Book picks similar to
Beneath the Waters by Juliet Llewellyn


asexual
demisexual
lgbtq-side-characters
queer

Close Ups and F**k Ups


Natasha West - 2017
     Allie just wants to make movies. But that’s not so easy when distractions abound. Distractions like sexy set designer Ashley. Or for that matter, sensitive screenwriter Cameron. In the high pressure atmosphere of a top film school, can Allie hang on to who she is? And with two different love paths in front of her, will she choose the right one? Or will she fuck everything up? From the author of 'The Plus One' and 'Waiting for the Punchline', 'Close Ups and F**k Ups' is about risking everything for what (and who) you love.

Finding Faith


Kim Pritekel - 2020
    Considering he was the only parent she had left after her mother's suicide when Faith was just a child, she thought that's what it would take. She was wrong. What she dreamed would be glamorous and satisfying turned out to be grueling and thankless. Since she wasn't willing to play the game between the sheets, she was forced to stay in the cubicle jungle doing all the heavy lifting while the men got the credit and the rewards. Deciding she is done, Faith packs up and, with the flip of the bird to the rearview mirror, leaves New York and heads home to Colorado. She has nothing there: no job, nowhere to live, no relationship with her father. Truth is, she barely has a relationship with herself. On the drive home, she finds herself in Wynter, a tiny mountain town at the foot of the Rockies. Looking more like it belongs in a made-for-TV Christmas movie than on the map, Faith is utterly enchanted. When she tries her luck and buys a raffle ticket at Pop’s, Wynter’s charming café, her prize is far more than meets the eye—or the heart. Enter Wyatt, a feisty, sexy southerner and waitress at Pop's, who just happens to be married to a local sheriff's deputy. All is not as it appears with the All-American boy and his Georgia peach.A colorful cast of unforgettable and charming characters will teach the jaded attorney that sometimes to find yourself all you have to do is go back to the basics…and have a little Faith.

Hazel's Theory of Evolution


Lisa Jenn Bigelow - 2019
    That’s because when she’s not hanging with her best friend or helping her two moms care for the goats on their farm, she loves reading through dusty encyclopedias. But even Hazel doesn’t have answers for the questions awaiting her as she enters eighth grade. How can she make friends in a new school where no one seems to understand her? What’s going to happen to one of her moms who’s pregnant again after having two miscarriages? Why does everything have to change when life was already perfectly fine?As Hazel struggles to cope, she’ll come to realize that sometimes you have to look within yourself—instead of the pages of a book—to find the answers to life’s most important questions.Hazel’s Theory of Evolution is a genuine, thoughtful, and ultimately uplifting novel about learning to flourish no matter what changes life throws your way.

Punk and Zen


J.D. Glass - 2007
    That? She saves for music, whether she's playing guitar or DJing...and everyone dances to her tune. But when the dreams Nina works so hard for start to fall into place, the past she thinks she's left behind returns. As she opens herself - to everything - Nina learns that being punk alone is not enough. She needs to love and be loved, to let go - without losing herself. Angst, sex, love, rock - 'Nuff said.

Toward Amnesia


Sarah Van Arsdale - 1995
    Bordering on obsessed and unable to make sense of her solitary life, she heads cross-country without a word, resolved to cultivate a new persona by creating her own kind of amnesia. But as time goes by, she is unable to deny hers truest self. Targeted media.

Mother of the Bride


Kim Hartfield - 2019
    Things get more complicated when she realizes the groom's mother was her best friend back in high school - the first woman who ever made her heart beat faster, as well as her first kiss. Gloria and Bethany reconnect during the engagement, and Gloria begins to wonder if she could have her own fairytale romance. Is it too late for Gloria to find love? Or could the mother of the bride be the star of her own story?

Dusty: An Intimate Portrait of a Musical Legend


Karen Bartlett - 2014
    Never one to be shy of the spotlight, Dusty broke the mould as the first female entertainer to publicly admit she was bisexual, and was famously deported from South Africa for refusing to play to segregated audiences during apartheid in 1964, just a year after the launch of her solo career. Combining brand-new material, meticulous research and frank interviews with friends, lovers, employees and confidants, journalist Karen Bartlett reveals sensational new details about the soul diva’s unconventional upbringing, tumultuous relationships and unbridled addictions, including a lifelong struggle to come to terms with her sexuality. Named one of the Sunday Times’s best musical biographies of 2014, this is the intimate portrait of an immensely complicated and talented woman – the definitive account of one of music’s most legendary figures.

Desperate Measures


P.J. Trebelhorn - 2014
    After assaulting him, she’s suspended from her job. She uses her unexpected time off to make some home improvements, but Kay has no idea Rayne is stalking her, and he’s hell-bent on revenge. Brenda Jansen owns Jansen Construction with her father. A routine job brings her to Kay’s doorstep, and Brenda is blissfully unaware of the twists and turns her life is about to take. The instant attraction she feels toward her newest client is something Brenda’s doing her best to ignore. Since her two previous girlfriends cheated on her, she’s having a hard time putting her trust in anyone. Brenda’s indifference toward her intrigues Kay, who does everything she can to get Brenda to admit their attraction is mutual. As they grow closer, so does Tommy Rayne, until he finally threatens everything Kay holds dear.

Shades of A


Tab A. Kimpton - 2014
    Convinced they’ll never meet again Anwar puts him out of his mind, but the awkwardly charming man keeps turning up in his life.

The Summer of Our Love


Lydia Rose - 2014
    Now ten years later they meet again. Can they forget the past and remember the love they once shared?

Knowing Her (The Barreras Book 2)


Raquel De Leon - 2019
    Things are better for her than they were then. She's out as a trans lesbian, has a good job, and is in the promising start of a new relationship. To top it all off, she's back in contact with her sister, who has completely accepted her. She's not ready to tell the rest of her family, but that's okay. Lian Hui, a private investigator who had searched for Teresa for years, is surprised when they become friends. Not much of a people person and prone to bouts of anxiety, she finds herself drawn to Teresa's kindness and patience. When Teresa's relationship turns sour, Lian steps up as the friend Teresa needs most. As Teresa and Lian become closer, they find the line between friendship and romance can be a blurry, confusing thing.

The Cybernetic Tea Shop


Meredith Katz - 2016
    Her childhood in a migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering in any one place, so she sticks around just long enough to replenish her funds before she moves on, her only constant companion Joanie, a fierce, energetic Raise hummingbird.Sal is a fully autonomous robot, the creation of which was declared illegal ages earlier due to ethical concerns. She is older than the law, however, at best out of place in society and at worst hated. Her old master is long dead, but she continues to run the tea shop her master had owned, lost in memories of the past, slowly breaking down, and aiming to fulfill her master's dream for the shop.When Clara stops by Sal's shop for lunch, she doesn't expect to find a real robot there, let alone one who might need her help. But as they begin to spend time together and learn more about each other, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on…

Walk Like A Man


Laurinda D. Brown - 2005
    Laurinda Brown's characters explore every aspect of black lesbian life - whether it's first times, illicit trysts, cheating hearts or longtime love.

One Little Yes


Jamey Moody - 2021
    She is so tired of being sick and alone.Angel Ruiz is a loner with a scarred heart that began with homophobic parents years ago.When Gina meets Angel at her friends’ New Year’s Eve party she feels an instant bond. She sees Angel’s damaged heart and wonders if it is as weary as hers?And then she has an idea.All Angel has to do is say yes.

Anonymous Bidder


Robin Roseau - 2015
    Violetta's agreement is reluctant, sure the only women who might want have a screw loose. She feels her suspicions are confirmed when it is an anonymous bidder who wins the date, and things go from weird to weirder after that. This is a novella of 30,000 words.