Can you believe there are just two more posts after this one after we’re wrapping up the 2023 Sapphic Book Bingo? This year seemed to fly by! But don’t worry; I’m planning a 2024 Sapphic Book Bingo too. If you don’t already get the posts, you can subscribe to my blog.
For this week’s category of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book with a main character who works in construction and/or wears a tool belt in at least one scene.
15 sapphic books featuring a character wearing a tool belt
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic books in which the main character wears a tool belt or works in construction.
The Number 94 Project by Cheyenne Blue
When handywoman Jorgie’s uncle leaves her an old house in Melbourne, it’s a dream come true. Sure, 94 Gaylord Street is falling apart, and she has to deal with her uncle Bruce’s eccentric friends thanks to his unusual Will.
But that’s okay. She’ll fire up her power tools and turn the dilapidated terrace house into a desirable inner-city pad. Then she’ll sell up and head home to the country.
Jorgie hasn’t counted on falling for cute neighbour Marta, who’s found her heart-home among the tight queer-community of Gaylord Street. Between mugs of too-strong tea and Jorgie’s lack of a working shower, the two forge a surprising connection.
But what happens when the renovation’s complete? Can Jorgie really just toss aside her tool belt and saunter away?
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Reclaiming Love by Amanda Radley
Sarah Campbell told one tiny white lie.
When her tech-giant employer moves her to a cottage on a small Scottish island to work on a classified, controversial, and potentially world-saving project, Sarah must keep her eco-terrorist mother in the dark to prevent her from disrupting everything. Sarah’s cover story—she’s fallen in love, she and her girlfriend are escaping the bustle of the city, she couldn’t be happier… But Sarah’s better at firewalls than real walls, and when she arrives at the run-down cottage, she quickly discovers she needs help.
Pippa Kent is a widowed, semi-retired structural engineer who’s done with love. She fills all her free time running a handywoman service on the island. When Sarah calls Pippa out for the most basic repairs, Pippa can’t help but wonder—often out loud—how anyone could be so inept at home maintenance.
Then Sarah’s mother suddenly decides to visit and meet her daughter’s wonderful new partner. With little option, Sarah begs Pippa to be her fake girlfriend. Only the more time they spend faking it, the less pretend it feels.
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Highland Fling by Anna Larner
Eve Eddison describes her ideal woman to her best friend, Roxanne, over pints in their local pub a few days before she travels to the Scottish Highlands. There she falls head over heels for an enigmatic local, Moira Burns, and the usually reticent Eve wants more than a holiday romance. Forestry officer Moira Burns has no intention of letting go—either of past pain or for present pleasure. If that means she misses out on her chance at happiness, so be it. Convinced Eve is headed for heartbreak, Roxanne advises her to let Moira go…but has Eve found her ideal woman at last?
From the breathtaking Highlands of Scotland to the buzz of a Leicester gay bar, family and friendship are tested to breaking point, as letting go proves painfully hard.
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Sweat Equity by Aurora Rey
Burned-out chef Sy Travino never expected to wind up on a goat farm in rural Vermont, but that’s exactly where she lands after leaving the restaurant world to become a cheese maker. It’s a great place to flex her muscles and make a name for herself, though. Too bad the house she bought is practically unlivable.
Maddie Barrow can’t believe anyone would be dumb enough to buy a house sight unseen, but she’s not about to turn down the job of renovating it, especially since her best friend just hired Sy to turn Grumpy Old Goat into the chèvre everyone is talking about. When the estimate on the house exceeds Sy’s budget, Maddie puts her to work.
It doesn’t take long for Sy and Maddie to admit their chemistry is off the charts, but having fun doesn’t always lead to forever. Could it be a foundation for love or nothing but a teardown?
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Bookends by Brenda Murphy
The life of university librarian, Amari Foster, is neatly cataloged. Work, home, and securing a future for her daughter are her focus. Hard-edged and handsome, she manages her private life with ruthless precision, cutting ties, and maintaining distance to protect her battered heart.
Plumber Thalia Makris has given up her dream of long-term love after a series of bad relationships. Desperate to have her own business, Thalia fills her days working overtime and her nights with fantasy novels.
After a chance encounter leaves both women wanting more than a one-night stand, they find themselves on the precipice of love. Will they take the plunge?
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Mailboat by Cade Haddock Strong
Wen Apollo dreams of seeing the world beyond the small riverside town where she grew up. But operating the local mailboat keeps her tethered to Coopersville. Islands dot the river, and their residents rely on her to deliver everything from food and medicine to pet food and plumbing supplies.
On a raw spring day, Wen goes to Owl Island—the summer home of the illustrious Gage family—to deliver a package. It’s addressed to the family’s oldest daughter, Estelle, a woman Wen has long admired from afar.
Estelle Gage fled to the islands seeking solitude and an escape. With the deadline for her latest novel fast approaching, her sole focus is to write. But when the handsome mailboat captain shows up on her doorstep, writing is no longer the only thing on her mind.
A steady stream of packages continues to bring Wen back to Owl Island—and to Estelle. But as summer looms, so does the impending arrival of Estelle’s family. The return of the Gages will most certainly spell the end to Estelle and Wen’s idyllic time cloistered together on the island. What will that mean for their budding relationship?
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Fixer Upper by Cara Malone
Avery Blake has spent years getting by all on her own in a big house on the countryside. As a contractor, there’s not much room for emotion in her male-dominated profession, and she’s perfectly content to keep people out of her private life, too.
After watching her elderly neighbor, Nora, be torn away from her long-time lover by heartless relatives, Avery has seen what it’s like to love and to lose, and she’d rather skip the whole thing and focus on work (and the occasional meaningless fling) instead.
Some relationships can be fixed with a little breathing room… and some are too far gone.
Hannah Grayson has nothing but room to breathe when she finds out her Great-Aunt Nora has passed and left her a house in rural Indiana. Fleeing a dysfunctional and controlling relationship in New York, she moves into the house because she’s got nowhere else to go.
Disasters start piling up almost as soon as the plane touches down – the house is in disrepair, Nora’s grandchildren are trying to evict her, and the gorgeous but chilly woman across the street seems to have a problem with Hannah’s presence.
When a pipe bursts on her first night in the house, Hannah has no choice but to run across the street and beg for help from Avery.
The rest, as they say, is history…
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When the Stars Sang 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.
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Change Of Heart by Clare Lydon
When Erin Stewart hires a fake date for her parents’ anniversary party, she gets more than she bargained for. First, she snags Steph Mitchell, a professional actor with a side order of drop-dead gorgeous. Second, she runs into a brick wall of family tension. Deep breaths; it’s only five days. Plus, with Steph’s help, she can totally get through it, right?
Only, Erin doesn’t expect the fake romance with the charming Steph to feel so incredibly real. She also doesn’t predict their sizzling attraction will spiral out of control, with dizzying consequences for everyone. Is Steph Erin’s destiny, or will she be her downfall?
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Butch Girls Can Fix Anything by Paula Offutt
Kelly Walker is known around town as someone who can repair just about anything house related.
That’s true, except for the hole in her life left by the death of her lover, Anna. Her fix-it business provides the perfect hideout as she deals with other people’s problems instead of focusing on her own shattered life.
Grace Owens, single mother, is determined to stand on her own two feet and make a fresh start for herself and her nine-year-old daughter, Lucy. She’s promised her daughter they are here to stay. Grace is determined to keep that promise. Lucy has a goal of her own: she wants to master her math homework, and that’s a hard task with a mother who doesn’t understand division.
The three meet under a leaky kitchen ceiling. What each has to give, the others need. They must learn when to take risks and when to trust each other. Together, can they find the tools that will allow them to fix what most needs to be rebuilt?
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Fury by Jen Lawrence
When Shayla Aja comes back to the small town of Nyx to visit her grandma Ellie, she finds a lot has changed on the beekeeping farm—not only the house she spent endless summers in as a child, but Ellie herself has changed. And the reason seems to center entirely around Ellie’s new Apiary Manager, August.
August is infuriatingly attractive and shamelessly flirts with Shay—for no apparent reason other than to get under her skin. And the more she tries to get to know August, the more Shay is convinced she’s nothing more than a freeloader taking advantage of Ellie’s generous heart.
Their shaky start is layered with both suspicion and attraction, but when Shay experiences a magical incident at the local farmers’ market, something between them starts to shift. As Shay is forced to trust August with her big secret, they begin to open up to each other. As they reveal more about themselves and the life-altering events that brought them both to Ellie’s farm—they realize they might also have been brought to each other.
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Queen’s Ransom by Layla Reyne
Everyone leaves.
Love is risky business when you’re an assassin.
Helena Madigan has lost loved ones to the family business before. Now that she’s in charge, she’s determined never to risk her heart again.
Except every time Celia enters the room, she takes Helena’s breath away.
But the one time someone stays…
Celia Perri likes to be helpful.
She just wants to run the family auto shop, raise her kids, and help her brother plan his wedding.
But when a drive-by shooting targets the garage, Celia’s simple life is upended.
Now ensconced within the Madigan family, there’s no escaping Helena, the blonde bombshell she’s been crushing on for months.
It could cost her everything.
As the Madigans investigate, Celia witnesses their love and loyalty up close.
And their business.
Instead of being afraid, she sees a place for herself among them. She could be a confidant and caregiver—if only Helena would stop pushing her away. If only she’d admit their mutual attraction might lead to more.
And if only someone would stop shooting at them long enough to find out.
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Sing the Blues by Leigh Landry
Baking brownies for her new neighbor sounds like an excellent plan… until Sage discovers she’s now sharing a duplex with her ex. Hiding and avoiding the woman is sapping her creative energy, but Sage can’t afford another inevitable heartbreak.
Brooke swore she’d never feel stuck anywhere again, so she created a challenge: live in all fifty states before she turns forty. She’s hopping from state to state, renovating old houses, but living next door to her ex was not part of the plan.
While Brooke is committed to the road, Sage has made New Orleans her home. They can’t deny the fact that Brooke will leave once again, but sharing a front porch makes it nearly impossible to resist their attraction.
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Last New Beginning by Krystina Rivers
Bailey Kaczmarek has three loves: her dog, her construction company, and her very large family. After she finds out that her fiancée never stopped dating, she resolves to be content with what she has rather than search for happiness in a relationship. It’s not like she has much free time anyway.
Skye Kohl is a high-powered commercial real estate broker who spends most of her waking hours negotiating some of the largest leases in the nicest buildings in Chicago. She’s so focused on topping the list of the most influential brokers in the city that she ignores her love life.
Bailey’s and Skye’s professional and personal lives collide as they join forces on a construction project and deal with their meddling mothers, who think they’re perfect for one another. But the more they clash, the hotter their simmering attraction burns.
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Caution: Under Construction by TJ Vertigo
Sheridan Landers needs to learn that love includes unexpected patience and basic human empathy. Keefer Gibson has to learn to listen to her heart, and trust in someone whose womanizing reputation precedes her. Through it all, they both have to learn how to deal with a stalking, dangerous ex-girlfriend, who will not take ‘no’ for an answer.
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Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic book with a character wearing a tool belt” category!
3 Responses
Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake! Also works for Second in a Series.
I Wonder why you don’t recommend J A Armstrong’s „By Design”.
Each of my Sapphic Book Bingo post contains 15 books, so there are way more books out there than I could ever recommend. Since I don’t have the time to read all the books and confirm which categories they fit into, I rely on authors submitting their books for the book bingo. JA Armstrong didn’t submit her book and I haven’t read it yet, which is why I couldn’t include it. But readers are always free to read ANY book they think fits the category description. I hope that explains it.