An impossible crime. A detective on the edge of madness. The future of time travel at stake.
January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder.
Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their “flights” to the past.
Or where proximity to the timeport makes the clocks run backward on occasion—and, rumor has it, allows ghosts to stroll the halls.
None of that compares to the corpse in room 526. The one that seems to be both there and not there. The one that somehow only January can see.
On top of that, some very important new guests have just checked in. Because the U.S. government is about to privatize time-travel technology—and the world’s most powerful people are on hand to stake their claims.
January is sure the timing isn’t a coincidence. Neither are those “accidents” that start stalking their bidders.
There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. A reason why she’s the only one who can catch a killer who’s operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once.
But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and as her past, present, and future collide, she finds herself confronting not just the hotel’s dark secrets but her own.
Representation Includes
- Mentally ill lesbian woman (January)
Content Warnings
discussions and depictions of grief, murder, chronic illness, blood, mentions of child abuse, lesbophobia, transphobia, racism, gun violence, gore, prescription drug abuse, violence, language, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, animal deathNotes on Contains: Romance tag
Girlfriend of main character is dead, this happens prior to the start of the book. Handling this grief is a main part of the plot and may still be considered romance since they have some interactions due to the time travelling elementsReviews
Where to Find
]]>
One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother was shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.
As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.
At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?
The world will soon find out.
Representation Includes
- Ensemble cast including:
- Black bisexual protagonist
- Puerto Rican-American sapphic protagonist
- Biracial, bi-ace, trans protagonist
- Non-binary side character
- Polyamorous relationship
Content Warnings
Police brutality and shooting of a black man; implied sexual abuse of a minor; domestic abuse; drug abuse and overdose; loss of loved ones; suicide; mass shooting; goreReviews
- Theodore McCombs’s review
- Arley Sorg’s review
- Laura’s review
- Jessica Woodbury’s review
- K.J. Charles’s review
Where to Find
Details
- Published September 7, 2021 by Blackstone Publishing
- ISBN: 9781982603724
Two decades after war ravaged the nation, one of the last remaining metropolises thrives on a currency of sex, drugs, and lies.
Gordon Frost is a survivor. He outlived all of his friends after bombs decimated the hardscrabble neighborhood he grew up in, and he made it through the orphanages and crime-ridden slums that followed. With few prospects for the future, Gordon carved out a niche for himself in the expanding drug trade of Lexington, PA. It’s not pretty, but it’s his, and it beats the skin trade he was involved with before. But a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time results in a brush with death, going by the name of Adam. Afterward, the life that once seemed good enough isn’t quite the same.
Adam Blake is an assassin on the brink of being terminated by the very organization that controls him. He completed his mission, but not without being seen. With his secrets in danger of being exposed by Gordon, Adam knows he should kill the smart-mouthed redhead, but finds himself intrigued by the troublesome civilian instead.
When Gordon’s knack for finding trouble combines with the dangerous consequences of Adam’s indecision, their worlds intertwine in an explosive way.
Word count: 85,000
Representation Includes
- MLM POV character (Gordon)
- MLM POV character/love interest *(Adam)
*Some editions may not include Adam’s POV
Content Warnings
graphic sex, graphic violence, alcohol and drug abuse,Reviews
- Most reviews have been deleted due to author behaviour
Where to Find
]]>
The mage-marked granddaughter of a ruler of Vaskandar, Ryx was destined for power and prestige at the top of Vaskandran society. But her magic is broken; all she can do is uncontrollably drain the life from everything she touches, and Vaskandar has no place for a mage with unusable powers.
Then, one night, two terrible accidents befall her: Ryx accidentally kills a visiting dignitary in self-defense, activating a mysterious magical artifact sealed in an ancient tower in the heart of her family’s castle.
Ryx flees, seeking a solution to her deadly magic. She falls in with a group of unlikely magical experts investigating the disturbance in Vaskandar—and Ryx realizes that her family is in danger and her domain is at stake. She and her new colleagues must return to the family stronghold to take control of the artifact that everyone wants to claim—before it destroys the world.
Representation Includes
- Bisexual female protagonist (Ryx)
Content Warnings
physical and emotional abuse by a sibling, blood, violenceReviews
Where to Find
]]>
Sinister sorcery. Gallows humor. A queer romance so glorious it could be right out of fae legend itself. Master of One is a fantasy unlike any other.
Rags is a thief—an excellent one. He’s stolen into noble’s coffers, picked soldier’s pockets, and even liberated a ring or two off the fingers of passersby. Until he’s caught by the Queensguard and forced to find an ancient fae relic for a sadistic royal sorcerer.
But Rags could never have guessed this “relic” would actually be a fae himself—a distractingly handsome, annoyingly perfect, ancient fae prince called Shining Talon. Good thing Rags can think on his toes, because things just get stranger from there…
With the heist and intrigue of Six of Crows and the dark fairy tale feel of The Cruel Prince, this young adult fantasy debut will have readers rooting for a pair of reluctant heroes as they take on a world-ending fae prophecy, a malicious royal plot, and, most dangerously of all, their feelings for each other.
Representation Includes
- MLM protagonist and M/M romance
Content Warnings
torture, blood, murder, mention of parental abuseReviews
Where to Find
]]>
An outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process.
Skulking near the bottom of West High’s social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she’s had a hard time making friends. But when the three most popular girls pay her $40 to cast a spell at their Halloween party, Sideways gets swept into a new clique. The unholy trinity are dangerous angels, sugar-coated rattlesnakes, and now–unbelievably–Sideways’ best friends.
Together, the four bond to form a ferocious and powerful coven. They plan parties, cast curses on dudebros, try to find Sideways a girlfriend, and elude the fundamentalist witch hunters hellbent stealing their magic. But for Sideways, the hardest part is the whole ‘having friends’ thing. Who knew that balancing human interaction with supernatural peril could be so complicated?
Rich with the urgency of feral youth, The Scapegracers explores growing up and complex female friendship with all the rage of a teenage girl. It subverts the trope of competitive mean girls and instead portrays a mercilessly supportive clique of diverse and vivid characters. It is an atmospheric, voice-driven novel of the occult, and the first of a three-book series.
Representation Includes
- Lesbian protagonist (Sideways)
Content Warnings
graphic descriptions of physical discomfort and injury, underage drinking, vomiting, animal death, homophobia; Mentions of: death of parent, car crash, foster care, bullying, torture, burning.Reviews
Where to Find
]]>
Something has gone very wrong on the sleepy Scottish Isle of Mab. The tides are angry. Reality has shifted. Selkies are coming up from the ocean, boys are missing, magic is going haywire, and memories are being pulled from people’s minds.
Thomas Madigan is living in a nightmare.
Isla just wants to go back to the sea.
Kit Macrae thinks he’s drowning.
Tanis Hughes needs to feed.
And Owen Darrow doesn’t seem to exist.
WEAK HEART is an LGBT+ horror fantasy featuring blood, sea salt, magic, and banter.
Additional Tags: childhood friends / friends to lovers to enemies / bed sharing / rescue missions / nightmares / blood magic / blood pacts / selkies / vengeance demons / domestic lesbians / combat boots / supportive siblings / trashy romance novels / three gays + 1 cat / genderless beings of mist and moss / coastal horror / Scottish myths / mac n cheese / seagulls / Glaswegian slang / Brexit
Representation Includes
- Gay main character with anxiety (Thomas)
- Black lesbian main character (Isla)
- Filipino MLM POV character (Kit)
- Lesbian POV character (Tanis)
Content Warnings
light violence, strong language, blood, gore, magic requiring self-harm, drowning, claustrophobia, panic attacks, exorcismContent Warnings per Chapter
8- blood, light violence
9- panic attacks
10- blood, light violence, scenes of an uncomfortable nature
14- blood, panic attack, scenes of a tense nature
15- claustrophobia
16- blood, violence, panic attacks
20- drowning, exorcism
Reviews
Where to Find
- Amazon
- Available to read for free on Ban Gilmartin’s website
When General Aaliyah returns triumphant to the city of Titus, she expects to find the people prospering under the rule of her Queen, the stone mage Odessa. Instead, she finds a troubling imbalance in both the citizens’ wellbeing and Odessa’s rule. Aaliyah must rely on all of her allies, old and new, to do right by the city that made her.
Representation Includes
- All-Black cast
- Sapphic protagonist
Content Warnings
Romantic relationship between two women who were raised together as adopted sisters; tortureReviews
Where to Find
Details
- Published September 5th 2020 by Neon Hemlock
- Paperback ISBN13: 9781952086052
Lewis is a town of secrets.
There have long been rumors of something unnatural in the swamp, and more than one person has gone missing. Many blame the Royce family while others believe in a local monster, rising from the dark waters.
As a child, Caleb witnessed something inexplicable the night the Royce place mysteriously burned to the ground. As an adult, Caleb returns to take over his father’s role as sheriff, and the long shadow of the Royce family returns to haunt him. Caleb struggles to solve an eerily familiar crime and finds himself face to face with another old mystery–the legend of Catfish John.
Representation Includes
- Biracial gay protagonist
Content Warnings
Homophobia and bullying, including anti-gay slurs; racism and racist slurs, including the n-word on-page; murder; child abuse; animal cruelty and animal deathAwards
- Nominated for the Nebula Award
Reviews
Where to Find
Details
- Published September 3rd 2019 by Broken Eye Books
- Paperback ISBN13: 9781940372297
Fifteen-year-old Jack Bishop has mad skills with cars and engines, but knows he’ll never get a driver’s license because of his epilepsy. Agreeing to participate in an experimental clinical trial to find new treatments for his disease, he finds himself in a completely different body—that of a girl his age, Jacqueline, who defies the expectations of her era. Since his seizures usually give him spazzed out visions, Jack presumes this is a hallucination. Feeling fearless, he steals a horse, expecting that at any moment he’ll wake back up in the clinical trial lab. When that doesn’t happen, Jacqueline falls unexpectedly in love, even as the town in the past becomes swallowed in a fight for its survival. Jack/Jacqueline is caught between two lives and epochs, and must find a way to save everyone around him as well as himself. And all the while, he is losing time, even if he is getting out of algebra class.
Representation Includes
- Protagonist with epilepsy who is AMAB and switches between bodies, exploring gender feelings and presentations (genderfluid-ish)
Content Warnings
Medical procedures; fireReviews
- Cooper Lee Bombardier’s review (and interview with the author)
- C. K. Combs’s review
- Meredith Katz’s review
- Bhavya’s review
Where to Find
Details
- Published July 22nd 2016 by Lethe Press
- Paperback ISBN13: 9781590216613