Category Archives: Queer Lit

Undercover by Tamsyn Muir

A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction including body horror and cannibalism
  • Murder
  • Animal death

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party. In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona’s not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger’s body, and she’s afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicidal ideation & suicide (secondary character)
  • Protagonist with pica & food sensory issues
  • Panic attack
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction including body horror, cancer, jellyfish sting, needles and dead bodies
  • Eugenics recounted
  • Murder by stabbing & shooting
  • Immolation (secondary characters)
  • Physical assault
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Nuclear bombs
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking (cigarettes)

Can I Steal You for a Second? by Jodi McAlister

Mandie Mitchell will do anything to get over her toxic ex. Even sign up to the polarising reality dating show, Marry Me, Juliet. But with her self-esteem in tatters, she’s not sure she’s brave enough to actually go on the show – until she forms a friendship with fellow contestant Dylan Gilchrist, who gives her the push she needs. Dylan is everything Mandie is not – tough, strong, and totally unafraid to speak her mind. Unfortunately, she also looks set to win, as she soon becomes the clear favourite of the Romeo, who also happens to share the same name. It’s annoying, really, just how perfect the Dylans seem for… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Workplace sexism & sexual harassment
  • Biphobia & panphobia recounted including forced outing (secondary character)
  • Infidelity recounted
  • Anxiety & panic attacks (secondary character)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Dieting discussed
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Death of a father from cancer mentioned
  • Bullying

Context : One protagonist’s ex-husband cheated and the other left her ex-boyfriend for another woman.

Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North

Liz Lewis has tried everything to be what people want, but she’s always been labelled different in the boisterous world of wilderness expeditions. Her marriage to popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis is a sinkhole of toxic positivity where she’s the only one saying no. When she gets mistaken for a server at her own thirtieth birthday party, Liz vows to stop playing a minor character in her own life. The (incredibly well-researched and scientific) plan? A crash course in confidence . . . via an improv comedy class. The catch? She’s terrible at it, and the only person willing to practice with her is a certain… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Parental infidelity mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned (epilogue)
  • Disappearance of a child mentioned

The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri

Malini has claimed her rightful throne as the empress of Parijatdvipa, just as the nameless gods prophesied. Now, in order to gain the support of the priesthood who remain loyal to the fallen emperor, she must consider a terrible Claim her throne and burn in order to seal her legacy—or find another willing to take her place on the pyre. Priya has survived the deathless waters and now their magic runs in her veins. But a mysterious yaksa with flowering eyes and a mouth of thorns lies beneath the waters. The yaksa promises protection for Ahiranya. But in exchange, she needs a sacrifice. And she’s chosen Priya as the one to offer it… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny & sexism
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Forced parent-child separation mentioned
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicidal ideation & self-sacrifice
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use (pipe & hookah smoking)
  • Blood & injury depiction including burns, broken bones, chronic pain, illness (which causes plants to grow through skin) and emesis
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Fire
  • Drowning
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Animal death

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Part-time adult film actress/one-time adult film director/makeup artist Sunny Palmer has accidentally sold her very first screenplay to the Hope Channel. That was six months ago. Fast forward to a looming deadline, an uninspired Sunny has returned to the source of her inspiration in Christmas Notch, Vermont, to immerse herself in the local Christmas miracle on which her fever dream of a movie pitch was based. Isaac Kelly, former boy band heartthrob and the saddest boy in the music biz, is the latest owner of the town’s historic mansion. After his years of heartbreak following his young wife’s death, Isaac’s record label is done waiting… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Death of a wife from pancreatic cancer recounted (protagonist)
  • Death of parents in a drunk hit-and-run accident recounted
  • Minor animal sickness mentioned (secondary character)

Devourer of Men by Nikki St. Crowe

I have few friends and fewer allies. What I do have on the island of Everland is a lot of people who want me gone. So when the Crocodile and Captain Hook reappear in my life, I am in no mood. And worse, they’re unknowingly endangering themselves by asking for me by a name I long considered dead. Now, not only do I have to save myself, I have to save the two men who I swore I would murder with my bare hands if I ever set eyes on them again considering they abandoned me. Unfortunately for me, Roc and Hook have other plans, and when I find myself caught between them, I have to make a decision: risk my heart or risk my life?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abandonment recounted
  • Physical & emotional child abuse recounted
  • Forced marriage recounted
  • Anxiety & nightmares
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking (cigarettes)
  • Blood & injury depiction including cannibalism, blood-drinking, amputation (hand), and needles
  • Death of a mother from suicide recounted
  • Death of a sister mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault (mugging) & stabbing
  • Imprisonment recounted

An Honored Vow by Melissa Blair

Still reeling over her discovery of a staggering secret about her closest ally, Keera has no time to rest. She and her fellow rebels plan a desperate rescue mission after King Damien takes one of their own hostage. Opening the kingdom’s magical seals has transformed Keera in ways even the wisest Fae elders could not have anticipated. With the kingdom’s Halfling population suddenly posing a risk to the crown, the land is plunged into violence as the king begins a new blood purge. Keera and her allies gather an army to meet Damien’s forces in a final confrontation of epic, and tragic, proportions.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Alcoholism
  • Self-harm
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Emesis
  • Torture
  • War themes

A Vicious Game by Melissa Blair

A new king is on the throne and the rebellion lies in ruins. Keera spends her days drinking and her nights avoiding the strange dreams that have haunted her since she returned from the capital. Keera’s family in Myrelinth won’t let her go without a fight. With new intelligence about the magical seals left behind by Keera’s ancient kin, the Light Fae, she rallies to face her demons and unleash the formidable powers she inherited from her people. But a shocking truth is hiding in plain sight, one with the power to unravel the entire rebellion…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicidal ideation
  • Alcoholism (relapse)
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies, emesis & needles
  • Death of a sibling
  • Torture mentioned
  • Kidnapping

A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair

To the kingdom, Keera is the king’s Blade, his most feared and trusted spy and assassin. But in the shadows, she works with Prince Killian and his Shadow—the dark, brooding Fae, Riven, who sets her blood on fire. Together, they plot to kill a tyrant king. In Myrelinth, the lush, secret city of trees, Fae, Elves, and Halflings like Keera live in harmony. But Keera cannot escape her past: her crimes against her own people have followed her all the way to the Faeland. There is a traitor in their midst, and Keera is the top suspect. Keera finds comfort in the allies that have become her family… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Slavery & sex slavery mentioned (secondary character)
  • Intimate partner abuse (on-page)
  • Suicidal ideation recounted
  • Self-injury & self-harm (cutting)
  • Alcoholism (recovery/sobriety) & alcohol consumption (secondary character)
  • Pregnancy & death during childbirth mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Death of an ex-partner recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder including patricide
  • Physical assault
  • Imprisonment