Book picks similar to
Ghostkin by Ellen Mellor
trans-authors
fantasy-urban
straight-novels-rated-4-0-or-more
transgender
Adijan and Her Genie
L.-J. Baker - 2008
Shalimar, her wife, wishes Adijan would spend more time at home. Their landlord wishes Adijan would pay the rent. Adijan's brother-in-law wishes she would get trampled by a herd of camels so that he could marry his sister Shalimar to someone affluent and influential. And of all the wishes in the world, Adijan wishes the genie she's saddled with would grant her wishes instead of treating her with disdain. Be careful what you wish for in a world of genies, sorcerers, and flying carpets.
It's You
Jane Porter - 2015
Alison McAdams has lost her way. So when she’s summoned to Napa to care for her ailing father, she’s not sure she has anything to offer him—or anyone else. What Ali finds in Northern California wine country is a gift—an opportunity to rest, and distance from her painful memories. Most unexpectedly, she finds people who aren’t afraid of her grief or desperate for her to hurry up and move on. As Ali becomes part of her father’s community, makes new friends of her own, and hears the stories of a generation who survived the Second World War, she begins to find hope again. In a quest to discover the truth about another woman’s lost love, she sets off on a journey across oceans and deep into history. And in making sense of that long-ago tragedy, Ali is able to put together the broken pieces of her heart and make new choices that are right for her.
Mona at Sea
Elizabeth Gonzalez James - 2021
Mona is a Millennial perfectionist who fails upwards in the midst of the 2008 economic crisis.Despite her potential, and her top- of-her-class college degree, Mona finds herself unemployed, living with her parents, and adrift in life and love. Mona’s the sort who says exactly the right thing at absolutely the wrong moments, seeing the world through a cynic’s eyes. In the financial and social malaise of the early 2000s, Mona walks a knife’s edge as she faces down unemployment, underemployment, the complexities of adult relationships, and the downward spiral of her parents’ shattering marriage. The more Mona craves perfection and order, the more she is forced to see that it is never attainable. Mona’s journey asks the question: When we find what gives our life meaning, will we be ready for it?
Dreaming Death
J. Kathleen Cheney - 2016
Kathleen Cheney created a “mesmerizing” (Publishers Weekly) realm where magic, history, and intrigue combine. Now, she presents a new world ruled by psychic talents and fatal magic... Shironne Anjir's status as a sensitive is both a gift and a curse. Her augmented senses allow her to discover and feel things others can’t, but her talents come with a price: a constant assault of emotions and sensations has left her blind. Determined to use her abilities as best she can, Shironne works tirelessly as an investigator for the Larossan army. A member of the royal family's guard, Mikael Lee also possesses an overwhelming power—he dreams of the deaths of others, sometimes in vivid, shocking detail, and sometimes in cryptic fragments and half-remembered images. But then a killer brings a reign of terror to the city, snuffing out his victims with an arcane and deadly blood magic. Only Shironne can sense and interpret Mikael’s dim, dark dreams of the murders. And what they find together will lead them into a nightmare...
Sinful Secrets
Taylor DawnAmy McKinley - 2020
which of these books will become your next sinfully secret obsession?Fans of, Lauren Landish, Willow Winters, and Lucy Score will love this set.*Help us in the fight against hunger. All proceeds from this boxed set will be donated to charity.**Authors in this set include:Taylor Dawn, C. Hallman, Dezi Dixon, Deja Voss, Mika Jolie, Elodie Colt, A.J. Macey, Tarrah Anders, Amy Mckinley, CR Robertson, Theresa Sederholt, Macy Butler, Verlene Landon, Rachel Angel, Leah Holt, Leela Lou Dahlin, Sandra Daniels, Allison Lafleur, Cayce Poponea, and Lauren Campbell.
The Girl with the Hazel Eyes
Callie Browning - 2019
‘The Girl with the Hazel Eyes’ is well-written and compelling. I give this novel 5/5 stars.” - Bekah’s Bookshelves.A beautifully written coming-of-age tale that examines the bonds of womanhood, feminism and pre-independence life on a small island. Almost fifty years after Susan Taylor was exiled from Barbados for her famous whistle-blowing novel, ‘The Unspeakable Truth’, she contacts a young writer to pen her biography. Susan is crotchety and unpleasant but Lia Davis is broke so she has no choice but to stay and write Susan's biography. As Lia starts to unravel the reclusive author's life, she realizes that some things just don't add up. Susan has been hiding a massive secret for decades and Lia is determined to find out what it is. The Girl with the Hazel Eyes is an endearing novel that tugs at your heart with its examination of love, lies, and loyalty.
All There Is
Violet Duke - 2017
Her next-door neighbor may have been the one to drag her out of the burning building that night, but it doesn’t exonerate him since he caused the fire. Not even when he shows up fourteen years later to help salvage her bakery.Jake Rowan may not have been able to save Emma’s brother from the fire, but at least he was able to save his own brother. By taking the fall and the punishment for him, Jake managed to protect his older brother’s future… but it cost him the girl of his dreams.Now Jake finds himself on Emma’s doorstep once again. Not to save her life this time, but to repair it. And more importantly, her heart, if she’ll let him.
The Elephant Keeper's Daughter
Julia Drosten - 2016
In the royal city of Kandy, a daughter is born to the king’s elephant keeper—an esteemed position in the court reserved only for males. To ensure the line of succession, Phera’s parents raise her as a boy.As she bonds with her elephant companion, Siddhi, Phera grows into a confident, fiercely independent woman torn between the expectations of her family and her desire to live life on her own terms. Only when British colonists invade is she allowed to live her true identity, but when the conquerors commit unspeakable violence against her people, Phera must add survival to the list of freedoms for which she’s willing to fight.Possessed by thoughts of revenge yet drawn into an unexpected romance with a kindly British physician, the elephant keeper’s daughter faces a choice: Love or hatred? Forgiveness or retribution?
Shoes on the Stairs
Jan Steele - 2019
She takes the reader on a journey of both laughter and tears while learning even the smallest of gestures can make a significant and lasting impact.* * *Claire Blackwell can’t find that damn white light. Thanks to a mishap at an intersection, she’s dead and stuck somewhere between Heaven and what seems like Hell as she is forced to watch her husband and children unravel without her. While she struggles to find answers for her limbo state, her family begins to see her, offering what she believes, is a gift of second chances. As she navigates through this new, untouchable world and the challenges it creates, she is forced to face some sad and potentially dangerous truths. Determined, she works to mend her relationship with her family, but her stubborn teenage son refuses to acknowledge her, and when tensions escalate with his long-time bully, her inability to control the physical world around her leaves her fearing for her family’s safety. With her time running out, she must find a way to save them before the progress she has made is lost and she fades from this world forever.
A Boy Like Me
Jennie Wood - 2014
It is the best and worst day of his life. Determined to impress Tara, Peyton sets out to win her love by mastering the drums and basketball. He takes on Tara’s small-minded mother, the bully at school, and the prejudices within his conservative hometown. In the end, Peyton must accept and stand up for who he is or lose the woman he loves.“A classic love story! Wood gets all the details of a trans individual coming-of-age into this novel. From the feelings about clothes, to the relationships with parents to the negotiations of life at school, this story rings true. Wood takes care with her setting and makes life, as painful and joyful as it can be, realistic. This novel is a great examination of what it means to come to terms with who you are and what it means to be true to yourself.” – Alex Myers, author of Revolutionary
Karen Memory
Elizabeth Bear - 2015
See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me."Set in the late 19th century—when the city we now call Seattle Underground was the whole town (and still on the surface), when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable's high-quality bordello. Through Karen's eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group—and the poor and the powerful of the town. Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone's mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.Bear brings alive this Jack-the-Ripper yarn of the old west with a light touch in Karen's own memorable voice, and a mesmerizing evocation of classic steam-powered science.
The Year I Left
Christine Brae - 2019
A confident businesswoman, wife, and mother, she begins to resent everything about her life. Nothing makes sense. Nothing makes her feel. Maybe it’s the recent loss of her mother in a tragic accident. Or maybe she’s just losing her mind. Enter Matias Torres. As their new business partnership thrives, so does their friendship—and his interest in her. Carin is determined to keep her distance, until a work assignment sends them to Southeast Asia where a storm is brewing on the island. In the midst of the chaos, Matias asks her to do something unimaginable, exhilarating, BOLD. Carin knows the consequences could be dire, but it may be the only way to save herself. An honest look at love and marriage and the frailties of the human heart, this is a story of a woman’s loss of self and purpose and the journey she takes to find her way back.
Made to Love
S.M. West - 2020
Now divorced by choice, I’ve reinvented myself, pouring my heart into my business. Then Samson Beaulieu walks into my life and turns everything upside down. Instead of running, I indulge in him. He’s delectable and fun and that’s all we can ever be. Because there’s no doubt this younger, sexy man will break my heart. I’m what you’d call a reluctant celebrity. Cooking is my passion, but fame is a constant with foodies flocking for selfies and autographs. Then Olivia Cassidy walks into my restaurant and turns everything upside down. She gives me a chance, but not her heart. And that’s not good enough. I want her more than any restaurant or TV deal. Walking away isn’t an option.
Hotblooded
Erin Nicholas - 2012
But it wasn’t until her mother took on the most powerful man in Honey Creek, Texas, that Brooke truly realized the daughter of the town whore didn’t stand a chance. When she left, it was supposed to be for good. But now, thanks to her late husband’s deal with their hometown, she’s back in the last place on earth she wants to be. Temporarily. As soon as her debts are paid off, she’s outta here. Until in walks the one man who can make her rethink everything. Dr. Jack Silver fixes things. So, when he learns his uncle is responsible for Brooke losing her husband, his sense of honor drives him across Texas to make amends. Instead of a broken woman, though, he finds a gorgeous, feisty physician’s assistant trying to survive in a town that wants her gone. She also has a mile-high fence built out of pride—and a clinic that’s at risk of going belly up. She may not want his money, but the clinic? He can fix that. He just never expects that in setting Brooke back on her feet, he’ll be swept right off his own. Warning: Contains a hot-blooded woman, a man who really likes that about her, a town with a long memory, and a cappuccino machine that makes it all worthwhile.
Resurrecting Phoenix
Isabel Lucero - 2015
Not every love story is a fairytale, but sometimes broken souls can come together and find a way to be whole again.There’s no right way to deal with grief. The death of my husband happened on our three year anniversary. A year later, I’m still struggling to deal with the tragedy that is my life.I drink. A lot. It’s my coping mechanism. I do it to pass time and to forget, but the problem is, it doesn’t work. All drinking ever did was make me lose my job, push my friends away, and become a recluse.Things begin to change when Evan Tyler comes to town and moves in a few houses down. He doesn’t know anything about who I used to be or my previous public meltdowns. Maybe that’s why it’s easier to be around him than people I’ve known my whole life. He barges into my life and forces me out of the house and teaches me to look at life a little differently.The only problem is that I vowed not to ask him any questions about his life, in the hope that he wouldn’t ask about mine. I didn’t want to dive into the dirty details, but there’s something about him I probably should’ve known before I started falling for him. Something that risks sending me into a tailspin. But like the Phoenix I'm named after, I hope to rise from the ashes.