Today on the site we’re welcoming Jenna Miller back to reveal yet another great cover, this one for her sophomore contemporary f/f YA Romance, We Got the Beat, which releases February 20, 2024 from Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins! Here’s the story:
Jordan Elliot is a fat, nerdy lesbian, and the first junior to be named editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. Okay, that last part hasn’t happened yet, but it will. It’s positive thinking that has gotten Jordan this far. Ever since Mackenzie West, her friend-turned-enemy, humiliated her at the start of freshman year, Jordan has thrown herself into journalism and kept her eyes trained on the future.
So it’s a total blow when Jordan discovers that she not only didn’t get the editor-in-chief spot, but she’s been assigned the volleyball beat instead. And who is the star and new captain of the volleyball team? Mackenzie West. But words are Jordan’s weapon, and she has some ideas about how to exact a long-awaited revenge on her nemesis.
Then things get murky when forced time together has Mack and Jordan falling back into their friendship, and into something more. And when Mack confesses the real reason she turned on Jordan freshman year, it has Jordan questioning everything—past, present, and future. If Jordan lets her guard down and Mack in, will she get everything she wants, or will she be humiliated all over again?
And here’s the adorable over, designed by Laura Mock with art by Carina Guevara!
Jenna Miller (she/her) writes stories about fat, queer, nerdy girls who deserve to be seen and have their voices heard. When she’s not obsessing over words, she can be found making charcuterie boards, befriending people online, or exploring places near and far.
It doesn’t come out until the last day of the month, but I can’t wait until then to shout about Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni, a bisexual f/f romance steeped in Armenian culture and crackling with chemistry. I loved witty Nar and passionate Erebuni, and, as a non-Armenian, learning lots, too. Hope you love it as much as I did!
When Nar’s non-Armenian boyfriend gets down on one knee and proposes to her in front of a room full of drunk San Francisco tech boys, she realizes it’s time to find someone who shares her idea of romance.
Enter her mother: armed with plenty of mom-guilt and a spreadsheet of Facebook-stalked Armenian men, she convinces Nar to attend Explore Armenia, a month-long series of events in the city. But it’s not the mom-approved playboy doctor or wealthy engineer who catches her eye—it’s Erebuni, a woman as equally immersed in the witchy arts as she is in preserving Armenian identity. Suddenly, with Erebuni as her wingwoman, the events feel like far less of a chore, and much more of an adventure. Who knew cooking up kuftes together could be so . . . sexy?
Erebuni helps Nar see the beauty of their shared culture and makes her feel understood in a way she never has before. But there’s one teeny problem: Nar’s not exactly out as bisexual. The clock is ticking on Nar’s double life, though—the closing event banquet is coming up, and her entire extended family will be there, along with Erebuni. Her worlds will inevitably collide, but Nar is determined to be brave, determined to claim her happiness: proudly Armenian, proudly bisexual, and proudly herself for the first time in her life.
Today on the site, From Fan to Forever author Tiana Warner is here to recommend some brand-new (and upcoming) age-gap f/f romances to celebrate today’s release, so come check out her recs!
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There’s something irresistible about age-gap romance stories. Maybe it’s the endless pages of mutual pining. It’s the tentative flirting, glances, and gentle touches… And all the while, both characters are wondering, “is there any way that this absolute goddess of a woman could possibly be into me?” And when they finally hook up, the ensuing romance SIZZLES off the page!
Ready for that sizzle? Here are five age-gap f/f romance books launching in 2022 to add to your TBR:
Ok sapphics, raise your hand if you have a crush on a middle-aged actress. (It’s all of us, right?) In From Fan to Forever, which launched today with Ylva Publishing, a medical physics student hits it off with an actress who needs help preparing for her role in a film.
A college senior accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom. I don’t know about you, but those 11 words make me want to pre-order the book RIGHT NOW. It’s going to be hard to wait for this book’s October 11 launch date!
This is a two-part series consisting of Truth and Measure and Above All Things, and yes, it is a tantalizing sloooow burn! It’s an office romance between an assistant to the most powerful woman in fashion and her ice-queen boss.
In this rock-star romance, two singers have to perform a sensual duet together every night, and sparks fly. Imagine having to sing a sultry duet with someone you have a crush on. Would you be able to resist a little bit of flirting? Ugh, so good.
I love a good boss-employee romance! In Perks of Office, an electoral office manager has a steamy night with the MP she works for. And of course, after a night like that, it’s hard to stop thinking about each other, isn’t it? This is a fun, light read with a lot of sexual tension!
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Did I miss any age-gap lesbian romance books you’re excited to read? What other tropes can you not get enough of?
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Tiana Warner is a bisexual author from British Columbia, Canada, best known for her critically acclaimed, #1 Amazon bestselling series, Mermaids of Eriana Kwai. She has four sapphic romance novels launching in Summer 2022, including From Fan to Forever (Lesbian Romance, Ylva Publishing) and The Valkyrie’s Daughter (YA Sapphic Fantasy, Entangled Publishing). Find her books and social media links at tianawarner.com
Today on the site please welcome Tiffany E. Taylor, who’s here to talk about writing midlife butch/femme romance in her new book, One More Chance, which just published last month! Here’s the book:
Aimée “Jake” Charron is a still-mourning butch who tragically lost her wife long ago. Geneva Raineri is a discouraged femme who’s given up on fairytales and happily-ever-afters. One night, a personal ad written as a joke by Gen triggers an unexpectedly sensual game of online cat-and-mouse between the two.
Jake knows she’s already had one chance at a forever love, but lost it when her wife died. She wants Gen with a desire she’d thought was long dead—but Jake believes expecting to find another great love after you’ve already had one and lost it is a fool’s game.
Gen, however, is determined to prove to Jake that anyone lucky enough to be given another shot at happiness needs to grab it with both hands and never let it go.
As Jake and Gen navigate personal journeys that include heartbreak, self-discovery, passion, and courage, they both discover that risking everything to take one more chance on love might ultimately be their salvation.
If there’s one thing I consistently hear in the world of sapphic fiction from readers who are part of the butch/femme dynamic, it’s that books focusing on this particular subgenre—specifically novels that cater to the 40+ midlife crowd—are somewhat thin on the ground.
As I assembled my beta team for One More Chance and gave them an overview on what they would be reading, all I heard was, “Yes! It’s about time!” These readers love many different kinds of sapphic fiction, but they say that reading about protagonists in their twenties can be a little bit disconcerting from the perspective of butches and femmes in their forties or fifties (and beyond). Having passed the half century mark myself, I can most certainly relate.
When I was writing the story of Jake and Gen, my then 40-something femme self could completely relate to Gen. She is a professional woman with a formidable education and a powerhouse career—someone with whom I had much more in common than with a 23-year-old barista. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a young barista, my more seasoned femme beta and ARC readers and I were able to connect with Gen on a level that went much deeper for us.
And Jake? There’s a phenomenon in the butch/femme community known as “The Dance”—an expression of queer masculine and feminine gender identity wrapped in a sexuality that feels intense, dramatic, and incredibly romantic. Jake is confident and self-assured, with a sensual maturity that lures Gen to her and makes no bones about the fact that she is the quintessential butch of Gen’s dreams.
Jake is undeniably attracted to Gen, finding a woman desirable for the first time since her wife passed away seven years prior. But how does a butch in her mid-forties even fathom the possibility of starting over again, when the love of her life has been so tragically taken from her? How does she reconcile her almost debilitating loss in the past with her newfound all-consuming desire for Gen in the present—especially when she was positive her romantic life had ended the day her wife died?
For her part, Gen has been so disillusioned by her previous relationships, she has convinced herself that the fantasy butch she’s constructed in her mind is nothing more than a figment of her imagination. Devoting herself exclusively to both her career and the baby daughter she had decided to have on her own, she has no intention of ever falling again for the mythical fairytale of happily-ever-after.
But when a friend posts a sultry personal ad Gen had written as a joke on a butch/femme dating site, Gen is beside herself and vows to ignore any responses she might receive—until Jake responds in the same vein. Gen is captivated by the seductive alpha butch, unable to resist her pull. Their conversation starts with an online cat-and-mouse game—Gen stubbornly informing Jake she will never yield to her, Jake telling Gen there is no way to resist her when she sets out to get what she wants.
When the two finally meet, sparks fly and Jake discovers in Gen the one woman in this world who can help her finally heal from her loss. However, it’s anyone’s guess if Jake will be able to slay her demons and take another chance on love with tender, compassionate Gen. When Jake initially balks, seemingly stuck in her world of pain and sorrow, Gen and her shattered heart tell Jake resolutely, “I can’t live in the past, Jake. I owe Gia the future,” before leaving Jake’s home to return to her own. Her spine of steel, even in the midst of her heartbreak, reflects a middle-aged woman who has seen a great deal of life already, and her reactions reflect that in a way that perhaps a woman of 20-something could not.
There is a happily-ever-after ending to their love story, but it takes a midlife journey through self-discovery and determination—for both Jake and Gen—before they earn their reward. The trek is arduous for them at times, two 40-something queer women who have already experienced the world more deeply than they ever had in their twenties. The risks to them may bigger at this stage of their life games—but they also discover the final gift is much, much sweeter.
This is the first book in a series I’m calling “The Dance”—stand alone 40+ happily-ever-after romances centered within the butch/femme dynamic. I want to explore how those types of queer females think and feel and react from the midpoint of their lives instead of from the time when things felt shinier and new—a later in life time when taking the greatest risks can also lead to reaping the greatest rewards.
As the book description says: Sometimes, risking everything to take one more chance on love might be your salvation.
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Tiffany E. Taylor writes sensual sapphic romance fiction within the passionate butch/femme dynamic in a variety of genres: action-adventure, contemporary, and paranormal.
Before she became a full-time author, Tiffany was a well-known curly hair specialist. When a severe hemorrhagic stroke put an end to her hairdressing career, she started to write instead. She hopes to be an inspiration for anyone undergoing disability challenges.
She lives with her spouse and their daughter in an idyllic queer-friendly little town on Florida’s west-central coast. The Taylors have been a long-time part of the butch/femme community, about which she writes so passionately.
I’m thrilled to welcome myself to the site today to reveal the cover of my next contemporary f/f YA romance, Home Field Advantage, which releases June 7, 2022 from Wednesday Books! It’s the story of an aspiring cheer captain, her school’s very unwelcome first female quarterback, and all the forces that stand between them, and I’m so excited to share it with you! Here’s the official copy:
Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose.
The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she’s only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.
Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can’t stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.
Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage is a sparkling romance about fighting for what – or who – you truly want.
And here’s the gorgeous cover, with art by Alex Cabal and design by Kerri Resnick!
Dahlia Adler is an Editor of mathematics by day, LGBTQReads overlord and Buzzfeed book blogger by night, and an author of Young Adult and Romance at every spare moment in between. Her novels include the Radleigh University trilogy, Indie Next pick Cool for the Summer, and Home Field Advantage (Wednesday Books, 2022), and she is the editor of the anthologies His Hideous Heart (a Junior Library Guild selection), That Way Madness Lies, At Midnight (Flatiron Books, 2022), and, with Jennifer Iacopelli, Out of Our League (Feiwel & Friends, 2023). Dahlia lives in New York with her family and an obscene number of books, and can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @MissDahlELama.
Today I am excited to share the cover for book two in Kelly Farmer’s Out on the Ice series, Unexpected Goals, which releases from Carina Press on November 2, 2021! Here’s the story behind this enemies-to-lovers hockey romance between two on-ice rivals:
If you can’t play nice, play hockey
Canadian goalie Maisy Goode is wary of American Jen Donato and her dirty playing. She’s been on the receiving end of Jen’s aggressive style and doesn’t like it one bit. Now that they’re on the same women’s pro team, keeping her eyes off Jen is a struggle.
Jen signed up to win it all with the Boston Ice. Her very public clashes with their hot goalie aren’t going to derail her championship plans. Jen’s a professional. But there’s just something about Maisy that gets under her skin.
The media loves the tension, but the more time Maisy and Jen are forced to spend together, the more they discover what’s between them isn’t entirely hostile.
At all.
Banter turns into flirting, and flirting turns into more. The closer they get to the playoffs, the more pressure weighs on the team—and the couple. Maisy needs Jen’s support. Jen needs to know Maisy’s all in. And it all needs to get sorted out before the season—and their relationship—closes out.
And here’s the freaking adorable cover, designed by John Kicksee of Kix by Design!
Kelly Farmer (she/her) has been writing romance novels since junior high. In those days, they featured high school quarterbacks named Brad who drove Corvettes and gals with names like Desireé because her own name was rather plain. Her stories since then have ranged from historical and contemporary male/female romances to light women’s fiction to LGBTQ+ romance. One theme remains the same: everyone deserves to have a happy ending.
Kelly’s debut novel, Out on the Ice, was released by Carina Press during a global pandemic. This is very on-brand for her long and winding journey toward publication. She is a past president of Chicago-North Romance Writers and is also a member of Women’s Fiction Writers Association.
When not writing, she enjoys being outside in nature, quoting from Eighties movies, listening to all kinds of music, and petting every dog she comes in contact with. All of these show up in her books. She also watches a lot of documentaries to satisfy her hunger for random bits of trivia. Kelly lives in the Chicago area, where she swears every winter is her last one there.
To connect with Kelly, talk about current TV binges, and share photos of your adorable pets, please head over to:
Today on the site I’m thrilled to be revealing the cover of one of my most anticipated rom-coms in the history of literally ever, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by triple(-category) threat Ashley Herring Blake! This contemporary f/f (bi and lesbian) romance releases February 22, 2022, and here’s what it’s all about:
Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her.
When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there’s some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.
Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they’ve known each other for years, they don’t really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they’re forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn’t sure she has the strength to resist Delilah’s charms. Even worse, she’s starting to think she doesn’t want to…
And here’s the irresistible cover, designed by Katie Anderson and illustrated byLeni Kauffman!
Ashley Herring Blake is an award-winning author and literary agent at Rees Literary Agency. She holds a Master’s degree in teaching and loves coffee, arranging her books by color, and cold weather. She is the author of the young adult novels Suffer Love, How to Make a Wish, and Girl Made of Stars (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and the middle grade novels Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James and Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea (Little, Brown BFYR) . Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World was a Stonewall Honor Book, as well as a Kirkus, School Library Journal, NYPL, and NPR Best Book of 2018. Her YA novel Girl Made of Stars was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. She’s also the author of the adult romance novel Delilah Green Doesn’t Care (Berkley), and a co-editor on the young adult romance anthology Fools in Love (Running Press Kids). You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @ashleyhblake and on the web at www.ashleyherringblake.com. She lives on a very tiny island off the coast of Georgia with her family.
I’m so excited to be revealing the cover for contemporary f/f romance I Kissed a Girl by Jennet Alexander on the site today! It releases from Sourcebooks on August 3, 2021, and sounds cute as heck, with a cover to match! Here’s the story:
Is a happy ending finally in sight for Hollywood’s favorite scream queen?
Lilah Silver’s a young actress who dreams of climbing out of B-list stardom. She’s been cast as the “final girl” in what could be her breakout performance…but if she wants to prove herself to everyone who ever doubted her, she’s going to need major help along the way.
Noa Birnbaum may be a brilliant makeup artist and special effects whiz-kid, but cracking into the union is more difficult than she imagined. Keeping everyone happy is a full-time job, and she’s already run ragged. And yet when the beautiful star she’s been secretly crushing on admits to fears of her own, Noa vows to do everything in her power to help Lilah shine like never before.
Long hours? Exhausting work? No problem. Together they can take the world by storm…but can the connection forged over long hours in the makeup chair ever hope to survive the glare of the spotlight?
And here’s the adorable cover, designed by Dawn Adams and illustrated by Colleen Reinhart!
But wait, there’s more! We’ve also got an excerpt so you can meet Noa and Lilah ASAP!
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Noa leaned in again, filling in one of Lilah’s brows with a pencil. Perched on the edge of the table, Lilah sitting below her in a lower chair, Noa didn’t notice her necklace dislodging itself from between her breasts until she felt the gentle tug on the chain and the brush of fingers against her collarbone.
Stifling a little yelp, Noa sat back, worried that she’d invaded Lilah’s space more than she should have—only it was the little six-pointed star on the delicate silver chain that Lilah balanced on her fingertips.
“Sorry,” Lilah apologized, casting her eyes up to meet Noa’s gaze through her dark-tinted lashes. “You’re Jewish? I guessed, when we were introduced, but so many people around here use stage names that I wasn’t sure if it was okay to ask.”
A faint and familiar chill prickled the back of Noa’s neck and she forced it back. There was no reason at all to be worried about what Lilah might think. There was no danger here. Noa couldn’t possibly be the first Jewish person she knew—not in a city like LA, not in an industry like theirs. Unless that was why Lilah had been cool and standoffish, and it wasn’t about Noa’s stupid runaway mouth at all…
All of those half-formed thoughts ricocheted through her head in the instant between Lilah’s question and when Noa had to answer, and when she nodded, it was a little more guarded than before. “Yeah. ‘Noa’ is a girl’s name in Hebrew.” Okay, that was fine. No recoil, only a growing smile that Noa wasn’t sure how to parse. It did give her the chance to go on the attack before Lilah could do or say anything awful. “So’s yours, for the record. It means—”
Lilah nodded. “Night. I know. I used my Hebrew name for my stage name. It was easier to pick something that was already kind of familiar.”
Which led to Noa’s next major derail of the day. Would she ever find some kind of solid ground to plant herself on around this girl? “You’re Jewish? It doesn’t say that on your IMD—” She snapped her mouth shut before she could finish the sentence.
“If you say ‘funny, you don’t look it,’ I may just kick you in the teeth,” Lilah joked, her body very still and a hint of a familiar sort of wariness threading itself through her voice now that Noa knew enough to listen for it.
“Not a chance,” Noa promised. “For some strange reason no one ever tells me that,” she added with a flash of a grin and a wink. “Polish red?”
Lilah nodded. “And Russian blond.” She was thawing all around the edges now, her wariness gone and replaced with an almost shy smile. Noa’s heart dipped down into her stomach and twirled around her chest, leaving her dizzy.
“Do you keep?”
Lilah’s cheeks flushed and she glanced away. “Sort of? Not Shabbat or anything. There weren’t any synagogues in the town where I grew up. There’s one in Petosky, but that’s like half an hour away and we didn’t really go except for big events. My family does Passover, somewhat,” Lilah offered up with a little laugh. “My dad really likes matzah as a snack, so he buys it year-round. Except for that week.”
“Only a little backwards.” There wouldn’t be any judgment coming from her—there were at least five hundred of the 613 commandments that Noa ignored on a regular basis. (Maybe more, depending on how you interpreted the one about gossip.)
Lilah ducked her head and laughed again. “Only a little! But it works for him.” The little gesture broke through the shell of perfection, but the glow of her aura never dimmed. She was very human, suddenly approachable, and when she met Noa’s eyes again, Noa felt a pull start somewhere in her midsection. Ah, crap.
“Lilah!”
Lilah turned at the sound of her name and the moment—if it had been a moment at all—was gone. “Here!”
“We’re ready for you. Time for last looks, wardrobe, and makeup, and then we’re on to scene fourteen.”
“Back to the salt mines,” Lilah joked, rising to her feet. She made a little pirouette and fluttered her eyelashes at Noa, completely unaware of the effect she was having on Noa’s blood pressure. “Do I have your approval?”
Noa swallowed hard and found her voice. “Yes, yes you do. Your makeup, I mean.” She scrambled to pull up the continuity photo as an excuse to take her eyes off Lilah and regroup. “Looks good,” she said briskly, and gave her a thumbs-up.
Lilah sketched off a salute, paused to let the wardrobe assistant tweak her shirt hem and the hairdresser to replace a bobby pin, then headed for her next mark.
Noa let out a long, slow breath and tried to force her adrenaline to stand down. Her skin still tingled where Lilah’s fingers had brushed against her, and she swore she could smell the sweet remnants of Lilah’s shampoo. Stupid Denise and her stupid reassignments. Noa would have been safe if she’d been able to keep a little bit of distance between them, but now? A few more days like this one and she was going to spontaneously combust. All they’d find of her by the end of week three would be a little pile of ashes in the shape of a girl, topped with a silver star.
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Jennet Alexander has been a game designer, a teacher, a singer, a Riot Grrrl, a terrible guitar player, and an adequate crew tech and department head for both stage and screen. She grew up queer in the heart of a large Jewish community in Toronto, Canada, and now lives in a much smaller one with her partner, two kids, and two cats. Most of her wardrobe is still black. Noa and Lilah is her first rom-com.
You can follow Jennet on Twitter at @jennetalexander, and find updates at her website, www.jennetalexander.com.
Oh, how I love this book. Let me count the ways! A) It’s perfect on the coming-of-age front, B) it has found family in multiple iterations, C) it has a Black lesbian heroine in STEM from a military background that I know anyone who was an overachieving child (and especially those pushed by parents) will identify with, more and more so the closer you get to Grace’s identity, and D) the romance is so. Freaking. Cute. It’s not what you’re picturing when you think “Got married while drunk in Vegas” but it’s such a great take on it that you are not gonna be mad about it!
Honey Girl releases February 23 from Park Row Books, so please make good use of those buy links below to preorder!
With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, twenty-eight-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls’ trip to Vegas to celebrate. She’s a straight A, work-through-the-summer certified high achiever. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn’t know…until she does exactly that.
This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father’s plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn’t feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under the weight of her father’s expectations, a struggling job market and feelings of burnout, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows.
In New York, she’s able to ignore all the annoying questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she’s been running from all along—the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood.