Confession time: I skip to the end within the first 10% of most books. (Please don’t yell at me. I’ve already been told by horrified friends that it’s a moral failing.) When I skipped to the end of Queen of Coin and Whispers, I was hit by one of the most compelling lines I’ve read in a long time: She loved me as I loved her, fierce as a bloodied blade. Does it give you … Continue reading Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran
All you need to know about this book is two things: It has zero percent angst and one hundred percent love, making it a perfect balm for any bad day. It’s inspired by Anne of Green Gables! Anne and Diana falling in love? I was living for it from the first page to the last. Tessa O’Connell and Montgomery “Monty” Ford are best friends. Always have been, always will be. Tessa is a loud, loveable … Continue reading Who We Could Be by Chelsea M. Cameron
CW/TW: abortion consideration, biphobia from parent Finn is out of prison, building a new life for herself far away in Austin. When she visits a low-income clinic to get a prescription for migraine meds, Finn runs into the one person she least expects to see: Vivi, the nurse Finn worked alongside for two years at the prison’s pharmacy. Finn was devastated eight months ago when Vivi stopped showing up for work one day with no … Continue reading Get It Right by Skye Kilaen
Tara: When I’m looking up f/f titles for Hide Your Wallet posts, I occasionally come across a blurb that sounds so full of crazysauce, I immediately show Shana. The latest was for Queen of Humboldt. Check this out: Marisol Soltero’s life is built on big scores and fast women. From her nightclub she rules over the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago with ruthless calculation. Though everyone knows her as the Queen of Humboldt, Marisol lives … Continue reading Queen of Humboldt by Tagan Shepard
CW/TW: misgendering genderqueer/nonbinary person, bathroom panic This book pissed me off so much that I bailed almost a quarter of the way in. As a genderqueer woman, I cannot recommend it and I regret picking it up in the first place. I was so mad about this book that I rage wrote the whole review on my phone while laying in bed, because this was supposed to be my fun bedtime read. You know you’re … Continue reading The Holiday Detour by Jane Kolven
Wrong Number, Right Woman came to me at exactly the right time. I was ready for a romance with zero angst and adorkable characters, and boy howdy did this deliver. It’s so gentle and sweet, it’s like a warm hug and I enjoyed it very much. Denny is a thoroughly lovely, super-awkward butch lesbian. She’s co-raising her niece with her sister, works at a grocery store, and has a giant crush on her niece’s cute … Continue reading Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae
The Secret Ingredient’s premise appealed to me because it has two chefs falling in love in a small town. I expected a fun comfort read and was pleasantly surprised when it delivered more than that, especially through one of the leads, Adah. Adah Campbell’s excited for a fresh start with her son, Pete, in South Bay, Maine. After working her way up from greasy spoons to fine dining restaurants in Chicago over the last decade, … Continue reading The Secret Ingredient by KD Fisher
Every year around the holiday season, I see people squee about Love, Actually and I’m reminded all over again how much I hate half of it and how meh I feel about the rest of it. But then I remember Lindy West’s infamous takedown of it and I don’t feel alone. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when I heard about Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema. Its recap-style … Continue reading Shit, Actually by Lindy West
Vera “Nick” Nicholson is an underpaid and overworked lawyer. After nearly seven years, she’s still at the bottom of the ladder at Turner, Witherspoon, Anders, and Tyler, PA. (*slow clap* for the initialism of her employer’s name, which is the first sign that this romcom often has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.) One day, Nick is given a weird job: tracking down a missing Mercedes-Maybach S560 belonging to one of the firm’s top … Continue reading The Big Tow by Ann McMan
Despite being Canadian, I’ve never gotten into hockey. (Don’t tell my government. I don’t want my citizenship revoked.) And yet, I’m excited every time I see a new f/f hockey romance announced. I enjoyed the first 60% or so of this one, but unfortunately it didn’t hold up after that point, leaving me disappointed. Caro Cassidy is a retired professional hockey player in Chicago who’s been to a few Olympics. Now, she spends her days … Continue reading Out on the Ice by Kelly Farmer
Content warnings: recent death of alcoholic parent, several references to euthanizing shelter animals I’ve enjoyed all three of Anna Burke’s books so far, which take place in settings where I would last for no longer than a week, if I’m being generous. In order, they are: A dystopian climate fiction with lesbian pirates and terrifying giant squids A lyrical, dark f/f reinterpretation of Beauty and the Beast A super-queer Robin Hood retelling, which was also … Continue reading Spindrift by Anna Burke
