Book picks similar to
Jacob, King of Portalia by Casey Clubb
fantasy
first-reads
ya
lgbt
Andy Squared
Jennifer Lavoie - 2012
They share everything—from their friends to a room—and they both enjoy star positions on their high school’s soccer teams. All’s right with the twins...or is it?When new student Ryder Coltrane moves from Texas to their small New York town, he spins Andrew’s world upside down. All of Andrew’s past relationship troubles begin to make sense and his true feelings start to click into place after Ryder comes out to him. His friendship with Ryder turns secretively romantic, but secrets, they soon find out, are hard to keep. Once rumors start to fly, so-called friends turn on them, and the boys’ relationship turns into a bomb about to explode. But Andrew never expected it would be his own twin, Andrea, holding a lighter to ignite it.
Life Is Not a Country Song
Rhavensfyre - 2014
Rowan St. John is on her way back home with an empty horse trailer and down a driver. Unfortunately, she had already taken on a short notice contract to transport a pregnant mare to California when her co-driver decides to get arrested and thrown in jail. Until then, it had seemed the perfect job. She was already heading that way, and she wouldn’t lose any money driving an empty rig almost 3,000 miles. Chase Meadows had it all, until she came home one day to find her lover in bed with another woman. Now she’s left with nothing but her truck, her horse and a definite need to find a new start. When the Flying S agrees to take her on as a horse trainer, she jumps on the chance. California was about as far away from North Carolina and the past as she could go. All she had to do was get there with her pregnant mare, Smoothy—the only thing she had left in her name that she would never give up. When Rowan St. John responded to her ad for a last minute horse transport, she thought she had finally gotten a break. When the horse transporter shows up just to tell her she can’t honor her contract, Chase had used up all her chances, or so she thought. Rowan won’t transport a pregnant mare without a co-driver, and Chase needs to get both herself and her horse to California. A deal is struck that benefits both women, more than they ever expected. A week on the road gives you a lot of time to talk. In the process, Chase and Rowan come to find out they have a lot in common, including an undeniable attraction to each other. The problem is, Chase isn’t looking for a relationship and Rowan has left out one important little tidbit about her life that might screw things up. An unexpected layover heats things up, and Chase has to decide if her new life has to wait until she hits the California line.
The Christmas Bones
Richard Amos - 2019
With the festive season in full swing, everything should be calming down to make way for relaxing times with good food and presents delivered by Sinterklaas.Right?Since when was life ever that simple?When a human body is discovered with every one of its bones missing, and creepy anti-supernatural protesters start lurking in the shadows with a sinister agenda, Jake and Dean are about to experience the nasty side of Christmas.An Urban Fantasy filled with magic, mystery and mayhem(The Christmas Bones is a sequel novel to the Coldharbour Chronicles series, set four years after the events of the final book. There are references to the previous series, but this story can be enjoyed without having prior knowledge of those books. It features an established MM relationship, and plenty of Urban Fantasy action.)
Pulp
Robin Talley - 2018
It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself—and Marie—to a danger all too real.Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can’t stop thinking about her senior project and its subject—classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her favorite book, the stresses of Abby’s own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the characters she’s reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under the pseudonym “Marian Love,” and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity.In this novel told in dual narratives, New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley weaves together the lives of two young women connected across generations through the power of words. A stunning story of bravery, love, how far we’ve come and how much farther we have to go.
Rise of Heroes
Hayden Thorne - 2008
There’s a new villain in town, one with super powers, and he’s wreaking havoc everywhere and on Eric’s life. The new superhero who springs up to defend Vintage City is almost as bad, making Eric all hot and bothered, enough so that he almost misses the love that’s right under his nose.Peter is Eric’s best friend, and even if he does seem to be hiding something most of the time, he finds a way to show Eric how he feels in between attacks on trains, banks, and malls. The two boys decide to start dating, much to the chagrin of their other best buddy, Althea, who has a terrible crush on Peter and a secret or two of her own to keep.As the fight between the Devil’s Trill and Magnifiman picks up, Eric’s relationship with Peter almost ends before it begins when Eric finds out about Peter’s special talents, which might just rank Peter as a superhero in his own right. When the Trill takes an interest in Eric, Peter and Althea, along with Magnifiman and Eric’s normal, middle-class family, all have to work together to keep Eric and their city safe.
The Banished Craft
E.D.E. Bell - 2015
Dragons. Humans. Each believe the other is a myth. In a world where women are not allowed to read, live alone, or pursue knowledge, Cor comes across a secret society who predicted the devastation that humankind can no longer ignore. A world away, Atesh studies a mysterious plant, determined to discover what is destroying his home and dragonkind with it. Cor and Atesh must each decide – what will they sacrifice to give their world a chance to survive?A quirky and modern take on dragons and wizards, The Banished Craft begins the genre-bending Shkode fantasy trilogy about a split world, exploring themes of identity, prejudice, violence, compassion, and the ways we are all connected.
Wallaçonia
David Pratt - 2017
To escape the pressure, he imagines the woods and marshes around his home to be an independent country, Wallaçonia, where he is accepted and recognized as the "upright and sterling" young man people expect him to be. And he may make it yet: this could be the week he and his girlfriend Liz finally have sex, putting to rest any lingering doubts Jim has about what kind of guy he really is. But then Pat Baxter, a neighbor, asks him to help out in his bookstore during the holiday rush, and Jim starts making new connections - and rediscovering an old one. Will Jim leave the sanctuary of his imaginary Wallaçonia for the real world? And which real world will it be, the one with Liz or the one that beckons from the bookstore?
The Gathering Storm
Robin Bridges - 2012
Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?
Entries from a Hot Pink Notebook
Todd D. Brown - 1995
Through the window of Ben's intimacies and observations, we remember what it was to be 14, freaked out by life, and never more eager to see what would happen next.
What's Up with Jody Barton?
Hayley Long - 2012
She's Jolene and I'm Jody. We've both got brown hair, we're both left-handed and we both have these weirdly long little toes which make us look like long-toed mutants. But apart from that, I'd say we're fairly different. Well, actually, we're a lot different... It's hard enough being one half of the world's least identical twins, without both of you falling for the same guy. Jolene's turned flirting into a fine art, but Jody? Not so much.And as if a twinny love triangle wasn't messy enough... there's something nobody knows about Jody Barton. Something BIG. Told with the trademark warmth and laugh-out-loud humour of the much-loved LOTTIE BIGGS books, this is a book that will make you think, with a gobsmacking twist you won't believe.
Blood Tithe
Glenn J. Soucy - 2011
He falls through an old World War II tunnel, which is half flooded with both water and chemicals from long forgotten scientific experiments. Jeremy is rescued, but his body is forever altered. Soon he discovers that he can gather energy from living things. But his new abilities come with a price...
The Shadow Reader
Sandy Williams - 2011
McKenzie Lewis can track them, reading the shadows they leave behind. But some shadows lead to danger. Others lead to lies. A Houston college student trying to finish her degree, McKenzie has been working for the fae king for years, tracking vicious rebels who would claim the Realm. Her job isn't her only secret. For just as long, she's been in love with Kyol, the king's sword-master--and relationships between humans and fae are forbidden. Any hope for a normal life is shattered when she's captured by Aren, the fierce and uncompromising rebel leader. He teaches her the forbidden fae language and tells her dark truths about the Court, all to persuade her to turn against the king. Time is running out, and as the fight starts to claim human lives, McKenzie has to decide once and for all whom to trust--and where she ultimately stands in the face of a cataclysmic civil war.
Endangered
Michelle Larkin - 2019
Her abilities awaken as a ruthless regime unleashes its troops to eradicate the shapeshifter population. Forced to run or be hunted, Aspen meets Dr. Tora Madigan—a beautiful and resourceful shapeshifter who oversees an underground sanctuary. Her attraction to Tora is a welcome distraction, but the fierce lioness plays hard to get. Together they discover that Aspen is a powerful shapeshifter thought to be extinct. Her existence gives shapeshifters everywhere a fighting chance. But there’s one small problem: she doesn’t even know how to shift. With no one else up for the job, Tora agrees to train her. Aspen soon finds herself leading a group of extraordinary shapeshifters who are willing to risk everything to save their species. When the sanctuary is targeted for annihilation, she must come up with a game plan. Fast.
Bleeding Earth
Kaitlin Ward - 2016
Within twenty-four hours, the blood made international news. All over the world, blood appeared out of the ground, even through concrete, even in water. Then the earth started growing hair and bones.Lea wants to ignore the blood. She wants to spend time with her new girlfriend, Aracely, in public, if only Aracely wasn't so afraid of her father. Lea wants to be a regular teen again, but the blood has made her a prisoner in her own home. Fear for her social life turns into fear for her sanity, and Lea must save herself and Aracely whatever way she can.
The Witch King
H.E. Edgmon - 2021
This debut YA fantasy will leave you spellbound.Wyatt would give anything to forget where he came from—but a kingdom demands its king.In Asalin, fae rule and witches like Wyatt Croft…don’t. Wyatt’s betrothal to his best friend, fae prince Emyr North, was supposed to change that. But when Wyatt lost control of his magic one devastating night, he fled to the human world.Now a coldly distant Emyr has hunted him down. Despite transgender Wyatt’s newfound identity and troubling past, Emyr has no intention of dissolving their engagement. In fact, he claims they must marry now or risk losing the throne. Jaded, Wyatt strikes a deal with the enemy, hoping to escape Asalin forever. But as he gets to know Emyr, Wyatt realizes the boy he once loved may still exist. And as the witches face worsening conditions, he must decide once and for all what’s more important—his people or his freedom.