WLW

10 Perfect Pride Month Sapphic Reads

May 31, 2023 By Anne Hagan

Pride month will be with us beginning tomorrow in most countries where Pride events can be openly celebrated. In the spirit of Pride, I’ve picked ten fiction books, some out of a promotion, several out of my ‘To Be Read’ (TBR) pile, I’m looking forward to reading in the next month or so. Most are romance, and most have positive themes.

Some of the books are indie and are running in said promotion where I personally have a book listed this month. Some are from publishers large and small. Most have been recommended to me (even above the promotion) as ‘must read’ stories of sapphic love and pride.

Fluid Bonding: A Sapphic Paranormal Romance was published in August of 2022 by indie author Sienna Eggler – If you know me, you know mysteries are my first love. This was suggested because it has those intrigue elements I like to see in romance too. Bonus points for having one of the leads be non-binary and neurodivergent.

$4.99 at Amazon and other major retailers.

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Hugs and Quiches was published back in 2020 by indie author/tiny press author Candace Harper. I’m a fan of cooking competition television shows and more than a few people know this. I’m not super talented in the kitchen myself, but my family doesn’t starve either. I live my high end culinary dreams vicariously through such shows. Two people that know this have both recommended this book. It sounds like a great second chance romance for at least one of the main characters, and a thawing the ice queen trope for the other one. Yum!

Also $4.99 at Amazon and other major retailers.

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Flipped: A Once Upon a Fangirl Book – Another book I missed back in 2020 when Caitlin Ryan self-published it caught my eye in that promo that starts tomorrow. During the pandemic I got hooked on home renovation shows that now vie for my precious few hours of aimless TV time a week alongside those cooking shows/competitions I mentioned. The model on this cover? To me, she looks a little like a longer haired, slightly younger Alison Victoria of ‘Windy City Rehab.’ That’s who I’ll be picturing the whole time I read this story about a travel agent and a ‘lesbian couple’ that remodel homes.

Currently $.99 at Amazon and available via Kindle Unlimited.

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Sips of Her (Coffee Shops of Love Book 2) – A 2021 Sapphic romance by indie author Karmen Lee. Karmen is known for the diversity of her romances in both the multicultural aspects of them and in the sexualities/genders of her pairings. This one intrigues me because it offers both the cuteness of a romcom and some steam.

Currently $2.99 at Amazon and available via Kindle Unlimited.

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Deus Ex Mechanic

I admit to starting this book by Ryann Fletcher when it came out in 2020…right before covid sent my wife home to work for months and my foster kids home to be homeschooled for months. I put it down ‘temporarily’ and lost track of it. It’s been waiting for me in my Kindle ever since. I’ll be starting it over gladly, and now there are four more books in the series to check out too.

At this writing this is $.99 at Amazon and at other major online retailers.

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Swipe Right for Love This very recent release by Cyan LeBlanc (of fanfic fame) through her own small press, Posies and Peacocks, is quite the modern take on dating via apps. The format of the book is also very modern as each chapter is a date and, until it all works out in the end, it sounds like we’ll only get the viewpoint of one main character. I can’t wait to see how Cyan handles that!

Currently $3.99 at Amazon and available via Kindle Unlimited.

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We finish with four books from large publishing houses, all well rated, and all with either intricate plots or tough themes that resolve well for the sapphics involved. No killing off your lesbians in these stories!

The Fiancée Farce – Avon published, Lammy Award winning author Alexandria Bellfleur is no stranger to sapphic book lovers, or to anyone who reads romance. This April release gives those book lovers what they love; a fake relationship book about book lovers. I can’t wait to dig into this.

$10.99 at Amazon and most other major retailers.

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Forget Me Not Have you seen the Adam Sandler romcom movie, 50 First Dates, which was based on a true story? If you haven’t, watch it. I’ll wait. After that, lets read Alyson Derrick’s solo debut together and get the deeply emotional side of the same sort of story, but sapphic. Bonus points here from me for setting the story in small town western PA, near where I grew up and an area know well.

This was published in April by Simon and Schuster. It’s available for $10.99 from Amazon and most other retailers.

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The Luis Ortega Survival Club Author Sonora Reyes (The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School) is back with another teen and young adult hit, this one published last week by Balzer and Bray. Trigger warning: It deals with rape as is made very clear in the blurb.

I’ll be reading it. I can’t wait to see how Sonora portrayed these young women supporting each other and standing up for themselves.

It’s available on Amazon and other major retailers from Harper-Collins for $11.99.

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Last, but by no means least is, 6 Times We Almost Kissed and One Time We Did. This book by Tess Sharpe came out in January. Hachette has it on sale at this writing for $3.99. From the blurb, which sounds so sweet, I’d label it teen/young adult on the cusp of new adult.

Available at most majo

There you have the books on my Pride month reading list…that I know about so far. What’s on your list?

~Anne

Top 10 Sapphic eBooks for 2023…So Far

May 2, 2023 By Anne Hagan

Can you believe 1/3rd of 2023 is already gone?

We can’t either!

We revamped this website in August of 2022 to better showcase the books we all love so much. The new design gives readers a way to look at everything we’ve featured week to week and the ability to sort those books by category and author. On the front end, a reader can also sort by overall popularity on the site. On the backend where only Erin and I can see, we can look at things month by month and see what’s been popular.

Here then are the top 10 sapphic themed eBooks on this site for 2023…so far. They’re a bit of a mix, surprisingly, as romance novels dominate the overall listings. For fun, we’ve included a bonus top 5 all-time (since August of 2022) list too.

2023 Lambda Literary Awards Sapphic Fiction and Non-Fiction Finalists 10. The Sapphic Lammy Award Finalists – 50 eBooks in multiple fiction and non-fiction categories we culled from the Lambda Literary Award Finalists announced in March. Winners will be announced in June. (So, we’re one listing in and you’ve already got 50 books to browse. Sorry. Not sorry!)

9. Stabscotch The 3rd book in the San Francisco Mystery Series by Alexi Venice. This story introduces the enigma that is Roxy MacNeil.

8. Unlikely Match – A contemporary, opposites attract, age gap romance by Alexa Wood.

6. Tie! A Game of Hearts and Heists – A steamy lesbian fantasy romance by Ruby Roe with enemies to lovers, a heist, found family, a secret royal, and only one bed.

6. Tie! Mistress of Desire – Erotica/Erotic romance by Ruby Scott

Okay, is anyone noticing anything here? A pattern, maybe? Authors named Alex(something) and Ruby…hmmm.

We digress!

5. The Love we Make – Is anyone shocked that a contemporary romance by Harper Bliss made this list? Anyone…? This one is full of ‘found family.’

4. Stolen Match – See…we told you there’s a pattern! Another contemporary romance by Alexa Woods. This one actually came later in the series and to our site. Readers like this series.

3. Dote on them – The second contemporary romance in the ‘Herding Love’ series by Emily Alter. Polyamory? Not quite, but ‘found family’ definitely. And there’s another pattern!

We’re going to have to figure out a way to include tropes in the romance categories besides making you have to type in keywords.

2. Claiming Fawn – An omegaverse dragon shifter fantasy romance by Winter Thorn.

Queen Vs Queen 1. Queen Vs. Queen – Disclaimer, I (Anne) am one of the authors. This is an anthology of three contemporary romance novellas where ice queen meets ice queen. Ice queens are extremely popular with sapphic romance readers!

Intrigued by any of those? We were, especially since there’s some variety there. We decided to dig a little deeper and find the top 5 of all time (since we started tracking in August of 2022). They are:

5. Everything she Needs – A contemporary age gap, ice queen romance from Cynthia Dane and Hildred Billings.

4. Avery Awakened – A contemporary age gap, straight to gay, romance by Chloe Peterson

3. Calling the Shots – A sports romance (hockey) by Kelly Farmer

2. Meet Cute – A collection of romance first meeting scenes put together by the amazing Jae from many authors. It’s free!

1. If I were a Weapon – If you’ve read Skye Kilaen’s work, this sci-fi novel with romance making the top of the list won’t surprise you. If you haven’t read this, why not? (Psst: I don’t usually read sci-fi, but I loved this! ~ Anne)

There you have it. Interestingly, there are some books that are really close to those five on the all time list. The top 20 average three views difference from book to book. Were going to have another look at it all in early September to see what’s what.

Happy reading!

~ Anne

March Madness – Sapphic Love and Basketball

March 30, 2023 By Anne Hagan

Sports fans in the United States revel all month long every March as high school and college basketball regular seasons come to a close and playoffs and tournaments begin. ‘March Madness’ afflicts millions of fans of college basketball every year.

A men’s March Madness National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament has existed since 1939. Women’s college teams had a tournament sponsored by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1972 through 1982. There was a smaller association that ran a tournament for women for a only a few years prior to the AIAW. In 1982 the NCAA sponsored a women’s tournament in competition with the AIAW tourney, and took full control of women’s college athletics beginning in 1983.

The women’s tournament for years, did not use the name ‘March Madness’ or the March Madness branding the men’s tournament has always used. Then, in 2021, the NCAA conducted a gender equality review. They found themselves lacking.

After years of women’s college players going into the professional WNBA to play out of college beginning in 1996, and successive years of growth in interest in women’s college basketball fans were following the women too. The NCAA wasn’t keeping pace with their interests. In 2022, the women’s tournament was also branded ‘March Madness,’ officially giving it the name and branding fans, players, and coaches were already feeling.

My wife (this is Anne) is a huge college basketball fan, right down to always rooting for specific teams and rooting against others, no matter how good they are, because she doesn’t care for the head coach. Yeah, it’s petty. It’s also fun to watch her squirm when those teams do well.

We both root for underdogs. Gotta love the underdogs, or in NCAA parlance, the Cinderalla teams! We keep rooting for them until they pose a threat to our favorite teams. Right now, one of our very favorites is in the tournament’s final four, The University of Iowa Hawkeyes with their superstar player, Caitlin Clark. We’ll be watching Friday night as the Hawkeyes take on the defending champion South Carolina team for the rights to play for it all on Sunday night, April 2nd.

Sapphic fiction authors have been giving us great basketball stories for years. Here are some of my romance and basketball favorites, plus the biography of Brittney Griner – one of the most famous collegiate players to go on to the WNBA. It was published in 2014, years before her incarceration in Russia and subsequent release from a gulag style prison.

Simply Connected by Alex Washoe

The first book in a popular multi-sport sapphic series.

Once a celebrated child prodigy, Blaise Noether is now a struggling widowed mom trying to keep her head above water while she pursues her Ph.D. Only two things make her really angry: her kid’s math textbooks and jocks. In her mind, all athletes are like the bullies who terrorized her in high school. So when she crosses paths with rising basketball star Christie Dillard, Blaise’s interest is a null set.

Christie is everything Blaise fears, fiercely competitive, brashly confident, and totally devoted to her game. That she is also endearingly awkward and irresistibly gorgeous is irrelevant data. But when Blaise glimpses a paradigm-shifting epiphany in the geometry of Christie’s jump shot, she begins to suspect this jock might be the missing variable that could balance the equation of her life.

Love on the Basketball Court: Rivals by Scarlet Rose

The first of two books in a series. New adult themed.

It’s always been my dream to play college basketball, but the thought of competing against the girl from my rival high school for a spot on the team feels almost hopeless.

Her name is Sarah Wood and she’s been a thorn in my side ever since middle school. Her school has beaten my school every time we’ve played. Now we’re not only going to try out for the same team, but we’re also going to be roommates? Could life get any worse?

However, just when things couldn’t get any more complicated, I find myself developing feelings for her. Am I gay? If my family found out, what would they think?

To make matters worse, our basketball coach has made it clear that someone is getting cut before the season starts and I’m just a walk-on. What if I’m the one who gets cut?

Am I able to put up with Sarah? Am I developing feelings for her? Will I be able to make the team? Find out by reading the book.

WARNING! This book may not be suitable for everyone and deals with some serious issues that may be hard for many people to read about including but not limited to sexual assault and homophobia. All of these issues are serious and are presented in a manner that is respectful that does not glorify or promote.

Coach Z by q. Kelly

The first book in a three book series.

Caution: This book does not exactly end in a happily ever after. It’s a true series.

Melissa MacKenzie, a basketball star in high school, never wanted to play college ball. The daughter of a legendary women’s coach, she has played since she was in diapers. Basketball was always a chore for Melissa, and she never developed the passion and skills necessary to garner much Division I attention. She hoped that by attending college across the country, she could get a break from basketball and carve out her own place in the world.

Parental interference conspired, and Melissa ended up playing for the Richmond College Ravens, riding the bench for four years.

As Melissa’s last NCAA tournament approaches, she wonders if she wasted the past few years by not giving her all. However, a series of unfortunate events means that Melissa has no more time to dwell on these woes—because she’s being pressed into service. Now she’s a starter, and all eyes are on her and the Ravens’ head coach, Andi Zappa.

Andi is fighting her own demons, and Richmond College is letting her go after the season ends. The two women work together to ensure that the Ravens don’t embarrass themselves too much on the national stage, and they find themselves playing with matters of the heart as well as matters of basketball as the national championship looms.

Will these human frailties doom them or make them stronger?

In My Skin: My Life on and off the Basketball Court by Brittney Griner with Sue Hovey

Hailed by ESPN as the world’s most famous female basketball player, Brittney Griner, the dunking phenom and national sensation who is shattering stereotypes and breaking boundaries, now shares her coming-of-age story, revealing how she found her strength to overcome bullies and to embrace her authentic self.

Brittney Griner, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, is a once-in-a-generation player, possessing a combination of size and athleticism never before seen in the women’s game. But “the sport’s most transformative figure” (Sports Illustrated) is equally famous for making headlines off the court, for speaking out on issues of gender, sexuality, body image and self-esteem.

At 6’8”, with an 88-inch wingspan and a size 17 shoe (men’s), the Phoenix Mercury star has heard every vicious insult in the book, enduring years of taunting that began in middle school and continues to this day. Through the highs and lows, Griner has learned to remain true to herself, rising above the haters trying to take her down.

In her heartfelt memoir, she reflects on painful episodes in her life and describes how she came to celebrate what makes her unique—inspiring lessons she now shares. Filled with all the humor and personality Griner has become known for, In My Skin is more than a glimpse into one of the most original personalities in sports; it’s also a powerful call to readers to be true to themselves, to love who they are on the inside and out.

eBook Giveaway Winners

March 1, 2023 By Anne Hagan

eBook Giveaway Winners

Erin and I would like to thank everyone who entered our February eBook Giveaway. Your support means a lot to us and it means the world to the sapphic fiction authors who write the books we all love and advertise them with us.

Without further ado, the winners are:

Grand Prize – 15 eBooks – Nikka – n———3@y—o.com

1st Prize – 10 eBooks – Marthita – s——r@a-l.com

2nd Prize – 5 eBooks – Susy – w———–y@o—–k.com

3rd Prize – 3 eBooks – Allem – a——-9@g—l.com

4th Prize – 1 eBook – Maggie – w—-u@y—o.com

All winners have been notified by email by Anne Hagan. If you think one of these is you, and you have not received an email from Anne, please check your spam/junk mail folder.

Winners will select their books from all the books you can see here. There are 177 books to choose from, in a variety of genres, from both indie and traditionally published authors. This list grows every week with books advertised with MyQueerSapphFic.

Didn’t win? Please consider checking out some of the books we’ve featured, and/or the authors who have worked with us.

Congratulations everyone, and happy reading!

Anne