Make time for these girls on your reading list ♥

From kick-ass ladies and lovable villains to pirate adventures and reimagined fairy tales, here are some awesome fantasy books with lesbian romances that are just as sweet as they are exciting!

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The Abyss Surrounds Us

by Emily Skrutskie

What We Think

Strong leading women? Diverse cast of interesting characters? Deep-sea monsters you love and also find super scary? Oh yes. This series is so good. Our only wish is that there were more than two main books and a short-story prequel. We need more time with Cas and Swift ♥

From the publisher: For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the giant, genetically engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water.

Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup and teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea.

Length: 288 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Publisher: Flux
Average customer review: 4.4 out of 5 stars (133 reviews)
Buy it: Amazon

Don’t miss the sequel, The Edge of the Abyss, to see how this epic adventure comes to an end!

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Not Your Sidekick

by C.B. Lee

What We Think

Jess is awesome—seriously. She’s a bisexual Asian American of Chinese and Vietnamese heritage, and her coming-of-age story is incredibly sweet and relatable as she struggles with finding her place in the world. And when that world is full of heroes and villains and sinister plots? Well, at least there’s Abby, the girl she’s had a crush on for ages, to help her figure things out a little.

From the publisher: Welcome to Andover … where superpowers are common, but internships are complicated. Just ask high school nobody, Jessica Tran. Despite her heroic lineage, Jess is resigned to a life without superpowers and is merely looking to beef-up her college applications when she stumbles upon the perfect (paid!) internship only it turns out to be for the town s most heinous supervillain. On the upside, she gets to work with her longtime secret crush, Abby, who Jess thinks may have a secret of her own. Then there’s the budding attraction to her fellow intern, the mysterious ‘M,’ who never seems to be in the same place as Abby. But what starts as a fun way to spite her superhero parents takes a sudden and dangerous turn when she uncovers a plot larger than heroes and villains altogether.

Length: 304 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Superhero
Publisher: Interlude Press
Average customer review: 4.4 out of 5 stars (102 reviews)
Buy it: Amazon

Continue the story of Jess and her friends in the awesome sequels, Not Your Villain and Not Your Backup.

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The Seafarer’s Kiss

by Julia Ember

What We Think

In this retelling of The Little Mermaid, we get Norse mythology thrown into the mix, with a bisexual mermaid who falls in love with a lesbian Viking shield-maiden. With a premise like that, this lush and immersive tale is hard to ignore. And just like Ersel, we have a soft spot for characters like Ragna.

From the publisher: Having long wondered what lives beyond the ice shelf, nineteen-year-old mermaid Ersel learns of the life she wants when she rescues and befriends Ragna, a shield-maiden stranded on the merfolk’s fortress. But when Ersel’s childhood friend and suitor catches them together, he gives Ersel a choice: Say goodbye to Ragna or face justice at the hands of the glacier’s brutal king.

Determined to forge a different fate, Ersel seeks help from the divine Loki. But such deals are never straightforward, and the outcome sees her exiled from the only home and protection she’s known. To save herself from perishing in the barren, underwater wasteland and be reunited with the human she’s come to love, Ersel must try to outsmart the God of Lies.

Length: 224 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: Interlude Press
Average customer review: 4.3 out of 5 stars (62 reviews)
Buy it: Amazon

The series concludes with the sequel, The Navigator’s Touch, as shield-maiden Ragna comes to terms with vengeance and redemption.

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The One Who Eats Monsters

by Casey Matthews

What We Think

In the mood for some gritty, blockbuster action with your romance? Look no further, because Ryn is here to scratch that itch—in spades. When she decides to use her terrifying powers and skills to protect a girl she develops feelings for, things get messy in all sorts of awesome ways. “Tell me again what to do,” says Ryn. “I dare you.” Yep—we love her.

From the publisher: Long ago, before history broke in half, elder gods exiled the vengeful deity Erynis to a far corner of Earth. When Ryn is found weakened after saving the life of an innocent villager, the U.S. military mistakes the battered immortal for a feral teenager and places her in New Petersburg, a decaying city full of monsters.

In her clash with the city’s demons, Ryn is confused by her intense emotional connection with Naomi Bradford, a senator’s daughter she has sworn to protect. But while her claws can kill anything that dies (and a few things that cannot), she must also contend with the human race. They lie, they speak in riddles, and to protect her friend, the immortal must navigate the senseless rules of their flawed civilization. Worse, they are fragile—and giving her heart to one makes Ryn afraid for the first time in her eternal life.

Length: 382 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Publisher: CreateSpace
Average customer review: 4.8 out of 5 stars (138 reviews)
Buy it: Amazon

The continuation of Ryn’s story is set for the very near future. We’re really looking forward to it, so we’ll keep you posted as soon as it’s out!

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Ash

by Malinda Lo

What We Think

Fairy tales are timeless for a reason. And this retelling of Cinderella is a beautiful and highly original take on this fantasy setting. This novel is a whole lot more than a simple reskinning to give the tale a lesbian romance. Rather, it’s a thoughtful and empowering narrative that tackles a number of serious themes, while never losing its fairy tale atmosphere.

From the publisher: The haunting, romantic lesbian retelling of Cinderella and modern queer classic by award-winning author Malinda Lo—now with an introduction by Holly Black, a letter from the author, a Q&A, and more!

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash’s capacity for love–and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing and empowering, Ash beautifully unfolds the connections between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Length: 272 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale
Publisher: Little, Brown
Average customer review: 4.0 out of 5 stars (287 reviews)
Buy it: Amazon

If you’re craving more, there’s also Huntress, which is set before Ash and provides a lot of interesting context.

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