Adult Fiction

By:  Brandon Taylor, 2021, Paperback

A novel of startling intimacy, violence, and mercy among friends in a Midwestern university town, from an electric new voice.

Almost everything about Wallace is at odds with the Midwestern university town where he is working uneasily toward a biochem degree. An introverted young man from Alabama, black and queer, he has left behind his family without escaping the long shadows of his childhood. For reasons of self-preservation, Wallace has enforced a wary distance even within his own circle of friends—some dating each other, some dating women, some feigning straightness. But over the course of a late-summer weekend, a series of confrontations with colleagues, and an unexpected encounter with an ostensibly straight, white classmate, conspire to fracture his defenses while exposing long-hidden currents of hostility and desire within their community.  
 
Real Life is a novel of profound and lacerating power, a story that asks if it’s ever really possible to overcome our private wounds, and at what cost.

By: Jeffrey Dale Lofton (Author), 2024, Paperback

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Longlist
Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel
Indie Next List Pick—American Booksellers Association
Seven Hills Literary Prize for Fiction
Foreword INDIES Silver Book of the Year—LGBTQ+ Fiction
Book of the Year: International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club
Lambda Literary Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Book
Southern Literary Review Read of the Month
Southern Literary Review’s 2023 TOP TEN BOOKS

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Red Clay Suzie go to support the important work of The Trevor Project and the Born This Way Foundation.

A novel inspired by true events

The coming-of-age story of Philbet, gay and living with a disability, battles bullying, ignorance, and disdain as he makes his way in life as an outsider in the Deep South—before finding acceptance in unlikely places.

Fueled by tomato sandwiches and green milkshakes, and obsessed with cars, Philbet struggles with life and love as a gay boy in rural Georgia. He’s happiest when helping Grandaddy dig potatoes from the vegetable garden that connects their houses. But Philbet’s world is shattered and his resilience shaken by events that crush his innocence and sense of security; expose his misshapen chest skillfully hidden behind shirts Mama makes at home; and convince him that he’s not fit to be loved by Knox, the older boy he idolizes to distraction. Over time, Philbet finds refuge in unexpected places and inner strength in unexpected ways, leading to a resolution from beyond the grave.

By: Casey McQuiston, 2020, Paperback

What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn't always diplomatic.

By: Juan-Carlos Perez-Cortes (Author), Amanda Foy (Translator), 2022, Paperback

One of the best-selling books on relationships in Europe during the last two years, studied and debated by consensual non-monogamy activists and polyamory discussion groups, has been translated and adapted here to bring to the English-speaking audience a less self-centered and more radical framework for sustainable interpersonal relations based on intense communication and free, conscientious commitments.


The proposal was born in Sweden in 2005, was developed over 15 years, and then this title was originally published in Spain in the spring of 2020. Since then, one edition after another has sold out (in 2023, the fifth Spanish edition will hit the bookstores), and translations into other languages and publishing projects in other countries have been released, showing that there was and still is a global need to know and understand alternative structures when it comes to relating to each other.


The most enthusiastic reception of this monograph has been in those communities already interested in these relational alternatives to the hegemonic monogamous system and groups more focused on lifestyle-politics activism of anti-patriarchal, anarchist and anti-capitalist inspiration. Reading sessions, analysis courses, seminars, and workshops of varied scopes, extensions, and approaches have been organized. Likewise, these topics have been collected in press articles, radio and TV programs, interviews, podcasts, and other digital and printed formats. This translation maintains most of the original content, adapting only the necessary contextual elements so that English-speaking readers can interpret the examples, references, comparisons, and anecdotes with greater familiarity.



The book's audience covers various profiles regarding age, gender, sexual orientation and preferences, geographical and socio-cultural origin, etc. One reason is that the work brings together both visions: political and relational. It historically structures the elements leading to the emergence of this framework, starting with the philosophical and political theoretical foundations, the freethought tradition, social developments, feminist, queer, sex-positive activisms, etc., while also addressing more personal aspects.


The feedback from readers suggests that this volume has inspired and helped them not to "feel like weirdos" and to have pride and confidence in their decisions and choices regarding relationships.

"A breathtaking romp of a plot, prose as sparkling and luxuriant as a diamond sautoir, and at the heart of it all a sense of wondrous possibility."―The New York Times

Now an International Bestseller, a New York Times Editors' Choice Pick , an Indie Next pick, a Bookpage Best Book of the Year, and a LibraryReads pick―with three starred reviews!

A Restless Truth is the second entry in Freya Marske’s beloved, award-winning Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light.

Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance!

Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady’s companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago.

What she didn’t expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who’s also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal.

Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for―without ending up dead in the water themselves.

The Last Binding Trilogy:
A Marvellous Light
A Restless Truth
A Power Unbound

By: Ruby Landers (Author), 2024, Paperback

Lara Bennett is world-famous in Ribbonwood, population 907. She’s the woman you don't trust your husband with: a real-life femme fatale. If there’s a scandal in town, she’s at the center of it, ruining businesses, marriages, and egos everywhere she goes, with her sharp tongue and that body that makes you look twice. Besides… didn’t she more or less kill a man?

Ollie Gabrielli left Ribbonwood right after high school, back when Lara was her arch-nemesis. The queen bee and the closeted soccer star: natural enemies. When she comes home for three months it's to recover from burnout and spend time with her chaotic family, not to reconnect with old classmates. Only somehow, she can’t seem to take her eyes off Lara. How did she only get hotter? And is she really everything they say she is?

Sometimes, there’s a reason you should never try to go home.

An Australian contemporary sapphic romance by the author of 'Falls From Grace'

If you would appreciate trigger warnings, please check my website

"Ring" takes you on an unforgettable odyssey through the depths of human emotion, from the hollows of grief to the heights of newfound hope. In the backdrop of a snow-covered sanctuary designed to aid the dying, Lee, a middle-aged non-binary person from the Midwest, grapples with the unbearable weight of losing their young adult daughter. Abandoning their previous life and even the comfort of a longtime spouse, Lee is driven by a quest for closure―or an end to it all.

Enter Ring, a seemingly ordinary dog with an extraordinary role. Brought by Robert, a terminally ill man preparing to make his final walk through the sanctuary's Seven Pillars, Ring becomes the catalyst for Lee's own rebirth. As Lee befriends other souls at the sanctuary, each embroiled in their own battles―from Catherine and Samu, the spiritual leaders, to Viviana, a war veteran scarred by trauma―they are nudged toward a revelation that challenges their initial reasons for coming to this remote haven.

The novel deftly weaves themes of loss, hope, and healing, set against the spirituality-infused environment of the sanctuary. It presents a compassionate view on suicide, grappling with the complex questions it raises about the value and sanctity of life. As Lee engages with mindfulness practices and meditation, the story emerges as an enlightening guide for anyone walking the fine line between despair and hope.

Don't miss this emotional journey that tackles the raw, intricate facets of grief, and leaves you pondering the restorative powers of companionship and the human spirit. Ideal for readers coping with loss, struggling with suicidal thoughts, or seeking a deeply spiritual narrative, "Ring" promises to resonate long after the last page is turned.

Can my straight friend help me cash in my v-card by my birthday?

In one month, I turn thirty-five with my virginity still intact. Is there anything more embarrassing than knowing most of my French students have gotten more action than me? Je suis triste

When I accidentally reveal this secret to my close friend and co-worker Seamus, South Rock’s baseball coach, he offers to help me round the bases.

It has to be a joke, because Seamus is one million percent straight.

There’s no way he’d want to fool around with a chubby language nerd like me, even though I’ve harbored a secret crush on him since the day he first walked into the teachers lounge.

But then I realize he’s not joking.

I’m either entering thirty-five with a bang…or a friendship going up in flames.

By: Lady Kilroy (Author), 2024, Paperback (Book 1 Taunting Death Series)

"I am not the damsel. I am the weapon their parents warned them not to touch."

Legends say the fae only exist because our gods are dead. That we were originally the vermin that feasted on their flesh.
As future Queen of the Dhadren Fae, I can tell you I've never wielded the power of a god.
I feel nothing in this land of death and decay.
An ancient malevolence has taken my home hostage with the curse of a blight, and for twenty years I have been rotting in this cage, stalked by a beast and hunted by shadows that lure me into the night. And even though my mind is screaming for me to follow them, to let them catch me… I need to survive this world. I need to become the liberator my people need. Because if I don't, I’ll become the crown to a kingdom of dust and famine.

By: AC Rosen (Author), 2024, Hardcover

Set in atmospheric 1950s San Francisco, Rough Pages asks who is allowed to tell their own stories, and how far would you go to seek out the truth.

Private Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has been drawn back to the Lavender House estate for a missing person case. Pat, the family butler, has been volunteering for a book service, one that specializes in mailing queer books to a carefully guarded list of subscribers. With bookseller Howard Salzberger gone suspiciously missing along with his address book, everyone on that list, including some of Andy's closest friends, is now in danger.

A search of Howard’s bookstore reveals that someone wanted to stop him and his co-owner, Dorothea Lamb, from sending out their next book. The evidence points not just to the Feds, but to the Mafia, who would be happy to use the subscriber list for blackmail.

Andy has to maneuver through both the government and the criminal world, all while dealing with a nosy reporter who remembers him from his days as a police detective and wants to know why he’s no longer a cop. With his own secrets closing in on him, can Andy find the list before all the lives on it are at risk?

Dive into the full Evander Mills series:

Lavender House
The Bell in the Fog
Rough Pages

“The rare work of fiction that has changed real life . . . If you don’t yet know Molly Bolt—or Rita Mae Brown, who created her—I urge you to read and thank them both.”—Gloria Steinem
 
Winner of the Lambda Literary Pioneer Award | Winner of the Lee Lynch Classic Book Award
 
A landmark coming-of-age novel that launched the career of one of this country’s most distinctive voices, Rubyfruit Jungle remains a transformative work more than forty years after its original publication. In bawdy, moving prose, Rita Mae Brown tells the story of Molly Bolt, the adoptive daughter of a dirt-poor Southern couple who boldly forges her own path in America. With her startling beauty and crackling wit, Molly finds that women are drawn to her wherever she goes—and she refuses to apologize for loving them back. This literary milestone continues to resonate with its message about being true to yourself and, against the odds, living happily ever after.
 
Praise for Rubyfruit Jungle
 
“Groundbreaking.”—The New York Times
 
“Powerful . . . a truly incredible book . . . I found myself laughing hysterically, then sobbing uncontrollably just moments later.”—The Boston Globe
 
“You can’t fully know—or enjoy—how much the world has changed without reading this truly wonderful book.”—Andrew Tobias, author of The Best Little Boy in the World
 
“A crass and hilarious slice of growing up ‘different,’ as fun to read today as it was in 1973.”—The Rumpus
 
“Molly Bolt is a genuine descendant—genuine female descendant—of Huckleberry Finn. And Rita Mae Brown is, like Mark Twain, a serious writer who gets her messages across through laughter.”—Donna E. Shalala

“A trailblazing literary coup at publication . . . It was the right book at the right time.”—Lee Lynch, author of Beggar of Love

By: Casey Lown (Author), 2021, Paperback

Emily Fillan is the proud owner of a prickly mouth and a mountain of emotional baggage.

In one year, she has suffered a nervous breakdown, dropped out of college, and acquired a mean case of writer’s block. To top it all off, she is burying her father—the police officer who offered more sympathy to the criminals he arrested than to his own daughter. In tying up her father’s loose ends, Emily encounters the wounded individuals who made up his universe.

Among them is Joe Corner, the worst, most irresponsible, best babysitter Emily ever had. Spending time with Joe, Emily realizes her vision of her father may have been obscured by the grey-tinted glasses she donned as a child after her parents’ contentious divorce. Emily’s reconnection with Joe develops into a warmth she quickly labels her soul’s salvation.

But Joe is no savior. He is already in a committed relationship with the white powder that helps him forget his crooked roots and the sinister figure emerging from his past.

Emily’s father always insisted no one is beyond redemption. How long can one man’s loving influence survive after death, and is it too late to inherit her father’s compassion to save those she loves? Only one thing is certain: If Emily is to heal her wounds and Joe’s, she must learn that saving and helping aren’t necessarily the same thing.

SAFELIGHT is character-driven contemporary fiction. It is a gritty, coming-of-age story of wounded protagonists, blending new adult angst with irreverent, dark humor.

Content warnings can be found on the author's website www.caseylown.com

A coming-of-age dramedy with a clever, sardonic edge, Casey Lown’s SAFELIGHT is a potent, superbly written novel that pushes boundaries, and maybe even a button or three, all the while showing that the road-less-traveled is sometimes the only way forward. (4.8/5 stars)
~ IndieReader (full review https://indiereader.com/book_review/safelight/)

By: Sophie Burnham (Author), 2024, Hardcover

For fans of Casey McQuiston and Abby Jimenez comes a bold, hilarious, and out-of-the-box novel about mixing business with battery-operated pleasure . . .

When it comes to her career, Cade Elgin has it all figured out. Only “professional talk” has become her default mode, relationships are nonexistent, and don’t even mention the word “orgasm.” All work and no play makes Cade a dull human. But when she inherits a sex toy store, Cade is caught between business and a store filled with every imaginable kind of pleasure—including her infuriatingly irresponsible and deliciously sexy new co-owner.

Selena Mathis learned the hard way that she can have too much of a good thing. Which is precisely why she’s taken an oath of celibacy and is focusing on how to make Satisfaction Guaranteed a success. She won’t mess this up. Not this time. But once again, Selena’s emotions are getting in the way and tempting her with a serious attraction to buttoned-up Cade.

But the shop isn’t exactly vibe-ing, and Cade and Selena are on the verge of losing both their income and the possibility of love. Can they find a way to work together . . . before Satisfaction Guaranteed runs out of batteries?

By: Margo Douaihy (Author), 2023, Paperback

A USA TODAY Bestseller · A New York Times, Apple Books, and The Guardian Best Crime Novel of the Year · An Indie Next Pick · Winner of the Pinckley Prize for Crime Fiction · A Finalist for the ITW Thrillerfest, New England Book, and Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards

Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this “unique and confident” debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).

When Saint Sebastian’s School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos.

Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn’t satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path of suspicion and secrets, turning her against colleagues, students, and even fellow Sisters along the way. And to piece together the clues of this high-stakes mystery, she must at last reckon with the sins of her own past.

An exciting start to a bold series that breathes new life into the hard-boiled genre, Scorched Grace is a fast-paced and punchy whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the very end.