These are the LGBTQIA+ books that White Plains librarians enjoyed the most this year, collected for our upcoming PrideWorks tabling; covering a wide range of genres and identities, there’s something for everyone!

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!
Sequel: You’re the Problem It’s You

Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian
Intent on nursing his old friend Martin Easterbrook back to health, Will Sedgwick kindly kidnaps him and takes him to the countryside to recover, well away from the world, while Martin tries to decide how to tell Will that he's loved him all his life.
The third volume in the Seducing the Sedgwicks trilogy, but it can stand alone as well

The Scandalous Letters of V& J by Felicia Davin
This is an epistolary novel recording the lives of and conversation between two nonbinary people in a version of 17th century France where magic is infused in our world, both for good and for ill. V and J meet, fall head over heels for each other, and discover that both of them are magical – V enchanted with the possibilities of magic while J is fearful of them due to past experiences. Will the differences that pulled them together also be the thing that tears them apart?
Sequel: The Mischievous Letters of the Marquise de Q
Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland
Our scrungly protagonist has accidentally gotten his hands on the most closely-guarded secret of a wealthy and powerful empire and promptly fled into the (grudgingly) safe arms of Captain Teveri, his ex-lover. What follows is a fabulously fun swashbuckling adventure that will delight any Terry Pratchett fans!
Companion novel: A Taste of Gold and Iron
Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy
The charming tale of an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival as they venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell that can break the curse between them–only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.
First in a trilogy
This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher
Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the realm from darkness. It's a tale beloved by all–except the heroes. They haven't spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them. But when they all receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria's wedding, it's a summons they can't refuse…and a reunion for the ages.
Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox
The decision to stop dating has made Vaughn Hargrave's life infinitely simpler: he has friends, an excellent wardrobe, and a job in the industry he loves. But when a piece is stolen from his art gallery and insurance investigator Jonah Sondern shows up, Vaughn finds himself struggling with that decision. Because a guy who wants nothing but romance and a guy who wants nothing but sex will never work — right?
First book of a loosely connected series, each of which can stand alone
Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars
By day, Joe is a hotel accountant, invisibly sitting behind their desk and playing by the rules. By night, donned in sequins, they take to the stage as Misty Divine, a star of the London drag scene. But when Misty's drag mother, Lady Lady, is found dead in her dressing room beside a poisoned box of chocolates, Misty and her fellow performers become the prime suspects. Heartbroken by the loss, and frustrated by the clear biases of the police, Misty must solve the crime before the culprit strikes again. Among the drop-dead gorgeous lurks a cutthroat killer, and Misty Divine won't rest until she finds out who it is.
First book in a series
Poisoned Primrose by Dahlia Donovan
Autistic, asexual, and almost forty, Pineapple “Motts” Mottley flees London with her cat and turtle to a quaint cottage in Cornwall. She craves the peace of life in a small village. The dead body buried in her garden isn't quite what she had in mind, though. Unable to resist her curiosity, she falls directly into a mess of trouble and runs head-first into the attractive detective inspector, Teo Herceg.
First book in the Motts Cold Case Mystery series
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
Misha knows that chasing success in Hollywood can be hell. But finally, after years of trying to make it, his big moment is here: an Oscar nomination. And the executives at the studio for his long-running streaming series know just the thing to kick his career to the next level: kill off the gay characters, “for the algorithm,” in the upcoming season finale. Misha refuses, but he soon realizes that he's just put a target on his back. And what's worse, monsters from his horror movie days are stalking him and his friends through the hills above Los Angeles.
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Greta lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson, New York. Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed married woman she affectionately refers to as Big Swiss. One day, Greta recognizes Big Swiss's voice in town and they quickly become enmeshed. While Big Swiss is unaware Greta has eavesdropped on her most intimate exchanges, Greta has never been more herself with anyone. Her attraction to Big Swiss overrides her guilt, and she'll do anything to sustain the relationship…
Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood
On the Santa Cruz, California, waterfront, every house is a flawless glass monolith. Except for one. In a dilapidated bungalow, Mitty and her elderly roommate, Bethel, are the oddball pair who represent the last vestiges of a free-spirited town taken over by the tech elite. But their lives are about to be forever changed when a new couple, Sebastian and Lena, move in next door.
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you all about black holes and their ability to spaghettify you without batting an eye in fear. Her one major phobia? Bald men. But she tries to keep that one under wraps. When she's not listening to her favorite true crime podcasts on a loop, she's serially dating a rotation of women from dating apps. At the same time, she's trying to forge a new relationship with her estranged half-sisters after the death of her absent father. When she unwittingly plunges into her first serious romantic entanglement, Enid starts to believe that someone is following her.
Memorial by Bryan Washington
Benson and Mike are two young guys who live together in Houston. Mike is a Japanese American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson's a Black day care teacher, and they've been together for a few years–good years–but now they're not sure why they're still a couple. There's the sex, sure, and the meals Mike cooks for Benson, and, well, they love each other. But when Mike finds out his estranged father is dying in Osaka just as his acerbic Japanese mother, Mitsuko, arrives in Texas for a visit, Mike picks up and flies across the world to say goodbye. Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together, or fracture everything they've ever known.
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Maia's cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is a useful and touching guide on gender identity–what it means and how to think about it–for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
I Want to Be A Wall Volume 1 by Honami Shirono
Any love story aficionado will say that the key to a successful couple is intense desire for one another – but what if the characters in question are an asexual woman with a passion for Boys Love stories and a gay man whose heart forever belongs to his oblivious childhood friend? Although romance will never be in the cards for newlyweds Yuriko and Gakurouta, the bond blossoming between them promises to be a wonderful relationship-the likes of which neither has ever experienced before…
First of three volumes
Boyfriends Volume 1 by refrainbow
Jock, Goth, Nerd, and Prep are all juniors in college. The first two to couple up are Goth (cool and sexy) and Nerd (bubbly and flirty). As their budding relationship deepens, they can't deny their chemistry with Goth's other friends, Jock (sweet and easygoing) and Prep (sensitive and anxious). Nerd suggests they try something totally brand new to all of them- a polyamorous relationship. Everyone's game to try, because they all agree the only thing better than one cute boyfriend…is three cute boyfriends!
First of four volumes (so far)