Category Archives: Queer Lit

The Duke by Anna Cowan

Kate, Duke of Howard, is known throughout Europe as a merciless autocrat not to be crossed. Consumed by a bitter rivalry, she avoids society and has vowed never to trap a woman into marriage with a monster like herself. The beautiful, ambitious courtesan Celine Genet once threw herself on the mercy of the visiting Duke of Howard. She was desperate to escape the guillotine. But after a night of searing passion, the duke left her to the ravages of Revolutionary Paris and didn’t look back. Now Celine is in London and in possession of a dangerous letter that proves the Duke… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misgendering & sex worker-shaming
  • Sexual assault (unwanted kiss)
  • Nightmare
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of relatives in a fire
  • Death of an ex-partner in the French Revolution
  • Physical assault
  • Blackmail

Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni

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… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & biphobia and coming out themes
  • Alcoholism
  • Death of a parent in a car accident recounted

Our Ex’s Wedding by Taleen Voskuni

Ani Avakian was supposed to be the Bay Area’s premier Armenian wedding planner by now. But after a huge blow to her business, she’s determined to redeem herself by taking on the biggest job of her career: a wedding for an indie movie star. The wedding is set at a stunning Armenian-owned winery, and Ani is eager to connect with the owner, who she’ll be working closely with. But then she actually meets him. Sure, Raffi is ridiculously hot and charming, but he’s also insufferably smug. Though the real gut punch comes when Ani meets the happy couple—because the act… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Financial difficulties discussed (credit card debt)

Thirty Love by Tom Vellner

American tennis star Leo Chambers is determined to win the US Open by 30, the age when many players feel retirement looming. He’s just a year away from that dreaded birthday, but he can’t find his focus—considering he hasn’t told anyone he’s gay, he’s clashing with his strict coach (who also happens to be his dad), and he still can’t figure out how to beat his longtime nemesis on tour, Gabe Montoya, who, well, hits different. Gabe is playing better than ever, and Leo can’t seem to escape him—and maybe he doesn’t want to escape him. Leo’s other obstacle is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & outing

The Rebel Girls of Rome by Jordyn Taylor

NOW: Grieving the loss of her mother, college student Lilah is hoping to reconnect with her ever-distant grandfather who refuses to talk about his past. When a fellow student in Italy brings a long-lost family heirloom to her attention, Lilah travels to Rome with her grandfather in the hopes of unlocking his history as a survivor of the Holocaust once and for all. But as they get closer to the truth—and the possibility of healing through new connections—she begins to realize that some secrets may be too painful to unbury… THEN: It’s 1943, and nineteen-year-old Bruna and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical antisemitism & Nazism
  • Intergenerational trauma & survivor’s guilt
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • World War Two & the Holocaust (on-page)

Wicked Darlings by Jordyn Taylor

Aspiring journalist Noa has a secret she’s been keeping. Ever since her sister’s tragic death, she’s felt almost…relieved. Noa and Leah had been locked in competition with one another since childhood, and things came to a head when her sister scored a glitzy internship at a New York society newspaper. Noa can’t help but revel in her new found autonomy. But when she gets a lead about the sketchy circumstances surrounding her sister’s untimely death, she knows she needs to investigate−she owes it to Leah… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Death of a sister, presumed suicide from overdose
  • Car accident (drink driving accident)

See You at the Summit by Jordyn Taylor

Simone Whittaker has spent the first three decades of her life pretending to be straight. But when the girl she never dared call her girlfriend walks away, she decides she’s done living in fear. Her uptight parents don’t take the news well, but a viral coming-out post and a new job at Toronto’s Rainbow Museum offer a fresh start—and a crash course in queer adulthood. That is, until her first day of work, when Simone ruins a project designed by Ryan Foley—the museum’s gruff and annoyingly hot carpenter—earning her the top spot on his enemies list. When they’re forced to take a work trip to the Whistler Pride and Ski Festival together, Simone… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Biphobia & homophobia
  • Infidelity recounted (secondary characters)
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned

Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily R. Austin

Darcy’s life turned out better than she could have ever imagined. She is a librarian at the local branch, while her wife Joy runs a book binding service. Between the two of them, there is no more room on their shelves with their ample book collections, various knickknacks and bobbles, and dried bouquets. Rounding out their ideal life is two cats and a sun-soaked house by the lake. But when Darcy receives the news that her ex-boyfriend, Ben, has passed away, she spirals into a pit of guilt and regret, resulting in a mental breakdown and medical leave from the library. When she… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & transphobia
  • Image based sexual abuse (protagonist is threatened by a secondary character when she accidentally uploads an unintentionally intimate photo)
  • Emotional parental abuse
  • Infidelity recounted (the protagonist cheated on her boyfriend in the past; mentions of a secondary character’s husband cheating)
  • Anxiety, insomnia & panic disorder (protagonist) with mentions of dissociation and panic attacks
  • Parent with postpartum depression recounted
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation for acute stress reaction recounted (protagonist)
  • Disordered eating mentioned & recounted, including attempted purging & dieting
  • Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use
  • Abortion recounted
  • Pregnancy & teen pregnancy mentioned (brief, secondary characters)
  • Death of an ex-boyfriend from a brain aneurysm discussed

Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Erica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacré-Coeur in Paris, 1978. Erica is a student, relishing her first summer abroad before beginning university at home in England. Laure is studying for her PhD at the Sorbonne, drinking and smoking far too much, and sleeping with a married woman. The moment the two women meet, the spark is undeniable, but their encounter turns into far more than a summer of love. It is the beginning of a relationship that will define their lives and every decision they have yet to make. Erica and Laure’s love story spans decades, marriage, children… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a friend from AIDS

The Open Era by Edward Schmit

Recently-turned-pro tennis player Austin Hardy has been out since high school and it’s never been a big deal. That is, until he becomes the first openly gay man to compete in a Grand Slam. Suddenly, being gay is a huge deal, with headlines to prove it. Unprepared for this new spotlight, Austin’s anxiety disorder hits a breaking point, and he trips and falls at practice. Right next to the very attractive, very talented, and probably straight Diego Cruz, ranked World #2. The two players start a friendship off the court. But between their flirty banter, mixed signals, and brewing rivalry,… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & panic attacks (protagonist, on-page)