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LGBTQIA+ Rainbow Reads January 2026 |
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Bad in the Blood
by Matteo L. Cerilli
In the city of Puck's Port, where motorized vehicles fill the streets and new technological marvels abound, something rotten is lurking under the surface. A violent murder at the docks seems to point to a fey killer, igniting a powder keg of distrust between the city's humans and its fey inhabitants--folks who wield wonderful but often uncontrollable magical power. Gristle Senan Maxim Junior finds himself caught in the middle. Forced into the reluctant role of private investigator, like his late father, he's working to solve the mystery of this fiery murder--mainly because his sister, Hawthorne Stregoni, is a fey herself with an unfortunate penchant for setting things ablaze. Hawthorne is part of an experimental study to control feyism but struggles to keep her powerful magic in check in a country that hates what she is. Can she and Gristle work together to find the true instigator of the murder before it's too late?--
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Love and Video Games
by Zachary Sergi
Ready Player One meets Heartstopper in this fun, fast, and fabulous read (M. K. England) as a myth-loving video game player competing in a tournament with his gamer friends and handsome crush discovers there isn't a cheat code to life--or love. In the real world, Keegan Thomas is a gay, eighteen-year-old mythology nerd with undiagnosed chronic pain. But in the myth-inspired, online video game world of Pantheonic, he is the glorious and powerful K.Odyssia, slaying legions of enemies and completing quests for honor and glory along with his team, the Epic Hearts. Despite his closeness to his gamer friends--and the secret crush he has on his teammate, Alix--no one knows that he is struggling with the sudden onset of chronic pain in his lower back and fears it will hinder his ability to move to NYU in the fall. When a quest in Pantheonic turns out to be a secret invitation to an in-person tournament in New York City, Keegan has to battle his fears of concealing and managing his pain so that his team can attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. Competing against six other teams, members of the Epic Hearts must work together to outwit and outplay the others to win the tournament and the hefty cash prize. But can Keegan as K.Odyssia be one of the heroes that Pantheonic needs while he's laser-focused on his own epic battle? Will he be able to level up his relationship with Alix and lead his team to victory? It's time for the games to begin!
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Rules for Fake Girlfriends by Raegan RevordRom-com obsessed, Avery attends her late mother's alma mater in England, where she agrees to pretend to be a local girl's girlfriend in exchange for help solving a scavenger hunt designed by her mother, but as their fake relationship deepens, Avery must confront her mother's past and the risks of love.
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Everything She Does Is Magic
by Bridget Morrissey
Darcy Keller, resident ray of sunshine and town spirit princess, loves every moment of Fableview's fall festivities. But she's also really ready to leave for college next year, even though her parents expect her to stay and take over their Halloween empire. Enter brooding new girl Anya Doyle, a real-life witch and almost a full member of her coven. In order to be initiated, she has to choose a mortal ally to act as her protector. But having moved around so much, Anya is completely friendless. So she does what any self-respecting teenage almost-witch would--she lies and tells her coven her secret crush, Darcy, is willing to do the job. The solution? Work together, of course. The girls agree to help each other out, attending everything from a costume parade to a pumpkin patch party to an apple bobbing contest together. But with Anya's magical powers and Darcy's future independence on the line, the last thing they need is the added complication of pesky feelings...--
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The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood & Boyfriends
by Jamie D'Amato
Nineteen-year-old Brennan, a college freshman who becomes a vampire after a suicide attempt, navigates his new life in an underground vampire society, keeps his secret from Cole, the cute campus librarian, and deals with rising dangers while balancing his humanity and growing feelings for Cole.
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The L.O.V.E. Club
by Lio Min
Three estranged high schoolers are pulled into a video game to pursue the disappearance of their friend--
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Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire
by Don Martin
An Instant NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Indie BestsellerUSA Today Bestseller WELCOME TO FOXFIRE The rules here are simple: Don't look in the trees. Don't whistle in the woods at night. Don't answer if you hear yourname called. And remember . . . everything wants. Verity Vox is a witch-in-training who has never met a problem her spells can't solve. But when a cryptic plea for help sends her to the forgotten coal mining town of Foxfire, she soon learns even magic has its limits. Verity discovers a curse was laid years ago by a traveling magician who vanished into the ancient Appalachian hills to seek greater power. Crops won't grow. Bellies go hungry. Even treasured possessions fall apart. What's worse, people have gone missing amidst rumors that they've sought out the magician who is lying in wait for those foolish or desperate enough to strike a deal with him. The witch must break the curse, find a missing girl, and solve the mystery of what's really under the mountain before the town falls forever into the clutches of the monster lurking in the hills.
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The Duke Steals Hearts & Other Body Parts
by Elias Cold
A trans teen who steals and ransoms body parts with magic investigates a string of missing girls--falling in love with one of them from afar. Wielding a magic that allows him to pop off limbs, con artist Phyllis steals body parts and his partner Lucent ransoms them. Everyone who knows about Phyllis's magic is afraid of him--except for Lucent. But his partner's love comes with one condition: Phyllis must keep stealing. But when a mark can't afford ransom for his missing nose, Phyllis loses his resolve. The man claims his sister, Adeline, was taken, and without her money he can't pay until she's found. Intrigued, Phyllis investigates Adeline's disappearance, but she is not the only missing girl in their seedy city. To gain answers from the nobility, Phyllis masquerades as a duke--Lord Phillip of Rabbiton--and begins to fall in love with both stories of Adeline and the man he's becoming to try and find her. Soon, he's not sure he ever wants to return to Lucent and their life of crime together. When he finally finds Adeline with another missing girl, it turns out they're not dead--but undead. To win Adeline's heart and break from his toxic past, Phillip will have to scheme to keep his title and master his evolving magic.
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America's Not-So-Sweetheart
by Blair Hanson
After spending the year suffering as a reality TV villain IRL, Alec Braud will do anything to get his redemption arc. Alec Braud may have won his season of the hit teen reality TV show Campfire Wars, but he's lost the war of public opinion. At seventeen, he's the most hated teen in America just because he betrayed his showmance, Joaquín Delgado. Alec only did it to use the cash prize to help his parents' wildlife rehabilitation center. And Joaquín forgave him--so why can't everybody else? Joaquín was the golden boy of their season, and everyone still loves him--including Alec. So when he asks Alec to join him on a trip to re-create classic movie kisses for his art school portfolio, Alec agrees in the hopes it'll mend his reputation. What could possibly go wrong on a week-long cross-country road trip with his ex and lots of fake kissing? Lines get blurred between what part of the trip is for the camera and what isn't. From there, things get even more complicated when trouble at his parents' wildlife rehabilitation center tempts Alec to attend a CW convention for a chance to get his family more money. At the convention, Alec hears that villains from other seasons are plotting to get onto an upcoming allstars season to redeem themselves--and they want him to join. With former players trying to recruit him, Joaquín hinting he might want to get back together with him, and show execs whispering in his ear, Alec will have to decide for himself who he really is and what he really wants.
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Don't Let Me Go
by Kevin Christopher Snipes
Two star-crossed boys are trapped in a millennium-spanning cycle of reincarnation that always ends in their untimely tragic deaths and the only solution may be to never see each other again--
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You Don't See Me
by Chris Ricketts
Ros has finally found Eddy, the girlfriend they've always wanted. But Ros can't tell her the truth: that they are trans, and want to live in a male body.At a party Ros's classmates discover they're a lesbian - but that's not the true story. As Ros's life gets ever harder to navigate, a new friendship with a boy changes everything and Ros confides in him. Once the truth is out, things take on a momentum that Ros can't control.Ros is surprised that their school turns out to be supportive of their identity. But what's the next move? And what will happen when Eddy finds out?
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Cuban American Camila Núñez has always been afraid of the future. She's been working hard to keep her anxieties in check, but with so many new experiences--her first queer love, trouble with her dogwalking job, her mother's judgments about her body, learning to drive, her father being too busy with work--there's just so much to worry about. So when Camila's best friend gives her a tarot card reading for her sixteenth birthday, she believes it when the cards predict terrible things to come. As the year unfolds, the cards seem to be spot-on--is her papi having an affair? Will her best friend's love life ruin their friendship? Are all her relationships doomed to fail? Whether she's ready or not, Camila will have to reckon with all the ways her fear about the future is ruining her life and learn to find peace amidst it all."--Provided by publisher. |
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