#Roxane Weary

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[azazel-dreams]

Once you go this far by Kristen Lepionka

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤

[rootsandflcwers]

Tag Dump Pt. 2

[lgbtqreads]

Hi! What are some of your favourite queer (murder) mystery novels?

I need you to throw everything off your desk and read the following immediately:

Lev AC Rosen’s Evander Mills series (starting with Lavender House)

Kristen Lepionka’s Roxane Weary series (starting with The Last Place You Look)

Courtney Summers’ Sadie (YA) (more like a thriller but just trust me)

Tom Ryan’s Keep This to Yourself (YA)

Caleb Roehrig’s Last Seen Leaving (YA)

[himbowithapen]

Monsterfucktober - Day 7, Vampire

The empty streets of Nantes were cold that night.

            Cobbles, old and uneven, lined the path through the French streets and roads. They passed by houses in an unmoving stream, all grey and well-trodden. They sank into the ground underneath bridges and arches, there the shade gave room for shady activities. And they circled round town squares and monuments. But even with the clear skies, the still air, and the sparkling stars, hardly anyone dared to leave their homes, for the streets, the bridges, and the town square were all being watched.

Roxane had no choice. Her client had gone back on his word to let her stay the night, and forced her out of his home the moment their business was done. In less than a minute, she was out in the cold in nothing but her loose, sheer dress. From the moment she set foot on those cobbles, her blood ran cold. Immediately, she felt distant eyes watching her, she couldn’t tell where from, but she knew already: she was being watched.

            She went door-to-door, knocking frantically and asking to be let in for the night. But few answered her plea, and of those who did, all accused her of being the monster. As much as she hated theirs words, she understood their fear; were she in their position, she would hesitate to allow entry to someone at night. There was no telling her from the monsters, not without a crucifix and a wooden stake.

            Still, she didn’t stop. Roxane went through three streets, all slums, knocking and begging to be let in. With every knock, she felt the watching eyes draw nearer and nearer. When she finally found someone brave enough to open their door to her, she swore it was just behind her.

            “Please, I beg you. Let me stay the night! I don’t want to die out here.” Tears welled in her eyes, she dropped to her knees and insisted that she was indeed a person.

            The lady who answered opened the door with an air of grace, stunning Roxane with her beauty, contained in just her simple nightgown. She seemed was weary, yet there was a hint of something in her eyes, which were brought out beautifully by her foundation. It reminded her of the way a man looked at her once; yearning mixed with pity. “Poor thing… What’s your name dear?”

“Roxane.”

“Lovely to meet you. I’m Isabeau, but you can call me Isa.” She craned her head around the door frame, checking out the street she’d come down. “Come in, Please.”

            Roxane nodded, and stepped into the house. Warm air embraced her and she turned to thank her rescuer, but as she turned to look, she saw it: just across the street from where she stood was a figure, looking right back at her. Isa shut the door and it vanished from sight. Then she turned to her. Just as soon as it was shut, Isa turned to her and addressed her directly. “I’ve seen you before.”

            “Oh?”

            “Yes. On street corners.” She bolted the door of her home. “The men would come to you, and lead you to their homes.”

            “Ah… yes.”

            “Oh it’s quite alright! I admire your confidence. It’s no wonder they like you so much.”

            “Yeah, until they’ve had their way with you and suddenly all that’s on their mind is kicking you out in the middle of the night!”

            Isa gave her a sympathetic look. “That’s just awful. I couldn’t imagine doing that to someone so pretty.” She then offered Roxane a drink.

Shortly after, the pair were sat in the Isa’s lounge, sipping on some spiced tea. It was unlike anything Roxane had tried before; flavours sizzling against her tongue, leaving a sting that wasn’t all that unpleasant. She had explained it as ‘spiced chai’, which was just the word for tea in India, where she had spent a few years before returning to France.

            “Did you go with your husband?”

            Isa gave her a confused look. “Husband?”

            “Oh! I’m sorry. Just, you have such a lovely home, and it may have been presumptuous but– forgive me, please.”

            “It’s quite alright. Anyone would expect someone like me, especially in a house such as this, would have married rich at some point.” She admired the room. “But no. This was all my own doing; well, I had some friends help from time to time, but it’s mostly me.”

            “It’s wonderful. I love the bookshelves, and the patterns on the ceiling.” She trailed off, deep in thought. “May I ask you something?”

            Isa crossed one leg over the other and leaned in. “Go on.”

            “Are you nobility? Again, I’m being presumptuous, but from the way you carry yourself and your fine tastes, I would guess you went to more galas than workplace meetings.”

            “Does it really show?” She stood up and inspected herself in the mirror. Specifically, she was pouting at her neatly-styled hair “Merde! I’ve fallen into old habits again.” While fixing her hair, making it wilder and natural, she continued. “When the revolution happened, I was abroad. I worried what would happen should I come back a noble, so I did my best to blend with common folk. But I suppose such things are hard to keep buried. You’ll keep my secret, won’t you Roxane?” She held Roxane’s hand in her own and stroke it with her thumb.

            Roxane felt her cheeks turn hot, not even the gentlest man she’d been with touched her skin so delicately. “Well, you’re the kindest noble I’ve ever met, not that I’ve met many. Why did you return?”

            Isa didn’t stop stroking her hand, but she looked away, as if to recount. “Oh, you know how it is. Sometimes things change. India was no longer an option for me, the region I lived in was bled dry, so to speak. So, I decided it was time I returned to France, where things are so much more alive.”        

Roxane struggled to pay attention; her neck was beautiful. Smooth and supple. She wanted to kiss it. But quickly, she adjusted her focus. “Is India not lively?”

            “Oh it was. The first few years were wonderful; places to feast everywhere you go. But we ate all the food, and suddenly it was a struggle to have a good time.”

            “And you chose France to come back to? Why, I struggle to find bread even when I have the money for it!” Roxane chuckled nervously, and looked back to the woman. She was staring at her softly, a slight smile across her lips.

            “Poor thing. Poor, sweet thing.” Isa sat down beside her, and lightly stroked her hair. Roxane tried pulling back, but Isa leaned over her, across her body until she was all but lying over Roxane. Her voice turned low, almost a whisper. “I’m not interested in bread.”

            Roxane’s eyes widened. She felt her heart thump in her chest, and her entire body stiffen as the urge to run kicked in. Isa was alluring, and Roxane wanted to trust that she was a well-meaning person, but there was something in the way she spoke to her, looked down on her. Either Isa was coming onto her, or she was playing with her food. When she mustered the courage to speak, her voice trembled. “Is it me you’re interested in?”

            “Mmmmm, very.” Isa slid down Roxane’s body, maintaining constant eye contact as she lowered her face between her thighs. Roxane’s heart skipped a beat. She was still unsure, but it would be a lie to say her heart didn’t skip a beat when she felt Isa’s hand caress her waist. She was almost lost in thought when the noble woman spoke again. “May I?”

            “Yes.” Said Roxane, almost without thought. “Please.”

            Isa dipped underneath her dress. Roxane leaned up to look at her, and through the sheer fabric she saw Isa’s pale forehead just ahead of her crotchless underwear. Fear gripped at her chest, festered in her stomach. She tried to brace herself, tensing her legs to fend for her life. But then she felt something wet poke through her underwear, and immediately she leaned back, gasping.

            A tongue against her clit had never felt so good. She could still feel the fear in her heart, but that only made the sensation more intense. Isa’s skill was impeccable, and when Roxane went to moan, she found herself speechless—breathless even. She clutched at the sofa they lay on, trying to keep her eyes open as she looked up at the fancy ceiling. “Oh merde. Oh merde! Oh!” Her hips thrusted almost automatically, but still Isa’s mouth persisted: she licked inside Roxane’s vagina, sucked gently on her clit, then, gradually, her sucking became more intense. Roxane was panting, trying to keep her wits in spite of the explosions of pleasure taking place between her legs. Then she felt something scrape against her flesh: something sharp.

            “MERDE!” She kicked away from Isa, pulling her skirt back and trying her best to stand up. Isa let her, pulling back to sit up on the sofa. When Roxane got eyes on her, Isa was straddled on the sofa, with one leg on the floor.

            “What’s the matter, did I bite too hard?” She looked Roxane in the eye, and that was when she saw it: a trail of blood, trickling down the side of Isa’s mouth and collecting on her chin. “You taste so good, darling.”

            “What the fuck?! Why did you…” She stopped, frozen in terror as Isa gave her a wide smile. There was blood all over her teeth, all over her fangs. She looked down and saw it on her dress; a fresh red stain near the hem. “Don’t hurt me. Please.”

            “Hurt you? Oh no, not yet sweetheart.” Isa stepped up from the sofa, pulling the shoulder straps of her nightgown down past her shoulders, exposing her breasts. “I want to play first. Come, be my plaything.” Roxane was enchanted by her smile, by her exposed breasts, but the blood was too much for her.

            “Sorry, I’m off duty.” Her legs carried her away at high speed, and before she knew it Roxane was sprinting deeper into Isa’s house. She heard the vampire giggle behind her, but didn’t turn back.

*

“Rooooooxaneee.” Isa’s voice flowed across the house like fine wine over someone’s tongue. Roxane had hidden herself, tucked away in Isa’s wardrobe.  “You don’t have to hide from me tonight.” It sounded like she was singing. It was beautiful, but struck terror into her heart. “Rooooooxaneee…”

            She was getting closer. It was getting closer. Roxane heard the bedroom door creak as Isa slowly pushed it open all the way. Looking through the gap in the wardrobe, Roxane could see she was entirely naked. In spite of her terror, the feeling of Isa’s tongue on her clit brought her mind to annoyance: Why are you so evil yet so drop-dead gorgeous?! A trail of blood ran down her neck, between her breasts, and had reached her stomach before the droplet settled.

            She turned towards her en-suite, and Roxane lost sight of her. She cowered in silence, trying to keep control of her breathing and hoping that Isa would look elsewhere. But then suddenly the door of the wardrobe was thrust open, and Isa smiled at her just like when she first let her into her home, then pulled her out and onto the bed.

            Roxane was on her front, but rolled onto her back by the time Isa was upon her. The naked vampire grabbed her by both wrists and slammed them against the mattress above her head. She straddled Roxane’s waist and her smile turned more sinister, hungrier.

            “You know, if you weren’t trying to kill me—“ Roxane was cut off as Isa dipped her head low, going straight for her neck. A sharp pain flooded the area, followed by the warm trickle of blood.

            “Mmmmmm.” Isa sucked hard against her neck, and Roxane squirmed under her body. She felt something odd against her hips: was Isa grinding on her while killing her?!

            Panic shot through her and Roxane struggled, looking for any part of her body that wasn’t pinned down. The room was quickly turning blurry, and she did all she could think to do: she rolled back to her front.

            Isa was toppled onto her back. She let go of Roxane’s neck, and blood spilled all over the bed, all over the pair of them. In the movement, Roxane was able to pull her arms away, and now had one locking Isa’s wrists above her head, and the other around her throat. She was feeling dizzy, and the vampire’s smile and accompanying laughter was pissing her off.

            “My turn. She forced Isa’s head to look up and shot down with her own. Her open mouth collided with Isa’s supple neck, and with what strength she had left, Roxane began sucking.

            “Mmmm, yessss. Keep that up darling.” giggled Isa. I’m going to miss your fire when you pass out and I suck you dry. Even now, she pressed her hips against Roxane’s body. “My neck hasn’t felt so good since I got turned.”

            Roxane bit into her neck, tearing through skin and flesh. Isa screamed in pain, struggling against the human on top of her. She freed her hands and began attacking Roxane with them, trying to tear her off and scratch at her back. But Roxane kept sucking; she pulled back her teeth and sucked the blood out of Isa’s open wound. The vampire squirmed, quickly weakening as the wound took its toll. Then, before Roxane passed out, she went still and cold.

            She spat out what was left of the blood in her mouth, along with a chunk of flesh. It splattered against the floorboards, staining them in blood. Roxane looked at Isa’s still, naked body, and felt herself getting weary. “Fuck you.” She collapsed.

[mccoppinscrapyard]

Books Read/Listened To in 2023

* = owned

The Hellion’s Waltz by Olivia Waite (audiobook) : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In My Own Moccasins by Helen Knott- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Girls that Never Die by Safia Elhillo- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez (audiobook)- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

And Yet by Kate Baer - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ana María and the Fox by Liana de la Rosa * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Black Roses by Harold Green III- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Patience and Esther by S.W. Searle- ⭐️⭐️⭐️

She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Maus by Art Spiegelman * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jewdrowski (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Cheer Up! Love & Pompoms by Crystal Frazier * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Love Charade by Allie McDermid * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Yazidi! by Aurelien DuCoudray and Mini Ludvin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Private Charter by N. R. Walker (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Island Wisdom by Annie Daly & Kainoa Daines - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay by Julian Aguon (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality by Julia Shaw - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fire from the Sky by Moa Backe Astot (eARC) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fall Into You by Georgina Kiersten - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor Crewes * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jazz Owls by Margarita Engle * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

She Was Made for Me by Jen Morris - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck * - DID NOT FINISH

The Tiny Journalist by Naomi Shihab Nye - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gender is Really Strange by Teddy G. Goetz (eARC) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well Matched by Jen DeLuca (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Love Flushed by Evie Mitchell - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Skip! by Sarah Burgess (eARC)- ⭐️⭐️.5

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli (audiobook) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw * - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Her Night With the Duke by Diana Quincy (audiobook) - currently reading

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata- currently reading

You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky - currently reading

[sapphicbookoftheday]

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

Today's sapphic book of the day is The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka!

TW for murder mentioned in summary

Summary: "Sarah Cook, a beautiful blonde teenager, disappeared fifteen years ago, the same night her parents were brutally murdered in their suburban Ohio home. Her boyfriend Brad Stockton - black and from the wrong side of the tracks - was convicted of the murders and sits on death row, though he always maintained his innocence. With his execution only weeks away, his devoted sister, insisting she has spotted Sarah at a local gas station, hires PI Roxane Weary to look again at the case.

Reeling from the recent death of her cop father, Roxane finds herself drawn to the story of Sarah's vanishing act, especially when she thinks she's linked Sarah's disappearance to one of her father's unsolved murder cases involving another teen girl. Despite her self-destructive tendencies, Roxane starts to hope that maybe she can save Brad's life and her own.

With echoes of Sue Grafton, Dennis Lehane and the hit podcast Serial, The Last Place You Look is the gripping debut of both a bold new voice and character."

[flavoredbroadcast]

I started ‘The Last Place You Look’ by Kristen Lepionka today, and it has so many things I love.

Thank you to @lgbtqreads for recommending this book. The Last Place You Look is a Sue Grafton-type mystery with a bisexual lead character, who both talks about dating men and women and has slept with both a man and a woman in the portion that I’ve read. The mystery storyline is intriguing, and I like Lepionka’s lead character Roxane Weary a lot. Sure, she’s a self-destructive mess, processing her conflicted emotions about her father’s recent death through too much alcohol and casual sex. But I live for broke PIs who have troubles and drink too much, and I want to hug her.

Also, look at this quality wlw longing:

We looked at each other. Or, she looked at me, while I looked at my reflection in the lenses of her sunglasses.

“Lemme see your eyes,” I said.

She didn’t smile, but she pushed the sunglasses into her hair. Her eyes were lovely, pale green and sparkling.

“Hi,” she said again.

“Hello.”

——

We looked at each other for another long moment. There was a lot I wanted to say to her, but I couldn’t make myself say any of it. Then she pulled out her keys and adjusted the strap of her handbag.

“Okay. Well. Later.”

“I hope,” I said.

Catherine kissed her fingertips and reached out and pressed them against my sternum for the briefest instant. Then she turned and hurried down the sidewalk without another word.

And! there’s a sequel coming out in May! I’m stoked!

[tragedies-and-dreams]

The Stories You Tell by Kristen Lepionka — book review The Stories You Tell will quite likely by one of my biggest reading disappointments of 2019. This third instalment featuring PI Roxane Weary has made the characters established in book 1 and 2 sketches of their former selves.

[jolieeason]

The Stories You Tell (Roxane Weary: Book 3) by Kristen Lepionka

The Stories You Tell (Roxane Weary: Book 3) by Kristen Lepionka

4 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Date of publication: July 9th, 2019

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Roxane Weary

The Last Place You Look—Book 1

What You Want To See—Book 2

The Stories You Tell—Book 3

Where you find The Stories You Tell: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookBub

Book synopsis:

The Stories You Tell is Shamus Award-winning and…

[kennnnnnna]

Hi babe!!! Your book reading deadline is my new goal in life tbh. If I may ask, how many books are you trying to read? And also, do you have any book recommendations from the books you’ve read??

Also, you’re going to meet your goal!! I’m so proud of you 💕 that takes a lot of time and dedication and that’s worth celebrating and being proud of!

I'm trying to read 52 this year! (One per week) which means i need to read 26 by the end of June 😬 i just read two "tween" books to up my count and I'm working though the harry potter audiobooks when i need to multitask (and when I'm not jamming to in the heights lol I'm also reading the in the heights book)

i am working through a pretty old wlw mystery/amateur detective series by Elizabeth sims (truth be told i haven't finished the first one so can't give a solid review yet) and just finished cool for the summer by dahlia adler which is an adorable wlw romance novel 🥰

the best thing(s) I've read lately have been the roxane weary series by kristen lepionka! they're my absolute fav

[biandlesbianliterature]

It’s some kind of genius to give a private investigator the last name of Weary. It fits so snugly with our view of what a private investigator is like–sardonic, world weary. Kristen Lepionka’s PI is all that and then some. In her fourth novel featuring PI Roxane Weary, Lepionka brings us further along in understanding her complicated character and we become even greater fans. A steady hand guides the reader through her intricate plot, told with crisp pose and an expert’s sense of pace, humor, action, repose. With Roxane Weary on the case, we know we’re in for an entertaining ride.

Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

[rheaitis]

For the headcanon meme: (any of these that you want to do) Kamala and/or Deval Devi, Roxane (Mary Renault’s version), female! King Arthur, Sudeshna?

f!King Arthur

Morgant is the last, best protector she has: the one who trains her to take up the reins when his hand grows slack, who lets her feel her burgeoning strength and helps her uproot the stakes that she has always thought could keep her bound. She has followed him into the deep places of the world, trusting always and never blindly, finding always his breath at her back, his mouth redolent with words of power.

She kisses Leola’s wine-sour mouth one breathless night when even the wind is asleep and they are two awake by the still flame of the watch-fire: a night when the sky is a bowl of stars and every village cresting the hills a cluster of fireflies. It ought to be a graceless young thing, to be laughed at when they are older, bound about with wounds and weariness, but Arthes carries its warmth in her heart like hearthfire embers carried in a sealed pot from home to home.

Mererid goes about beneath the cloak of her brother’s name, a truth and a lie and a deeper truth. Arthes bore her in pain and fury, Morgant’s hand in her red to the wrist hauling her one child out of her, but she is Morgant’s daughter and has been since he dragged her squalling into the world and told her her name. She has his colouring and the curl of his mouth and the tilt of his eyes. Of their resemblance to Alwyn Orcades they speak never.

Gwynfor is not the first love of her life, but he bids fair to be the last and longest-lasting, with his bard’s mouth and his scribe’s hands and his heart like a starving hunter that has stalked an autumn-fat bear to her den. Her husband, her boy, her king enthroned and lovely beside her, wise in council and shy in her bed. A young man, and likely to take other lovers for pleasure and for children, but hers first and hers forever.

f!Arthur Pendragon from this fic.

[lgbtqreads]

Hi! I would love to hear some of your all time favourties :)

Okay, but as long as we acknowledge it’s just some. I always accidentally leave out huge favorites! (All links are to Bookshop, except where they don’t carry said book, because may as well treat yourself and support LGBTQReads and independent bookstores at the same time, right?)

YA Thriller: 

Female protag: Sadie by Courtney Summers

Male protag: Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig

Contemporary YA Romance

m/m: Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min 

f/f: She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick and Rachael Lippincott

m/f: Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

Heavier contemporary YA, all of which totally coincidentally have bi protags:

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake 

Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera 

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland (Please read it if you’re a fan of stuff like Daisy Jones and the Six, pleeeease)

Paranormal YA:  Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

YA Sci-fi: The Disasters by MK England

YA Fantasy:

Standalone: Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Duology: The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

Trilogy: Black Wings Beating by Alex London

YA Horror: The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

YA Magical Realism: Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

YA Fabulism: This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke

Historical YA: The above two titles and Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

YA Graphic Novels:

Male protag: Flamer by Mike Curato

Female protag: Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (but truly, The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz is right behind it)

New Adult Romance:

m/m: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

f/f: Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon

m/f: Hold Me by Courtney Milan

Adult Contemporary Romance:

m/m: The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

f/f:  Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

m/f: The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan

polyam: Triple Sec by TJ Alexander (f/f/gq)

Adult Historical Romance:

m/m: We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

f/f: The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Adult Contemporary Fiction:

In at the Deep End by Kate Davies

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly

Body Grammar by Jules Ohman

Adult Mystery Series:

Contemporary: Roxane Weary by Kristen Lepionka

Historical: Evander Mills by Lev A.C. Rosen 

Adult Thriller: 

Male protag: Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

Female protag: Temper by Layne Fargo

Adult Horror: Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist

Adult Science Fantasy: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (adult science fantasy)

Adult Fantasy: 

Standalone: The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Series: The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood (please for the love of god at least try this if you’re a huge fan of Gideon already)

Adult Sci-Fi: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

[omnivore-bibliosaur]

Review: The Stories You Tell by Kristen Lepionka

Must-read crime series featuring badass Ohio P.I. Roxane Weary: The Stories You Tell by Kristen Lepionka #bisexualreads

“A mystery with a deadline — what could go wrong?” Ohio-based private investigator Roxane Weary stars in another incredible installment of Kristen Lepionka’s compelling crime series. Roxane makes winter season ends meet with low-stress assignments, like searching for the source of counterfeit leggings. However, as she well knows, things can heat up in an instant. Late one night her brother Andrew…

[stripedscribe]

Bonus fic, for @majorgenerally, originally started with this as the gift, but it felt too dark, to fill your quote of “I am weary of all our sad stories—not hearing them, but that we have these stories to tell, that there are so many.” Roxane Gay Hope you enjoy! @daredevilexchange