Celebrating International Nonbinary People’s Day

This week is Nonbinary Awareness Week, and today, Thursday (14 July), it’s International Nonbinary People’s Day. Given the culture wars going on these days, we at I Heart Sapphfic want to celebrate nonbinary authors and stories. Hate has no place within our community or in the world.

 

Ignis

by KJ

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Felicity Davis, principal of Rawson Girls Grammar School, is a passionate educator, an inspirational leader, some say even an ice queen, although she’s not sure about that last one. But one thing Felicity knows is that she is perfectly happy with her life. That is until the trauma, the darkness of her past, comes crashing into her present, revealing a deeply buried secret, and placing Felicity and those she loves in incredible danger. Inspector Tal Diamandis takes on the case, attempting to extinguish the flames of Felicity’s past before they consume her. Matters become complicated as Felicity and Tal realise their mutual spark of attraction but when they finally connect the shocking links, the explosive conclusion will leave everyone reeling.

Can Felicity play with fire or will the fire become an inferno?

A main character is nonbinary.

 

Take Two

by Miranda MacLeod & TB Markinson

Available in Kindle Unlimited

They were the perfect couple until pride got in the way…

Gina Mitchells has a problem. The assistant professor is in charge of her college’s Pride festival committee, and the celebrity grand marshal they’d painstakingly recruited has just blown up the internet with a major scandal. Messing up the festival could ruin her chance to be approved for tenure. There’s exactly one famous person Gina knows who could save the day as a last-minute replacement.

The problem? The woman is Gina’s ex-girlfriend, and to say the relationship did not end well is an understatement.

Sophia Rossi has starred in so many squeaky-clean holiday romances since moving to Hollywood that everyone calls her the Queen of Christmas. An important new contract has her filming in a quaint New England town, but there’s a catch. It’s Sophia’s hometown, and surviving a month with her meddling, relationship-obsessed mother and sisters might be too much for Sophia’s sanity to bear.

When Gina reappears in Sophia’s life with a proposition, Sophia has one of her own. It’s a match made in heaven, if only they can get over their past heartbreak long enough to convince everyone they’ve rekindled their old spark. But can this fake relationship lead them to a second chance at love?

A supporting cast member is nonbinary. 

 

Perfect Match

by Sage Donnell

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Mauve’s sexuality is…complicated. So, she knows she won’t find love when she’s cast on Perfect Match at the last minute. Why they even wanted her for a reality show that matches men and women up in romantic pairs is something of a mystery, but she doesn’t care. She’s going to win the game. She has the skills and the drive to guide the house to victory. Love is completely off the table.

Mauve turns her life upside down and flies to Hawaii where she realizes that this season is different. The heteronormative nonsense is gone, replaced by a whole different sort of nonsense. The cast is all queer and she is here for it. Still, though, her plan stands. She’s there to win the game, not to find love. Right?

Perfect Match is reality TV fun with an all queer cast. All contestants are open to love with a person of any gender. While I won’t spoil the main romance here, you will find cis people, trans people, enby people, all falling in love with other cis, trans, and enby people.

The love interest is nonbinary.

 

A Taste of Her

by Tiana Warner

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Our lips meet in a gentle, teasing kiss. It’s the kiss I’ve dreamed about since we met, and it’s better than I imagined. Her lips are full, her taste is sweet, and it sends a tingle all the way through me.

Indulge in this collection of 16+ sapphic short stories. These spicy and sweet romances will take you from a pirate town in the Caribbean to a modern-day nightclub to a faraway castle. Find a story to fit your mood: enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, forbidden love, masc/femme, non-binary, and more.

The collection is available for preorder and features nonbinary love interests.

 

Harrington House

by J.P. Noether

It’s a small room in an old house, but it’s cheap. For Laren Tolley, still reeling after a bad breakup, it’s perfect. Who cares if there are rumors that it’s haunted? Her unfortunately-hot landlord and new roommate, Casey, assures her that ghosts aren’t real.

Casey Holland can fix anything– the fact that they’ve even made the Harrington house habitable proves it. But the power keeps going out, no matter how many times they repair outlets or replace fuses.

With the power outages and unexplained phenomena piling up, Laren is getting scared. And Casey doesn’t believe in ghosts, so Laren will have to do something herself– or risk losing her new home.

The story features a nonbinary supporting cast member.

 

The Thread That Binds

by Cedar McCloud

The books are restless.At the Eternal Library, books are more than the paper, ink, and thread they’re made from–they’re full of spirits. Only a handful of people will ever be invited to the Bindery to learn the craft of Illumination: the magical creation of intricate illustrated manuscripts, bound with a secret that will make them last forever. Tabby is a dreamwalker, a witch who escapes into the stories of sleep to avoid a birth family that’s never loved em enough. Amane is a cartomancer, a medium who speaks for the Unseen, but doesn’t know how to speak her own needs. Rhiannon is a psychic, an archivist who can See into the past, but only has eyes on the future. Their stories intertwine as they discover the secrets of Illumination, the Library’s archives, and those of their mentors–the three of whom are competing to be the next Head Librarian, the Speaker for all the books. How do you know who’s truly worth being part of your family? Sometimes we must forge connections in order to heal; other times, those bonds must be broken.

One of the main characters is nonbinary and the author identifies as nonbinary.

 

Baker Thief

by Claudie Arseneault

Adèle has only one goal: catch the purple-haired thief who broke into her home and stole her exocore, thus proving herself to her new police team. Little does she know, her thief is also the local baker. Claire owns the Croissant-toi, but while her days are filled with pastries and customers, her nights are dedicated to stealing exocores. These new red gems are heralded as the energy of the future, but she knows the truth: they are made of witches’ souls. When her twin—a powerful witch and prime exocore material—disappears, Claire redoubles in her efforts to investigate. She keeps running into Adèle, however, and whether or not she can save her sister might depend on their conflicted, unstable, but deepening relationship.

The main character Claude/Claire is bigender and the supporting cast includes 1 agender, 2 non-specified nonbinary.

 

Love Kills Twice

by Rien Gray

She needs an assassin. They’re the best in the business. Falling in love was never part of the deal. Desperate to escape her abusive husband, Justine hires a contract killer. Campbell’s services come at a high price, and their dark, seductive charisma leads Justine right into their bed. Hiding an affair while Campbell designs the perfect murder has Justine walking a tightrope of stress, but each time the two of them sleep together, it’s harder not to get attached. Campbell struggles with their own traumatic past, convinced that the truth will drive Justine away. There’s a faint hope that things could work, save for one problem: Justine’s husband wants her dead too. Revenge is easy—heartbreak could cost both of them everything.

The main character and author are nonbinary.

 

Passion Marked

by Ophelia Silk

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Bound together by magic…

Ellie has worked her sundress-loving ass off for the chance to train the most aggressive racehorses alive—those cursed with darkness-bound Nocturne magic. But all work and no play has left her flirting game sorely lacking. So, when she encounters a Nocturne-cursed centaur lady while waiting for the acceptance letter that will make her an official trainer, Ellie finally pushes herself out of her comfort zone.

Nadine knows that no one will ever love her for who she is, not with her Nocturne curse; she’s fully prepared for Ellie’s adorably clumsy advances to be a moment of fun before she’s left in the dust again. But when their fling accidentally links them together with a Passion Mark—a permanent, magical brand which binds their vitality to their physical relationship—Nadine wonders if this is her chance at true love.

True love seems out of the question, however, because having a Nocturne’s Passion Mark disqualifies Ellie from racing. As Nadine helps Ellie search for a way to remove their Passion Marks, they stumble into the dark truths of the racetrack life, including an illegal nocturne arena that wants Nadine as its central attraction, willingly or not. Soon both women find themselves questioning everything they thought they believed about their lives—and each other.

One of the dual-pov main characters is a nonbinary she/her bisexual in a sapphic relationship with the other main character.

 

Posterity

by Jess Newton

Fifty years ago, Captain Nina Brooke hand-picked a crew from across the world to accompany her on the mission of a lifetime. Today, they’re all waking up. The Posterity is making her final approach to their new home planet, and the work is about to begin. Humanity wasn’t an endangered species when they set off on this mission, but it’s a darn sight closer to being one now. No pressure, then.

The new planet seems perfect; plenty of resources, good settlement locations, habitable climates. After what happened to Earth, Nina is conscious that they need to take better care of this one. It takes all sorts to make a world, and Nina’s got all sorts asleep in her cryobay; not only the people required to build it, but the ones to make it feel like home, too. After all, what good is saving humanity if you leave the best parts of it behind?

Some people find it easier than others to start new lives here on the other side of the galaxy, but then, it all depends on what they left behind. As Nina navigates relationships old and new, will she finally find the one thing she’s never had: a home?

Nonbinary supporting character and the author identifies as nonbinary.

 

I, Volcano

by Eule Grey

According to ancient rhymes, the islanders of Ansar and Skarle are children of the volcano, born of fire and destined to be lovers. After the eruption, the prophecies are forgotten as all are forced to flee. Nobody cares about silly nursery rhymes now, certainly not Jalob.

When shy medic Jalob Baleine heads to war, it isn’t for romance. She only wants to help refugees who have no home or allies. Because they are kin. Jalob was born under the same glowering volcano, on an idyllic island surrounded by dolphins. Like the refugees, she fled the lava and secretly cherishes the old ways.

She falls asleep, ignoring the pull of tides, and dreams of a loving touch. Who doesn’t? And sure, maybe Jalob hasn’t felt whole for years, but war isn’t the time for fantasies. She keeps to herself and hopes someone else will sort the war out. One woman can’t heal the world. After all, she has enough to do, what with tending the sick and her supervisor, Susan, always on her back.

Then Jalob meets stroppy violinist, Corail Esplash. After an explosive introduction, they’re forced to spend time together. Stress makes them long for a reprise, and a fragile line dances between love and hate. Inevitably, the young women exchange island stories. Corail is head-strong and rude, a typical Ansar who loves to tease and be chased. And Jalob—strong, loyal, from Skarle—has such fast legs… Could the old rhymes about destiny be right? Ah, fate.

Death and war are relentless enemies, and difficult choices lie ahead. Can a shy girl rekindle the power of a dead volcano and harness the ocean? One woman can’t heal the world, but maybe Jalob is the only one who can save Corail.

Nonbinary main character and the author identifies as nonbinary.

 

Moonlight Love and Witchcraft

by Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea

A werewolf and a vampire with an unbreakable bond. A cute witch fleeing her home for a crime she may or may not have committed. A burning desire for something more between them.

Years after becoming a vampire, Logan is finally on track to their goal: Making it big in the music industry with the support of their band and their girlfriend Kay, protector of the local supernatural community. For all its issues, with her by their side, Logan’s life is perfect. But when a new girl comes to town, Nemo, everything abruptly becomes much more complicated and Logan can’t ask Kay for help anymore. Because to do that, they’d have to admit to her that they’ve fallen for someone else…
Nemo, having fled her home for a crime she totally didn’t commit, finds a welcome distraction in Logan’s friendship. But her thoughts quickly become haunted by them and their gorgeous girlfriend.

As Kay realizes that what’s going on between Logan and Nemo exceeds the bounds of friendship, she has to make a choice: Keep her partner all to herself, or encourage them to explore their feelings, and explore her own. To let love make them one, or perhaps tear them apart.

Includes nonbinary characters and Micah Iannandrea uses they/them pronouns and Vaela Denarr uses she/they.

 

Once Stolen

by D. N. Bryn

No one with half a brain would rob the jungle’s most notorious energy cartel—but their power-producing stones are the only thing that soothes Cacao’s mysterious pain, and after being banished from his homeland for similar thefts, the lonely naga is desperate enough to try.

When his ramshackle thievery goes wrong, a chaotic escape leaves him chained to the cartel’s prisoner: a self-proclaimed hero with a hidden stash of power stones so large that Cacao would never need to steal again. He’s determined to get his hands on it, even if it means guiding the annoyingly smug, annoyingly valiant, and even more annoyingly beautiful hero back home. But their path runs straight through the mist-laden and monster-filled swamp that exiled Cacao, with scheming poachers and a desperate cartel leader on their tail.

The selfish and the self-righteous can only flee together for so long before something snaps…

One of the supporting cast in Once Stolen is a nonbinary sapphic character named Xera and the author identifies as nonbinary.


Happy reading!

Faith, Em, Miranda, & TB


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About TBM

TB Markinson is an American who's recently returned to the US after a seven-year stint in the UK and Ireland. When she isn't writing, she's traveling the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs in New England, or reading. Not necessarily in that order. Her novels have hit Amazon bestseller lists for lesbian fiction and lesbian romance. She cohosts the Lesbians Who Write Podcast (lesbianswhowrite.com) with Clare Lydon. TB also runs I Heart Lesfic (iheartlesfic.com), a place for authors and fans of lesfic to come together to celebrate lesbian fiction.
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2 Responses to Celebrating International Nonbinary People’s Day

  1. Jenny Thompson says:

    Plain English by Rachel Spangler

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