Christmas is just around the corner. Do you have all the presents you need?
If not…well, here’s an easy way to rectify this: Ylva is offering a pile of newer titles that are thoughtful, easy-to-find gifts for those discerning readers of lesbian fiction in your life. Imagine knocking several Christmas gifts off your shopping list with just a few clicks.
For inspiration, check out these titles:
[three_fourth_last]Barring Complications, a new lesfic romance and legal thriller by Blythe Rippon, goes where real life sadly has not yet—with the U.S. Supreme Court taking up the question of same-sex marriage.
Justice Victoria Willoughby has managed to become SCOTUS’ youngest and newest member of the Court, which would normally invite intense press scrutiny of her life anyway, even without the persistent rumors that she is a closeted lesbian. Victoria debates with herself whether to become the Supreme Court’s first openly gay justice, while she navigates both the unwanted media attention and the conservative attitudes of her colleagues.
When SCOTUS agrees to hear a case on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, the debate becomes a live one in more ways than one for Victoria, who finds herself deeply attracted to Genevieve Fornier, the brilliant (and very out) lead counsel arguing in favor. Meanwhile, Genevieve, who is determined to win this landmark case, finds she is losing her heart to SCOTUS’ new intriguing justice.
Is their attraction to each other a conflict-of-interest or a romance that cannot be denied? Buy Barring Complications now and judge for yourself.[/three_fourth_last]
[three_fourth_last]Unwrap These Presents is a great gift for that Type A person you know who would like to read more lesbian fiction but who can barely find time to read at all. These great holiday-themed short stories will introduce your giftee to some of Ylva’s hottest authors. Theses short stories are so good, she’ll find time to squeeze them in during her lunch break, while waiting in line, on her train commute…
With a mix of mystery stories, romance, and drama, there’s something for everyone here. Plus, 100 percent of the profits for Unwrap These Presents goes to the Ali Forney Center in New York City and the Albert Kennedy Trust in the U.K., two charitable organizations that assist homeless LGBT youth.
So gifting a copy of Unwrap These Presents is like buying them two gifts—a great collection of stories and a donation to two great charities. That’s just darn efficient.[/three_fourth_last]
[three_fourth_last]Under a Falling Star is the perfect holiday-themed, funny and heartwarming romance to open up under the Christmas tree. Austen, a new secretary at an international games company, and Dee, who unbeknownst to Austen is her boss, “meet cute” when Austen’s decoration of the company’s Christmas tree goes wrong and the star at the top plummets onto Dee’s head.
One trip to the emergency room later, Dee is instantly attracted to Austen, but tells herself it’s a terrible idea to date an employee. Austen, meanwhile, isn’t sure what she thinks of Dee. Can they break through the barriers between them to find love?
One of the joys of reading Jae’s books is watching the steady, realistic development of an attraction between two star-crossed lesbians into an earned, believable relationship. Under a Falling Star does not disappoint in this, delivering the goods on a sweet and sardonic spark that will warm you on the coldest of winter days.[/three_fourth_last]
[three_fourth_last]Debut author Ana Matics’ The Return, by contrast, is not a gift for readers who demand a happy love story. Matics is a co-creator of the runaway YouTube comedic hit Carmilla, but in The Return, she forgoes the absurd hilarity of that web series for a darker story about the consequences of one’s choices. Don’t get this one if you’re looking for something that pulls all its punches and keeps things light. However, The Return may be one of the most engrossing and inspiring novels out this year featuring a lesbian main character.
Liza Hawke is a former local basketball star who led the town of Fair Haven’s high school team to their first state championship, then left town forever for a promising professional basketball career. Or so she thought.
Fast forward a decade, and Liza is broke, homeless, and recently released from prison. She returns to her hometown to face a community still angry at her for her embarrassing fall from grace, to confront her childhood demons, and to try to build a new life in the place she swore she’d never see again. But Fair Haven has no plans to make any of that easy for her.
In The Return, Ana Matics draws an affectionate yet hard-eyed portrait of small-town Maine, full of characters making choices you won’t always agree with and facing consequences that aren’t always their fault. But it tempers its harsh realities with hope and redemption, as Liz tries to repair the damage she has wrought and come to peace with the damage inflicted upon her by some of the most important people in her past. It’s a novel that will stay with you long after holidays are over.[/three_fourth_last]
[three_fourth_last]Heart’s Surrender, by Emma Weimann, is a straightforward lesbian erotic romance that is anything but straight. Want a hot holiday gift featuring real women having lots of great sex? Heart’s Surrender shows what can be done when the hotness is between two strong, sexy, confident lesbians who have lives beyond the one-night-stand that brings them together.
Samantha Freedman, a handyperson and painter, shut down her love life a long time ago, after a disastrous breakup. She’s content with the limitations of her social life at the local lesbian dive. Gillian Jennings, a pampered widow who has recently lost her husband, has recently realized that she was a lesbian all along and now wants to make up for lost time. So when Samantha and Gillian meet, neither is looking for anything more complicated than some very satisfying, very erotic sex.
Heart’s Surrender lovingly details their sultry encounters, as Samantha and Gillian begin a no-strings affair full of erotic exploration. But when both women start to realize that they crave something deeper than just awesome sex, leftover obligations, they must overcome the meddling of friends and family and their own fears.
Featuring steamy encounters between well-developed, engaging characters, Heart’s Surrender is a piece of lesbian erotica that, like Samantha and Gillian’s affair, has much more under the surface.[/three_fourth_last]
Astrid Ohletz
Publisher
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