Midlife Crisis


Audra North - 2017
    But thirty-five years after he said "I do," Cam finds himself nursing a beer in a gay bar, thinking about what might have been.Dave Montoya is confident, self-assured, and cautiously single. But when he meets shy, uncertain, and clearly-still-not-out Cam in a coffee shop in Austin, his reservations about getting seriously involved again disappear. Cam is everything he’s looking for in a partner . . . almost, anyway.No matter how much Dave wants him, and how good they are together, Cam can't bring himself to fully embrace the life he was meant to live. After all, when his secret finally gets out, he faces the very real possibility of losing everything that kept him going for the first fifty years of his life, just like he’s feared for so long. But with a little faith—and a lot of love—his dream of living fully, truly, as himself might finally be within reach.

Heat


Jean Wei - 2018
    As 'Red' adjusts to life on the farm herding hens, collecting fruit, weeding plants, and running errands, many questions remain: Exactly why is Red here? What's eating at Auntie Ann? And, most pressingly, can a fire-demon cook an egg simply by holding it?

Dagger: On Butch Women


Lily Burana - 1994
    Comprised of tell-all interviews and personal essays, historical analysis, cartoons, and some quite fetching photos, this book is for those who swear by roles as well as those who just don't get what all the brouhaha is about Down and dirty, kind and generous, Dagger is a celebration of lesbian sexuality and bravery.What is butch? Rebellion against women's lot, against gender-role imperatives that pit boyness against girlness and then assigns you-know-who the short straw. Butch is a giant fuck YOU! to compulsory femininity, just as lesbianism says the same to compulsory heterosexuality.What is butch? Sexual power of a kind that no women is supposed to have, active power. Prowess. The calm eye of a whirlwind of pleasure, getting from giving."Female maleness," "female masculinity": these simplistic ways of reading butch energy do not entirely miss the mark, but they do mislead. Maleness isn't male on a female, honey - it's something else again, a horse of another color, something our gender-impoverished language doesn't offer us words to describe.Roxxie: Can straight men learn anything from butches? JoAnn: Sure. Straight men could learn a lot about how to take care of women both sexually and emotionally.At that time they were having all those Wonderbread commercials, where they said you could build muscles twelve ways. So I started eating tons of Wonderbread, and my parents were saying, "What's this sudden craze for Wonderbread?" I thought if I ate enough Wonderbread I'd bulk up and turn into a guy."Review from Whole Earth Review, Winter, 1994 by Louise Rafkin

Love’s Portrait


Anna Larner - 2019
    When Georgina Wright, the museum’s aloof benefactor, asks for Molly’s help in identifying the provenance of a 19th century portrait of social activist Josephine Brancaster, Molly welcomes the opportunity, even if it means spending time with the standoffish financier. But passions soon flare as the women uncover the heartbreaking story of doomed lesbian love behind the watercolor painted by Josephine’s lover, Edith Hewitt. As their love blossoms, Molly is determined to display Edith’s portrait of Josephine and to tell their story in the museum, but she needs the influential Georgina to help convince the board. When an unforeseen twist in the painting’s provenance forces Georgina to confront her own painful past, will history repeat itself, or can Molly and Georgina’s love prevail?

Listening To Dust


Brandon Shire - 2012
    A chance meeting with a young American chased away the fear that he would always be alone and brought him the prospect of a new existence.Dustin Earl joined the military and escaped his small town Southern upbringing with the hope that he could give his mentally challenged brother a better life. But Dustin had never known real love, an honest hug, or a simple kiss. He considered his sexuality a weakness; a threat that had been used against those he cared about.For eight months their relationship blossomed until Dustin suddenly returned home. He cherished Stephen, but felt his responsibilities to his brother outweighed his own chance at happiness.Shattered, unable to function and unwilling to accept Dustin’s departure, Stephen flew three thousand miles to get Dustin back and rekindle what they had. But what he would learn when he got there… he could never have imagined.

Moor Love


Carol Lynne - 2009
    To Caleb, Jon Cook is a mystery. Rendered mute years earlier in the automobile accident that killed his father, Jon lives a life of secrecy. From the beginning, Caleb begins to suspect that Jon's gruff exterior hides the soul of a lonely tormented man. Suddenly taking care of Jon's sheep isn't nearly as important as drawing the older farmer out of his shell and into the land of the living. Reader Advisory: This story was released as part of the Fabulous Brits Anthology by Total-E-Bound.

Sprat Morrison (Horizons)


Jean D'Costa - 1990
    The stories are selected both for their appeal to young people and for the quality of the writing.

He Mele A Hilo (A Hilo Song)


Ryka Aoki - 2014
    Noleani Choi’s new show about the life of Jesus Christ told through hula dance has everyone, especially her halau, wondering what she could possibly be thinking. Rumors circulate about a rich guy from the mainland, and the dancers and their friends must reckon with what is really hula, who is Hawaiian enough, and why each of them wants to dance.On one beautiful island, we discover that loving other people in spite of their flaws might just begin with being true to our own selves.

Sex Ed 120%, Vol. 1


Kikiki Tataki - 2020
    The problem is, her students barely know their birds from their bees! Between a girl who already has a girlfriend, a hard-core BL lover, and a girl who only cares about cats, Tsuji-sensei has her work cut out for her.

いとしの猫っ毛 [Itoshi no Nekokke]


Haruko Kumota - 2011
    Their romantic mood keeps getting interrupted by quirky tenants at Mii-kun’s apartment, but there’s a bigger obstacle they must face to become true lovers!

Lace-Covered Compromise


Silvia Violet - 2017
    When he finds out half of it went to Nate Thomas—an annoying man whose dreams for Kingston Corp.’s future clash with Adam’s need to stave off financial disaster—Adam is furious. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to wrest control of Kingston Corp. from Nate.Nate may be soft-spoken, but he refuses to be swayed by Adam’s arrogant demands. When Nate accidentally drops a pair of his lacy panties in front of Adam, there’s no mistaking Adam’s interest. Nate hadn’t realized Adam was bisexual, but now that his secret is out, Nate is willing to use Adam’s lust against him if it means protecting the welfare of the company he loves.For Adam and Nate, hatred and desire are closely linked. Their inability to compromise threatens the company and could expose their tightly held secrets. But as they work together to develop a plan to save Kingston Corp., they begin to realize there might be more to their relationship than anger and lust.

The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus


Alanna McFall - 2019
    And she’s not going to let the fact that she’s been dead for two years stop her. Joining with her mime friend from a New York City park and her ghostly mentor with forty years of afterlife under her belt, the three women set out on foot for San Francisco. Along the way, they are faced with joy, sorrow, and the haunting surprises of the open road. This humorous and lightly macabre journey explores relationships, personal burdens, and what it means to keep moving, even when your heartbeat has stopped.

The Moment


T.C. Anderson - 2013
    You love her.

Thrust


Rachel Spangler - 2021
    At the age of thirteen she made the varsity team, won a state championship, came out, and fell head over heels in love with her team captain, Lauren Standish. After being gently rebuffed by the high school senior, young Jess vowed she would return for her some day when their age difference became irrelevant and her own accomplishments made her not merely an equal, but an Olympian. Eleven years later, Jess makes good on her promise, but when she arrives back in Buffalo a few months before the big games, she’s intrigued to find that the woman she’s always dreamed of could also be exactly the coach she needs to win gold. Lauren, however, isn’t the bubbly team captain she’d been at eighteen. After a stellar collegiate career of her own, circumstances forced her to her dreams on the shelf and return to Buffalo. She’d made peace with a quiet life spent running a rustbelt fencing club and coaching kids when Team USA’s hottest young fencer waltzes back into her life. As much as Lauren finds Jess’s confidence and athleticism alluring, she also sees the hot-headed superstar as a threat to the carefully controlled world rebuilt in the wake of the traumatic loss she is desperate to avoid reliving. Never one to turn her back on a friend in need, Lauren agrees to coach Jess on the condition that they focus only on the swordplay and not the sharp point of attraction threatening to sever the bonds of her professionalism. The two women set to work preparing for the biggest event of their lives, but as tension mounts in the lead-up to the Olympic games, the pressure and the passion building between them also grows, leaving both to wonder if Jess is trying to win the gold, or win the girl.

Pain Management


Cassidy Ryan - 2010
    Until one drunken indiscretion threatens to change everything. But there is more than friendship on the line. Can Reese put the pain of his loss behind him and take a chance on a future with Tag, or will one hot night together be all Tag ever has of the man he's loved for as long as he can remember?