For 2024 titles, click here.
I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm by Mariama J. Lockington (YA, f/f)
Christmas With Her by Fiona Zedde (f/f)
A Mannequin for Christmas by Timothy Janovsky (m/m)
Yours for the Season by Kate Cochrane (f/f)
Any Girl But You by Dana Hawkins (f/f)
Bonus: For a Christmas in July romance, check out Holly Jolly July by Lindsay Maple (f/f)
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.
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.
Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome Dana Hawkins to reveal the cover of the first book in the new Meet Cute in Minnesota series, The Ex Effect, releasing August 19th from Storm Publishing! Here’s the story:
Morgan Rose has always been the girl with the plan. Color-coded calendars, backup plans for her backup plans, and a wedding business that’s her entire world. Only one woman ever managed to derail Morgan’s organized life and shatter her heart in the process. But Morgan doesn’t think about Frankie Lee anymore.
Until Morgan meets the photographer hand-picked by her latest clients and discovers that Frankie is not miles away in New York like she thought. She’s back in Spring Harbors, looking infuriatingly good, and Morgan’s carefully ordered world descends into chaos.
Morgan has just 87 days to pull off the wedding of her career and she’s not going to let Frankie derail this opportunity. She will not be distracted by Frankie’s new haircut or the shadowy dips between her shoulders and biceps. And she won’t care about Frankie’s unfairly salty attitude when she left Morgan.
But some sparks never die, and as the wedding approaches and the tension between Morgan and Frankie grows, can they face up to the mistakes that pulled them apart, or risk it happening all over again?
A perfectly spiced romance about learning that the best love stories are worth fighting for… twice. The next unputdownable read for fans of Ashley Herring Blake, Alexandria Bellefleur and Haley Cass.
And here’s the lovely cover, designed by Rachel Lawston!
Buy it: Amazon
Dana Hawkins is a caffeine-fueled writer of contemporary romance stories, including NOT IN THE PLAN, IN WALKED TROUBLE, and SO NOT MY TYPE. Her new series, “Meet Cute in Minnesota” first book, THE EX EFFECT, releases on August 19th, 2025. After living for twenty years in Seattle, she recently trekked back to her hometown in Minnesota. She is a huge romance-genre book nerd and borderline obsessed with happy-ever-afters. As a mom of three humans and one Saint Bernard, she spends her days chasing after kids and various animals, neglecting her last remaining bamboo plant, and searching for the perfect coffee mug. Find her on Instagram @d.hawkinsauthor
Sophie Black has clawed her way up from coffee runs to project manager at a top Seattle ad agency. She’s laser-focused on her career—until the CEO’s daughter, Ella Northwood, joins the team. Forced to work together on a high-stakes campaign, sparks fly as Sophie’s scrappy determination clashes with Ella’s polished privilege. But there’s more to both women than meets the eye, and, over late nights in the office, their assumptions about each other start to crumble.
When an impromptu hot tub session leads to a steamy night neither can forget, everything changes. The ice-cold chip on Sophie’s shoulder finally starts to melt, while Ella hopes that for the first time, someone might see beneath her trust-fund facade. But as the temperature in the office soars, a shocking revelation threatens to derail everything. Now Sophie and Ella must decide if their feelings are worth fighting for…
Buy it: Amazon
Continue reading Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Romances: January-June 2025
Happy Lesbian Visibility Day 2024! We’re celebrating with these lesbian protagonists, and you can too! For more recs, check out past years’ posts!
Jordan Elliott 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 newly crowned 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?
Today’s post is sponsored by Beverly Gandara and What Did You Know and Who Did You Tell, out now!
When Did You Know and Who Did You Tell? LGBTQAI+/Biographies
Interviews with 25 diverse LGBTQAI+ Role Models
How would you cope if your family rejected you, your religion abandoned you and society labeled you an outcast? Read the Inspirational, heartfelt coming-out stories by 25 LGBTQAI+ role models from the ages of 21-80 who journeyed from strength to strength to become their authentic selves.
Buy it: Amazon
***
Nothing about Kess Pedrock’s life is normal. Not her home (she lives in her family’s Unnatural History Museum), not her interests (hunting for megafauna fossils and skeletons), and not her best friend (a talking demon’s head in a jar named Shrunken Jim).
But things get even stranger than usual when Kess meets Lilou Starling, the new girl in town. Lilou comes to Kess for help breaking a mysterious curse—and the only clue she has leads straight into the center of Eelgrass Bog. Everyone knows the bog is full of witches, demons, and possibly worse, but Kess and Lilou are determined not to let that stop them. As they investigate the mystery and uncover long-buried secrets, Kess begins to realize that the curse might hit closer to home than she’d ever expected, and she’ll have to summon all her courage to find a way to break it before it’s too late.
