Today, I’ve got another very popular romance trope for you. A lot of romance readers love age difference romance novels.
Traditionally, an age gap romance is considered a romance novel in which there’s an age difference of at least 10 years between the two main characters. The main focus isn’t so much on the specific number of years, though, but the disparity in experience and life stage. For example, if one of the characters is in college, while the other already has a successful career, even eight years could feel like a considerable age gap.
May/December romance novels are a subcategory of age difference romances. In these novels, there’s an even bigger age difference between the lovers. One partner is in the spring of her life, while the other is in the winter of hers, so it’s an intergenerational relationship.
15 GREAT LESBIAN AGE DIFFERENCE ROMANCE NOVELS
I’ve put together a list of 15 lesbian romance novels in which there’s a significant age gap between the two main characters. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Just a Touch Away by Jae
An enemies-to-lovers lesbian romance with an ice queen whose frosty facade is melted by the power of touch.
Hannah Martin has an unusual job: she’s a professional cuddler. While she has a big heart for her clients, she hasn’t found someone special to snuggle up to in her personal life.
Winter Sullivan isn’t looking for love. She’s an aloof workaholic who’s built walls of ice around herself. She would rather drive toothpicks under her fingernails than cuddle, and she certainly doesn’t want to share her space with anyone.
When Winter’s estranged father dies, he leaves her one last surprise: she and Hannah, a perfect stranger, will inherit a building together. But there’s a catch: first, they have to live together for ninety-two days.
Winter is determined to dislike her rival, but soon finds Hannah isn’t what she expected at all. Thanks to a hilarious doormat war, a cuddle dare from Winter’s half sister, and a kiss in the most unusual of places, the frosty fortress around her heart begins to melt.
Will she be able to accept that love might be just a touch away?
Available at:
Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae
Shy Denny has a simple life as a cashier who helps raise her niece. Then she gets a wrong-number text from a stranger named Eliza, asking her for dating advice.
Eliza, the queen of disastrous first dates, finds an instant connection with Denny that makes her question everything…like just how straight she really is.
Available at:
Amazon
Apple Books
Ylva Publishing
Audible
By Design by JA Armstrong
Jameson Reid spends her days designing some of the most elegant buildings in North America. Senator Candace Fletcher has spent her life working to build bridges between people. When they meet, Candace challenges all of Jameson’s preconceptions about the women of Washington D.C. The enigmatic architect will test the resolve of the Junior Senator from New York.
Available at:
Amazon
Seasons of Love by Harper Bliss
Alice McAllister is a successful solicitor who likes a quiet, disciplined life. But when her business partner Miranda forces her to take a vacation at her holiday home in Portugal, the presence of Miranda’s daughter Joy turns Alice’s world up-side down.
Available at:
Ladylit Publishing
Amazon
Audible (audiobook)
Just My Luck by Andrea Bramhall
Genna Collins works a dead end job, loves her family, her girlfriend, and her friends. When she wins the biggest Euromillions jackpot on record everything changes…and not always for the best. What if money really can’t buy you happiness?
Available at:
Ylva Publishing
Amazon
Apple iBooks
Coffee Sonata by Gun Brooke
Four women, Manon, Eryn, Vivian and Mike, whose lives unexpectedly intersect in a small town by the sea share one thing in common—they all have secrets. Despite tragedy, past and present, each learns that life holds more than they dared dream.
Available at:
Bold Strokes Books
Amazon
Apple iBooks
Totally Worth It by Maggie Cummings
Twenty-something Meg McTiernan is all about her career when her house hunt unexpectedly lands her at Bay West—a lesbian mecca tucked away in the suburbs of NYC—and her social life is given a turbo boost. There’s a pool, a softball league, even a nightclub practically in her backyard. In this loaded environment, finding the right girl just got a lot more interesting.
Available at:
Bold Strokes Books
Amazon
Apple iBooks
Audible (audiobook)
Touchwood by Karin Kallmaker
Rayann loves Louisa. Louisa loves Rayann. Will the decades between their ages—and their friends and family—keep them apart?
Available at:
Winter Jacket (Winter Jacket series, book 1) by Eliza Lentzski
Elle Graft might have made it through six years of graduate school, but she’s not convinced she’ll survive her first position as an Assistant Professor. Because for all she learned, graduate school never prepared her for dealing with a student crush.
Available at: Amazon
Arbor Vitae by Susan X. Meagher
Clancy O’Connor, a young landscape architect, is trying to build her business. Getting recommendations from Abby Graham’s upper-class social circle would be a major coup. Faster than she could have dreamed, Abby is singing Clancy’s praises—in bed. All too soon a threat develops that could destroy the tentative, but tenacious bond that holds them together.
Available at:
Brisk Press
Amazon
Rest and Relaxation by Rhavensfyre
Allyse DeLeon is a high-powered executive at the top of her game. Dani lives alone and likes it that way. She’s young, quirky, and doesn’t appreciate having her uncle’s business partner foisted on her—that is until sparks start to fly between the two. The problem? Dani isn’t great at catching subtleties, and it’s up to Allyse to find a way to get her point across.
Available at:
Amazon
Echo Point by Virginia Hale
Bron never intended to move back to Australia. Wracked with guilt over her sister Libby’s death, she’s spent three months trying to handle her grief while taking care of Libby’s young daughter, Annie. When Libby’s best friend Ally suddenly returns home from prison, Bron can’t fathom why her family is so enamored with her, but grudgingly admires the way Ally and Annie get along. When bushfires begin to rage in the nearby mountains, Bron begins to see that she’s sorely underestimated her sister’s friend.
Available at:
Bella Books
Amazon
Sidebar by Carsen Taite
Judge Camille Avery and her clerk, attorney West Fallon, agree on little except their mutual attraction, but can their relationship and their careers survive a headline-grabbing case?
Available at: Bold Strokes Books Amazon Apple iBooks Audible (audiobook)
The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter
Aussie crime reporter Maddie Grey is out of her depth in New York and secretly drawn to her twice-married, powerful media mogul boss, Elena Bartell, who eats failing newspapers for breakfast. As work takes them to Australia, Maddie is goaded into a brief bet—that they will say only the truth to each other. It backfires catastrophically. A lesbian romance about the lies we tell ourselves
Available at:
Ylva Publishing
Amazon
Apple iBooks
If you haven’t done so already, download your bingo card and brush up on the rules of Lesbian Book Bingo. Then pick the book you want to read for the age difference romance novel square, and start reading! Remember that you can either read one of the 15 books listed above or pick another lesbian book featuring characters with an age gap.
Leave a comment to win a book
In addition to winning books by completing a line on the bingo card, there’ll also be a giveaway for each post. This time, you can win an ebook copy of:
- Just My Luck by Andrea Bramhall
- Sidebar by Carsen Taite
- The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter
To be entered into the drawing, leave a comment and let us know which book you’re going to read for the “age difference” square or if you can think of other lesbian books that fit this category.
I’ll announce the winners of the e-books on Thursday, May 10.
The reading list for the next bingo square—foodie romances—will be posted on May 17.Subscribe to this blog to get future Lesbian Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all future Lesbian Book Bingo posts sent to your in-box, subscribe to my blog.
Happy reading!
Jae
I’ve really enjoyed the By Design series from JA Armstrong, and Next of Kin by Jae – now I have more to put on my “want to read” list.
I just bought Echo Point so I’m all set!
Second season by Ali Vali, loved that book, but any ideas provided here are great. Some I read in the past and loved it.
I read Second Season recently and it was a very pleasant read.
I read Timeless by Ranchel Spangler for this bingo square
I’ve just read Karin Kallmakers Touchwood again.
It touches me again and again with its quiet, deep and slow action. And I feel always grateful for what the now older generation of lesbians has fought for and endured for us earlier.
Reading After Mrs Hamilton currently… Though I’ve gotten a bit off track and haven’t read in a week or 2, what I have read so far is very good and has me intrigued.
I also just bought The Brutal Truth so I’ll be reading that as well at some point.
I love this trope! So many good books to choose from. Thanks for the recs Jae, my to read list just expanded by about 4 books!!
I just started Seasons of Love, so I’m set for this square. The Brutal Truth is another book I want to read.
I’ll read the Gun Brooke book as I liked the last book of her that I read
First: I believe that everyone should read “Touchwood” at some point.
Now, I read “The Brutal Truth not long ago, So I’m gonna go with ” Just my Luck” this time.
My favorite age gap romance not on the list is Survival of Love by Frankie J. Jones.
Kallmaker’s Touchwood and Watermark should both be on a required reading list.
I think I’m going to read Echo Point for this square.
The Lily and the Crown also fits this category.
I want to read every book rec’d during the entirety of Lesbian Book Bingo!
However, we’re gearing up for summer travels/work, so I’m limited to Kindle Unlimited books and local library ebooks/audiobooks until around September. Good new is: that includes several books on this list! So, from your list, gonna read:
1. “By Design” by JA Armstrong
2. “Winter Jacket” by Eliza Lentzski
3. “Rest and Relaxation” by Rhavensfyre
Also adding these Age Gap lesfic from Kindle Unlimited:
1. “Rock Candy” by Giselle Fox… 16 year age gap, the older woman is a graphic artist who owns a print shop and moonlights as a graffiti artist; the younger lady is kinda a rockstar in the graffiti arts world, albeit secretly, and is an arts school grad. Some very light elements of paranormal via dream deja vu.
2. “Something About You” by Jea Hawkins… older woman is a florist who owns her own shop and the twenty-something woman is a magazine editor and jilted bride who walks into the shop to cancel her wedding floral order. They build a friendship over tea & conversations and grow to question if there’s more between them.
3. “No Other Love”
and “Everything Between Us” both by Harper Bliss… many of Bliss’ books have age gap romances, she’s a pro at writing them with deep emotional explorations, especially within her Pink Bean Series. These two Pink Bean entries are unique in that “No Other Love” has a 12 year age gap between the leading ladies—who are a bookshop owning married couple—and they’re also both middle aged! “Everything Between Us” has the love interest supplying polyamory lesbian rep and the leading lady hits readers up with curvy girl rep (the story is told thru her POV). Both books deal with subjects that can be no-nos for some lesfic readers—emotional cheating (No Other Love) and low self esteem + polyamory (Everything Between Us)—but Harper Bliss explores those subjects honestly and carefully; the books are about more than just those two subjects.
When the ’embargo on book spending’ lifts in my house, lol, wanna grab “Totally Worth It” by Maggie Cummings, really the whole 3-book series. Read many reviews extolling the series’ yummy goodness, which includes each of the three books—so, middle book slump syndrome avoided!
Word around All Of The Internets deems “Red Files” by Lee Winter a must-read lesfic novel—and that Lee Winter writes age gap like nobody’s business; there’s also an ice queen element to it. Plus it’s a mystery story written with reporters as the sleuths and Lee Winter is an award winning reporter, so… yep-yep.
And “Just My Luck” by Andrea Bramhall because, lottery winner trope. Got wind of some young adult novels and a chick-lit series take on the lottery win romance, so this seems to be a trope that’s growing on me. One that for sure needs more lesbian rep! With the age gap, curvy girl rep, and British humor on top of the lottery win, I’m gonna rock Bramhall’s book.
This is a category near and dear to my heart through personal experience. Judy Folger’s Age is Just a Number fits this category, but as I’ve already read it, I think I’ll read Something About You by Jea Hawkins.
This has really turned into quite the project! Thanks for organizing all of this.
There’s a few great ideas here and a few “old favourites” to enjoy again like Arbor Vitae 🙂
Oh, Arbor Vitae is one of my all time favorites. I see a reeread coming :)
I read M Ullrich’s Fake It Til You Make It and AE Radley’s Bring Holly Home for this category on my cards.
Now I have my eye on Sidebar.
I read bring holly home by a e radley for this one.
Love this category, I will read totally worth it by Maggie Cummings
I’ve read sidebar by Carsen taite and highly recommend it. I really want to read The Brutal Truth. It sounds awesome.
it’s beyond awesome
I’ve read sidebar by Carsen taite and highly recommend it. I really want to read The Brutal Truth. It sounds awesome.
I read Sweet Surrender by Anna Cove for this category.
Coffee Sonata by Gun Brooke. I read it before and absolutely love it.
A must read is Coffee Sonata. This is really great for not only this category, but for disabled character also. I will read Rest and Relaxation just because the lead has the same name as I!!
I read Graceful Waters by BL Miller and Verda Foster and Just My Luck by Bramhall.
I read In the Distance There is Light. It’s a great read!
Question, Promising hearts by Radclyffe is on a lot of the May/December lists would this one count? If so that is the one I read for this catagory. Anyone out there who enjoys westerns this is a good one. It could technically be considered a sequel to innocent hearts but follows two different characters. So you don’t necessarily have to read that one first.
Best leave me out of the drawing this time as I have all three of the ebooks being offered. Those and the other 4 I have were all very good! I chose Thin Fire by Nanci Little for this square on my first card and I’m thinking The Road to Wings by Julie Tizard for my next one. And I believe I’ve added a couple to my wish list from your list.
Just checked out the book blurb for “Road to Wings” by Julie Tizard, and now this book is on my TBR list too. Julie Tizard sounds hella boss. As per Amazon.com: “Julie Tizard has been a professional pilot for over 35 years. One of the earliest women pilots to graduate from air force pilot training, she served as an instructor pilot flying the T-37 jet trainer. She then flew the KC -10 air refueling tanker as an aircraft commander. She served in several leadership positions including flight commander, chief of pilot upgrade, chief of flight safety, and squadron commander. She retired as a colonel from the Air Force Reserve after 25 years of service.” = “Road to Wings” stacked with authenticity.
And the list keeps growing! I really haven’t made my mind up yet for all my cards, but I will start with Next of kin since I never got around to it and I loved Conflict of interest. The brutal truth is the runner up. It’s been on my to-read-pile together with coffee sonata and echo point. But I know by now I will be checking this site for new suggestions every couple of days. And I change my mind a lot for cards 3 and 4. So who knows what will be put on them.. At least my to-be-read pile is getting sufficient to keep me reading long after this bingo will be finished ;)
A few on here I haven’t read! Thanks Jae!
Some great books in the list, a few I haven’t read and look good.
I read Sidebar for this square, very good by Ms Carson! But I also love After Mrs Hamilton and Winter Jacket!!! Have read both several times.
I have enjoyed most of the suggested books but the one I read for the bingo square is Dingo’s Recovery. A sweet romance with a “cute as heck” dog. One square to go til I finish my first sheet, I’m getting there.
Sidebar by Carsen Taite! This will be the first book I’ll read by her, so can’t wait! Happy Reading!
I loved, loved, loved Winter Jacket and all the books in that series! They are books I will definitely read again and again. But, for this bingo square, I may well read Rest & Relaxation, which I have on Kindle Unlimited because someone else recommended it.
Thank you for this awesome Lesbian Book Bingo idea!
I love Coffee Sonata. It’s so sweet and I love the relationship between Mike and Vivian. There are some books on this list that I need to get my hands on!
Age Gap Romance is a favourite of mine and there a couple of books on your on the list I have not read and the bonus is I have not read those authors, so this should be fun.
So many good books on that list! I put “Next of Kin” on my first Bingo Card…and cheated with “Hunger for You” by Jenny Frame for my second. I mean, hey, 300 years is an age difference, right?
I’ve also read “Seasons of Love” by Harper Bliss, “Totally Worth It” by Maggie Cummings, “Winter Jacket” by Eliza Lentzski and “The Brutal Truth” by Lee Winter…and they’re all fantastic!
The Music and the Mirror
by Lola Keeley is an age-gap romance and the best book out of the 107 I have read this year. Highly recommended:)
Just put The Lily and the Crown in this spot the other day, as I’ve already filled in my Sci-Fi. The age difference isn’t made a big deal of, but is mentioned.
I’ve ready Coffee Sonata soooo many times. :-) Def a favorite re-read. Gun Brooke’s more recent Blush Factor also meets this category, and is a very good read (and to read again).
I have Next of Kin, love the series, don’t even remember an age-difference part, guess I’ll have to read it again (huge sacrifice ;-) ). Enjoyed reading Arbor Vitae a long time ago.
This is my trope kryptonite. I am still planning to try to do a whole bingo square just of age-gaps.
I just finished Touchwood. Fantastic May/December.
I also love Carol by Patricia Highsmith (a classic).
With so many thumbs up in the comments, I’m going to pick up Arbor Vitae by Susan X. Meagher
There are so many that I can’t wait to read. I have already read The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter and It is SO GOOD!!! The next one I will be reading is Rest and Relaxation
I read almost all the books of Gun Brooke)
I loved many of the books on the list. For the bingo I read Heartwoord by Catherine Lane.
I actually have Coffee Sonata sitting on my to be read shelf. So I k ow what I’m reading.
I have read Touchwood by Karin Kallmaker and After mrs. Hamilton by Clare Ashton, they are amazing books with enchanting characters and great plots. My fav age difference les rommance is Untouchable by Brenda Adcock, because of the depth of the plot and the wonderful characters the author has created.
I plan to read Totally worth it. I’ve already read and enjoyed Sidebar
By the end of the year I’m gonna be broke:D I read Next of kin by jae
I went with Popcorn Love
by KL Hughes
I’m going with Caren Werlinger’s “She Sings of Old Unhappy Far-Off Things”. I love everything I’ve read of hers so far. Totally agree with all the recommendations for “Touchwood”. It sets the standard for this category.
Just my luck has been on my “To read ” list for a while. But I still would suggest Under a falling star by Jae as a Age difference romance. Of course the difference isn’t that huge but still, I think it would fit well under that category
Scratch that. I meant Who’d have Thought by G Benson. This is what happens when you read 3 books in three days. My bad. Under a falling star would still be great for other places on the grid though
Love these list, some great reading ideas, thanks
To be perfectly honest this has always been one of my least favorite categories, and is one I’m still struggling to complete for my card. This post has given me some ideas, though – I think I recognize one or two titles from a friend’s bookshelf so I may just pay her a visit!
I read recently “Next of Kin” by Jae. I love the Portland Police Bureau series.
I wonder if there is another Part coming.
Hi, I really love the lesbian romance novels with age gaps, much more interesting than the usual romantic stories as their live and love experiences vary and they learn from each other and grow together. My favorites are Next of Kin, By Design and Winter Jacket. Would love to get the free copy of Side Bar as I am sure that book will be worth the read as well.
I’ve read The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter and ‘The Music and The Mirror’ by Lola Keeley. Both were great romances dealing with age gap and boss/ employee relationships. I really like the dynamics of the age gap relationships because the older person has much more experience but they’re also jaded enough to be surprised by perspective of the younger person, and that’s why the interaction is fun.
I’m reading The Music and the Mirror for this one.
My choice is The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter
Bring Holly Home by A. E. Radley is what I read and filled in for this square. ^_^
I have read quite a few books that can fit in this category but I think I’m going to put down Carol/The Price of Salt for this square.
Andrew’s and Austin
Summer Winds
Thanks
I read Seasons of Love which completely changed my mind on this ‘trope’. I didn’t understand it until this book. Thankfully the MC asked the questions I always had, which was what each person got from the relationship. Then it made a lot of sense! And now I’ve stumbled on my own idea for a story (thanks to a dream last night) that is an age gap of around 10 years. hahaha Who would have thought? I’ll need to read some more to help me understand it from different perspectives.
I also read By Design which was interesting, but I haven’t dove into the rest of the series yet.
I read The Music and the Mirror for this square.
Season’s of Love by Harper Bliss and Next of Kin by Jae. I have read,will reread . I loved both ebooks.
I really loved The Brutal Truth!
Two books by A. E. Radley also fit this category: Mergers & Acquisitions and Bring Holly Home.
I never win anything but I will try , nothing to lose
I love these recommendations. Thanks for putting this together.
For my first Bingo Card I read Still In Your Care by Josslyn Scott. For my second bingo card I read Return to Me by Fiona Zedde. Lots of good books on that list still to read. Please do not include me in the draw as I already have a copy of The Brutal Truth, thank you.
I read Seasons of Love by Harper Bliss, but I’m on a roll right now, so that may change!!!!
I think I’ll check out Echo Point…or I could reread Next of Kin.
This category is always a interesting one, I have read some of this list and others not mentioned here, that are really good and there are still some in my to read list like The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter, Seasons of Love by Harper Bliss and Next of Kin (Portland Police Bureau series) by Jae. Great books undoubtedly
I’ve read “Falling for Love” (A Winter Romance) by Addison M. Conley (from Sapphyre Books ) for this category …
Think my current reading “Sharpshooter” by Leslie Murray (also from Sapphyre Books ) could be included in this category too …
Oh … sorry …. I forgot to tell you !!
“The Brutal Truth” by Lee Winter is already on my “Ebook-shelf” (I thought I could read it very soon)
&
“Just My Luck” by Andrea Bramhall and “Sidebar” by Carsen Taite are still in my “must-be-purshased-and-read-asap”-list …
Good luck all … :-)
Enjoy your reading !!!