Exclusive Cover Reveal: The Siren’s Kiss by Leslie Vedder

Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome Leslie Vedder to reveal the cover of her upcoming Sapphic YA Fantasy, The Siren’s Kiss, releasing September 1st from Amulet/Abrams! Here’s the story:

Perfect for fans of Daughter of the Pirate King and Our Flag Means Death comes a swashbuckling YA queer romantasy about a mermaid and a pirate who reluctantly join forces to find the Sea Witch.

Dead Shot Rayleigh has spent the last three years bound to a cursed ship after crossing the sea god Red-Handed Roger. Her only hope for freedom is to find his long-ago stolen heart—which means taking on his sworn enemy, the Sea Witch.

But Rayleigh’s not the only one with a score to settle… Fiery mermaid Maren is also searching for the Sea Witch, determined to bargain for the soul of her lost brother.

When Rayleigh and Maren’s separate missions bring them together, sparks fly, and all their plans go up in flames. Now they’ll have to join forces to survive.

Find the Sea Witch. Steal the heart. And don’t fall for your enemy, no matter how irresistible she is. How hard can it be?

And here’s the gorgeous cover, designed by Micah Fleming with art by Gilded Ruin!

Book cover for The Siren’s Kiss by Leslie Vedder. A mermaid with red-tipped white hair and a crimson tail stares up at a pirate with dark hair and a scar across her cheek. The pirate holds a rope on the deck of a ship, with the sunset ocean in the background.

Buy links to come!

Leslie Vedder (she/her) is a queer ace author who loves books with girl adventurers and heroes! She grew up on fantasy books, anime, fanfiction and the Lord of the Rings movies, and her debut YA The Bone Spindle was an indie bestseller. She lives in Colorado with her wife and her spoiled house cat Fox Mulder, who believes the treats are out there.

Fave Five: South Asian LGBTQ YA, Part II

For Part I, click here.

Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia

Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by Anahita Kartik

Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar

As Long As You Loathe Me by Swati Hegde

Ramin Abbas Has MAJOR Questions by Ahmad Saber

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Nat & Cami’s Guide to Running an Undercover GSA by Karis Rogerson

Today on the site, I’m delighted to welcome Karis Rogerson to reveal the cover of her debut f/f YA Romance, Nat & Cami’s Guide to Running an Undercover GSA, which releases June 23rd! Here’s the story:

Casey McQuiston meets Heartstopper in this sapphic young adult romance.

Cami is a 15-year-old lesbian, one of the few out queer students at her conservative boarding school for international students in Italy. She just wants to focus on getting her paintings in a student gallery and kickstarting a vaunted art career—but first, she’ll have to survive the next two-and-a-half years of bullying. Seeking respite from her roommate’s cruelty one night, she hides out in a bathroom—only she’s not the only one there.

Nat is a senior, closeted even from herself, whose homophobic, missionary parents are pressuring her to win valedictorian. A year younger than her peers at 16, she’s still the head of her class, the fastest runner on the cross country team, and the captain of the girls’ soccer team, but her depression and insomnia keep her up all night. She takes refuge in the ground-floor bathroom where Cami shows up one night.

As they spend time together over the following nights and Cami shows Nat how poorly the school treats queer people, the two girls concoct a mildly hare-brained scheme: to create an undercover Genders & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) where queer students and allies can bond. They don’t expect so many kids to find a home with them.

And they certainly don’t expect to fall for each other.

And here’s the adorable cover, illustrated by Olya and designed by Ihor at GetCovers!

Book cover for NAT AND CAMI'S GUIDE TO RUNNING AN UNDERCOVRER GSA by Karis Rogerson. Features an illustration of two girls sitting at a table with flowers and two glasses filled with an orange liquid. On the right, the girl has short brown hair and a blue outfit. On the left, the girl has long blonde hair and a pink dress. They are under a tree.

Buy it: Amazon

Add to TBR: Goodreads | Storygraph

Karis Rogerson (she/her) is a writer, reader, and podcaster who was born in the South Carolina Midlands, raised in Northeastern Italy, schooled in the German Black Forest and Kentucky Bluegrass, and now lives in Brooklyn, on Lenni Lenape land. She has an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from VCFA and is represented by Eric Smith at Neighborhood Literary. Karis writes queer romance for all ages, as well as poetry, personal essays, and select journalism. NAT & CAMI’S GUIDE TO RUNNING AN UNDERCOVER GSA, her debut novel, releases June 23, 2026. She’s a co-host of the podcast The Write Way of Life and host of Publishers Brunch (with Karis0, and you can find more at https://www.karisrogerson.com.

Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day 2026!

Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day! In celebration, here are a whole bunch of books that center queer girls and women in sports! (For even more recs, check out these past posts!)

This post is sponsored in honor of the audiobook release of Out of Our League, out now from Recorded Books!

Buy it: Libro.fm | Audible | Apple

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Continue reading Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day 2026!

January 2026 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction

Author of WAKE UP, NAT & DARCY and YOURS FOR THE SEASON Kate Cochrane‘s PULLING THE GOALIE, book three in the Puck Struck series, a sapphic hockey romance in which a championship-winning goalie agrees to train a Hollywood actress for her breakout role in a sports biopic, hoping it will help her overcome a fear of returning to the ice after a nasty injury—until sparks start flying, complicating things even further, to Leyla Erkan at Harlequin, for publication in winter 2027, by Paige Terlip at Starling Literary + Media (world English).

Continue reading January 2026 Deal Announcements

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Spells to Mend Broken Hearts by Marissa Macy

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Spells to Mend Broken Hearts by Marissa Macy, a contemporary MG (slash YA crossover) releasing from Scholastic on September 15, 2026! Here’s the story:

Alex is pretty sure the universe is conspiring against her. Friendless in a new town, with her parents constantly fighting, Alex spends her birthday unpacking alone when she comes across her grandmother’s book of small magic. Alex doesn’t believe in that stuff, but she has nothing to lose. So, she does the ritual from On Small Magics titled To Attract A Friend.

It’s just a coincidence that Tess happens to crash into her life the very next day…right? Their friendship forms fast and strong and the way Tess makes Alex’s heart flutter definitely feels like some kind of magic. Together, they make their way through the spell book healing Tess’s recently broken heart, trying to mend Alex’s broken family.
But soon the book starts to turn on Alex when her parents file for divorce. Then Tess decides to use On Small Magics try to win back her ex-boyfriend, and Alex is forced to face a truth she had not considered. Maybe the magic she felt with Tess was more than friendship . . .

And here’s the adorable cover, designed by Maeve Norton!

Cover for Spells to Mend Broken Hearts. The title is in large white letters against a pink/orange. It is surrounded by tarot cards, crystals, and star confetti. A denim tote bag at the bottom holds a rose, charms, and a black cat plush. The author's name -- Marissa Macy -- is written on the bag.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | BookPeople

(c) Amy Wolf

Marissa Macy is an author, filmmaker, and improviser based in Austin, TX. SPELLS TO MEND BROKEN HEARTS is her debut novel. In addition to her fiction, Marissa has been making DIY films since 2011, including the award-winning film BED EATER: THE MOVIE and the forthcoming feature EASY DIGGING. If she’s not lost in a story, Marissa can be found recommending movies to people at We Luv Video, a non-profit video rental store that she helps manage.

Authors in Conversation: Victoria Koops and Cale Plett

Today on the site, I’m delighted to welcome Victoria Koops and Cale Plett, authors of YA Romances Who We Are in Real Life and Wavelength, respectively, both with Groundwood Books/House of Anansi. Please welcome Victoria and Cale!

Cale: I think it’s important that people know that our original transcript was 12,000 words long, and that we cut it down by 80 percent. We really said “let’s fix it in post.”

Victoria: We were meant to have a podcast instead. So everyone can be subjected to our tangents.

Cale: But here, with only some tangents, is our conversation. Starting right in with our actual questions.

Continue reading Authors in Conversation: Victoria Koops and Cale Plett

Fave Five: Sports Nonfiction

This post is sponsored in honor of the paperback and audiobook releases of Our of Our League, available now wherever those formats are sold!

Bookshop | Libro.fm | Amazon

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Athlete is Agender ed. by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby (MG)

Let Us Play: Winning the Battle for Gender Diverse Athletes by Harrison Browne and Rachel Browne

The Yards Between Us by R.K. Russell

The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports by Michael Waters

Coming Up for Air by Tom Daley

Fave Five: Novels with Korean American Protags, Part II

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)

Queering up your shelf, one rec at a time!