Exclusive Cover+Excerpt Reveal: The Howling Dark by Brittany M. Willows

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of The Howling Dark by Brittany M. Willows, a bi m/m werewolf romance with aroace, pan, and trans rep releasing November 9th! Here’s the story:

Sylvain is an eclipse-born werewolf who knows neither his bestial form nor the post-nuclear wilds his kind hail from. Raised on the orbital research station Zodiac, he’s grown accustomed to a life of peaceful predictability. Though fantasies of visiting his birthplace may be out of reach due to medical restrictions, he has a loving boyfriend and all of his essential needs are met. What more could he want?

In the opinion of his elder brother, the answer is: everything.

Believing them abducted as children, Illia has always sworn to someday return with his brother to the mountains they were taken from. And when a peculiar turn in Sylvain’s health brings to light an ugly truth, someday becomes now—whether Sylvain is ready for it or not.

Soon enough, the brothers find themselves fugitives on the planet’s surface, pursued by the government and bloodthirsty huntsmen, and under the unexpected guidance of the rebel Sundogs. All that lies between them and home is miles of unfamiliar countryside, toxic wastelands, a parasitic garden of death . . . and the question of how much they’re willing to risk in order to get there.

And here’s the cool cover, designed by the author herself!

Cover illustration for The Howling Dark, featuring the protagonist front and center, facing the viewer with a neutral expression. He is crouching amidst leafless, snow-covered branches, a birch spear clutched in his right hand, wearing a green parka and a brown turtleneck sweater. He is fair-skinned, has long half-black half-white hair, and a scar over his left eye.

Buy it: Amazon

But wait, there’s more! Read on for the first chapter of The Howling Dark!

Continue reading Exclusive Cover+Excerpt Reveal: The Howling Dark by Brittany M. Willows

Fave Five: New Sapphic Sports Romance, 2026 Edition

For 2025 titles, click here.

Set Point by Meg Jones (Tennis)

Half Court Shot by Kimani Mae (Basketball)

Make Your Move by Melissa Brayden (F1)

Stick Around by Eliza Lentzski (Hockey)

Running Home to You by Samantha Saldivar (Softball)

Bonus: These are all F/F, but for an F/X Romance with a nonbinary lesbian out later this year, check out Two Can Play That Game by Zakiya N. Jamal

Double Bonus: These are all Adult, but in YA, try Smash or Pass by Birdie Schae (YA, Volleyball)

Fave Five: M/M Romances Starring College Athletes

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei (Hockey)

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa (Soccer)

See You at the Finish Line by Zac Hammett (Rowing)

Rush by Nyrae Dawn (Football)

The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen (Hockey)

Rainbow heart

Bonus: Coming in 2027, How to Break His Heart by Matthew Hubbard (Hockey)

Exclusive Cover Reveal: The Forest Bleeds by Rachel Kitch

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of The Forest Bleeds by Rachel Kitch, a Sapphic Horror debut releasing October 13th from Union Square Books! Here’s the story:

Inspired by Appalachian and Southeast Asian folklore, a witch and her classmates are kidnapped by a handsome pharmaceutical billionaire and told to heal him or die, in this speculative horror debut with a sapphic romantic twist.

Saige Chambers, Arcane Bioengineering student and blood witch, is constantly anxious and chronically over-prepared. When Saige and her fellow witch doctoral candidates depart for a conference, she plans and anticipates every last detail. Except – she’s not prepared for the moment their bus turns off the highway and takes them to a remote mansion in the Appalachian Mountains, the gates sealing shut behind them.

The mansion’s owner, Arius Medea, issues a simple mandate: fix his injured, rotting leg or die. But it’s no ordinary injury – the flesh melts off the bone, emitting waves of foul magic that set Saige’s blood alight. Saige’s colleagues want to fight back and escape. Saige thinks their best chance is to fix him fast and get out. As tensions rise, Saige finds herself growing closer to Vaishnavi Sri, a poison witch and Saige’s long-term crush. But first impressions can be misleading, and as Saige’s reluctant attraction to Arius grows, she begins to wonder if there’s a better life waiting for her in the walls of this mansion.

But, as one by one, Saige’s colleagues start to disappear, Saige realizes that dying may not be the worst option – because there are far worse fates lurking in the woods.

And here’s the creeptastic cover, designed by Beth Steidle!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

RACHEL KITCH is a mixed-race Thai American speculative horror author with a love of writing unsettling, creepy books that still have a spark of light. Rachel has her master’s in design from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s from West Virginia University. As a generation 1.5 immigrant, Rachel loves to blend her heritage and incorporate Thai and Appalachian folklore into her projects. When not writing, she can be found designing author brands and websites, or reading books on her Kindle that would kill a Victorian child. Keep up with her at www.rachelkitch.com or follow her on Instagram @rachkitchwrites.

Exclusive Cover Reveal: From Beijing, With Love by Bei Lin

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of From Beijing, With Love by Bei Lin, a contemporary gay romance releasing September 29th from Alcove Press! Here’s the story:

Daniel Wu’s life in Amsterdam is far from spontaneous. When his boyfriend dumps him on the same day a work mishap lands him on leave, he breaks all his rules by impulsively escaping to Beijing to visit his best friend Poppy.

There’s just one hitch—Poppy isn’t there.

Alone in the foreign city his late father grew up in, Daniel wants nothing more than to fly home early. After all, running away is what he does best. But then Poppy signs him up for a tour of the Great Wall.

Enter Yang Li, the PhD student moonlighting as a tour guide. A transplant to Beijing, Yang has never felt at home in the bustling capital—or with himself. Cynical and disciplined, he isn’t the least impressed when Daniel shows up to their tour hours late. The tour is painful in more ways than one, but at least it’s a one-time ordeal.

Then life pushes them together again and again, until time spent together over stunning sights and mind-blowing eats feels less like vacation and more like finally finding home.

From Beijing, to Xi’an, to Tokyo, will they confront their own ghosts—past and present—to find their happily-ever-after?

And here’s the gorgeous cover by Débora Islas!

Two men walk on the Great Wall of China, smiling at each other, their hands touching.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | PRH

Bei Lin is a Chinese Canadian writer based in Vancouver. She has lived on three continents and visited over thirty countries. Travel and food are her passions, along with giving her characters their well-deserved happily ever after. When she’s not writing, she’s daydreaming about her next trip and eating chocolate cake.

Happy Arab American Heritage Month 2026!

It’s Arab American Heritage Month, and we’re celebrating with books starring protagonists of Arab descent, authored by writers of Arab descent, or both! For even more recs, check out last year’s post.

Middle Grade Fiction

Wallflower by Iasmin Omar Ata

For as long as Marlena can remember, she has seen flowers growing on everyone she meets: personalized poppies and daisies and roses of every color that give away what their owners truly feel. Invisible to the rest of the world, the flowers have always felt too overwhelming, too much for Marlena to take in when they don’t always match what their owner shows. She’s long since given up convincing anyone else that they’re there.

Until she meets Ashe, a charming transfer student who can somehow see these mysterious flowers, too. Unfortunately for Marlena, Ashe wants nothing to do with her. But as their thorny connection blooms, so do hidden secrets buried years ago. In this stunning graphic novel where dreams are woven into reality and not everything is as it seems, Marlena and Ashe must unfold the truth together, no matter where it may lead.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy Arab American Heritage Month 2026!

Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2026!

Today is Trans Day of Visibility, and we’re celebrating as we do by highlighting a whole bunch of wonderful trans books! For even more recs, check out previous years’ posts.

Children’s Fiction

Sebastian Metzger Solves a Sticky Situation by Kyle Lukoff and Kat Fajardo

This is the 11th book in the The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class series

Meet the kids in Mrs. Z’s wacky and wonderful third grade class! Sebastian Metzger is overjoyed when he checks out a brand-new book on octopodes from the school library, but everything goes awry when the book gets ruined.

Sebastian Metzger loves learning new things, especially about animals. He’s actually been experiencing many new things recently: third grade marks his first year living as a boy. Some things don’t change, though. His imaginary friend, Jimothy the chipmunk, is always by his side!

When Sebastian spots a new book in the school library on octopodes, he just knows he has to check it out. The only problem is: this book is so new, the librarian hasn’t even prepared it to be checked out! Sebastian promises to take great care of it, and the librarian makes an exception.

But when his little sister accidentally ruins the book, Sebastian is devastated. Will Sebastian find a way to save the library book and redeem himself?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N

Continue reading Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2026!

March 2026 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction

Rowan Brighton Brown‘s WHITE TRASH WITCHCRAFT, a queer Appalachian horror in which a recent graduate spurns all her inheritance—the penchant for pills, the blood-soaked family farm, and the ancient magic—until infectious iron rusts through the community and she must choose which monsters to slay and which to become, to Alexandra Aceves at Holiday House, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2027, by Alexander Slater while at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

Continue reading March 2026 Deal Announcements

Queering up your shelf, one rec at a time!