For this week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge, pick a sapphic book that is part of a series.
It doesn’t have to be book 1; it can be a book later in the series.
Some series have the same main characters in each book, while others are more loosely connected and feature a different protagonist in every book.
Most series will have the same author, but there are a few series that are a collaboration of different authors, e.g., Ylva Publishing’s Superheroine Collection or The Village Romance Series by T.B. Markinson, Clare Lydon & Harper Bliss.
Some books aren’t even marketed as a series, even though they clearly are, e.g., my novels Just for Show and The Roommate Arrangement. When in doubt, contact the author and ask if the books are considered a series or not.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
15 sapphic books that are part of a series
I put together a list of 15 sapphic books that are part of a series. I hope you find some new favorites!
Conflict of Interest (Portland Police Bureau series) by Jae
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:
The Devil Inside (Cain Casey series) by Ali Vali
Brains, guts, and ruthless ambition should be enough to come out on top in any fight. Except when the battle is over love, all bets are off. Derby Cain Casey was groomed from birth to take the reins of the Casey family enterprises, which just happens to be one of the major crime organizations in New Orleans. Surviving by never turning away from a fight and knowing how to win at all costs, Cain is as careful with her heart as she is with her business – until she meets Emma Verde. The farm girl from Wisconsin puts a hit out on Cain’s heart and leads her down a dangerous road filled with great joy and devastating sorrow. The Devil Inside is the story of unexpected passion, a shattering betrayal, and the challenge of love put to the test.
Available at:
A Woman Lost (A Woman Lost series) by T.B. Markinson
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Petrie has it all. She’s rich, intelligent, and successful. None of this matters to her mom. Les-Bi-An. That’s all her mom sees.
Even though Lizzie insists her mom’s antagonism doesn’t bother her, Lizzie distances herself from her entire family. When her brother, Peter, calls her out of the blue to announce he’s getting married, Lizzie’s entire life changes drastically. Peter’s fiancée wants to bring the lesbian outcast back into the family. Will this desire cause Lizzie to lose everything dear to her?
Sarah, Lizzie’s girlfriend, is ecstatic about this change in Lizzie’s personal life. Sarah, the hopeless romantic, wants it all, including settling down with the fiercely independent Lizzie.
Can Lizzie be tamed? And can she survive her family and all of their secrets?
Available at:
No Strings Attached (Pink Bean series) by Harper Bliss
Micky Ferro has lived her entire life according to other people’s expectations.
She married a man, had two children, and became a dutiful stay-at-home mom in suburban Sydney. Until she realized that her picture-perfect life wasn’t making her happy.
On the first anniversary of her divorce, Micky decides it’s time for the next step in her journey and gets a job at her neighborhood coffeeshop, The Pink Bean.
Becoming a barista sparks a big change in Micky’s daily routine, but could loud-spoken American customer Robin do the same for her love life?
Available at:
Awakenings (I Found My Heart in San Francisco series) by Susan X. Meagher
Despite the questions of her roommates and the objections of her fiance, Jamie Evans persists in enrolling in a college course that seems an odd choice for a young woman of her background. What no one can know is that the course, The Psychology of the Lesbian Experience, will propel Jamie onto a journey of self-awareness and realization.
For the required fieldwork, Jamie is paired with the darkly beautiful Ryan O’Flaherty – a boldly “out” and sexually adventurous lesbian. This somewhat unlikely pair, slowly, and sometimes painfully, becomes aware that what they feel for each other is more than just friendship. The temptation to live life on her own terms is great, but so are the costs, as Jamie struggles to break out of her establishment-fashioned, pre-ordained mold. If she can summon the courage, however, she might find out that love, and life, have so much more to offer than she ever dreamed.
Available at:
The Caphenon (Chronicles of Alsea series) by Fletcher DeLancey
A split-second decision to save a civilization. Another decision to give it away.
Captain Ekatya Serrado has spent her career fighting the Voloth, who view less advanced civilizations as fuel for their empire. The choice between saving her ship or a world under attack is easy. The choices that come after are harder.
Lancer Andira Tal, the leader of Alsea, believes her people are alone in the universe until a gigantic spaceship crashes near her capital city. Now she is thrust into a struggle between two powerful forces, and her planet is the prize.
With a civilization and the galactic balance of power at risk, friendships and alliances may not hold against betrayal. Honor is easy when the stakes are low.
Available at:
When the Stars Sang (Little Sister Island series) by Caren J. Werlinger
Nearly twenty-five years ago, Kathleen Halloran’s brother drowned during the last summer they ever spent with their grandmother on a remote island off Maine’s coast. Like a siren’s call she can’t resist, Kathleen is pulled back to Little Sister Island. She leaves her job and her girlfriend, packs up her few belongings, and moves into her grandmother’s cottage.
Molly Cooper loves life on Little Sister, where the islanders take care of their own. Kathleen Halloran doesn’t belong here, and her arrival stirs up unwelcome memories for the islanders—including Molly’s brother. Molly is certain Kathleen will pack up at the first big blow. When she doesn’t, Molly begins to see maybe there’s more to Kathleen than she thought.
Sometimes, before you can move forward, you have to look back.
Available at:
A Taste of Sin (How Sweet It Is series) by Fiona Zedde
Desiree Nichols has never been afraid of doing things the hard way. In high school, she was an out lesbian who faced down any bullies who dared challenge her. She jumped in with both feet when she unexpectedly fell for a boy in college. And years later, she didn’t hesitate to race back home to Miami, freshly dumped, to help her family in the wake of her mother’s cancer diagnosis.
While supporting her mother through the cancer crisis, Dez gets a little help of her own from the girls she grew up with—a group of hedonistic honeys whose love for pleasure runs as deeply as hers. With them by her side, she buries her pain in wild Miami parties and even wilder women. The last thing she expects is to fall for her twin brother’s best friend, a woman her brother is already head over heels in love with.
Who says going back home has to be boring?
Available at:
Against Doctor’s Orders (Rivers Community series) by Radclyffe
There’d been a Rivers at the helm of Argyle Community Hospital for six generations, and Harper Rivers was set to take her father’s place whenever he decided to hang up his shingle. Unfortunately, the board of directors had other ideas—they accepted a buyout offer from a health care conglomerate with plans to close the hospital’s doors to the community that depended on it. And Presley Worth, a high-powered corporate financier, came to town to oversee the closure. Funny thing was, no one asked Harper, and she had no intentions of following anyone’s orders but her own—no matter how beautiful, smart, or commanding the new boss might be.
Available at:
Daughter of Mystery (Alpennia series) by Heather Rose Jones
Margerit Sovitre did not expect to inherit Baron Saveze’s fortunes—even less his bodyguard, a ruthlessly efficient swordswoman known only as Barbara. Wealth suddenly makes Margerit a highly eligible heiress and buys her the enmity of the new Baron. He had expected to inherit all, and now eyes her fortune with open envy.
Barbara proudly served as the old Baron’s duelist but she had expected his death to make her a free woman. Bitterness turns to determination when she finds herself the only force that stands between Margerit and the new Baron’s greed.
At first Margerit protests the need for Barbara’s services, but soon she cannot imagine sending Barbara away. And Barbara’s duty has become something far more hazardous to her heart than the point of a sword. But greater dangers loom than one man’s hatred—the Prince of Alpennia is ill. Deadly intrigue surrounds the succession and the rituals of divine power known as The Mysteries of the Saints.
Available at:
Northern Lights (The Compass series) by Lise Gold
Hannah Hudson decides to take a break from her busy restaurant and her life in London after her girlfriend, who she thought she’d spend her life with, suddenly walks out on her. She travels to a small boutique hotel in Kirkenes, Norway, hoping to spend a peaceful and relaxing Christmas by herself.
Kristine Miller loves adventure. A bank manager living in a small town in Louisiana, she’ll take every opportunity she can get to explore the world. Kristine travels to Norway hoping to see the famous northern lights but when she meets Hannah, a fellow guest at her hotel, she realizes soon enough that the northern lights might not be the most fascinating thing there.
Both women expected Christmas in Norway to be special but neither of them expected it to bring magic into their lives…
Available at:
Dear Taylor (Letters to War series) by Eija Jimenez
Taylor Phillips was working as a barista in NYC the day the twin towers came crashing down. Seeing her city in shambles, coated in ash, and American lives lost, she enlisted to fight the War on Terror.
Daniella Melo, a Rhode Island American History teacher, challenges her class to write letters to soldiers fighting overseas. With one name left and a student short, Daniella takes it upon herself to write letters to Private Taylor Phillips stationed in Afghanistan.
Over the next two years, the women exchange letters, sharing stories of their daily lives: Daniella trailing after her rambunctious daughter, Jackie, and dealing with overeager seniors planning prom while Taylor trudges through sand and dirt, driving her humvee in cold deserts. Their friendship continues to grow until it becomes something so much more than either woman expect.
Available at:
The Origins of Heartbreak (Lakeside Hospital series) by Cara Malone
Alex McHenry’s world stood still the day her father passed.
She was 19, studying to be an art teacher, and living happily like any other college student. Then abruptly, her life was reduced to funeral arrangements, depression, therapy, and the responsibility of caring for her mother, who retreated to the couch to take solace in the artificially cheerful hosts on the Home Shopping Network.
After more than a year of living frozen in the moment of her father’s death, Alex decides to take the first steps out of her grief. She enrolls in a paramedic program and during one of her first classes, she meets Megan Callahan, a pretty but aloof medical student who comes crashing into her life at the most unexpected moment.
It’s not long before Alex discovers that Megan has her own skeletons in the proverbial closet, and when a bacterial outbreak forces them together, they must both decide whether to confront their demons together, or continue to live in limbo.
Can Alex and Megan work together to mend their broken hearts? Or will they turn away in fear?
Available at:
Bury Me When I’m Dead (Charlie Mack Motown Mystery series) by Cheryl A. Head
Charlene “Charlie” Mack is a PI in Detroit. Born and raised in the city that America forgot, Charlie has built a highly respected private investigations firm through hard work, smart choices, and relentless ambition. Her team of investigators are highly skilled and trustworthy, but she secretly struggles with her sexual orientation and a mother with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
When Charlie and her crack team head to Birmingham, Alabama following the trail of a missing person, what should be a routine case turns into a complex chase for answers. Shady locals and a southern patriarch with dark secrets dating back forty years obscure their path. It seems like everyone has something to hide, including Charlie. When the case turns deadly with a double murder, and Charlie is attacked on a quiet neighborhood street, everything suddenly becomes personal. Who can Charlie trust, and will she ever solve the riddles of the Magic City?
Available at:
The Queen of Ieflaria (Tales of Inthya series) by Effie Calvin
Princess Esofi of Rhodia and Crown Prince Albion of Ieflaria have been betrothed since they were children but have never met. At age seventeen, Esofi’s journey to Ieflaria is not for the wedding she always expected but instead to offer condolences on the death of her would-be husband.
But Ieflaria is desperately in need of help from Rhodia for their dragon problem, so Esofi is offered a new betrothal to Prince Albion’s younger sister, the new Crown Princess Adale. But Adale has no plans of taking the throne, leaving Esofi with more to battle than fire-breathing beasts.
Available at:
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know which book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic book that is part of a series” category!
If you’re looking for legal and crime drama with sizzling romance about a young lawyer who’s finding her way in both the courtroom and bedroom, check out my Monica Spade Series. Lots of action!
The best thing about this post is that every rec gives you MANY more books to read. :) The two I put in this space are Between the Lines by KD Williamson (from her Cops and Docs series) and
Fires of Aggar by Chris Anne Wolfe (book 2 in the Aggar series I learned about from the comments in your author’s favorite book blog post).
I’ve read books from 6 of these series. Good choices! (Everyone go read Fletcher DeLancey!!)
I was glad the see the San Francisco series by Susan X Meagher on the list. I have enjoyed the series since they were fanfic. The fact that she planned to include 26 stories, presented in alphabetical order blew me away. We are up to “Wonder’ now and it is what I’m going to read.
I think that “Fated Love” book 1 from the PMC series and “Safe Harbor” first of the Provincetown series, both by Radclyffe deserve a mention as well.
Following the same characters for so long is very unique, especially since each book is pretty long, so Susan’s series definitely deserves a place on this list!
I used “words unsaid” by K G Macgregor for this category. It is book 5 in the shaken series.
That’s a great series! I loved Anna & Lily’s story!
Provincetown Tales by Radclyffe beautiful series.
Midnight Hunters by L.L. Raand is magical.
Redmond Civil War Era Romance Series by T. Novan and Taylor Rickard – I was hooked.
Garoul Series by Gill McKnight was mesmerizing.
Four Point by Max Ellendale.
Kitten by Char Dafoe was steamy.
Melissa Good – The Dar and Kerry Storries should be mentioned too =)
So one of my favourite lesbian action/romances is the Elite Operative Series by Kim Baldwin and Xenia Alexiou. It’s not a genre I’m usually all that into- but these are all super fun.
How many books makes a series??
My new love this year was Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir- these are seriously strange books but I Harrow straight after Gideon and then reread them both straight after. I’ve never done that with any books before. It WILL be a series- but we have to wait for the other two books.
My definition of “series” is a loose one: Two books that are strongly connected :-)