December Book of the Month Winners |

Before we get to the December winners, we have some announcements.

Best Books of 2021

You voted for your favorite books each month for a whole year, and now it’s finally time to select the cream of the crop: The Best Sapphic Books of 2021!

Click here to cast your votes and enter a $50 Amazon gift card giveaway at the bottom of the page.

2022 IHL Sapphic Reading Challenge

It’s the 4th week of the challenge and the featured category is magical realism. Click here for reading suggestions and 4 of the books are on sale. Don’t forget, you can join the I Heart Lesfic Facebook reader group. Every Monday we will announce the category for the week, and every Wednesday you will have the opportunity to post what book you are reading and be entered into the monthly drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. (For those who are not on Facebook and still want to enter, remember you can email your reading selection to tbm@iheartlesfic.com).

Amazon Ranking Glitch

You’ve probably heard, but just in case, we want to help raise awareness of an issue. Amazon has been having issues with their ranking system. Starting in November books were being completely deranked, removing them from Top 100 charts. TB wrote about the issue in January, and you can read it here.

The problem now with ranking is the numbers aren’t being adjusted in a timely fashion. Once upon a time, they adjusted hourly, but now it seems to be a full 36 hours, which is hurting the visibility of new releases, such as TB’s latest, The Proposal.

If you’re a sapphic author who has been impacted by the ranking debacle, please let us know by either dropping a comment below or emailing us at tbm@iheartlesfic.com.

We’re creating a page to list the books that were impacted to help spread the word. We at IHL believe it’s crucial to rally around sapphic authors (please note the problem is hitting all books, not just sapphic) and we always strive to do our best to help support our authors and readers.

Book of the Month Awards

We’re thrilled to announce the Book of the Month Awards for December.

Without further ado, here are the winners:

December 2021 Winners

ROMANCE

READ BETWEEN THE LINES

Ms. Right: Book 1

by Rachel Lacey

Available in Kindle Unlimited

From award-winning author Rachel Lacey comes a playful romance about a Manhattan bookstore owner and a reclusive author who love to hate—and hate to love—each other.

Books are Rosie Taft’s life. And ever since she took over her mother’s beloved Manhattan bookstore, they’ve become her home too. The only thing missing is her own real-life romance like the ones she loves to read about, and Rosie has an idea of who she might like to sweep her off her feet. She’s struck up a flirty online friendship with lesbian romance author Brie, and what could be more romantic than falling in love with her favorite author?

Jane Breslin works hard to keep her professional and personal lives neatly separated. By day, she works for the family property development business. By night, she puts her steamier side on paper under her pen name: Brie. Jane hasn’t had much luck with her own love life, but her online connection with a loyal reader makes Jane wonder if she could be the one.

When Rosie learns that her bookstore’s lease has been terminated by Jane’s family’s business, romance moves to the back burner. Even though they’re at odds, there’s no denying the sparks that fly every time they’re together. When their online identities are revealed, will Jane be able to write her way to a happy ending, or is Rosie’s heart a closed book?

EROTIC ROMANCE

DARING TRUTH

by Adrian J. Smith

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Friends-giving dinner with her ex—what could go wrong?

For the first time in two years, Brook attends the annual dinner. She’s avoided group gatherings with her friends since Whisper hinted at love and Brook broke it off. But two years is a long time, and Brook hopes she and Whisper can find a new balance of friendship. Except all those feelings Brook bottled come racing back at the first sight of her hilariously flirtatious ex-girlfriend.

Whisper has kept tabs on Brook for the two years since they last saw each other. When Brook finally shows up, Whisper takes the plunge and dares her to twenty-four hours alone—one day for each of them to take what they need. The only problem is at the end of their day, Brook gives Whisper a dare of her own.

Do it again.

An emotional second chance romance perfect for the Christmas season. With an age gap and soft butch/femme relationship, these two women take their relationship to new heights.

FANTASY ROMANCE

WINTER SPELL

Chronicles of Mahon: Book One

by Brenda Murphy

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Trapped inside a crystalline sphere by a malevolent sorcerer, Mara spends her days planning her escape and nights using an enchanted mirror to observe her favorite warrior, Reika.

Reika, fierce leader of a band of mercenaries, has spent her life fighting for anyone who could afford her price. Betrayed by her clan, Reika is seized from death by the mysterious goddess, Mara.

Restless and unwilling to accept captivity, Reika vows to free Mara from the sorcerer’s curse or die trying.

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

JUST ONE MISTAKE

by Jade Winters

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Can just one mistake change your life forever?

When Louise meets her friends for pre-Christmas drinks, little does she realise how her life will change when walking home that night.

In the aftermath of a car accident which leaves Louise in hospital, she forms an unlikely bond with Kirsty – the sister of the other accident victim. After the initial shock of what happened wears off, Kirsty and Louise begin to question if it was really just an accident.

As they work together to uncover the circumstances surrounding the crash, romance blossoms between them but their fledgling relationship is tested when nefarious forces try to spin the narrative to conceal a darker truth.

Can Louise and Kirsty overcome the odds and stay together? Or will the shocking reality tear them apart?

FICTION

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF LINDY JAMES

by Catherine Maiorisi

Lindy is hearing voices. And her new religious friends claim Quincy, her wife of six years, is Satan in disguise. They also say her marriage is a sin and warn she and their two daughters will burn in hell for eternity if she doesn’t leave Quincy.

Working a second job to earn enough to buy their dream house, Quincy is rarely around to notice Lindy’s behavior. By the time she does notice, Lindy’s new friends spirit her and the girls away to an isolated religious community in Arizona.

While Quincy searches frantically for her family, a female doctor at the community treats Lindy. As she slowly returns to herself Lindy begins to really see the community. She is horrified. Rather than saving herself and her daughters, she’s brought them to a kind of hell.

Then Lindy is given an ultimatum. Stay and marry a man in the community. Or leave. Without her daughters.

She panics. There must be another way.

AUDIOBOOK

THE AM SHOW

by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeod

narrated by Lori Prince

Would you give up your lifelong dream for a shot at everlasting love?

Amanda Morgan is a morning show host with a fierce reputation, but a bitter divorce has left her feeling all washed up. Being mistaken for a grandmother at her own son’s wedding has her teetering on the edge – until a stranger at the reception rocks her world.

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. Their night together goes beyond her wildest fantasies. And she’s had a lot of them.

They were never meant to see each other again – until fate steps in, landing Dakota a job at Amanda’s network in New York City. Thanks to a draconian employment contract, the network could fire them on the spot for getting romantically involved. They agree to keep their distance and never breathe a word about their past.

Easy, right?

Except every time they’re alone for more than five minutes, they end up having sex. Soon, it’s obvious this is more than a fling, leaving them with an unthinkable choice: Give up the careers they’ve poured their souls into or lose the love of a lifetime. Which one will be easier to walk away from?

If you enjoy scorching celebrity age-gap romance with a touch of heart, don’t miss the latest collaboration of Miranda MacLeod and TB Markinson.