It's 2023, so we're taking a look at some of the excellent trans and nonbinary books and comics being released this year. From spectacular YA fantasy to incredible trans memoirs, and queer graphic novels, here are 20 of our most anticipated trans and non-binary books coming out in 2023. Note: some release dates of these books may be pushed back and some covers may change. The Wicked Bargain - Gabe Cole Novoa YA Pirate Fantasy 28 February 2023 Queer Rep: Trans-masc, Non-Binary El Diablo is in the details in this Latinx pirate fantasy starring a transmasculine nonbinary teen with a mission of revenge, redemption, and revolution. On Mar León-de la Rosa's 16th birthday, el Diablo comes calling. Mar is a transmasculine nonbinary teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn't enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar's father and the entire crew of their ship. When Mar is miraculously rescued by the sole remaining pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up your soul to save your father by the Harvest Moon or never see him again. Never Was - Honor Gavin Contemporary Fiction 16 March 2023 Queer Rep: Trans-Masc, Queer Part hallucination, part queer bildungsroman, Never Was is a beautifully strange novel about grief, addiction and working-class masculinity, taking us from a limbo of lost dreams to a small salt-mining town and exploring the way identity is both inherited and re-invented. Daniel sits on a clifftop in the aftermath of a party at Fin's mansion, looking out over a junky sea. Daniel's not sure why they're there, or who Fin is, even though Fin seems to be somebody famous. To find out, Daniel must tell Fin the story of their childhood, from bus shelters to playgrounds to McDonalds, from the depth of a salt mine to a nightclub toilet. Transmogrify! 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic - G. Haron Davis YA Fantasy Anthology 16 May 2023 Queer Rep: Trans & Non-Binary Perfect for fans of All Out and Cemetery Boys, this anthology claims a seat at the table of fantasy literature for trans and gender-nonconforming stories. Transness is as varied and colorful as magic can be. In Transmogrify!, you’ll embark on fourteen different adventures alongside unforgettable characters who embody many different genders and expressions and experiences—because magic is for everyone, and that is cause for celebration. Featuring stories from AR Capetta and Cory McCarthy, G. Haron Davis, Mason Deaver, Jonathan Lenore Kastin, Emery Lee, Saundra Mitchell, Cam Montgomery, Ash Nouveau, Sonora Reyes, Renee Reynolds, Dove Salvatierra, Ayida Shonibar, Francesca Tacchi and Nik Traxler. Bianca Torre Is Afraid Of Everything - Justine Pucella Winans YA Mystery/Thriller 27 April 2023 Queer Rep: Nonbinary Lesbian Murder most fowl? In this sardonic and campy YA thriller, an anxious, introverted nonbinary teen birder somehow finds themself solving a murder mystery with their neighbor/fellow anime lover, all while falling for a cute girl from their birding group . . . and trying not to get murdered. Sixteen-year-old Bianca Torre is an avid birder undergoing a gender identity crisis and grappling with an ever-growing list of fears. Some, like Fear #6: Initiating Conversation, keep them constrained, forcing them to watch birds from the telescope in their bedroom. And, occasionally, their neighbors. When their gaze wanders from the birds to one particular window across the street, Bianca witnesses a creepy plague-masked murderer take their neighbor’s life. Pageboy: A Memoir - Elliot Page Memoir - Non-Fiction 06 June 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Men It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he'd carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back. With Juno's massive success, Elliot became one of the world's most beloved actors. His dreams were coming true, but the pressure to perform suffocated him. He was forced to play the part of the glossy young starlet, a role that made his skin crawl, on and off set. Transitional - Munroe Bergdorf Memoir - Non-fiction 16 February 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Women In this thought-provoking, timely book, model and activist Munroe Bergdorf reflects on individuality, evolution, and the ever-changing nature of identity, revealing how they have shaped her own lived experience and how society shapes - and is shaped by - each. When Munroe Bergdorf began to transition in 2009, her only goal was to blend in. More than a decade later, Bergdorf has reconsidered that thinking. For Bergdorf, transitioning is an ingrained part of the human experience, not just a process that only trans people go through. It’s universal. Everyone changes. Part memoir, part big idea book, Transitional explores the nature of transition, its significance in Bergdorf’s life, how it impacts - and is considered and influenced by - society, and what it means for our own experiences. Jude Saves The World - Ronnie Riley Contemporary Middle Grade 18 April 2023 Queer Rep: Non-Binary Twelve-year-old Jude struggles with some things: focusing at school, feeling like everything rests on their shoulders, not being able to come out as nonbinary to their old-fashioned grandparents. But Jude doesn't struggle with Dallas, their best friend in the whole world. Their person. Jude and Dallas's world changes when they learn Stevie, a girl in their class, has been ousted from the popular clique at school. Worried it had something to do with Stevie's rumored crush on another girl, Jude reaches out to see if Stevie is okay. As their friendship deepens and the three open up to each other, Stevie's unconditional and open acceptance when Jude comes out to her motivates them to create a queer safe space in their community. Jude has the courage and determination it takes to create the first Diversity Club in their community, but will they be able to find the support they need to make it happen? The Borrow A Boyfriend Club - Page Powars YA Contemporary Romance 14 September 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men When sixteen-year-old Noah starts fresh at a new school, he has a plan to ensure the students see him as his true gender: to join the school's secretive Borrow a Boyfriend Club, where members rent themselves out to their classmates for dates. But he fails the audition. Desperate, he strikes a deal with the club's prickly president, Asher: he'll help lead the nearly-bankrupt club to victory at the school's fundraising dance competition, and Asher will allow Noah to prove his skills as a boyfriend in a series of tests that include romancing Asher himself. As Noah passes test after test and his fake romance with Asher starts to feel surprisingly real, Noah is faced with a dilemma. If he fails to win the dance fundraiser the club will go bankrupt, and he'll not only lose the new friends he's made - the whole school will know he isn't "boy enough." But if Noah succeeds in securing the club their victory, he has to face the most important, unbreakable rule of the Borrow a Boyfriend Club: no real girlfriends (or boyfriends) allowed. Always the Almost - Edward Underhill YA Romantic Drama 214 February 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men A trans pianist makes a New Year's resolution on a frozen Wisconsin night to win regionals and win back his ex, but a new boy complicates things in Edward Underhill's heartfelt debut. Sixteen-year-old trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year’s resolutions: 1) win back his ex-boyfriend (and star of the football team) Shane McIntyre, and 2) finally beat his slimy arch-nemesis at the Midwest’s biggest classical piano competition. But that’s not going to be so easy. For one thing, Shane broke up with Miles two weeks after Miles came out as trans, and now Shane’s stubbornly ignoring him, even when they literally bump into each other. Then Miles meets the new boy in town, Eric Mendez, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns, cares about art as much as he does—and makes his stomach flutter. Not what he needs to be focusing on right now. Mimosa - Archie Bongiovanni Graphic Novel - Adult Contemporary 07 February 2023 Queer Rep: Non-Binary, Trans Women, Trans Men, Queer Cast Archie Bongiovanni, the comics artist behind the hit A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns, explores queerness in this shockingly frank and funny graphic novel. Best friends and chosen family Chris, Elise, Jo, and Alex work hard to keep themselves afloat. Their regular brunches hold them together even as the rest of their lives threaten to fall apart. In an effort to avoid being the oldest gays at the party, the crew decides to put on a new queer event called Grind – specifically for homos in their dirty thirties. While navigating exes at work, physical and mental exhaustion, and drinking way, way too much on weekdays, this chosen family proves that being messy doesn’t always go away with age. Ander & Santi Were Here - Jonny Garza Villa YA Contemporary Romance 06 April 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong. Ander & Santi Were Here is a stunning YA contemporary love story about a Mexican-American teen who falls in love with an undocumented Mexican boy. The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Lopez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce. The mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially their job at their family's taquería. It's the place that has inspired Ander as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that give them hesitancy. That give them the thought, are they ready to leave it all behind? US - Sara Soler Graphic Novel - Romance 13 June 2023 Queer Rep: Trans & Queer Women What happens when the life you had assumed takes a 180-degree turn? Nothing... And also everything. Us is a love story between Sara and Diana, and also the story of Diana's transition. After fears that this sudden turn in their relationship could end things, they realize that they still like and love each other and that nothing has changed between them. Now, they'll have to come out of the closet and face the gaze of their family and social environment. Us intends to make the trans reality visible and contribute its vision and grain of sand in the face of the great misinformation that exists about gender dysphoria, with humor and from our own experience. Court Of The Undying Seasons - A.M. Strickland YA Paranormal Fantasy 11 MAy 2023 Queer Rep: LGBTQ+ Cast pansexual demigirl exploring outside of gender norms, bigender, agender, aro/ace. In becoming a vampire, I’m less than a girl. And more. Or maybe I’m becoming what I always have been, deep inside. A blade. When nineteen-year-old Fin volunteers to take her secret love's place in their village's Finding, she is terrified. Those who are chosen at the Finding are whisked away to Castle Courtsheart, a vampire school where human students either succeed and become vampires, fail and spend the rest of their lives as human thralls... or they don't survive long enough to become either. Fin is determined to forge a different path: learn how to kill the undead and get revenge for her mother, who was taken by the vampires years ago. As Fin begins to discover new aspects of her own identity and test her newfound powers, she stumbles across a string of murders that may be connected to a larger ritual - one with potentially lethal consequences for vampires and humans alike. Fin must uncover the truth and find the killer before she loses her life...or betrays her own heart. A Trans Man Walks into a Gay Bar - Harry Nicholas Memoir - Non-Fiction 18 May 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men After his relationship with his girlfriend of 5 years ended, Harry realised he was a single adult for the first time – not only that, but a single, transmasculine and newly out gay man. Despite knowing it was the right decision, the reality of his new situation was terrifying. In this raw, intimate and unflinchingly honest book, we follow Harry as he navigates the sometimes fraught and contradictory worlds of contemporary gay culture as a trans gay man, from Grindr, dating and gay bars, to saunas, sex and ultimately, falling in love. Harry’s brave and uplifting journey will show you there is joy in finding who you are. Breakup, Makeup - Stacey Anthony YA Contemporary Romance 25 May 2023 Queer Rep: Non-Binary, Queer Men Glow Up meets Comic Con in this bold, queer second chance romance where a special effects makeup artist must compete against their ex-boyfriend in a unique makeup and cosplay competition to win the scholarship of their dreams... and maybe their ex's heart. Eli Peterson is a self-taught, up-and-coming makeup artist in the cosplay scene who is just barely making ends meet. While they might be slaying it with their breath-taking, innovative looks, they're also trying to save up enough money for top surgery and convince their parents that taking a gap year to focus on their dream of being a makeup artist is worthwhile. During a convention, Eli hears about Makeup Wars, a cosplay makeup competition that could change everything. The problem is that they be going head-to-head with some of the most talented up-and-coming makeup artists - including rival influencer Zachary Miller, who also happens to be their ex-boyfriend. Multiversity: Teen Justice Vol. 1 - Danni Lore & Ivan Cohen 21 March 2023 - DC Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Non-Binary & Genderfluid, Queer Men LGBTQ+ Cast £14.99 Kid Quick-the Future State Flash-and their fellow heroes Supergirl, Robin, Aquagirl, Klarienne the Witch Girl, and Troy take center stage in this thrilling collection that rocks Earth-11 to its core! The secrets of Earth-11's newest heroes and villains unfold in DC's most exciting new team title! Teen Justice investigates the Church of Blood-is Sister Blood's true mission among the lost souls of New York City and will Teen Justice have what it takes to get past their growing pains and stop it? When their efforts to infiltrate the mysterious church backfire, one hero faces a devastating loss. Meanwhile, Supergirl and Robin attract surprising allies when they discover an unexpected mystery, Aquagirl finds herself out of her element (and then some), and Teen Justice discover the threat they face is even greater than they imagined! Follow along as Teen Justice uncovers the answers to all their questions in Multiversity: Teen Justice! Collecting Multiversity: Teen Justice #1-6; DC Pride 2022 #1. Chef's Choice - T.J. Alexander Contemporary Adult Romance 30 May 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Women, Trans Men, T4T When Luna O'Shea is unceremoniously fired from her frustrating office job, she tries to count her blessings: she's a proud trans woman who has plenty of friends, a wonderful roommate, and a good life in New York City. But blessings don't pay the bills. Enter Jean-Pierre, a laissez-faire trans man and the heir to a huge culinary empire which he'll only inherit if he can jump through all the hoops his celebrity chef grandfather has placed in his path. First hoop: he needs a girlfriend, a role that Luna is happy to play for the right price. She's got rent to pay, after all! Second hoop: they both need to learn how to cook a series of elaborate, world-renowned family recipes to prove that Jean-Pierre is a worthy heir. Admittedly, Luna doesn't even know how to crack an egg, but she's not going to let that any pesky feelings for Jean-Pierrestop her. Endpapers - Jennifer Savran Kelly Contemporary Fiction 28 March 2023 Queer Rep: Genderqueer An accessible, character-driven story set in 2003 New York City about a genderqueer book conservator who feels trapped by her gender presentation, her ill-fitting relationship, and her artistic block, as she discovers a decades-old hidden queer love letter and becomes obsessed with tracking down its author. It’s 2003, and artist Dawn Levit is stuck. A bookbinder who works in conservation at the Met, she spends her free time scouting the city’s street art, hoping something might spark inspiration. Instead, everything looks like a dead end. And art isn’t the only thing that feels wrong: wherever she turns, her gender identity clashes with the rest of her life. Her relationship, once anchored by shared queerness, is falling apart as her boyfriend Lukas increasingly seems to be attracted to Dawn only when she’s at her most masculine. Meanwhile at work, Dawn has to present as female, even on the days when that isn’t true. Either way, her difference feels like a liability. World Running Down - Al Hess Dystopian Science-Fiction 14 February 2023 Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City - a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition is free, the food is plentiful, and folk are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream, until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric. Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer - an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city, and a chance at the life Valentine's always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the "merchandise", they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware, and have no interest in returning to their old lives. All About Romance - Daniel Tawse YA Romance 06 July 2023 Queer Rep: Non-Binary Roman Bright has always loved love stories. But being a non-binary teenager in a small northern town means their dating pool is limited and they haven't had their own sweeping romance... yet. When anonymous postcards from 'Big Red' start showing up in Roman's locker and shortly afterwards entire walls of brightly coloured graffiti appear around the school signed by the same person, Roman is intrigued. Do they have a secret admirer? Roman thinks they know who is leaving these messages - their mega-crush and almost-boyfriend from last year, JJ. But when it becomes clear JJ isn't going to reveal themselves, Roman has to decide if they can be brave enough to make the first move. Think we've missed something great? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

This month is one for the foodies - we're taking a look at LGBT books about food, restaurants and baking. From gay rivals-to-lovers to cooking competitions and slice-of-life queer manga, here are 12 sweet and tasty LGBTQ+ books based around food and cooking that everyone should read: 1. Bloom Reading age: 14+ Bloom is a sweet monochromatic graphic novel about Ari, a teenager working in his family's struggling bakery. It's a story about baking, music and being true to yourself with a very sweet slow-burn MLM romance and a diverse cast of characters. Perfect for fans of Heartstopper. - Baking and music - Slow-burn romance - Lighthearted Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/bloom 2. Café Con Lycee Reading age: 14+ Café Con Lychee is a queer contemporary romance for young adult readers featuring an M/M interracial romance where both characters are POC. A heartfelt and engaging read with a diverse cast of characters about two rival cafés, family, friends and finding yourself. - Rivals to lovers - Mutual pining - Food puns Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/café-con-lychee 3. Chef's Kiss: A Novel Reading age: 18+ Chefs kiss is a hilarious and emotional slow-burn, enemies to friends to lovers queer romantic comedy with a non-binary love interest. Chef's Kiss follows Simone (a highly-strung pastry chef) and her wildly attractive nonbinary kitchen manager, Ray. A queer grumpy/sunshine romantic comedy book. - Nonbinary love interest - Queer grumpy/sunshine torpe - Sapphic rom-com Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/chef-s-kiss-a-novel 4. Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu Reading age: 14+ Manly Appetites is a lighthearted, sweet and funny BL manga about two businessmen co-workers who bond over food. Minegishi loves to feed his grumpy co-worker, Otsu. Otsu might be taking the food, but he's not taking the bait and refuses to be charmed like everyone else in the office! - BL office romance - Food positivity - The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/manly-appetites-minegishi-loves-otsu-vol-1 5. Chef's Kiss Reading age: 17+ Chef’s Kiss is a cute, gay slice-of-life graphic novel following loveable cinnamon roll Ben Cook. After falling into a job at a local restaurant (and developing a crush on Liam, one of the chefs that work there), Ben has to impress the head chef and his pet pig Watson with his cooking. Chef's Kiss is a funny, fast-paced LGBTQ+ romance with a lovable, diverse cast of characters.. - Hot coworkers - Beautiful artwork - Feed the piggy! Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/chef-s-kiss 6. Love and Other Disasters Reading age: 18+ Love & Other Disasters is a queer contemporary rom-com about a cooking competition with a pansexual non-binary protagonist and a sapphic love interest. A lighthearted, funny and at times emotional sapphic comedy with the occasional spicy scene thrown in for good measure. - Dual POV F/NB romance - Grumpy/sunshine trope - Mutual pining Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/love-other-disasters 7. Space Battle Lunchtime Reading age: 10+ Space Battle Lunchtime is a fast-paced science fiction adventure series of graphic novels with an adorable lesbian alien romance that builds throughout. Earth baker Peony joins a culinary competition to become the best cook in the Galaxy but her alien competitors don't play nice. - Sapphic aliens - Cute graphic novel series - The Great British Bake Off in space Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/space-battle-lunchtime-volume-1-lights-camera-snacktion 8. Our Dining Table Reading age: 14+ Our Dining Table is a sweet and wholesome slice-of-like BL manga about cooking, eating and family. This lighthearted manga follows Yutakaas after he meets two brothers who ask him to teach them how to make delicious food. It’s not long before Yutaka finds himself loving the meals they share together and possibly falling in love himself. - MLM Boys Love romance - Family and food - Slice-of-life manga Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/our-dining-table 9. Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake Reading age: 17+ Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake is a sweet, lighthearted queer romance set in the world of a competitive British baking show. The book follows bisexual single mum Rosaline as she enters a reality baking competition in the hopes of giving her daughter a better future. Expect love triangles, self-love and personal growth. - The Great British Bake Off but make it gay. - Bisexual f/m romance - Kisses and cakes Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/rosaline-palmer-takes-the-cake 10. The Summer of Bitter and Sweet Reading age: 15+ The Summer of Bitter and Sweet is a complex YA contemporary romance with fantastic ace/demi representation. Lou is working in her family’s ice cream shack over the summer with her ex-boyfriend whose kisses never made her feel desire. It's an emotional story of growth and self-discovery with a lot of potential triggers. (Check triggers before reading). - Asexual summer romance - Diverse cast - Ice cream is delicious Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/the-summer-of-bitter-and-sweet 11. The Dos and Donuts of Love Reading age: 14+ The Dos and Donuts of Love is a pun-filled YA sapphic romance about a teenage girl who enters a televised baking competition, only to discover her ex-girlfriend is a fellow contestant as well as a potential new crush. Is this a second chance? Or a recipe for disaster? - Irish TV cooking competition - Baking puns - Bangladesh-Irish MC Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/the-dos-and-donuts-of-love 12. Fake Dates and Mooncakes Reading age: 13+ Fake Dates and Mooncakes is a heartfelt, joyful paperback original rom-com that follows an aspiring chef who discovers the recipe for love is more complicated than it seems when he starts fake-dating a handsome new customer. - Fake dating romance - Heartstopper meets Crazy Rich Asians - Southeast Asian culture Buy it here: https://www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page/fake-dates-and-mooncakes Bonus: The Heartbreak Bakery Reading age: 14+ The Heartbreak Bakery is a queer Young Adult fantasy romance with an agender bisexual main character, demisexual trans/non-binary love interest and a diverse queer cast. Teen Baker, Syd, send ripples of heartbreak through Austin’s queer community when a batch of post-being-dumped brownies turns out to be magical—and makes everyone who eats them break up. - Super gay urban fantasy - Queer café - Magic brownies Have we missed your favourite queer food-based book? Send us a message on twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

Stuck inside with nothing to do? Looking for something new to read? Why not spend the afternoon reading webcomics!? From supernatural sports dramas to cats, plants and sapphic witchcraft, slow-burn queer romances and super-gay street racing - here are 1o more LGBT+ webcomics you should read. ONE WAY TRIP Read here - Queer Women, Fantasy, Drama - Expecting a night at a cozy little tavern, collecting tips and free drinks, Bea finds herself trapped in a cramped town, being stalked by shadowy figures from her past, and hiding from an assassin that seems to know her better than she knows herself. With the locals in power doing nothing to help, she's gonna have to get involved if she ever wants to leave - even if it all gets a bit too personal. RIDE OR DIE Read here - Queer Men, Supernatural, Mystery - After discovering his mother's forgotten muscle car, Lucky fixes it with the help of his hot-headed, former-crush named Vick and is launched into the world of street racing in an effort to learn more about her. But what they don't know is there's something demonic lurking under the hood of the mysterious car, something fueled by revenge... and gasoline. It’s Christine meets Ghost Rider meets Fast and Furious but gayer. Content warnings: violence, death, swearing, sexual themes. Not recommended for readers under 13 CONTINUE Read here - LGBTQ+, Horror, Comedy - A queer comedy-horror following Richard, Lazarus, and Wade as they hunt down all sorts of monsters and battle with their own personal demons along the way. Collect 12 cryptid souls and it'll be Heaven on Earth. At least ... that's the plan. Things never go how they should, but in this case that may be for the better. BLACK KEY INCUBUS Read here - LGBTQ+, Fantasy, Romance- Another average day in the life of Norman Castor, wizard-in-training. Crippling gay loneliness? Check. Summon a demon to help you find true love? Sure, why not. LGBTQ+ Fantasy with monsters, magic and homos. SUNNY AND RAINY Read here - Queer Women, Magical, Slice-Of-Life - Sunny And Rainy is a cute slice-of-life story with LGBTQ+ characters, cats & magical succulents. Think sapphic witches, Halloween & learning college-level witchcraft. Updates biweekly. KAI Read here - LGBTQ+, Comedy, Romance, Drama - A queer slice-of-life webcomic following 17-year-old Kai (they/him) in 1986 New Jersey. As they move in with their high-strung aunt and grapple with the aftermath of losing their parents, Kai is determined to regain some normalcy over their life. Expect humor, body positivity & a slow-burn romance in this coming-of-age gem. Updated Mondays. BLADES OF FURRY Read here - Queer Men, Comedy, Romance - Emile is an up-and-coming skater in the beloved sport of Skate Battles, a high-stakes combo of figure skating and martial arts. Radu is a well-known senior skater and several time champ with the world at his feet. However, during an ill-fated match between the two, Emile discovers Radu's secret, which could threaten to destroy him. Will Emile keep his secret? Or could this rivalry turn into something more...? CASTLE SWIMMER Read here - LGBTQ+, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance - What happens when your entire life is ruled by a prophecy – your future foretold by people you’ve never met, who died long before you were born. Such is the story of two young sea creatures. One believed to be a guiding light for his people, a Beacon who will lead them to a bright, prosperous future. The other is a teenage prince for who’s destiny is to KILL the Beacon so that HIS own people might thrive. When both reject the course set for them, it leads to a raucous adventure as big and unpredictable as the ocean itself – and a romance that nobody could have predicted. MIDNIGHT FURIES Read here - Queer Women, Supernatural, Sports, Drama - Forced by tragedy to drop out of school to support her family, Zoe thinks her basketball days are over. Luckily, her mysterious friend Chase can get her into the most off-the-wall tournament no one's ever heard of- one in a different dimension! But Zoe's gotta be careful... There's more at stake than just points, and Chase is playing her own game! It's sports action meets supernatural mystery meets slow-burn romance. Reading age 14+ ROBBER ROBERT Read here - Queer Men, Explicit, Sci-Fi, Comedy, 18+ - Robber/Robert is a silly, weird, sci-fi porn comic with HEAVY emphasis on absurdity and humor. And tentacles. An alien thug tries to rob a porn store one night, but things go terribly wrong. He can't get the register open, accidentally activates a highly-advanced sex toy, and, worst of all, totally falls for a sleepy sales clerk who's up for LITERALLY anything. If you are under 18 years old, please DO NOT READ THIS COMIC. Have we missed off your favourite webcomic? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

This month we're taking a look at everyone's favourite romance trope: fake-dating. Think queer longing, jealous exes, one-night stands and slow-burn romance. Here are 10 LGBTQ+ fake dating fauxmance books that everyone should read: The Borrow A Boyfriend Club YA Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men Reading Age: 14+ When sixteen-year-old Noah starts fresh at a new school, he has a plan to ensure the students see him as his true gender: to join the school's secretive Borrow a Boyfriend Club, where members rent themselves out to their classmates for dates. But he fails the audition. Desperate, he strikes a deal with the club's prickly president, Asher: he'll help lead the nearly-bankrupt club to victory at the school's fundraising dance competition, and Asher will allow Noah to prove his skills as a boyfriend in a series of tests that include romancing Asher himself. As Noah passes test after test and his fake romance with Asher starts to feel surprisingly real, Noah is faced with a dilemma. If he fails to win the dance fundraiser the club will go bankrupt, and he'll not only lose the new friends he's made - the whole school will know he isn't "boy enough." But if Noah succeeds in securing the club their victory, he has to face the most important, unbreakable rule of the Borrow a Boyfriend Club: no real girlfriends (or boyfriends) allowed. Love And Other Natural Disasters YA Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Queer Women Reading Age: 14+ When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind. That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer. Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she’s better than a stand-in and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it’s not long before Nozomi’s schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn’t plan for. Kiss Her Once for Me Adult Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Demisexual & Biromantic Women, Queer Women Reading Age: 18+ One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money. Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real. Red, White & Royal Blue YA Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Queer Men Reading Age: 18+ First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you? Iris Kelly Doesn't Date Adult Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Queer Women Reading Age: 18+ A fake relationship with a one-night stand is anything but an act in this witty and heartfelt new romantic comedy by Ashley Herring Blake. Everyone around Iris Kelly is in love. Her best friends are all coupled up, her siblings have partners that are perfect for them, and her parents are still in marital bliss. And she’s happy for all of them, truly. So what if she usually cries in her Lyft on the way home? So what if she misses her friends, who are so busy with their own wonderful love lives? They don’t really notice Iris is spiraling. At least she has a brand-new career writing romance novels (yes, she realizes the irony of it). She is now working on her second book but has one problem: she is completely out of ideas after having spent all of her romantic energy on her debut. Fake Dates and Mooncakes YA Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men Reading Age: 12+ Heartstopper meets Crazy Rich Asians in this heartfelt, joyful paperback original rom-com that follows an aspiring chef who discovers the recipe for love is more complicated than it seems when he starts fake-dating a handsome new customer. Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons. Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating YA Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Queer Women Reading Age: 14+ Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating is a contemporary YA sapphic romance from the author of The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar. Everyone likes Humaira "Hani" Khan - she’s easy-going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship… with a girl her friends absolutely hate - Ishita "Ishu" Dey. Ishu is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl. Out of the Blue YA Fantasy Romance Queer Rep: Non-Binary & Genderqueer, Queer Men Reading Age: 14+ Crest is not excited to be on their Journey: the monthlong sojourn on land all teen merfolk must undergo. The rules are simple: Help a human within one moon cycle and return to Pacifica to become an Elder - or fail and remain stuck on land forever. Crest is eager to get their Journey over and done with: after all, humans are disgusting. They've polluted the planet so much that there's a floating island of trash that's literally the size of a country. In Los Angeles with a human body and a new name, Crest meets Sean, a human lifeguard whose boyfriend has recently dumped him. Crest agrees to help Sean make his ex jealous and win him back. But as the two spend more time together and Crest's perspective on humans begins to change, they'll soon be torn between two worlds. And fake dating just might lead to real feelings... She Drives Me Crazy YA Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Queer Women Reading Age: 12+ High school nemeses fall in love in this queer YA sports rom-com perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Casey McQuiston. After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first game since their break up, Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with the worst possible person: her nemesis, the incredibly beautiful and incredibly mean Irene Abraham. Things only get worse when their nosey, do-gooder moms get involved and the girls are forced to carpool together until Irene’s car gets out of the shop. Their bumpy start only gets bumpier the more time they spend together. But when an opportunity presents itself for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex (and climb her school’s social ladder at the same time), she bribes Irene into playing along. Hijinks, heartbreak, and gay fake-dating scheme for the ages. Meet Cute Diary YA Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men, Lesbian Women, Genderqueer Reading Age: 14+ Felix Ever After meets Becky Albertalli in this swoon-worthy, heartfelt rom-com about how a transgender teen’s first love challenges his ideas about perfect relationships. Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe. When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page. BONUS: Chef's Choice Adult Contemporary Romance Queer Rep: Trans Women, Trans Men, T4T Reading Age: 18+ When Luna O'Shea is unceremoniously fired from her frustrating office job, she tries to count her blessings: she's a proud trans woman who has plenty of friends, a wonderful roommate, and a good life in New York City. But blessings don't pay the bills. Enter Jean-Pierre, a laissez-faire trans man and the heir to a huge culinary empire which he'll only inherit if he can jump through all the hoops his celebrity chef grandfather has placed in his path. First hoop: he needs a girlfriend, a role that Luna is happy to play for the right price. She's got rent to pay, after all! Second hoop: they both need to learn how to cook a series of elaborate, world-renowned family recipes to prove that Jean-Pierre is a worthy heir. Admittedly, Luna doesn't even know how to crack an egg, but she's not going to let that any pesky feelings for Jean-Pierrestop her. Have we missed your favourite queer fake dating book? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

This month we're taking a look at queer historical fiction. From sapphic Georgian romances to gay retellings of The Great Gatsby and a neo-Victorian queer farce, here are 12 LGBTQ+ historical fiction books that everyone should read: Infamous - Lex Croucher Reading age: 18+ 22-year-old aspiring writer Edith 'Eddie' Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together - climbing trees, throwing grapes at boys, sneaking bottles of wine, practicing kissing... But following their debutante ball Rose is suddenly talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified. When Eddie meets charming, renowned poet Nash Nicholson, he invites her to his crumbling Gothic estate in the countryside. The entourage of eccentric artists indulging in pure hedonism is exactly what Eddie needs in order to forget Rose and finish her novel. But Eddie might discover the world of famous literary icons isn't all poems and pleasure. Booksmart meets Bridgerton in this sapphic historical fiction romance. Nettleblack - Nat Reeve Reading age: 18+ 1893. Henry Nettleblack has to act fast or she'll be married off by her elder sister. But leaving the safety of her wealthy life isn't as simple as she thought. Ambushed, robbed, and then saved by a mysterious organisation - part detective agency, part neighbourhood watch - a desperate Henry disguises herself and enlists. Sent out to investigate a string of crimes, she soon realises that she is living in a small rural town with surprisingly big problems. When the net starts to close around Henry, and sinister forces threaten to expose her as the missing Nettleblack sister, the new people in her life seem to offer her a way out, and a way forward. Is the world she's lost in also a place she can find herself? Told through journal entries and letters, Nettleblack is a subversive and playful ride through the perils and joys of finding your place in the world, challenging myths about queerness - particularly transness - as a modern phenomenon, while exploring the practicalities of articulating queer perspectives when you're struggling for words. Murder Under Her Skin - Stephen Spotswood Reading age: 18+ Someone's put a blade in the back of the Amazing Tattooed Woman, and Willowjean "Will" Parker's former knife-throwing mentor has been stitched up for the crime. To uncover the truth, Will and her boss, world-famous detective Lillian Pentecost, travel south into a snakepit of old grudges, small-town crime, and secrets worth killing for. New York, 1946: The last time Will Parker let a case get personal, she walked away with a broken face, a bruised ego, and the solemn promise never again to let her heart get in the way of her job. But she called Hart and Halloway's Travelling Circus and Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus's tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse the prime suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go. To uncover the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard, Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past buried, and big-city detectives not at all. Liebestrasse - Greg Lockard Reading age: 18+ During the final years of the Weimar Republic, Sam meets Philip in Berlin and they fall in love. Their romance is hit with an unspeakable reality as the Nazis come to power and fascism makes them a target. Liebestrasse is a historical fiction graphic novel that Greg co-created with artist Tim Fish for ComiXology Originals. It was nominated as an "Outstanding Comic Book" for the 2020 GLAAD Media Awards and listed by the New York Times as one of 10 Comic Books to Celebrate Pride. Wild and Wicked Things - Francesca May Reading age: 18+ In the aftermath of World War I, a naive woman is swept into a glittering world filled with dark magic, romance, and murder in this lush and decadent debut. Neither real magic nor faux magic interests Annie Mason. Not after it stole her future. She’s only on the island to settle her late father’s estate and, hopefully, reconnect with her long-absent best friend, Beatrice, who fled their dreary lives for a more glamorous one. Yet Crow Island is brimming with temptation, and the biggest one may be her enigmatic new neighbor. Mysterious and alluring, Emmeline Delacroix is a figure shadowed by rumors of witchcraft. And when Annie witnesses a confrontation between Bea and Emmeline at one of the island's extravagant parties, she is drawn into a glittering, haunted world. A world where the boundaries of wickedness are tested, and the cost of illicit magic might be death. Flung Out of Space - Grace Ellis & Hannah Templer Reading age: 18+ Flung Out of Space is both a love letter to the essential lesbian novel, The Price of Salt, and an examination of its notorious author, Patricia Highsmith. Veteran comics creators Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer have teamed up to tell this story through Highsmith’s eyes—reimagining the events that inspired her to write the story that would become a foundational piece of queer literature. Flung Out of Space opens with Pat begrudgingly writing low-brow comics. A drinker, a smoker, and a hater of life, Pat knows she can do better. Her brain churns with images of the great novel she could and should be writing—what will eventually be Strangers on a Train— which would later be adapted into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. At the same time, Pat, a lesbian consumed with self-loathing, is in and out of conversion therapy, leaving a trail of sexual conquests and broken hearts in her wake. A Restless Truth - Freya Marske Reading age: 18+ Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance! The second entry in Freya Marske's beloved The Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light. The most interesting things in Maud Blyth's life have happened to her brother Robin, but she's ready to join any cause, especially if it involves magical secrets that may threaten the whole of the British Isles. Bound for New York on the R.M.S. Lyric, she's ready for an adventure. What she actually finds is a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and a beautiful stranger in Violet Debenham, who is everything—a magician, an actress, a scandal—Maud has been trained to fear and has learned to desire. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of loathsome, aristocratic suspects, they must solve a murder and untangle a conspiracy that began generations before them. Bolla - Pajtim Statovci Reading age: 18+ April 1995. Arsim is a 24-year-old, recently married student at the University of Pristina, in Kosovo, keeping his head down to gain a university degree in a time and place deeply hostile to Albanians. In a café he meets a young man named Miloš, a Serb. Before the day is out, everything has changed for both of them, and within a week two milestones erupt in Arsim’s married life: his wife announces her first pregnancy and he begins a life in secret. After these fevered beginnings, Arsim and Miloš’s unlikely affair is derailed by the outbreak of war, which sends Arsim’s fledgling family abroad and timid Miloš spiraling down a dark path, as depicted through chaotic journal entries. Years later, deported back to Pristina after a spell in prison and now alone and hopeless, Arsim finds himself in a broken reality that makes him completely question his past. What happened to him, to them, exactly? How much can you endure, and forgive? A Lady for a Duke - Alexis Hall Reading age: 18+ When Viola Caroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again. Self-Made Boys - Anna-Marie McLemore Reading age: 14+ New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Minnesota, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future - and his life as a man - and benefit his family. Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom—and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latina heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white. Nick’s neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious young man named Jay Gatsby, whose castle-like mansion is the stage for parties so extravagant that they both dazzle and terrify Nick. At one of these parties, Nick learns that the spectacle is all for the benefit of impressing a girl from Jay’s past—Daisy. And he learns something else: Jay is also transgender. A Taste of Gold and Iron - Alexandra Rowland Reading age: 18+ Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court - the body - father of the queen's new child - in an altercation which results in his humiliation. To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin. A Million to One - Adiba Jaigirdar Reading age: 13+ Adiba Jaigirdar gives Titanic an Ocean’s 8 makeover in a heist for a treasure aboard the infamous ship that sank in the Atlantic many years ago. A thief. An artist. An acrobat. An actress. While Josefa, Emilie, Hinnah, and Violet seemingly don’t have anything in common, they’re united in one goal: stealing the Rubaiyat, a jewel-encrusted book aboard the RMS Titanic that just might be the golden ticket to solving their problems. But careless mistakes, old grudges, and new romance threaten to jeopardize everything they’ve worked for and put them in incredible danger when tragedy strikes. While the odds of pulling off the heist are slim, the odds of survival are even slimmer... Have we missed your favourite queer historical fiction book? Send us a message on twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

As we enter 2023, we're taking a look at some of the best books being released this year with characters on the aromantic and asexual spectrum. From demisexual fiction to aro/ace self-help guides and asexual YA fiction, here are our 10 most anticipated aro/ace books coming in 2023. Note: some release dates of these books may be pushed back and covers may change. Sounds Fake But Okay - Sarah Costello & Kayla Kaszyca Advice & Self-Help - Non-Fiction 21 February 2023 Sarah and Kayla invite you to put on your purple aspec glasses - and rethink everything you thought you knew about society, friendship, sex, romance and more. Drawing on their personal stories, and those of aspec friends all over the world, prepare to explore your micro-labels, investigate different models of partnership, delve into the intersection of gender norms and compulsory sexuality and reconsider the meaning of sex - when allosexual attraction is out of the equation. Spanning the whole range of relationships we have in our lives - to family, friends, lovers, society, our gender, and ourselves, this book asks you to let your imagination roam, and think again what human connection really is. Includes exclusive 'Sounds Fake But Okay' podcast episodes. Ace and Aro Journeys - The Ace & Aro Advisory Project Advice & Self-Help - Non-Fiction 21 April 2023 What does it mean to be ace or aro? How should I approach the challenges that come with being ace or aro? How can I best support the ace and aro people in my life? Join the The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project (TAAAP) for a deep dive into the process of discovering and embracing your ace and aro identities. Empower yourself to explore the nuances of your identity, find and develop support networks, explore different kinds of partnership, come out to your communities and find real joy within. Combining a rigorous exploration of identity and sexuality models with hundreds of candid and poignant testimonials - this companion vouches for your personal truth, wherever you lie on the aspec spectrum. I Want To Be A Wall, Vol. 2 - Honami Shirono Slice-Of-Life - Manga 17 January 2023 This is a supply-and-demand marriage!? "I thought I would live alone forever." Married life where the supply and demand of such two people match. Yuriko and Gakurouta recount their first meeting and proposal to a curious Sousuke. Their first impressions may not have been the best, but once they got a chance to have a proper conversation, it turned out they had more in common than they thought! Ace Notes - Michele Kirichanskaya Advice & Self-Help - Non-Fiction 21 April 2023 What is the ace lens? Is my relationship queerplatonic? Am I sex-favorable, sex-averse or sex-repulsed? As an ace or questioning person in an oh-so-allo world, you're probably in desperate need of a cheat sheet. Allow us to introduce your new asexual best friend, an essential resource serving up the life hacks you need to fully embrace the ace. Expect interviews with remarkable aces across the spectrum, advice on navigating different communities, and low-key ways to flaunt your ace identity. Covering everything from coming out, explaining asexuality and understanding different types of attraction, to marriage, relationships, sex, consent, gatekeeping, religion, ace culture and more, this is the ultimate arsenal for whatever the allo world throws at you. The Hummingbird Killer - Finn Longman YA Dark Thriller - Fiction 11 May 2023 Friend by day. Traitor by night. The second book in the dark, twisting YA trilogy about a teen assassin's attempt to live a normal life. Teen assassin Isabel Ryans now works for Comma, and she's good at it: the Moth is the guild's most notorious killer, infamous throughout the city of Espera. But Isabel still craves normality, and she won't find it inside the guild. She moves in with a civilian flatmate, Laura, and begins living a double life, one where she gets to pretend she's free. But when Isabel's day job tangles her up with an anti-guild abolitionist movement, it becomes harder to keep her two lives separate. Forced to choose between her loyalty to her friends and her loyalty to Comma, she finds herself with enemies on all sides, particularly those from the rival guild Hummingbird, putting herself and Laura at risk. Love Letters For Joy - Melissa See YA Contemporary Romance - Fiction 06 June 2023 A new LGBTQIA+ romance story by the author of You, Me, and Our Heartstrings. Less than a year away from graduation, seventeen-year-old Joy is too busy overachieving to be worried about relationships. She's determined to be Caldwell Prep's first disabled valedictorian. And she only has one person to beat, her academic rival Nathaniel. But it's senior year and everyone seems to be obsessed with pairing up. One of her best friends may be developing feelings for her and the other uses Caldwell's anonymous love-letter writer to snag the girl of her dreams. Joy starts to wonder if she has missed out on a quintessential high school experience. She's asexual, but that's no reason she can't experience first love, right? I Am Ace - Cody Daigle-Orians Advice & Self-Help - Non-Fiction 21 February 2023 How do I know if I'm actually sexual? How do I come out as asexual? What kinds of relationship can I have as an ace person? If you are looking for answers to these questions, Cody is here to help. Within these pages lie all the advice you need as a questioning ace teen. Tackling everything from what asexuality is, the asexual spectrum and tips on coming out, to intimacy, relationships, acephobia and finding joy, this guide will help you better understand your asexual identity alongside deeply relatable anecdotes drawn from Cody's personal experience. Whether you are ace, demi, gray-ace or not sure yet, this book will give you the courage and confidence to embrace your authentic self and live your best ace life. Planning Perfect - Haley Neil YA Contemporary Romance - Fiction 21 June 2023 In this charming, heartfelt YA romcom about being on the asexual spectrum, a girl tries to craft the perfect wedding for her mother but discovers that sometimes the best parts of life can't be planned. ​Felicity Becker loves watching an event come together. Whether it's prom, graduation, or just the annual Arbor Day school dance, there's something magical about crafting an experience that people will remember. So when her mom gets engaged, Felicity sees the wedding as the perfect opportunity to show off her skills. Court Of The Undying Seasons - A.M. Strickland YA Paranormal Fantasy - Fiction 11 May 2023 In becoming a vampire, I’m less than a girl. And more. Or maybe I’m becoming what I always have been, deep inside. A blade. When nineteen-year-old Fin volunteers to take her secret love's place in their village's Finding, she is terrified. Those who are chosen at the Finding are whisked away to Castle Courtsheart, a vampire school where human students either succeed and become vampires, fail and spend the rest of their lives as human thralls... or they don't survive long enough to become either. Fin is determined to forge a different path: learn how to kill the undead and get revenge for her mother, who was taken by the vampires years ago. As Fin begins to discover new aspects of her own identity and test her newfound powers, she stumbles across a string of murders that may be connected to a larger ritual - one with potentially lethal consequences for vampires and humans alike. You Don't Have A Shot - Racquel Marie YA Contemporary Romance - Fiction 09 May 2023 A queer YA romance about rival soccer players from author Racquel Marie, perfect for fans of She Drives Me Crazy. Valentina “Vale” Castillo-Green’s life revolves around soccer. Her friends, her future, and her father’s intense expectations are all wrapped up in the beautiful game. But after she incites a fight during playoffs with her long-time rival, Leticia Ortiz, everything she’s been working toward seems to disappear. Embarrassed and desperate to be anywhere but home, Vale escapes to her beloved childhood soccer camp for a summer of relaxation and redemption…only to find out that she and the endlessly aggravating Leticia will be co-captaining a team that could play in front of college scouts. But the competition might be stiffer than expected, so unless they can get their rookie team’s act together, this second chance—and any hope of playing college soccer—will slip through Vale’s fingers. When the growing pressure, friendship friction, and her overbearing father push Vale to turn to Leticia for help, what starts off as a shaky alliance of necessity begins to blossom into something more through a shared love of soccer. . . and maybe each other. Think we've missed something great? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

As we enter 2023, we're taking a look at some of the excellent gay and bisexual books being released this year. From queer YA romance to gay adult fiction and campy fantasy novels, here are 20 of our most anticipated Achillean books coming out in 2023. Note: some release dates of these books may be pushed back to later dates. Always the Almost - Edward Underhill YA Romantic Drama 214 February 2023 A trans pianist makes a New Year's resolution on a frozen Wisconsin night to win regionals and win back his ex, but a new boy complicates things in Edward Underhill's heartfelt debut. Sixteen-year-old trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year’s resolutions: 1) win back his ex-boyfriend (and star of the football team) Shane McIntyre, and 2) finally beat his slimy arch-nemesis at the Midwest’s biggest classical piano competition. But that’s not going to be so easy. For one thing, Shane broke up with Miles two weeks after Miles came out as trans, and now Shane’s stubbornly ignoring him, even when they literally bump into each other. Then Miles meets the new boy in town, Eric Mendez, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns, cares about art as much as he does—and makes his stomach flutter. Not what he needs to be focusing on right now. Fake Dates and Mooncakes - Sher Lee Contemporary YA Romance 16 May 2023 Heartstopper meets Crazy Rich Asians in this heartfelt, joyful paperback original rom-com that follows an aspiring chef who discovers the recipe for love is more complicated than it seems when he starts fake-dating a handsome new customer. Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons. In The Lives Of Puppets - TJ Klune Fantasy Romance 25 April 2023 A queer retelling of the Pinocchio tale, inviting you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts. In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees live three robots - fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled 'HAP', he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio - a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Bisexual Men Exist - Vaneet Mehta Queer Studies & Health - Non-Fiction 19 January 2023 After spending more than a decade figuring out his identity, Vaneet's coming out was met with questioning, ridicule and erasure. This experience inspired Vaneet to create the viral #BisexualMenExist campaign, combatting the hate and scepticism m-spec (multi-gender attracted spectrum) men encounter, and helping others who felt similarly alone and trapped. This powerful book is an extension of that fight. Navigating a range of topics, including coming out, dating, relationships and health, Vaneet shares his own lived experience as well as personal stories from others in the community to help validate and uplift other bisexual men. Discussing the treatment of m-spec men in LGBTQ+ places, breaking down stereotypes and highlighting the importance of representation and education, this empowering book is a rallying call for m-spec men everywhere. Glitter Boy - Ian Eagleton Middle Grade YA Romance 02 February 2022 James loves dancing, poetry, and Mariah Carey. His teacher, Mr Hamilton, is getting married to his boyfriend and it seems that James will be part of a surprise choir performance at the wedding. But James's father seems uncomfortable about the plan, and a lot of other things - like any mention of Mr Hamilton, and James's dancing, and how James talks about his new friend Joel. Meanwhile, a different boy has been harassing James at school and calling him gay, and it's getting worse every day. James can find relief with his beloved Nan, she's been having worrying falls, and James can't tell anyone, or she might be sent to a faraway care home. A joyful, raw and timely novel about family, friends, enemies, and being true to who you really are. Riley Weaver Needs A Date To The Gaybutants Ball - Jason June YA Middle-Grade Romance 20 July 2023 In this contemporary YA novel, gay, femme 16-year-old Riley hopes to enter the Gaybutante Society, a world-renowned organization full of queer tastemakers. When he's told by a gay cis classmate that gay guys aren't attracted to femme gays, Riley bets he'll find a boyfriend in time for the Gaybutante Ball. Then Riley overhears a cis gay classmate, Skylar, say that gay guys just aren't interested in femme guys or else they wouldn't be gay. Riley confronts Skylar and makes a bet to prove him wrong: Riley must find a masc date by the time of the ball, or he'll drop out of the Society entirely. Riley decides to document the trials and tribulations of dating when you're gay and femme in a brand new podcast. Can Riley find a fella to fall for in time? Or will this be one massive—and publicly broadcast—femme failure? Tweakerworld - Jason Yamas Adult Memoir - Non-Fiction 20 April 2023 Meet Jason: a college educated documentary film producer, cat parent of two, and one of San Francisco’s top drug dealers. After Jason’s world falls apart in LA, he moves to Berkeley for a fresh start with his kid brother. Just one problem: his long-closeted Adderall addiction has exploded into an out-of-control crystal meth binge. Within weeks, Jason plunges into the sprawling ParTy n’ ’Play subculture of the Bay Area’s gay community. It's a wildly decadent scene of drugs, group sex, and criminals, and yet it is also filled with surprising characters, people who are continually subverting Jason’s own presumptions of the stereotypical tweaker. With painful honesty, Jason Yamas has crafted a landmark narrative that is not just a personal account of addiction, but a portrait of a vulnerable, largely undocumented community of people who, for many reasons, have been marginalized to the point of invisibility. The Late Americans - Brandon Taylor Adult Contemporary Fiction - Fiction 22 June 2023 The author of the Booker Prize finalist Real Life and the bestselling Filthy Animals returns with a deeply involving new novel of young men and women at a crossroads In the shared and private spaces of Iowa City, a loose circle of lovers and friends encounter, confront, and provoke one another in a volatile year of self-discovery. As each prepares for an uncertain future, the group heads to a cabin to bid goodbye to their former lives—a moment of reckoning that leaves each of them irrevocably altered. A novel of intimacy and precarity, friendship and chosen family, The Late Americans is Brandon Taylor’s richest and most involving work of fiction to date, confirming his position as one of our most perceptive chroniclers of contemporary life. Becoming Ted - Matt Cain Contemporary Romance 19 January 2023 Ted Ainsworth has always worked at his family's ice-cream business in the quiet Lancashire town of St Luke's-on-Sea. But the truth is, he's never wanted to work for the family firm - he doesn't even like ice-cream, though he's never told his parents that. When Ted's husband suddenly leaves him, the bottom falls out of his world. But what if this could be an opportunity to put what he wants first? This could be the chance to finally follow his secret dream: something Ted has never told anyone ... If I See You Again Tomorrow - Robbie Couch YA Sci-Fi Romance 08 June 2023 A speculative young adult romance about a teen stuck in a time loop that's endlessly monotonous until he meets the boy of his dreams. For some reason, Clark has woken up and relived the same monotonous Monday 309 times. Until Day 310 turns out to be...different. Suddenly, his usual torturous math class is interrupted by an anomaly-a boy he's never seen before in all his previous Mondays. When shy, reserved Clark decides to throw caution to the wind and join effusive and effervescent Beau on a series of "errands" across the Windy City, he never imagines that anything will really change, because nothing has in such a long time. And he definitely doesn't expect to fall this hard or this fast for someone in just one day. Bored Gay Werewolf - Tony Santorella Supernatural Fiction 01 June 2023 Brian, an aimless slacker, works doubles at his shift job, forgets to clean his room and lays about with his friends Nik and Darby. He’s been struggling to manage his transition to adulthood almost as much as his monthly transitions to a werewolf. Really, he's not great at the whole werewolf thing, and his recent murderous slip-ups have caught the attention of Tyler, a Millennial were-mentor determined to take the mythological world by storm. Tyler has a plan, and weirdly, his self-help punditry encourages Brian to shape up and stop accidentally marking out guys who ghosted him on Grindr as potential monthly victims. But as Brian gets closer to Tyler’s pack, and alienated from Nik and Darby, he realises that Tyler’s expansion plans are much more nefarious than a little lupine enlightenment… Sounds Like Fun - Bryan Moriarty Contemporary Adult Romance 30 March 2023 Eoin is doing great. He's 27, gainfully employed and in a long-term relationship with his boyfriend Rich. Okay, so his best friend Jax is diving into yet another disastrously bad relationship and Eoin's going to be the one dealing with the eventual fallout. And his boss at the cafe, Rebecca, seems to have vanished, so somehow Eoin's left managing the place. And to be honest, he's not got much else going on. But still, he's got his boyfriend Rich - steady, sensible and dependable Rich. That is, until Eoin's world is turned upside down when Rich announces that he wants an open relationship. Terrified of losing the man he loves, Eoin reluctantly agrees to this new arrangement, and stumbles into the world of dating with no strings attached. What could go wrong? Small Joys - Elvin James Mensah Adult Contemporary Fiction - Fiction 13 April 2023 An unexpected friendship saves a young man's life in this moving, utterly charming debut about chosen family, the winding road to happiness, and the grace of second chances. It's 2005 and Harley has dropped out of college to move home, back to rural England, where he works a dead-end job at a movie theater. Estranged from his father and finding every attempt at happiness futile, Harley is on the verge of making a devastating final decision. Fortunately for him, things don't go according to plan, and his attempt on his own life is interrupted by his new roommate, Muddy. Muddy is everything Harley is not: ostensibly heterosexual, freewheeling, and confident in his masculinity. Despite their differences, a deep friendship blossoms between them when Muddy takes Harley under his wing and shows him everything that, in his eyes, makes life worth living: bird-watching, karaoke, rugby, and the band Oasis. Lose You to Find Me - Erik J. Brown Contemporary YA Romance 06 July 2023 Tommy Dees is in the weeds - restaurant speak for beyond overwhelmed. He's been working at Sunset Estates Retirement Community to get the experience he needs to attend one of the best culinary schools in the world. And he also needs a letter of recommendation from his sadistic manager. In exchange for the letter, Tommy has to meet three conditions - including train new-hire Gabriel. Gabe, with the dimples and kind heart, who Tommy crushed on during summer camp at age ten and then never saw again. Unfortunately, Gabe doesn't remember Tommy at all. The training proves distracting as old feelings resurface, and the universe seems to be conspiring against them. With the application deadline looming and Gabe on his mind, can Tommy keep it all together or is it a recipe for disaster? Another Dimension Of Us - Mike Albo YA Science-Fiction/Romance 17 January 2023 In 1986, Tommy Gaye is in love with his best friend, Renaldo Calabasas. But at the height of the AIDS crisis and amidst the homophobia running rampant across America, Tommy can never share his feelings. Then, one terrible night, Renaldo is struck by lightning and he emerges from the storm a very different boy. In 2044, Heron High student Pris Devrees jolts awake after having a strange nightmare about a boy named Tommy and a house in the neighbourhood the locals affectionally call 'The Murder House.' When she ventures to the house to better understand her vivid dreams, she happens upon an old self-help book that she soon realises is a guide to trans-dimensional travel. As bodies and minds merge across the astral plane, Pris, Tommy, and their friends race to save Renaldo from a dangerous demon, while uncovering potent realities about love, sexuality, and friendship. Ander & Santi Were Here - Jonny Garza Villa YA Contemporary Romance 06 April 2023 Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong. Ander & Santi Were Here is a stunning YA contemporary love story about a Mexican-American teen who falls in love with an undocumented Mexican boy. The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Lopez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce. The mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially their job at their family's taquería. It's the place that has inspired Ander as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that give them hesitancy that gives them the thought, are they ready to leave it all behind? Afterglow - Phil Stamper YA Contemporary Romance 16 February 2023 After a summer of life-changing, these four friends are finally ready for senior year. Gabriel is thrilled to create his school's first LGBTQ+ advocacy group, but his long-distance relationship is fading from summer love to something else. Heath feels secure for the first time in years, but with his future riding on a baseball scholarship, each pitch triggers his anxiety. Reese is set on pursuing a career in fashion design, but his creativity takes him in an unexpected direction he isn't yet ready to share. Sal wants to be in politics, specifically local politics. After a chat with his aunt, he is ready for an unlikely path. As graduation nears and the boys prepare to enter the real world, it's clear their friendship will never be the same. Can they find a way to stay connected and pursue their dreams? The Minus-One Club - Kekla Magoon YA Contemporary Mystery 24 February 2023 A moving contemporary YA novel about the bonds between a group of teens whose lives have been upended by tragedy. Fifteen-year-old Kermit Sanders knows grief and its all-encompassing shadows. After losing his beloved older sister in a tragic car accident, nothing quite punctures through the feelings of loss. Everywhere Kermit goes, he is reminded of her. But then Kermit finds a mysterious invitation in his locker, signed anonymously with "-1." He has no idea what he's in for, but he shows up to find out. Dubbed the "Minus-One Club," a group of his schoolmates has banded together as a form of moral support. The members have just one thing in common—they have all suffered the tragic loss of someone they loved. Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out - Ryan Love Contemporary Coming-Of-Age 13 April 2023 When 79-year-old Arthur Edwards gathers his family together to share some important news, no one is prepared for the bombshell he drops: he's gay, and after a lifetime in the closet, he's finally ready to come out. Arthur's 21-year-old grandson, Teddy, has a secret of his own: he's also gay, and developing serious feelings for his colleague Ben. But Teddy doesn't feel ready to come out yet – especially when Arthur’s announcement causes shockwaves in the family. Arthur and Teddy have always been close, and now they must navigate first loves, heartbreak, and finding their place in their community. But can they – and their family – learn to accept who they truly are? Broken Hearts And Zombie Parts - William Hussey YA Romance - Fiction 11 May 2023 A big gay rom-zom-com with heart. Jesse Spark has a broken heart and in a few short weeks he'll require major surgery to repair it - which means he only has a month to accomplish two almost-impossible tasks: 1) Shoot his epic zombie movie on a shoestring budget if he has any hope of getting into film school. 2) Fall in love before this surgery lands him with a huge scar - because how will anyone ever fancy him after that? A savagely funny gay YA romance about body image, self-acceptance and falling in love, all while shooting a low-budget zombie flick! Sex Education meets Love, Simon - with fake zombies. Think we've missed something great? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

Looking for queer love stories? From YA sapphic romance to gay love anthologies and non-binary erotica, here are 12 LGBT comics that focus on love, romance and relationships perfect for valentines day. We've included the queer representation along with the recommended reading age for each graphic novel to help you pick the perfect book for you. Young Men In Love - Joe Glass & Matt Miner Queer Rep: Queer Men, Trans Men Reading age: 14+ An original graphic novel anthology of queer male romances by a host of amazing queer male (cis/trans) creators. Haphazard pirates, wayward ghosts, dashing knights, rampaging kaiju (and down-to-earth regular joes!) are all assembled here to amaze and delight you in a wildly unique anthology celebrating love between men, from an astounding array of comics creators who know exactly how it feels. Young Men in Love is a heartwarming, uplifting, and vibrant return to the glory days of romance comics! Coming Back- Jessi Zabarsky Queer Rep: Queer Women Reading Age: 12+ A beautiful graphic novel fantasy romance that follows two young women who have to go on their own separate adventures to discover the truth about themselves and about each other. Preet is magic. Valissa is not. Everyone in their village has magic in their bones, and Preet is the strongest of them all. Without any power of her own, how can Valissa ever be worthy of Preet's love? When their home is attacked, Valissa has a chance to prove herself, but that means leaving Preet behind. On her own for the first time Preet breaks the village's most sacred laws, and is rejected from the only home she's ever known and sent into a new world. Divided by different paths, insecurities, and distance, will Valissa and Preet be able to find their way back to each other? Check Please! - Ngozi Ukazu Queer Rep: Queer Men Reading age: 10+ Eric Bittle is a former Georgia junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and amateur patissier. But as accomplished as he is, nothing could prepare him for his freshman year of playing hockey at the prestigious Samwell University in Samwell, Massachusetts. It's nothing like co-ed club hockey back in the South! For one? There's checking. Second, there is Jack - his very attractive but moody captain. Check, Please!: # Hockey is the first in a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life. On A Sunbeam - Tillie Walden Queer Rep: Non-Binary & Genderqueer, Queer Women Reading age: 12+ Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship—to track down her long-lost love. An inventive world, a breathtaking love story, and stunning art come together in this new work by award-winning artist Tillie Walden. Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator - Leighton Gray & Vernon Shaw Queer Rep: Queer Men Reading age: 16+ Oni Press presents Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, a comics series based on the acclaimed Game Grumps visual novel video game! Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator invites the player to Maple Bay, where they play as a single Dad new to town and eager to romance other hot Dads. The comic series tells five standalone stories, each focused on different Maple Bay Dads, their kids, and their relationships with one another. Dive into entirely new stories featuring the backstories and adventures of your favorite Dads, told by game co-creators Leighton Gray and Vernon Shaw, along with the comic industry's top indie talent. Hello, Melancholic! - Yayoi Ohsawa Queer Rep: Queer Women Reading age: 13+ A coming-of-age yuri manga series about playing music and falling in love with abandon! Asano Minato is a tall but stooping first-year high school student. Though she’s an awesome trombone player, she does everything she can to fade into the background. Despite her best efforts, however, Minato catches the attention of her bubbly and charismatic upperclasswoman Hibiki, who wants Minato to join the band she’s forming at school and won’t take no for an answer! Will Minato be able to let go of the past and play in a band again? Can polar opposites harmonize through music? Nether Realms - Tab Kimpton Queer Rep: Non-Binary & Genderqueer Reading age: 18+ (Explicit) From the PRISM and Lambda Award nominated publisher of Nectar & Ambrosia, comes Nether Realms: a Sci-Fi Non-Binary Erotic Comics Anthology. Our theme is star-hot sex that explodes beyond our Earthling understanding of body, gender, and self-identity. 15 strange, sexy tales from far across the universe, where each comic has at least one character who goes beyond the gender binary or explores gender in an interesting way. Freed from the tethers of the nethers, or delving into them deeper than ever before, let’s hyper jump into Future Fucking, hand in [robotic] hand. Our mission? To boldly bang where no thems have boinged before. *MATURE READERS ONLY* Henry & Glenn Forever + Ever - Tom Neely Queer Rep: Queer Men Reading age: 18+ A punk rock romance: Two men. Two myths. One legend. The greatest love story ever told has finally been released in graphic novel form, featuring 20 short stories about the domestic life of "Henry" and "Glenn" and sometimes their neighbors "Daryl" and "John." Glenn deals with issues with his mother while Henry, "a loud guy with a good work ethic," shows his darker side and indifference to a fan as he drinks black coffee and bonds with Glenn over their distaste for their own bands. These are two men who truly suffer best together. This book collects four serialized comics, adds even more never-before-published pages than previous collective edition, and will have a spiffy hardcover. The Girl From The Sea - Molly Knox Ostertag Queer Rep: Queer Women Reading age: 12+ Fifteen-year-old Morgan has a secret: She can't wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. She's desperate to finish high school and escape her sad divorced mom, her volatile little brother, and worst of all, her great group of friends...who don't understand Morgan at all. Because really, Morgan's biggest secret is that she has a lot of secrets, including the one about wanting to kiss another girl. Then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends and suddenly life on the island doesn't seem so stifling anymore. But Keltie has some secrets of her own. And as the girls start to fall in love, everything they're each trying to hide will find its way to the surface...whether Morgan is ready or not. Bloom - Kevin Panetta Queer Rep: Queer Men Reading age: 14+ A sweet, monochromatic graphic novel about baking, music and young gay love. Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band—if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything. Cheer Up! Love And Pom Poms - Crystal Fraiser Queer Rep: Queer Women, Trans Women Reading age: 10+ A sweet, queer teen romance perfect for fans of Fence and Check, Please! Annie is a smart, antisocial lesbian starting her senior year of high school who’s under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications. Her former friend BeeBee is a people-pleaser—a trans girl who must keep her parents happy with her grades and social life to keep their support of her transition. Through the rigors of squad training and amped-up social pressures (not to mention microaggressions and other queer youth problems), the two girls rekindle a friendship they thought they’d lost and discover there may be other, sweeter feelings springing up between them. Marry Me a Little - Rob Kirby Queer Rep: Queer Men Reading age: 16+ Marriage doesn’t define a relationship. Unless you want it to. Rob Kirby recounts his experience of marrying his longtime partner, John, just after same-sex marriage was legalized in Minnesota in 2013. Marry Me a Little is a personal story about Rob’s ambivalence toward the institution of marriage, his loving relationship with John, and the life that they share together. With humor, candor, and a near-whimsical drawing style, Rob relates how he and John navigated this changing landscape, how they planned and celebrated their wedding, and how they and others in the LGBTQ+ community are now facing the very real possibility of setbacks to marriage equality. Think we've missed something great? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

Few things have helped me keep sane these past few months, but podcasts have always been just a click away. Whether you're walking the dog, commuting to the office or snuggled up on the sofa with a mug of something warm, here are 15 more queer podcasts you should listen to. BOTTOMING LISTEN HERE Queer Mental Health BOTTOMING is the LGBTQ+ mental health podcast about rock bottoming and beyond. Stemming from personal experiences, Bottoming was created as a way for hosts Brendan and Matthew to navigate difficult conversations and topics in their own life, but with a dark and humorous twist - the only way they know how. OK GREAT LISTEN HERE Queer Culture & Comedy OK GREAT is a no holds barred weekly exchange between queer indie music artists and attention whores Cory Stewart and Kisos. From sex, relationships and the occasional polarizing opinion, the boys skwirt and spill it all. Welcome to OK GREAT: yet another podcast. New episodes released on Tuesdays. TWO TWOS LISTEN HERE Queer Experiences & Culture Two black lesbians living in London speaking their unapologetic truth whilst creating a safe space for people like themselves and bridging the gap between LGBT+ people and Cis-gendered straight people! You can also watch episodes of the podcast on their YouTube channel HERE THEY'RE QUEER! LISTEN HERE Queer Horror & Film They’re Queer is a monthly queer horror podcast where hosts Liam & Liam get into all things horror and gay. Each episode focuses on a specific film, game or series as they discuss the queer themes, perspectives and creatives that helped create it. New episodes are released on the 21st of each month. SLURRY LISTEN HERE Queer Society & Culture Slurry is a podcast by Berlin-based drag performers: Olympia Bukkakis and Oozing Gloop. They discuss performance, parties, communism, and the everyday mundane filth of life in the collapse of financialised capitalism. Slurry features sound from Collective Anxiety. Go check his stuff out at @collectiveanxiety THE GOSSIP GAYS LISTEN HERE Queer Culture & Comedy Join RuPaul's Drag Race UK WINNER Danny Beard & their best Judy, DJ Billy Andrew for their hilariously camp podcast! Check-in on what they’ve been up to, find out their opinions on current affairs, and listen closely as they turn agony aunt; they could even help solve your problems too! Tune in every Thursday and get your weekly slice of Gossip. TWO DYKES AND A MIC LISTEN HERE Queer Comedy & Conversations Two Dykes and a Mic is a weekly podcast dedicated to sex positivity, queer dating and building a community filled with laughter and gayness. Hosted by comedians Rachel Scanlon and McKenzie Goodwin, Two Dykes and a Mic is a podcast full of queer news, relationship advice, dating horror stories and more! BISEXUAL BRUNCH LISTEN HERE Queer Culture & Conversations Hosted by bi activist and writer Lewis Oakley and bisexual journalists Nichi Hodgson and Ashley Byrne, Bisexual Brunch is a unique podcast for people from all over the world who identify as bisexual and pansexual to come together and celebrate their sexuality. SAPPHIC CULTURE CLUB LISTEN HERE Queer Society & Culture Sapphic Culture Club is a queer culture podcast discussing lesbian themes in music, film, tv, books and anywhere else Sapphics roam. Each week hosts Laurel and Aud discuss a different piece of sapphic media with their last season was dedicated to lesbian films and we can't wait to see what the next season brings. YOU DON'T LOVE ME LISTEN HERE Queer Conversations & Culture A podcast from the perspective of gay South Asian couple, Amir and Aamir, as they discuss race, sexuality and their struggles with an aim to be a voice and get some representation out there! It does get better and there is always light in your life and we find that through every bit of darkness. There are some rude and crude jokes on the way too so...be warned! POZ VIBES LISTEN HERE Queer Education The Poz Vibe Podcast is a podcast for people living with HIV, their friends, family, and allies. Based in Ireland, hosts Veda Lady and Robbie Lawlor offer a safe place for their guests to share their stories of living with HIV. Remember: Undetectable=Untransmitable QUEER LONGING LISTEN HERE Queer Society & Media A podcast where hosts Olivia Taylor and Lucy Cecil. discuss and explore everything they're longing for and living for in our queer community. Their Author Special series is definitely one to listen to for anyone who enjoys reading or hearing about the writing process from queer authors working in the industry. UNNAMED DRAG PODCAST LISTEN HERE Queer Comedy & Culture Co-hosts Nana Arthole & Marilyn Sane are two drag artist sisterwives based in the UK. Working together since 2015, they've established a reputation for their riotous rapport full of quick quips, audacious absurdities, and snappy storytelling. Conversations that didn't need to be heard by anyone, but you'll love listening to! SAPPHIC SURVIVAL GUIDE LISTEN HERE Queer Education & Advice Sapphic Survival Guide is a queer advice podcast where hosts Gina, Seven, and Cheyenne help their listeners navigate life as a queer person. You can submit your own questions by messaging them on Instagram or emailing them at sapphicsurvivalguide@gmail.com. INCOMPLETE GEEKS LISTEN HERE Queer TV & Film Incomplete Geeks is a gay geek podcast hosted by Nick Baker & Jon Marx - two gay geeks talking through various nerdoms. From Star Trek to Marvel to Dungeons and Dragons, these gay geeks have you covered on all things geeky. "We're not complete geeks... but we're working on it." Do you have a favourite queer podcast you love to listen to? Send us a message on twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

As 2021 comes to a close, we're looking forwards to some excellent sapphic book releases coming in 2022. Here are 20 of our most anticipated sapphic books coming out in 2022. Note: some release dates of these books may be pushed back due to the ongoing pandemic. Ophelia After All - Raquel Marie Contemporary YA Romance 14 Mar 2022 A teen girl navigates friendship drama, the end of high school, and discovering her queerness in Ophelia After All, a hilarious and heartfelt contemporary YA debut by author Racquel Marie. Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys - way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn't change, even if she wanted to. So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia's firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling a little out of control. But the course of love--and sexuality--never did run smooth. As her secrets begin to unravel, Ophelia must make a choice between clinging to the fantasy version of herself she's always imagined or upending everyone's expectations to rediscover who she really is, after all. Yerba Buena - Nina LaCour Contemporary Adult Romance 31 May 2022 The debut adult novel by the bestselling and award-winning YA author Nina LaCour, following two women on a star-crossed journey toward each other When Sara Foster runs away from home at sixteen, she leaves behind not only the losses that have shattered her world but the girl she once was, capable of trust and intimacy. Years later, in Los Angeles, she is a sought-after bartender, renowned as much for her brilliant cocktails as for the mystery that clings to her. Across the city, Emilie Dubois is in a holding pattern. In her seventh year and fifth major as an undergraduate, she yearns for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but is unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena and embarks on an affair with the married owner. Wild And Wicked Things - Francesca May Adult Historical Fiction/Fantasy 31 Mar 2022 In the aftermath of World War I, a naive woman is swept into a glittering world filled with dark magic, romance & murder in this lush and decadent debut. On Crow Island, people whisper, real magic lurks just below the surface. Neither real magic nor faux magic interests Annie Mason. Not after it stole her future. She’s only on the island to settle her late father’s estate and, hopefully, reconnect with her long-absent best friend, Beatrice, who fled their dreary lives for a more glamorous one. Yet Crow Island is brimming with temptation, and the biggest one may be her enigmatic new neighbor. Tripping Arcadia - Kit Mayquist Gothic Mystery Thriller 24 Feb 2022 From debut author Kit Mayquist, a propulsive and atmospheric modern Gothic with all the splendor of The Great Gatsby . . . and all the secrets, lies, and darkness that opulence can hide. Med school dropout Lena is desperate for a job, any job, to help her parents, who are approaching bankruptcy after her father was injured and laid off nearly simultaneously. So when she is offered a position, against all odds, working for one of Boston’s most elite families, the illustrious and secretive Verdeaus, she knows she must accept it—no matter how bizarre the interview or how vague the job description. By day, she is assistant to the family doctor and his charge, Jonathan, the sickly, poetic, drunken heir to the family empire, who is as difficult as his illness is mysterious. By night, Lena discovers the more sinister side of the family, as she works overtime at their lavish parties, helping to hide their self-destructive tendencies . . . and trying not to fall for Jonathan’s alluring sister, Audrey. Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster - Andrea Mosqueda Contemporary YA Fiction 24 May 2022 In this voice-driven young adult debut by Andrea Mosqueda, Maggie Gonzalez needs a date to her sister's quinceañera - and fast. Growing up in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, Maggie Gonzalez has always been a little messy, but she’s okay with that. After all, she has a great family, a goofy group of friends, a rocky romantic history, and dreams of being a music photographer. Tasked with picking an escort for her little sister’s quinceañera, Maggie has to face the truth: that her feelings about her friends (and future) aren’t as simple as she’d once believed. As Maggie’s search for the perfect escort continues, she’s forced to confront new (and old) feelings for three of her friends: Amanda, her best friend and first-ever crush; Matthew, her ex-boyfriend twice-over who refuses to stop flirting with her, and Dani, the new girl who has romantic baggage of her own. Godslayers (Gearbreakers #2) - Zoe Hana Mikuta YA Science Fiction 28 Jun 2022 Godslayers--Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane sequel to Gearbreakers--is perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series. The only way to kill a god is from the inside... The Gearbreakers struck a devastating blow against Godolia on Heavensday, but the cost of victory has been steep. Months later, the few rebels who've managed to escape the tyrannical empire's bloody retribution have fled to the mountains, hunted by the last Zenith--Godolia's only surviving leader. Eris has been held prisoner since the attack on the capital city, which almost killed her. And she begins to wish it had when she discovers Sona--the girl she loves, the girl she would tear down cities for--also survived, only to be captured and Corrupted by the Zenith. The cybernetic brainwashing that Sona has forcibly undergone now has her believing herself a loyal soldier for Godolia, and Eris' mortal enemy. Flung Out Of Space - Grace Ellis (illustrated by Hannah Templer) Graphic Novel Abrams 15 Feb 2022 Flung Out of Space is both a love letter to the essential lesbian novel, The Price of Salt, and an examination of its notorious author, Patricia Highsmith. Veteran comics creators Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer have teamed up to tell this story through Highsmith’s eyes—reimagining the events that inspired her to write the story that would become a foundational piece of queer literature. Flung Out of Space opens with Pat begrudgingly writing low-brow comics. A drinker, a smoker, and a hater of life, Pat knows she can do better. Her brain churns with images of the great novel she could and should be writing—what will eventually be Strangers on a Train— which would later be adapted into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. At the same time, Pat, a lesbian consumed with self-loathing, is in and out of conversion therapy, leaving a trail of sexual conquests and broken hearts in her wake. However, one of those very affairs and a chance encounter in a department store give Pat the idea for her soon-to-be beloved tale of homosexual love that was the first of its kind—it gave the lesbian protagonists a happy ending. She Gets The Girl - Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick YA Contemporary Romance 14 Apr 2022 She’s All That meets What If It’s Us in this swoon-worthy hate-to-love YA romantic comedy from #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart Rachael Lippincott and debut writer Alyson Derrick. Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet. Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. The Scratch Daughters (The Scapegracers #2) - Hannah Abigail Clarke YA Magical Fantasy 22 Nov 2022 It's been a wild year for Sideways Pike. After forming a coven with the three most popular girls in school and developing a huge crush on a mysterious stranger named Madeline, Sideways' Halloween was ruined by finding out that Madeline wasn't trying to make out with her, but to steal Sideways' specter, the force that gives witches the ability to cast magic spells. From Madeline's perspective, it's not her fault: after a doomed relationship with one of the creepy near-identical Chantry Boys turned into a witch hunt, they took her specter, so, really, she's only borrowing Sideways' until she can recover her own and punish the Chantrys. Sideways is used to being an outcast loner and is desperate to do magic again, so she's not going to let little barriers like facing a betraying crush and a family of six demented witch hunters practically alone stop her. But she and her trusty stolen bike are in for a bumpy ride... Scout's Honor - Lily Anderson YA Paranormal Fantasy 05 Apr 2022 Prudence Perry is a third-generation Ladybird Scout who must battle literal (and figurative) monsters and the weight of her legacy in this YA paranormal perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sixteen-year-old Prudence Perry is a legacy Ladybird Scout, born to a family of hunters sworn to protect humans from mulligrubs―interdimensional parasites who feast on human emotions like sadness and anger. Masquerading as a prim and proper ladies' social organization, the Ladybirds brew poisons masked as teas and use knitting needles as daggers, at least until they graduate to axes and swords. Three years ago, Prue’s best friend was killed during a hunt, so she kissed the Scouts goodbye, preferring the company of her punkish friends lovingly dubbed the Criminal Element much to her mother and Tía Lo’s disappointment. However, unable to move on from her guilt and trauma, Prue devises a risky plan to infiltrate the Ladybirds in order to swipe the Tea of Forgetting, a restricted tincture laced with a powerful amnesia spell. I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuiston YA Contemporary Romance 03 May 2022 From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need... Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny. But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes. Alice In Leatherland - Iolanda Zanfardino (illustrated by Elisa Romboli) Graphic Novel Black Mask Entertainment 08 Feb 2022 Alice, a young writer of children's story books, is hurtled out of her fairytale-like life when she discovers her girlfriend has been cheating on her! Charmingly defiant, she leaves her small forest town and leaps into a new adventure to seek love (and find herself) in the fast life of San Francisco. There, her concept of pure, magical love will be completely overturned--but her biggest challenge won't be reckoning with other people's sexual drive, it'll be getting a grip on her own! From your new favorite writer and artist team of Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli, Alice In Leatherland is a comedy about sex and so, inevitably, about every other aspect of life, too. The Girl I Want is So Handsome! - The Complete Manga Collection - Yuama Graphic Novel - Manga Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC 25 Jan 2022 A yuri comedy about a hyper first-year student and the hot girl jock she’s crushing on by the creator of The Summer You Were There (also from Seven Seas)! First-year high schooler Hina falls head over heels in love at her first glimpse of Shiki, a gorgeous, cool older girl with mad basketball skills. But when she tries to confess her feelings, she ends up as the basketball team’s manager instead. It seems like a huge blunder until she realizes it’s the perfect chance to get to know Shiki better. Will Hina and Shiki overcome their comical misunderstandings and realize they’re the perfect couple? Read the whole hilarious story in one omnibus volume! Melt With You - Jennifer Dugan Contemporary YA Romance 17 May 2022 From the author of Hot Dog Girl comes a sweet and salty queer YA rom-com about two girls on a summer road trip in an ice cream truck. Fallon and Chloe used to be best friends. But last summer, the girls hooked up right before Chloe left for college, and after a series of misunderstandings, they aren’t even speaking to one another. Now, a year later, Chloe’s back home from school, and Fallon is doing everything in her power to avoid her. Which is especially difficult because their moms own a business together—a gourmet ice cream truck where both girls work. But when their moms have the opportunity to make a presentation to some venture capitalists in Texas—something that could seriously expand their business and solve all their money problems to boot—it's up to Fallon to work a series of food truck festivals across the country. But she can't do it alone, and Chloe is the only one available to help. As tensions heat up again between the two girls, will Fallon be able to keep her cool? Primal Animals - Julia Lynn Rubin YA Fantasy Horror 24 May 2022 Protect the girls Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway—the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” and will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that, once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways. Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome—and she’s developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her—the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. When she’s tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in...until her new "sisters" ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger. This Wicked Fate - Kalynn Bayron Contemporary YA Fantasy 21 Jun 2022 How much would you risk to save the ones you love? Would you tempt even the most dangerous fate? Bestselling author Kalynn Bayron continues the story of Briseis and her family's deadly magic in the sequel to This Poison Heart. Briseis has one chance to save her mother, but she'll need to do the impossible: find the last fragment of the deadly Absyrtus Heart. If she is to locate the missing piece, she must turn to the blood relatives she's never known, learn about their secret powers, and take her place in their ancient lineage. Briseis is not the only one who wants the Heart, and her enemies will stop at nothing to fulfill their own ruthless plans. The fates tell of a truly dangerous journey, one that could end in more heartache, more death. Bolstered by the sisterhood of ancient magic, can Briseis harness her power to save the people she loves most? Youngblood - Sasha Laurens Paranormal YA Fantasy 19 Jul 2022 For fans of Vampire Diaries and dark academia, two queer teen bloodsuckers at an elite vampire-only boarding school must go up against all of Vampirdom when they uncover a frightening conspiracy on campus. Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change. Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well. Crema - Johnnie Christmas (illustrated by Dante Luiz) Graphic Novel Dark Horse Comics 06 Jan 2022 Esme, a barista, feels invisible, like a ghost.... Also, when Esme drinks too much coffee she actually sees ghosts. Yara, the elegant heir to a coffee plantation, is always seen, but only has eyes for Esme. Their world is turned upside down when the strange ghost of an old-world nobleman begs Esme to take his letter from NYC to a haunted coffee farm in Brazil, to reunite him with his lost love of a century ago. Bringing sinister tidings of unrequited love. #1 New York Times Best-Selling cartoonist Johnnie Christmas (writer) and Prism Award Nominee Dante L. (artist) bring you a haunted tale of love, ghosts and coffee beans. Let us know what you're most looking forward to reading below:

As 2022 comes to a close, we're taking a look at some excellent sapphic book releases coming in 2023. From contemporary wlw romance to long-awaited high fantasy sequels, here are 20 of our most anticipated sapphic books coming out in 2023. Note: some release dates of these books may be pushed back and covers may change. Out Of Character - Jen Miller Contemporary YA Romance 16 February 2023 Dumplin' meets Geekerella in debut author Jenna Miller's queer, body-positive love story that explores online and offline relationships in all of their messiness. If you asked seventeen-year-old Cass Williams to describe herself, she'd happily tell you she's fat, a lesbian, and obsessed with the Tide Wars books. What she won't tell you - or anyone in her life - is that she's part of an online Tide Wars roleplay community. Sure, it's nerdy as hell, but when she's behind the screenwriting scenes as Captain Aresha, she doesn't have to think about her mother who walked out or how unexpectedly stressful it is dating resident cool girl Taylor Cooper. But secretly retreating to her online life is starting to catch up with Cass. For one, no one in her real life knows her secret roleplay addiction is the reason her grades have taken a big hit. Neon Roses - Rachel Dawson Contemporary Romance 25 May 2023 Eluned Hughes is stuck. It's 1984 in a valley in south Wales: the miners' strike is ravaging her community; her sister's swanned off with a Thatcherite policeman; and her boyfriend Lloyd keeps bringing up marriage. And if they play '99 Red Balloons' on the radio one more time, she might just lose her mind. Then the fundraising group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners come down from London, and she meets June, a snaggle-toothed blonde in a too-big leather jacket. Suddenly, Eluned isn't stuck anymore - she's in freefall. June's an artist and an activist, living in a squat in Camden. A Million to One - Adiba Jaigirdar YA Historical Fiction 05 January 2023 Adiba Jaigirdar, author of one of TIME's Best YA books of all time and winner of the YA Book Prize 2022, gives Titanic an Ocean's 8 makeover in this nail-biting heist set onboard the infamous ship. Four friends have stolen aboard the Titanic. They're after the Rubaiyat - a book inlaid with priceless jewels. Josefa is a charismatic thief, Hinnah, a daring acrobat, Violet, an outstanding actress and Emilie, a talented artist. It is Josefa's plan, but she needs all of their skills. Despite their very different backgrounds, the girls must work together to pull off the heist of their lives in a world of first-class passengers and suspicious crew members. A Day Of Fallen Night - Samantha Shannon Adult Fantasy 28 February 2023 A return to the world of Samantha Shannon's Sunday Times and New York Times-bestselling The Priory of the Orange Tree. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms - but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose. To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hroth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow - exactly where she wants to be. The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate. Motor Crush 3 - Brenden Fletcher Graphic Novel - Science Fiction 31 January 2023 YALSA's 2018 Great Graphic Novels for Teens The acclaimed sci-fi action-adventure series MOTOR CRUSH returns with another burst of hot pink energy! Domino Swift is used to gunning for victory on the racetrack. But what happens when a far bigger trophy is on the line? As Domino struggles to understand her mysterious past and tumultuous present, the future of all humanity rests in her hands. Will she make it to the finish line? Collects MOTOR CRUSH #12-16 She Is a Haunting - Trang Thanh Tran YA Fantasy Horror 28 February 2023 A house with a terrifying appetite haunts a broken family in this atmospheric horror, perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic. When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised. But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound, while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don’t belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can’t ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves her cryptic warnings: Don’t eat. Never Ever Getting Back Together - Sophie Gonzales Contemporary YA Romance 05 January 2023 Romance, revenge, and reality TV. The new queer YA rom-com from Sophie Gonzales, bestselling author of Only Mostly Devastated. Eighteen-year-old Maya dumped her cheating ex-boyfriend Jordy two years ago. So, when she receives a call to participate in Second Chance Romance - a reality show in which the now-famous Jordy re-dates his ex-girlfriends - she isn't interested . . . until she realizes she can use this opportunity to exact her revenge. If she can make it to the final spot on the show, she can reject Jordy in front of the nation, and publicly break his heart. Maya's fellow contestants include Skye, the beautiful, charismatic girl Jordy cheated on Maya with. The Severed Thread - Leslie Vedder YA Fantasy 16 February 2023 Clever, bookish Fi and her brash, ax-wielding partner Shane are back in this action-packed sequel to the bestselling The Bone Spindle, the gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty retelling, perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and The Cruel Prince. Fi has awakened the sleeping prince, but the battle for Andar is far from over. The Spindle Witch, the Witch Hunters, and Fi’s own Butterfly Curse all stand between them and happily ever after. Shane has her partner’s back. But she’s in for the fight of her life against Red, the right hand of the Spindle Witch who she’s also, foolishly, hellbent on saving. Briar Rose would do anything to restore his kingdom. But there’s a darkness creeping inside him—a sinister bond to the Spindle Witch he can’t escape. The Witch and the Vampire - Francesca Flores YA Fantasy Romance 21 March 2023 Francesca Flores's The Witch and the Vampire is a queer Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no one but themselves must journey together through a cursed forest with danger at every turn. Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that she's a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop her mother's plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes. Feed Them Silence - Lee Mandelo Science Fiction/Horror 14 March 2023 What does it mean to "be-in-kind" with a nonhuman animal? Or in Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon’s case, to be in-kind with one of the last remaining wild wolves? Using a neurological interface to translate her animal subject’s perception through her own mind, Sean intends to chase both her scientific curiosity and her secret, lifelong desire to experience the intimacy and freedom of wolfishness. To see the world through animal eyes; smell the forest, thick with olfactory messages; even taste the blood and viscera of a fresh kill. And, above all, to feel the belonging of the pack. Sean’s tireless research gives her a chance to fulfill that dream, but pursuing it has a terrible cost. Her obsession with work endangers her fraying relationship with her wife. Her research methods threaten her mind and body. And the attention of her VC funders could destroy her subject, the beautiful wild wolf whose mental world she’s invading. Friday I'm In Love - Camryn Garrnett YA Romance 02 February 2023 It's too late for a Sweet Sixteen but what if Mahalia had a Coming Out Party? A love letter to romantic comedies, sweet sixteen blowouts, black joy and queer pride. Mahalia Harris wants. She wants a big Sweet Sixteen like her best friend Naomi. She wants the super cute new girl Siobhan to like her back. She wants a break from worrying--about money, snide remarks from white classmates, pitying looks from church ladies . . . all of it. Then inspiration strikes: It's too late for a Sweet Sixteen, but what if she had a Coming Out Party? A singing, dancing, rainbow-cake-eating celebration of queerness on her own terms. Belle of the Ball - Mari Costa Graphic Novel - YA Romance Romance 14 Apr 2022 A young adult graphic novel about high school wallflower Belle Hawkins, who ends up in a love triangle after tutoring the girlfriend of her crush. High-school senior and notorious wallflower Hawkins finally works up the courage to remove her mascot mask and ask out her longtime crush: Regina Moreno, head cheerleader, academic overachiever, and all-around popular girl. There’s only one teensy little problem: Regina is already dating Chloe Kitagawa, athletic all-star… and middling English student. Regina sees a perfectly self-serving opportunity here, and asks the smitten Hawkins to tutor Chloe free of charge, knowing Hawkins will do anything to get closer to her. Cosmoknights (Book Two) - Hannah Templer Graphic Novel - Fantasy Science-Fiction 02 May 2023 Escape was just the beginning. The sensational “gays in space” graphic novel returns with new faces, long-awaited reunions, higher stakes, and more thrilling action! Pan has finally escaped her dead-end planet, piecing together a new sort of family with the rebel gladiators Bee and Cass and the mysterious hacktivist Kate. They’ve even rescued a princess… But what if this princess has her own ideas? Whatever happened to Pan’s childhood friend Tara? And if Pan and the others become galactic fugitives, will the immense pressure of life on the run threaten to tear them apart just in time for the biggest heist of their lives? Hijab Butch Blues - Lamya H Memoir - Non-Fiction 02 February 2023 When Lamya is fourteen, she decides to disappear. It seems easier to ease herself out of sight than to grapple with the difficulty of taking shape in a world that doesn't fit. She is a queer teenager growing up in a Muslim household, a South Asian in a Middle Eastern country. But during her Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam, and suddenly everything shifts: if Maryam was never touched by any man, could Maryam be... like Lamya? Written with deep intelligence and fierce humour, Hijab Butch Blues follows Lamya as she travels to the United States, as she comes out, and as she navigates the complexities of the immigration system - and the queer dating scene. Bianca Torre Is Afraid Of Everything - Justine Pucella Winans YA Mystery/Thriller 27 April 2023 Murder most fowl? In this sardonic and campy YA thriller, an anxious, introverted nonbinary teen birder somehow finds themself solving a murder mystery with their neighbor/fellow anime lover, all while falling for a cute girl from their birding group . . . and trying not to get murdered. Sixteen-year-old Bianca Torre is an avid birder undergoing a gender identity crisis and grappling with an ever-growing list of fears. Some, like Fear #6: Initiating Conversation, keep them constrained, forcing them to watch birds from the telescope in their bedroom. And, occasionally, their neighbors. When their gaze wanders from the birds to one particular window across the street, Bianca witnesses a creepy plague-masked murderer take their neighbor’s life. This Delicious Death - Kaya Cottingham YA Horror/Mystery 25 April 2023 Four best friends, one music festival, and a cooler filled with human organs: this summer is about to get gory. ​​​ Five years ago those impacted by the Hollowing slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted. As a last hurrah before their graduation, four ghoul friends decided to attend a musical festival in the desert. They have a cooler filled with hard seltzers and SynFlesh and are ready to party. But on the first night of the festival Val goes feral, and ends up killing and eating a boy. Jennifer’s Body meets Riverdale in this new sapphic horror standalone. Frontier - Grace Curtis Science Fiction 09 March 2023 Frontier is a heartfelt queer romance in a high noon standoff with Earth's uncertain future, full of love, loss, and laser guns. In the distant future, climate change has reduced Earth to a hard-scrabble wasteland. Saints and sinners, lawmakers and sheriffs, gunslingers and horse thieves abound. Folk are as diverse and divided as they've ever been - except in their shared suspicions when a stranger comes to town. One night a ship falls from the sky, bringing the planet's first visitor in three hundred years. She's armed, she's scared... and she's looking for someone. Grand Slam Romance - Olli Hicks Graphic Novel - Sports Romance 22 June 2023 A queer graphic novel where the balls are fast, the smooches are spicy, and the girls . . . magical In this queer graphic novel that’s equal parts romance, softball, and magical girl drama, Mickey Monsoon and Astra Maxima are best friends... and maybe more. That is, until Astra unceremoniously dumps Mickey to become a softball wunderkind at a private girl’s school in Switzerland. Years later, Mickey is the hotshot pitcher for the Belle City Broads, and their team is poised to sweep the league this season. But Micky is thrown off their game when Astra shows up to catch for the Gaiety Gals, the Broads’ fiercest rival. Astra is flirty, arrogant, and reckless on the field—everything the rule-abiding Mickey hates. Rosewater - Liv Little Contemporary Fiction 20 April 2023 For fans of Queenie and Such a Fun Age comes a deliciously gritty and strikingly bold debut novel about discovering love where it has always been. Elsie is out of options. She's exhausted from being pushed in and out of social housing, she's deflated by debt and she's disturbed by the dark reality of having bailiffs show up at her door. With nowhere to go, there's only one person left to turn to: her best friend, Juliet. She finds friendship and safety in Juliet's flat, but when Elsie loses her bar job and all creative inspiration for her poetry dries up, she hits rock bottom. Little Rabbit - Alyssa Songsiridej Contemporary Fiction 03 August 2023 When the unnamed narrator of Little Rabbit first meets the choreographer at an artists' residency in Maine, it's not a match. But when he reappears in her life in Boston and invites her to his dance company's performance, she's compelled to attend. Their interaction at the show sets off a summer of expanding her own body's boundaries: She follows the choreographer to his home in the Berkshires, to his apartment in New York, and into submission during sex. Her body learns to obediently follow his, and his desires quickly become inextricable from her pleasure. This must be happiness, right? Back in Boston, her roommate Annie's skepticism amplifies her own doubts about these heady weekend retreats. What does it mean for a queer young woman to partner with an older man, for a fledgling artist to partner with an established one? Is she following her own agency, or is she merely following him? Does falling in love mean eviscerating yourself? Think we've missed something great? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌

As we enter 2023 we're taking a look at some of the best queer graphic novels being released next year. From sweet coming-of-age highschool romances to gay superheroes and trans slice-of-life comics, here are 20 of our most anticipated LGBT graphic novels, comics, and manga coming in 2023. Please note: some release dates may be pushed back to later dates. Belle of the Ball - Mari Costa 28 April 2023 - First Second LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Women £17.99 A young adult graphic novel about high school wallflower Belle Hawkins, who ends up in a love triangle after tutoring the girlfriend of her crush. High-school senior and notorious wallflower Hawkins finally works up the courage to remove her mascot mask and ask out her longtime crush: Regina Moreno, head cheerleader, academic overachiever, and all-around popular girl. There’s only one teensy little problem: Regina is already dating Chloe Kitagawa, athletic all-star… and middling English student. Regina sees a perfectly self-serving opportunity here and asks the smitten Hawkins to tutor Chloe free of charge, knowing Hawkins will do anything to get closer to her. Project Nought - Chelsey Furedi 16 March 2023 - Clarion Books LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men, Queer Women £13.99 Ren Mittal's last memory in the year 1996 is getting on a bus to visit his mystery pen pal, Georgia. When he wakes up in 2122, he thinks he might be hallucinating... he's not! Tech conglomerate Chronotech sponsors a time-travel program to help students in 2122 learn what history was really like... from real-life subjects who've been transported into the future...and Ren is one of them. but what if Chronotech isn't the benevolent organization they claim to be, and he and his fellow subjects are in great danger? Project Nought is a fast-paced time-travel adventure with a hint of romance, perfect for fans of Kiss Number 8 and On a Sunbeam Under Kingdom - Christof Bogacs 30 March 2023 - Dark Horse Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £14.99 School can be hard, and making friends can be even harder. Taking your mother’s place as the guardian of a secret subterranean kingdom of monsters just might be impossible! After the sudden disappearance of his mom, high school freshman, Shay, is thrust into a secret world of monsters that exists underneath his small West-Virginian town. With the help of his shapeshifting aunt Sa’Belle, he must search for his mother while doing what he can to safeguard the citizens of the ‘Under Kingdom’ and try to maintain his normal high school life. US - Sara Soler 13 June 2023 - Dark Horse Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Trans & Queer Women £15.99 What happens when the life you had assumed takes a 180-degree turn? Nothing... And also everything. Us is a love story between Sara and Diana, and also the story of Diana's transition. After fears that this sudden turn in their relationship could end things, they realize that they still like and love each other and that nothing has changed between them. Now, they'll have to come out of the closet and face the gaze of their family and social environment. Us intends to make the trans reality visible and contribute its vision and grain of sand in the face of the great misinformation that exists about gender dysphoria, with humor and from our own experience. Cosmoknights Vol. 2 - Hannah Templer 02 March 2023 - Top Shelf Productions LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Women £22.99 Escape was just the beginning. The sensational "gays in space" webcomic/graphic novel returns, with new faces, long-awaited reunions, higher stakes, and more thrilling action! Pan has finally escaped her dead-end planet, piecing together a new sort of family with the rebel gladiators Bee and Cass and the mysterious hacktivist Kate. They've even rescued a princess... But what if this princess has her own ideas? Whatever happened to Pan's childhood friend Tara? And if Pan and the others become galactic fugitives, will the immense pressure of life on the run threaten to tear them apart just in time for the biggest heist of their lives? WYND Vol. 3: The Trone in the Sky - James Tynion IV 12 October 2023 - Boom! Studios LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £10.99 Return to Esseriel in the darkest chapter to date of Wynd, perfect for newcomers and longtime fans of Eisner Award-Winning writer James Tynion IV! The land of Esseriel is a darker and more dangerous place than ever, as tensions between the Human and Faerie realms build to the brink of war. Could Wynd be the only hope for peace? Danger, betrayal, and even some romance confront our heroes at every turn, while elsewhere, the Duke makes murderous plans of his own. Things seem dire, but help from an unexpected figure might just be the lifeline Wynd and Merien need… even though the final battle draws near. Multiversity: Teen Justice Vol. 1 - Danni Lore & Ivan Cohen 21 March 2023 - DC Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: LGBTQ+ Cast £14.99 Kid Quick-the Future State Flash-and their fellow heroes Supergirl, Robin, Aquagirl, Klarienne the Witch Girl, and Troy take center stage in this thrilling collection that rocks Earth-11 to its core! The secrets of Earth-11's newest heroes and villains unfold in DC's most exciting new team title! Teen Justice investigates the Church of Blood-is Sister Blood's true mission among the lost souls of New York City and will Teen Justice have what it takes to get past their growing pains and stop it? When their efforts to infiltrate the mysterious church backfire, one hero faces a devastating loss. Meanwhile, Supergirl and Robin attract surprising allies when they discover an unexpected mystery, Aquagirl finds herself out of her element (and then some), and Teen Justice discover the threat they face is even greater than they imagined! Follow along as Teen Justice uncovers the answers to all their questions in Multiversity: Teen Justice! Collecting Multiversity: Teen Justice #1-6; DC Pride 2022 #1. Mimosa - Archie Bongiovanni o7 February 2023 - Abrams LGBTQ+ Rep: Trans Men, Queer Women, Non-Binary & Genderqueer £17.99 Archie Bongiovanni, the comics artist behind the hit A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns, explores queerness in this shockingly frank and funny graphic novel. Best friends and chosen family Chris, Elise, Jo, and Alex work hard to keep themselves afloat. Their regular brunches hold them together even as the rest of their lives threaten to fall apart. In an effort to avoid being the oldest gays at the party, the crew decides to put on a new queer event called Grind–specifically for homos in their dirty thirties. I Want To Be A Wall Vol. 2 - Honami Shirono 17 January 2023 - Little, Brown LGBTQ+ Rep: Asexual Women, Queer Men £12.99 This is a supply and demand marriage!? "I thought I would live alone forever." Married life where the supply and demand of such two people match. Yuriko and Gakurouta recount their first meeting and proposal to a curious Sousuke. Their first impressions may not have been the best, but once they got a chance to have a proper conversation, it turned out they had more in common than they thought! Rockstar and Softboy Go To Space - Sina Grace 31 January 2023 - Image Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £7.99 The dirtiest, flirtiest BFF of comics are back, and holy moly are they in dire straits! After getting brutally rebuffed by the most influential dudes in Los Angeles, Rockstar and Softboy pack their bags and GO TO SPACE. Acclaimed author SINA GRACE revisits the 2022 fan-favorite comic for more hijinx than ever before! How... a world away from the world, can these two get into more trouble and learn more about their beautiful friendship!? Only one way to find out! Grand Slam Romance - Ollie Hicks 22 June 2023 - Abrams LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Women £18.99 A queer graphic novel where the balls are fast, the smooches are spicy, and the girls . . . magical In this queer graphic novel that’s equal parts romance, softball, and magical girl drama, Mickey Monsoon and Astra Maxima are best friends . . . and maybe more. That is, until Astra unceremoniously dumps Mickey to become a softball wunderkind at a private girl’s school in Switzerland. Years later, Mickey is the hotshot pitcher for the Belle City Broads, and their team is poised to sweep the league this season. But Micky is thrown off their game when Astra shows up to catch for the Gaiety Gals, the Broads’ fiercest rival. Astra is flirty, arrogant, and reckless on the field—everything the rule-abiding Mickey hates. Sins of the Black Flamingo - Andrew Wheeler 28 February 2023 - Image Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £14.99 Occult Noir. Miami Sleaze. In Sins of the Black Flamingo, Sebastian Harlow is the eponymous Black Flamingo, a flamboyant and narcissistic thief who gets his kicks stealing mystic artifacts from the wealthy and corrupt of Miami’s occult underground. But when his latest job leads him to his biggest score so far, the hedonistic outlaw discovers something he wasn’t looking for—something to believe in. Collects SINS OF THE BLACK FLAMINGO#1-5 Specs - David M. Booher 11 October 2023 - BOOM! Studios LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £11.99 A supernatural 80s throwback perfect for fans of Stranger Things via Killer Queens! Small town. Ohio, 1986. All Kenny and Ted want is to not feel like outcasts. What happens when a pair of X-ray glasses mysteriously appear? The magic specs open a world of possibilities for these misfit teens through the granting of literal wishes! Things start out innocent, but when they wish that their bully would disappear, things take a cursed turn, with far darker consequences than they thought possible... In this mysterious and nostalgic tale from writer David M. Booher (Canto, All-New Firefly) and artist Chris Shehan (House of Slaughter), Kenny and Ted realize they've received much more than they bargained for... Motor Crush 3 - Brenden Fletcher 31 January 2023 - Image Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Women £14.99 The acclaimed sci-fi action-adventure series MOTOR CRUSH returns with another burst of hot pink energy! Domino Swift is used to gunning for victory on the racetrack. But what happens when a far bigger trophy is on the line? As Domino struggles to understand her mysterious past and tumultuous present, the future of all humanity rests in her hands. Will she make it to the finish line? Collects MOTOR CRUSH #12-16 Light Carries On - Ray Nadine 27 March 2023 - Dark Horse Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £18.99 When Leon’s camera unexpectedly breaks, he is forced to borrow a used one from his mom’s antique store. As he snaps the first picture, the ghost of the camera’s former owner is released and the two are inexplicably linked. After taking Leon’s body for an accidental joy ride, the ghost introduces himself as Cody, a queer punk rocker who died decades ago. Of course, he doesn’t remember how he wound up dead but the two decide that investigating might be the only way to end the haunting. Leon has been reeling from a recent break-up with his boyfriend, recovering from his time in the military, and trying to become a photographer who can afford to take pictures of something more than high school proms and weddings. So being the only one able to see and talk to a ghost that died before cellphones, Wikipedia, or iTunes seems like a great way to fill his ample free time. The Least We Can Do - Iolanda Zanfardino 09 May 2023 - Image Comics LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Women £14.99 Mysterious magical power arises from a world nearly destroyed by war. A young woman fights for her ideas of revolution and to build a new society from the debris. Realizing that she can't do it alone, she must prove her worth to the Eclipse Rebels to join them against the dreadful Eden Army. A story of discovering what is right and what love means in a militarily occupied and socially oppressed United Kingdom. Collects THE LEAST WE CAN DO #1-6 The Adventure Zone: Eleventh Hour - The McElroy Brothers 21 February 2023 - First Second LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £15.99 The fifth installment in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Adventure Zone graphic novel series, a meta-fictional D&D adventure story based on the smash hit podcast. The Bureau of Balance has located yet another Grand Relic, and this time it's...time? A small mining town called Refuge has been locked away behind an arcane bubble, and somewhere inside it the Temporal Chalice is causing unknown mayhem. Taako, Magnus, and Merle are launched into their investigation, but they've barely had a chance to get their feet under them before the situation literally falls apart. When the town clocktower strikes noon, Refuge and its citizens are destroyed in a sudden chaos of flame and ruin, and our heroes' relic hunting (along with their lives) comes to an abrupt end. Henshin!, Volume 1 - Bon Idle 06 June 2023 - Rockport Publishers Inc. LGBTQ+ Rep: Queer Men £10.99 A new, action-packed take on tokusatsu drama, features fiery fights, mysterious conspiracies, and LGBTQ romance for fans of classic Power Rangers and Kamen Rider stories. Nine years after a mysterious ecological disaster, journalism students Alex and Rosalia investigate the strange company that rebuilt their city and turned it into a vision of the future... that is, until Alex's world is turned upside down by a chance encounter with a gigantic monster from another world, a Kaiju, and the mysterious masked hero fighting it! Henshin! is rated T for Teen, and recommended for ages 13 and up. X-Gender Vol. 2 - Asuka Miyazaki 13 June 2023 - Seven Seas LGBTQ+ Rep: Non-Binary £13.99 Asuka is neither a woman nor a man, they're X-gender (a non-binary identity) and they've realized they like women! Okay, now what? Adult films are fun to watch, but real sex is less appealing. Would having a penis make that better or worse? Periods already suck, and sex means more fluids from more people! This autobiographical manga follows Asuka's feelings about their body, their relationships, and the fun (and sometimes terrible) experience of having an awakening in their thirties. Gender is Really Strange - Teddy G. Goetz 21 August 2023 - Jessica Kingsley LGBTQ+ Rep: Trans Women, Trans Men, Non-Binary & Genderqueer £10.99 What does it mean to be trans? Non-Binary? Gender Diverse? What parts of gender come from society? What parts come from within? How much is biology, and how much is socialization? Part of the Really Strange series, this science-based graphic medicine comic addresses these questions and more, revealing the inherent messiness of gender identity and sex. A mysterious amalgam of biology and society, inherently sensed, yet societally-defined, the complexity of gender is revealed through examining neuroscience, biology, hormones, mental health, behaviour and how much of gender comes from society. Exploring theories, thinkers, terminology, history and gender cultures around the world and across different religions, this easy-to-understand and engaging book will help you to question perceived norms and engage critically with your own gender identity. Think we've missed something great? Send us a message on Twitter @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌