Verdict: The book that made small-town sapphic romcom a category, with a found-family cast readers adore and real heat, undercut by a heroine the story never quite holds accountable. Best for: Readers who want unapologetically queer contemporary romance with a prickly artist, a single-mother bookseller and a whole town of friends, and who can forgive … Read more
Verdict: A hidden-magic-town rom-com with a lovely autumn setting and a complete HEA, held back by a sapphic romance that keeps losing the page to the ex-boyfriend it is supposed to be taking revenge on. Best for: Readers who want cozy witchy atmosphere and a small town with rules above all else, and who can … Read more
Verdict: A spice-forward sapphic heist romantasy with a genuinely hostile enemies-to-lovers rivalry and 5/5 heat, undercut by a world nobody finished building and a heist that barely happens. Best for: Readers who want an explicit, fast, funny assassin-versus-poisoner rivalry and can live with a fantasy kingdom that contains motorcycles and pizza without explaining either. Heat … Read more
Verdict: A warm, high-spice marriage-of-convenience comedy whose leads talk to each other like adults, undercut by farce mechanics six separate reviewers simply cannot believe. Best for: Readers who want low-angst sapphic comfort with real heat and no miscommunication plot, and who are happy to let a premise be silly if the couple is sound. Heat … Read more
Verdict: A warm, funny big-family Christmas comedy with genuinely good dialogue, undercut by a romance given four days and a cast large enough that ten reviewers lost track of who was who. Best for: Readers who want low-angst holiday comfort and a boisterous ensemble, and who will accept the love story as the third-most-important thread … 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
Twenty popular lesbian romance books, each loved by 1,000+ Goodreads readers, with one line on why it’s a must-read and a link to our full review.