This Rec League is from Nicole in the SBTB Patreon Discord:
They’re looking for sapphic urban fantasy (not necessarily paranormal romance). They specified they’re looking for urban/big city settings with a mystery or noir vibe.
Amanda: I recommended the Kate Kane ( A | BN | K | G ) series by Alexis Hall.
Shana: I loved Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is definitely noir.
Susan: Kate Kane and Even Though I Knew the End were my first thoughts too
Shana: Deadline by Stephanie Ahn ( A ) might work. Masc heroine, urban fantasy set in NYC.
Oh, and how could I forget The City We Became by NK Jemisin ( A | BN | K | AB ) where the boroughs of NYC are personified and need to learn to work together to fight the Big Bad. The Bronx is lesbian Lenape woman in her 60s and I adore her.
What books would you recommend? Leave them in the comments!
I was pleased to know three good ones – the Alexis Hall and the NK Jemisin series, and the CL Polk novella (and I almost never recommend a novella but this one is great). Enthusiastically seconding them all, but I wish I could come up with something more.
I feel KJ Charles is always the answer for everything but …not so much here. She has the Will Darling Adventures which is more pulp fiction than urban fantasy but there’s a lot of overlap, but the f/f romance is secondary characters who don’t feature super prominently except in my head. And the only f/f mystery romance I can think of, Proper English, is an Edwardian house party so decidedly not urban.
My first thought was the Santa Olivia doulogy, but IDK if post-apocalyptic can really count as UF, though if it does, then that’s an option (if one I read a long time ago, so the quality could be uncertain in this day and age)
Would Laurie R. King’s Kate Martinelli mysteries qualify? It’s been a while since I read them, somostly I just remember loving the writing.
Tanya Huff’s Direct Descendent is sapphic! And if steampunk is ok, I highly recommend Elizabeth Bear’s Karen Memory.
I have one on my TBR pile, BLACK BLADE BLUES by J.A. Pitts,concerning a heroine blacksmith/Movie prop manager. I haven’t actually read it,but it looked interesting enough to buy.
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho is an excellent Sapphic Urban Fantasy set in Malaysia. There’s no romance in it – the MC is in a Sapphic relationship but they’re long distance and it doesn’t play much of a role in the story.