Looking for some LGBTQ+ reads to add to your never-ending TBR for Pride Month? Look no further, because this week’s Three to Read has you covered with a friends-to-lovers trope through time travel, an enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy, and an unputdownable read on self-discovery.
Hot Pick
New Adult
by Timothy Janovsky
SYNOPSIS: New Adult follows twenty-three-year-old Nolan Baker as he works to pay his dues at an NYC comedy club and soon decides to give up his dream and pursue a more “practical” route to success. Shortly after, fate places a once-in-a-lifetime offer in his lap to fill a last-minute spot for a famous comedian. When he decides to take the opportunity, he not only bails on his sister’s wedding but also stands up his best friend and wedding date, Drew, and disappoints his entire family in the process.
After realizing what he’s done, Nolan wishes on a set of “magical healing crystals” to skip to the good part of life, where he quickly realizes it isn’t everything he hoped it would be. We follow Nolan as he works to get back to his younger self, and prior life, and prove he’s not the man everyone thinks he is.
WHY: AJR had me asking “Can we skip to the good part” and after this read, I don’t know that I want to. Janovsky gives us a uniquely charming story that gives us the opportunity to not only peer into the future but reminisce on the past and learn many important lessons along the way. It’s the perfect reminder to be careful what you wish for while reminding you to appreciate life’s gifts you may not realize you’ve been given.
Coffee Shop Read
She Gets the Girl
by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
SYNOPSIS: In this swoon-worthy young adult read, author of Five Feet Apart, Rachael Lippincott, and debut author Alyson Derrick bring us along as Molly Parker and Alex Blackwood embark on a five-step plan to get their secret crush and ex to fall for them, but start to question whether they are falling for each other.
WHY: The powerhouse wife duo gives us a sapphic, enemies-to-lover, dual POV rom-com that is both messy and wonderful in every way. The story follows the headstrong and experienced Alex, who is full of chaos and even more flirting, and the incredibly awkward Molly, who has everything in her life under control and a distant crush on a girl she’s never talked to. The characters are relatable, the story is realistic, and the plot has you swooning every page of the way.
Dark Horse
Act Cool
by Tobly McSmith
SYNOPSIS: Tobly McSmith tells the thought-provoking story of transgender teen, August Greene, who is walking a tight line between chasing his dream of being an actor and staying true to who he is. After getting into the coveted School of Performing Arts in New York, his parents who do not accept that August is transgender, make him promise not to transition in order to stay with his aunt in the city. While he thinks he can pretend to be who his parents want him to while acting cool with his new friends in the city, things start to get too real, too fast and he soon learns that the only thing he needs to be is himself.
WHY: In emotionally enthralling prose, McSmith vocalizes the struggles that trans persons go through who do not feel accepted, especially by those who are meant to love them unconditionally. Not only does this book speak personally to those who have faced this same stigma, but it gives a raw and realistic perspective to readers who do not identify similarly. A truly remarkable tale meant to harness humanity’s empathy and encourage people to embrace their true selves and inspire others to do the same.
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