Shira’s fantasy/fairy-tale recs where the girl gets the girl, for those avoiding Amazon either right now or indefinitely

I wanted to make it easier for those of us who are trying to avoid crossing the Amazon picket line during the strike to still find the reading material we crave, where the heiress falls for her dashing female bodyguard, where a selkie gets a crush on the siren who’s helping her rescue her fellow selkie, where a lonely witch and a mermaid recover from their painful pasts by falling in love. If there’s a book you think belongs on this list and is missing, it’s very possible I had trouble finding a non-Amazon version. (Or I just haven’t read or finished it yet.)

I’m starting this post with two published but FREE stories:

“The Cage” by Alyx Dellamonica

Lesbians help keep a werewolf baby safe from anti-werewolf humans

https://www.tor.com/2010/07/28/the-cage/

Reviewhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1503829802

“The Scrape of Tooth and Bone” by Ada Hoffmann

Steampunk with robots and dinosaurs, starring a queer autistic woman written by same

http://giganotosaurus.org/2016/02/01/the-scrape-of-tooth-and-bone/

Reviewhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1548021086

These other ones cost money, but they’re worth it. In the case of the two titles where even the eBook costs $10, if that’s too steep for you, consider looking them up on worldcat.org and using interlibrary loan to bring them closer to you for free, or even suggesting them to your own library as a purchase choice, if that’s a possibility. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the $2 and $3 options that comprise the bulk of the list.

Moon-Bright Tides by RoAnna Sylver

In a world where the moon is gone, it’s now a witch’s job to row out to sea and call the tides. She and a lonely mermaid find each other and it’s so cute I turned into a Lisa Frank pencil case while reading it

https://gumroad.com/l/moonbrighttides

Reviewhttp://lesbrary.com/2018/02/17/shira-glassman-reviews-moon-bright-tides-by-roanna-sylver/

The Terra-Cotta Bride by Zen Cho

An all-female love triangle in the afterlife. Zen Cho is one of my favorite authors; I wish I had more f/f to rec by her.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/619637

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1758073500

Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones

Margerit inherits her godfather’s fortune on one condition: that she retain the young woman he’d hired as his bodyguard. She may also have powers literally capable of protecting the country from ruin. Early 19th century costume drama with magic and lesbians.

https://www.bellabooks.com/product/9781594933806e/

Reviewhttp://shiraglassman.tumblr.com/post/140026499025/daughter-of-mystery-19th-century-german-setting

Note: there are two sequels and they add even more awesome characters, but you can read book one as a standalone and get a complete story. It even mentions on the last page that they were always together. The future books just introduce new lady couples.

Prayer of the Handmaiden by Merry Shannon

A goddess worshipping warrior priestess loves the queen’s chambermaid, but can they be together while protecting the country from spooky threats? (Spoiler: yes. Happy ending for TWO f/f couples in this one.)

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/529644

Eelgrass by Tori Curtis

When her best friend is selkie-napped (you know, that thing where a man takes your sealskin so you’re stuck with him as a human), Efa gets other sea creatures involved to rescue her. This book is a gigantic metaphor about resisting and fighting rape culture, so it’ll take you to some dark places. But the women win and it’s beautiful.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/eelgrass

Reviewhttp://lesbrary.com/2017/11/18/shira-glassman-reviews-eelgrass-by-tori-curtis/

Reviewhttps://shiraglassman.wordpress.com/2015/11/14/goddess-worshippy-fantasy-novel-where-priestess-loves-chambermaid-saves-nation/

Promises, Promises by L-J Baker

A lesbian parody of Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons, with two f/f couples getting a happy ending. Lots of fourth wall breaking zaniness and characters with names like so and so “the Off-White”

https://weightlessbooks.com/fiction/novel/promises-promises/

Reviewhttps://shiraglassman.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/promises-promises-three-lesbians-on-quest-in-sword-and-sorcery-parody/

The Gift of Your Love by Kayla Bashe

A lonely young expat with magical powers is rescued by other magical people from her country and joins them in their fight against magical criminals. Includes some mental illness depictions written from the inside.

https://lessthanthreepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&cPath=92&products_id=1611

Reviewhttp://lesbrary.com/2018/05/19/shira-glassman-reviews-the-gift-of-your-love-by-kayla-bashe/

and, if you are so inclined, my own —

The Olive Conspiracy by Shira Glassman

A young lesbian queen has to save her country from an international plot to sabotage their agriculture, with the help of her found family including a dragon, a witch, a warrior woman, and the queen’s devoted, creative wife, of course. Includes two f/f couples who stay together (the other couple are farmers.)

https://gumroad.com/l/tSekI

2 Replies to “Shira’s fantasy/fairy-tale recs where the girl gets the girl, for those avoiding Amazon either right now or indefinitely”

  1. Pingback: Shira Glassman Recommends F/F Sci Fi You Can Buy Outside of Amazon – The Lesbrary