Forbidden sapphic romance: boss and employee, rival families, royal and commoner, and love that has to stay hidden. Every review explains what makes the relationship off-limits, how the book handles it, and the heat level. Related reading: our guide to secret, closeted and private relationships in sapphic romance and the age gap romance list.
Sara Glass’s Stonewall Honor memoir of first love with a woman inside Gur Hasidic Brooklyn and the long fight to get out with her children. Moving and fast, held back by plain prose.
Sabina Khan’s YA debut sends a closeted Bengali American Muslim teen from Seattle to Bangladesh. Readers call it important and moving, and they also call the writing flat. Here’s what the evidence says.
Shamim Sarif’s London love story between a Palestinian bride-to-be and a shy British Indian writer is funny and warm, carried by its families, but head-hopping prose and a thin romance hold it back.
Talia Samuels’ debut sapphic Christmas rom-com has a great fake-dating twist and a cozy country house, but readers say the chemistry is thin and the second half drags. Here’s what the evidence says.
Sara Farizan’s Lambda-winning debut sets a forbidden first love in Tehran. Our evidence-led review: a vital premise and setting, held back by a thin, one-sided romance and a bittersweet ending.
A warm, faith-positive sapphic YA first-love story set in small-town Georgia, held back by an overlong deception plot and a side character many critics call ableist.
E.K. Johnston’s after-the-quest YA fantasy gives a knight and a thief a tender, happy-ending romance — but its split timeline loses many readers. Our evidence-led review.
A sapphic Arthurian treasure hunt with inventive puzzles and a charming lady-and-gang-boss pairing, held back by a muted romance and a historical setting that never names its year. Closed-door heat, happy ending, 3.5/5.
Jennifer McMahon’s queer folk horror pairs a creepy 1919 Vermont epidemic with a secret, tragic love between two women. Atmospheric and affecting, but slow in the middle and short on answers.
A funny, open-door sapphic Christmas rom-com with a hot Hawaii fling and a meta holiday-movie premise, held back by a rushed second half and a contrived breakup.