Book picks similar to
Shy Girl by Elizabeth Stark
fiction
queer
lgbtq
lesbian-fiction
Call Me Softly
D. Jackson Leigh - 2011
So with her last breath, she implores her beautiful granddaughter, Lillie, to flee to the family’s polo estate in South Carolina and seek the protection of someone Abigail has come to trust—Swain Butler. What Lillie doesn’t know is that she is putting herself in the hands of a woman who may be the biggest family secret of them all.“Be careful,” Abigail cautions Lillie. If sleeping dogs must be roused, then call them forth softly.
With Teeth
Kristen Arnett - 2021
Working from home in the close quarters of their Florida house, she lives with one wary eye peeled on Samson, a sullen, unknowable boy who resists her every attempt to bond with him. Uncertain in her own feelings about motherhood, she tries her best--driving, cleaning, cooking, prodding him to finish projects for school--while growing increasingly resentful of Monika, her confident but absent wife. As Samson grows from feral toddler to surly teenager, Sammie's life begins to deteriorate into a mess of unruly behavior, and her struggle to create a picture-perfect queer family unravels. When her son's hostility finally spills over into physical aggression, Sammie must confront her role in the mess--and the possibility that it will never be clean again.Blending the warmth and wit of Arnett's breakout hit, Mostly Dead Things, with a candid take on queer family dynamics, With Teeth is a thought-provoking portrait of the delicate fabric of family--and the many ways it can be torn apart.
Marionette
T.B. Markinson - 2013
One day her girlfriend comes home to discover that Paige has slit her wrists. Paige isn't insane, but she acts like she is. Why? After the incident, Paige agrees to go to therapy to appease her girlfriend, Jess. However, Paige doesn't believe that therapy will help her. She believes she’s beyond help. Paige doesn't want to find herself and she doesn't want to relive her painful past in order to come to terms with it. What Paige wants is control over her life, which she hasn't had since her birth. During her childhood, Paige is blamed for a family tragedy, when in fact, her twin sister, Abbie was responsible. Abbie doesn't come forward and Paige becomes the pariah of the family. To add to Paige’s woes, while attending a college in a small town in Colorado, the residents are in the midst of debating whether or not gays and lesbians should have equal rights. Tension is high and there’s a threat of violence. She isn't out of the closet and pretends to be straight at school since she fears what will happen if her parents find out she’s a lesbian. Will she end up dead like her best friend, Alex?
Just Like That
Karin Kallmaker - 2005
She is content with her ordered world until she learns that her father’s feckless management has put Ardani Vineyards into receivership.Corporate turnaround specialist Toni Blanchard’s arrival is preceded by tales of her slash-and-burn techniques. Determined to meet this soulless corporate raider head on, Syrah proudly prepares to do battle for her home and family business.Toni has reason to retreat from a high-pressure Manhattan lifestyle, not the least of which is a bitter break up. She’s been told that Syrah Ardani is attractive and single, but Toni never mixes business and pleasure.Toni’s father wants her to save his old friend from bankruptcy. The court has appointed her to safeguard the creditors. The creditors clamor for a quick sale and payment. The beautiful—and hostile—Syrah wants Toni off her land and out of her life.Their clashes smolder with distrust and resentment, but also threaten to light a completely different kind of fire. Most dangerous of all is the one thing Toni can’t control—the way her heart reacts when Syrah looks at her… just like that.
Geography Club
Brent Hartinger - 2003
Kevin would do anything to prevent his teammates on the baseball team from finding out. Min and Terese tell everyone they're really just good friends. But after a while, the truth's too hard to hide - at least from each other - so they form the "Geography Club." Nobody else will come. Why would they want to? Their secret should be safe.
Something to Believe
Robbi McCoy - 2010
Cruise over, they kept in touch, and rapidly became close friends. The following year they’re reunited for a visit which ends with a spontaneous kiss that surprises them both. That one kiss destroys their friendship, sending them back to their lives—and their partners—heartsick and remorseful.Ten years later everything—and nothing—has changed. While the path is now clear for them to reignite the old flame, the time still seems all wrong. Cassie is unable to break through the emotional walls separating her from both her estranged son and her rediscovered love, while Lauren is overcome with revelations about her late partner that shatter her belief in destiny and romance.Challenged by the past and besieged in the present, the only thing going for them is the one thing they’ve denied all these years: love.With an unforgettable journey through China as backdrop for a story of fated love, Robbi McCoy (Waltzing at Midnight, Not Every River) returns with a decade-spanning romance that explores first impressions, second chances and perhaps third time’s the charm.
The Difference Between You and Me
Madeleine George - 2012
She wears big green fisherman's boots. She's the founding (and only) member of NOLAW, the National Organization to Liberate All Weirdos. Emily wears sweaters with faux pearl buttons. She's vice president of the student council. She has a boyfriend.These two girls have nothing in common, except the passionate "private time" they share every Tuesday afternoon. Jesse wishes their relationship could be out in the open, but Emily feels she has too much to lose. When they find themselves on opposite sides of a heated school conflict, they each have to decide what's more important: what you believe in, or the one you love?
Beauty of the Broken
Tawni Waters - 2014
Her parents—an abusive, close-minded father and a detached alcoholic mother—raised Mara to be like all the other girls in Barnaby: God-fearing, churchgoing, and straight. Mara wants nothing to do with any of it. She feels most at home with her best friend and older brother, Iggy, but Iggy hasn’t been the same since their father beat him and put him in the hospital with a concussion.As Mara’s mother feeds her denial with bourbon and Iggy struggles with his own demons, Mara finds an escape with her classmate Xylia. A San Francisco transplant, Xylia is everything Mara dreams of being: free-spirited, open, wild. The closer Mara and Xylia become, the more Mara feels for her—even though their growing relationship is very much forbidden in Barnaby. Just as Mara begins to live a life she’s only imagined, the girls’ secret is threatened with exposure and Mara’s world is thrown into chaos.Mara knows she can't live without Xylia, but can she live with an entire town who believes she is an abomination worse than the gravest sin?
Dare Truth or Promise
Paula Boock - 1997
Louie wants to be a lawyer and is an outstanding student. Willa lives in a pub and just wants to get through the year so she can graduate and become a chef. But they are completely attracted to one another when they first meet at a fast-food restaurant. Soon they fall in love fast and furiously, and everything the girls are sure of - their plans, their faith, their families, their identities - is called into question...
Battle Scars
Meghan O'Brien - 2009
Ray McKenna returns from the war in Iraq to find that she had attained unwanted celebrity status back home. As the only surviving American soldier of a well-publicized hostage crisis, she is the center of attention at a time when all she wants is solitude. Struggling to overcome the fear and anxiety that plague her, she relies on her psychiatric therapy dog Jagger to help her through the vicious symptoms of PTSD. Veterinarian Dr. Carly Warner hasn't yet figured out how to open her heart to the possibility of falling in love again after the death of her longtime partner. When Ray McKenna walks into the North Coast Veterinary Clinic with Jagger, she and Carly begin a friendship that takes them both by surprise. Brought together by their shared love of dogs, Ray and Carly discover that they are both capable of moving forward, if only they are brave enough to try
Just Juliet
Charlotte Reagan - 2016
Juliet represents the road less traveled. Will Lena take it? Lena Newman is 17, her best friend’s a cheerleader, her boyfriend’s a football player, and as far as everyone is concerned, her life is sorted. But that’s before she befriends the new girl. Juliet is confident, slightly damaged, drop-dead gorgeous and a lesbian. Lena realizes that her interest goes beyond just friendship. She sets off on a path of self-discovery where the loyalty of those closest to her will be tested. "It feels real without being tedious, and heart-warming without being sappy. It's not all roses, and it's not all doom and gloom. It's great.” - Jon "Just Juliet is the story I wish I could have given to my parents to read when I was 16 so that they knew what I was going through." - Caro M.
A Place to Rest
Erin Dutton - 2008
She has spent most of her life bouncing from job to job in an effort to avoid taking her place running her family's restaurant. Nothing has ever kept her attention for very long. Nothing, that is, until she meets shy pastry chef, Jori Diamantina.
Awakening
Cassidy Storm - 2018
You’re blindfolded, gagged, tied to a chair, arms bound tightly behind you. Completely naked – and completely helpless. You have no idea how you got here. Or where “here” is. This is just a dream, you decide. Unable to see, you listen instead. What you hear around you is both intriguing and frightening. Other women being punished – and pleasured. All too soon, your own ordeal begins as three women take turns subjecting you to excruciating torment – and orgasmic bliss. It must be a dream. Or is it?
Red Light
J.D. Glass - 2007
In the process she discovers a true calling for what she does, a deep abiding love for the city and people she serves, and a real connection to someone who cares for her.