Consent is sexy. But more than that, I think it’s also important to portray what healthy, freely given, enthusiastic consent can look like in romance novels.
In many books, it’s more implied or made clear by the context instead of being explicitly stated, so for this week’s Hidden Gem category of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book in which the main characters check in with each other and ask for explicit consent during the sex scene.
15 recommended sapphic books with explicit consent
Below, you’ll find a list of 15 sapphic books with explicit consent.
Conflict of Interest by Jae
A detective falls in love with a victim in one of her cases in this remarkable lesbian romantic suspense.
Workaholic Detective Aiden Carlisle isn’t looking for love—and certainly not at the law enforcement seminar she reluctantly agreed to attend. But the first lecturer is not at all what she expected.
Psychologist Dawn Kinsley has just found her place in life. After a failed relationship with a police officer, she has sworn never to get involved with another cop again, but she feels a connection to Aiden from the very first moment.
Can Aiden keep from crossing the line when a brutal crime threatens to keep them apart before they’ve even gotten together?
Available at:
My Boss’s Stalker (Spoiler It’s Not Me!) by Adrian J. Smith
An unrequited crush. A stalker on the loose. Will she be able to save her boss?
Zoe’s boss is a force to be reckoned with. And Zoe has had a crush on Gwen Fudala for the last three years. In a twist of events, Zoe drunkenly ends up on the phone with Gwen while in a compromising position. But it sparks a wildfire that neither can put out.
Still, something isn’t right.
Gwen is being stalked. Vowing to let nothing happen to her boss, Zoe winds up tangled in the stalker’s game. Unable to see which way is out and loyal to a fault, Zoe sticks by Gwen’s side through thick and thin.
Can they navigate a relationship under the watchful eye of a perpetrator?
Or does the stalker have a new target?
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Make the Yuletide Gay by Ivy L. James
Junior editor Grace Taylor is doubling as the temporary assistant to senior editor Nicola Valentine…and harboring a secret crush on her. Grace is devastated when a work conference forces her to miss her big family Christmas. However, she gets a gift she doesn’t expect when a snowstorm strands her and Nicola at a small B&B.
Nicola has no idea how to handle sharing a room with her gorgeous, vibrant assistant. As she learns to share her heart as well, her fear threatens the blossoming relationship. Can she let Grace in, or will Nicola’s past sabotage her chance at happiness?
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Heart Failure by Chris Zett
Dr. Jess Riley’s life is perfect, ticking all the boxes—successful cardiologist, newborn daughter, and a luxurious condo. That is, until she suddenly collapses from acute heart failure. Her entire world crumples along with her exhausted body.
Jess is forced to face facts—she can’t keep working endless hours, and she’ll have to move back home to recover.
To her shock, her mother has already taken in Lena Walker, a struggling artist who isn’t a stranger to heartbreak either.
At first, an unimpressed Jess resents Lena’s cheerful presence. Gradually, though, the two women form a tentative friendship over tai chi, picking fruit, and evening walks with the baby. A sexy massage leads to friends-with-benefits fun. But is it all too soon? Should two barely mended souls try to risk a future together?
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Plague and Ash by Sita Bethel
Sarah only went to Oreburn University of Incantations so her parents would stop asking her when she’d settle down. However, after a strange plague decimates her hometown, Sarah finds herself fleeing with the undead chasing her.
As she escapes, she meets Brighid, a half orc noble, and together, they must reach Oreburn before the undead can overrun the city. Sarah discovers a decay sorcerer created the original curse, and only a wizard powerful enough to destroy him can end the plague.
But now they have to find that wizard.
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The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée
Cassiel has given up the family tradition of demon hunting, leaving behind her sacred angelic duty and fated sword. What she can’t leave behind are the scars. To cope, she spends her days immersed in work, pouring all her attention into New Haven Books, her small bookstore and anchor in the new world she’s carved for herself.
But the past hasn’t let go of Cassiel yet. When a succubus named Avitue arrives to claim her angel-touched soul, Cassiel’s old hunter instincts flare, forcing her to choose between old knowledge and her truth. What should be a fatal seduction becomes a bargain neither woman expects. As they grow closer, Avitue is surprised to find her own pain reflected in Cassiel, a nephilim deemed fallen by her own family’s standards.
By choosing trust, they reveal the lies that bind them. Falling for each other begins a path towards healing. But exorcising the effects of trauma is harder than naming it, and to explore the unfettered possibility Avitue represents, Cassiel must find a way to reclaim and redefine her angelic heritage.
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The No Kiss Contract by Nan Campbell
Despite being the youngest partner at her firm, corporate attorney Davy Dugan is gunning for a recently vacant name partnership—it would mean finally having the power to make a real change in her conservative workplace. But eighty-hour workweeks don’t allow any time with her much younger half-sister, Tally, who doesn’t seem to need Davy in her life anyway.
Davy aims to get back into Tally’s good graces by throwing her a big birthday party, but that means dealing with Tally’s other half sister, Anna. To say Davy and Anna don’t get along is putting it mildly.
When a misunderstanding leads to her boss’s assumption that she and Anna are headed to the altar, Davy sees a way to leapfrog over the competition straight into one of the top spots at her firm. She just has to convince Anna to be her faux fiancée in order to do it and keep her growing attraction in check, of course.
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What Now by Jamey Moody
When love dares to alter a carefully crafted life plan, does the heart win?
Addison Henry is the new bank president in small-town Brazos Falls, but she won’t be there long. This is merely a stepping stone on her career path that leads her to headquarters and the CEO’s office.
Lissa Morgan came back to her hometown to help her family’s business. However, she is not giving up on love just because she happens to be one of the few gay women in town.
When Addison helps Lissa open a new account at the bank an instant friendship is born. Lissa is happy to help Addison navigate the ways of her small town and as they spend more time together something begins to happen to Addison’s heart.
She’s never been with a woman. She has no time for love. She’s on her way to the top. But her heart has another plan. What now?
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Mending Fences by Angie Williams
When rancher Bobbie Del Rey walks into the veterinarian’s office with an injured pup, the last person she expects to see is the one woman she’s never allowed herself to love. The only thing more dangerous than the storm raging outside is the tempest in her heart.
Veterinarian Grace Hammond is looking for a fresh start. Haunted by her past, she hopes moving back to her hometown will help her find the strength to stand up for what she needs in matters of the heart. The moment her first love, Bobbie Del Rey, walks into her clinic—tall, dark, and soaking wet—the boundaries Grace desperately needs become paper thin.
Can the heartbreaks of the past ever truly be mended?
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Temptation at Randy’s by Emily Alter
Arlene was more than what she stress-baked. Claude was more than what they hid.
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Love Me Not by Emma Thingsted
Twenty seven year old reporter Mara Swanson from Los Angeles is down on her luck. Her girlfriend dumped her because she fell in love with someone else. That sucks. In fact it sucks so much, Mara tries her best to drink her sorrows away. One night she stumbles into a taxi so she can go home and sleep the effects of the alcohol away.
But unfortunately, she ends up sharing the taxi with a very annoying brunette. And unfortunately, Mara can’t quite keep her mouth shut and ends up telling the brunette exactly what she thinks of her.
What should have been a random encounter in the middle of the night ends up being far more when Mara a few days after has to replace a sick colleague and conduct an interview with Tanya Goldstein, the leading actress in the highly popular series’ Love Me Not’ and rising star. Sometimes things aren’t always what they seem, and maybe the ‘annoying brunette’ from the taxi wasn’t just another miss Somebody in the Los Angeles night.
The stage is set as Mara faces off against annoyingly beautiful ice queen Tanya Goldstein with the green eyes and sarcastic laughter….
Available at:
Off the Menu by Alaina Erdell
In less than 48 hours, reality TV sensation Restaurant Redo and its gorgeous host will arrive to film in chef Taylor Mobley’s kitchen…and she just found out.
Fixer Erin Rasmussen has a reputation for saving failing restaurants with her take-no-crap attitude. She gets the job done on time, under budget, and millions of viewers tune in to watch her do it.
The fine dining restaurant Taylor works for has some serious problems, and management doesn’t want her input. It’s time to leave. But how is she supposed to find a new position when a TV host with delusions of grandeur keeps painting her as a problem chef? Taylor refuses to play nice with Erin, especially on camera. They make each other’s blood boil, which is why it’s even more annoying that they can’t manage to keep their hands off each other.
Erin only cares about entertaining viewers. Taylor is unprofessional and immature. Or at least that’s what they each think. As the cameras roll and their careers hang in the balance, will Erin and Taylor make the jump from enemies to lovers?
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Within My Reach: A Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion by Amy Blythe
Camping on a futon and babysitting her nephews is not the summer vacation Anna Elliot had in mind, but then Frida Wentworth rolls back into town – home from conquering the world, one stunning photograph at a time.
Anna has never entirely forgiven herself for letting Frida go. And Frida, it would seem, hasn’t forgiven her either. No one knows about their past, thank goodness. But before Anna’s very eyes, two of her friends fall under Frida’s spell.
Set in Auckland, New Zealand, over the holidays, this Sapphic retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion takes the OG second-chance romance for an antipodean spin, with a splash of forced-proximity and a pinch of love-triangle.
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Halcyon Nights by MJ Duncan
Emerson Riis has a job she loves, friends she considers family, and her goofy malamute Sasha for company. As far as she’s concerned, life in the small town of Mystic is pretty much perfect. Enter Mari Davenport, a Hollywood screenwriter with a dozen blockbusters to her name, who arrives in a car that is completely unfit for the north woods of Minnesota. Their paths cross in a way that could have been plucked straight from one of Mari’s romcoms, and though their attraction is instant and their chemistry off-the-charts, the fact that Mari must return to LA at the end of her six-month writing sabbatical looms ominously on the horizon. As Emerson and Mari’s feelings grow, will they find a way to rewrite the ending to their story, or are they meant only for this sweet but short-lived season of halcyon nights?
Available at:
Guarded Hearts by Sam Kestrel
With hearts guarded by memories of loss and betrayal, can two women find their way to love again?
Wounded by a cheating ex, Jo vowed to never let anyone close again. Was her love of women the only reason she started her therapy business?
Avery, consumed by crippling grief after the death of her lover, found experiencing pleasure impossible. Could a woman selling sexual intimacy help her heal?
Conflict blooms when Jo struggles against her attraction to Avery, while Avery worries that having feelings for Jo would be cheating on her deceased partner.
Can two hearts so guarded traverse this rocky path to love, or will their fear and missteps prove too formidable to overcome?
Available at:
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Leave a comment
What book will you be reading for the “consent is sexy” category? Let us know in the comments!
7 Responses
One of my absolute favourite categories. Explicit consent will always have me giving a book and author a go without any other information. Thanks for a great list, Jae
Neen
Thank you, Jae. I was not sure what book to read for this category but now, thanks to you, I have a whole bunch to choose from.
My pleasure!
Something’s Different by Quinn Ivins is also a great one for this category!
Jourdyn Kelly’s Coming Out has a great explicit, slow burn consent is sexy theme.
Just finishing reading What Now by Jamey Moody. I have plenty to add to my reading list. Thanks.
Thank you very much for the list. I was having problems finding a book for this category.
What Now by Jamey Moody