I’ve been writing queer historical romances/murder mysteries since the third grade when I accidentally wrote a pretty homoerotic Sherlock Holmes fanfiction despite being too young to know what any of those words meant. I’m now both a writer and reader of the genre and while I’m delighted that so many other people love gay historical romance as much as I do, I feel like I always see the same few books recommended. I wanted to share some of my lesser-known favorites so that they can get the love they richly deserve and so that there are more people who can geek-out about them with me!
Honestly, I could recommend all of Bonnie Dee’s back catalog, but this one in particular has always stuck with me. I think what I love most is that the setup seems like a standard Beauty and the Beast type tale, but instead, a thoughtful (and incredibly hot!) novel that doesn’t shy away from the fact that one of the characters is far from traditionally handsome, but embraces it.
I really cheered him on as he began to see himself in a new light, the way the man who loves him sees him.
Creating love from darkness is the greatest art…Living a bohemian lifestyle in Paris is wonderful for Teddy Dandridge, but disastrous for his finances. His unconventional artistic creations find few buyers. After a year of failure, he returns to England to fulfill a portrait commission for a wealthy family, but he finds a different, source of inspiration secreted away in their sprawling house. Isolated and rejected by his family, Phineas Abernathy haunts the west wing like a ghost. A physical deformity has locked him away from society for all his life. Filling his days with reading and drawing, he dreams of…
First of all, I love all of Alix E. Harrow’s books. They have strong female protagonists who push back against the hands that they’re dealt.
This book is, at its core, the tale of a haunted house, but it’s so much more than that. There is love and death and class warfare and sentiment and harsh reality, all intertwined in the breathing soul of a house with something to prove, someone to protect, a lineage to honor.
Like all of Harrow’s works, there’s magic in the mundane, and she brings the dead-end town in Appalachia to pulsing life despite the grit and destitution built into its system. It was a joy to snuggle down to another chapter or two every night.
'Alix E. Harrow is an exceptional, undeniable talent' - Olivie Blake, author of The Atlas Six
Step into Starling House - if you dare . . . Alix E. Harrow reimagines Beauty and the Beast in this gorgeously modern Gothic fantasy, perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab and Naomi Novik.
Nobody in Eden remembers when Starling House was built. But the town agrees it's best to let this ill-omened mansion - and its last lonely heir - go to hell. Stories of the house's bad luck, like good china, have been passed down the…
I am fifty-five years old, and I’ve been active in the BDSM lifestyle since my early twenties. My Safeword series was written because, at the time, most of the BDSM hitting the ebook market was clearly written by people who’d never felt the sting of a whip. I was certain I could do better, and eventually, after six attempts, I wrote something I thought a publisher might be interested in. Fifteen years later, I write mostly paranormal romance, but a fair amount of kink and power exchange still sneaks in. Vampires and werewolves aren’t known for submitting to others, after all.
The Beauty Series is actually three books, written as one long story: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Punishment, Beauty's Release.
When I read the books, sometime around 1989, I didn’t know Anne Rice had written them. I only knew this was proof that yet another person felt the same as me about sex.
These books aren’t written as consensual sex, but they’re pure fantasy, so it worked okay for me then and still does today.
Before E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey and Sylvia Day's Bared to You, there was Anne Rice's New York Times best seller The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
In the traditional folktale of "Sleeping Beauty," the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. It is an ancient story, one that originally emerged from and still deeply disturbs the mind's unconscious. In the first book of the series, Anne Rice (author of Beauty's Kingdom), writing as A.N. Roquelaure, retells the Beauty story and probes the unspoken implications…
I’ve always loved fairytales. What little girl with a growing romantic heart doesn’t? By the time I was eight, I told people I was Cinderella because of all the work I did at home. An exaggeration, even for the oldest child, but still. My first prom dress, during a year I won’t mention, was reminiscent of Cinderella’s blue ballgown. As I became a writer myself, I noticed my stories held themes I learned from fairytales. Love, loyalty, courage, and a dose of magic. I simply add space or aliens to the mix.
I love when an author takes a character you think you know and adds layers of depth you never would have imagined. That’s what Shea does with Elle here. We all picture the Disney Belle--smart but with that feeling of needing to be rescued. This Elle is not that kind of beauty. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but I really appreciated the heartbreaking strength this woman had. She literally gives everything for her family, and once she knows his heart, Prince Severin.
A small miscalculation sends her through the roof of an enchanted chateau. Stranded until her broken leg mends, Elle is unwillingly forced to rely on the good will of the sour chateau owner —the cursed Prince Severin.
Prince Severin—the commanding general and staunch supporter of his brother the crown prince—is cursed to look like a beast until a maiden falls in love with him. He has given up all hope of shattering the curse, and has only disdain for Elle.
Unfortunately, the pair can’t seem to avoid each other thanks to the…
I grew up with Irish folklore, Lord of the Rings, and X-Men comics as my bedtime stories, but I am also a domestic violence survivor twice over with c-PTSD. I was never able to get justice for anyone who hurt me. I created my stories as a way to cope and understand my feelings and triggers by making them their own personalities. So, I made my trauma available for everyone in a fantasy setting with two love interests to adore the heroine who had to endure so much but never gave up on giving people someone to root for when they couldn’t for themselves anymore.
I absolutely adored this book! I’m a sucker for a good Beauty and the Beast retelling. Add the fact that it was full of spice and fated mates, and I fell in love! Easily one of my favorite reads, and I’m dying for the fourth book to come out this fall!
Four beastly princes. One awkward bookworm. An enchanted world of fae, magic, and danger.
I’ve always loved fairytales. I never imagined I'd actually be in one.
When my father wanders into the enchanted realm of the fae, I know I have to go after him. And when he gets imprisoned, I'll do anything to save him... Even trade my freedom for his. I had no idea I'd end up imprisoned by four sexy fae who turn into beasts at night.
I have to win my freedom, and that means making a bargain with them. They must find their mates in…
I’ve always loved reading young adult fantasy books with forbidden romance and lush worldbuilding and classic fairytale elements like princesses, dancing, pretty clothes, and delicious food spreads. All these books offer fresh takes and twists, and tug at your heartstrings with the angst, the betrayals, the secrets, and the love. These are all immersive stories that transport you far away, to a different time, to a different land, which is exactly what you need sometimes to get away from this world and its craziness.
Nyx will do anything to save her people, including marrying the terrible Ignifex, the evil ruler of her kingdom. But there is more to Ignifex than she initially imagined, and as Nyx falls in love with him, she fights to find a way to save both her people and her love. This book portrays such fun banter between Nyx and Ignifex and poses a truly difficult riddle that is bound to break your heart.
If you're excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, don't miss Cruel Beauty. The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. Perfect for fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away. Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known…
In my previous role as a teacher, I often encountered teens who never, ever read outside of school – and hated having to read in school. Finding YA retellings of the classics became an indispensable tool for me in terms of not only linking the past with the present for the young adults in my classes, but also in terms of helping them see themselves in fiction, finding representation there, and discovering their own importance. It opened up whole worlds for all of us, and offered a pathway to a love of reading that I hope they will never forget!
I wanted to include an unashamedly fun read for balance, and Of Curses and Kisses is absolute bucketloads of fun. A contemporary Beauty and the Beast retelling, it’s charmingly clever, funny, and vibrant, with its cast of diverse characters and its boarding school setting. If you’re ever looking for a hug in book form, look no further!
For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. That's why when she finds out she'll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, a member of the rival royal family behind a humiliating scandal involving her little sister, she schemes to get revenge on the young nobleman in order to even the score between their families. The plan? Make him fall in love with her and then break his heart the way his family has broken hers.
Grey Emerson doesn't connect with people easily. Due to a curse placed on his family by the Raos that…
I’m a book nerd and YA novel lover. While I do enjoy the occasional mystery or thriller, I unerringly find my way to the young adult aisle each and every time I go searching for my new guilty pleasure. I especially enjoy fantasy books with a touch of romance. I find that these types of books are escapism at their very finest. It should come as no surprise that when I wrote my own book, I did not stray from my favorite genre.
I discovered this book as it was a finalist in the 2021 Rone Awards along with my own debut novel. I really enjoyed the imaginative premise of this book. The Zodia are real. Clawing their way from a long-forgotten tomb, they emerge, ravenous to claim everyone born under their star signs. What an inventive idea! When young Larken starts to fall for the powerful Aries, you know you’re in for quite the ride. I absolutely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to lovers of YA fantasy romances.
Some destinies are written in the stars. Others must be bought with blood…
The Zodia are real. Clawing their way from a long-forgotten tomb, they emerge, ravenous to claim everyone born under their star signs. Plotting to resurrect kingdoms no human knew existed, they are driven by a hunger for vengeance against the one who buried them: Aries.
Larken is a natural born sprinter, but even she can’t outrun the darkness closing in. A shelter-in-place order has been issued, causing widespread panic. Some brush the alarm off as a drill, until people begin to disappear... vanishing without a trace. Left…
I’m a New Englander by birth, a Canadian by circumstance, and a Nova Scotian by choice. For as long as I can remember, I’ve told stories, first to my little sister—a captive audience—then to my children, then at my book readings, and now on my podcast, Kate and Friends, which I’m lucky enough to record with two professional musicians. For me, the ultimate test of a story is whether it can be told without visual aids. While I love picture books, and the way an artist can deepen a child’s experience of a story, I gravitate to satisfying, stand-alone tales with a good twist. They’re difficult to write, easy to remember, and great fun to tell!
An oldie but a goodie, this is the circular story of a king dealing with an infestation of cheery but messy mice. At the advice of his wise men, he brings in a mass of cats to chase the mice away. But the king is “most unhappy” when the mice take over his palace. What to do? The wise men recommend dogs! And so on and on, with one animal after another till the king is forced to learn how to live with the mice. My kids loved the sheer ridiculousness of the tale, the comic pictures, and the fun of knowing what would inevitably happen each time the king, with inexplicable optimism, brings in a new animal to deal with the last. A great story for telling, even when you don’t have the book, and fun for kids to illustrate themselves, as they listen.
THE KING, THE MICE AND THE CHEESE follows a folk tale pattern: the King brings in cats to get rid of too many mice. Packs of dogs are then brought in to get rid of the cats, and so the story goes, coming full circle to the mice again. A delightful story for beginners. 'I can read it all by myself' is the Beginner Books motto, and behind it is an understanding of how important it is for children to take pride and pleasure in their early reading. Beginner Books have been designed to appeal directly to children through the…
I didn’t want to write about this world whenI could submerse myself in a magical one! I’ve always had a passion for Sci-fi and Fantasy books and movies. With these genres, you canpush your mind to limits that can’t be explored in the normal world. You can investigateimaginary places and fall in love with someone who can throw fire from their hands or teleport toanother time. You can slay monsters and swim with merfolk; you can marry an alien and joinyour two kingdoms. You can even perform science experiments on someone and turn them intoa hulk-like creature who runs around town naked! How fun!
A fantasy romance where a marriage arrangement is made in hopes of bringing peace to warring nations. Medieval-type vibes and aliens (not the traditional kind) are nicely combined. Shannen and Daarik are both strong-willed and noble main characters.
I fell in love with Daarik, who is the alien in this story. He’s sweet, protective, respectful, and strong. At the beginning the flowery smell of Shannen made him gag, but that changed once he started falling for her.
This story reminded me of Beauty and the Beast, except this maiden wasn’t so innocent. I liked her.
This opened my eyes to how much I have the hots for aliens...
Two races fight for what remains of a dying planet. For generations, the Maarlai, an alien race who fled the destruction of their own home world, have lived silently, hidden, exiled on Earth. They watched, year by year, as humanity destroyed what was once a planet full of hope and promise. Unable to idly watch as the planet dipped further into destruction, the Maarlai left their hidden villages and went to war with what was left of humanity. With the death of the last great human king, the Maarlai found themselves victorious and vowed to protect and restore the planet…
