Archives de catégorie : LGBT+

THE RULES OF ROYALTY de Cale Dietrich

The Princess Diaries meets Red, White & Royal Blue in this delightful queer romance about two princes of neighboring nations who fall in love.

THE RULES OF ROYALTY
by Cale Dietrich
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, Summer 2024

American-raised Jamie has just found out that he’s the prince of a small country, and now he’s being thrown head first into the world of royalty with no idea how to navigate it. Erik, the reluctant “spare” prince of the country next door, who’s dealing with family drama of his own, agrees to show him the royal ropes after they meet at an event. In the following months, between archery lessons, balls, a ski trip, and even a royal wedding, they must find out what they each want from their future as royals, and if that future can include the two of them together.

Cale Dietrich is a YA devotee, lifelong gamer, and tragic pop punk enthusiast. He was born in Perth, grew up on the Gold Coast, and now lives in Brisbane, Australia. His debut novel, The Love Interest, was named a 2018 Rainbow List Selection.

GIRLS LIKE GIRLS de Hayley Kiyoko

Trailblazing pop star, actor and director, Hayley Kiyoko debuts her first novel, a coming-of-age romance based on her breakthrough hit song and viral video, Girls Like Girls.

GIRLS LIKE GIRLS
by Hayley Kiyoko
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, May 2023

It’s summertime and 17-year-old Coley has found herself alone, again. Forced to move to rural Oregon after just losing her mother, she is in no position to risk her already fragile heart. But when she meets Sonya, the attraction is immediate.
Coley worries she isn’t worthy of love. Up until now, everyone she’s loved has left her. And Sonya’s never been with a girl before. What if she’s too afraid to show up for Coley? What if by opening her heart, Coley’s risking it all?
They both realize that when things are pushed down, and feelings are forced to shrivel away, Coley and Sonya will be the ones to shrink. It’s not until they accept the love they fear and deserve most, that suddenly the song makes sense.
Based on the billboard-charting smash hit song and viral music video GIRLS LIKE GIRLS, Hayley Kiyoko’s debut novel is about embracing your truth and realizing we are all worthy of being loved back.

Hayley Kiyoko is an award-winning American singer, dancer, and actress. « At the forefront of an unapologetically queer pop movement » according to Rolling Stone, Hayley is a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights. Her debut novel, GIRLS LIKE GIRLS, is based on her hit single and music video of the same name.

NO BOY SUMMER d’Amy Spalding

Lydia and her younger sister Penny make a pact to avoid boy drama for the summer—but Lydia can’t help looking for a loophole when she falls for a cute girl.

NO BOY SUMMER
by Amy Spalding
Amulet Books/Abrams, April 2023
(via KT Literary)

Lydia Jones and her younger sister Penny have had it with boy drama. Last year was marred by relationship disasters for both of them, threatening Lydia’s standing with her school’s theater tech club and Penny’s perfect GPA. Penny has, naturally, diagnosed the problem and prescribed a drastic solution: a summer off from boys.
Lydia and Penny decide to stay with their Aunt Grace and her boyfriend Oscar in Los Angeles while their parents are off on a European cruise. Penny follows her future-business-school dreams with an internship at Oscar’s office, and Lydia gets a part-time job at Grace’s neighborhood coffeeshop, Grounds Control.
Even when they spent hours, days, weeks dissecting their various boy drama, Lydia’s never felt this connected to her sister before, and it makes her wonder what else in her life could be different. She finds herself drawn to a group of friends she meets through her Grounds Control coworker, Margaret, as well as an intriguing customer, Fran, an aspiring filmmaker and—while not the first girl Lydia finds herself attracted to—the first girl who has mutual feelings for her. But she’s not breaking her pledge to Penny, right? That was just about boys. Even though in her heart Lydia knows she’s bending the rules, she hasn’t had a connection with anyone as strong as her connection with Fran, so she thinks it can’t be wrong. And Penny won’t mind as long as she’s happy . . . Right?

“Buoyant and genuinely funny. A love letter to summer friends, summer girls, and the city of Los Angeles.”―Rainbow Rowell, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Scattered Showers

“Lydia’s relationship validates the bisexual experience through an enjoyable romance. This body- and sex-positive story will hold readers’ interest until it eventually reaches its satisfying conclusion. A cute, queer romance plus a sweet exploration of the special bond between sisters.”―Kirkus Reviews

Amy Spalding is the author of several novels, including Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys), The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles), and We Used to Be Friends, which Becky Albertalli called “complex, earnest, and unflinching.” She lives in Los Angeles.

DAMNED IF YOU DO d’Alex Brown

Queer Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Filipino folklore in this horror comedy about a high school stage manager who accidentally sells her soul to a demon.

DAMNED IF YOU DO
by Alex Brown
Page Street Kids, August 2023
(via KT Literary)

Seven years ago, Cordelia Scott’s abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes.
She’s never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is…missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that he’s actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed missing: a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear – then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another bargain: Help him with a “little” demonic problem, or she’s doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father.
The deal? Help Fred neutralize a rival demon, who means to do more harm in her hometown than your average demon deal.

Alex Brown loves rooting for the final girl―especially if she’s a monster. Alex has a short story in the instant Indie Bestselling YA folk horror anthology, The Gathering Dark. Alex is also the cocreator of The Bridge, a narrative fiction podcast that’s had over one million downloads to date! Alex lives in Los Angeles with her partner and their two very chaotic cats. Night of the Living Queers was her editorial debut. As far as she knows, she hasn’t summoned an Eldritch God who loves pizza . . . yet.

IDLEWILD de James Frankie Thomas

A darkly funny and much gayer imagining of the classic prep school novel, IDLEWILD will appeal to readers of Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

IDLEWILD
by James Frankie Thomas
Overlook/Abrams, Fall 2023
(via Frances Goldin Literary)

Idlewild is a tiny, artsy Quaker high school in lower Manhattan. Students call their teachers by their first names, there are no grades or awards, and every day begins with 20 minutes of contemplative silence. It is during one of those moments of worship that two airplanes hit the World Trade Center.
For two Idlewild outcasts, 9/11 serves as the first day of an intense, 18-month friendship. Fay is a prickly, aloof rich kid who is obsessed with gay men; Nell is a shy, sensitive scholarship student who is obsessed with Fay. The two of them bond fiercely over being the only two openly queer kids at Idlewild. But, as they rehearse for the school’s production of Othello, they notice two sexually ambiguous boys, Theo and Christopher, who are potential candidates for their exclusive Invert Society (née Gay-Straight Alliance). The pairs become mirrors of one another’s desires, anxieties, and loneliness. Their devotion to one another becomes an obsession, driving them to do things that they’ll regret for the rest of their lives.
Looking back on these events as adults, Fay and Nell, who haven’t spoken to each other in fifteen years, are haunted by shame over their Idlewild days. From alternating perspectives, they wonder if they could have done anything to save their friendship, or if it was meant to remain an artifact that couldn’t have existed outside of Idlewild’s walls.

James Frankie Thomas holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Their fiction has been published in the Paris Review online, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and The Toast, among other publications. One of these essays is included in the anthology We Are the Baby-Sitters Club, and another was adapted into a PBS NewsHour segment.