as Sam wants to be like 007, he discovers that James Bond is a terrible role model.
Together, Nico and Sam set out to free the other teens trapped in Dr. H’s Institute, plunging readers into a globe-trotting, high stakes adventure with the heroic courage of the James Bond movies and the ongoing romance (and queer group of friends) of Heartstopper.
And here’s the inspiring cover by Choi Messer!
Buy it: Amazon
Lee Wind is not currently a spy, but he did spend fourteen years undercover (what most people call “in the closet”). Today he writes the books that would have changed his life as a young gay kid. He is the author of the nonfiction Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection No Way, They Were Gay? and the novel Publisher’s Weekly named a Top Five Independently Published Young Adult Book of 2018, Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill. 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. Lee lives in Los Angeles with his husband of more than twenty-five years, and they have a grown daughter. Visit Lee online at leewind.org.
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala (Genderfluid, YA)
The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco (YA)
Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (YA)
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Tell Me I’m Worthless and Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt, by Alison Rumfitt
Bonus; Coming in 2024: Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin and The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
Double Bonus: These are all novels, but for an anthology, check out Bound in Flesh: an Anthology of Trans Body Horror ed. by Lor Gislason
Today on the site, I’m delighted to be revealing the cover of We Mostly Came Out at Night, a YA anthology edited by Rob Costello and releasing from Running Press Books on May 21, 2024 that’s the perfect intro to spooky season! Here’s the gist:
An empowering cross-genre YA anthology that explores what it means to be a monster, exclusively highlighting trans and queer authors who offer new tales and perspectives on classic monster stories and tropes.
Be not afraid! These monsters, creatures, and beasties are not what they appear. We Mostly Come Out at Night is a YA anthology that reclaims the monstrous for the LGBTQA+ community while exploring how there is freedom and power in embracing the things that make you stand out. Each story centers on both original and familiar monsters and creatures—including Mothman, Carabosse, a girl with thirteen shadows, a living house, werebeasts, gorgons, sirens, angels, and many others—and their stories of love, self-acceptance, resilience, and empowerment. This collection is a bold, transformative celebration of queerness and the creatures that (mostly) go bump in the night.
Contributors include editor Rob Costello, Kalynn Bayron, David Bowles, Shae Carys, Rob Costello, H.E. Edgmon, Michael Thomas Ford, Val Howlett, Brittany Johnson, Naomi Kanakia, Claire Kann, Jonathan Lenore Kastin, Sarah Maxfield, Sam J. Miller, Alexandra Villasante, and Merc Fenn Wolfmoor.
And here’s the creeptastic cover, designed by Frances Soo Ping Chow and illustrated by James Fenner!
Rob Costello (he/him) writes contemporary and speculative fiction with a queer bent for and about young people. He’s the author of the forthcoming short story collection The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times (Lethe Press, 2024). His stories have appeared in The Dark, The NoSleep Podcast, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Hunger Mountain, Stone Canoe, Narrative, and Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions About Small-Town America (Candlewick, 2020). An alumnus of the Millay Colony of the Arts, Rob holds an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and has served on the faculty of the Highlights Foundation since 2014. He lives in upstate New York with his husband and their four-legged overlords.
