I Heart SapphFic Reading Challenge Week 17: 5 Books on Sale

Can a long shot bring love to a couple of lonely hearts?

When a struggling advice columnist recruits a woman who has never understand love to star in a new web series, helping her make sense of her identity just might bring them both love.

Teresa Benedetto and Ellie Ryan couldn’t be more different, at least on the surface.

When Teresa and Ellie meet and fall in love, their worlds clash. Ellie would love to be part of Teresa’s family, but they both know that will never happen. Sooner or later, Teresa will have to choose between the two halves of her heart—Ellie or her family.

'Tis so sweet to love the Lord and the woman I can't let go!

Cheryl Rose Campbell, 45-year-old diva, Gospel recording artist, and deeply in the closet, makes a decision that will create a new direction and hopefully a way back to the heart of openly lesbian, minister, Tabitha Scott.

Olivia thought she had it all, but 2 weeks in New York is about to change everything.

The GLAAD Awards brings together bestselling author Olivia Maartens and international superstar and gay icon, Rowan Livingstone. They’re fans of each other and Rowan is smitten from the moment she sees Olivia. Unfortunately, Olivia is in a committed relationship. Until she quite suddenly isn’t…

A Broadway Romance in Three Acts

Meet Heather and Grace, an actress and a writer, who are so completely different but in the end are absolutely meant for each other. Their love story unfolds alongside the glittering world of Broadway, where dreams take center stage and the city that never sleeps pulses with life. Will their love survive the individual pursuit of their professional desires?

Sometimes the heart works in mysterious ways

Dr. Hope Finlay learned early in life not to get attached to anyone, while Laleh loves her big, boisterous family.

When Laleh ends up in the ER with heart trouble, Hope saves her life. Strange things start to happen until they can no longer deny the mysterious connection between them.

Three friends, each on their own path, discover love could lead to happily ever after.

A mousy, introvert dons a mask and leather as a dominatrix and develops an intimate relationship with a mysterious client…A former dancer’s passion is reignited in burlesque performance and two unique and sexy women…A beautician focused on her career gives a life changing haircut to a woman running from her past and finds something unexpected.

A lost treasure is found again in this second-chance, age gap, slow burn romance.

Torry’s window displays in a Manhattan clothing resale shop catch the eye of Evelyn, a fashion magazine editor, by surprise and pique her interest. As Evelyn’s interest in Torry transforms from professional to personal, so do her actions during her quest to keep Torry in her life.

She intended to use her celebrity boss for career advancement but didn't plan on falling for her.

Celebrity gossip writer Fran Underhill becomes Chelsea Cartwright’s personal assistant with the aim of taking the popular actress down, but neither of them anticipates the clash of their attraction.

True love is worth the wait.

When Nina Devereaux grabs the opportunity to stage her revolutionary ballet, she pours everything into bringing her love letter to the woman who has always held her heart to life. When Clara Martin returns to London, a different dance rekindles between them, one that Nina hopes will never end.

Between duty and desire lies a tantalizing tale of fake dates, unexpected romance, and the challenge of melting an Ice Queen's heart

Ruby’s tasked with being her enigmatic Ice Queen boss’s fake date, but as feelings grow, the line between duty and desire blurs. In a world of high-profile events and luxurious retreats, she grapples with unexpected romance and the challenge of melting her boss’s guarded heart.

Death Was Too Easy has strong female characters with many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing until the end.

From a reader: Cracking start, brilliant ending, with a whole lot of suspense going on in the middle. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this wonderful thriller. Excellent courtroom drama.

A beautiful friendship in an iconic city, that could be more, if only they could fall in love at the same time

Two women who couldn’t be more different but become the best of friends – nerdy lesbian and straight extrovert, posh and not, quietly charming and exuberantly scorching hot. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and a lot can happen in ten years.

Two women, two lifetimes, a powerful attraction—will they choose love or safety?

“Love, life, and struggles in identity across centuries” (Independent Book Review): Alternating chapters follow two lesbian couples in 1862 Ohio and 2014 California. Then and now, can the women transcend the obstacles they’re facing, give in to their desire, and embrace their love? “An unexpected joy.” (Tom J. Bross)

It isn’t always lonely at the top.

Noah Blue’s finally got her foot in the door. After clawing her way to the top of the charts with her webcomic, she’s garnered enough attention to earn a full-time position at a comic company re-launching their cult classic comic: Queen Leisah.

Queen Leisah is predicted to be an instant bestseller with movie deals already in the making. Things are falling into place. There’s nowhere to go but up… as soon as she gets one person out of her way.

As the two girls navigate through this friendship filled with plane rides, weddings, and lots of flirting, Rory begins to question if the life she always planned on is really what she wants.

Rory Montgomery loved weddings and everything involved in them, but she knew marriage wasn’t the path for her. She was happy casually dating. At least that’s what she thought until she met the beautiful, flirtatious Jenny Hanson at a wedding and her whole world was turned upside down.

Love after loss is never easy.

Erin lost the woman she thought she’d spend her life with. When she meets Becca, she begins to wonder if the woman she lost was the one she was meant to be with, or if it might just be Becca instead.

Will the turbulent currents of secrets and lies drown the fiery passion between Chef Lucy and local farmer Deb in this second-chance rescue romance?

From the Amazon Best Selling author of the heartwarming, small town romance series, Wilderness Rescue, comes another sweet romance with strong females who find a second chance at love, in this opposites-attract, fast-paced love story.

Clara and Lily are about to discover that truth and love can be found even in the most cynical Hollywood lies…

Biographer Lily Gray has been tasked with unravelling the enigmatic life of reclusive Hollywood actress Clara Wild. But when a misconstrued viral video ignites a media frenzy, Lily and Clara find themselves pushed into faking a love affair to promote Lily’s book and revive Clara’s acting career.

The Sequel to HEART OF DUTY

Strong female leads, endearing side-kicks, plenty of heat, and heart-stopping action. All your favorite characters are back in this long-awaited sequel.

Rayne Thomas is an introvert and likes it that way.

But after being spectacularly dumped and losing out on professional opportunities because she doesn’t put herself out there, she definitely needs to make a change. Enter her new personal trainer, Maggie Flanders. Kind? Yes. Fun? Yes. Sexy? Oh God, yes. But not even the most erotic dream of her life gives Rayne the confidence to risk this tentative new friendship.

What Hades wants, she takes

The goddess Hades kidnaps Persephone, goddess of spring, to be her bride. In the dark realm of the underworld, innocent Persephone chafes against her captor’s whims. But no matter the cost, Hades intends to keep her. Forever.

“The human was supposed to die at my scream. But for her, I'll defy death itself . . .”

The last thing Shufen Lu wants is to move to a forgotten little town to live with her mom, but her overbearing step-mother gives her little choice. Her mom is welcoming, but the town is strange and sleepy and boring. That is, until she meets the mysterious and alluring Tiernan Aodh, and Shufen’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn.

Alisha and Kendra never expected to be rivals in the workplace, or to discover that they're fated mates.

Her Rival Dragon Mate is a fated mates paranormal romance featuring an alpha dragon shifter and her feisty mate. It includes a standalone f/f rivals to lovers romance and a dash of steamy goodness. It is part of the Crescent Lake Shifters series.

For Irish-Indian lesbian activist, JAYA DILLON, an outsider who craves belonging over all else, survival depends on hiding the truth of who she is and who she loves - from herself.

Jaya is drawn into a fictional world that may be truer than reality. As she fights to uncover the truth, everything she thought she knew about her politics and her place in the world turns on its head as she falls for the elusive Lana, is attracted to the charming, gay French-Algerian Ishmael and his beautiful sister Isabella, and confronts her unresolved feelings and dread over the choices Chloe is making.

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

They left Earth to save humanity. They’ll have to save themselves first.

Yume Kitasei’s The Deep Sky is an enthralling sci fi thriller debut about a mission into deep space that begins with a lethal explosion that leaves the survivors questioning the loyalty of the crew.

The Earth is populated by two sentient species who share it: humans on the land’s crust, and the atargati in the deep abysses of the ocean.

Dr. Cadence Mbella is the foremost human researcher studying the mysterious atargati, intent on proving to the rest of the human world that they are a complex society deserving of respect–not the overly-romanticized “mermaids” some would like to imagine.

When Cadence discovers, to her horror, that her own superiors are conducting an unethical experiment on an atargati subject, she sacrifices everything to enact a rescue.

Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

Disgraced witch Harrietta Lee has made a lot of mistakes in her life; there's a reason she's got a sizable burn scar slapped across the side of her neck and a formal letter of excommunication from the international underground magical community.

But who has time to dwell on the past when you’re trying to make rent in New York? Things are mostly clean and simple, until her next odd job is brought to her by the representative of a powerful corporate family—a family she once had close personal ties to. As she unwillingly digs through six years’ worth of personal baggage, she’s also got to contend with an inhuman admirer shadowing her in the street.

But hey, maybe it’ll be worth it for the beautiful women she gets to kiss…

Melissa Bashardoust's Girl, Serpent, Thorn is “an alluring feminist fairy tale” (Kirkus) about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse.

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.

Best friends Jo and Liza are as opposite as night and day.

When love clashes with lifelong ambitions and family expectations, someone has to give in.

Question is: who?

Rihana is a painter who is trying to find inspiration in love. Zara is a businesswoman trying to make a niche for her company in a male-dominated world.

Rihana is fire, Zara is ice; Rihana is openly sensual, while Zara is more cautious with her heart—they are opposites that attract. They are different people bound together by their house—‘Cupid’—and their pet golden retriever, Tiger.

As both of them navigate their fulfilling careers and try to leave behind troubled pasts, they find solace in each other. But Tiger’s not the only male in their lives. Rihana finds herself a string of sexy men, while Zara emerges out of her shell and meets an actual prince who sweeps her off her feet. But can these relationships last? And what road will they take when love happens bi the way?

Judy Blume meets RuPaul’s Drag Race in this funny, feel-good debut novel about a queer teen who navigates questions of identity and self-acceptance while discovering the magical world of drag.

Macho drag kings, magical queens, new love interests, and surprising allies propel Nima both painfully and hilariously closer to a self she never knew she could be—one that can confidently express and accept love. But she’ll have to learn to accept lost love to get there.

A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.

Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business, but dealing with her grandmother is just as complicated. Especially when Ah Ma tries to spy on her personal life, threatens to spill her secrets to her family and uses her body to commit felonies. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she’ll also need to regain control of her body and destiny – or the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.

A searing, joyful YA debut about a queer Cambodian American teen’s journey to find her voice and step into her legacy, perfect for fans of Ibi Zoboi and Elizabeth Acevedo.

From debut author Vichet Chum comes a celebration of Khmer identity, queerness, and embracing the complicated histories that shape who we are and want to be.

Sapphic Vietnamese Beauty and the Beast where the beast is a shapeshifting dragon and beauty a stubborn scholar

When scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be killed for Vu Côn’s amusement. She doesn’t expect to become the tutor of Vu Côn’s two unruly dragon children; and even less so to fall in love with Vu Côn.

Whip It meets We Are Okay in this vibrant coming-of-age story about a teen girl navigating first love, identity, and grief as she immerses herself in the colorful, brutal, beautiful world of roller derby—from the acclaimed author of Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens.

The deeper Daya immerses herself into the world of roller derby, though, the more she realizes it’s not the simple physical pain-fest she was hoping for. Her rough-and-tumble teammates and their fans push her limits in ways she never imagined, bringing Daya to big truths about love, loss, strength, and healing.

From award-winning authors Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone comes an enthralling, romantic novel spanning time and space about two time-traveling rivals who fall in love and must change the past to ensure their future.

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.

Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society―she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.

Neon Yang's space opera "Waiting on a Bright Moon" is a Tor.com Original short story

Xin is an ansible, using her song magic to connect the originworld of the Imperial Authority and its far-flung colonies— a role that is forced upon magically-gifted women “of a certain closeness”. When a dead body comes through her portal at a time of growing rebellion, Xin is drawn deep into a station-wide conspiracy along with Ouyang Suqing, one of the station’s mysterious, high-ranking starmages

Fifteen-year old Megume wakes to find herself in the woods, with no idea of how she got there beyond a murky memory of chasing her lost dog, Sasurai.

But with the pain of her past and her family fragmented after the death of her mother, Megume finds that she doesn’t really mind being lost. Yet strange encounters with others in the woods – including Kat, a woman who seems stuck in the moment Pearl Harbor was bombed – and incidents that feel right out of fairytales and Japanese stories she heard as a child, combined with her own vivid dreams, leave Megume to sort out the difference between her own mind and reality, all while trying to navigate her way out of this deceptive forest.

Author Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love in Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, a graphic novel that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.

This charming and bittersweet coming-of-age story featuring two girls of color falling in love is part To All the Boys I've Loved Before and part Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.

Near the beginning of A Greater Music, the narrator, a young Korean writer, falls into an icy river in the Berlin suburbs, where she's been housesitting for her on-off boyfriend Joachim.

This sets into motion a series of memories that move between the hazily defined present and the period three years ago when she first lived in Berlin. Throughout, the narrator’s relationship with Joachim, a rough-and-ready metalworker, is contrasted with her friendship with a woman called M, an ultra-refined music-loving German teacher who was once her lover.

A novel of memories and wandering, A Greater Music blends riffs on music, language, and literature with a gut-punch of an emotional ending, establishing Bae Suah as one of the most exciting novelists working today.

Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship.

Moving between Middle Eastern high society and London’s West End, this story explores the clashes between East and West, love and marriage, and convention and individuality creating a humorous and tender tale of unexpected love.

Aminah Mae Safi's Tell Me How You Really Feel is an ode to romantic comedies, following two girls on opposite sides of the social scale as they work together to make a movie and try very hard not to fall in love.

The first time Sana Khan asked out a girl–Rachel Recht–it went so badly that she never did it again. Rachel is a film buff and aspiring director, and she’s seen Carrie enough times to learn you can never trust cheerleaders (and beautiful people). Rachel was furious that Sana tried to prank her by asking her on a date.

But when it comes time for Rachel to cast her senior project, she realizes that there’s no more perfect lead than Sana–the girl she’s sneered at in the halls for the past three years.

A subversive and original debut collection of interlinked stories about the lives of young LGBTQI people in Iran.

Golnoosh Nouris a brave and acute observer of how the human spirit fights free of social repression in all its guises. These are stories that argue for nuance in a world that wants to make things black and white. These evocative stories shine a light on the lives of young Iranians who are questioning their sexuality and identity in a culture where queerness is legal but not widely accepted.

Horny food vlogger meets grumpy math genius in this emotional, sexy, new-adultish contemporary romance and have to decide if love is worth all the vulnerabilities it demands.

After losing her mom to a heart attack, dumping her small-minded boyfriend (she’s bisexual, not confused) and reluctantly moving to the US to be near her dad – all in the span of eighteen months, twenty-three-year-old Farah has hit the full quota on LIFE. Two things keep her going – her internship with a brilliant statistics professor and the possibility of meeting her dancing idol through the Bollywood Drama & Dance Society. That is, if her new hot-mess housemate will let her.

A vibrant debut novel, set in Brooklyn and Bangladesh, follows three young women and one family struggling to make peace with secrets and their past

For as long as she can remember, Ella has longed to feel at home. Orphaned as a child after her parents’ murder, and afflicted with hallucinations at dusk, she’s always felt more at ease in nature than with people. She traveled from Bangladesh to Brooklyn to live with the Saleems: her uncle Anwar, aunt Hashi, and their beautiful daughter, Charu, her complete opposite. One summer, when Ella returns home from college, she discovers Charu’s friend Maya—an Islamic cleric’s runaway daughter—asleep in her bedroom.

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose—and falling for each other—in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series.

Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When one of her missions goes awry and she finds herself in a Godolia prison, Eris meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within.

The English-language premiere of Qiu Miaojin's coming-of-age novel about queer teenagers in Taiwan, a cult classic in China and winner of the 1995 China Times Literature Award.

Set in the post-martial-law era of late-1980s Taipei, Notes of a Crocodile is a coming-of-age story of queer misfits discovering love, friendship, and artistic affinity while hardly studying at Taiwan’s most prestigious university. Told through the eyes of an anonymous lesbian narrator nicknamed Lazi, this cult classic is a postmodern pastiche of diaries, vignettes, mash notes, aphorisms, exegesis, and satire by an incisive prose stylist and major countercultural figure.