It’s Pride Month, and of course that means we’ve got an excuse to celebrate queer indie and self-published SFF authors as well as show off our fabulous LGBTQIA+ Collection of books, which keeps growing by the minute!
For this year’s Pride, we decided to have a little fun and choose queer books from our collection with covers based on the colours of the Pride flag. For each colour, we’ve chosen five books for a total of thirty for you to check out!
Scroll on all the way down to see the final result. Happy Pride! 🏳️🌈
May Day by Josie Jaffrey
If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective. Just maybe not this one.
It’s not that Jack Valentine is bad at her job. The youngest member of Oxford’s Seekers has an impressive track record, but she also has an impressive grudge against the local baron, Killian Drake.
When a human turns up dead on May Morning, she’s determined to pin the murder on Drake. The problem is that none of the evidence points to him. Instead, it leads Jack into a web of conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the country, people to whom Jack has no access. But she knows someone who does.
To get to the truth, Jack will have to partner up with her worst enemy. As long as she can keep her cool, Drake will point her to the ringleaders, she’ll find the murderer and no one else will have to die.
Body bags on standby.
May Day is the first book in Josie Jaffrey’s Seekers series, an urban fantasy series set in Oxford, England.
The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle by Steve Hugh Westenra
Tyler Kyle doesn’t believe in monsters.
A washed-up thirty-year-old actor and reluctant cryptid investigator, Tyler is used to playing the Scully to his best friend Josh’s Mulder on their stupidly popular YouTube channel. But when Tyler receives previously unseen footage of the B movie bombshell mother who abandoned him eighteen years ago—footage linked to an isolated island in the Canadian wilderness—the mystery is one conspiracy he’s determined to investigate. The fact that following the scent gives Tyler an excuse to run away from the “straight” Josh, whom he drunkenly made out with, is just the cherry on the shit sundae.
But Echo Island isn’t what it seems. Its eerily scenic veneer hides a twisted secret buried in its roots as a gay conversion camp, and as Tyler retraces his mother’s footsteps, he discovers a supernatural connection between the residents and the island—one they seem to think Tyler and his mother share.
Even worse, the footage of Tyler’s mom came from someone on the island–a stalker whose obsessive fascination with both Tyler and Josh is about to make Tyler wish he hadn’t gone this one alone. Puppeteered by his stalker, searching for his mother, and debating whether it’s possible to queerbait yourself, Tyler comes to realize that it doesn’t matter so much whether you believe in monsters, if they believe in you.
THE ERSTWHILE TYLER KYLE is an adult horror comedy for fans of GHOST FILES, BUZZFEED UNSOLVED, and TWIN PEAKS.
The Phoenix and the Sword by J.C. Snow
Aili Fallon is desperate.
Determined to escape her past, she refuses to let anything impede her training as a combat nurse – until the woman she’s falling in love with disappears in a fiery tempest, leaving Aili burdened with terrible immortality and destroying flame.
Gambling with her own existence, Aili crosses into a spiritual realm in search of her lost love — the only person that can give her answers. But beneath the life she has known is a life shaped by secrets, and a love that was doomed a thousand years before.
And unless Aili discovers the truth, the powers she now bears will destroy her.
The Phoenix and the Sword is the first book in the Crane Moon Cycle duology, a queer epic fantasy set in a world of spiritual powers, past lives, and beings of myth and legend. Perfect for those looking for a story of love, loss, and redemption that crosses centuries and worlds.
The Crane Moon Cycle is set in a world that includes war and violence, and themes that may be difficult for some readers. Please see the author’s website for list and details.
The Songbird’s Refrain by Jillian Maria
When a mysterious show arrives in town, seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Brighton is both intrigued and unsettled. But none of the acts capture her attention quite like the blue-eyed woman. Locked in a birdcage and covered in feathers, the anguish in her voice sounds just a little too real to be an act—because it isn’t. The show’s owner, a sadistic witch known only as the Mistress, is holding her captive.
And she’s chosen Elizabeth as her next victim.
After watching the blue-eyed woman die, Elizabeth is placed under the same curse. She clings to what little hope she can find in the words of a fortune teller and in her own strange dreams. The more she learns, the more she suspects that the Mistress isn’t as invulnerable as she appears. But time is against her, and every feather that sprouts brings her closer to meeting the blue-eyed woman’s fate. Can Elizabeth unlock the secret to flying free, or will the Mistress’s curse kill her and cage its next victim?
We’re All Monsters Here by Amy Marsden
When Anna is invited to a secluded retreat full of selfish, greedy humans, of course she doesn’t say no. Not only did she manipulate the CEO of the world’s largest oil corporation, Peter Beyer, into organising the four-day getaway in the first place, but no self-respecting vampire would ever turn down such easy prey. Her weekend gets even better when she meets Saira, one of Peter Beyer’s employees, and they begin a whirlwind affair. Blood and beautiful women are Anna’s idea of a great time.
She should have known it was too good to be true.
Hunters are dangerous, deadly, and dedicated to eradicating vampires. When a group of them turn up at the retreat, Anna must use her centuries of experience to escape their ever-closing net. Will she get out unscathed, or will they finally catch up to her? Will she give into her intense and unexpected feelings for Saira, or will she leave her to burn as she destroys all evidence she was ever there?
A fresh twist on urban fantasy, with an added splash of sapphic romance.
Chai and Cat-tales by Lynn Strong
Bask in a sunbeam with three cozy fantasy novellas of the Catsprowl, a busy neighborhood brimming with cats and cat-goddesses, book-keepers and bath-houses, piping hot chai, and pouncing kittens’ mischief.
This volume includes the novellas The Prince of Her Dreams, Priye, and The Potter’s Dream under one cover.
Goblin Heart by Fae Loxley
As a goblin prince living in the human court of Morvane, Luc is unerringly loyal to his best friend, Prince Ramon. While his feelings seem genuine, his loyalty is forced, magically-controlled by the false heart beating in his chest. The royal wizards have hidden his true heart out of reach, keeping Luc as a well-mannered captive in the Morvanish palace.
Will Fletcher is an irritable apprentice smith, more comfortable sneaking off to the goblin kingdom of the Brightwood than staying in his family home. When Luc stumbles into his life, Will learns that he and the goblin prince have more in common than he expects. In order to steal back Luc’s heart and free him from magical bondage, Will must confront the shadows hiding in his past and forge a new life.
The Carnelian King and Other Stories by Arden Powell
A collection of fifteen short fantasy stories introducing dazzling new worlds.
From a magical second-hand shop hidden between dimensions to rolling emerald hills dotted with ancient ruins, through carnivorous winter woods and across the war-torn steppes of a crumbling empire, this collection spans beloved fantasy genres from classic to cozy, action and adventure to sword and sorcery, and gothic horror to romance. Some of these many star-crossed worlds
A dashing knight nostalgic for the lost myth and glory of the Golden Age, and a reclusive sorcerer who is more than he seems.
Gentlemen dragons, sapphic dragons, dragons as small as hummingbirds and as vast as rivers.
The first installments in a new sword & sorcery series, featuring a mercenary knight who cannot be killed and a horde of witches, lich-kings, and curses.
Trading tales of survival in the god-wrecked scrublands of the old west.
An eldritch house hungering for fresh meat.
A disgraced prophet, his flirtatious rival, and a foal whose birth foretells great changes for their land.
The Edge of a World by J.D. Rivers
A scholar on a journey. A monster in his veins. An unbending truth.
All Otar ever wanted was being part of a community, but the monster in his veins, bent on killing those Otar touches, makes it impossible. It has already slipped his grasp more than once—with devastating consequences.
His desperate search for a cure for his curse leads him to the Ancients and their mysterious ruins. At a newly discovered ruin, past and present collide, and he finds answers beyond imagination…and perilous danger.
Confronted with the truth about his origin, Otar must decide fast what he will sacrifice to save those he holds dear.
The Edge of a World is a Fantasy Sci-Fi story about self-discovery, defying destiny, and paving your own path.
Undergrounder by J.E. Glass
Drowned by men. Saved by a monster.
The last place Alexandra Bailey expects her routine life of domestic journalism to lead is being sucked into icy floodwaters below New York City. Headlines like this happen to other people, but it’s real, and she knows she’s dead. Which makes the circumstances of her survival as impossible as the woman who drags her from the water.
Saved but hardly safe, Alex wakes in the Underground, a world of misfits and monsters thriving below the streets. It’s a journalism goldmine. One Alex can’t resist digging into after learning her beastly savior is Leanna Farrow, adopted daughter of an infamous and “presumed dead” scientist. But Alex’s curiosity, coupled with her rapidly developing feelings for Leanna, put both women in danger when Alex’s inquiries pique the interest of a powerful family with bloody connections to the Underground’s origins.
If Alex wants to unravel the secrets of the world below, she’ll have to walk the razor’s edge, but some mysteries are better left buried.
Manor of Shadows by Joachim Heijndermans
Mary Whitehall unexpectedly becomes the new mistress and lady of Cavendish Hall, an old but majestic manor in the Scottish countryside with a large staff and vast tracts of land. Truly, she has been elevated into a new life of splendor.
Yet there’s something…not quite right. The lands surrounding the manor have been neglected and the nearby towns seem to suffer from despair. Cavendish Hall itself has shunned all sunlight, as every window has been boarded up, with a peculiar presence lurking among the shadows. A strange darkness has all the staff within its grasp–a darkness that smells of aged honey and has an odd yellowed hue to it.
What more, her stay at Cavendish causes Mary to feel new sensations. She is troubled by erotic desires, haunted by dreams of the flesh as she becomes increasingly aware of the clandestine lustful acts her staff engages in. And a voice from the shadows speaks to her, urging her to explore new realms of pleasure.
Will Mary discover the truth about what is causing the nearby villages to slowly wither and what happened to the broken church? Will she uncover what eldritch force haunts Cavendish…or will she too succumb to the power of this manor of shadows and the cloaked figure that haunts it?
A figure clad in yellow.
Manor of Shadows is the fourth installment of the Beautiful Beasts imprint, a series of erotic science fiction, fantasy and horror novellas by author Joachim Heijndermans.
The Forgotten Lyric by Carolina Cruz
How can an assassin retire and live with everything they’ve done? Some men turn to drink, while others choose to live in denial. Kennet Peders, on the other hand, is just trying to be a better person. Saving a young girl from death by poison seems to be the perfect place to start, yet even as he takes a job that does nothing but good, Kennet can’t fully escape his past…
With the supernatural ability to influence other people’s emotions, Asa never felt quite comfortable in the society they were raised in. Luckily, being a bard means they can easily leave that society to find a home somewhere new—and the country of Bladland is very new to them. Here Asa finds themself presented with an opportunity: use their influence to help save a young girl and befriend a mysterious (and handsome) sword-for-hire in the process. It’s an adventure they’d be a fool to pass up on.
The Forgotten Lyric is the second book in the Creed of Gethin trilogy.
The Hades Calculus by Maria Ying
Decadent cyberpunk cities. Greek mythology and giant mechs. Hades and Persephone as never seen before.
For centuries, colossi have besieged the gates of Elysium. Each day, the city’s fall looms closer.
As one of Elysium’s rulers, Hades has long sought to break this stalemate. In Persephone, a cyborg tailor-made to kill, she finds the key to victory and the perfect pilot for her war machine. She will acquire Persephone at any cost.
Born to wield violence and with the bloodthirst to match, Persephone chafes under her mother’s control. At the first opportunity, she brutally breaks free and seeks sanctuary with the unlikeliest of the Lord of the Machine Dead, the Master of the Underworld.
All Hades and Persephone have to do to realize their goals is to navigate the city’s treacherous politics—and survive the coming war.
The Need for Dandelions by Alex Larkspur
Galen did not need someone to protect him in the Candiru Quarter. He simply did not. He was a devotee of the Lady of Flowers and he knew that he was perfectly safe in Candiru Quarter. However, the governor of Dragonet City has decided that every healer working in the city needed to have a guard with them to protect them in the dangerous streets, especially in Candiru Quarter.
Sasha did not want this posting. The last thing in the world that he wanted to do was follow around a devotee of the Lady of Flowers, a god that he hates. But because of his own horrible track record, he is stuck guarding Brother Galen. He hates every single moment of it. Galen and Sasha clash immediately, and everything seems to be doomed to end in catastrophe. One night changes all of that.
When a strange new disease emerges in the center of Candiru quarter, it forces the two men to confront each other and themselves. Only then can they work to discover the origin of the sickness and save Dragonet City, as well as each other.
The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz
Can you flimflam a ghost?
It’s 1934. Former medium Dashiel Quicke travels the country debunking spiritualism and false mediums while struggling to stay ahead of his ex-business partner and lover who wants him back at any cost. During a demonstration at a college campus, Dashiel meets Hermann Goschalk, an Egyptologist who’s convinced that he has a genuine haunted artifact on his hands. Certain there is a rational explanation for whatever is going on with Hermann’s relics, Dashiel would rather skip town, but soon finds himself falling for Hermann. He agrees to take a look after all and learns that something is haunting Hermann’s office indeed.
Faced with a real ghost Dashiel is terrified, but when the haunting takes a dangerous turn, he must use the tools of the shady trade he left behind to communicate with this otherworldly spirit before his past closes in.
Coward by Ayrton Silva
Lina is a serving girl at a tavern, who thinks she is doomed to an uneventful life, until a horrible beast attacks her hometown. Such attacks are commonplace; humanity has been cursed by the gods since time immemorial, and bloodthirsty beasts prey on mankind virtually unpunished. Humanity’s only line of defense are the Slayers: armed with divine magic, they are capable of fighting the beasts on equal ground, and are immune to the curse that turns men into monsters.
That particular attack, however, upends Lina’s life. Because it’s not a Slayer who scares away the beast, but an ordinary girl. An outsider. That single discovery makes Lina question whether the life she has is the only possible one, and she embarks on a brief (but bloody) journey of self-discovery through a reality much more complicated than she could imagine.
Curse of Souls by Niranjan
Philip and his partner Casey have been spearheading the secessionist movement in the country of Gedrion which had escalated into a war with Darren, the tyrant who had been exploiting their people. In a desperate attempt for peace after years of conflict, they approach Raylan, Darren’s second-in-command, for an end to the hostilities and to overthrow Darren.
Raylan is as tired of the conflict as his enemies, and he knows that Darren is not one to listen to reason. Therefore, he has to keep it a secret from everyone on his side that he’s meeting with Philip and Casey if he’s to give peace a chance.
The last thing any of them expect is for a soul mate bond to spring to life between Philip and Raylan, activating an ancient magic that will kill them both if the bond isn’t consummated. With the fate of two nations on the balance, and Philip and Casey’s relationship struggling for air, all three men find that they have to make choices none of them are prepared for if they want an end to the war and bring about peace while keeping Philip and Raylan alive.
imPerfect Magic by C.N. Rowan
After hundreds of years of dying, you’d think I would’ve perfected it by now…
One moment I’m a heretical priest in the twelfth century, hunted, hated…The next, I’m waking up in the nearest corpse. Stuck in a cycle of instant reincarnation, popping back up like a tarnished penny.
Fast forward eight hundred years, and you might think I’ve learned a thing or two. Nope. All I’ve learned is how to die far too easily, far too often.
Now my territory in the South of France is under threat and I find myself trapped by impossible angel-made runes. If the angels have gone full red lightsaber evil, it might not only be my territory in danger, but the whole of reality itself…
I need to stop whoever is behind this, and now. After all, you can’t come back to life, if there’s nothing left to come back to.
“imPerfect Magic” is the first book in “The imPerfect Cathar” series, a darkly funny supernatural suspense following a trio of immortal heretics. If you can’t wisecrack while death is on the line? Well… perhaps you’re not dying right.
Kinship and Kindness by Kara Jorgensen
Bennett Reynard needs one thing: to speak to the Rougarou about starting a union for shifters in New York City before the delegation arrives. When his dirigible finally lands in Louisiana, he finds the Rougarou is gone and in his stead is his handsome son, Theo, who seems to care for everyone but himself. Hoping he can still petition the Rougarou, Bennett stays only to find he is growing dangerously close to Theo Bisclavret.
Theo Bisclavret thought he had finally come to terms with never being able to take his father’s place as the Rougarou, but with his father stuck in England and a delegation of werewolves arriving in town, Theo’s quiet life is thrown into chaos as he and his sister take over his duties. Assuming his father’s place has salted old wounds, but when a stranger arrives offering to help, Theo knows he can’t say no, even if Mr. Reynard makes him long for things he had sworn off years ago.
As rivals arrive to challenge Theo for power and destroy the life Bennett has built, they know they must face their greatest fears or risk losing all they have fought for. With secrets threatening to topple their worlds, can Theo and Bennett let down their walls before it’s too late?
The Elysium Proposal by A.E. Bross
Kyle Talos, adventurer, privateer, and captain of The Stargazer, wanted to have the perfect romantic evening with the love of her life. Good food, better wine, and then maybe, just maybe, a marriage proposal.
Except nothing ever goes as planned.
Instead, she received a nighttime chase across rooftops, her ship commandeered, and threats that forced her into sailing herself, her not-yet-fiancé, and the invading enemy towards certain doom. All of this in pursuit of the myth of a spring that could grant eternal life. This otherworldly prize was rumored to be located on the Elysium Cove, a small island far out to sea.
An island surrounded by storms so powerful that no vessel has sailed in and returned to tell the tale. More than one fool has tried. None of them survived.
Kyle must now keep herself and those she loves safe, but will she be able to change course before the relentless search for eternal life leads them all to their deaths?
Children by Bjørn Larssen
Gods make lousy parents.
All Magni wants is peace and quiet, but when your father is the God of thunder, you don’t get to live the life you want. When Thor destroys all his son knows and loves, Magni vows to bring prosperity and end the violence… forever. But can you escape cruelty in a universe built on it, or the shadow of your father when everyone calls you by his name?
Maya, her rage more powerful than she knows, wants freedom to pursue her own destiny. Neither torture nor blackmail can make her obedient or pretty enough for Freya, her foster-mother and Goddess of love. Fighting for independence and revenge, can a mere human win a game where Gods dictate the rules?
Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair
An SPSFC 2021 Finalist and Indie Fantasy Fund 2022 Award Winner (somehow)!
Michael Duckett is fed up with his life. His job is a drag, and his roommate and best friend of fifteen years, Stephanie Dyer, is only making him more anxious with her lazy irresponsibility. Things continue to escalate when they face the threat of imminent eviction from their palatial 5th floor walk-up and find that someone has been plastering ads all over the city for their Detective Agency.
The only problem is: He and Stephanie don’t have one of those.
Despite their baffling levels of incompetence, Stephanie eagerly pursues this crazy scheme and drags Michael, kicking and screaming, into the fray only to find that they are way out of their depth. They stumble upon a web of missing people that are curiously linked to a sexually audacious theoretical physicist and his experiments with the fabric of space-time. And unless Michael and Stephanie can put their personal issues aside and fix the multi-verse, the concept of existence itself may, ironically, no longer exist.
Painted Flock by Claudie Arseneault
Clémence Voyer’s one and only priority is Alain, ols five-year-old brother. Ol had been ready to kill countless witches to keep him safe. With Montrant Industries’ crimes exposed, Clémence is freed from their clutches and under witness protection, granting ol a rare opportunity to give the boy a sense of normalcy and indulge his bird obsession.
The city of Val-de-mer is left with one obvious problem, however: over a thousand witches trapped in exocores need to be transferred safely into new bodies, and ols involvement in the creation of exocores is not so easily forgotten—not by the lovely Emmanuelle Duclos, the scientist in charge of devising the exocore transfer, not by the witch community ol betrayed, and not by Montrant Industries, who needs ol dead to protect itself.
Mired in the middle of the exocore restoration project, Clémence is forced to face the people ol harmed. Ol will need to learn to trust again determine what it means to be accountable if ol wants to move forward and finally give Alain the idyllic life he deserves.
—
PAINTED FLOCK is the second fantasy novel in a series meant to reframe romance tropes within non-romantic relationship and centering aromantic characters. Those who enjoy quiet healing, tricky redemptions, and unusual families should enjoy this story.
The Thirteenth Key by Cara Nox
The chaotic crew of heisting misfits in Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows meets the familiar yet fantastical, modern landscape found in Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs.
“The thirteen emblems given to the original rulers weren’t just symbols. They’re keys to the Vault—one that no one’s ever opened.”
Noa has lived her life as an unsuspecting, ID-burning, face in the crowd that disposes of “problems” for her miscellaneous, secretive employers. So, when Noa’s surrogate father—a Seer—hands her a long-lost emblem, telling her with his dying breath that it’s her responsibility to reignite magic, she laughs at the idea that the fate of their world rests on the shoulders of a killer. Instead, she uses his words and the key he gave her as an excuse to go on one final suicide mission to seek out the power supposedly waiting for her to annihilate his murderer.
Prince Glacier Caelius has lived his life trapped inside a gilded cage, pushed down by the ever-present threat of death as the bastard son of Amarais’s late king. But when the rebels attack during a nationalist party, Glacier’s rescued by none other than Noa and her merry band of thieves, who are scrambling to salvage a failed attempt at stealing his country’s emblem: the Soul of Amarais. When the dust settles, he’s the only person left alive to unlock the palace vault and give the Soul to Noa in exchange for saving his life.
Well, once they’re able to formulate a plan to take the palace back.
Struggling with their tentative, newfound freedom, Noa and Glacier must learn to work together to survive the urban landscape of Avaria’s greatest cities fortified by technology in the wake of dwindling magic. The goal: steal as many keys as they can before their pasts catch up. But the further they go, the more they realize that something worse may be lurking on the horizon, and they may very well be the only ones able to stop it.
Wolf of Withervale by Joaquín Baldwin
An ambitious, sweeping saga. As epic as it is queer.
Lago was only a child when the shapeshifter entrusted the wolf-like mask to his care—an artifact so powerful that it could come to shape the entire world of Noss.
Now that he is coming of age, Lago is becoming ever more fearful of the ominous relic’s influence, of the empire who has scented its trail and is coming after it. Coming after him.
Aided by his best friend, an enigmatic scout, and his trusty dog, Lago seeks refuge in the vastness of the Heartpine Dome. The eighty-mile-wide structure had remained sealed for centuries, safeguarding more than mere secrets. Now that the dome’s entrails are stirring, the mysteries of the long-vanished Miscam tribes are coming to light, and the shapeshifting animal spirits are making their return.
Powers untold hide behind the blinkless eyeholes of the canid mask, powers that could tip the balance in the war. Lago is barely beginning to learn how to wield the dark visage, but he can already feel its potential.
… And he can feel a different change coming, deep in his marrow.
Riveting in scope and worldbuilding, and exquisitely illustrated by the author, this tale of transformation and self-discovery is filled with unabashed wonder and a lust for places unknown. A profoundly queer adventure that explores sexuality, our connections to other species, unconventional kinds of love, and the very nature of consciousness.
Wolf of Withervale is the first installment of the Noss Saga, an epic LGBTQ+ fantasy series.
Heart of the Covenant by S.L. Dove Cooper
In Heart of the Covenant, five stories explore ties of friendship, family and culture, embracing our differences and our similarities.
Having applied to be an ambassador for her people within the Galactic Covenant, Hedriar has relocated to Cerulean Station, one of the Covenant’s largest residential stations. There, she’ll spend the next years sharing her own culture and learning about the Covenant’s as part of an exchange programme between the two.
Hedriar may not have the most detailed of plans of what, or even how, to share the aspects of her culture that matter most to her, but she’s got enthusiasm, family and new-found friends at her side. She’ll figure it out, and along the way she’ll learn that what people value most may not be so different at the core.
Heart of the Covenant is a cosy, low-stakes science fiction collection with a strong focus on slice-of-life narratives.
I Spade You by Bones McKay
This anthology is to showcase asexual romance and aromantic partnership across a variety of genres. Each story explores the vast spectrum of asexuality. These are stories written and illustrated by asexual creators.
Lesbians In Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before
Peanut butter and chocolate. Cheese and wine. Sex and rock n’ roll. History is full of great pairings. Get ready for your new Lesbians and Space! Join a host of intrepid explorers heading to the outer reaches of the galaxy, exploring planets, space stations, strange new worlds and interesting aliens.
Launch into stories that span the cosmos, covering Space Opera, Xenobiology, Space Stations, Adventure, and Spaceships! From spaceship mechanics to intergalactic colony queens, heists, smugglers, gods, and sentient planets, Lesbians in Space explores the galaxy from the unique perspective of the lesfic world, blending the best of sapphic literature with modern sci-fi and space opera tropes.
With stories Mary Robinette Kowal, Seanan McGuire, Travis Baldree, Emma Newman, MK Hardy, Ashleigh Martin, Nathan Chu, Stewart C Baker, Kayla Whittle, Joel Glover, Caye Marsh, Kira Neu, Jes Honard, Scarlet Passmore, Sylvie Althoff, Jasmine Gower, Siena Buchanan, Beáta Fülöp, Danielle Woolhead, J.S. Fields, and Heather Tracy
Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan
The last night of Claire Ryland’s old life in the closet was pretty normal, aside from the alley fight with interdimensional monsters. Fortunately, the drummer of her favorite local band transformed into a magical girl and saved her.
Then Claire became a magical girl as well. Things got a little complicated after that.
Now Claire is juggling two new living as a girl and as a member of Portland’s super-secret supernatural defense squad, the hard-rocking magical girls known as … Magica Riot!
The story of a young transgender woman who’s discovering herself at the same time she’s learning how to be a magical girl, Magica Riot is an action-filled musical adventure inspired by classic magical girl anime, tokusatsu shows, and the vibe of the American Pacific Northwest. Featuring a cast of LGBTQ+ magical girls, mysterious monsters, and villains that are more than they appear to be, Magica Riot shows that finding your true self is the first step toward saving the world.
The debut work in the Maidensong Magica universe of magical girl stories!
The Story of the Hundred Promises by Neil Cochrane
A loose retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” that centers queer and trans characters
Trans sailor Darragh Thorn has made a comfortable life for himself among people who love and accept him. Ten years after his exile from home, though, his sister asks him to reconcile with their ailing father. Determined to resolve his feelings rather than just survive them, Darragh sets off on a quest to find the one person who can heal a half-dead man: the mysterious enchanter who once gave him the magic he needed to become his true self. But so far as anyone knows, no one but Darragh has seen the enchanter for a century, and the fairy tales that survive about em give more cause for fear than hope. In lush and evocative prose, and populated with magical trees and a wise fox, The Story of the Hundred Promises is a big-hearted fantasy suffused with queer optimism.
And now to reveal what our colourful book Pride flag looks like!
If these aren’t enough book recommendations for you, then do visit our LGBTQIA+ Collection for more. What books are you reading for Pride this year? Let us know in the comments!
