Welcome to our first Hidden Gems category of the 2026 Sapphic Book Bingo! This week’s square of the bingo card covers sapphic books with more than one ice queen.
They seem to be a really well-hidden gem! While ice queens —frosty, aloof, powerful women —are among the most popular characters in sapphic fiction, most books feature only one ice queen. The biggest reason is probably that the ice queen trope usually pairs a cold, guarded character with a warmer, more emotionally open counterpart who can slowly thaw the ice queen.
In order to find 15 sapphic books featuring more than one ice queen, I had to interpret the category widely: For example, I know Lee Winter classifies the two main characters of Hotel Queens as an ice queen and a fire queen (I love that term, by the way), but for the purposes of this reading challenge, it’s close enough to two ice queens to make it count.
Since the category description doesn’t say both ice queens have to be main characters, I have also included The Awkward Truth.
Check out the rules & download your Sapphic Book Bingo card
If you haven’t done so already, check out the rules of the Sapphic Book Bingo and download your Hidden Gems bingo card. Then come back here to take a look at my suggestions for the first Hidden Gems square below.
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15 recommended sapphic books with more than one ice queen
Below, you’ll find a list of 15 sapphic books with more than one ice queen:
Hotel Queens by Lee Winter
Over one long night at a bar in Las Vegas, two powerful hotel executives meet, flirt, and challenge each other—having no clue they’re rivals after the same dream deal. Brilliant ice queen Amelia Duxton is a hotel vice president who thrives on control, truth, and efficiency. She’s in no mood for love or the mess it brings. All she wants is to buy the coveted Mayfair Palace—a massive deal that could finally help her land the CEO job in her family’s hotel empire.
Fiery Kai Fisher is charming and chaotic and renowned for closing ambitious deals. Her sights are set on snatching the Mayfair Palace out from under the nose of her hated arch rivals, the Duxton family.
But when secrets emerge and everything starts to fall apart, how can either of the warring women win—especially when they’ve just met their match?
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Breadwinner: A Sapphic Ice Queen Romance by Cass Morgan
This isn’t a love story—it’s a chess match.
Sarah Gallagher has always played life by the rules. Responsible mother, high-powered attorney, the glue holding her unconventional family together. But when the pieces on her carefully balanced board begin to shift, she finds herself drawn into a high-stakes game with someone who plays by a very different set of rules. Sarah isn’t sure if she’s protecting her heart or simply learning to play a more dangerous game. What begins as a professional opportunity to redefine her career quickly unravels as Sarah learns to shift her perspective on the many shapes love can take.
Nell Stanhope has spent a lifetime mastering control. Control of her image, her billion-dollar empire, and her emotions. In business, she’s ruthless. In pleasure, she’s nothing short of precise. But when her path crosses with Sarah Gallagher, she finds herself confronted with unexpected challenges that force her to reevaluate the boundaries of her own rules. What starts as a carefully calculated offer quickly turns into something Nell never imagined. Because Sarah, who is just as witty, ambitious, and powerful as she is, isn’t just her equal. She’s her undoing. Leaving Nell questioning everything she thought was set in stone.
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Sea Glass by Ami Spencer
“Not relationship material” is a line Max Winslow has heard before and has come to believe. Not wanting to be labelled neatly means that Max doesn’t make long-lasting connections. Every time they’ve tried, they’ve ended up hurt. So swearing off relationships seems the best course of action to protect their heart.
Recovering from heartbreak and humiliation, Madeline Sinclair reserves her astute judgment for business instead of pleasure. With an ex-wife who left her broken, Madeline has given up on relationships. But physical needs must still be met, and the snarky, no-nonsense florist who just wants no-strings fun seems like the perfect solution.
At least until Max and Madeline realise they have more in common than just unbelievable chemistry. The connection between them is undeniable, and as their defences fall one by one, they find themselves falling as well.
But when ghosts from their pasts refuse to stay there, they face the threat of unravelling. Max and Madeline must navigate their scars—together—to find a path through it and come out the other side stronger than ever.
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Monarch by Frances M. Thompson
Mari Grant has avoided Amsterdam for ten years, and with good reason. It’s where their ex lives. Or at least, it’s where they disappeared when they broke their heart out of nowhere. But Amsterdam is also the home of one of Europe’s best tattoo conventions – and QISS, a very queer s.ex club – and they no longer want Lexi Williams to stop them living their life. They want to show themself – and the world – that they have moved on, even if they do find themself scrolling Lexi’s social media and discovering Lexi’s art is in a gallery just around the corner from their hotel…
Roos van Dijk is a hopeless romantic, emphasis on the hopeless because what kind of a woman pines for the ex who abandoned her, twice? She’s done all she can to try and get over Lex – thrown herself into her work running a charity for trans youth, read countless romance novels to remind herself not all partners are trash, and played around with others thanks to her favourite app K1NK – but why is it that she finds herself cycling to Lex’s latest art exhibition on a chilly autumn evening? Maybe it’s because that hopeless romantic in her somehow knows she’ll meet someone there that might help her forget Lex once and for all.
Lex Williams is back. And it’s not just because xe has run out of places to run to. Xe is back to make it up to Roos, the sweetest love xe has ever known. Since Mari, at least. Xe is back to rediscover xir life-saving muse. Xe is back to maybe, possibly stop running away from xir past once and for all. And yet that’s exactly what xe comes face-to-face with when xe gets back to Amsterdam. Because Mari is here. And Mari and Roos are not strangers. Very quickly Lex finds xemself having to confront not only xir past but also xir future and xe doesn’t know which is more terrifying…
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Switch by Ann McMan
What happens when you’re looking for love and all your best friends are romance readers?
Cue a clown car of ill-fated first dates that read more like failed first drafts of romantic fiction tropes than aspiring hunts for the love of her life.
Assistant Conductor, Izzy Lebrun, spends her days riding the rails of The Green Mountain Zephyr between her home in Philadelphia and the end of the line in St. Alban’s, Vermont. Beleaguered Izzy walks a tightrope—desperately trying to achieve a work-life balance between a job that pays the bills, and her dogged determination to finish her graduate degree so she can finally get a job that keeps her rooted in one place.
All she wants is to earn her Ph.D., get a damn cat, and find the love of her life.
Is that too much to ask?
We follow Izzy through her sometimes disastrous, sometimes implausible, but always hilarious journey through a maze of failed dates and epically bad one-night stands. Will Izzy ever get her ticket punched for a HEA or is this the end of the line for her?
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Queen Vs Queen 3 by Anne Hagan, Barbara Winkes, Edale Lane & Alysia D. Evans
An anthology of four original novellas where ice queen meets ice queen.
Eight ruthless queens. Four tales of mystery and suspense. Four chances to discover that the most dangerous enemy might be the only person capable of melting a frozen heart.
In these tales of betrayal, loyalty, and unexpected passion, ice-cold facades crack under the heat of forbidden attraction. Each woman believes she’s untouchable, unbreakable, and utterly in control, until she meets her match in someone just as calculating, and just as determined to solve the mystery that binds their fates together.
Trust is a luxury they can’t afford. Love is a weakness they can’t survive. But when the lines blur, these formidable women must choose: maintain their carefully constructed walls, or risk everything for a connection that could either save them or seal their doom.
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Is It Casual Now? by Eada Friesian
Jamie Kettlehouse is known by many pen names, so when she picks up a mysterious woman at the bar, it’s just another fun night. Always career minded, Jamie publishes an article that goes viral, yet instead of pushing her career forward she’s on the verge of being fired. Desperate to save her job, she begs for help from the one night stand she swore she’d never see again.
As a music manager and single mother, Siena Frazee never thought she would be the story to break the news. But when notorious gossip writer, Jamie Kettlehouse, goes viral exposing the truths of the music industry, Siena knows it’s directed at her. With damage control on her mind, love can’t be. But when one night turns into two, Siena can’t wait for it to happen again.
The will they/won’t they pull of wanting more from each other but protecting themselves drags them deep into a world of angst and drama. Will putting their relationship on ice be enough to save their careers? Or will they give it all up for love?
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Wars in Wonderland by EJ Pepino
Join Alice as she ventures into this dark new Wonderland with a mash-up of fairytales in a way you’ve never seen them before…
Twenty years after Alice’s nightmares began, the rabbit has returned to draw her back in. Thrust into a twisted version of Wonderland, Alice quickly realizes that the creature haunting her dreams is horrifyingly, terribly real. As she struggles to make sense of her shifting reality, she meets Red.
Red has been waiting a long time for revenge against the monster who shattered her world. With two sirens at her side and everything left to lost, Red’s fire had started to die out – until Alice reignites it. Together, there women take on a dangerous mission fueled by vengeance, fate, and the bonds they didn’t expect to form.
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Nightingale by Frances M. Thompson
London, 1990
Sharon Goldblatt
My best friend Danny is sick. Really sick. We know what it is, we know how he got it, but we don’t know how to make him better. Even the doctors and nurses don’t know. Although that doesn’t stop one particular nurse on his ward from acting like she knows it all. She’s bold, brash and bloody infuriating when she dismisses my questions and concerns at every turn. But I’m determined to do whatever I can to save Danny from AIDS. Because my family rejected me long ago and my social life consists of reading too many superhero comic books, so Danny is all I have. I’m a 27-year-old lesbian who has never kissed a woman and he’s all I have. And more than that, I’m all he has. So Florence F*cking Nightingale better keep out of my way if she knows what’s good for her.
Kate Xiao Hong Chiu
People think I’m crazy for loving my job. My husband divorced me because of it and even some nursing friends keep their distance, but these are not my problems. My sole focus is treating my patients or rather making them as comfortable as possible. Which is why I don’t take lightly to people getting in the way of my job, like this Sharon woman who thinks she knows better than me because she read a few articles. Does it matter that I keep wondering if the shaved sides of her head feel like velvet? No. Is it interesting that she seems to love Lady Phantom comics as much as me? Just a coincidence. Do I wonder what her body would feel like pressed up to mine? Yes, but that’s irrelevant. I have a job to do, and when there aren’t many of us willing to do it, I’m not going to let anyone stop me from doing it. People’s lives literally depend on me so Sharon Goldblatt and her honey-brown eyes can take a running jump… and not into my bed no matter how good that would be.
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Aurora’s Wilderness Love: Hot Girl Summer Love by Harmony Noble
Aurora knows two things for certain: dating in Alaska is a contact sport, and survival isn’t just about navigating frozen tundra—it’s about navigating the heart. Broke, desperate, and one dating disaster away from giving up, she’s determined to rewrite her story, one hilarious misstep at a time.
With more men than women in this last-frontier dating landscape, Aurora is about to discover that finding herself might be the greatest adventure of all. Armed with nothing but her wits, a killer sense of humor, and an uncanny ability to turn romantic catastrophes into comedic gold, she’s ready to prove that sometimes love finds you when you least expect it—and usually when you look absolutely ridiculous.
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Paying Her Price by Maggie Brown
Power has a price. So does falling in love.
Harper Price has spent her career chasing the truth—ruthless, relentless, and never afraid to burn bridges to get the story. But when one reckless night leads to an unforgettable encounter, she finds herself entangled with the last woman she should ever want.
Evelyn Voss is the head of one of the most influential global tech companies. Polished, lethal, and untouchable, she’s used to controlling every aspect of her world—until she meets Harper.
Their connection is instant. Their chemistry, volatile.
In a world built on secrets and control, love may be the most dangerous game of all.
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Quiver by Rachel Spangler
Kye Manchester is no stranger to ambition. She sacrificed more than she cares to admit to become a highly acclaimed actress. Now more than a decade after her big break, her prospects are waning, and in a moment of desperation, she tells a lie that sends her spiraling back to where she started, and to the one woman she swore she’d never let herself need again.
Fletcher Bouchard isn’t just Kye’s first love and her greatest heartbreak, she’s also a world-champion mounted archer in a unique position to help Kye gain the skills she needs with a horse and bow, only she has no inclination to do so. Tensions flare immediately after Kye returns to their small hometown, and neither woman knows how to back down where the other is concerned. Driven, wounded, and resentful, they also happen to be the only person in each other’s lives who understands how to walk the razor’s edge between sanity and obsession.
The two women reluctantly agree to work together under the common goal of getting back to the lives they each built in spite of the other. However, during long days and nights of training, embers of the past rekindle fires hot enough to incinerate their defenses. As arrows and tempers fly, will passion burn hot enough to push Kye and Fletcher past old patterns in search of true healing? Or will the sharp point of lingering pain shatter their second chance at the love story of a lifetime?
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Dangerous and Well-Read by Rebecca Sky
Enemy princesses plot to kill each other after they are forced into an arranged marriage to unite their kingdoms against a dangerous enemy.
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The Christmas Pic by Rena Sapon-White and Ella Schaefer
Is love finally coming into focus?
Ava Garcia-Greene, a Fortune 5 CEO, has it all–power, prestige, and a swanky office in Silicon Beach. But beneath her icy exterior lies a heart yearning for something money can’t buy.
Jo Fisher, a GLAAD-card-carrying, carabiner-clipping, out-and-proud lesbian, is barely keeping her late father’s photo truck afloat in the queer haven of Harmony Springs, Michigan, where her love life is more Silent Night than Joy to the World.
When Ava’s AI Christmas card generator incites controversy, Jo’s heated call into a radio show leads Ava’s board to an ultimatum: save Jo’s business by Christmas or lose her corporate crown.
As they team up, Ava unexpectedly falls for Jo’s disarming sincerity, while Jo is cautiously intrigued by the pull she feels toward the supposedly straight Ava. With their careers on the line and Christmas around the corner, can their spark ignite a holiday miracle?
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The Awkward Truth by Lee Winter
This funny opposites-attract lesbian romance digs up the awkward truth about what really matters in life.
Ambitious ice queen and corporate lawyer Felicity Simmons has spent her life focused on one thing: scuttling up the career ladder. She’s achingly close to taking charge of a media empire for her boss when she’s sent to investigate a South Bronx charity that helps homeless people’s pets. Has the charity made off with her boss’s generous donation? And who on earth is that gorgeous soft-butch veterinarian who looks as if she could toss a Shetland pony over one shoulder? Not that Felicity has any interest in some opinionated Amazon or her adorable fleabag of a dog.
Felicity is quite sure she will not be distracted, thank you very much. She has a minor mystery to solve, a mentor to impress, and her life’s dream to fulfil. Even if a distraction might be exactly what she needs.
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What sapphic book will you be reading for the “sapphic books with more than one ice queen” category? Let us know in the comments!
