This post is sponsored by Dana Hawkins in honor of the release of Any Girl But You:
Incompatible never felt so irresistible
The perfect queer romance for fans of Alexandria Bellefleur and Casey McQuiston who crave a side of holiday magic, small-town charm, and enough steam to melt even the biggest snowstorm.
Young Adult Fiction
The Leaving Room by Amber McBride
For fans of You’ve Reached Sam and If I Stay, a hauntingly beautiful, ultimately hopeful novel-in-verse about a girl in between life and death, by National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.
Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room—a place all young people must phase through when they die. The young are never ready to leave; they need a moment to remember and a Keeper to help their wispy souls along.
When a random door opens and a Keeper named Melody arrives, their souls become entangled. Gospel’s seriousness melts and Melody’s fear of connection fades, but still—are Keepers allowed to fall in love? Now they must find a way out of the Leaving Room and be unafraid of their love. In a novel that takes place over four minutes, National Book Award finalist Amber McBride explores connection, memory, and hope in ways that are unforgettable and poignant.
Witchlore by Emma Hinds
At Demdike College of Witchcraft, Orlando is an outcast. Not just for being the only shapeshifter in a college of witches. Not just for being a really bad shapeshifter, with no control over their magic or when their body switches between male and female forms. But because their girlfriend Elizabeth died – and it was Lando’s fault.
Then charming new boy Bastian arrives with a proposition: he knows a spell that can raise Elizabeth from the dead. It’s dangerous but Lando will try anything. But as Lando’s attraction to Bastian grows, questions start to arise. Who is Bastian? What does he really want? And who will survive the resurrection spell?
I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm by Mariama J. Lockington
High school senior Lyric has always found Christmas to be the hardest season. While other kids got presents and family time by the fire, she was in and out of foster care. An up-and-coming make-up influencer and aspiring cosmetology student who loves a bold lip, Lyric definitely isn’t looking for romance―not when opening up to someone feels a lot like asking to get hurt.
Christmas is Juniper’s favorite time of year. At least, it was, until her moms’ separation. They’re back together now, and Juniper hopes they’ll stay that way. Because if they’re happy, that means Juniper can leave for her gap-year trip after graduation (the one she has yet to tell her parents about, and can’t really afford without their help).
When a chance meeting brings these two opposite personalities together, they should clash . . . only they don’t. Instead Lyric strikes a deal with Juniper: pose as her fake girlfriend in a series of holiday-themed social media posts and they can split the money from her beauty sponsorships. But soon the lines between what’s real and what’s not start to blur. Could it be that sparks are flying both in front of the camera and behind it?
He’s So Possessed with Me by Corey Liu
Ren says he’s in love, but Colin knows better.
Sure, he can’t remember much about how it all began. But he remembers dancing at a club he and Ren were too young to dance in. He remembers the boys who harassed them on their way home. He remembers a ghost emerging from the trees, and a white hand reaching for Ren through a thick fog. What Colin can’t remember is what happened next. Only two things are clear to him: Ren is different now, and the new guy vying for his heart is not who he claims to be.
With the help of two unlikely allies and a cranky old medium, Colin must learn to conquer his self-doubt and save his best friend from a love that could cost him his life.
Run Away With Me by J.L. Simmonds
Two teenage runaways. One vintage Mustang. A life-changing race across America. So strap in, because this is going to be one hell of a ride.
Jessie ‘Mouse’ Swift needs to get out of Seattle and fast. A few days ago she admitted to wanting her abusive stepfather dead, only to come home and find his murdered body. So when a girl from school offers Jessie a ride in her vintage red Mustang, they embark on an unexpected road trip across America.
Brooke Summer is everything Jessie isn’t: popular, confident, wealthy and heart-stoppingly beautiful, and Jessie has been in love with her from afar for years. But Brooke is hiding her own secrets . . .
With the cops and other sinister figures on their tail, how long can Jessie and Brooke stay on the run before they’re caught? And as their friendship blossoms into something more, can they find a future worth running to together?
A Fate Unwoven by Rachel Anne Edwards
The Emperor of Wyrecia is dying, and 17-year-old Lena has just gained the power to control fate itself, binding her to the young prince Dimas as the kingdom’s next Fateweaver. Hunted by the empire’s most ruthless soldiers, Lena escapes with a handsome smuggler toward enemy territory. But a former lover betrays Lena, and her magic becomes agony—compelling Lena to submit to a gilded cage.
Still, an ancient spirit offers hope: to sever her bond to the throne, Lena must unroot a ritual hidden beneath the palace. As Prince Dimas struggles to forge friendship with Lena and bring his kingdom under peaceful rule, sinister cultists unveil a twisted plan to unleash an ancient evil that could tear the realm asunder. With every step Lena takes on her quest to freedom, she uncovers a troubling imperial past that tarnishes the nation’s matron goddess. Perhaps the oral histories passed down to Lena are not foolish heresy, after all.
Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis
This is the paperback release
Neely’s monsters don’t always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in her closet, and the disembodied voice that shadows her every move become louder, she knows she’s in trouble. With a history of mental illness in her family and the suicide of her older brother heavy on her mind, Neely takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow—the caverns. There . . . she meets Mila. Mila is everything Neely isn’t—beautiful, strong, and confident. As the two become closer, Neely’s innocent crush grows into something more. When a midnight staff party exposes Neely to drugs, she follows Mila’s lead . . . only to have her hallucinations escalate.
When Mila is found brutally murdered in the caverns, Neely has to admit that her memories of that night are vague at best. With her monsters now out in the open and her grip on reality slipping, Neely must figure out who killed Mila . . . and face the possibility that it might have been her.
Adult Fiction
Little F by Michelle Tea
In Spencer’s fantasies, the breezy, queer streets of Provincetown, MA, are utopia, a place where he can be free. Yet when a violent attack in his suburban Arizona schoolyard sends him to the hospital, he decides queer utopia can’t wait. And one night, with the help of his best friend, the teenage witch Joy, he hitches a ride to find it.
The cross-country road odyssey that follows brings Spencer from new moon rituals in Arizona canyons to Texas bus stations, from the luxe drag stages of Houston’s Montrose district to the jazz-soaked streets of the French Quarter and beyond. This new novel from Michelle Tea tells the story, by turns raw, romantic, and sweet, of a sheltered boy taking his first leap into queer life, among all the complicated queers who live it.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon
When a Villain Calls by TJ Sky
The phone rings. I know it’s him. Out there in the dark. Watching me. I should be scared, but something else stirs instead…
DAX SHARP tries to walk the straight and narrow after doing time. He wants to be honest and settle down, but when his warehouse job lays him off and replaces him with a robot, he has no choice but to revive his inner villain and enact one final heist for his survival. His target? The CEO’s remote vacation compound in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He plans for every possible situation, except one…
REED THOMPSON can’t believe his luck when he finally scores a high-paying, weeklong house-sitting gig. He needs a win after losing his mom and being ghosted by a man he really liked. But when he starts receiving menacing (if somewhat titillating) calls from an unknown number, he discovers he’s being watched, and the watcher wants in.
Will Dax hurt the hot house boy to walk away rich? Does Reed have the strength to survive at the hands of the sexy intruder in the ski mask?
Maybe this dangerous game of cat-and-mouse can end with two satisfied winners instead of just one…
Buy it: Amazon
Any Girl But You by Dana Hawkins
Quinn Lee is a walking disaster with perfect hair, zero filter, and an alarming caffeine addiction who’s just ploughed her life savings into rescuing her family’s failing Christmas tree farm. She’s got one shot to pull off a Christmas miracle, so when an important promotional cookie order goes wrong, it understandably leads to a spectacular meltdown in front of cute-as-a-button bakery owner, Zoey.
Zoey bakes like an angel, thinks “drat” is a swear word, and is wholly unprepared for the opinionated, red-headed hurricane who storms into her shop competing for “world’s worst customer”. But she’s equally unprepared to discover that you don’t have to like someone to find them irresistible.
When both their businesses are threatened, a reluctant partnership becomes their only solution. But somewhere between Zoey’s killer dance moves and Quinn’s Chuck Norris puns, incompatible starts looking a lot like inevitable. As Christmas approaches, can these polar opposites navigate unexpected feelings, and the terrifying possibility that sometimes the person you clash with most is exactly the one you need?
Nest of Magic by Kate Moseman
There once was a town where nothing ever happened—until, one day, it did.
Corinthia, the librarian of Shadow Ridge, doesn’t fall for mysterious strangers. She doesn’t go for long walks in the woods. And she most certainly does not believe in magic.
She has her books, her rescued hound, and her Cabinet of Chocolate—everything she needs for a cozy evening alone, thank you very much.
But when a bet with her best friend leads to a hike in the maze-like nature preserve behind the Shadow Ridge Library, she meets a mysterious woman who challenges everything she thought she knew about her town, her destiny, and her heart.
She doesn’t believe in magic… but magic believes in her.
Dead & Breakfast by Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor
The new vampires in town are sinking their teeth into solving a murder…
Married odd couple Arthur and Sal are totally normal. They wear sunscreen, not because the sun can kill them, but because even the undead need a skincare regimen. They eat garlic whenever they want, though it gives Sal indigestion. They can talk to creatures of the night, but only the raccoons that rifle through their garbage. Really, they don’t bite… except into delicious baked goods.
Ready to settle down and stay out of trouble, the two have opened a bed & breakfast in the idyllic, if not-so-paranormal-friendly, town of Trident Falls, Oregon. But trouble finds them when the mayor is discovered dead in their begonias with two puncture wounds in his neck. With the help of a werewolf barista, the elven town coroner, and a very human city manager, Arthur and Sal will need to prove they aren’t literally out for blood by catching a killer…
I Make My Own Fun by Hannah Beer
Everyone knows Marina, the A-list movie star. But very few know Marina, the absolute monster. Years at the top have proved that whatever Marina wants, she gets. But when she meets bartender Anna, Marina discovers something that can’t be bought: Anna’s affection. As Anna remains unmoved, Marina’s advances become more desperate, and her obsession more dangerous.
The price of fame is heavy―and someone will have to pay for it …
The Dogs of Venice by Steven Rowley
After months of planning a romantic holiday getaway in Venice, Paul is blindsided when his five-year marriage suddenly unravels. Fueled by heartbreak, Paul endeavors to take the trip alone.
Soon after arriving in Italy, he notices a small, scruffy, self-assured dog trotting alongside a canal with the confidence he so desperately wants for himself. When their paths cross again, Paul feels compelled to learn how his new four-legged friend thrives on his own. Amid the food, sights, and welcoming people of Venice, Paul’s journey culminates in a magical encounter that leads him to feel real connection—to a dog, to a foreign city and, most importantly, to himself.
Local Heavens by Kris M. Fajardo
A corporate hacker. An elusive billionaire. A society trying to survive the American Nightmare.
New York City, 2075. Filipino American Nick Carraway has just moved to the heart of the fractured New Americas, where he’s struck by the city’s contradictions—shining corporate towers casting bleak shadows over the slums of a crumbling middle class.
When Nick meets alluring, new-money Jay Gatsby, he falls for Gatsby’s frank charm and confident aura. But in a city where the wealthy flaunt tech-enhanced bodies to cheat death, surfaces aren’t all they seem—and as a corporate-sanctioned cyberspace hacker, Nick knows that no secret can stay buried forever. He’s the reason they don’t. And his latest assignment? Investigate Gatsby himself.
As Nick becomes entangled in the dark affairs of the elite—and the devastating fallout of their actions on the city’s most vulnerable—he must reckon with the limits of compassion and accountability across class and status. What takes precedence: Love or truth? Heart or soul?
Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor
A newcomer to New York, Wyeth is a Black painter who grew up in the South and is trying to find his place in the contemporary Manhattan art scene. It’s challenging. Gallery shows displaying bad art. Pretentious artists jockeying for attention. The gossip and the backstabbing. While his part-time work for an art restorer is engaging, Wyeth suffers from artist’s block with his painting and he is finding it increasingly difficult to spark his creativity. When he meets Keating, a white former seminarian who left the priesthood, Wyeth begins to reconsider how to observe the world, in the process facing questions about the conflicts between Black and white art, the white gaze on the Black body, and the compromises we make – in art and in life.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | Loyalty
The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong
Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.
The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, and above all: avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.
Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.
We Had a Hunch by Tom Ryan
Few stories captured the public’s imagination in the year 2000 like the friendly rivalry between the Teen Detectives of Edgar Mills, Massachusetts. Twin sisters Alice and Samantha VanDyne were thrust into the spotlight when they helped their father Sheriff Bill VanDyne bust a dangerous drug smuggling ring. Across town, bookish Joey O’Day proved himself to be a talented investigator of a different sort when he used his computer skills to expose an online grifter preying on elderly victims.
As the two sets of teenage sleuths began jockeying to outdo each other, they became a sensation, appearing on talk shows and the covers of teen magazines.
But when a brutal series of murders rocked Edgar Mills, a deadly miscalculation on the part of the VanDyne twins led to the shocking and gruesome deaths of both their father and Alice’s boyfriend. The killer, Bruce Phillip Kershaw—better known as The Janitor—was ultimately captured, but both Edgar Mills and their beloved Teen Detectives would never be the same.
It’s been a quarter century since The Janitor terrorized Edgar Mills, and the Teen Detectives have grown up. Samantha and Joey have scattered: Sam to Los Angeles and a life as a B List reality TV star, and Joey to a lucrative tech career in Boston. Alice, on the other hand, still lives in Edgar Mills, rooted by her guilt and heartbreak.
When Edgar Mills is shaken by a new murder that matches The Janitor’s M.O., Kershaw offers, from his maximum-security prison cell, to provide information that could help crack this new case. The catch? He’ll only talk to the teen detectives that put him away.
The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs
Domhnall and Clía are an ideal match—or so everyone says. They are prince and princess of neighboring kingdoms. An alliance the gods will smile on. Until Domhnall ruins everything by refusing to propose.
Heartbroken but determined, Clía makes the perfect plan: Follow Domhnall to Caisleán Cósta, the military academy he’s attending. Show she can protect her kingdom. Secure the betrothal. Sure, the castle has a brutal reputation. But how hard can dueling really be?
Warrior Ronan promised himself he’d never lose his focus. He fought and sacrificed for his place at Caisleán Cósta, and he has no time for blonde princesses who waltz into arenas like they’re attending a ball. Even if she and her otter-like pet are…well, cute.
He doesn’t want to be intrigued by Clía. But her hunger to prove herself is something he understands. He tells himself there’s no harm training her. Even if his heart does race around her. Even if Domhnall is his best friend.
But as they say, love is a battlefield—and unfortunately for them all, a very real war is looming on the horizon. It’s a fight that will threaten all their kingdoms…and test all their hearts.
My Lips, Her Voice by L.L. Madrid
Copper City’s bloody history is steeped in ghost stories and whispers of serial killers, but three girls have caught the attention of something far more sinister.
A grandmother tormented by visions tried to warn the town, but no one listened. Now, a haunted inheritance has passed to her granddaughters, Audrey and Mara. When Mara’s body is discovered in the old mine, Audrey fears her grandmother’s premonition is manifesting.
The nightmare begins as Mara’s spirit returns—lurking under Audrey’s skin, hellbent on vengeance and desperate to rekindle things with her former girlfriend, Zadie. Willing to hijack Audrey’s body to get what she wants, Mara drags them both into a deadly pursuit.
When another girl in town goes missing, Audrey, Mara, and Zadie know the killer has struck again. In a fight to solve Mara’s death and uncover the mystery of disappearances in Copper City, the girls soon find themselves at war with each other. How do you survive long enough to hunt a murderer on the loose if the person inside you might kill you first?
An Amateur Witch’s Guide to Murder by K. Valentin
Mateo Borrero has 99 problems—and all of them hinge on his missing bruja mother and the demon she trapped inside his body.
Mateo’s mother forbade him from ever using magic, but now that she’s gone, magic’s his only marketable skill, and he’d really like an exorcism—which costs money he doesn’t have. What’s the harm in making a quick buck by calling himself an Occult Specialist and chanting a few half-remembered spells in his crappy Spanish?
Enter Topher, a naive nepo baby with a curse that keeps killing people around him. Most importantly, he’s rich and too clueless to clock that Mateo—and his (absolutely-not-the-assistant) astral-projecting best friend Ophelia—have never actually had a client before. Lifting Topher’s bad luck curse should be simple, but as luck would have it, nothing is simple, and Topher–who Mateo sort of, kind of likes–might be at the center of a deadly magical conspiracy.
To make matters worse, the more magic Mateo does, the stronger the demon inside him grows and the more he wants to eat people. But would caving to the urges of an ancient evil really be that bad if it helps him get a payday?
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
Isaac by Curtis Garner
After inexperienced seventeen-year-old Isaac loses his virginity through a dating app – a disappointing yet addictive experience – he spends his final months before university escaping into a dizzying new world of casual sex with forgettable men. This all changes when he meets twenty-eight-year-old Harrison at a party.
Isaac is immediately infatuated by the handsome, charismatic artist, but while they grow closer, his sense of self becomes increasingly hazy. Harrison’s demands shift constantly, and after Isaac tries everything to prove his worthiness, he must take a hard look at his ideas about love, sex and men, and his relationship with himself.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | Arsenal Pulp Press
Veal by Mackenzie Nolan
Delores “Lawrence” Franklin is a failed capitalist and a runaway headcase. Following a corporate meltdown, she decides to start fresh in Mistaken Point, a small town known for two things — Mistaken Point University, where she and her best friend, Anastasia Lanes, are now enrolled, and the grisly murders of countless young women.
At her new part-time arcade job, Lawrence meets Francesca “Franky” Delores — gritty, off-putting, and chronically serious, as opposite to Lawrence as her name would suggest. Soon, Lawrence discovers Franky is convinced there is a monster on the loose, a patchwork creature born of hatred and responsible for the supposedly solved string of violence haunting the town.
Against the advice of Franky’s closest friend, Pippa, Lawrence, and Stasia join Franky in a sticky, summertime search for a yellow-eyed monster between classes, shifts at the arcade, and eating popsicles by the pool. Motivated mostly by her unquenchable attraction to Franky, Lawrence allows herself to be pulled in strange directions, trying to appease Franky’s mania. Through the trials of hunting a monster only some of them believe in, Pippa, Lawrence, Stasia, and Franky discover truths about womanhood, relationships, and the reliability of urban legends.
Thirsty by Lucy Lehane
Charlie needs to revamp his career. Writing advice columns was hard enough before the whole internet was dying to know how to date the undead – but Charlie’s as human as they come. And he has no idea how to answer the messages flooding his inbox, like My Workplace Slack Is Haunted; Should I Cross Dimensions For a Fling? and How Exactly Do You Smash A…
When a chance nocturnal meeting at a local coffee shop sees him reuniting with Lorenzo – a vampire with an axe to grind – Charlie thinks he’s found his ticket to immortal career success. But Lorenzo has plans of his own: to get revenge on Charlie for separating Lorenzo from the love of his life years ago. When Lorenzo draws Charlie into his world of monsters and mayhem, he finds new friends and old souls that span centuries of existence, yet are somehow just as lost as the two of them. But as Charlie and Lorenzo grow unexpectedly closer, the secrets they dwell under might just crush them.
Can their love survive demons and drama? And which will prove deadlier… bloodlust or betrayal?
It’s Kind of a Bad Idea by Sarah G. Levine
Annika Silberberg hates weddings, despite being a wedding dress designer with her own bridal salon. She doesn’t believe in lasting romantic love, cutting off dates when any of her girlfriends try to get too close. But when her sister Maia asks her to be co-maid of honor with Maia’s adorable best friend Gabi, Annika can’t refuse.
Gabi Mendon doesn’t know how to date. After ending her eight-year relationship with Matt, her no-stress college boyfriend, she is out on her own for the first time in her adult life and finally ready to embrace her true sexuality as a lesbian. Only, she has no idea where to start. What’s an overthinker to do?
Enter Annika, renowned serial dater. What starts as a simple arrangement—Annika giving Gabi tips on queer dating and introducing her to the sapphic scene—quickly turns into hot secret hookups and nights spent getting to know each other better.
Over the course of Maia’s wedding year, from engagement party to dress fittings, to bachelorette and bridal shower, Annika and Gabi must decide if what they have is worth keeping, or if they need to rip out the stitches of their relationship at the seams.
Handle With Care by Hayden Stone
Two interns. One permanent job. And one missing art museum exhibit.
Dylan Alexander doesn’t need a boyfriend. Having one will only slow him down.
Freshly graduated from university, Dylan’s arrived in London, England from Vancouver, Canada for a summer internship at the London Art and Design Museum. He’s also looking for strings-free fun and a fresh dating scene. This is Dylan’s dream chance to start his career and land a permanent job in London—or else he must return to Vancouver where museum jobs are rare, and the dating pool is old news. Everything’s going great in his new life—except for one thing. Dylan must put up with rival museum intern William Martin-Greene.
Will is everything Dylan can’t stand: flashy, arrogant, and entitled. Forget that he’s too handsome for his own good and knows it. It’s bad luck that they both started on the same internship program. At least they work safely apart in different departments—until one day, they’re forced to work together when Will unexpectedly joins Dylan’s Curatorial team. So much for the avoidance strategy that had worked so far. Will’s arrival on his team is also not helping his unmistakable attraction. When Dylan and Will end up stranded together while collecting exhibits, with only one bed to share, they can’t deny their chemistry.
Soon, they learn only one permanent job is on offer at the end of the summer, and the competition is on to be the best intern. They both share the blame when an important design exhibit goes missing and risks the unexpected summer romance between them. Then, everything is on the line—including hearts, careers, and a chance at love.
Muted: Volume Two by Miranda Mundt
One week into her month-long respite from her controlling Aunt Athalie, Camille receives an unsettling call blindsiding her with news of her arranged marriage. But when she stands up for herself and her freedom, she creates a rift with her beloved cousin Avaline and gains an uncontrollable new ability triggered by overwhelming emotions. Luckily, Camille has Dendro, the plant demon she summoned, to help her come to terms with her past trauma and fully embrace the beauty of her magic. But when Camille suspects that Avaline may be in danger under Aunt Athalie’s influence, she finds herself in a difficult position. With a plan to save Avaline, Camille and the increasingly charming Nyra embark on a mission to face the unpredictable dangers and painful secrets that await in New Orleans.
Complete with an exclusive bonus chapter, this second volume includes episodes 28-50 of the hit Webtoon.
