Archives de catégorie : LGBTQ+

THE REDWOOD BARGAIN de Markelle Grabo

In this gothic fairy tale, a maid poses as her lord’s stepdaughter to fulfill his bargain with the murderous lord of the woods.

THE REDWOOD BARGAIN
by Markelle Grabo
Page Street/St. Martin’s, March 2026

To free her cousin from an indentured contract, Katrien agrees to fulfill their lord’s bargain with the fabled “Redwood Man.” Three maids before her have posed as his stepdaughter, Lady Zaviera, and met this lord of the forest as promised. But Katrien means to be the first to fool him—and live. Impersonating a lady is no easy feat, especially one as beautiful and aloof as Zaviera. With one month before she’s sent off, Katrien is put through endless lessons, even as the Redwood Man’s suffocating vines overtake the manor and threaten its staff. Zaviera takes a special interest in her training, and their shared interests grow into shared affections. But the Redwood Man awaits his prize. Caught between duty and desire, her future and her past, Katrien must navigate a tricky bargain—or risk failing those she holds dearest.

Markelle Grabo retells the fairy tales that frustrate her, which, based on that guideline, could include nearly all of them. She earned her master’s degree in creative writing for children and young adults from Hamline University and lives in Illinois with her partner and their two cats, Matcha and Kava. She is the author of Call Forth a Fox.

BETTER THE DEVIL d’Erik J. Brown

Gritty, gripping thriller meets contemporary queer romance in this brand-new YA novel filled with first love, stolen identity and murder, from the award-winning and bestselling author of All That’s Left in the World.

BETTER THE DEVIL
by Erik J. Brown
Storytide/HarperCollins, Summer 2026
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

After being arrested for shoplifting, a homeless teen is afraid the police will send him home to his abusive family, so he assumes the identity of Nate Beaumont—a child who, according to the missing poster on the police station wall, went missing ten years ago. It doesn’t hurt that he looks a lot like the age-progressed picture of Nate. He plans to escape before the police can discover his lie, but when Nate’s family comes to collect him, he unexpectedly starts to bond with them. 

The Beaumonts are nothing like his real family. There’s Nate’s loving, but intensely protective mother, his reserved and imposing father, an older brother wracked with guilt, and a quirky, card shark grandmother. When he looks further into the disappearance, « Nate » learns that the boy he’s pretending to be didn’t just go missing—rumor is, he was murdered. As strange occurrences begin to unfold around the Beaumont home, Nate realizes he’s trapped in a dangerous game with an unknown killer. One who knows he isn’t the real Nate Beaumont.

Nate has three choices: run, confess, or find out who the real killer is…before history repeats itself.

Erik J. Brown is an award-winning writer based in Philadelphia, PA. His debut Young Adult novel, All That’s Left in the World, was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award, shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and won the UK reader’s choice Books Are My Bag award. In 2021 he was selected as a Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow. His second novel for young adults, Lose You to Find Me, came out in May 2023, and the sequel to All That’s Left in the World, titled The Only Light Left Burning, comes out May 2024. You can find him on Twitter @WriterikJB, and Instagram @ErikJB, and on his website, https://www.erikjbrown.com.

LADY LIKE de Mackenzi Lee

Two women, one refined and one ribald, set their sights on marrying the same duke, but instead of becoming enemies, they find themselves falling in love—though not with him.

LADY LIKE
by Mackenzi Lee
Dial Press, September 2025
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Harriet Lockhart never planned to marry. She has spent her life defying expectations, playing male roles on London’s seediest stages, and doing whatever she pleases. When Harry is contacted by her hitherto anonymous father, she finds herself at risk of losing the trust fund that’s subsidized her lifestyle—unless she begins to lead a more respectable life, starting with finding a husband.

Emily Sergeant, the picture of modesty, has only ever wanted to marry. And were it not for one mistake in her youth that rendered her a social pariah, she would be appropriately betrothed. Instead, she’s due to wed the only willing—and most abominable—man in her small town. Desperate for an alternative, Emily flees to London to snag a less lecherous fiancé.

Worlds collide, dramatically and hilariously, when both women decide on the very same duke as their best possible chance at a tolerable husband and a secure future. A tongue-in-cheek romp through London’s summer season, from balls to brothels, horseraces to duels, Harry and Emily compete for the duke’s favor, only to find their true hearts’ desires may be more compatible than they ever could have predicted.

Mackenzi Lee earned a BA in history (in the middle of which she took her own grand tour of Europe) and an MFA from Simmons College in writing for children and young adults. She loves Diet Coke, sweater weather, and Star Wars. On a perfect day, she can be found enjoying all three. You can spot her on Twitter @themackenzilee, where she curates a weekly story time about badass women from history you probably don’t know about but should. She currently calls Boston home.

EVERY SWEET THING IS BITTER de Samantha Crewson

A woman with a violent past gets a chance at redemption in this upmarket suspense debut, perfect for fans of Lisa Taddeo and Tiffany McDaniel.

EVERY SWEET THING IS BITTER
by Samantha Crewson
Crooked Lane, April 2025

Thirteen years ago, Providence Byrd threw the family car in reverse and ran over her mother. Even though her mother survived, that single instant of teenage madness made Providence a felon and irrevocably altered her life. When her mother disappears years later under suspicious circumstances, Providence tells herself that returning home is her chance to find closure after a prolonged estrangement from her family. Never mind that this is only half of the truth: she’s also returning to finally confront her abusive father, Tom Byrd. Nothing can stamp out Providence’s certainty that he is guilty of whatever terrible thing has happened to her mother.

As the search unfolds, Providence is haunted by the wounds of her past, none of which cut as deep as the distance between her and her younger sisters. Harmony and Grace are both uniquely scarred by her attempted matricide, and both have their own idea of what reconciliations might look like – if reconciling is even possible. Harmony urges Providence to make their father pay for his sins; Grace begs her to end the cycle of violence that has haunted their family for generations. As her thirst for vengeance collides with her desire to heal her relationships with her sisters, Providence must decide which she values more: revenge or redemption.

Sharp and poignant, EVERY SWEET THING IS BITTER is a stunning novel that eschews picture-perfect endings and dares to tell a story about a resilient queer woman and her relentless determination to persevere.

Samantha Crewson graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a degree in political science. A proud queer woman, she currently resides in California’s Inland Empire with her partner and their many cats.

TWENTY YEARS TOGETHER de Tom Rob Smith

A shattering and beautiful love story, the most personal and powerful piece of storytelling by New York Times bestselling author of Child 44 and The Farm.

TWENTY YEARS TOGETHER
by Tom Rob Smith
Simon & Schuster, Spring 2026
(via Aaron Priest Literary)

Danny and Luis have been a couple for twenty years. Piece-by-piece, they’ve built a life together. They’ve created a home. They’ve comforted and held each other up through challenges and tragedies. They’ve shared happiness and they’ve shared joy.

The one thing they didn’t have was the one thing that, when they first met, was denied them: the possibility of marriage. They’ve witnessed the weddings of their friends, but the law was clear and would not recognize the union of two men.

But the law has now changed. Marriage, for the first time, would be legal. So while celebrating the 20th wedding anniversary of their close friends, Danny realizes he’s ready for more from his relationship with Luis. He wants them to be married.

He wants to declare their shared past as the start of their renewed future. He proposes to Luis, and the moment he does, he risks everything they’ve built falling apart.

Deeply felt and remarkably tender, TWENTY YEARS TOGETHER is a profound exploration of the bonds we create with each other, of the tension between living authentically against the expectations of family and community, and, most of all, of desire, romance and love.

Tom Rob Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Child 44 trilogy. Child 44 itself was a global publishing sensation, selling over two million copies. Among its many honors, it was longlisted for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Prize and won the CWA Steel Dagger Award and ITW Award for Best First Novel. His novel The Farm was a number 1 international bestseller and the first crime thriller to be longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Tom also writes for television and won a Writer’s Guild Award for best adapted series and an Emmy and Golden Globe for best limited series with American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. His recent original series Class of 09 was released on Hulu in the USA and Disney Plus around the world. The Farm is currently being adapted as a series for the BBC and Swedish Broadcaster SVT.