I’m scared I will get someone upset, but Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea, the novel that won my last audiobook battle. I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought in audio, so I’m thinking I should switch to the way I typically read my books. I was panicking a few minutes ago because I didn’t have a prompt for this post. So, I looked in the LGBTI+ section, and here are the five I found and want to read. This is the list of books I picked up. If you were curious about last week’s list, I read them all, so I can make another list.
Goodreads Blurb:
Emily – I like simplicity, calmness and I love routine. So you can imagine how much I disliked having to find a new place to live and a new roommate. River is cluttered, she is a tornado of personality, sarcasm and nerdiness that makes my left eye twitch. Not to mention her hellcat, Gizmo, who wants to kill me in my sleep. But, once I looked past the wall of sarcastic remarks and attitude, I saw the real her, the one that she couldn’t show to the world and seeing her in that light became a drug.
River – I have a five year plan. Keep my head down, work myself up the ladder at the law firm and keep my ass tucked neatly in the closet until I can support myself without my parents’ help. It was going perfect, that is until Emily walked into my loft, critiquing my grammar and telling me exactly why the Ravenclaw house was far less superior than Hufflepuff. She irritated me, like an itch I couldn’t scratch, until she wasn’t. Then she became the person that made me want to throw away my five year plan for, but how could I? How could I throw my career, my life away for my roommate?
Goodreads Blurb:
It’s been one bad relationship after the other for Josslyn Tait. She can’t seem to find one person that wants to be in a committed relationship with her. After finding her ex in bed with another woman, she’s just about ready to give up on finding love altogether.
Enter Kate.
Kate Parker. The sister of her best friend and roommate. Also the biggest player in Riverside, and Josslyn’s least favorite person. Okay, that position was already filled by the guy who just cheated on her, but she was still pretty low on the list.
When Kate offers to be her wing woman and help her out in the dating department, Josslyn is hesitant to agree. But Kate has a good track record of getting people to fall for her. If anyone can help Josslyn find that special someone, it has to be Kate.
Only Josslyn gets a crazy idea. Maybe she needed a break from trying to find that special someone. Maybe she needed to be more like Kate. And who better to learn from than Kate herself.
The two women take their relationship to the next level and everything goes downhill from there.
Kate warned her not to fall in love with her. Josslyn never thought she’d fall for someone like Kate. But the heart is a confusing organ, and Josslyn’s heart is growing fonder and fonder of the woman every second she spends with her.
Josslyn’s dealt with a broken heart before. She could get over her feelings for Kate. There’s only one problem. Josslyn’s not the only one catching feelings.
Goodreads Blurb:
NY publishing is Greta Clayborne’s life, and she’s on a high since she edited a hot new series that was just adapted for television. In her career, everything is on track. On the relationship front, there are no relationships, not since she had her heart broken. Now Greta uses a dating app, Sappho’s Kiss Society, for casual connections.
That’s all the tattooed taciturn Lee was supposed to be when Greta invites the enigmatic woman to her hotel room, expecting to never see her again.
Kaelee has more secrets than truths. She changed her name, finished a couple degrees, and just sold her book in a deal that will replace the money she’s spent on her tiny studio during grad school. Her life is writing, teaching, and too much time at the gym. But after she meets “Marie” on her app, she can’t get the curvaceous woman out of her mind.
Long distance chat lead to another meeting, and the two discover that they both want more. Maybe. The possibility of something real seems in reach—until Kaelee walks into her meeting with her editor only to find that woman she’s starting to fall for is her editor. Now Greta’s career and reputation are at risk, but when Kaelee’s wealthy and influential family shows up to put a stop to the “embarrassment” of writing sapphic fiction, Greta has to decide what matters her heart or her career.
Goodreads Blurb:
IT is only the beginning of May but in Oslo a brutal heat wave has coincided with an alarming increase in violent crime. In the latest instance, police investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen is sent to a macabre crime scene on the outskirts of town. An abandoned shed is covered in blood. On one wall an eight-digit number is written in blood. There is no body—nor any sign of a victim. Is it a kid’s prank or foul play? Is it even human blood?
As more bloody numbers are found in isolated locations throughout Oslo, Hanne’s colleague Håkon Sand makes a startling discovery: the digits correspond to the filing numbers of foreign immigrants. All are female, all are missing. Is there a serial killer on the loose in Oslo? How does the killer have access to immigrant data?
Meanwhile, as the trail heats up, the victim of a horrific unsolved rape case and her father have each decided to take justice into their own hands. Hanne and Håkon soon discover that they aren’t the only ones on the hunt for the killer.
Goodreads Blurb:
Darcy’s life turned out better than she could have ever imagined. She is a librarian at the local branch, while her wife Joy runs a book binding service. Between the two of them, there is no more room on their shelves with their ample book collections, various knickknacks and bobbles, and dried bouquets. Rounding out their ideal life is two cats and a sun-soaked house by the lake.
But when Darcy receives the news that her ex-boyfriend, Ben, has passed away, she spirals into a pit of guilt and regret, resulting in a mental breakdown and medical leave from the library. When she returns to work, she is met by unrest in her community, and protests surrounding intellectual freedom, resulting in a call for book bans and a second look at the branch’s upcoming DEI programs.
Through the support of her community, colleagues, and the personal growth that results from examining her previous relationships, Darcy comes into her own agency and the truest version of herself. Is This a Cry for Help? not only offers a moving portrait of queer life after coming of age but also powerfully explores questions about sexuality, community, and the importance of libraries.
Alex
Mybookworld24 