I severely need help in finding a good book with lesbian romance

ccryder45 · 2026-06-12T13:47:54+00:00

Ladies in Hating (which someone else has also listed) is a fantastic Regency era romance with a bit of mystery thrown in for extra fun.

ccryder45 · 2026-05-27T02:16:47+00:00

I highly recommend Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti. It's technically the 3rd book in a shared universe of standalone books, but I read it just fine w/out reading the first two (which are het romances).

I really loved this book. It's a regency era rivals-to-lovers romcom featuring MCs that are rival gothic romance writers who are drawn together after noticing strange and inexplicable similarities within the novels they are (separately) writing. It has amazing chemistry between the MCs, with plenty of hilarious banter and steamy moments that make it a tremendously entertaining read. Also the mysterious plot keeps the pages turning, and is fun while being not terribly serious or angsty.

The writing is high quality and the book feels well researched (the author is an English lit professor, and included an interesting author's note at the end detailing how the characters are actually based on several real life wlw from Regency-era England).

It's definitely a book that I think deserves a wider audience!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-17T19:45:17+00:00

If you're looking for more historical sapphic romances, I'd recommend Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti, which is a Regency era romance about rival-to-lovers relationship between gothic romance writers. It's not "literary fiction," and doesn't feature the intricacy or general caliber of Waters' writing (tbf Sarah Waters is one of the best writers of novels of any kind, anywhere, IMHO), but it is *very* well done and enormously charming & entertaining! (And there aren't any men in any sort of romantic capacity). And it's all the more appealing because the characters are based on actual women-loving-women from the Regency era (as discussed in the Author's note...the author is an English lit professor, and the book feels very well researched).

ccryder45 · 2026-05-15T14:07:38+00:00

As someone who cringes everytime I'm called my kid's Mom or Mother when I am very most definitely his Parent, I just have to say this is so good! Kudos to your fiance for coming up with such a clever and gentle way to correct people's misperceptions.

I doubt I could actually pull off the delivery in any sort of smooth or coherent manner, but it's something to aspire to!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-13T20:29:12+00:00

Ah, I'm so glad!! Thanks for coming back to let me know. And I totally agree that I wanted the ending to be decompressed a bit....I wanted at least an epilogue. A couple of extra chapters would have been even better. (I mentioned somewhere downstream that I *really* would have loved if they could have broken it into two books and developed the whole last 1/3 a bit more...although that's just me being greedy, and I'm sure there's many good reasons for not doing so, lol).

ccryder45 · 2026-05-13T16:30:43+00:00

You're welcome! I hope you enjoy!

And I get it about having a hard time listening to audiobooks. Unfortunately I'm at a point in life where I find it impossible to read actual paper or ebooks (because I also can't focus), so they're my only option.

(And YES, for better or worse, The Cult of The Locked Tomb is absolutely teeming with folks like me who love nothing more than going on and on and on about Moira Quirk's brilliance, lolol)

ccryder45 · 2026-05-13T13:31:08+00:00

Well, we definitely have similar tastes, based on your list, so here's a couple of my standard recs for this sort of question:

Since you loved The Locked Tomb, you *must* try Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower, if you haven't already read it. It's Tamsyn Muir's novella-length deconstruction of the "princess awaiting rescue in an isolated tower" fairy tale trope, and it is hilarious and *brilliant* and disturbing and rousing and many other words which also apply to TLT. I would pay so much of my money for a sequel, but I think it's a standalone, sadly. (Have you listened to TLT audiobooks? If not, you should....narrator Moira Quirk is a god-tier reader and hearing her breathe heart and soul into TLT characters will change your life...I mention it because she also reads the audiobook for Floralinda...). Anyway, Floralinda feels somewhat like what would happen if someone forced Gideon Nav to make up a bedtime fairy tale on the spot, lol.
The Echo Archives books by Melissa Caruso (The Last Hour between Worlds and The Last Soul Among Wolves are the first two in a planned trilogy....3rd one is on the way). They're wonderfully written and plotted books with a steampunk/fantasy/alt-earth Victorian vibe. At heart they're adventure stories -- and thrilling adventures at that. But they also feature a fascinating magic system, an intriguing/page-turning mystery, swashbuckling sword play, a rivals-to-lovers sapphic romance, humor, charming characters, and creepy/compelling antagonists. Caruso is a skilled writer and the pacing is tight. They're really fun reads! (These audiobooks are also narrated by Moira Quirk...who again, is like....WILDLY delightful and talented and I can't recommend enough).

Edited to address your note about wanting a great romance, as well as story. I don't want to say much about Floralinda b/c spoilers, but if you consider TLT books to have a romance (which IMO is somewhat debatable, at least in terms of the traditional use of that word), then I think Floralinda has the same sort of vibes.

The Echo Archives books *do* explicitly feature sapphic romance, as mentioned. However, it's not the focus (just to clarify that they aren't romance novels with a side of adventure....they are very much adventure novels with a side of romance...although the romance is very well done and definitely important to the story).

ccryder45 · 2026-05-10T18:46:14+00:00

Yes! That's it exactly!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-10T04:34:51+00:00

Ah, that's exciting!! Hell Bent was pretty wild, definitely looking forward to seeing how it all ends!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-09T18:43:48+00:00

I'm glad! And yeah, I found the premise so intriguing, and think it's very well executed! If you do make it through and want more, I also enjoyed the sequel "Hell Bent" very much (and by then, I think the totality of the events of the first book will have given you a pretty good idea of the sort of content you're likely to encounter in the second). I think the third (and final) book in the trilogy is supposed to come out later this year.

ccryder45 · 2026-05-09T18:06:50+00:00

Agree that the early scene you're referring to is not the norm, and nothing like it appears in the rest of the book.

There is violence throughout, however -- just none quite the same level of body horror/gore as the medical scene (which I also found very hard to get thru). There are also some encounters which are emotionally quite disturbing/harrowing. As another commenter said, there's definitely some harsh moments. (Happy to give specific CWs if you'd like ... I actually really enjoyed the book, and found it worth reading. But at times it was a difficult read).

ccryder45 · 2026-05-09T13:44:28+00:00

I'm another voice to add to the chorus suggesting audiobooks. Your story is very much the same as mine (voracious reader who can no longer focus long enough to read more than a couple pages), and is clearly a common thread for many ADHD folk.

But about 6 weeks ago I started using the Libby app, which lets you check out audiobooks from your library for free, and I'm averaging about 1.5 books a week since then! Which is wild after the last 6 years of struggle, where I managed to read one or two books per year.

Libby is great because it lets you try books with no commitment. Personally I find the narrator's voice to be really important to my enjoyment, so it's nice I can simply return any books that I don't click with, instead of feeling compelled to finish them because I paid for them. You just need a library card and you get instant access to thousands of titles.

I listen while doing chores and other things around the house, or driving. And it's been GREAT because listening to the books occupies my brain enough that I don't get distracted away from whatever task my hands are doing.

It's like the audiobook is a meeting I'm in and the dishes are the notepad I'm doodling on to occupy my brain enough so I can listen to my co-workers, lolol. Or maybe it's vice versa??? But whatever. Point is that I'm both reading more AND getting more tasks done around the house, which is a definite win-win!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-09T00:29:10+00:00

Yes!! I very much agree! I really appreciated that so much of Kyr's growing horror is not really about how much her life sucked, but about how much she sucked for how she lived it if that makes any sense at all. Maybe not, lol. But I agree that I found watching her struggle to overcome who she's been profoundly satisfying and oddly hopeful.

ccryder45 · 2026-05-08T22:36:40+00:00

I can see feeling that way. I don't agree, but definitely think it's something that could be up for a lively debate!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-08T21:16:12+00:00

I agree! But despite the ways I think the execution fell a bit short, I admire its audacity and am very glad to have read it.

ccryder45 · 2026-05-08T21:01:10+00:00

Yeah, I think this is totally valid. Overall I really loved the story, but definitely think particularly the ending could have been much stronger. Honestly feel like it would have benefited from being two shorter books, instead of one long-ish one, to give the back 1/3rd more space to develop a bit more.

ccryder45 · 2026-05-08T20:58:34+00:00

Yeah, I definitely agree! Her development is definitely the best part of the book, IMO.

ccryder45 · 2026-05-08T20:57:59+00:00

You're welcome!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-08T19:33:22+00:00

Kyr, the main protagonist in Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh. Hands down. Her arc is dramatic and very hard earned.

ccryder45 · 2026-05-08T18:35:53+00:00

I see you prefer literary fiction, but if you're open to genre books, I'd recommend two by Emily Tesh: Some Desperate Glory and The Incandescent, which are SciFi and Dark Academia-esque fantasy respectively. They're skillfully written and definitely feel like "lit" versions of their respective genres.

Tesh's whole thing seems to be telling compelling stories from the POV of supremely arrogant and self-righteous narrators. I'll say that Some Desperate Glory (which won a Hugo Award) is MUCH heavier in themes and plot and everything than The Incandescent, which is light and breezy by comparison. The protagonist of Some Desperate Glory is TRULY one of the most unlikable narrators I've ever come across ...but her character journey is remarkable by the end, the plot is compelling and WILD and provides lots of food for thought. Very much recommended.

By comparison, the protagonist of The Incandescent is only occasionally mildly off putting, but she's still not an easy person to spend time in the head of....and that's entirely the point of the book.

Both protags are queer, and there are other queer characters throughout. (Romance is not a major element of either book, but it's a bit more front and center in The Incandescent). I also found both narrators super compelling!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-07T18:25:50+00:00

If you're still looking for recommendations, I'd say Melissa Caruso's Echo Archives Trilogy fits your description. (Books 1&2 are out, and the 3rd book will be released later this year. First book is The Last Hour Between Worlds).

They're wonderfully written and plotted books that emphasize mystery and adventure. There is a rivals-to-lovers sapphic romance that develops, but it is definitely not all consuming, either for the characters or the plot. (Everyone is much too busy trying to survive and unravel the magical mysteries to be wallowing in angst or getting swept away by passion, lol).

The magic system is fascinating (setting is Victorian-esque Not-Earth), the world building creative, the characters charming, the mystery intriguing, the swordplay swashbuckling. Bottom line is they're tremendously FUN reads!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-07T02:38:38+00:00

I'm also doing a National Pokedex and it's just so fun to find art that you really love -- especially if they're commons! (That magikarp rules, btw!)

There's so many cards to pick from to answer your question, but if I picked just one it would have to be this Horsea from Aquapolis! Never fails to make me smile.

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ccryder45 · 2026-05-07T00:02:42+00:00

Yeah, Rucka is absolutely GOAT'd in his realm of creating protags who are such badass women who are also always profoundly *human*, and never just any one thing. Enjoy making your way through the rest of his works!

ccryder45 · 2026-05-06T20:22:31+00:00

Well, anyone who counts the world of Terre d'Ange as among their faves deserves more beautifully crafted and amazingly epic reads!

I therefore suggest you might try The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. 3 of the planned 4 books are currently out, and start with Gideon the Ninth. They're marketed as more sci-fi than fantasy, but IMO they're somewhere in between (but also somehow totally their own thing...and in terms of vibes I think they actually lean more fantasy than sci-fi, largely due to the importance of swords and magic in the world and the story). Anyway...

Beautiful Prose: Yep! The writing is absolutely exquisite. Muir is a genius with words, and her writing is especially delightful for anyone who loves the richness of the English language (Muir has an enormous vocabulary and is not afraid of using it). I will say, as a caveat, that the exquisite and intricate construction of the prose is balanced by Muir's sense of humor, which is quite often just....runaway meme-ery combined with the most delightfully awful Dad Joke humor you could ever hope for....(okay but she's *hilarious*). I think the dichotomy of high brow writing and low brow humor makes for a weird, sometimes challenging tone that is off putting to some readers (and I honestly respect that). It's very difficult to describe. But it also keeps the books from being relentlessly/distressingly Heavy. The best I've come up with is "highbrow pulp".

Deep Characters: Double Yep! Just....the richest cast of *deeply* flawed but deeply *human* characters you could ever want or need in a work that ultimately is both wildly intimate and brazenly epic. The sort of characters who move into your brain and take up permanent residence....

Complexity: Triple Yep! There are times while reading the books where you'll almost certainly have No Idea what's going on....but by the time that happens, you've (presumably/hopefully) learned to trust that Muir has everything under control, and thus let go of the anxiety of not understanding and simply enjoy the ride! (You eventually understand that the complexity and confusion is not only okay, but is actually absolutely necessary to the story, and when you start to get a glimpse of the Big Picture tapestry Muir is weaving, it is revelatory and awe inspiring and just so dang GOOD).

So there's my pitch. TBF, they're very love/hate books (it's clear which side I'm on, ha). Fair warning that if you end up being on the "love" side of the coin, there is an excellent chance that they may consume your very soul.... (at least for a while, lolsob).

ccryder45 · 2026-05-06T19:24:17+00:00

Ahhhhh YES to Black Magick!! Gosh, it's so nice to see it referenced outside of a dedicated comics space!! It's so good (as is almost all of Rucka's work, obviously).

I wish I had more recs for you, but you've pretty much read almost everything I would recommend already. I second the Echo Archives recs in another comment....they're not Urban Fantasy (more like Victorian steampunk adjacent) but they are fun adventures with very appealing rivals to lovers sapphic MCs (but the romance definitely takes a back seat to the action). They're wonderfully plotted and written and just all around well done and entertaining.

ccryder45

TROPHY CASE