It’s become a yearly tradition of mine to wrap up Pride by highlighting the queer (Adult) SFF coming in the rest of the year – as a reminder to all of us that pride is not just for June!
Thus!
Queer Adult SFF books coming out post-Pride!
This year’s is much longer than either my 2023 or 2024 list, for the simple reason that I decided to throw almost every book I knew about at y’all. I’ve done my best to find details of the representation in each book, but I’m sure I’ve gotten it wrong occasionally; I’m happy to accept corrections! (Especially from authors, if any of you stumble across this post.)
Please feel free to suggest any books I missed in the comments (especially sci fi, I know there’s not much of that!) but a) I’m not including Paranormal Romance, b) or self-published books I’m not personally interested in, c) some authors aren’t present because I hate their writing, and d) this is not an Al-friendly space, anyone using it for writing or cover art is blacklisted. Indie releases are welcome!
STAY PROUD AND ENJOY!
July
A F*ckery of Fae & Fate by A.J. Braun
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: F/F
Published on: 3rd July 2025
Goodreads
In one of their first-ever documented adventures, bounty hunters Rhema—a grumpy, axe-wielding fighter—and Benny—her chipper, easily excitable dragon—save a bratty princess from a trickster fae prince.
But when they attempt to return her home, not only is Rhema growing an inconvenient attachment to the spitfire royal, but the princess is also being chased down by droves of sexy, dumb, and very violent fae men who claim she’s their mate. In order for Rhema and Benny to make it to the Butter and Barmaids Festival on time, they have no choice but to seek out Rhema’s hot bounty hunter rival, an expert of the fae realm, to help them uncover the mystery of where all these chiseled-jawed men are coming from—and stop them before the princess falls for their illustrious charm.
Oh dear gods, I cannot tell you how excited I am for a story taking the piss out of the whole fae mates thing! GIMME!
Moon Rising by Claire Barner
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: MLM Middle Eastern MC, M/M, Middle Eastern love interest (separate romance)
Published on: 8th July 2025
Goodreads
A debut near future romance, where Sea of Tranquility meets Winter’s Orbit, told against the backdrop of the Moon’s first lunar colony, with a multicultural and LGBTQ+ cast, about a cynical agronomist and charming Emirati businessman who fall in love, and battle eco-terrorists.
In 2073, controversial agronomist Dr. Alex Cole has dedicated her life to mutagenetic food, the only solution to feeding a world torn apart by climate change. When fierce opposition from radical environmentalists wipes out her lab funding, a surprising lifeline appears in the form of Mansoor Al Kaabi, a charismatic Emirati businessman who needs a sustainable food supply for his guests on the Moon’s first hotel.
Alex moves to the Moon colony with Mansoor, and they immediately dive into the challenging work. As she smuggles in illegal chickens, fights a vexing tomato fungus, and dreams of olive groves on the Moon, Alex is surprised to find herself falling in love not just with the lunar colony, but with Mansoor, whose vision for the future of the Moon extends far beyond luxury hotels.
Back on Earth, eccentric genius Victor Beard and Mansoor’s younger brother Rashid fight to push the Homestead Act through Congress. Without the support of the US government, they’ll never be able to achieve their goal to relocate humanity to the Moon and secure a second chance for life on Earth.
When eco-terrorists threaten the lunar colony, Alex, Mansoor, Victor, and Rashid must choose what they’re willing to die for–and what they’re really living for. Is it their grandiose visions of saving the planet–or is it each other?
Been looking forward to this since I first read the words “smuggles in illegal chickens”!
You can listen to an excerpt read by the author here!
The Lavender Blade: An Exorcist’s Chronicle by E.L. Deards
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: M/M
Published on: 8th July 2025
Goodreads
For readers who loved New York Times bestseller Gideon the Ninth, Deards delivers a queer speculative fiction novel about what happens when a con artist exorcist becomes possessed for real.
A pair of con artist demon exorcists scam the nation’s wealthiest . . . until one of them is possessed for real
Colton and Lucian make a living conning the desperate with fake exorcisms—Lucian is the charm, Colton the trick, and together, they’ve turned deception into survival. Their work is dangerous, their romance even riskier, but they’ve always found a way to stay ahead.
Until Lucian is truly possessed.
A powerful demon takes hold, twisting his body into something unnatural, horrific, wrong—and no priest, no con, no desperate lie can fix it. With time running out and Lucian slipping further away, Colton has no choice but to learn real magic, break every rule, and attempt the impossible.
Because if he fails, Lucian won’t just be lost. He’ll be something else entirely.
Honestly, what did they EXPECT to happen if they kept faking exorcisms?
Ascension (The Summoner’s Circle, #2) by S.T. Gibson
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Bisexual MC, Black spouse, gay boyfriend, F/M/M polyamory
Published on: 8th July 2025
Goodreads
From bestselling author of Evocation comes it’s hotly anticipated and spellbinding sequel, where Rhys steps into his new role as High Priest. A perfect read for lovers of urban fantasy.
Now the High Priest of Boston’s famed and secret Society, Rhys McGowan has a lot on his shoulders. With the help of his adoring witch wife, Moira, and his newly rekindled relationship with psychic boyfriend, David, Rhys is destined to become the most powerful High Priest ever.
However, Rhys’s insatiable ambition may be his undoing…
The first book in this series was heavy on the vibes and aesthetic, and I’m hoping for the same from the sequel!
The second book in the bestselling Summoner’s Circle series sees beloved characters return for an all new dark and enthralling adventure.
The first book in this series was great fun, and after that ending I need to know what comes next!
My review of book one, Evocation!
Red Rabbit Ghost by Jen Julian
Genres: Horror
Representation: Bisexual MC
Published on: 22nd July 2025
Goodreads
A cynical young outcast confronts his small town’s dark secrets in this atmospheric and haunting debut horror novel from brilliant new voice Jen Julian.
The town of Blacknot is not what it appears, and a place deep in the woods known only as The Night House is calling…Jesse Calloway hadn’t planned to return to his repressive, backwoods hometown of Blacknot, North Carolina, after only one year away at college, but an anonymous messenger has lured him home. Eighteen years ago, his mother died under unexplained circumstances. Every story he has heard is incomplete. Now, the messenger claims to have the answers. But Jesse will have to hunt for them.
Alice Catherine, the daughter of a local pork manufacturer, obsesses over Jesse in turn. To her, he is a key player in unearthing the dark family history she’s convinced her father is concealing. Alice knows Jesse must find the answers himself, with the hope that once he does, he’ll help her change both their futures.
But Jesse’s path to Alice isn’t a straight line, and his questions are stirring up issues with locals, including his much older and well-armed ex-boyfriend, Harlan. When an old fling of Jesse’s goes missing and Alice’s plans start to unravel, it’s clear there’s more at stake than either of them could imagine. On a collision course littered with psychotropic fungi, time-warping magic, and far too many alligators, Jesse and Alice will need to determine how far they are willing to go for the truth, and whether they can trust each other enough to get there…
Creepy and bizarre? Promises, promises!
Daughters of Flood and Fury (Stormbringer Saga, #2) by Gabriella Buba
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Filipino-inspired setting and cast, bisexual MC, sapphic MC, F/F, queernorm culture
Published on: 22nd July 2025
Goodreads
In this powerful sequel to Saints of Storm and Sorrow, Lunurin and Alon struggle to unify the archipelago against the returning Codicíans, while Inez embraces her power and makes new allies among the ruthless pirates of the South Sea.
Enthralling Filipino-inspired fantasy for fans of The Hurricane Wars, R.F. Kuang and Tasha Suri.
Several years after the defeat of the Codicíans in Aynila, Lunurin and Alon are fighting to solidify their alliances across the archipelago. But petty rivalries, suspicion and conflicted loyalties threaten to undermine their efforts.
Inez has been training as a tide-touched healer with Alon, but the gentle side of Aman Sinaya’s gift does not come naturally to her. When she hears a rumour that her sister Catalina is living among a group of missionaries on a nearby island, Inez embarks on a dangerous journey over the sea. Aboard a pirate ship, she meets Umali, the boat’s fierce fire-tender captain. Umali has never been gentle, and she burns brighter than anyone Inez has ever known.
Lunurin and Alon are desperate to follow Inez, but the Codícians are closing in with a powerful armada to retake Aynila. To stand any chance, Lunurin must unify the disparate factions of her forces before the festival of the eclipse, when the world’s magic will be at its strongest.
Three goddesses stand behind them. But without human allies, even that power may not be enough to save their islands and the people they love.
The first book of this duology BLEW ME AWAY (as is only appropriate for a book about a stormcaller!) and I am SO DAMN HYPED for this next one!!!
My review of Saints of Storm and Sorrow!
My review of Daughters of Flood and Fury!
The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Horror
Representation: Sapphic Asian-American MC
Published on: 22nd July 2025
Goodreads
A deeply dark academia novel from USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, perfect for fans of A Deadly Education and The Atlas Six who are hungry for something a little more diabolical.
The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.
Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that’s what Alessa Li is told when she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled.
But there’s more to Hellebore than meets the eye. On graduation day, the faculty go on a ravenous rampage, feasting on Alessa’s class. Only Alessa and a group of her classmates escape the carnage. Trapped in the school’s library, they must offer a human sacrifice every night, or else the faculty will break down the door and kill everyone.Can they band together and survive, or will the faculty eat its fill?
All right look, I wimped out of this one – but only because I’m a horror wimp! I still thought it rocked, and proper horror fans should definitely be giving it a try!
You can read an excerpt here!
The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai
Genres: Science Fantasy
Representation: F/F
Published on: 29th July 2025
Goodreads
Inception meets Indiana Jones in this propulsive fungal science fantasy following a headstrong academic and her equally stubborn bodyguard as they unearth an ancient secret that rocks the foundations of their society—and challenges their unspoken love for one another.
Kiana Strade can dive deeper into blood memories than anyone alive. But instead of devoting her talents to the temple she’s meant to lead, Key wants to do research for the Museum of Human Memory. . . and to avoid the public eye.
Valerian IV’s twin swords protect Key from murderous rivals and her own enthusiasm alike. Vale cares about Key as a friend—and maybe more—but most of all, she needs to keep her job so she can support her parents and siblings in the storm-torn south.But when Key collects a memory that diverges from official history, only Vale sees the fallout. Key’s mentor suspiciously dismisses the finding; her powerful mother demands she stop research altogether. And Key, unusually affected by the memory, begins to lose moments, then minutes, then days.
As Vale becomes increasingly entangled in Key’s obsessive drive for answers, the women uncover a shattering discovery—and a devastating betrayal. Key and Vale can remain complicit, or they can jeopardize everything for the truth.
Either way, Key is becoming consumed by the past in more ways than one, and time is running out.
Tsai’s debut was a delight, and Memory Hunters sounds delightfully weird. My hopes are high!
You can read an excerpt here!
A Covenant of Ice (The Crowns of Ishia, #3) by Karin Lowachee
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Indigenous-coded MCs, queer MC, queer amputee MC, M/M
Published on: 29th July 2025
Goodreads
The exciting conclusion to the gunslinging dragonrider trilogy!
After years of separation, Havinger Lilley has finally reunited with his lover, Janan. He now hopes to heal from the experience that changed his life forever: being bonded to the soul of a king dragon and to the man Raka who died to save it. But this bond is consuming him, making his thoughts and feelings not his own.
Compelled by this to return to the frozen north that was once Raka’s home, Lilley and his companions Janan and Meka make the arduous journey toward a confrontation with the power-hungry Kattakans that could result in another devastating war.
In this final chapter of *The Crowns of Ishia* series, the survival of the Ba’Suon people, their dragons, and the land itself rests on the decisions of Lilley, Janan and Meka.
This has been such a great trilogy; I really don’t want it to be over! But at the same time, I’m really excited to see how Lowachee wraps everything up!
My review of book one, The Mountain Crown!
The Needfire by M.K. Hardy
Genres: Horror
Representation: F/F
Published on: 31st July 2025
Goodreads
A Scottish sapphic Gothic horror debut for fans of Rebecca and The Hacienda.
You are afraid of the border places. You are afraid of the fork in the road.
Fleeing her mistakes in Glasgow for a marriage of convenience, Norah Mackenzie’s new home on an estate far in the north of Scotland is a chance for freedom, a fresh start. But in the dim, draughty corridors of Corrain House, something is very wrong. Despite their warm correspondence, her distant, melancholic husband does not seem to know her. She is plagued by ghost ships on the sea, spectres at the corner of her eye, by winding, grasping roots. Her only possible companion, the housekeeper Agnes Gunn, is by turns unnerving and alluring, and harbours uncanny secrets of her own.
As the foundations crumble beneath her feet, Norah must uncover the truth about Corrain House, her husband, Agnes, and herself, if she is to find the freedom she has been chasing.
I don’t think this has a US deal yet, but fans of gothic horror will be able to get copies from the UK!
The Elysium Heist by Y.M. Resnik
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: F/F
Published on: 31st July 2025
Goodreads
A queer sci-fi heist for fans of Ocean’s 8 and Lady Eve’s Last Con!
The Elysium is a decadent, artificially intelligent, space casino where no pleasure is denied to patrons that can afford to pay. It’s easy to rack up debt, and the casino will always find a way to collect. Nobody knows this better than Psalome Shipmen, The Elysium’s highest earning hostess who is stuck working endless hours to pay off the debt she inherited from her deadbeat, gambler father. She’ll endure years of service before she earns her way out. Unless she can figure out how to rob the casino. Pull off the job, and she walks free that very night.
Joining her on the heist crew are a disgraced heiress seeking to rescue her family business, a recovering alcoholic card counter, a religious Jew whose husband refuses to grant her a divorce, and Psalome’s little sister who is dating The Elysium’s artificial intelligence. When sparks fly between Psalome and the would-be divorcee, her abusive husband threatens to drag her back to their home planet as his property. Meanwhile, the little sister struggles to reconcile her loyalty to Psalome with her desire to protect her romantic partner, The Elysium. To make matters worse, the card shark is drinking again and the heiress has a severe case of PTSD triggered by The Elysium’s many security cameras.
If Psalome can’t find a way to keep everyone from self imploding, she can kiss her freedom, her girlfriend, and her sister’s trust, goodbye.
The story’s different, but I get the Lady Eve’s Last Con comp – this is giving me the same sort of vibes. Promising!
August
Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Desi cast, F/F
Published on: 5th August 2025
Goodreads
Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi meets Italo Calvino’s If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler in this stunning meta fantasy about the power of stories, belief and sisterhood
Myung and her sister Laleh are the sole inhabitants of the whale of babel—until Myung flees, beginning an adventure that will spin her through dreams, memories, and myths
Ask for the story of the mad sisters of Esi, and you’ll get a thousand contradictory folktales. Superstitious sailors, curious children, and obsessed academics have argued over the particulars for generations. They have wondered about the mad sisters’ two greatest marvels: the museum of collective memory that sprawls underneath our universe, waiting for any who call for it, and the living, impossible, whale of babel.
Myung and her sister Laleh are the sole inhabitants of the whale of babel. They roam within its cosmic chambers, speak folktales of themselves, and pray to their creator, the Great Wisa. For Laleh, this is everything. For Myung, it is not enough.
When Myung flees the whale, she stumbles into a new universe full of people, shapeshifting islands, and argumentative ghosts. In her search for Great Wisa and her longing for her sister Laleh, Myung sets off on an adventure that will unravel the mystery that has confounded everyone for centuries: the truth about the mad sisters of Esi.
Fables, dreams and myths come together in a masterful work of fantasy full of wonder and awe, that asks: in the devastating chaos of the world, where all is in flux, and the truth is ever-changing, what will you choose to hold on to? And what stories will you choose to tell?
This was published in India a few years ago, but I did get to read it then and my friends, you are NOT READY for this deeply weird magnificence!
You can read an excerpt here!
Teo’s Durumi (The Alliance, #2) by Elaine U. Cho
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Bi/pansexual Indian/Desi MC, M/M, BIPOC cast
Published on: 5th August 2025
Goodreads
The dazzling sequel to Ocean’s Godori dives back into Elaine U. Cho’s cinematic space opera series, taking Ocean and her crew deep into the cloisters of the Moon and the conflicts of the heart.
Teo Anand, former ne’er-do-well second son of the Anand Tech empire and current solar fugitive, has just crash-landed on the Moon after escaping the latest attempt on his life. But if anyone can help exonerate him, it’s his best friend, bold Korean space pilot Ocean Yoon.
Falsely accused of murdering his family, Teo is running out of both time and options. But loyalties are uncertain in their group of steadfast comrades and tentative new allies, and it’s difficult to know who to trust in the tangled web that awaits them in Artemis, a city on the Moon rich in Korean history and haunted by ghosts from Teo’s and Ocean’s pasts. Further complicating matters are Haven—the pensive medic whose beliefs challenge Ocean’s—and the dashing Phoenix—a space raider who’s come blazing into Teo’s life in more ways than one.
All the while Corvus, the real culprit behind the slaying of the Anands, is sowing a path of destruction that threatens to swallow the solar whole. The crew will wrestle with clashing ideals, flying bullets, and undeniable feelings, as they race toward a stunning final stand.
Teo’s Durumi brings Cho’s space opera duology to an exhilarating close, one that contends with questions of identity and acceptance; grief and redemption; and loyalty and sacrifice, as Teo, Ocean, and the people they love will decide once and for all how to forge their paths into the future.
I freaking LOVED the first book in this duology – fun and indulgent and full of Feels – and I am FLAILING to get my hands on book two! I’ve avoided reading the synopsis of Durumi to keep from spoilering myself, so I have no idea where this one’s going, but AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
The Faceless Thing We Adore by Hester Steel
Genres: Horror
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC
Published on: 5th August 2025
Goodreads
Eat, Pray, Love goes full Lovecraft in this queer, feel-good cosmic horror that reflects on gaslighting and emotional abuse.
Lemon, poppy seed, sun-warmed sand. These visions convince Aoife to quit her job, leave her manipulative boyfriend, and escape to the isolated shores of the Farmstead commune. There, among its charismatic and hedonistic residents, Aoife finds everything she’s been a community that adores her, the freedom to indulge, and the promise to be a part of something miraculous.But darkness underpins her airy new way of life. A disappearing cave looms above an ocean no one dares step foot in, mysterious crying fills the night hours, and a rot is spreading across the island. But perhaps most concerning is the commune’s reverence for their leader, Jonah—a love tinged with fear that Aoife knows all too well.
When Aoife’s boring old life comes crashing into her bold new one, loyalties are tested, unleashing a spiral of unspeakable violence that threatens to fracture reality itself. At the helm, Aoife finds herself desperately trying to protect everyone and everything she’s grown to love. Awkward, clumsy Aoife, who was always told she was weak, will soon realize the depths of her strength—and the pleasures of her rage.
I adore everything about this and I defy you not to also!
Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Genres: Horror
Representation: Jewish lesbian MC
Published on: 5th August 2025
Goodreads
Manhunt author Gretchen Felker-Martin is back with Black Flame, a historical horror about one woman’s deadly obsession with a haunted film, perfect for fans of Midsommar and Night Film.
Ellen, a deeply closeted lesbian spends all her time in solitude, restoring films at a failing archive in New York City.When a group of German academics present her with a print of an infamous exploitation film believed to have been destroyed during the Holocaust, Ellen finds herself forced to confront her own repressed sexuality. And the more she works on the restoration, the more obsessed she becomes over its depictions of occult practices and queer debauchery.
She’s soon convinced that the acts portrayed in the film are not fiction, but reality. And they’re happening to her…
At this point Gretchen Felker-Martin’s name is basically its own trigger warning (complimentary).
This Is My Body by Lindsay King-Miller
Genres: Horror
Published on: 5th August 2025
Goodreads
A gripping, emotional, and darkly funny queer horror novel about family trauma and possession, for fans of Rachel Harrison and Catriona Ward.
Single gay mom Brigid always thought that cutting ties with her extremist Catholic family was the best thing she could have done for her daughter, Dylan—and for herself. But when Dylan starts having terrifying fits of unnatural violence, Brigid can’t shake her memories of a girl from her childhood who behaved the same way . . . until Brigid’s uncle, Father Angus, performed an exorcism.
Convinced that her daughter is suffering from demonic possession, Brigid does the thing she told herself she’d never she goes home. Father Angus is the worst person she knows, but he’s also the only person who can help her daughter.
But as Brigid starts to uncover secrets about Father Angus, that long-ago exorcism, and her family’s past, she realizes that she and Dylan have never been in more danger.
This Is My Body is a piercing journey into religious trauma and childhood shame, building towards a heart-pounding twisty climax that will spin your head all the way around.
The conflict of turning your back on an abusive faith – but then it’s the only thing that could save your kid? DELICIOUS.
You can read an excerpt here!
Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
Genres: Horror
Representation: Bisexual MC
Published on: 12th August 2025
Goodreads
Lucky Day is the newest novel of terror from Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Bury Your Gays, where one woman must go up against the most horrifying concept of all: nothing.
Vera is a survivor of a global catastrophe known as the Low Probability Event, but she definitely isn’t thriving. Once a passionate professor of statistics, she no longer finds meaning in anything at all.
But when problematic government agent Layne knocks on her door, she’s the only one who can help him uncover the connection between deadly spates of absurdity and an improbably lucky casino. What’s happening in Vegas isn’t staying there, and the world is at risk of another disaster.When it comes to Chuck Tingle, the only thing more terrifying than a serious horror novel is an absurd one…
This sounds ridiculous in the best way!
Invisible Line by Su J. Sokol
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 12th August 2025
Goodreads
Some revolutions start with a roar, others with the quiet turn of a wheel.
A hostile government.
A desperate escape.
A sanctuary city that holds their future.In a near-future New York crushed under authoritarian rule, history teacher Laek can no longer hide his radical past. After a brutal confrontation with the NYPD, he and his family must flee across the border—by bicycle—into Québec. Their only chance lies in convincing Montreal to grant them refugee status.
Janie, an activist lawyer, fights to build a new life while protecting her family in a transformed Montreal. Between legal battles and cultural adjustments, she discovers that sanctuary comes with its own challenges.
Their children, Siri and Simon, must navigate a new world where everything is different—the language, the culture, and their place in it. As they adapt to their refuge, they learn that sometimes the strongest borders are the invisible ones we create ourselves.
Will they find safety in their new home, or will the past catch up with them?
Sunburst Award-nominated Su J Sokol crafts hopepunk science fiction where hope isn’t just resistance—it’s revolution.
Originally published under the title Cycling to Asylum over a decade ago, this is now the start of a series (book two arrives in September). The idea of a hopepunk dystopian novel…is confusing, but extremely appealing.
Death Valley Blooms by S M Mack
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Asexual MC
Published on: 12th August 2025
Goodreads
THE DESERT WHISPERS HER NAME
Every decade or so, vast quantities of wildflowers bloom all at once in Death Valley. Unbeknownst to the wider world, these super blooms are powered by a woman’s life.
Mar Ramse lost her mother to Death Valley as a teenager and would give anything to break her family’s curse, but now the desert whispers her name. She has only one ace up her sleeve: neither she nor her brother will ever have children.
Is it enough for the desert to release its grip on her family?
It’s a new Neon Hemlock novella! If you like queer SFF and you’re not paying attention to the novellas coming out of indie press Neon Hemlock, well – you should be! Their latest sounds interesting – I’ve been much more interested in desert settings, lately.
Her Subtle Investigations (The Warrior’s Guild, #3) by Scarlett Gale
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Brown sapphic MC, F/F/F
Published on: August 16th, 2025
Goodreads
A Tired Blade
The Knife has long been the Warrior Guild’s invisible answer to complicated problems—silent, sharp, and gone before her enemies even notice. She loves the work, loves helping people no one else will, but the years of endless travel—of lonely assignments, empty beds, and temporary allies—have worn her thin. Every new mission feels heavier, and Southport’s nostalgic foods and familiar heat stir a deeper ache: the yearning not just for a solid home, but for a shared life with someone to whom she’s just Kia, not the Knife…
A Collision Course
Chasing down a string of kidnappings, the Knife crosses paths—and blades—with two surprising Southport natives, both hunting for missing family. Masako wields nature magic with steely fury, but knows almost nothing about Southport’s criminal underbelly. Nukunya carries an encyclopedic knowledge of the city along with a dry wit that cuts as deep as any blade. After a violent first meeting the trio form an uneasy alliance, then a true team as their search leads them closer to their quarry… and each other…
A Branching Path
Pinned down and hiding out in a brothel’s back room, the Knife finds the lines between partnership, friendship, and romance blurring. Southport—and the people in it—has started to feel dangerously like home, but the Knife’s Guild assignments never let her stay anywhere for long. With duty pulling her to one path and the temptation of Masako and Nukunya pulling her to another, she’ll have to decide: Is it time to walk away again, or finally lay down roots?
New Warrior’s Guild book!!! Which can be read as a standalone; it’s a spin-off following one of the secondary characters from the first two books. I’m so excited: I LOVED The Knife, she was a delight whenever she was on the page, and I’m so happy she’s getting her own love story! With many daggers involved, I’m sure.
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Trans MC, lesbian MC, nonbinary spouse, lesbian spouse
Published on: 19th August 2025
Goodreads
In the vein of Alice Hoffman and Charlie Jane Anders’s own All the Birds in the Sky comes a novel full of love, disaster, and magic.
A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic–with very unexpected results–in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.
Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training–she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful witch.
Serena, Jamie’s mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.
Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn’t know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.Now it’s up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.
Anders has said this is her queerest book yet! Given her track record is very queer indeed, I’m excited to see what that means for Lessons!
You can read an excerpt here!
The Last Soul Among Wolves (The Echo Archives #2) by Melissa Caruso
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Representation: F/F
Published on: 19th August 2025
Goodreads
The Last Soul Among Wolves is the brilliant second installment in Melissa Caruso’s Echo Archives series, a whip-smart adventure fantasy featuring cursed relics, sapphic romance, and a magical murder mystery.
All Kembral Thorne wants is to finish her maternity leave in peace. But when her best friend asks for help, she can’t say no, even if it means a visit to a run-down mansion on an isolated island for a will reading. She arrives to find an unexpected reunion of her childhood friends—plus her once-rival, now-girlfriend Rika Nonesuch, there on a mysterious job. Then the will is read, and everything goes sideways.
Eight potential heirs, half of them Kem’s oldest friends.
Three cursed relics.
The rules: one by one, the heirs will die.
The prize for the lone survivor: A wish. And wishes are always bad business.
To save their friends, Kem and Rika must race against the clock and descend into other realities once more. But the mansion is full of old secrets and new schemes, and soon the game becomes far more dangerous—and more personal—than they could have imagined.
Fans of Caruso’s newest series (trilogy?) will be relieved to learn book two will be arriving shortly! Can’t say any more than that – I have carefully not read the blurb because I’ve not finished the first book yet!
House of Dusk by Deva Fagan
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Representation: F/F
Published on: 26th August 2025
Goodreads
A romantic epic fantasy featuring a fire-wielding nun grappling with her dark past and a young spy caught between her mission and a growing attraction to an enemy princess
With complex relationships, a rich and mythic world, and brisk pacing, House of Dusk is perfect for fans of Tasha Suri, Samantha Shannon, and Shannon Chakraborty
Ten years ago, Sephre left behind her life as a war hero and took holy vows to seek redemption for her crimes, wielding the flames of the Phoenix to purify the dead. But as corpses rise, a long-dead god stirs, and shadowy serpents creep from the underworld to hunt her, she has no choice but to draw on the very past she’s been trying so hard to forget.
Orphaned by the same war Sephre helped win, Yeneris has trained half her life to be the perfect spy, a blade slipped deep into the palace of her enemies. Undercover as bodyguard to Sinoe, a princess whose tears unleash prophecy, Yeneris strives to complete her true mission to recover the stolen bones of a saint. Sinoe’s prophecies may hold answers, but allying with the fiercely compassionate princess is perilous. Yeneris must find a way to balance her growing attraction for Sinoe with her duty to her people as they conduct a dangerous search for the source of the king’s power.
As Sephre investigates the signs of a looming apocalypse, she finds her beliefs tested by Nilos, a mercurial and charming agent of the serpent. He should be her enemy, but when Sephre is wrongly accused of heresy and desperate to rescue her innocent apprentice, she has no choice but to work with the enigmatic man. Together they embark on a treacherous quest, seeking answers in the labyrinthine underworld.
As gods are reborn and spirits destroyed, the world trembles on the edge of a second cataclysm. When the true enemy makes their bid for power, Yeneris must find a way to remain true to her full self and save both her mission and her heart. And Sephre must decide whether to be bound by her past, or to forge a better future, even if it means renouncing her vows and accepting a new and terrible power.
Please explain what about this I am NOT supposed to be excited for???
The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Representation: M/M
Published on: 26th August 2025
Goodreads
Ali Hazelwood meets Dungeons & Dragons in this enemies-to-lovers fantasy academia romcom where rival grad student wizards are forced to work together without killing―or falling for―each other.
Will they conjure love, or evoke chaos? Two rival wizards are about to find out.
Sebastian Walsh: Evocation Department. Human. The first of his family to pick college over the military.
Elethior Tourael: Conjuration Department. Half-elf. Pretentious asshole. The latest legacy Tourael at Lesiara U.
Both: Mageus Research Grant finalists.
Sebastian refuses to let anyone snatch this away, least of all a snob riding on old money. But what’s worse than a nemesis stealing your grant? You could both get it. Under the condition you work together.
Sebastian is in hell. Thio’s broody. Takes up their shared lab space with his projects . . . and biceps. Brings treats for Sebastian’s familiar . . .
. . . and is nothing like Sebastian thought.
When Sebastian’s past with the Touraels forces him to choose his research or Thio, the decision should be simple. But while working with his rival is volatile . . . falling for his rival might blow up Sebastian’s future.
I surprised everybody by LOVING Raasch’s Nightmare Before Kissmass AND its sequel, and I’m hoping I’ll have as much fun with Entanglement!
September
A Blood as Bright as the Moon by Andrea Morstabilini
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: Gay MC
Published on: 2nd September 2025
Goodreads
A vampire, desperately torn between worlds, is hunted down by a secret society bent on his destruction, in this elegiac and unsettling queer gothic horror, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Frankenstein, Germany. Ambrose, a young vampire, lives a life secreted away from the modern world with the rest of his clan, all of them under the spell of the charismatic Regina, who spins stories of salvation for their kind. Their grand plan? To build makeshift wings and fly to the moon where a safe haven awaits for all vampires.
But Ambrose harbours a he is not ready to abandon the earth, and he is in contact with a human who believes he can be saved. As the rest of his kind prepare to flee their home, Ambrose is torn between loyalties.
However something else is on the horizon – the Royal Diurnal Society – a group with sinister plans for vampires, are closing in, and if Ambrose isn’t careful, he could find himself right at the centre of a terrifying and mysterious experiment.
I think it’s safe to say we’re going to get a unique take on vampires with this one!
You can read an excerpt here!
Moonflow by Bitter Karella
Genres: Horror
Representation: Fat trans MC
Published on: 2nd September 2025
Goodreads
Moonflow is three-time Hugo Award nominee Bitter Karella’s debut horror novel-a gloriously queer and irreverent psychedelic trip into the heart of an eldritch wood and the horrors of sisterhood. Answer the call of the forest, if you dare.
I see something out there, in the woods. It does not have a face.
They call it the King’s Breakfast. One bite and you can understand the full scope of the universe; one bite and you can commune with forgotten gods beyond human comprehension. And it only grows deep in the Pamogo forest, where the trees crowd so tight that the forest floor is pitch black day and night, where rumors of strange cults and disappearing hikers abound.
Sarah makes her living growing mushrooms. When a bad harvest leaves her in a desperate fix, the lure of the King’s Breakfast has her journeying into those vast uncharted woods. Her only guide is the most annoying man in the world, and he’s convinced there’s no danger. But as they descend deeper, they realize they’re not alone. Something is luring them into the heart of the forest, and they must answer its call.
I massively approve of the trend that is fungal horror, and I think this is the first one I’ve seen that focuses on the psycotropic angle???
Angel Maker by Elizabeth Bear
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Sapphic MC, Indian long-term girlfriend, F/F
Published on: 2nd September 2025
Goodreads
Every cowboy story needs a horse no man can ride.
No man—but Miss Karen Memery is all woman. When she and her beloved Priya sign on to do stunts for a motion picture about a rogue Mechanical named Cowboy and a Wild West show, she finds the horse of her dreams: Angel Maker.
Her plans to rescue him from a deadly stunt are ambitious enough, but she’s soon beset by even greater threats when two men are murdered brutally. Cowboy and Priya are arrested for the crime, and Karen must prove them innocent—and save the life of the wild stallion too!
“The surprise sequel that Karen Memory fans needed! A novel of strong emotional bonds, chasing after mysteries, and adventures at the dawn of motion pictures. Ladies and gentlemachines, this book was worth the wait.”—John Wiswell, author of Someone You Can Build A Nest In
“Karen and her world are a delight!”—Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor
Who could forget the marvellous Karen Memery?! (Not a typo, her name and the series name are one letter different.) I’m so excited to get to revisit this heroine and her steampunky world!
The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: Sapphic Jewish MCs, F/F
Published on: 9th September 2025
Goodreads
A gorgeous, atmospheric debut fantasy that reimagines the Jewish myth of golem in a tale rooted in history, folklore, and sapphic romance—perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, Hannah Whitten, and Naomi Novik.
The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark.
As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the curse of the woods has plagued her village, but when the Ozmini Church comes to collect their tithes, they don’t listen to the warnings about a monster lurking in the trees. After a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes a bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest. If she brings him the monster, he will spare her mother from execution.
When she ventures into the blood-soaked woods, Malka finds a monster, though not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself, but only after Malka helps her free the imprisoned rabbi who created her.
But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unravel a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save—and face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear.
The romance is apparently a much smaller part of this one than the marketing suggests, if that matters to you!
You can read an excerpt here!
The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Horror
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 9th September 2025
Goodreads
From award-winning and USA Today bestselling author Kosoko Jackson comes his adult fantasy debut, a stand-alone novel blending of art history, time- and globe-hopping adventure, and dark horror and fantasy about ten cursed paintings and the lengths people will go to collect them, destroy them…or be destroyed.
A picture is worth a thousand nightmares.
A struggling painter, Lewis Dixon is shocked when the British Museum shows an unusual interest in his art. While he’s always felt there’s something powerful about what he puts on canvas, he also felt there was something disturbing just under the surface—especially as he was compelled to make a painting of a painting—one that he has a connection the object of his art is one of the ten paintings his great-grandfather created over a hundred years ago. Only Lewis’s version is surreal…and maybe just a touch horrific.
Still, he accepts the invitation, only to find not a curated show, but a to see if he not only has the magic necessary to enter the paintings, but also the strength to escape them. Because unbeknownst to Lewis, there is power in his art, just as the ten paintings carry with them both immense eldritch abilities and a terrible curse—making them, perhaps, the most valuable works of art in the world.
And Lewis has been asked to destroy them all.
With orders from a mysterious museum official, Evangeline, and partnered with an alluring agent in her employ, Noah Rao, Lewis must plunge into a world of black markets, gothic magic, ancient history, and unspeakable terror to save those unlucky enough to call any of the paintings their own, and to hopefully locate the tenth painting in the series, long missing, the powers of which are suspected to be most devastating of all…
Jackson is a new author to me, but I’ve been hearing intriguing things!
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White
Genres: Horror
Representation: Autistic trans MC
Published on: 9th September 2025
Goodreads
Alien meets Midsommar in this chilling debut adult novel from award-winning author Andrew Joseph White about identity, survival, and transformation amidst an alien invasion in rural West Virginia.
Festering masses of worms and flies have taken root in dark corners across Appalachia. In exchange for unwavering loyalty and fresh corpses, these hives offer a few struggling humans salvation. A fresh start. It’s an offer that none refuse.
Crane is grateful. Among his hive’s followers, Crane has found a chance to transition, to never speak again, to live a life that won’t destroy him. He even met Levi: a handsome ex-Marine and brutal killer who treats him like a real man, mostly. But when Levi gets Crane pregnant—and the hive demands the child’s birth, no matter the cost—Crane’s desperation to make it stop will drive the community that saved him into a devastating spiral that can only end in blood.
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is a deeply personal horror; a visceral statement about the lives of marginalized people in a hostile world, echoing the works of Stephen Graham Jones and Eric LaRocca.
Andrew Joseph White is another author who’s name is its own trigger warning! (And again, I say this as a compliment.) I believe this is his Adult debut, so expect even more nightmares than usual!
You can read an excerpt here!
Sunward by William Alexander
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 16th September 2025
Goodreads
A cozy debut science fiction novel by National Book Award–winning writer William Alexander, this story of found family follows a planetary courier training adolescent androids in a solar system grappling with interplanetary conflict after a devastating explosion on Earth’s moon.
Captain Tova Lir chose a life as a courier rather than get involved in her family’s illustrious business in politics. Set in humanity’s far future, hiring a planetary courier is essential for delivering private messages across the stars.
Encouraged by friends, Tova begins mentoring baby bots, juvenile AI who are developmentally in their teens, and trains them how to interact within society essentially becoming their foster mom. Her latest charge, Agatha Panza von Sparkles, named herself on their first run from Luna to Phoebe station. But on their return, they encounter a derelict spaceship and a lurking assassin, igniting a thrilling chase across the solar system.
Tova and Agatha’s daring actions leave Agatha’s mind vulnerable, relying on Tova’s former AI pupils for help. As Tova starts gathering her scattered family around her, she is chased through the solar system by forces who want her captured and her family erased.
This debut science fiction novel by National Book Award–winning author William Alexander is a must-read for fans of Becky Chambers and Ursula K. Le Guin. Lovers of poignant science fiction, where the bonds of found family, the evolution of AI, and the building distrust of centuries of bias, come together in this visionary look at humanity’s future.
I am simply delighted by every part of this premise, not least: baby Als!!!
A Ruin, Great and Free (Convergence Saga, #3) by Cadwell Turnbull
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: QBIPOC cast
Published on: 16th September 2026
Goodreads
From bestselling and award-winning author Cadwell Turnbull comes A Ruin, Great and Free, the stunning conclusion to the popular Convergence Saga.
It has been nearly two years since the anti-monster riots. The inhabitants of Moon have been very fortunate in the intervening months. Inside their hidden monster settlement, they’ve found peace, even as the world outside slips into increasing unrest. Monsters are being hunted everywhere, forced back into the shadows they once tried to escape from. Other secret settlements have offered a place to hide, but how long can this half-measure against fear and hatred last?
Over the course of three days, the inhabitants of Moon are tested. The Black Hand continues to search for them and the Cult of the Zsouvox wants to make Moon the last stand in their war against the Order of Asha. This is more than enough to reckon with, but the gods have also placed their sights on Moon—and they bring with them a conflict that may either save or unravel the universe itself.
The third and final book of the Convergence trilogy! Can’t recommend these books enough for readers who enjoy feeling dizzy! (Complimentary.)
The Enduring Universe (Rages #3) by Kritika H. Rao
Genres: Science Fantasy
Representation: Desi cast, bisexual MCs
Published on: 16th September 2025
Goodreads
The explosive and reality-shattering Rages trilogy, started by The Surviving Sky, concludes as Ahilya and Iravan fight one last time to save everything they’ve ever loved—the survivors of humanity, their families, their home and each other. A powerful, immersive and sweeping epic fantasy like no other.
“Rao is a phenomenal new voice and deserves a place alongside authors like Arkady Martine, N.K. Jemisin, and Adrian Tchaikovsky. I can’t wait to see how she wraps up this epic series!” —S.B. Divya on The Unrelenting Earth
The worst has happened. The Conclave has crashed into the jungle, and humanity builds one last city, clinging to survival in the ruins.
Forced into a deadly alliance with the Virohi, Ahilya alone can communicate with the cosmic creatures – but she is growing weaker with every encounter. Equally revered and feared by her council, Ahilya desperately tries to balance the needs of her people with the untameable desires of the trapped Virohi.
Iravan does not believe reconciliation is possible. All he sees is a crumbling bastion being eaten from the inside out. Answering to no law, he would destroy the Virohi before they can destroy humanity.
As Ahilya and Iravan wage war, the planet itself rebels, unleashing new rages of untold power. Caught between a wounded planet and the cosmic creatures, all screaming to exist, the last survivors of the human race confront the approaching maelstrom.
At the last, Ahilya and Iravan must face up to their mistakes to forge peace between themselves – to save each other and humanity.
One of the most wildly original series of the decade wraps up with Enduring Universe!
My review of book one, The Surviving Sky!
The Unfathomable Curse (The Undetectables, #3) by Courtney Smyth
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Sapphic MC with fibromyalgia, brown sapphic MC, bisexual MC, major gay character
Published on: 23rd September 2025
Goodreads
A witty, witchy fantasy murder mystery packed with ancient magic and fiendish puzzles. When Cornelia’s twin sisters are taken by the Wickermere Reaper, Mallory, Diana and Theodore must race against time to uncover the buried secrets of the Broadwicks before it’s too late. Perfect for fans of supernatural mysteries and cosy crime by authors such as Ben Aaranovitch, Josiah Bancroft and Tammie Painter.
The summer after the events of The Undead Complex, the unthinkable finally happens – Cornelia’s money is running out. Estranged from her family, furious at her parents following recent revelations, the Broadwick heir finds herself living on her own resources for the first time.
Meanwhile two crimes are rocking the Apparent community. The Wrackton Digger is stealing bodies from the cemetery, and a new serial killer – the Wickermere Reaper – has emerged. But when the Reaper snatches their next victims – Cornelia’s twin sisters – she must return to her family’s home, and seat of the Ghoul Council, to conduct the search.
With their resources split, and a ticking clock on the race to save the twins, The Undetectables must do what they do best – solve the strangest, most well-hidden magical mysteries to save the people they love.
I loved the first book in this series – not least for the very rare fibromyalgia rep! – and need to catch up! I don’t think this is a trilogy, so as far as I know this won’t be the final book.
My review of book one, The Undetectables!
Pantomime by L.R. Lam
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Intersex MC
Published on: 25th September 2025
Goodreads
“Pantomime is a fantastical, richly drawn, poignant take on a classic coming-of-age story . . . a vibrant tale told with surety and grace” — Leigh Bardugo
From the USA Today-bestselling author of Dragonfall comes a fantasy trilogy about a circus aerialist’s quest to escape his past and decipher the magical prophecy that will shape his future
In a land of lost wonders, the past is stirring once more . . .
Micah runs away from a debutante’s life at home and joins the circus, harboring two secrets–one: he was born between male and female, and two: he may have powers last seen in mysterious beings from an almost-forgotten age.
Micah discovers the joy of flight as an aerialist, courting his trapeze partner, Aenea, and confiding in the mysterious white clown, Drystan. He finally feels free. But the circus has a dark side, and Micah’s past isn’t done with him.
Meanwhile, the strange ‘ghost’ of a woman with damselfly wings whispers to Micah that only he can help magic return to the realm, and he fears she may be right…
Micah has much to learn, and he must do it quickly—before his past and future collide, with catastrophic consequences.
Pantomime is a gorgeous and inventive fantasy with queer elements, inspired by Victorian Scotland. L.R. Lam weaves a coming-of-age tale, stirrings of first love, and prophetic whispers into this unforgettable first installment of the Micah Grey series.
Pantomime was originally published in 2013 for a YA audience; this edition has been heavily edited/rewritten, and is now an Adult novel!
The Sovereign (Magic of the Lost, 3) by C.L. Clark
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Representation: Sapphic North African-coded MC, disabled sapphic MC
Published on: 30th September 2025
Goodreads
Luca is the new queen of Balladaire. Her empire is already splintering in her hands. Her uncle wasn’t the only traitor in the court, and the Withering will decimate her people if she can’t unearth Balladaire’s magic. The only person who can help her wants the only thing Luca won’t give—the end of the monarchy.
Touraine is Luca’s general. She has everything she ever wanted. While Luca looks within Balladaire’s borders, Touraine looks outward—the alliance with Qazal is brittle and Balladaire’s neighbors are ready to pounce on its new weakness. When the army comes, led by none other than Touraine’s old lover, Touraine must face the truth about herself—and the empire she once called home.
A storm is coming. Touraine and Luca will stand against it together, or it will tear them apart once and for all.
Another massively impressive trilogy concluding this month! I doubt any of us are ready.
Fate’s Bane by C.L. Clark
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: F/F
Published on: 30th September 2025
Goodreads
Ignyte Award-winning author C. L. Clark brings fantasy to the fens with Fate’s Bane, a tragic sapphic adventure.
Warring clans. Burning hearts. Deadly fate.
The clans of the fens enjoy a tenuous peace, and it is all thanks to Agnir, ward and hostage. For as long as she can remember she has lived among the enemy, learning their ways, growing strong alongside their children. When a burgeoning love for the chieftain’s daughter lures them both to a hidden spring, a magic awakens in them that could bind the clans under one banner at last–or destroy any hope of peace. By working their intentions into leather, they can weave misfortune for their enemies… just like the Fate’s Bane that haunts the legends of the clans.
Ambitions grow in their fathers’ hearts, grudges threaten a return to violence, and greedy enemies wait outside the borders, seeking a foothold to claim the fens for themselves. And though their Makings may save their families, the legend that gave them this power always exacts its price.
And on the same day, an entirely seperate novella from the same author! CL Clark fans, rejoice!
What Stalks the Deep (Sword Soldier #3) by T. Kingfisher
Genres: Horror
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Published on: September 30th, 2025
Goodreads
The next novella in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in America
Alex Easton does not want to visit America.
They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.
But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin―who went missing in that very mine―well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do…
Despite being a passionate Kingfisher fan, I’ve actually not read any of her horror books yet! Gotta get started on this series, at least, before book three comes out!
Nine-Tenths by J.M. Frey
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: M/M, MC with clinical anxiety
Published on: 30th September 2025
Goodreads
Colin Levesque is at loose ends. He’s finished university, but has no career; he adores romance novels, but he’s crap at relationships; and his prickliness is a detriment at the cafe where he’s making ends meet. He also has a crush on his regular Dav, a homo draconis who comes in every morning to read his newspaper, sip his double-strong coffee, and stare longingly at Colin in return.
So it figures that the day Colin gets up the courage to do something about the sexual tension simmering between them, he also learns that Dav has an embarrassing habit of hiccupping fire when he’s nervous. Which, in this case, causes a kitchen fire and destroys the fancy custom-made bean roaster. When Dav volunteers to take over the coffee roasting with his fire-breath, being squished together in the hot, cramped kitchen leads to even hotter kisses.
Everything’s finally happening for Colin—until people start claiming the dragon-roasted coffee has cured their genetic ailments. As their budding relationship struggles under the scrutiny of scientists and media, the hype around the coffee leads the lovers to be inducted into a centuries-old conspiracy: dragon-roasted food has always healed humans. And the most powerful draconic nobles have been withholding this symbiotic advantage to keep themselves on top. Colin and Dav are determined to expose the truth, but if they’re not careful, their objections could goad power-mad monarchs into destroying everything they hold dear.
Including each other.
JM Frey consistently writes twisty, clever books that Do Not Care about genre conventions or doing the expected. Just going from the blurb here, Nine-Tenths is – let’s see – is a Coffee Shop (not-)AU, in a contemporary fantasy setting, with (shapeshifter) dragons, and a (queer) romance, but has a magical mystery which is also a capitalist conspiracy, the resolution of which is probably going to be world-changing within its setting. HYPED!
(This was released on the Big River site at the end of June, but the paperback and other-retailer-ebook editions go live on September 30th.)
You can read the first five chapters here!
October
Shy Trans Banshee: The supernatural mystery that’s an absolute scream by Tony Santorella
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Gay MC, major nonbinary character
Published on: 2nd October 2025
Goodreads
The much-anticipated follow-up to word-of-mouth bestseller Bored Gay Werewolf
________________
Brian, Nik and Darby – three friends practiced in fighting supernatural crime (when Brian’s not committing it as a werewolf once a month) – have been sent to London to try to track down a missing colleague.
Prowling around the city, they stumble across a clairvoyancy smuggling ring. Who’s kidnapping all the fortune tellers in Soho and why? And is it coincidence, fate or something more sinister that Maeve, a timid trans woman taking time out of her job to track down her birth mother, turns up on the gang’s doorstep… and has the uncanny ability to know just what’s going to happen next?
I enjoyed the first book, Bored Gay Werewolf, so much, and was hoping so hard for a sequel! Though I think it’s a UK-only release for now.
Queen Demon (The Rising World, #2) by Martha Wells
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Representation: Queer MC, secondary F/F
Published on: 7th October 2025
Goodreads
From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes the remarkable sequel to the USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling novel, Witch King. A fantasy of epic scope, Queen Demon is a story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.
Dahin believes he has clues to the location of the Hierarchs’ Well, and the Witch King Kai, along with his companions Ziede and Tahren, knowing there’s something he isn’t telling them, travel with him to the rebuilt university of Ancartre, which may be dangerously close to finding the Well itself.
Can Kai stop the rise of a new Hierarch?
And can he trust his companions to do what’s right?
Follow Kai to the end of the world in this thrilling sequel to the USA Today-bestselling Witch King.
Witch King became an instant new fave of mine, so of course I’m thrilled we’re getting back to these characters and their world!
A Mouthful of Dust (The Singing Hills Cycle, #6) by Nghi Vo
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Nonbinary Chinese-coded MC, Chinese-inspired setting
Published on: 7th October 2025
Goodreads
Hunger makes monsters in this dark new tale in Nghi Vo’s Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle.
Wandering Cleric Chih of Singing Hills and their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant come to the river town of Baolin chasing stories of a legendary famine. Amid tales of dishes served to royalty and desserts made of dust, they discover the secrets of what happens when hunger stalks the land and what the powerful will do to hide their crimes.
Trapped in the mansion of a sinister magistrate, Chih and Almost Brilliant must learn what happened in Baolin when the famine came to call, and they must do so quickly… because the things in the shadows are only growing hungrier.
The Singing Hills Cycle has been shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award, and the Ignyte Award, and has won the Crawford Award and the Hugo Award.
The novellas are standalone stories linked by the Cleric Chih, and may be read in any order.
If you are not reading and loving everything of Nghi Vo’s then you are doing Life wrong, my friends, it’s as simple as that!
Cinder House by Freya Marske
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Bisexual MC
Published on: 7th October 2025
Goodreads
Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling from bestselling author Freya Marske—a queer Gothic romance perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and T. Kingfisher.
Ella is a haunting.
Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father’s house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.
Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.
Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.
You think you know Ella’s the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.
You’re halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.
Rediscover a classic fairy tale in this debut novella from “the queen of romantic fantasy” (Polygon).
Cinderella is not a fairytale I have strong feelings about, but a retelling from Marske, of all people??? All right, you have my attention! (I’ve also seen some people saying it’s horror-y???)
Herculine by Grace Byron
Genres: Horror
Representation: Trans cast
Published on: 7th October 2025
Goodreads
Manhunt meets Lord of the Flies in this blistering horror debut following a young trans woman after she arrives at the all-trans girl commune founded by her toxic ex-girlfriend, only to discover that demons, both literal and figurative, haunt her fellow comrades—and she’s their next prey!
Herculine’s narrator has demons. Sure, her life includes several hallmarks of the typical trans girl sob story—conversion therapy, a string of shitty low-paying jobs, and even shittier exes—but she also regularly debates sleep paralysis demons that turn to mist soon after she wakes and carries vials of holy oil in her purse. Nothing, though, prepares her for the new malevolent force stalking her through the streets of New York City, more powerful than any she’s ever encountered. Desperate to escape this ancient evil, she flees to rural Indiana, where her ex-girlfriend started an all-trans girl commune in the middle of the woods.
The secluded camp, named after 19th-century intersex memoirist Herculine Barbin, is a scrappy operation, but the shared sense of community among the girls is a welcome balm to the narrator’s growing isolation and paranoia. Still, something isn’t quite right at Herculine. Girls stop talking as soon as she enters the room, everyone seems to share a common secret, and the books lining the walls of the library harbor strange cryptograms. Soon what once looked like an escape becomes a trap all its own.
While trying to untangle the commune’s many mysteries, the narrator contends with disemboweled pigs, cultlike psychosexual rituals, and the horrors of communal breakfast. And before long, she discovers that her demons have followed her. And this time, they won’t be letting her go.
A commune for trans women going supernaturally wrong? Sign me UP! (…For the book, not a spot in the commune!!!)
Codex Regenesis: Five Fables of Magick Misused by Hannah Batsel
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 7th October 2025
Goodreads
Unlock the secrets of a mystical tome through gorgeous illustrations, clever paper mechanics, and a mysterious story. This interactive book will keep you and your friends immersed for hours!
You have been cast as an expert on occult texts and tasked with solving a literary mystery. An antiquarian bookseller recently vanished under strange circumstances, leaving only a copy of Codex Regenesis behind. This intriguing volume contains five fables from across time and geography, each of which holds a clue. You’ll need all five clues to solve the final riddle, unlock a secret compartment, and discover the full story of the book’s mysterious powers.
Author, artist, and paper engineer Hannah Batsel has concocted a delight for bibliophiles packed with striking linocut illustrations and clever interactive mechanics. Codex Regenesis blends elements of myths, fairy tales, and legends within a deeply moving story about seeing things as they really are and living true to yourself. After the mystery is solved, the book remains a beautiful art object to be treasured and shared for years to come. This fantastically original work is for anyone who loves browsing in antiquarian bookshops on the off chance they might find a book of actual magic. . . .
INTERACTIVE MYSTERY BOOK: With five fiendish puzzles to solve, using clues from the narrative, the illustrations, and the paper mechanics, Codex Regenesis captures the excitement of an escape room in the form of a book. It’s perfect for cozy solo puzzling or as an analog group activity for friends and families.
MUST-HAVE FOR MODERN MYSTICS: Batsel blends deep historical research and timely themes with a generous sprinkling of magical and occult aesthetics. This book is a must-have for tarot fans, antique book collectors, and fans of all things witchy and arcane.
RISING STAR CREATOR: Hannah Batsel has earned a devoted following on TikTok, where she shares her historically inspired prints, intricate paper designs, and other distinctive creations. Her handmade artist books and children’s books are beloved for their clever construction, mesmerizing artwork, and meaningful stories.
ENGAGING STORY: Codex Regenesis turns the classic cautionary tale about eternal youth on its head, questioning who deserves to relieve their youth (with a particular nod to the queer experience). The story delivers memorable characters and vivid settings that span history and geography, offering a fully immersive reading experience.
Perfect for:
Fans of logic puzzles, brain teasers, crosswords, or seek-and-find books
Anyone who enjoys Murder Most Puzzling or Murdle books
Escape room players
Readers of dark, magical, witchy stories
LGBTQ+ readers
Art book and vintage book collectors
Fans of Hannah Batsel’s books and online content
Halloween and holiday gift shoppers
This sounds exquisitely strange, and I’m kind of obsessed.
You can see a sample of the interior here or a slightly different sample at the Amazon listing.
Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer
Genres: Horror
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 7th October 2025
Goodreads
A queer woman must fight her way out of a big-box craft store run by a diabolical religious cult in this gripping survival horror novel by Jenny Kiefer, author of This Wretched Valley
The ratcheting tension and gut-churning terror will appeal to fans of The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay and The Ritual by Adam Nevill
Ruth is trapped. She’s stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job as a cashier at New Creations—a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in the town.
In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed by a New Creations cashier. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store—and attack her. When Ruth is forced to stab out one of their eyes with a knitting needle, she realizes she’s facing far bigger trouble than a simple shoplifting charge. As Ruth fights for her life, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her, but the entire town.
This relentless horror novel will have you on the edge of your seat as it hurtles towards a breathtaking conclusion. Will Ruth escape? Or will the shocking secret at the heart of the cult die with her?
I love the tongue-in-cheek fun of this being set in a craft store, of all places!
The Salvage by Anbara Salam
Genres: Horror
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: October 7th, 2025
Goodreads
‘The Salvage is a novel to keep you up all night. Anbara Salam is a master of suspense’ Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder
‘A rich, gothic mystery, The Salvage has a moody, salt-drenched atmosphere, and layers of intrigue that span centuries. I couldn’t put it down’ Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of A Double Life
It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trail-blazing marine archaeologist, has travelled to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. An Arctic shipwreck containing the remains of a famous Victorian explorer has been towed back to the island at the behest of his wealthy descendants. Marta’s job is to retrieve valuable artefacts from the vessel, deep beneath the freezing Scottish waters. But on her first dive, she becomes convinced she has seen a ghostly figure lurking in the wreckage.
When Marta discovers objects from the vessel have inexplicably disappeared, she must work to uncover their whereabouts before her boss – who is also her ex-husband – discovers their absence. As a series of unsettling and strange occurrences begins to unfold, Marta’s work trip turns into a long winter as the worst snowstorms of the century sweep in and trap the islanders, and their ghosts, in an icy wilderness.
I’ve not read anything by this author before, but this seems like a great place to start!
Blood, Sweat & Queers edited by Margaret Hall and Jamie Ryu
Genres: Fantasy, Horror
Representation: assorted queer MCs
Published on: October 7th, 2025
Goodreads
Blood, Sweat & Queers is an anthology dedicated to queer vampiric love stories coedited by Margaret Hall, a scholar of vampire literature, and Contrarian Publishing’s Jamie Ryu.
Vampires in literature have always been an allegory for socially divergent identity. The three foundational texts of English-language vampiric literature (The Vampyre, Carmilla, and Dracula) contain varyingly obvious depictions of homoeroticism, featuring texts written by authors many historians believe to have been somewhere on the queer spectrum. Under the auspices of their influence, the vampire has come to represent subversive carnal desire itself, be it the unrelenting, hungering want of Count Orlok in Nosferatu, or the desperate yearning of Anne Rice’s Lestat de Lioncourt.
The ache at the core of every vampire, which can only be momentarily sated by the total consumption of another’s essence, spits directly in the face of conservative conceptions of love and lust. There is nothing well-behaved or polite about a vampire’s appetites, and throughout history, vampire fiction has been used as an outlet for the underserved and the repressed to access the gnawing need within them to connect.
Got to have some vampires in spooky season! I don’t know all the authors being included in this collection, so fingers crossed I find some new favourites!
Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World by Mark Waddell
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Horror
Representation: Gay MC
Published on: October 7th, 2025
Goodreads
WARNING! Under no circumstances must employees strike a deal with unauthorized personnel on Dark Enterprises property. Such behavior may result in death…or the end of the world.
Colin is a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises, a Hell-like multinational corporation solving the world’s most difficult problems in deeply questionable ways. After years of toiling away in a cubicle, he’s ready to climb the corporate ladder and claim the power he’s never had.
The only problem is, he’s pretty sure he’s about to be terminated. Like, terminated. That’s tough, because his BFF has just set him up with a great guy. In fact, maybe he’s a little too great. And he asks a lot of questions . . .
When Colin meets a shadowy figure promising his deepest desire in return for a small, unspecified favor, he can’t resist the urge to fast-track his goals. He asks for the one thing that will improve his life: a promotion.
But that small favor unleashes an ancient evil. People in New York are disappearing, the world might be ending, and Management is starting to notice. Getting to the top is never easy, and now it’s up to Colin to save the world. It’s the ultimate power move, after all.
The early reviews for this one have been GLOWING, which doesn’t much surprise me because the blurb sounds hilarious!
Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Murbaum
Genres: Fantasy, Horror
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: October 14th, 2025
Goodreads
If you liked What We Do in the Shadows, you should buy this book. If you hated Twilight, you should also buy this book.
Immortal beloveds Rebekah and Hugh are on vacation! Against a backdrop of ongoing war, this pair of chic emotional vampires from San Francisco sets off on a queer Black Sea Cruise, eager to relax, join an orgy, and feast upon their fellow passengers’ desires and sorrows. When Hugh becomes enchanted by an alluring—and possibly magical—nonbinary social media influencer named Heaven, Rebekah’s reality capsizes, and her true nature is unleashed.
A smutty horror-comedy featuring unbridled narcissism, Vampires at Sea is a hilarious snack!
Judging by early reviews this is going to be a love-it-or-hate-it novella, but I’m willing to give it a try!
The Flowers I Deserve by Tamara Jerée
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Black queer MCs, F/F/F
Published on: 14th October 2025
Goodreads
Weeping luna is as common as wildflowers, and in the northern kingdoms, assassination by its floral poison is rampant. Those born with immunity are coveted by heretic clerical orders and the endangered aristocracy—and shunned by a superstitious society.
One so gifted, or cursed, Carlotta embraces her newfound power as the currency to deliver her from a land in the grip of drought. Luxury and beauty, glimpsed only through the portal of her late mother’s letters, become an easy trade to consider in exchange for her life. And looming always in her imagination is the symbol of it all—King Emelia, a demon who rose to power under mysterious circumstances. Rumor claims her to be a monstrous woman like the poison girls who serve and adore her. Yet in the warnings of evil, Carlotta sees her own reflection.
Once initiated into the world of sensual indulgence and ancient magic within the castle walls, however, Carlotta finds that not even a king’s devotion is enough to sate her. As the castle’s ghosts coalesce, Carlotta must also confront what her own dead want for her and, even at the heights of her seduction, what she truly wants for herself.
The Flowers I Deserve is a spicy FFF gothic fantasy novel with lyrical prose and a quiet heart. Content notes are available on the author’s website and inside the book.
I loved the author’s debut, and I am SO HYPED for a new book from them!!!
The Gilda Stories (Penguin Speculative Fiction Special) by Jewelle Gomez
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Black sapphic MC
Published on: 14th October 2025
Goodreads
Before Buffy, before Twilight, before Octavia Butler’s Fledgling, there was The Gilda Stories, now as a new Penguin Classics hardcover, a Penguin Speculative Fiction Special
A Penguin Classic Hardcover
First published in 1991, The Gilda Stories is a groundbreaking speculative fiction vampire novel that begins in 1850s Louisiana, where a young Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who “shares the blood” by two women there, Gilda spends the next two hundred years searching for a place to call home. Taking only blood as sustenance, killing as a last resort, Gilda moves through the centuries up to the dystopian future of 2050. Gomez’s classic, with a Black lesbian heroine, has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of Blackness, radical ecology, redefinitions of family, and the erotic potential of the vampire story.
The winner of two Lambda Literary Awards (fiction and science fiction)
A new edition of a queer classic!
You can read excerpts here, here, and here!
The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Horror
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 14th October 2025
Goodreads
He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.
One of BookPage‘s Most Anticipated SFF & Horror of Fall 2025
Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty.
In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he’ll take on any job, no matter how vile.
As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.
Guy doesn’t have a choice.
“I will follow this writer anywhere.” ―Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl
Currently reading an early copy of this and am head over heels enchanted. I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t end up on my best of year list!
My review! (It absolutely landed on the list!)
An Amateur Witch’s Guide to Murder by K. Valentin
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Gay Hispanic MC, M/M
Published on: 14th October 2025
Goodreads
A wannabe witch tries to break a curse on a clueless client in this laugh-out-loud debut for fans of queer fantasy like TJ Klune and Tamsyn Muir.
Mateo Borrero has ninety-nine problems, and all of them hinge on the fact that his terrifying and currently-missing bruja mother trapped a demon in his body when he was born. His mother forbade him from ever using magic, but now that she’s gone, magic’s his only marketable skill, and he’d really like an exorcism—which costs money he doesn’t have. What’s the harm in making a quick buck by calling himself an Occult Specialist and chanting a few half-remembered spells in his crappy Spanish?
Enter Topher, a naive nepo baby with a curse that keeps killing people around him. Most importantly, he’s rich, and too clueless to clock that Mateo–and his (absolutely-not-the-assistant) astral-projecting best friend Ophelia–have never actually had a client before. Lifting Topher’s bad luck curse should be simple, but as luck would have it, nothing is simple, and Topher–who Mateo sort of, kind of likes–might be at the center of a deadly magical conspiracy.
To make matters worse, the more magic Mateo does, the stronger the demon inside him grows and the more he wants to eat people. But would caving to the urges of an ancient evil really be that bad if it helps him get a payday?
Legends and Lattes meets A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer in this hilarious and charming contemporary fantasy readers won’t want to miss.
I predict this one’s going to be a fun time! I wonder whether it’s the start of a series?
Local Heavens by K M Fajardo
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Bisexual Filipino-American MC, M/M
Published on: 14th October 2025
Goodreads
A corporate hacker. An elusive billionaire. A society trying to survive the American Nightmare.
New York City, 2075. Filipino American Nick Carraway has just moved to the heart of the fractured New Americas, where he’s struck by the city’s contradictions—shining corporate towers casting bleak shadows over the slums of a crumbling middle class.
When Nick meets alluring, new-money Jay Gatsby, he falls for Gatsby’s frank charm and confident aura. But in a city where the wealthy flaunt tech-enhanced bodies to cheat death, surfaces aren’t all they seem—and as a corporate-sanctioned cyberspace hacker, Nick knows that no secret can stay buried forever. He’s the reason they don’t. And his latest assignment? Investigate Gatsby himself.
As Nick becomes entangled in the dark affairs of the elite—and the devastating fallout of their actions on the city’s most vulnerable—he must reckon with the limits of compassion and accountability across class and status. What takes Love or truth? Heart or soul?
A brilliant reimagining of Fitzgerald’s classic tale of glamour, desire, and desperation, Local Heavens examines the guardrails of morality . . . and the price of desire.
I don’t care about Great Gatsby at all, but I’m perfectly happy to read retellings on their own merits, and this sounds promising!
The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling
Genres: Horror
Representation: Queer chronically ill MC
Published on: October 14th, 2025
Goodreads
Misery meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers in this genre-bending, claustrophobic hospital gothic from the bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence.
Margaret lives with a rare autoimmune condition that has destroyed her life, leaving her isolated. It has no cure, but she’s making do as best she can―until she’s offered a fully paid-for spot in an experimental medical trial at Graceview Memorial.
The conditions are simple, if grueling: she will live at the hospital as a full-time patient, subjecting herself to the near-total destruction of her immune system and its subsequent regeneration. The trial will essentially kill most of, but not all of her. But as the treatment progresses and her body begins to fail, she stumbles upon something sinister living and spreading within the hospital.
Unsure of what’s real and what is just medication-induced delusion, Margaret struggles to find a way out as her body and mind succumb further to the darkness lurking throughout Graceview’s halls.
So far I’ve adored one Starling book and been a bit meh about another – here’s for take three!
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Brown biracial sapphic MC, brown immigrant sapphic MC, F/F
Published on: 21st October 2025
Goodreads
From World Fantasy Award-winning author Tasha Suri comes The Isle in the Silver Sea, a heart-shattering romantasy of sapphic longing, medieval folklore and a love that spans the centuries.
In a Britain fuelled by stories, the knight and the witch are fated to fall in love and doom each other over and over, the same tale retold over hundreds of lifetimes.
Simran is a witch of the woods. Vina is a knight of the Queen’s court. When the two women begin to fall for each other, how can they surrender to their desires, when to give in is to destroy each other?
As they seek a way to break the cycle, a mysterious assassin begins targeting tales like theirs. To survive, the two will need to write a story stronger than the one that fate has given to them.
But what tale is stronger than The Knight and the Witch?
It’s Tasha Suri, I will read anything she writes until the end of time! Certainly doesn’t hurt that this sounds absolutely wonderful. And since it’s a standalone, it could be a great book to start with if you haven’t read Tasha Suri before!
An Unlikely Coven (Green Witch Cycle, #1) by A.M. Kvita
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 28th October 2025
Goodreads
The outcast daughter of a powerful family of witches returns home to New York City and is immediately embroiled in a supernatural power struggle in this wickedly funny fantasy debut from AM Kvita.
After seven long years, Joan Greenwood is finally returning home.
Unfortunately, her family totally forgot about it.
The outcast daughter of a powerful witch family, Joan’s homecoming is lukewarm at best, but soon turns disastrous when news hits that someone has created a spell that can turn an ordinary human into a powerful witch, threatening the balance of the magical world and the Greenwood’s place at the top of it.
When her best friend confesses that he has secretly, accidentally, saved this human-turned-witch from an uncertain fate, Joan is thrust headfirst into a desperate race to undo the spell before it does permanent damage to its unwilling host.
Soon, Joan finds herself drawn deeper into the heart of the city’s magic, into an uncertain alliance with a (very attractive) family rival, and far beyond the limits of everything she thought her own magic capable of.
Welcome home, Joan.
Another one I’ve been obsessed with since I heard about it! I’ve never come across the idea of making non-magical humans magical before, and I love it.
Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: October 28th, 2025
Goodreads
In a broken system, do you save yourself or fight for the people you love?
With the godspower waning, the queen of Ashvi has had to find another way to bolster her fight against her imperialist oppressors. The solution: wrenching children of other cultures from their homes and conscripting them into service.
Hammer was one of those children. Now, she’s a jaded soldier waging Ashvi’s perpetual war, thinking only of her own survival. But when she accidentally rescues Viridian, a child with rare and potentially devastating powers, her priorities shift. The girl appears to be the answer to the queen’s prayers—the perfect weapon to restore her kingdom’s ancient borders, even if the colonized cities they reconquer don’t want her version of liberation. Can Hammer protect Viridian from the system that broke her . . . before the girl’s power is unleashed on the world?
Cry, Voidbringer is a gripping saga of how far one will go for freedom and control—and how easily it can all be taken away.
I have a soft spot for badasses suddenly responsible for kids, okay, what do you want from me???
Oblivion’s Hymn (Divine Songs #1) by A.J. Peterson
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: F/F
Published on: October 28th, 2025
Goodreads
In a world where magic is ruled by bargains, how much would you pay for the thing you want most?
Echo’s shapeshifting has been a curse all her life. The secret police hunt her for her magical blood, and the rest of the world believes she’s a monster. To prove them wrong and escape capture, Echo bargained with a god to become a famous bard. But when she didn’t uphold her end of the deal, he took her singing voice away. Now the police are closing in, and her childhood friend, Rhienne, is the only one loyal and reckless enough to help get her voice back.
But Rhienne’s lust for power has her in trouble of her own. Her mother is dead, her scheme to steal magic from the head of the secret police failed, and time is running out before the gods come to collect her soul. If she can’t resurrect her mother—who has a history of finding contract loopholes—Rhienne belongs to the God of the Void forever. Using Echo’s innate talents might be Rhienne’s last chance at freedom.
Echo and Rhienne will search continents and dimensions for power strong enough to thwart their enemies and undo their mistakes. But the gods have their own plans to maintain balance. One way or another, they always get what they’re owed.
I’ve been promised travelling across the cosmos, Treasure Planet-esque airships, and shapeshifting outside the gender binary! Plus, always here for characters in their 30s!
November
The Nameless Land (The Witch Roads #2) by Kate Elliott
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Representation: Bisexual MC, major trans character
Published on: 4th November 2025
Goodreads
Surprising betrayals, surprising alliances, and surprising discoveries of heritage abound in this energetic sequel to The Witch Roads.
When the royal party finds themselves in a land they never believed they could access, it will take all of Prince Gevulin’s (admittedly impressive) diplomatic skills to forge a coalition with an unlikely group of would-be allies.
Meanwhile, as Erin mourns her lost love, an unwelcome visit to the land of her birth brings back the traumatic memories of the childhood she shared with her sister.
And a surprise visit from an unwelcome family member threatens to derail the plans of multiple opposing factions.
Loyalty cannot be demanded, only won
The first book in this duology grabbed me so hard that waiting for Nameless Land has been painful!
My review of book one, Witch Roads!
Grace & Favour by Wendy Palmer
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: Black gay MC, M/M
Published on: 16th November 2025
Leo Sweetwater holds a coveted licence for daguerreotype at Hampton Court Palace, surrounded by genteelly impoverished grace-and-favour residents and crowds of eager day-trippers.
He also holds three closely-guarded secrets: his affections lie with men, he’s in love with his best friend, Cole, and he’s been haunted since childhood by the ghosts of the Palace.
An affair with an earl’s son is probably not the best idea for a man with a reputation to protect and so many things to hide, but Leo’s lonely and Harry’s very handsome. When the ill-advised fling has unexpected repercussions, secrets are threatened, shades of the past stir, and Leo must contend with malign forces, both from beyond the veil and among the living.
Luckily, he’s got Cole, his dog, and a friendly ghost on his side.
It’s WENDY PALMER, I will read anything and everything she writes!
Slow Gods by Claire North
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary love interest, major nonbinary characters
Published on: 18th November 2025
Goodreads
“An astonishing, thought-provoking and above all touching story of found meaning and lost humanity.” —Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time
Slow Gods is the galaxy-spanning tale of one man’s impossible life charted against the fate of humanity amongst the stars—a powerfully imaginative space opera from multi-award-winning author Claire North, perfect for fans of A Memory Called Empire and The Vanished Birds.
My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself.
In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind.
Here is one truth: out there in deep space, in the pilot’s chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me.
This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I’ve lived since I died for the first time.
Are you listening?
Absolutely BREATHTAKING. Claire North has outdone herself – and if you know her fiction, you have some idea of what that would take!
I’ll Make a Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker
Genres: Horror
Representation: Black queer MC
Published on: 18th November 2025
Goodreads
This heart-pounding horror debut from Beatrice Winifred Iker, takes readers to Bricksbury University, the oldest and most storied HBCUs in the nation. But as one student is about to find out, a long history comes with a legacy of secrets.
Zora Robinson is an ambitious grad student at her dream program, the Appalachian Studies at Bricksbury university. When her thesis advisor suggests she research the local folklore about a beast roaming the woods surrounding campus, Zora finds a local population uneager to talk to an outsider.
As she delves into the history of the beast, she uncovers a rumored secret society called the Keepers that has tenuous ties to the beast…and Bricksbury itself. Zora soon finds herself plagued by visions, and her grip on reality starts to slip as she struggles to uncover what is real and what is folklore. But when a student goes missing, Zora starts to wonder if the Keepers ever really disbanded.
There’s something in the woods and it has its eyes on Zora.
I know Dark Academia is a thing; is Fucked-Up Academia a thing??? That’s the vibe I’m getting here and I approve immensely!
As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: F/F
Published on: 25th November 2025
Goodreads
For fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, an inventive and romantic speculative novel about two women—a witch and an immortal demon—who make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat-and-mouse chase across multiple lifetimes.
1592. Cybil Harding is a First Daughter. Cursed to bring disaster to those around her, she is trapped in a house with a mother paralyzed by grief and a father willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of magic.
Miriam Richter is a creature of shadow. Forged by the dark arts many years ago, she is doomed to exist for eternity and destined to be alone—killing mortals and consuming their souls for sustenance. Everything changes when she meets Cybil, whose soul shines with a light so bright, she must claim it for herself. She offers a bargain: she will grant Cybil reincarnation in exchange for her soul.
Thus begins a dance across centuries as Miriam seeks Cybil in every lifetime to claim her prize. Cybil isn’t inclined to play by the rules, but when it becomes clear that Miriam holds the key to breaking her family curse, Cybil finds that—for the first time in her many lives—she might have the upper hand. As they circle each other, drawn together inescapably as light and dark, the bond forged between them grows stronger. In their battle for dominance, only one of them can win—but perhaps they can’t survive without each other.
Natasha Siegel has written an unexpected love story that feels both epic and deeply personal. Ambitious, gothic, and magical, As Many Souls as Stars is about the lengths we go to protect ourselves, our legacy, and those we love.
Getting some Addie LaRue vibes from this one, but the premise of As Many Souls As Stars interests me more!
The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: M/M
Published on: 27th November 2025
Goodreads
Madeline Miller meets Angela Carter in this spellbinding queer retelling of the 12th-century tale of Bisclavret the werewolf—unmissable for fans of Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Swordcrossed by Freya Marske, and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden.
A noble knight hiding the beast inside. A lonely king isolated by his courtiers. Between them an impossible gulf surmountable only by the twists and turns of relentless destiny in this spellbinding retelling of Marie de France’s classic 12th-century tale of romance and adventure.
The wolf-sickness strikes always without warning, stealing Bisclavret’s body and confusing his mind. Since boyhood he hasn’t dared leave his isolated holdings—not to beg the return of his father’s lost estate, not to seek brotherhood among the court, not even to win the knighthood he yearns for. But when a new king ascends, Bisclavret must deliver his kiss of fealty or answer for the failure.
Half an exile himself, the young king is intrigued by this uneasy, rough-hewn nobleman. Bisclavret seems a perfect knight: bold, strong, and merciful. But he keeps his secrets close, and the king’s longings are not for counsel alone. As his fascination grows, the barriers between them multiply, until the king battles desperation and grief. Then Bisclavret vanishes beyond reach, just as the greatest threats to the kingdom converge. Only duty to his people stands between the king and ruin—duty, and the steady loyalty of the strangest wolf . . .
The US release of this was pushed back to next year, but if you can’t wait that long the UK is getting it a few months earlier! I am extremely excited for this one, because the author is a historian who has poured a lot of their research into this book!
The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver by Rafael Torrubia
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 27th November 2025
Goodreads
MEET YOUR NEW EPIC FANTASY OBSESSION
No one remembers the calamity that killed the gods and stole the names of their people. Now Shipwright and Shroudweaver are known only by their professions.
She’s a master of magical shipbuilding. He’s a maker of the gilded gods that fuel their sails, stitched from the souls of dead sailors.
When a chance to save their world sets the horizon alight, they decide they’ll stop at nothing to vanquish the ultimate evil, embarking on a deadly race against time to beat the grief-wracked sorceress Crow-kisser to the notorious mountain kingdom in the legend-infested north before she unleashes the ancient evil entombed at its heart – the one that could destroy them all.
The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver introduces the most exciting new voice in Scottish fantasy with an epic adventure set in a post-apocalyptic landscape of god-fuelled ships, goth-as-hell villains, shadow-warping assassins, effortless queerness, and well-worn love – unmissable for fans of by Jay Kristoff, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
I’m beginning to fear we won’t get this in 2025, but at the time I’m writing this it’s still scheduled for this year! Easily one of my most anticipated books!!!
December
This Brutal Moon (The Kindom Trilogy #3) by Bethany Jacobs
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 2nd December 2025
Goodreads
Bethany Jacobs returns with the thrilling conclusion to The Kindom Trilogy that began with the Philip K. Dick Award–winning These Burning Stars, the debut epic space opera trilogy about revenge, power, and the price of legacy.
Violence has erupted across the Treble. The colony that Jun Ironway and Masar Hawks have fought to protect is now woefully compromised, and its people, unwilling to submit to tyranny once more, face a brutal fight for their lives and freedom.
In the midst of upheaval and rebellion, new enemies arise at every corner, including a familiar player who won’t let power slip through his fingers again. Not when he has every Kindom Hand under his heel. And whether he will be as bloody-minded as his predecessors remains to be seen.
As the quiet ones launch their attack and all hope seems lost, Cleric Chono looks to unlikely allies to fight a final battle for peace. But one crucial question remains: where is Six?
I’ve heard nothing but praise for this trilogy and can’t believe I haven’t read it yet. Hopefully by the time This Brutal Moon releases, I’ll have caught up and can dive into it on pub day!
I’d love to hear if you’ll be reading any of these, and let me know of any books I missed!
I haven’t done a great job keeping up with upcoming books, so I didn’t know about a lot of these! I have to have that one about vampires trying to go to the moon. I didn’t know Pantomime was rewritten into an adult novel, maybe I’ll finally get to it, I’ve been wanting to for years 😅 Also have been wanting to try The Undetectables, those books sound so fun. And a bunch more being added to my list!
No worries, that’s what I’m here for! :D Love it when my obsessive keeping-track helps people find stuff they want to try!
I actually just finished the vampires-to-the-moon book yesterday and it was really disappointing, so maybe grab it from the library rather than preordering? But I’m hyped for a rewritten Pantomime too, I’m really curious what that’ll look like.
HEE!
Oh no! Thanks for the heads up. I get most of my books from the library, they have good selection, so hopefully they’ll get this one since I do still wanna try it.
My review of it will be up tomorrow, but I’ll cross my fingers that your library gets a copy!
I just finished “Mas Sisters of Esi” because of you and it was a great experience, so thanks for the suggestion. I have one question though: Why did you declare F/F? Did you mean it in a platonic sense and not a romantic sense? I just want to make sure I didn’t miss some romantic F/F representation.
I’m so delighted you enjoyed it! It’s one of my faves :D Mad Sisters is F/F because Myung and Blajine are girlfriends/romantic partners by the end.