5 Trans Romance Books to Kick Off Pride 2022!
Part two of the Lesbian Pride Book Kickoff List Extravaganza (Working Title) is all about Trans Romance Books!
It’s very nearly the most wonderful time of year! Pride is upon us, my babes. And what better way to kick it off than with some sweet lady lovin’ trans centered romance books.
As mentioned before, lesbian romance books have come a long, long way since my days as a baby gay. And finally getting to see main characters that represent our trans brothers and sisters is leaps and bounds ahead of where we were before. So once again, I am ecstatic to share this list with you all. Let’s get started.
Cinder Ella
By S.T. Lynn
“Ella is transgender. She’s known since she was young; being a woman just fit better. She was happier in skirts than trousers, but that was before her stepmother moved in. Eleanor can’t stand her, and after Ella’s father passes she’s forced to revert to Cole, a lump of a son. She cooks, she cleans, and she tolerates being called the wrong name for the sake of a roof over her head. Where else can she go?
An opportunity to attend the royal ball transforms Ella’s life. For the first time, strangers see a woman when she walks down the stairs. While Princess Lizabetta invited Cole to the ball, she doesn’t blink an eye when Cinderella is the one who shows. The princess is elegant, bold, and everything Ella never knew she wanted. For a moment she glimpses a world that can accept her, and she holds on tight.
She should have known it wouldn’t last. Dumped by her wicked stepmother on the farthest edge of the kingdom, Ella must find a way to let go of the princess and the beautiful life they shared for an hour. She’ll never find her way back. But it’s hard to forget the greatest night of her life when every rose she plants is a reminder.” — Amazon
Lifetime Between Us
By Diana Morland
“Erica has her life all sorted out. She’s upwardly mobile in the restaurant business, she’s surrounded by family (her sister) and warmth (her pet rabbit), and she’s single and loving it.
Then Maria walks back into her life.
Maria doesn’t know what she’s doing. Her job is mind-numbing, she dropped out of college, and she can’t get her life together enough to finish the physical transition she longs for. Did she mention she still lives with her parents?
Then she finds Erica again, and suddenly she knows what she needs.
Childhood best friends, their separation devastated both of them. Meeting each other again seems like a miracle. But there’s so much each hasn’t told the other. Can they meet in the middle when life has gotten in the way?” — Amazon
Roller Girl
By Vanessa North
“Recently divorced Tina Durham is trying to be self-sufficient, but her personal-training career is floundering, her closest friends are swept up in new relationships, and her washing machine has just flooded her kitchen. It’s enough to make a girl cry. Instead, she calls a plumbing service, and Joanne “Joe Mama” Delario comes to the rescue. Joe is sweet, funny, and good at fixing things. She also sees something special in Tina and invites her to try out for the roller derby team she coaches.
Derby offers Tina an outlet for her frustrations, a chance to excel, and the female friendships she’s never had before. And as Tina starts to thrive at derby, the tension between her and Joe cranks up. Despite their player/coach relationship, they give in to their mutual attraction. Sex in secret is hot, but Tina can’t help but want more.
With work still on the rocks and her relationship in the closet, Tina is forced to reevaluate her life. Can she be content with a secret lover? Or with being dependent on someone else again? It’s time for Tina to tackle her fears, both on and off the track. One of the best trans romance books ever written.” — Amazon
Nevada
by Imogen Binnie
“Maria Griffiths is almost thirty and works at a used bookstore in New York City while trying to stay true to her punk values. She’s in love with her bike but not with her girlfriend, Steph. She takes random pills and drinks more than is good for her, but doesn’t inject anything except, when she remembers, estrogen, because she’s trans. Everything is mostly fine until Maria and Steph break up, sending Maria into a tailspin, and then onto a cross-country trek in the car she steals from Steph. She ends up in the backwater town of Star City, Nevada, where she meets James, who is probably but not certainly trans, and who reminds Maria of her younger self. As Maria finds herself in the awkward position of trans role model, she realizes that she could become James’s savior—or his downfall.
One of the most beloved cult novels of our time and a landmark of trans literature, Imogen Binnie’s Nevada is a blistering, heartfelt, and evergreen coming-of-age story, and a punk-smeared excavation of marginalized life under capitalism. Guided by an instantly memorable, terminally self-aware protagonist—and back in print featuring a new afterword by the author—Nevada is the great American road novel flipped on its head for a new generation.” — Amazon
Stage Dreams
Melanie Gillman
“In this rollicking queer western adventure, acclaimed cartoonist Melanie Gillman (Stonewall Award Honor Book As the Crow Flies) puts readers in the saddle alongside Flor and Grace, a Latinx outlaw and a trans runaway, as they team up to thwart a Confederate plot in the New Mexico Territory. When Flor—also known as the notorious Ghost Hawk—robs the stagecoach that Grace has used to escape her Georgia home, the first thing on her mind is ransom. But when the two get to talking about Flor’s plan to crash a Confederate gala and steal some crucial documents, Grace convinces Flor to let her join the heist.
Graphic novels and webtoons offer a litany of different settings and premises to quench just about anyone’s thirst for great writing, memorable characters, and fantastical sagas. From paper girls uncovering life-changing secrets while delivering the day’s news to a high school wallflower transforming herself into a top influencer through the power of makeup, there’s a little something in here for everyone.” — Amazon
And there you have it! Your literary gateway to the most colorful month of the year with five trans romance books. Have you already read any of these? Are there any standouts? Let us know in the comments!
AND keep an eye out for a few more of these lists coming this week…we’re sending out lists for all our ladies and theys.
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