Good morning readers! Pride is still hot and happening. There are some absolutely banging traditionally published LGBTQ+ books on the market right now, but today, I would like to shine the spotlight on some of the gorgeous indie reads out there!
Get Your Pride On With Some Queer Indie Reads
Maiden of the Hollow Path by Shar Khan
Something dark has shaped the Marizad Palace and pulled Shahina Rukhezzi from exile. After spending eight years amongst the dwarven regime, the Paragon and Fifth Raja to the Lotus Throne has returned. A curse has touched the royal family, leaving the Great and Immortal Maharaj to stray upon his death bed.
In the seaport city of Stonegrave, Crogan Takahashi stands as the King of Lords. He rules over the War Table in a place forsaken and left to rot. With magicks that run rampant through his veins, he finds himself at the mercy of Shahina who searches for answers he's not willing to give so easily.
Yet as her presence pulls dark entities from their resting place in the Northern Province, Crogan learns there are things worse than death. As an ancient evil struggles to take the throne, he realizes Shahina might not be as bad as she seems.
Or so he thinks.
Poison Forest by Lauri Starling
There has been a string of disappearances in the Triumvir of Corundum. Someone is stealing royal children, and Thedra's childhood sweetheart Dette, the princess of a neighboring kingdom, is the latest to go missing.
When Thedra suspects the sorcerer she blames for her mother's death is behind Dette's disappearance, she refuses to let him harm anyone else. She sets out with the help of a dashing soldier and a secretive servant girl to find and rescue Dette before it's too late.
Thedra would do anything to stop the disappearances and save her friend--even cross a cursed forest that brings her nightmares to life. But one of her companions is hiding something, and the forest seems to want her dead. To defeat the sorcerer’s twisted magic, she must face her worst fears and risk losing what she wants most: the freedom to love who she chooses.
Tears in the Water by Margherita Scialla
At White Ravens University, where athletes train to become professional sportspeople, Alex is on the swimming team with her best friend, Xiuying. Having grown up mostly alone, parents absent and brother often busy with his own life, Alex tends not to meet new people unless she and Xiuying are together.
After an embarrassing encounter with a boy from the volleyball team Alex soon discovers that the world isn’t so big after all and the universe has a funny way of setting people up, especially when and with whom they’re least expecting.
Despite her reserved character, Alex becomes part of a newly formed friend group consisting of four amazing people with different identities and personalities. As she tries to overcome her anxiety and negative past events, Alex finds herself both struggling with romantic feelings for a new acquaintance and a full blown gender crisis.
Our Monster by Jemma Topaz
Rosemary Dulahan, answering a strange job posting, arrives in Monstertown – a place inhabited by magical beings from another world.
Navigating the politics of sphinxes, lamias, and secrets, she must learn how to get along with her non-human coworkers and maybe romance a few monster girls along the way.
There's nothing she wants less than getting caught up in a murder mystery troubling all of Monstertown... but the mystery doesn't care what she wants, and she's about to discover the darker side of her new world.
Sugar People by Oliver Ferrie
Kestrel has a lot to be worried about. His best friend Tala has been struck by a severe mental illness, attempting suicide over the winter break. She has developed an obsession with making little sculptures she will not let anyone touch.
Meanwhile, Kestrel is struggling at university. His artwork has his teachers concerned, and he can't explain any of it. But it's not just him - all his friends are feeling strange this term, although none of them can place why.
After a chance meeting with the university's charismatic religious counsellor, Daran Bailey, Kestrel becomes drawn back in to a world he had once left behind. As the term marches on, his dreams grow more uncomfortable, and he feels like he's going crazy, until at long last, Tala lets Kestrel in on her secret...
A coming of age novel about the nature of trauma and the destruction of trust, and the lengths some people would go to right a cataclysmic wrong.
Can't Resist Her by Kianna Alexander
Two very determined women—in love, at odds, and risking a lot on a second chance. After years away from home, Summer Graves is back in Austin, Texas, to accept a new teaching position. Of all the changes to the old neighborhood, the most dispiriting one is the slated demolition of the high school her grandmother founded. There’s no way she can let developers destroy her memories and her family legacy. But the challenge stirs memories of another kind. On the architectural team revitalizing the neighborhood, hometown girl Aiko Holt is all about progress. Then she sees Summer again. Some things never change. Neither can forget the kiss they shared at their senior-year dance. Neither can back down from her unwavering beliefs about what’s right for the neighborhood. For now, the only thing Summer and Aiko are willing to give in to is a heat that still burns. But can two women with so much passion—for what once was and what could be—agree to disagree long enough to fall in love?
Whispers Into the Night by Jay Leigh
Theo Moreau never wanted to be involved with politics, but when his mother wins the presidential election, he reluctantly agrees to tag along for his younger siblings. Nothing could have prepared him to juggle his anxiety, complex family dynamics, and the complicated world of the White House. Lacking supportive friends and family, he leans on his steadfast Secret Service agent as tensions rise across the divisive political landscape and the dangers of being close to the president come to the surface.
Agent Connor O’Brien always wanted to be a hero, so working on the protective detail for the First Family seems like the perfect opportunity. What he isn’t expecting is to fall head over heels for the man under his protection. As their relationship blossoms, the foundation of the administration grows more unstable and the chatter from America’s right-wing demographic rises to a fever pitch. But when Theo becomes the target of their campaign, the stakes get even higher.
Unsure of who to trust, and with little help from the President, Theo and Connor join forces with their motley group of friends to unravel the mystery of who is working against them from inside the White House before the situation turns explosive. As the sinister reach of this masked shadow spreads, Theo and Connor grow even closer and the magnitude of everything they risk losing propels them into a race against the nefarious mastermind, desperately clinging to the hope they’ve found in one another before their dream come true turns into a nightmare.