#camryn garrett

[lgbtqreads]

February 2025 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction Bram Stoker Award-longlisted author of MY DARLING DREADFUL THING Johanna van Veen‘s SAINT, SINNER, SKULL, a sapphic folk horror novel with a fantastical twist following a nun and an orphaned peasant on their harrowing journey across a war-torn countryside to reunite the gilded skull of a saint to her body – but soon it becomes clear darker are forces at play, pitched as Robert…

[blacksapphicguide]

Cleo x Imani It Had To Be You (short film)

[caribeandthebooks]

Caribe's Romance TBR - Part 1

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Full Disclosure

Author: Camryn Garrett

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2019

Genres: fiction, contemporary, LGBT+, romance

Blurb: Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time, things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as the student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time...well, last time, things got ugly. Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps isn't so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real - shy kisses escalating into much more - she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she's positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she's terrified of how he'll react...and then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles, or everyone else will know too. Simone's first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on.

[authorsshipzutara]

Camryn Garrett ships Zutara.

Explore her works on GoodReads and StoryGraph.

Website: https://camryngarrett.com

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[wttnblog]

6 Incredible LGBTQ+ Romance Books Eligible for The Goodreads Choice Awards

It’s Goodreads Choice Awards season once again, and as per usual it has already done its best to be un-inclusive and problematic. In a stroke of creative antagonism, Goodreads removed the Poetry, Middle Grade, and Children’s categories from contention, meaning that three entire genres of books cannot be recognized. At the same time it added “romantasy”, a trend sub-genre that is already…

[libraryleopard]

YA contemporary coming-of-age/romance

Follows high schooler Mahalia, who is determined to throw a coming-out party to celebrate her queerness after she’s unable to have a Sweet Sixteen

While planning for her party, Mahalia also starts to fall for the new girl at school, Siobhan

However, Siobhan’s racist boyfriend and money troubles might get in the way of a budding romance and Mahalia’s party before they even happen

Black, bi/pan protagonist; biracial Black & white, questioning bi love interest; F/F romance

[qbdatabase]

Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She’s making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she’s HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.

Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real–shy kisses escalating into much more–she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.

Simone’s first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on…

[stardustandrockets]

DECEMBER RAINBOW CRATE SPOILERS

I think the rep boxes are some of my favorites! This is my third one (I missed the ace box as I wasn't aware of them back then) and they keep getting better! Especially now that they're doing more customizations on the books.

Included in the box: • tradpub: Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales with a redesigned dust jacket and signed book plate • indie pub: The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens with a whole new design and signed bookplate to match • Monthly collectible magnet inspired by Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett • bisexual book coasters • bisexual pride pin • bi pride metal mark inspired by I Knew Him by Abigail de Niverville (not pictured because of transit issues)

The coasters have already gotten a lot of use, and the magnet lives on my fridge with the others.

[carladuquette]

everyone go read FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE

it’s a wlw love story + also includes a great friendship

it’ll make you laugh

it’ll make you cry

i rest my case.

[neverthetwinsshallmeet]

#QueerYourYear prompt 17: a book about queer joy

For this prompt, I picked Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett. Garrett’s novel is a a young adult coming-of-age story starring Mahalia, a high schooler who decides to throw a coming-out party to tell the world that she’s bisexual. Mahalia has dreamed of having a Sweet Sixteen for years, but when family money problems get in the way of having one, she decides to save up for a party on her own terms. At the same time, she starts falling for Siobhan, the new girl at school and finds herself juggling new responsibilities that might put a stop to her party before it’s even begun. 

This is a sweet and emotional read like an ode to rom-coms and queer joy. While Friday I’m in Love covers some heavier topics like poverty, religious homophobia, and the racism that Mahalia encounters at school as a Black girl, it’s still a story with plenty of joy and uplifting moments. Mahalia’s budding romance with Siobhan is sweet and I thought Mahalia was a well-crafted teenage protagonist–passionate and flawed, reacting realistically under a lot of pressure. It’s a quick read, one I sped through in the course of one weekend morning in bed, and I think one that works really well for this prompt since it’s ultimately all about Mahalia’s dream to authentically celebrate herself and find joy in her identity. 

[blacksapphicguide]

Cleo x Imani It Had To Be You (short film)

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: Friday I’m In Love by Camryn Garrett

Have you ever seen a more joyful cover than the one on this book? I knew that I was going to adore this story before I even opened it and I’m happy to report that it did deliver!

Mahalia Harris and her mum didn’t have the money for a Sweet Sixteen but Mahalia has a plan. She’ll save the money up herself and have a Coming Out party. But it seems that the road won’t be smooth. Bills need to be paid, bosses need to be impressed, parents need to be navigated, school work needs to be done and to top it all, there’s a cute new girl called Siobhan. Can Mahalia juggle it all and still have the funds for her dream party?

Mahalia’s mum is very religious and the two go to church every Sunday. So, Mahalia is used to the judgements of church ladies. However, she isn’t sure she believes in a God that allows his flock to undergo so much suffering. Religion isn’t a huge feature in the book but it’s definitely there and of course, it’s a very relevant, important part of Mahalia’s upbringing.

Mahalia’s friends all come from wealthy families and the tension that this causes occasionally shows. Her best friend Naomi doesn’t always understand Mahalia’s struggles and while she always has good intentions, they are sometimes misplaced. However, I really loved watching their beautiful, genuine friendship and never had any doubts that they’d be very close for life.

Siobhan dates an irritating, popular boy called Danny and this makes it harder for Mahalia to know whether she would ever have a chance with her. I really admired how self-aware Mahalia was. Perhaps the fact that she has grown up Black, gay, female and poor has forced her to mature quicker than her peers but I was really impressed with how she handled the tough situations she was thrown into with kindness and forethought.

Friday I’m In Love is a really wonderful, smile-inducing YA queer romance and the story seemed to shine out of the pages. Mahalia wants to work in radio and there are also several eclectic playlists scattered throughout the book, forming a soundtrack. Full of warm heart and self-acceptance, this is a gorgeous, musical, romantic treat that will leave you twirling the night away.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

❤️ Black History Month - Queer Books + Black Authors

🦇 Good evening, beloved bookish bats. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far! Are you trying to read more queer books this year? More books by diverse authors? Books by black authors, not only for Black History Month, but all year long? Do I have a list for you (now featuring four new slides / 48 new books!).

❓What queer book and/or book featuring black characters have you recently read? Which one is on your tbr?

❤️ The Taking of Jake Livingston - Ryan Douglass ❤️ Mademoiselle Revolution - Zoe Sivak ❤️ Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ Alex Wise vs. the End of the World - Terry J. Benton-Walker ❤️ The Forest Demands its Due - Kosoko Jackson ❤️ Monstrous - Jessica Lewis ❤️ Thank You for Sharing - Rachel Runya Katz ❤️ Salt the Water - Candice Iloh ❤️ Trailer Park Prince - Andre L. Bradley ❤️ Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh ❤️ Escaping Mr. Rochester - L.L. McKinney ❤️ Whenever You’re Ready - Rachel Runya Katz

❤️ Blood Justice - Terry J. Benton-Walker ❤️ Something Kindred - Ciara Burch ❤️ Infinity Alchemist - Kacen Callender ❤️ Vagabonds! - Eloghosa Osunde ❤️ Songs of Irie - Asha Ashanti Bromfield ❤️ Love and Sportsball - Meka James ❤️ Dead Girls Walking - Sami Ellis ❤️ Sleep Like Death - Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Where Shadows Meet - Patrice Caldwell ❤️ Family Meal - Bryan Washington ❤️ Where Sleeping Girls Lie - Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Leather, Lace, and Locs - Anne Shade

❤️ Brooms - Jasmine Walls & Teo DuVall ❤️ Lush Lives - J. Vanessa Lyon ❤️ Second Night Stand - Karelia & Fay Stetz-Waters ❤️ Broughtupsy - Christina Cooke ❤️ Skye Falling - Mia McKenzie ❤️ It’s About Damn Time - Arlan Hamilton & Rachel L. Nelson ❤️ The Color Purple - Alice Walker ❤️ And Then He Sang a Lullaby - Ani Kayode ❤️ Till the Last Beat of My Heart - Louangie Bou-Montes ❤️ Stars in Your Eyes - Kacen Callender ❤️ Prince of the Palisades - Julian Winters ❤️ Icarus - K. Ancrum

❤️ The Black Period - Hafizah Augustus Geter ❤️ How Long Til Black Future Month? - N. K. Jemisin ❤️ The Poisons We Drink - Bethany Baptiste ❤️ I Think They Love You - Julian Winters ❤️ Dear Senthuran - Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ Another Brooklyn - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding - Chencia C. Higgins ❤️ So Let Them Burn - Kamilah Cole ❤️ Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde ❤️ Red at the Bone - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ How to Live Free in a Dangerous World - Shayla Lawson ❤️ I’m So (Not) Over You - Kosoko Jackson

❤️ Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender ❤️ Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta ❤️ Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ I'm a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee De La Cruz ❤️ Real Life by Brandon Taylor ❤️ Ruthless Pamela Jean by Carol Denise Mitchell ❤️ The Unbroken by C.L. Clark ❤️ Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova ❤️ Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Work for It by Talia Hibbert

❤️ All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson ❤️ The Deep by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters ❤️ Running With Lions by Julian Winters ❤️ Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters ❤️ This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender ❤️ The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum ❤️ This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow ❤️ Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia ❤️ Legendborn by Tracy Deonn ❤️ The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

❤️ Pet by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson ❤️ Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann ❤️ A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ Power & Magic by Joamette Gil ❤️ The Black Veins by Ashia Monet ❤️ Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow ❤️ Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James ❤️ Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

❤️ The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta ❤️ Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee ❤️ A Phoenix First Must Burn (edited) by Patrice Caldwell ❤️ Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson ❤️ Things We Couldn't Say by Jay Coles ❤️ Black Boy Out of Time by Hari Ziyad ❤️ Darling by K. Ancrum ❤️ The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode ❤️ Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Off the Record by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers ❤️ The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar

❤️ How to Dispatch a Human by Stephanie Andrea Allen ❤️ Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans ❤️ The Essential June Jordan (edited) by Jan Heller Levi and Christoph Keller ❤️ A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark ❤️ A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney ❤️ Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo ❤️ Dread Nation by Justina Ireland ❤️ Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome ❤️ Masquerade by Anne Shade ❤️ One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite ❤️ Soulstar by C.L. Polk ❤️ 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

❤️ Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender ❤️ Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby ❤️ A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann ❤️ Sweethand by N.G. Peltier ❤️ This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez ❤️ Memorial by Bryan Washington ❤️ Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

❤️ Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackosn ❤️ Mouths of Rain (edited) by Briona Simone Jones ❤️ Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia ❤️ Love's Divine by Ava Freeman ❤️ The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr ❤️ Odd One Out by Nic Stone ❤️ Symbiosis by Nicky Drayden ❤️ Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas ❤️ The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons ❤️ Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

❤️ Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert ❤️ My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson ❤️ Pleasure and Spice by Fiona Zedde ❤️ No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull ❤️ The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus ❤️ Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor ❤️ The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin ❤️ Peaces by Helen Oyeyem ❤️ The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk ❤️ Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh ❤️ Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge, Joy San ❤️ The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera

❤️ King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender ❤️ By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery ❤️ Busy Ain't the Half of It by Frederick Smith & Chaz Lamar Cruz ❤️ Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo ❤️ Sin Against the Race by Gar McVey-Russell ❤️ Trumpet by Jackie Kay ❤️ Remembrance by Rita Woods ❤️ Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo ❤️ You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour ❤️ The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters ❤️ Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi ❤️ Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyem

[queerliblib]

Happy July! There is so much great queer YA fiction with disability rep out there! Here are some of our recs, check them out from Queer Liberation Library on Libby 

Titles and rep:

Daniel, Deconstructed, by James Ramos (Autism/ASD);

Fresh, by Margot Wood (ADHD);

Full Disclosure, by Camryn Garrett (HIV+);

The Grimrose Girls, by Laura Pohl (Fibromyalgia);

Hell Followed with Us, by Andrew Joseph White (Autism/ASD);

Lakelore, by Anna-Marie McLemore (ADHD, Dyslexia);

The Luis Ortega Survival Club, by Sonora Reyes (Autism/ASD);

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester, by Maya MacGregor (Autism/ASD);

Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl, by Sara Waxelbaum & Brianna R. Shrum (Autism/ASD);

Mooncakes, by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker (d/Deaf/Hard of Hearing);

The Secret Summer Promise, by Keah Brown (Cerebral Palsy);

Ziggy, Stardust, and Me, by James Brandon (Anxiety, Asthma)