This month is positively overrun with A+ choices, and these five are just the tip of the iceberg. As we usher in a new season, remember that nothing’s more delicious with a pumpkin spice latte or apple cider than a great queer romance!
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Fall for Him
Author: Andie Burke
Released: September 3, 2024 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceIn Fall for Him by Andie Burke, seven-hundred-fifty square feet isn’t enough for the home-renovation-fueled hatred and the building sexual tension.
Dylan Gallagher’s hot neighbor loathed him from the second he moved in, and causing a flood, falling through the floor, and landing directly onto that same neighbor’s bed probably means that’s unlikely to change. The poorly timed “It’s Raining Men” joke didn’t help.
Meanwhile, ER nurse Derek Chang’s life is a literal when-rains-it-pours nightmare. A man he hates dropped into his life along with an astronomically expensive problem originating from Derek’s own apartment’s plumbing. Also, the local HOA tyrant has been sniffing around trying to fine him for his extended, illicit banned breed dog-sitting.
Since Dylan also wants to keep the catastrophe quiet, he offers to fix the damage himself. Dylan’s sure he’s not Derek’s type, so he focuses all his ADHD hyper fixation energy on getting the repair job done as quickly as possible—avoiding doing anything stupid like acting on his very inconvenient crush. Meanwhile Derek tries to ignore that the tattooed nerd sleeping on the couch is surprisingly witty, smart, and kind, despite the long-term grudge Derek’s been holding against him. But will squeezing all their emotional baggage plus a dog into a tiny one-bedroom apartment be a major disaster…or just prove they’re made for each other?
Fall for Him combines banter, hijinks, and heart in a story of finding out what it means to fix things after your life crumbles.
Muscles and ADHD rep and home renovation, oh my! This book has so many delightful elements, from great tropes to a fabulous secondary cast, and fans of Fly With Me are in for some good cameos, too. Definitely looking forward to more books in this world (I hope), and also, if Felicity does not get the next book, I will riot.
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Whenever You’re Ready
Author: Rachel Runya Katz
Released: September 10, 2024 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance“Is it okay to say that Rachel Runya Katz’s characters are always so hot to me? The slow burn tension between Jade and Nia was off the charts.” – Alicia Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers
After reconnecting on a road trip, two friends must decide if love is the ultimate risk worth taking in this funny, emotional sapphic romance.
Nia and Jade had been inseparable ever since their best friend, Michal, introduced them at her tenth birthday party. But now it’s been three years since Michal died of cancer— since the brutal fight Nia and Jade had in the weeks after— and they’re barely on speaking terms.Until Nia reads a letter Michal wrote for her 29th birthday, asking her and Jade to go on the southern Jewish history road trip they’d planned before she died. To add to the complications, Michal’s then-boyfriend and Jade’s twin brother, Jonah, joins the trip. Despite the years apart and Jade and Jonah’s strained relationship, any awkwardness quickly disappears as it becomes clear how much Nia and Jade have missed each other.
Unfortunately, old issues soon arise. Nia has been in love with Jade since they were teenagers, and Jade has been so committed to their friendship that she never let herself consider something more. As the stops pass, tensions mount, running high until Nia and Jade are forced to confront what happened three years ago, their feelings for one another, and even their respective relationships with Jonah.
Rachel Runya Katz’s Whenever You’re Ready is about family, friendship, and the kind of first love that could last a lifetime—if only you are willing to take a chance.
“Poignant, tender, and swoony, Whenever You’re Ready is an instant favorite from an auto-buy author.” – Alison Cochrun, Lambda award-winning author of Kiss Her Once for Me and Here We Go Again
Katz’s debut, the bi m/f Thank You for Sharing, was one of my favorite Romance releases of that year, so I’m definitely feeling optimistic about her first f/f. And even if I weren’t already a fan, “Southern Jewish Road Trip” truly just could not be more up my alley.
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Karaoke Queen
Author: Dominic Lim
Released: September 17, 2024 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceBooklist: Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Romances of 2024
A legal assistant by day becomes a karaoke queen by night to grab a second chance at love in this joyfully queer rom-com, perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alexis Hall.
For Rex Araneta, his college sweetheart Aaron Berry was always the one who got away. So when he finds out that Aaron is now living in the same town and needs help saving his karaoke bar, it’s Rex to the rescue. Or more like Regina Moon Dee, Rex’s internet-famous drag queen alter ego. Even if no one can know the identity of the man behind the makeup.
As Regina’s popularity grows, Rex’s ruse becomes more difficult to keep under wraps. It even becomes a family affair with his mom and sister helping to keep his secret. It’s dawning on Rex that he’s hidden this side of himself away for far too long . . . and perhaps his real shot at love is to reveal his true self. And be loved for all that he is.
This is such a sweet low-spice Romance about not only embracing who you are and what you love, but finding the people who do the same. It’s got Filipino rep, drag, karaoke, and the best feel-good supportive mother-son relationship I’ve read in a long time.
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The Dating Countdown
Author: N.G. Peltier
Released: September 26, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Island Bites #3Remi Daniels knows what she wants. Maxine King. She screwed up when they were teenagers allowing them to part on bad terms, but now that Maxine is divorced and back on the island their chemistry can’t be denied. And Remi is ready to pick up right where they left off.
Maxine King has only ever fooled around with one woman, Remi Daniels and being back in each other’s orbits they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Maxine has enough to deal with in her daily life: her daughter and trying to prove herself at work. She can’t add lusting after Remi to that list. To prove that their relationship can be more than just sex, Maxine suggests they keep things casual and go on 10 friend dates. After all if they can do that it would mean they’re serious about each other right?
But their dates keep getting reset as they keep breaking their pact. Remi’s getting restless because not making it to the 10 days by their imposed deadline means failure which sucks because each date just shows her how much more she wants Maxine. As the two women try to navigate this budding relationship the both have to combat their fears: Maxi’s of falling for a woman and Remi’s of worrying that Maxi will reject her at the end of their deal.
What better way to see out the summer than by returning to the Caribbean with Peltier’s third installment in the Island Bites series? I’m on a good run of second chance romances, and I love the added touch in this one of Maxine being a single mom and having only been with one woman.
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Love and Sportsball
Author: Meka James
Released: September 24, 2024 by Afterglow Books by Harlequin
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Atlanta Cannons #1In this steamy and sweet sapphic romance, an uptight athletic trainer has one taboo night with a hot basketball player, but are they ready to play for what they really want?
Scoring was the easy …
Hard work has Khadijah Upton starting her dream job as an athletic trainer for the Atlanta Cannons. Then an evening of celebratory letting loose turns into a one-night stand with a beautiful stranger. It’s a reckless, wildly sexy encounter that Khadijah intends to forget…until her first day on the job lands her face-to-face with basketball star Shae Harris again.
Shae is a major player in every sense of the word, and Khadijah doesn’t plan to be the latest in a long line of “Harris Honeys.” Personal and professional just don’t mix. But Shae, who’s all about living life to the fullest, keeps tempting Khadijah to blur the boundaries. And the more Shae reveals about herself, the harder it is for Khadijah to resist her.
In the bedroom, their tension sizzles. On the court, it’s a liability. But unless Khadijah’s willing to really let Shae in, it won’t be just the team championship on the line, but a body-and-soul connection that rewrites all the rules.
This summer’s Olympics and Paralympics have me craving sports romances even harder than usual, and they’re already a huge fave for me, so I’m extra psyched to check out James’s newest. Especially because come on – is there anything better than “Oh no, I’m facing my one night stand… in the workplace!” No, no there is not.
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I have three queer romances on my tbr this month. One dropped yesterday—and I grabbed it as soon as it did:
MAYBE YOU (part of the Until series) by Briar Prescott (September 5). Opposites-attract; and, as is often the case with Prescott, one MC hides his emotional pain under layers of sarcasm and disengagement.
POWER OF THE MIND (Shadowy Solutions/#2) by Nicky James (September 12). The next installment of the Domingo & Krause series with two men solving mysteries and navigating their fraught relationship. My most highly anticipated book of September.
DIVINE HEART (Rebel King/#8) by Garrett Leigh (September 12). Yes, the eighth book in Leigh’s MC series where either the sex is easy, but the intimacy is hard, or the intimacy is easy, but the sex is hard. Not sure which side of the coin DIVINE HEART falls on, but I do know the MCs have been on the periphery of the prior Rebel Kings books, so I’m looking forward to their story.
I am really unnecessarily but genuinely worried about the guy who is supposed to do framing, major renovations, and plumbing by himself on the down low in a row house. So he can’t pull permits?? Is this set in like, Maine? What happens when someone tries to sell and it gets inspected and there are illegal repairs? Especially if it’s pre-war I just don’t think it’s possible to do this so convincingly no one is going to notice. Unless he what, sources and uses some antique, non-code, garbage pipe to seamlessly match what broke? Anyone who has seen Moonstruck knows how we feel about this. And that’s with the best case scenario of problem free renovation (which is a thing I have never seen). And like, a plumbing related ceiling collapse seems potentially relevant to not just the other apartment owners in the building but the neighbors, and is precisely the sort of reasoning behind having people like structural engineers and housing inspectors. Pity the system was built on graft, which is almost certainly how there’s substandard pipes, unless it predates building codes, in which case… my concerns are like an ouroborus.
I don’t think I can read this, it’s so anxiety provoking (plus I couldn’t get through Fly with Me) but I NEED someone to please read this and report back on when the building was built and where and what kind of pipes we’re talking and how the repairs are accomplished, oh and if the ceilings were horsehair plaster. I just scanned through goodreads reviews and weirdly no one else seems hyper focused on my entirely reasonable concerns lol.
@kkw I get you. I know nothing about buildings or their repairs, but I spent the first six weeks of 2023 living in hotels after a pipe burst in my building and my entire apartment had to be essentially rebuilt. The damage in this case was invisible: no big holes crashing through ceilings, just water lurking behind the walls, floors, and ceilings. But it was such a huge undertaking and involved so many different people, and I can’t imagine one person successfully and sustainably fixing more extreme damage, especially not in secret.
I’m also kind of concerned about the secret banned breed dog-sitting, to be honest.
I’lI be honest I read the home repair stuff without concern because that’s definitely the kind of thing I can let go of while reading, but FWIW he’s not totally alone for that! But FWIW I can vouch that the secret banned breed dog-sitting is not a cause for concern.
@kkw Our brains are very alike because I think about plumbing a lot, too. LOL
KARAOKE QUEEN = catnip
FALL FOR HIM = anti-catnip
I’m reading FALL FOR HIM right now and the character used to work for his contractor dad and renovated his own house, so the site is inspected and professionals are brought in as necessary by page 75.
THANK YOU @ Marcy.
All on my TBR!
Love and Sportsball is already on my Want to Read list.
Side note, I can’t believe there’s anyone left in Romancelandia that doesn’t know you should never, ever sleep with a stranger right before starting a new job. lol.
So true, @Cleo! In a similar vein, it’s best not to sleep with a stranger right before starting a college class.
@cleo, @Kareni
Not sure about the “never, ever”. Based on numerous books it seems to be a great way to find your HEA, even though there’s some awkwardness involved…
🙂