Verdict: A warm, funny and heartfelt late coming-out romance on Portugal’s Camino de Santiago, with a hilarious opening and a vivid, found-family walking tour. Most readers loved it; a sizeable minority felt the romance lacked spark next to Cochrun’s earlier books, or tired of the confident-lesbian-teaches-baby-gay setup. Best for: Readers who love travel romances and … Read more
Verdict: A Lambda-winning road-trip romance that handles a dying mentor and two women who ruined each other’s lives with real weight, undercut by a verbal tic almost every reader mentions. Best for: Readers who want a romcom that is actually about grief, enemies who were once best friends, and an ADHD and anxiety portrait that … Read more
Verdict: A Lambda-winning sapphic holiday rom-com with a superb supporting cast and unusually honest anxiety writing, undercut by a resolution that makes one woman apologise for both women’s choices. Best for: Readers who want a snowbound Christmas romance that is genuinely about something, and who can accept a heroine carrying more blame than the plot … Read more