Category Archives: Queer Lit

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur

As a bestselling romance novelist, everyone thinks Truly Livingston is an expert on happily-ever-afters. She’s even signed on to record a podcast sharing relationship advice. Little do they know she feels like an imposter—her parents just announced they’re separating, she caught her fiancé cheating, and her entire view on love has been shaken to the core. Truly hopes the podcast will distract her… until she meets her cohost. Her first impression of Colin McCory is…hot. But then he opens his extremely kissable mouth. Colin’s view on love just pisses Truly off, even if he does have an annoyingly attractive face. Bickering with a cynical… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Biphobia
  • Infidelity
  • Alcohol consumption

The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge by Matthew Hubbard

Ezra Hayes has always felt like a background character compared to BFFs Lucas and Finley. He would do anything to be seen as a romantic lead, even if it means keeping a secret summer boyfriend, Presley. But when he discovers that Presley is a lying cheater, and his best friends are having boy problems of their own, they want revenge. Their plans to get even involve sabotaging the largest party of the year, entering a drag competition, and even having Ezra run against his ex for Winter Formal King. Then the school district starts to actively censor queer voices with their Watch What You Say initiative. Taking to TikTok to vent… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia

Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner

Colton Gentry is riding high. His first hit in nearly a decade has caught fire, he’s opening for country megastar Brant Lucas, and he’s married to one of the hottest acts in the country. But he’s hurting. Only a few weeks earlier, his best friend, Duane, was murdered onstage by a mass shooter at a country music festival. One night, with his trauma festering and Jim Beam flowing through his veins, Colton stands before a sold-out arena crowd of country music fans and offers his unfiltered opinion on guns. It goes over poorly. Immediately, his career and marriage… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcoholism
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend & parent
  • Mass shooting discussed

Gay the Pray Away by Natalie Naudus

Valerie Danners is in a cult. She just doesn’t know it yet. When she finds a queer book at the library and smuggles it home, her conservative Christian home-schooling world begins to crack. And when the cutest girl she’s ever met shows up to Bible class, she starts to question everything. Riley is so confident and kind, and she and Valerie bond quickly over existing as multiracial teens in a very white Christian community. As Valerie explores her feelings for Riley, she begins to see that the world she knows is a carefully crafted narrative. Publicly, the girls are close friends… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Religious trauma & homophobia (theme)
  • Physical child abuse mentioned
  • Self-harm (self-flagellation)
  • Emesis

Triple Sec by T.J. Alexander

As a bartender at Terror & Virtue, a swanky New York City cocktail lounge known for its romantic atmosphere and Insta-worthy drinks, Mel has witnessed plenty of disastrous dates. That, coupled with her own romantic life being in shambles, has Mel convinced love doesn’t exist. Everything changes when Bebe walks into the bar. She’s beautiful, funny, knows her whiskeys—and is happily married to her partner, Kade. Mel’s resigned to forget the whole thing, but Bebe makes her a unique since she and Kade have an open marriage, she’s interested in taking Mel on a date. What… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia
  • Divorce recounted (protagonist)
  • Alcohol consumption

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

After Zoe Baxter loses her baby, the only way she can find of coping is to try again. But her husband Max disagrees – more than that, he wants a divorce. When they separate, there is no mention of the unborn children they created together, still waiting at the clinic. The Zoe falls in love again, out of the blue, and finds herself with an unexpected second chance to have a family. But Max has found a new life too – one with no place in it for people like Zoe. And he will stand up in court to say that her new choice of partner makes her an unfit mother.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia (theme)
  • Divorce
  • Panic attack
  • Secondary character with dementia
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Stillbirth, miscarriage & abortion
  • Infertility

Jack Addison vs. Merman Seductions by K.A. Merikan

It turns out that by staying with Calix, Jack had bet on the wrong centaur. A year on, he is broke and heartbroken after his boyfriend left him for someone with a thicker wallet. Salvation comes in the form of a message from Roux, Jack’s rival and crush all in one. Jack is willing to do whatever it takes to prove he’s a changed man. As the only non-human in their profession, the humanoid feline Roux not only hunts down creatures but also understands their unique needs. Can Jack help him save the beautiful merman Lauro from the claws and teeth of jealous mermaids? And can he resist the seductive merman in the process?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide mentioned
  • Cannibalism mentioned

Jack Addison vs. Centaur Pimps by K.A. Merikan

Jack Addison’s career as a monster hunter is blossoming, and so is his experience in dealing with all kinds of interesting species. But one creature still remains a mystery to Jack—the feline-like Roux Chat-Bonnes. His fellow venator has been avoiding Jack since their successful werewolf hunt in Bohemia, but a man can only pine for so long, which is why Jack decides to vacation on a Greek island famous for its centaur population. Eager to get intimately acquainted with one of the hooved beauties, Jack instead uncovers a cruel plot that will change his view of human-centaur relations for good.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking & sex work
  • Kidnapping

Wrong Way Home by K.A. Merikan

Colin. Rule-follower. Future doctor. Witness to murder. Captive. Taron. Survivalist. Mute. Murderer. Captor. Like every other weekend, Colin is on his way home from university, but he’s taunted by the notion that he never takes risks in life and always follows the beaten path. On impulse, he decides to take a different route. Just this one time. What he doesn’t realize is that it’s the last time he has a choice. He ends up taking a detour into the darkest pit of horror, abducted by a silent, imposing man with a blood-stained axe. But what seems like his worst nightmare might just prove to be a path to the kind of freedom Colin never… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Mutism (protagonist)
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death (cat)

We Met in Death by K.A. Merikan

After years of working for a loan shark, Robert is done with blood and violence. All he has to show for it is a bag of money and a lifetime of regrets. There’s no other way out of his line of work than in a body bag. So Robert decides to die. But on the night he chooses to seal his own fate, destiny offers him a chance at redemption. When Robert saves a handsome young escort from a terrible death, he has no idea he is setting in motion much more than one last attempt at proving that inside the hardened shell, he is a decent human being. Charming, quick-witted, and full of… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Torture