A Game Like Ours


Marissa J. Gramoll - 2021
    To the outside world, Bobby Anderson is an attractive, charismatic baseball star. But inside, Bobby holds secrets—including his closeted sexuality—and each secret alone has the power to destroy his carefully-constructed life.When his best friend Cody dies, Bobby is thrown into the unwitting role of supporter for Cody’s grieving fiancée, Lexie. The issue? Bobby has long-harbored feelings for her that he never allowed to surface. Torn between his growing attraction for Lexie and devotion to his deceased friend, Bobby is forced to re-examine his life and concern about divulging his sexual identity. Another secret spoken by Cody during his final moments eats away at Bobby’s conscience, driving the wedge of Cody’s death deeper. Once these secrets come to light, will Lexie ever be able to forgive them? Can she accept Bobby for who he is? Will she ever want anything to do with him again?

Stunted


Breanna Hughes - 2018
    She also has a very strict no-dating policy when it comes to coworkers. That is, until, she meets famous actress Elliot Chase on the set of her new film. The adrenaline rush of the stunts is nothing compared to the sparks that fly between them. After a passionate night together, a sex tape is leaked that sends Jessie and Elliot's private and professional lives into a spiral. Will the fallout be too much for them to last? Or will they find a way out of the mess together?

The Small Backs of Children


Lidia Yuknavitch - 2015
    . . In a war-torn village in Eastern Europe, an American photographer captures a heart-stopping image: a young girl flying toward the lens, fleeing a fiery explosion that has engulfed her home and family. The image wins acclaim and prizes, becoming an icon for millions—and a subject of obsession for one writer, the photographer’s best friend, who has suffered a devastating tragedy of her own. As the writer plunges into a suicidal depression, her filmmaker husband enlists several friends, including a fearless bisexual poet and an ingenuous performance artist, to save her by rescuing the unknown girl and bringing her to the United States. And yet, as their plot unfolds, everything we know about the story comes into question: What does the writer really want? Who is controlling the action? And what will happen when these two worlds—east and west, real and virtual—collide? A fierce, provocative, and deeply affecting novel of both ideas and action that blends the tight construction of Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending with the emotional power of Anthony Marra’s A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, Lidia Yuknavitch’s The Small Backs of Children is a major step forward from one of our most avidly watched writers.

This Time for Me


Alexandra Billings
    When she started transitioning in 1980, the word “Transgender” didn’t exist. With no Trans role models and no path to follow, Alexandra did what her family, teachers, and even friends said was impossible: Alexandra forged ahead.Spanning five decades, from profound lows to exhilarating highs, This Time for Me captures the events of a pioneering life. An award-winning actor and history-making LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS activist, Alexandra shares not only her own ever-evolving story but also the parallel ways in which queer identity has dramatically changed since the Stonewall riots of 1969. She weaves a true coming-of-age story of richly imaginative lies, of friends being swept away by a plague that decimated the community, of her determination to establish a career that would break boundaries, and of the recognition of her own power.A celebration of endless possibilities, Alexandra’s bracing memoir is a fight-to-the-death revolution against all expectations.

Girl Love Happens - Season One


T.B. Markinson - 2018
     Colorado, 1992. Tegan entered her freshman year of college with an open mind. But when an innocent roommate back rub turns into her first girl-on-girl make-out session, she isn’t sure if she’s ready for the world to know she’s attracted to women. After a chance encounter with a hunky male classmate, Tegan’s brain swims with the bisexual possibilities. Gemma knows who she is, but she doesn’t expect Tegan to shout from the rooftops about their new relationship status. With the prying eyes of friends and jealous rivals, however, secrets may not stay hidden for long. Girl Love Happens: Season One is a boxed set of the first six episodes of a lesbian romance series infused with 1990s’ nostalgia. And, the boxed set contains bonus scenes you won’t find in the individual episodes. If you like tumultuous love stories, simmering chemistry, and colorful casts of characters, then you’ll love T.B. Markinson’s smart, sexy series. Buy Girl Love Happens to start the captivating romance series today!

The Complex


Brian Keene - 2015
    A young trans woman looking for acceptance. A suicidal middle-aged horror writer. A single mother worried about her child. A Vietnam veteran who feels the world has forgotten him. A pair of hunted would-be criminals. An elderly widow who lives for her cats. Two newlyweds just starting their lives together. And the serial killer known as The Exit.Until tonight, they were strangers -- to each other, and to themselves. Now, as their world teeters on the brink of an apocalypse and a murderous horde descends upon the neighborhood, they will have to reveal and embrace their true selves if they hope to escape...THE COMPLEX.

This Is How It Always Is


Laurie Frankel - 2017
    He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess.When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. They’re just not sure they’re ready to share that with the world. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude’s secret. Until one day it explodes.This Is How It Always Is is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it’s about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again, parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts, children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don’t get to keep them forever.

Avalanche


Stephanie Shea - 2020
    It's taken five years to piece herself together, especially since the last time they'd seen each other was at Drew's wedding.Drew Dimitrov has officially been dubbed the model world's new it-girl. In a career-defining moment, she has been given her first nude photoshoot at Luxe magazine, and Blake just happens to be the photographer.It's a reunion neither expects.But can anyone stop an avalanche once the ice begins to fall?

Trashy


Penny Lam - 2016
    But then her mother gives Vickie an ultimatum: work on her back or live on the streets. Suddenly, Vickie is out of options.BuckBeers and babes. The two b’s are all Buck needs to be happy. That is, until he and his roommate save the prettiest little thing in the park, inviting her into their trailer and their beds. Now Buck’s wondering if the two things he needs to be happy are the people he could lose all too easily.ShepIn a park with nosy neighbors and a long memory, Shep can’t outrun his reputation. Bitter and jaded, he relies on Buck’s friendship, hoping soon he'll get the hell out of Dodge. That is, until little Vickie and Buck show him that there’s love in even the trashiest corners of the earth. His reputation, though, threatens to unravel everything. Just as they start to build their family, a murder in the park turns everything upside-down. Vickie's troubles, Buck's faith, and Shep's dark past collide -- testing their love and their trio. Can their unconventional relationship help them survive the fallout in a town where unearthed secrets can get you killed?Author's note: This is a full length, standalone novel with a HEA.

The Impostor Queen


Sarah Fine - 2016
    The only life Elli has known has been in the temple, surrounded by luxury, tutored by magic-wielding priests, preparing for the day when the queen perishes—and the ice and fire find a new home in Elli, who is prophesied to be the most powerful Valtia to ever rule. But when the queen dies defending the kingdom from invading warriors, the magic doesn’t enter Elli. It’s nowhere to be found. Disgraced, Elli flees to the outlands, home of banished criminals—some who would love to see the temple burn with all its priests inside. As she finds her footing in this new world, Elli uncovers devastating new information about the Kupari magic, those who wield it, and the prophecy that foretold her destiny. Torn between her love for her people and her growing loyalty to the banished, Elli struggles to understand the true role she was meant to play. But as war looms, she must choose the right side before the kingdom and its magic are completely destroyed.

Inheritance


Taylor Johnson - 2020
    Influenced by everyday moments of Washington, DC living, the poems live outside of the outside and beyond the language of categorical difference, inviting anyone listening to listen a bit closer. Inheritance is about the self’s struggle with definition and assumption.

The Proposal


Ivy Oliver - 2019
     I was there when my best friend proposed to someone else. Just like I'd been there for house-moving and cat-sitting, for parties and vacations and nights out. I was always the guy behind the camera snapping vacation photos for Daniel and his girlfriend, Megan. They were happy, and it made me happy. After all, I set them up. So of course I was there the night he planned to propose to her. It was all picture perfect except for one detail: She said no. So with plane tickets and hotel rooms booked for a post-proposal getaway, what was he to do? Go anyway and get his mojo back, and of course he invited me to tag along. What could be better than a week in paradise secretly lusting over my best friend, unable to tear my eyes from his glorious body, resisting the urge to throw myself at him? Every time he looked at me that little thrill I felt was almost worth it. Just two guys having a good time to move past a bad night, right? That's what it was going to be, until we hit the bars the night before, and he asked me to stay over the night before our flight. That's what it was before he kissed me. Now we don't have to find trouble in paradise. It followed us. Will lust grow into love or just become another fading memory? The Proposal is a fifty thousand word friends to lovers romantic comedy with an HEA! A Friends to Lovers Romance.

Young Wives' Tales: New Adventures in Love and Partnership


Jill Corral - 2001
    Although the word suggests companionship and commitment, it’s weighted with the knowledge that marriage is a male-dominated institution in which women have been subservient for centuries. In this provocative collection of essays, writers in their twenties and thirties discuss how they’re navigating the waters of sanctified long-term relationships. Juhu Thukral speaks of marrying to please her traditional Indian parents; Rachel Fudge wonders whether alternative ceremonies can lead to greater equality in marriage; Kate Epstein tries to balance motherhood with a career; Kristy Harcourt, a lesbian, discusses her ambivalence about marriage ceremonies; and Leslie Miller struggles with being identified as half of a couple.

Detransition, Baby


Torrey Peters - 2021
    She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby—and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel.

A Kind of Miracle...


Emma Chamberlain - 2018
     A Christmas romance for gay women, A Kind of Miracle... follows in the footsteps of much needed lesbian romcom's like Saving Face and Imagine Me & You.