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NEW QUEER FICTION FOR ADULTS December 2025 |
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Son of the Morning by Akwaeke EmeziTenderhearted Galilee was raised by the Kincaids, a formidable clan of Black women sequestered deep in the weeping willows and dark rushing creeks of their land. Galilee has always known that she's different—that there is an old and unknowable secret around her very existence. It has been a hollow ache inside her since her childhood, something she assumes she will always have to live with.Until she meets Lucifer Helel. He's fronting as the head of security for her wealthy friend Oriaku's family, protecting a mysterious, ancient artifact, but from the moment she lays eyes on him, Gali knows he's not human. From her first incendiary touch, Lucifer knows something even Gali herself doesn't—that she isn't human either. Enter: Leviathan. As Lucifer's most trusted prince of Hell, Levi is ruthless and determined to eliminate the intolerable danger that is Galilee before she brings death and disaster to those he loves. While unseen battles rage between Hell, Heaven, and earth, Lucifer and Galilee's attraction threatens to bring all the structures of their existence crashing down around them.Soon, loyalties will be shattered and reformed as Kincaid secrets clash with the princes of Hell, driving even the most powerful to their knees.
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I Am You by Victoria RedelAt eight years old, Gerta Pieters is forced to disguise herself as a boy and sent to work for a genteel Dutch family. When their brilliant and beautiful daughter Maria sees through Gerta’s ruse, she insists that Gerta accompany her to Amsterdam and help her enter the elite, male-dominated art world.While Maria rises in the ranks of society as a painting prodigy, Gerta makes herself invaluable in every way: confidante, muse, lover. But as Gerta steps into her own talents, their relationship fractures into a complex web of obsession and rivalry—and the secrets they keep threaten to unravel everything
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The Sunflower Boys by Sam WachmanIn many ways, twelve-year-old Artem's life in Chernihiv, Ukraine, is normal. He spends his days helping on his grandfather's sunflower farm, drawing in his sketchbook—a treasured gift from his father, who works in America—and swimming in the river with his little brother, Yuri. In secret, Artem has begun wrestling with romantic feelings for his best friend, Viktor. In a country where love between two boys is unthinkable, Artem has begun to worry that growing up, his life will never be normal.Then, on a February night, Artem and Yuri are woken by explosions—the beginning of a war that will tear their life in two. The invading Russians destroy their home, killing their mother and grandfather, and leaving young Artem and Yuri to fend for themselves. Fleeing in hopes of somehow reuniting with their father, the brothers traverse the country their ancestors once fought and died for, with nothing but their backpacks and each other. Surrounded by death and destruction, Artem is certain of one thing—that whatever may come, he must keep himself and his brother alive
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The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih AlameddineIn a tiny Beirut apartment, sixty-three-year-old Raja and his mother live side by side. A beloved high school philosophy teacher and "the neighborhood homosexual," Raja relishes books, meditative walks, order, and solitude. Zalfa, his octogenarian mother, views her son's desire for privacy as a personal affront. She demands to know every detail of Raja's work life and love life, boundaries be damned. When Raja receives an invite to an all-expenses-paid writing residency in America, the timing couldn't be better. It arrives on the heels of a series of personal and national disasters that have left Raja longing for peace and quiet away from his mother and the heartache of Lebanon. But what at first seems a stroke of good fortune soon leads Raja to recount and relive the very disasters and past betrayals he wishes to forget.
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Like Family by Erin O. WhiteRadclyffe, New York, is an idyllic upstate town, nestled in the hills and complete with artisanal bakeries, pottery studios, and hidden swimming holes. Ruth and her wife, Wyn, are living the dream (or Wyn’s dream, at least) with their four children on their small farm, which is also the bucolic gathering place for their circle of friends. It’s a sweet life, but there’s a secret at its center, one that not even Ruth’s best friend, Caroline, knows.What Caroline does know is that she loves and depends on Ruth, and on the bond between their families. More than anything, she wants her tender-hearted son not to grow up lonely the way she did. Unfortunately, no one can assure her of that, especially not her husband. He just wants things to be easy, drama-free—which is impossible, as he has donated his sperm to his cousin Tobi and her wife so that they could have kids of their own. Now those children are asking unanswerable questions.After an unexpected death in their community, all three couples are forced to confront the tensions that have long been buried beneath the surfaces of their lives.
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The Book of Luke by Lovell HolderFollowing the car accident that ended his football career and left his body scarred, 22-year-old Luke Griffin joins the cast of Endeavor, a new competition-based reality show that pits the tabloids' darlings against one another in tasks of endurance and problem solving. At first, he thrives, effortlessly forming friendships and even a romantic relationship that he thinks will last a lifetime. But Luke has aspirations far bigger than the show's million-dollar prize, and soon a series of betrayals leads to irreversible tragedy, changing the course of his and his fellow contestants' lives forever. Ten years later, Luke's world looks very different: he is now a father of two and the stay-at-home husband to America's only openly gay senator. When his husband's serial cheating is exposed, Luke impulsively joins the cast of Endeavor's latest season in a desperate bid to earn some fast cash. Back on set, he is confronted with everything he tried to leave in the past: bitter rivalries, shattered friendships, and crushing guilt, all of which threaten to tear down the walls he's spent a decade building. As Season 20 of Endeavor kicks off, Luke must give everything to the game, even as he finally learns what it means - and what it costs - to face the truth.
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MYSTERY & THRILLER FICTION
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Series: Harriman & Mancini bk 1There can be a blurry line between what is ethical and what is legal. Margot Baxter Harriman took the reins of B&H Foods after her father passed. It's not easy being a business woman in 1912, but she is determined to continue what her grandparents started decades ago, no matter what it takes. So when Margot finds Mrs. Gilroy, her father's former assistant, dead in the office with a half-finished note confessing to nebulous misdeeds at B&H, she seeks out help from a very discreet, private investigator to figure out what's going on. Her company, and her good name, are at stake if scandal breaks ... and she could lose everything, including her freedom. Loretta "Rett" Mancini has run her father's investigation operation since he started becoming increasingly forgetful. When Margot offers her the chance to look into the potential scandal with B&H, she jumps at it. But the more the two dig in, the more it becomes clear that Margot's company may be too far lost...and someone is willing to kill them both to keep things quiet. |
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All of Us Murderers by KJ CharlesWhen Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative’s remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn’t possibly get worse.Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family—but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there’s no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house’s shadowy depths…Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House—and live to tell the tale?
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The Salvage by Anbara Salam It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trailblazing marine archaeologist, has been called to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. A Victorian shipwreck, dragged from arctic waters, holds the remains of a celebrated explorer and the treasures of his final expedition. But on her first dive down to the ship, Marta becomes convinced she has seen a dark figure lurking amid the wreckage. When the Cuban Missile Crisis and the deep chill of a record-breaking winter keeps Marta stranded on Cairnroch, she forms a relationship with Elsie, a local woman working in the island's only hotel. When the ship's artifacts inexplicably disappear, Marta and Elsie have to brave the freezing conditions to search for the missing objects before anyone else catches on. As something eerie seems to follow her at every step, Marta must confront if the haunting is a figment of her imagination, the repercussions from a terrible mistake from her past, or if something more sinister is at play that will trap her and everyone on the island-and their secrets-in an icy wilderness.
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That's Amore by Georgia BeersMeet Lily Chambers--the hugely successful, book-tour loving, swoon-inducing romance writer at the pinnacle of her career. At least for now. When Lily sent her last manuscript to her publisher, she had no idea it could be her last. Struggling with more than a terminal case of writer's block, Lily has lost her passion. For writing. For romance. For life. How can she not feel like a fraud after being on her own for years? Hoping to shake things loose, Lily's BFF suggests she spend some time in one of the most romantic cities in the world: Rome. If the architecture, the history, and the food don't inspire her, nothing will. Or it would, if Lily was able to look away from Marina Troiani, her witty, smart, and unassumingly beautiful Italian tour guide. Marina makes Lily feel something. Finally. Slowly the words start flowing. But the age gap and continent that separates them make starting a new chapter together impossible. What's even worse than torpedoing your career? Falling in love only to have your own HEA just out of reach.
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Sunset at Zero Point by Simon StålenhagBeginning in 2024, yet set largely during the early 2000s, Sunset at Zero Point unfolds on a secluded Swedish island, home to a secret weapon lab that has been off-limits for years, evoking the bestselling works of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. Stålenhag’s masterful storytelling and hyper-realistic art transports you to an alternate history revealing his most intimate work to date, delving into themes of masculinity, friendship, and sexuality through the lens of a queer science fiction tale. The story spans decades following two young men, stuck in the past and each other’s orbit, as fleeting moments become defining memories as they set out to explore the forbidden zone together. Set against the backdrop of Stålenhag’s native Sweden and based on the alternate version of Mälaröarna outside of Stockholm, Sunset at Zero Point juxtaposes giant futuristic machines with the inner turmoil of its characters facing a social dystopia, crafting a narrative that is both visually stunning and emotionally resonant.
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George Falls Through Time by Ryan CollettNewly laid off George’s internet bill is in his ex-boyfriend’s name. He’s got a spider-infested apartment, and two of the six dogs he’s walking in London have just escaped. It’s pure undiluted stress that sends him into a spiral, all the way to the year 1300. When he comes to, George recognizes the same rolling hills of Greenwich Park. But the luxuries and phone service of modernity are nowhere. In their place are locals with a bizarre, slanted speech in awe of his foreign clothes, who swiftly toss him in a dungeon. Despite the barbarity of a medieval world, a servant named Simon helps George acclimate to a simpler, easier existence—until a summons from the King threatens to send his life up in flames.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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The Public Library
501 Copper NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
505-768-5141abqlibrary.org |
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