Discovering new WLW romances feels like playing hide and seek. They’re out there, but you have to know where to look. It shouldn’t be so difficult to find sapphic romances, and it doesn’t have to be.
I put together this list of recs based on books I’ve read, ones that have been recommended to me, and others that have been sitting on my tbr for years (literally). There are so many incredible wlw books out there. You can explore The Sapphic Spreadsheet to find more and discover new authors.
Historical Romances
Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to seek husbands by setting up their widowed parents, and instead find their perfect match in each other—the lesbian Bridgerton/Parent Trap you never knew you needed!
The Lady’s guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?
The Perks of Loving A Wallflower by Erica Ridley
As a master of disguise, Thomasina Wynchester can be a polite young lady—or a bawdy old man. She’ll do whatever it takes to solve the cases her family takes on. All Philippa desires is to decode a centuries-old manuscript to keep a modern-day villain from claiming credit for work that wasn’t his. She hates that she needs a man’s help to do it—so she’s delighted to discover the clever, charming baron at her side is in fact a woman. But as she and Tommy grow closer and the stakes of their discovery higher, more than just their hearts are at risk.
A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian
Lady’s maid Molly Wilkins is done with thieving—and cheating and stabbing and all the rest of it. She’s determined to keep her hands to herself, so she really shouldn’t be tempted to seduce her employer’s prim and proper companion, Alice. But how can she resist when Alice can’t seem to keep her eyes off Molly?
Workplace Romances
Truth and Measure by Roslyn Sinclair
What happens when the world’s fiercest fashion editor learns she’s pregnant—and her distracting assistant is the only one she can turn to? This wildly popular age-gap lesbian romance mixes humor and chaos with self-discovery.
About That Kiss by Harper Bliss
Playing gay is one thing. Falling for your gorgeous co-star is quite another. When Ida lands one of the leads in a big-budget lesbian rom-com, it's not only a chance at reviving her dwindling career. Maybe this movie can be an opportunity to finally burst out of the closet she's forced herself into.
Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters
For fans of Casey McQuiston and Abby Jimenez comes a bold, hilarious, and out-of-the-box novel about mixing business with battery-operated pleasure . . .
The AM Show by T.B. Markinson and Miranda MacLeod
Amanda Morgan is a morning show host with a fierce reputation, but a bitter divorce has left her feeling all washed up. Dakota Washington is a young reporter who is flabbergasted to meet her career idol—and biggest celebrity crush—at a friend’s out-of-town wedding. Thanks to a draconian employment contract, the network could fire them on the spot for getting romantically involved.
The Music And The Mirror by Lola Keeley
When new dancer Anna isn’t nervous as hell around her ice queen ballet mentor Victoria, she’s falling in love with the beautiful and powerful woman. This age-gap, workplace lesbian romance is a sizzling, award-winning page-turner, whether you’re into ballet or not.
Vampire/Paranormal Romances
Loving Safoa by Liza Wemakor
When schoolteacher Cynthia gets a tattoo at a block party in 1991 Flatbush, she doesn’t realize she’s embarking on a life-changing romance with an immortal Ghanaian vampire. Cynthia’s affair with Safoa weaves together stories from nineteenth century Ghana, late twentieth century New York and a near future reality in Maryland that defies the utopian/dystopian binary.
A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger
A lush, Victorian romance, drenched in blood and drama, about the lengths two women will go to secure a love that cannot die.
The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Gothic, intoxicating, feminist, darkly provoking and deeply romantic - this is the breathtakingly imagined untold story of the brides of Dracula, by bestselling author Kiran Millwood Hargrave in her much-anticipated YA debut.
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
A compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula.
Age Gap Romances
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
A sharp and sexy rom-com about a college senior who accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom.
Mrs. Middleton by Melissa Tereze
Emma Bradley is trembling. And not because of the climate difference between England and Africa, where she’s just ended an 18-month stint teaching sports to kids. She’s about to see Vanessa again. The woman she spilled her heart out to, then ran away to another continent to avoid a humiliating scene—because Vanessa is her best friend’s mum. If Emma is lucky, maybe Vanessa chalked it up to too much wine. Or better yet, forgot all about it.
Beyond Her Manner by Emily Banting
Gillian Carmichael is grieving, not for the loss of her husband, but for what his death has cost her — Kingsford Manor, her beloved home. Viola Berkley, an internationally renowned classical singer, retreats to the quiet of the countryside after her mother’s sudden death, seeking peace and anonymity. As their worlds collide, both women realise they have more in common than divides them, and the line between animosity and attraction begins to blur.
Thanks for letting me gab,
Gaby <3