Yahoo News 10 Sexy LGBT Reads, Selected By a Romance Novelist
If you're looking for romance recommendations, the best people to ask are romance novelists, for obvious reasons. They read a lot of them, they have high standards, and they know their way around a sex scene. Below, author Santino Hassell shares his thoughts on 10 great LGBT romances, which he says are arranged from least steamy to steamiest. If you're looking for an 11th, Santino's new book Illegal Contact (out August 15) is an excellent choice - it's about a football player named Gavin who has to hire a live-in personal assistant after his anger management issues cause him to end up on house arrest. Thinking it's better to choose someone who's uninterested in his celebrity, Gavin hires the football-indifferent Noah, but of course Noah ends up interested in Gavin's muscles anyway, and plenty of romance (and hot sex) ensues. As Santino put it while talking about the books on this list: "Your Kindle is gonna be overwhelmed!"
1. Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman
"There’s no sex in this book. There’s not even any kissing! It’s just about two girls who meet and start dating, which I really appreciate. A lot of books start with lust and passion and go quickly into sex, but rarely do you get to see a sweet, flirty relationship turn into a full-blown romantic relationship. Clara is a knitter who does these small-batch dyes of yarn and sells them online, and she’s looking for something to inspire her for a new batch. She comes across this art gallery that has beautifully vivid paintings of nature and really likes them, so she goes inside and asks about the artist, who's named Danielle. They go out for lunch at a Jewish deli, where they learn that they have a lot in common. They decide at this lunch that they’re gonna do some cross-promotion between the two of them, so they grow a lot closer, and the novella ends with them going on their first date. This is just a really sweet book."
2. Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
"This is a young adult male/male romance that takes place in Provo, Utah, in a heavily Mormon community. Tanner is starting his senior year of high school and decides to take this writing seminar that's famed for producing a writer that got a major deal with a publisher. On the first day, Tanner realizes that the teaching assistant is Sebastian Brother, the former student who got the book deal at the previous seminar, and it's like they see each other and it’s love at first sight. The problem is that Tanner is openly bisexual at home but his parents made him promise them that he wouldn’t talk about his sexuality [in public] because of how their community is. Once Tanner and Sebastian start working together, their attraction is undeniable, and it’s only a matter of time before Tanner starts writing an autobiographical story about the both of them. Sebastian’s not freaked out the way Tanner expects him to be...and their friendship deepens. I don’t wanna give the whole plot away, but this book is epic."
3. Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon
"I really, really love this book. It’s about Alexis Chambers, who's a shy, anxiety-ridden young woman who's pretty much trapped under her parents’ thumbs. She meets Treasure - Trisha is her real name - at her sister’s bachelorette party at a strip club. Treasure is a stripper, and she immediately notices Alexis in the crowd and identifies her as a lesbian. Alexis asks her for a dance and they go to one of the private rooms where Treasure gives her this extremely hot lap dance. They end up being in the same computer science class during Alexis’s first year at college and become study buddies, and from there they become friends and eventually lovers. It’s a very romantic, real tale about acceptance as well as class differences."
4. Coffee Boy by Austin Chant
"Coffee Boy follows Kiernan, a newly graduated young trans man who is interning at a senator’s campaign office. He’s snarky, blunt, and kind of over everything and everyone, but he ends up falling for his coworker Seth. Kiernan and Seth bond over doing things around the office, and Kiernan realizes that Seth is queer but closeted at work. One thing the novella does really well is show the two different kinds of allies that LGBT people can have - [the people who want to] get a pat on the back, and the people like Seth, who actually, genuinely care. And there are some really hot sex scenes."
5. How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis
"This book would be a great introduction to anyone wanting to read LGBT romance - it’s a little lower on the steamier side of things but still has a charming love story. There's sex, just not a lot, and it’s not super-explicit. It follows Abel and Brandon, two friends who run a fan vlog about a popular show called Castaway Planet. They go out on this road trip to follow the Castaway Planet fan convention, and they find out that some of their fans ship them and write fan fiction about them. They decide to play it up and do some fan service, so of course they end up falling for each other, but there’s some drama about them wondering if this really would have been a thing had it not been for the fans. It's nerdy, sweet, and really light-hearted."
6. Roller Girl by Vanessa North
"Roller Girl is about a recently divorced trans woman named Tina. After a plumbing emergency, she meets Joe, a plumber who's also a really hot lesbian. They end up going on a date that leads to Joe inviting Tina to join her roller derby team. They decide not to mix roller derby and romance, but of course they can’t stay away from each other."
7. Among the Living by Jordan Castillo Price
"This is the first book in the PsyCop series, which is about a gay cop named Victor Bayne and his partner Jacob. Victor is a medium who uses his abilities to solve murders. Victor and Jacob are an established couple from the first book on, so each book doesn’t have a huge romantic plot, but it’s hilarious, mysterious, and honestly refreshing to see these two guys working together on various mysteries. It’s good to see an established relationship where you get to see their bumps along the road and their good times and bad times."
8. Off Campus by Amy Jo Cousins
"Off Campus is about a formerly rich jock named Tom Worthington, who lost everything when his father was arrested for being involved in a Ponzi scheme. It starts off with him going back to college; he doesn’t want to stay in a dorm on campus because of people asking him questions about his family. He moves off campus and gets a roommate named Reese, who's this out and proud gay guy who doesn’t like jocks. At first Reese tries to drive Tom away, but over time they become friends and start liking each other. I just love their relationship and how much they talk to each other. I also love the supporting cast."
9. In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish
"This book follows Daniel, a scrappy, tattooed English professor from Philly who scores a job at a university in a tiny town in northern Michigan. He’s a fish out of water, but he meets Rex, a hulking but sweet man who lives in a cabin in the woods. They become friends at first, then they develop into being lovers and they learn to have to trust each other - Rex has to learn to trust Daniel won’t up and move away once he gets another job offer in a big city, and Daniel has to learn to let people in, period. The sex in the book is epically hot, and I am such a sucker for Roan’s cozy, cabin-in-the-woods scenes."
10. Permanent Ink by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn
"This book is definitely the sexiest one on this list. It follows Poe, a graffiti artist and skateboarder who keeps getting into trouble. His dad’s good friend Jericho offers to give him an apprenticeship at his tattoo parlor to give him some direction, and the novel takes off from there. They clash severely at first because Poe is a brat and Jericho does not suffer fools, but they have really hot chemistry despite their nearly 20-year age difference. It's just a really, really hot book."
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