February 5th (USA)
Unspeakable (Atom, 2015)
Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton — (LESBIAN)
Goodreads Summary: “Megan doesn’t speak. She hasn’t spoken in months.
Pushing away the people she cares about is just a small price to pay. Because there are things locked inside Megan’s head – things that are screaming to be heard – that she cannot, must not, let out.
Then Jasmine starts at school: bubbly, beautiful, talkative Jasmine. And for reasons Megan can’t quite understand, life starts to look a bit brighter.
Megan would love to speak again, and it seems like Jasmine might be the answer. But if she finds her voice, will she lose everything else?”
February 10th (USA)
Promposal by Rhonda Helms — (GAY)
Goodreads Summary: “promposal (n.)–an often public proposal, in which one person asks another to the prom, eliciting joy or
Promposal (Simon Pulse, 2015)
mortification.
Camilla can’t help hoping her secret crush, Benjamin, might randomly surprise her out of the blue with a promposal. However, when she’s asked to prom by an irritating casual acquaintance–wearing a fancy tux and standing in front of a news crew–she’s forced to say yes. Yet all hope’s not lost. A timely school project gives Camilla a chance to get closer to Benjamin…and it seems like the chemistry between them is crackling. But is she reading into something that isn’t there?
Joshua, Camilla’s bestie, has been secretly in love with his gay best friend, Ethan, since middle school. Just as he decides to bite the bullet and ask Ethan if he’ll go to prom with him, even if just as friends, he gets a shocking surprise: Ethan asks Joshua for help crafting the perfect promposal–for another guy. Now Joshua has to suppress his love and try to fake enthusiasm as he watches his dreams fall apart…unless he can make Ethan see that love has been right in front of his eyes the whole time.
The road to the perfect promposal isn’t easy to navigate. But one thing’s certain–prom season is going to be memorable.”
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Indie Bound
February 11th (USA)
Tales from Outer Lands (Mangoverse # 0.5) by Shira Glassman — (BISEXUAL, ASEXUAL)
Tales from Outer Lands (Prizm Books, 2015)
Goodreads Summary:
“Aviva and the Aliens” is a science-fiction farce starring Perach’s bisexual chef-turned-royal-mistress. On the night before the royal Passover seder, Aviva has to outsmart the aliens who abducted her to cook for them because they had grown sick of their spaceship’s food replicators. Will she get home before Queen Shulamit wakes up and panics from her absence? Tune in for a kickass curvy brown bisexual woman rescuing herself!
“Rivka in Port Saltspray” is a dark piece of fantasy/action about one of Rivka’s adventures during her years on the road before settling down in Perach as Shulamit’s captain. Trapped in a seedy port town because an innkeeper is holding her shapeshifting dragon-horse hostage until she can pay all the charges he invented, Rivka finally has a chance at some decent money when a wealthy but weak man hires her to rescue his fiancée. But she quickly learns there is more at stake. This story contains an important aromantic/asexual character, and the only romantic pairings mentioned at all are background and/or off-screen. Warning for violence.
February 17th (USA)
Dark Rites by Jeremy Jordan King — (GAY)
Dark Rites (Bold Strokes Books, 2015)
Goodreads Summary: “The actors in the 1922 production of Weinstein’s Wonderacts have a secret: they aren’t just performers, they’re members of a Circle, a coven dedicated to enlightenment through magic. To enhance their power, they have their eye on the new girl in the cast, Margarite, a natural witch. But the coven’s leader, Vincent, isn’t satisfied. He’s hungry for more, to become a Complete Man. He turns to a mysterious wanderer for counsel, but could the teacher’s intentions and rituals be malevolent? Being the only one with true gifts, it’s up to Margarite to save her friends from enacting these dark rites.”
Bold Strokes Books / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
February 18th (USA)
Conjoined at the Soul by Huston Piner– (GAY)
Conjoined at the Soul (Prizm Books, 2015)
Goodreads Summary: “Sixteen-year-old Randy Clark just looked in the mirror and discovered he’s gay. Now all he needs is a boyfriend. That should be easy enough, right? Unfortunately, Randy has a knack for being attracted to the wrong guys, like the one who hasn’t spoken to him since he told him he had pretty eyes. Then there’s that locker room jock that puts him down every day. And new student Kerry Sawyer would be perfect – except for that girlfriend he left behind back home.
Randy turns to Jeremy Smith and the outrageous Annie Brock for help, and Annie’s more than willing to help him find the right guy. But between Randy’s own bad luck and Annie’s less than helpful dating advice, things are getting out of control. And if that’s not enough, there’s Blake trying to get him to join the cast of South Pacific, Annie’s love-hate relationship with Mike Kowalski, and bullies at school targeting Jeremy – not to mention a bigoted father and the world’s most irritating little brother. Randy’s tenth grade year is certainly shaping up to be one to remember – if he gets through it!”
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FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS:
December 30th (USA)
Becoming Andy Hunsinger (Prizm Books, 2015)
Becoming Andy Hunsinger by Jere’ M. Fishback — (GAY)
Goodreads Summary: “It’s 1976, and Anita Bryant’s homophobic “Save Our Children” crusade rages through Florida. When Andy
Hunsinger, a closeted gay college student, joins in a demonstration protesting Bryant’s appearance in Tallahassee, his straight boy image is shattered when he’s “outed” by a TV news reporter. In the months following, Andy discovers just what it means to be openly gay in a society that condemns love between two men. Can Andy’s friendship with Travis, a devout Christian who’s fighting his own sexual urges, develop into something deeper?”
January 15th, 2015 (USA)
An Unexpected Summer by Kate Sands — (GAY)
An Unexpected Summer (Harmony Ink Press, 2015)
Goodreads Summary: “Life at home has become awkward since Brendan told his parents he’s gay. Relief comes when his cousin gets him a job at a nearby lake resort for the summer. Happy to get away, he plans to give his parents space while saving money for his college fund and hanging out with his cousin Tracey, the only other person he’s out to. Turns out Tobin, a boy from school Brendan has a crush on, is also working there for the summer, and the two of them have been assigned to share a room. Brendan’s nervous reaction doesn’t get the summer off to the best start. Now, not only does Brendan have to fix his relationship with his parents, he has to figure out a way to make things right with Tobin too.”
Harmony Ink / Dreamspinner Press / Amazon
January 22th, 2015 (USA)
May Day Mine by Verity Croker — (LESBIAN, BISEXUAL)
May Day Mine (Harmony Ink Press, 2015)
Goodreads Summary: “Life in a small mining town can be like living in a fishbowl, where everyone knows everybody else’s business. Fifteen-year-old Jodi’s mother wants her father to quit his binge drinking and his dangerous job at the mine—even more so after a collapse leaves two miners dead and three trapped deep underground.
As tensions escalate both at home and around the town, Jodi seeks comfort with her friends but soon faces a double betrayal. Meanwhile, her ten-year-old brother Jake reacts by joining a gang of schoolyard bullies who engage in increasingly dangerous antics.
As Jodi struggles to gain autonomy over her life, she begins to discover the person she really is. But with everything around her spiraling out of control, it may not be the right time to let her family, friends, and ultimately the whole town know—no matter how much she wants to.”
