January Book of the Month Winners |

Before we get to the January 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 find out who won: The Best Sapphic Books of 2021!

2022 IHL Sapphic Reading Challenge

It’s the 8th week of the challenge and the featured category is suspense. Click here for reading suggestions and 6 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).

Book of the Month Awards

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

Without further ado, here are the winners:

January 2021 Winners

ROMANCE

AT FIRST GLANCE

by Melissa Tereze

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Faye Holmes’s life is the polar opposite from her racy, bestselling romances. It’s quiet, routine, and, at the moment, plagued with writer’s block. If only just a little of the passion burning up the pages of her books would warm her lonely bed. But to be honest, one-night stands aren’t her thing.

When her best friend buys her a lap dance to celebrate her latest bestseller, Faye is more than shocked. She’s intrigued by the stunningly beautiful dancer whose gentle eyes seem vaguely familiar.

Talia isn’t surprised that her favorite coffee shop customer doesn’t recognise her. Few would connect Talia, mild-mannered barista, with Adria, pole dancer and star of Liverpool’s hottest new strip club. And that’s how Talia wants it. It’s safer this way.

In the glaring spotlight though, no truth can hide for long. For two women from different worlds, falling in love can be a delicious dance—and a dangerous game. Not only for their careers, but for their hearts.

HISTORICAL FICTION

AWAKENING HEARTS

by Angie K. Love

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Two women, two lifetimes, a powerful attraction. Will they choose love or safety?

Soulmate love is the most transformative and by far the most thrilling—but also the most challenging.

2014 California: Sage Morales has a strict rule against mixing her personal life with her professional one. But when her attractive new massage client, Alex Fischer, asks her on a hike, she’s tempted to make an exception. Her stormy blue eyes awaken something dormant in Sage, and there’s a familiarity—as if they hadn’t only just met.

Torn over indulging this new friendship, Sage doesn’t realize Alex being a client is far from their greatest obstacle. She’s still oblivious to her deeply-held religious beliefs and the vow Alex made to herself almost two decades prior.

1862 Ohio: Lizzy’s mundane life on the farm becomes infinitely more interesting the day Claudia arrives. A faint smile hints at the bright spirit hiding behind those guarded blue eyes, kindling a deep desire to uncover it.

When unexpected feelings bloom between the two young women, Lizzy is eager to explore them—while Claudia struggles to reconcile the dizzying sensations in her body with her unquestioned faith and need for safety.

Will the two women risk their hearts and home for a taste of their forbidden love?

Do soulmates meet again to heal old wounds from lifetimes past?

EROTICA

ALL GIRL 4

by Victoria Rush

Book 1: The Personal Trainer

When recent divorcée Jade notices some subtle changes in her figure, she decides to set up a workout routine to get back into shape. She makes an appointment at her local health club for a personal training session and is floored by how beautiful and shapely her instructor is…

Book 2: The Harem

When Jade travels to Marrakesh for a North African vacation, she’s captivated by the sights and sounds of the bustling metropolis. But when a handsome and mysterious sheik invites her to join him on his desert caravan, she hesitates deciding to accept his offer…

Book 3: The Dominatrix

When Jade searches online for something to change up her boring sex life, she finds an ad for a dominatrix. Intrigued, she clicks on the link and begins to learn all about the exciting world of bondage and domination…

Book 4: Paint Me

When Jade sees an ad for a bodypainting workshop at the local supermarket, her interest is piqued. She books an appointment and is excited when she’s paired with a pretty redhead at their first session…

Book 5: The Masseuse

When Jade is feeling particularly needy one night, she searches online for a personal masseuse. When she sees an interesting listing for tantric massage, she clicks on the link and is surprised to see graphic illustrations of the company’s Goddesses massaging a woman’s private areas…

THRILLER

INVOCATIONS

Carpenter/Harding: Book 13

by Barbara Winkes

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Halloween is around the corner…

Detectives Carpenter and Harding are used to bizarre cases, but this one might take the cake: Sightings of scary clowns, murders, a gruesome find on the grounds of an abandoned amusement park.

Did someone’s prank go horribly wrong, or is there something more sinister behind the incidents?

While Jordan, Ellie and their friends work hard to solve the case so citizens can have a safe holiday, another case brings up difficult memories.

Meanwhile, Kathryn needs help with a problem that might have far-reaching consequences for their family…

FANTASY ROMANCE

PIRATES OF ALETHARIA

by Britney Jackson

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Emilia Drakon was once the youngest and kindest of the dragon sorcerers, but she’s now the last of her kind. Betrayed and angry, she trades her meekness for a sword and embarks on a quest for vengeance that will lead her straight into the arms of the legendary Captain Maria Welles.

Captain of the famed pirate ship, the Wicked Fate, Maria is every bit as treacherous and bloodthirsty as they say. She has her own vendetta and practically jumps at the chance to trick Emilia into joining her crew.

But when their animosity toward each other blossoms into a passionate romance, the two women will have to decide what they want most.

Vengeance?

Or love?

Trigger Warning: Violence, murder, and a character with PTSD.

GENERAL FICTION

AND THEN I MET YOU

by Erica Lee

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Have you ever met someone and known from that very first moment that they were going to have a big impact on your life? That’s how it was with Willow Stone. She was that person to me. She will always be that person to me.

And this is her story.

Before you get your hopes up, I need to issue a warning about this story. There’s happiness. And there’s an ending. But there’s not a happy ending. At least, not in the conventional sense.

Anyway, my moment came at freshman orientation when the girl who would eventually become my everything stood up during introductions and proudly announced, “My name is Willow Stone, and I’m going to die on December 27th, 2019.”

AUDIOBOOK

ALWAYS

by Kris Bryant

narrated by Melissa Sternenberg

Peri Logan’s first client is dead, but not in a morbid way. When her great-grandmother passes, her estate bequeathed Peri a piece of jewelry, a stack of cash, and a note that simply reads “find her”. As a newly licensed private investigator, Peri travels to Italy to find the mysterious woman whose photo was perfectly preserved in the heart-shaped locket. What she doesn’t expect is to be given the runaround from a beautiful stranger who offers to help and does anything but.

Camila Barnes is bored. Nothing exciting ever happens in the small town of Sequina, Italy. When a pushy American shows up demanding to meet the woman in Camila’s artwork, instead of introducing her to her great-grandmother, Camila decides to lead her on a wild goose chase all over town. Nobody messes with her family, especially people who won’t tell her why.

When the truth is finally revealed, Peri and Camilla realize they are a part of something greater than they ever expected. Attraction is fleeting, and true love touches only a few. Do they take the easy road home, or do they fight the odds and give love the chance to last for always?