**There can be no victory without betrayal.**

Hara Duja Gatdula, queen of the island nation of Maynara, holds the divine power to move the earth. But her strength is failing and the line of succession gives her little comfort. Her heir, Laya, is a danger—a petty and passionate princess who wields the enormous power of the skies with fickle indifference. Circling the throne is Imeria Kulaw—the matriarch of a traitorous rival family who wields recklessly enhanced powers of her own—with designs to secure a high-ranking position for her son and claim the crown for her family. Each woman has a secret weakness—a lover, a heartbreak, a lie. But each is willing to pay the steepest price to bring down her rivals once and for all.

Filled with passion, romance, betrayal, and divine magic, *Black Salt Queen* journeys to a gorgeous precolonial island nation where women—and secrets—reign.

Black Salt Queen

**4 a.m., New York City. A silent disaster.**

There is no flash of light, no crumbling, no quaking. Each person in New York wakes up on an unfamiliar block when the buildings all switch locations overnight. The power grid has snapped, thousands of residents are missing, and the Empire State Building is on Coney Island—for now. The next night, it happens again.

Esme Green and Arjun Varma work for the City of New York’s Emergency Management team and are tasked with disaster response for the Unmapping. As Esme tries to wade through the bureaucratic nightmare of an endlessly shuffling city, she’s distracted by the ongoing search for her missing fiancé. Meanwhile, Arjun focuses on the ground-level rescue of disoriented New Yorkers, hoping to become the hero the city needs.

While scientists scramble to find a solution—or at least a means to cope—and mysterious “red cloak” cults crop up in the disaster’s wake, New York begins to reckon with a new reality no one recognizes. For Esme and Arjun, the fight to hold the city together will mean tackling questions about themselves that they were too afraid to ask—and facing answers they never expected. With themes of climate change, political unrest, and life in a state of emergency, *The Unmapping* is a timely and captivating debut.

The Unmapping

**Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.**

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.

To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.

The queer love child of pulp horror and ​classic ​sci-fi, *Of Monsters and ​Mainframes* ​is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.

Of Monsters and Mainframes

***“Vita’s rage overflowed until she was prepared to drown in it, and she knew that she would never again dam this anger to please another.”***

After nine years as the people’s beloved princess in the sun-soaked Kingdom of Carca, Vita witnesses the execution of her mother by her father’s hand. Forced into exile, Vita fades into obscurity with her only friends—the crows that visit her window.

Eleven years later, Vita is given a choice: marry an enemy general, granting him legitimacy to take the throne, or die as the forgotten princess. With time running out, Vita meets Soline, an intriguing lady-in-waiting who introduces her to the powerful-but-unstable magic of alchemy.

If Vita and Soline can learn to control it—and the undeniable spark between them—they could burn the world of men to the ground.

Crueler Mercies

With high stakes and even higher heat, A Deception of Courts is the third instalment in the bestselling Realm of Fey series by Ben Alderson, perfect for fans of ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas.. Robin Icethorn, King of the Winter Court, must stop The Hand, who threatens to bring forth a time of monsters. The search for the keys to free Duwar, the demon God, from his unearthly bindings has begun. Finding unlikely allies, Robin is thrust into a war of Gods, becoming no more than a pawn on the game board he never wished to be a part of. . Whilst new flames crackle with electrifying power and old flames return, equally changed – Robin is forced to make decisions that would change the course of his, and his kingdoms, lives forever.

A Deception of Courts: Realm of Fey, Book III

NEW from bestselling and award-winning author Andrew Joseph White! . A queer Appalachian thriller that pulls no punches—following a trans autistic teen who's drawn into the generational struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them.. Preorder now and recieve the LIMITED FIRST EDITION featuring specially designed photo endpapers—only while supplies last!. On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Creek: Photos that prove the county’s Sheriff Davies was responsible for the so-called “accident” that injured his dad, killed others, and crushed their grassroots efforts to unseat him.. The feud began a hundred years ago when Miles’s great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, incited a miners’ rebellion that ended with a public execution at the hands of law enforcement. Now, Miles becomes the feud’s latest victim as the sheriff’s son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death. . In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles’s bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidently kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff’s heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they’re willing to put everything on the line—is Miles?. A visceral, unabashedly political page-turner that won’t let you go until you’ve reached the end, Compound Fracture is not for the faint of heart, but it is for every reader who's ready to fight for a better world. Hand this story to teens pushing for radical change.

Compound Fracture

Billy Montgomery, a Houston-born New York transplant, aspiring novelist, and soon-to-be young divorcée is headed to Punta Mita for his sister's destination wedding with a severe case of bad luck, a broken heart, and a sunny disposition about it all. As Man of Honor, he's on a mission to make sure this weekend goes off without a hitch while shoving down his own feelings about being stabbed in the back by love.Michael Evans, a mid-level public relations expert from Queens, can make anyone and anything look squeaky clean from the outside, but can he do it for himself? When he's asked to fly into Ohio to give a tear-jerking speech at his estranged father's funeral, he wonders if he's met his ultimate PR match that may just send him into a spiral of his painful past.Through a meet-cute gone wrong, a truly unfortunate baggage mix-up, and a run in with TSA, they find themselves stuck on standby in a New York airport for days on end, waiting on a miracle to get them to their respective destinations. While being stranded between overpriced souvenir shops and underwhelming airport cuisine, they find themselves learning more and more about one other, as well as exposing their own personal baggage that they've been carrying for far too long.Love, loss, grief, forgiveness, and well, the absence of all of the above drive Michael and Billy to emotional depths together. Can these two tackle the ins and outs of these feelings while also dealing with the possibility of their own blossoming romance?

Meet Me in the Sky

#1 BESTSELLER IN THE ENTIRE KINDLE STOREFrom New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes an opposites-attract dark MM romance featuring a New York mafia prince and a British golden boy.I’m not attracted to men.Or so I thought before I slammed into Nikolai Sokolov.A mafia heir, a notorious bastard, and a violent monster.An ill-fated meeting puts me in his path.And just like that, he has his sights set on me.A quiet artist, a golden boy, and his enemy’s twin brother.He doesn’t seem to care that the odds are stacked against us.In fact, he sets out to break my steel-like control and blur my limits.I thought my biggest worry was being noticed by Nikolai.I’m learning the hard way that being wanted by this beautiful nightmare is much worse.This book can be read on its own, but for a better understanding of the world, you might want to start with God of Malice.

God of Fury: A Dark MM College Romance (Legacy of Gods Book 5)

A classmates-to-friends-to-lovers romance that's equal parts raunchy, heartfelt, queer, and Mexican-American, centered on college football (the REAL football)!. Gabriel Piña knows who he is: a college goalkeeper, a future Liga MX or MLS star, and definitely straight. He’s starting his freshman year with a lot of eyes on him and even more potential, but he’s got this. Nothing will have him straying off the path to greatness.. That is, until his philosophy classmate Vale volunteers to tutor him. Vale, the same guy who Gabi, in a moment of history repeating itself, might’ve kissed very briefly—and only once—just to help him out at a party. Vale, the smart, supportive, compassionate new friend with beautiful brown eyes and a smile that keeps Gabi, for completely inexplicable reasons, constantly in a daydream.. As a friendship blooms and the two spend more and more time together, Gabi finally begins to recognize something about himself: maybe he’s not as straight as he thought he was. But a larger and darker realization lingers. Someone like Gabi—a brown, Mexican futbolista with dreams of playing for El Tri—can’t also be bisexual. He’s seen the way his teammates and community react to queerness in their sport. It would be the exact type of straying off path that destroys his future.. Or, maybe Gabi could be brave enough to embrace all those parts of himself and forge his own path, one that includes a boyfriend and the beautiful game.. A sports romance for those who keep rewatching Bend It Like Beckham and rereading Red, White & Royal Blue and the incredible collection of queer soc—football romances out there, Futbolista follows the first semester of one guy's freshman year of college, navigating who he is, who he’s allowed to be, and who he wants to be.

Futbolista

With lush illustrations and buoyant prose, Venessa Vida Kelley blends historical fantasy with epic romance at the turn of the 20th century in this unforgettable New York fairytale of queer identity and found family.. “Venessa gives life to the most unexpected things. I have a strong, strong feeling that this is the start of something special.” —TJ KLUNE, New York Times Bestselling author of The House in the Cerulean Sea. Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds everyone, especially the eccentric side-show proprietor who commissioned it. Benny’s work earns him an invitation to join the show’s eclectic crew of performers—his first welcome in the city—and share in their astonishing secret: the tank Benny built is a cage for their newest exhibit, a living, breathing, in-the-flesh merman stolen from the banks of the East River under a gleaming full moon. . The merman is more than a mythic marvel, though. Benny comes to know Río as a clever philosopher, an observant traveler, and a kindred spirit more beautiful and compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own. . A cage is no place for a merman to survive. Though releasing Río means betraying his new family, bankrupting their home, and losing his soulmate forever, Benny must look within for the courage to do what’s right, and find a love strong enough to free them both. . "When the Tides Held the Moon is a beautifully illustrated novel with artwork throughout by Venessa Vida Kelley, known for her stunning romance and fantasy art. This novel includes two different full-color endpapers for front and back, fully-designed chapter headers, and 27 pieces of detailed illustrations throughout, using beautiful two-color, aqua blue and black inks.

When the Tides Held the Moon

Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix (Remixed Classics, 9)

As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews' debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him. . Kill for him.High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality―Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.. But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork―whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories.. Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster―Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...

Don't Let the Forest In

New Site Default Bookshelf

Celebrating love and identity through queer stories.

Queer as Books

José Orlando

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I’m José Orlando, a Puerto Rican gay reader and reviewer who found healing and love for reading through queer books. Growing up without representation and discovering these stories in my 30s was life-changing. I began sharing my journey on TikTok, connecting with the amazing BookTok community. Now, my mission is to celebrate diverse, queer stories and champion authors—especially indie—so queer readers find themselves in these stories and allies can grow from them.