This month on BookTrib, we are celebrating women’s fiction titles that showcase LGBTQIA+ characters.
The Mother Gene by Lynne Bryant
(Atmosphere Press, March 2023)
Dr. Miriam Stewart works tirelessly to help Appalachian women gain control over their bodies — to make a deliberate decision whether to be a mother. Bone-weary, but with a nagging fear of the obsolescence of retirement, Miriam is sandwiched between two frustratingly independent women; neither will listen to her advice. Her aging mother, Lillian, a locally beloved, retired mountain midwife, refuses to leave her farmhouse nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Olivia, her thirty-year-old lesbian daughter, searches for the perfect sperm donor for the baby she’s determined to have.
When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity promises her work legacy will continue, Miriam’s passion is renewed. But her carefully ordered world explodes when the fulfillment of her dream collides with her mother’s long-kept secrets. Secrets that undermine the very foundation of Miriam’s beliefs about who she is, her career, and especially, what it means to mother. Miriam is faced with an impossible choice.
Swearing Off Stars by Danielle M. Wong
(She Writes Press, October 2017)
Amelia Cole―Lia for short―is one of the first women studying abroad at Oxford University in the 1920s. Finally free from her overbearing Brooklyn parents, she finds a welcome sense of independence in British college life. Lia quickly falls for Scarlett Daniels, an aspiring actress and hardheaded protester. Scarlett introduces her to an exciting gender-equality movement with high stakes. But when their secret love clashes with political uprising, their relationship is one of the casualties.
Years later, Lia’s only memories of Scarlett are obscured by the glossy billboards she sees advertising the actress’s new films. But when a mysterious letter surfaces, she is immediately thrown back into their unsettled romance. Lia’s travels span oceans and continents in her search for Scarlett. Spread across time and place, their story is one of desire, adventure, and ultimately, devotion. Lia will stop at nothing to win Scarlett back, but she soon realizes that uncovering lost love might not be attainable after all.
At What Cost, Silence? by Karen Lynne Klink
(She Writes Press, October 2023)
A young man grapples with questions of integrity and masculinity as he and his unconventional sister and enslaved brother struggle for respect and a future among dark secrets and unbridled passions of two plantation dynasties.
“At What Cost, Silence? Is a family saga that transforms the way we see the past, turning over little-known stones of history by focusing on the antebellum world of East Texas. This is both an epic novel spanning decades of history, culture, and politics and an intimate, passionate tale of love and morality, rooted deeply in the contradictions and complexities of its many characters. Klink has captured it all with great care, compassion and understanding.” —MOLLY GLOSS, author of The Hearts of Horses
The Recipient by Shail Rajan
(Indie published, May 2022)
It’s taken Kacie Nolan more than five years to piece her life back together after a tragic accident. Now, as the mayor of Sycamore Ridge and the owner of her own business, Kacie is content with the life she’s created for herself. Until the mysterious arrival of a new resident throws her future into turmoil.
Jett Vanders is desperate to escape the limelight. The pressures of an international concert tour and the looming threat from a celebrity stalker are taking a toll on his already fragile health. His secretive arrival in Sycamore Ridge leads to an unexpected encounter with Kacie and sets them on a path from which neither can turn back.
When Jett’s obsessed stalker sets her daring plan into motion, she puts both his and Kacie’s lives in danger and exposes a shocking revelation, forcing Kacie to decide whether she’s willing to let go of the past and risk everything for the future.
Best Years of Your Life by Jen Craven
(Indie published, August 2022)
Married college professors Christine and Joss thought they had it all: jobs they love, a beloved daughter, and most of all, each other—that is, until Joss’s research pulls her further and further away. Lonely and seeking the emotional connection she once shared with her wife, Christine forms a friendship with a student that quickly walks the line of right and wrong.
Eighteen-year-old Abbie is an outcast desperate to fit in. When the most popular girl on campus suddenly befriends her, Abbie can’t believe her luck. But the friendship comes with strings attached—stealing exams from her mom’s computer for the in-crowd.
Soon, both mom and daughter are in deep—and everything’s on the line. When their secret lives collide, their indiscretions culminate in a catastrophe no one saw coming.
With an eye for suspense perfectly blended with the tender mystery of human connection, Best Years of Your Life explores the consequences of bad decisions and the tension between desire and dignity.
Pride Not Prejudice, an Anthology by Kristan Higgans
(Oliver Heber Books, June 2023)
Featured in a charity collection of never-before-published stories showcasing love across the gender and sexual identity spectrums, Kristan Higgans’ funny, sweet story To Be Fair, They Were Pleather is about a young woman at a Christmas party, a wardrobe malfunction, a visit to the ER, and admitting that your love interest just isn’t treating you that well. It’s about what you have versus what you deserve, how you’ve learned to be comfortable in your own skin, and how you take that moment and decide yes, you’re worth it.
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