Cuffing season is upon us, and how better to attract a new love (or loves) than with a hot new piece of queer literature? A new queer book always goes down smooth with an iced pumpkin spice latte, a warm mug of Earl Grey with extra honey, or a robust glass of red wine. This autumn brings a bevy of romance, fantasy, literary fiction and even queer small-town monster stories—whatever your reading pleasure, you’ll find it here. Don your fuzziest sweater or comfiest hoodie, make eyes at that gorgeous barista/bartender, and dive into your next fall read!
If your go-to romance tropes are “Hallmark, but for lesbians” and “one-night stand…or is it?” pick up The View from the Top. In the latest from sapphic romance queen Rachel Lacey, two opposites—artist-slash-innkeeper Emily, and career-driven hotelier Diana—attract in the hottest of ways. After their steamy encounter each woman walks away with a new lease on life, but what happens when Emily discovers that Diana’s in town to buy Emily’s grandmothers’ inn? Life in Crescent Falls, Vermont is about to get way more interesting.
Vampiric sapphics with an enemies-to-lovers fetish will devour This Ravenous Fate. In Jazz Age Harlem, reapers (formerly-human vampires) have an unquenchable hunger, and the city relies on the protection of hunters led by the legendary Saint family. Eighteen-year-old Elise Saint returns from Paris knowing all the reapers want her dead—including her ex-best friend Layla Quinn. When Elise and Layla band together to solve a series of murders, sparks fly between the frenemies, but can they survive the dark underworld together?
For plus-sized queer rep with a juicy dose of Hollywood tea, try Because Fat Girl. Diana Smith is a fat, queer, unapologetic filmmaker taking Tinseltown by storm, until tragedy strikes and she’s stuck in the suburbs, outfitting the stars at an upscale department store. A gala invite leads to an unexpected romance with an action star, and the tabloid drama that comes with it. Soon, Hollywood is calling again, but how can Diana make her own happy ending?
Ever dream of running away with the circus? Order up Please Fear Me. In Jennifer Love’s debut, sixteen-year-old Smidge has left California and her mother, who struggles with addiction. She meets fellow runaway and performance artist Violet, and together, the two join a traveling circus and chosen family of misfits. When Violet becomes entangled with the circus’s enigmatic and dangerous ringmaster, Smidge realizes she must find the courage to face the troubles she left behind in California.
If you’re drawn to Silicon Valley stories and roommate drama, you’ll love Her Golden Coast. Set in 2007, Anat Deracine’s complex romance follows two unlikely roommates: sweet Laurie, an admin at a startup who recently discovered her prospective husband loves another man, and fierce Mal, who is resisting her Indian family’s traditional values, including arranged marriage. Facing a society where the toxic tech bro is king and same-sex marriage is not yet legal, can Laurie and Mal’s burgeoning romance survive?
For an intimate look at a lavender marriage, try Mutual Interest. It’s the beginning of a brand-new century (the twentieth, to be exact) and Vivian Lesperance and Oscar Schmidt have the perfect union. Behind closed doors, she pursues women, and he dates men, including Squire Clancey, who’s willing to fund Vivian and Oscar’s entrepreneurial dreams. As the trio’s soap, perfume and candle company grows into an empire, exposure threatens the fragile ties of the marriage, and the new-money heir at the center of it all.
To make the Yuletide gay ahead of schedule, pick up Ashley Herring Blake’s Make the Season Bright. Best-selling queer author Blake brings it home for the holidays, if by “home” you mean “exes stuck together in the same house.” New York musician Charlotte Donovan is happy to spend Christmas with her pal and ensemble mate Sloane in Colorado—until Sloane’s sister shows up with her new friend Brighton Fairbrook, who ditched Charlotte at the altar five years ago. Will these women spend the holiday in perfect harmony, or jarring discordance?
If you think one queer holiday romcom is not enough (and you are right, by the way!), check out I’ll Be Gone for Christmas. Author Georgia K. Boone spins a heartwarming tale of unexpected love via…house-swapping! Two women “meet” via the Vacate app: Bee, who needs a break from the San Francisco tech scene, and Clover, who’s just lost her mother and wants to be anywhere but Christmas-mad Salem, Ohio. Once they switch abodes for the holidays, Clover develops a crush on Bee’s “perfect” sister Beth, and Bee finds chemistry with Clover’s ex-fiancé Knox—but what happens when they have to switch back?
For mouthwatering descriptions of food and breathtaking scenery, sample Taiwan Travelogue. In Shuang-Zi Yang’s stunning novel, translated by Lin King and longlisted for a National Book Award, two women come together in 1938 Taiwan. Chizuko is a successful novelist and guest of the Japanese government, looking to taste all the city has to offer, and Chizuru is her assigned translator and traveling companion, as well as a skilled cook. Over the miles they traverse and the food they eat, something awakens in Chizuru: feelings for the older, accomplished Chizuko she can’t quite name, but knows will change her life forever.
If you live for teen angst told in poetry, read Take a Sad Song. After her grief-fueled partying goes too far, troubled teen Jane is banished to the New York State Training School for Girls in 1970. One year feels like an eternity, until Jane is introduced to an underground network of gender play, chosen family and romance among the girls in captivity. And after Jane meets fellow inmate Jo-Jo, who shares with Jane her passion for music and lyrics, nothing will ever be the same.
For cozy coffee shop vibes and Midwest love, gulp down I’ll Get Back to You. The debut of ghostwriter and content creator Becca Grischow centers on a “fake for the holidays” relationship. Murphy just wants to get out of her hometown (and the coffee shop she’s worked at since high school) and back to her university. Her former classmate Ellie just happens to be a fellow sapphic, and daughter of the professor who flunked Murphy in the first place. Ellie has dreams of her own, and Murphy can help. If only the wild attraction between the two wasn’t growing, and growing…
If you wish Nightbitch (and Amy Adams) were way gayer, snap up Feast While You Can. There’s not much happening in dead-end mountain town Cadenze, but Angelina is determined to make the best of it. And when sexy-as-sin fellow queer Jagvi returns for a stay, the best gets even better. There’s just one small problem: Jagvi’s presence evokes an ancient evil, and only her touch can repel the monstrous force that’s now following Angelina. Sure, the sex is hot, but humans and monsters can only coexist for so long before chaos ensues—what’s a horny mountain woman to do?
And for the best in new queer memoirs, grab Make a Home Out of You. Ginelle Testa’s story of surviving a turbulent adolescence and young adulthood is both harrowing and truly inspiring. The daughter of a drug dealing dad and an abusive mother, Testa fell deep into a spiral of alcohol, drugs, and eating disorders starting at just thirteen years old. She hits rock bottom her senior year of college, and joins Alcoholics Anonymous—but that’s just the beginning of her amazing journey.
