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LGBTQIA+ Rainbow Reads August 2026 |
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Shapes of Love
by L. V. Peñalba
When nineteen-year-old Sasha becomes famous for her love songs, she feels pressured to enter a fake relationship with her estranged best friend while hiding the fact that she identifies as aroace from her fans.
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I, in the Shadows
by Tori Bovalino
Maybe this is possession; maybe this is truly what it is to be haunted. There's a ghost haunting Drew Tarpin's new room. Liam Orville has been dead for ten months and has no idea how to move on. But the longer he stays, the more likely it is he'll degrade into an energy consuming husk--which Drew is more concerned about than her grades or her inability to make meaningful connections with other students. Drew is everything Liam never was when he was alive, but they do share some common ground: Drew finds herself hopelessly attracted to--and completely tongue-tied around--Hannah Sullivan, who happens to be Liam's former best friend. After a run-in with a ghost-eating monster leaves Drew and Liam desperate for answers, they strike up a deal: In return for Drew investigating why Liam is still around, he'll help her talk to Hannah. But Liam's time is running out, and if Drew doesn't help him move on, he risks becoming a monster himself.
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The Celestial Seas
by T. a. Chan
A tale of identity, love, and the hunt for vengeance in the darkest corners of space--perfect for fans of Iron Widow and Aurora Rising! Ishara Ming is the sole survivor of a spacefaring whaler destroyed by the Ballena, a legendary sentient spacecraft that haunts the darkness between stars. The fatal encounter left her with a metal-plated arm, a faulty memory chip, and a burning need for revenge. To take on the Ballena, Ishara assembles a crew of capable misfits. Among them is Quinn--her trusted first mate, the girl with wildfire eyes, and the only person who always stands by her side, even when everyone else thinks Ishara is a delusional captain who hallucinated the Ballena. That is, until Augustus, a ship mech armed with his own mysterious reasons for vengeance, convinces Ishara to let him join the crew. He brings the one thing Ishara's never had before: a tracking method tailored for finding the Ballena. Pulled between Quinn's and Augustus's gravitational forces, the pressure to issue increasingly risky orders, and the feeling that her past is rapidly catching up with her future, Ishara has to decide what--or who--she is fighting for before she loses another ship.
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Maybe Tomorrow I'll Know
by Alex Ritany
Laurie wakes up in a girl's body with no memories, driving down an unknown highway, and promptly crashes the car. Thankfully, a handsome stranger named Gideon comes to his rescue. It's awkward for Laurie to pretend that he's a girl, but at least this is the scariest thing he'll ever have to deal with.Except the next morning--and every morning after--Laurie wakes up barreling down that same highway. He re-meets Gideon every day, with no idea who this girl whose body he's inhabiting even is. Only one thing is clear: he's on a countdown. Laurie has been given only one hundred days to get back in the right body, break the time loop, and not fall for Gideon while he does it. Maybe Tomorrow I'll Know is a funny, deeply felt exploration of love, identity, and what it means to move through the world in a body that is truly yours.
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Time-Tripping Over You
by Brennon Lane
You're not from here? Where are you from?Your future. I know you, Jude. And I know you want control over the time traveling. I can fix it.College freshman Silas Turner is a scientific anomaly. Thrown back in time uncontrollably, he's forced into his pre-transition body for hours to days at a time, reliving random events in his past. Why? Every cell in his astrophysics major brain is straining to figure it out. But the time trips just keep on coming, disrupting Silas's life, and he's certain he's a one-of-a-kind phenomenon--until brash, guitar-playing Jude Forrester barges into his life, exhibiting the same symptoms. He claims a future version of Silas visited him, and that, according to future-Silas, they're meant to help each other stop the time trips. If working together can really lead to finding a cure, Silas can handle Jude's tortured-artist attitude; Jude can humor Silas's nerdy obsession with the stars. As they get closer to a solution, they grow closer to each other. But Jude is still grieving an old connection that broke his heart, and he can't help but wonder if changing the past might save himself and Silas a lot of heartache. Amidst cataclysmic consequences, Silas and Jude must face the cosmic circumstances that brought them together if they hope to protect their timeline--and the future they seem destined to share.
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They Want Us Dead
by CL Montblanc
When a true-crime meetup at a creepy Victorian mansion ends in a murder, seventeen-year-old Sam Tombs must work with their internet nemesis, Dylan, to clear their name and find the killer before their own death become tomorrows trending content.
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The Unruly Heart of Miss Darcy
by Erin Edwards
Mr. Darcy got his happily ever after in Pride and Prejudice, and now it's his sister's turn in this swoony queer romance, perfect for fans of Bridgerton. Georgiana Darcy has only ever kissed one girl before, and the resulting blackmail almost ruined her reputation. Since then, she's carefully calibrated her life to be as quiet as possible, focusing on books and music. She certainly isn't planning on falling in love with another girl. But then she meets Kitty Bennet, and everything is thrown off kilter. After a moonlit kiss shifts their newfound friendship into something more, Georgiana follows Kitty to the Bennets' home. The visit proves ill-timed when she encounters the one man who knows her secret and threatened her with it before. Terrified of testing the limits of her family's love and of putting Kitty in danger, Georgiana doesn't know if there's any chance of a happy ending. Every etiquette guide she's ever read makes it clear that if she wants to protect her family name, Georgiana must pretend her heart follows society's accepted rhythm. Unless, with a little help from those who understand how it feels, she can compose the future she and Kitty both deserve.
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Between Sun and Shadow
by Laura Genn
When sixteen-year-old Kori, the princess of the Daylands, is kidnapped by seventeen-year-old Adria, the mutant queen of the Shadowlands, they develop an unexpected attraction and an advantageous partnership to avert a war between their nations.
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Wavelength
by Cale Plett
Hannah Montana meets Heartstopper in this story of a teen pop star on the run from fame who finds family, love and gender euphoria when they become entangled with a local band. Seventeen-year-old pop sensation Sasha may be famous, but they've always kept a layer of anonymity by covering their face to perform. Facing pressure to unmask in public, Sasha runs away to a nowhere midwestern city, planning to finish senior year and come out as nonbinary away from the limelight. But their plan falters from the moment they meet Wavelength, an alt-rock band, and their lead singer. Lillian is struggling to keep the band together, caught in a mess of lyrics, late-night texts and ill-conceived love notes. She's torn between feelings for her ex-girlfriend (and ex-bandmember) and her new infatuation with Sasha. Maybe this stranger is the new singer and the new love she's looking for -- even though Sasha's stories don't seem to quite add up. If a whisper of Sasha's fame gets out, their new life is over. Sasha's manager is tracking them down, Wavelength is on the rise, and everyone's hearts are in the mosh pit. Turn off the houselights. The band's counting in. Key Text Features chapters dialogue lyrics
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Ramin Abbas Has Major Questions
by Ahmad Saber
While grappling with his identity as a gay Muslim, senior Ramin joins the soccer team in his final semester to meet his graduation requirements.
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Meet Me at the Picket Line
by Jasper Sanchez
A swoon worthy romance wrapped in courage, solidarity, and queer happiness --Mason Deaver, bestselling author of I Wish You All the BestUnionizing his job wasn't on Eli Goldstein's summer bucket list--but neither was falling for his irritatingly self-righteous and handsome school rival. Sparks fly on the picket line in this hilarious, coming-of-age rom-com that's perfect for fans of Jason June, Page Powars, and A.M. Woody All's fair in love and solidarity...Eli Goldstein might be the only teenager looking forward to earning minimum wage at his objectively terrible summer job. Not only will he be working at the kitschy roadside museum he loves, he'll finally have the down payment for his top surgery with a first-class surgeon.But the museum really is a late-stage capitalist hellscape, and Eli's co-workers--led by his irritatingly self-righteous and annoyingly attractive school rival, Efra n--plan to unionize. With his sanity and safety at risk on the job, Eli knows he has to join their campaign.If he and Efra n can stop bickering long enough to keep their ragtag union together, they might actually have a shot. But when management begins to grow suspicious, Eli will have to make a choice: Is he willing to stand in solidarity with his friends and the boy he's starting to fall for, even if it means risking his job and the key to his life-changing surgery?Labor Rights Summer Meets Rivals-to-Lovers: Eli came to collect a paycheck, not his morally supervisor classroom rival who looks ridiculously good yelling through a megaphone.Forced Proximity Meets Slow-Burn Romance: Working side by side (and arguing nonstop) at their summer job turns bickering into something deeper, whether Eli and Efra n are ready for it or not.Fall for the Boy, Fight the System: If Eli is risking everything to fight for his rights, he might as well risk his heart too.
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Charmed and Dangerous
by Shelly Page
An absolutely delightful romp that you need in your life. --C.B. Lee, New York Times bestselling author of Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe A teen mystic will do anything to solve a series of love-related magical mishaps plaguing her high school, including fake dating her boss's daughter, in this charming sapphic romance. Magic lingers in the cozy town of Fair Glen, Illinois, and it's up to the agents at the Bureau of Mystical Affairs to keep it in check. Monroe Bennett, a junior recruit at the Bureau, is ready to ace her first assignment: tracking down the source of a rogue love charm. Protecting her charmed classmates, including the Bureau Director's daughter Iris James, is top priority. But when Iris asks Monroe to fake date her to make her ex jealous, things get complicated. Monroe believes in duty, not romance. Yet the more time she spends with Iris, the harder it is to ignore the very real sparks flying between them. Can Monroe protect herself from love long enough to solve this case, or will her growing feelings get in the way?
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