This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo features possibly the most popular of all micro-tropes: only one bed.
The “only one bed” trope is a common scenario in romance novels. It gets the two characters into a situation where there’s only one bed (e.g., the hotel booking went wrong or they are snowed in) so they are forced to share it. It’s a guaranteed recipe for cute awkwardness, accidental spooning, and sparks that might ignite into something more.
15 sapphic books with only one bed
Below, you’ll find 15 sapphic books in which there’s only one bed and the main characters have to share it.
Enemies by Nature by Jae
Ever since shape-shifters revealed their existence to the world, tensions between humans and Wrasa have been dangerously high. To improve their public image, the Wrasa council comes up with a bold plan: a fake relationship between one of their own and Faith MacAllister, the human daughter of their most vocal enemy.
Tala Peterson, an aloof fox-shifter with the attitude of an alpha wolf, is anything but thrilled to pose as Faith’s mate. She doesn’t trust her one bit—and rightfully so, as Faith has her own agenda. Their flirty banter is strictly for show, and if Tala finds Faith’s scent annoyingly irresistible, it’s only because of the mate scent their scientists concocted.
But when the wolf pack that raised Tala insists she bring her new mate home for a visit, the fake lovers are forced to not only share a bed but also to confront old prejudices. Soon, Faith faces a difficult choice: Should she keep spying on the Wrasa for her father, or can she trust Tala and her kind?
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The Love Project by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeod
Joni Fisher is facing economic ruin. The once successful advice column she runs with her mother is on the brink of cancellation, and it’ll take a miracle to turn things around. Joni’s last-ditch effort to save her job and preserve her mother’s legacy is The Love Project, a web series she’s developing to bring the Help Me Henrietta franchise alive for a new generation. All she needs is a willing victim…er, star.
Hope Alvarez dreams of falling in love, but she’s always suspected she’s different. Physical attraction is a foreign language to her. After her only prospect for a meaningful relationship falls through, Hope has to face the fact that she’s completely hopeless when it comes to love. Can her favorite advice columnist, Henrietta, save her from a lonely future?
As the series gets underway, fans swoon for the lovable yet unlucky Hope, and they’re not the only ones. Joni is smitten, too. But she’s been down that road before, vowing never again to fall for a straight woman who will keep her forever in the friend zone. Except, what if she’s been reading the situation all wrong? Helping Hope make sense of her identity might save Joni’s job, but will it also bring her love?
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The Wilding of Em’s Path by Ana K. Wrenn
Untamed and wild, Cynda is an outdoorswoman holed up in the Appalachian backcountry. Her solitary existence is shattered when Kadija, a fierce freedom fighter, tracks her down.
Kadija demands Cynda return to civilization to face the consequences of an out-of-control project Cynda worked on years ago. But how can she take on the destructive research institute preying on vulnerable, sensitive people when it almost destroyed her once? How can Cynda face the outside world again, now it’s awash in so much fear and violence that it suffocates her?
As the warring pair reluctantly journey into an oppressive world, the ties that bind them slowly draw them closer. But what happens if those delicate ties ever break?
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Stars and Soil by Dax Murray
Caitlin Peddigree faces a dire choice: accept a loveless marriage to the crown prince, or die as a traitor to the throne. While Caitlin still grieves the death of her wife, a rebellion simmers in Fayn, the streets filled with cries for the monarchy’s fall and the rise of democracy. When Caitlin unwittingly befriends a rebel leader, she believes she may have a way out of her unwanted relationship.
Marrying the prince would protect her family’s fortune, but can she also be an informant for the rebellion? Caught in a tangled web of political intrigue and court gossip, Caitlin treads a treacherous path, made more dangerous when a spirited new lady arrives at court and ignites a new fire in Caitlin’s heart.
But power in Fayn is ever-shifting. Whispers of magic and long-forgotten gods stir beneath the surface. Religious orders conspire against each other. New nobles scramble for power and old bloodlines seethe with resentment. The rebellion fractures into factions as they bicker over strategy. But underneath it all and unbeknown to most, dark and ancient forces are waiting, watching, and plotting. Surrounded on all sides, Caitlin finds herself a pawn in a deadly game.
But she must decide for herself: remain a prisoner of her circumstances—or reclaim her own life. And she must decide fast, otherwise the flames of revolution may be put out by a force far darker than a tyrannical king.
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Until We Weren’t: A Story of Destiny and Faith by Jamey Moody
Destiny and Faith were living and loving the life they’d created. They worked side-by-side at a thriving landscaping company by day and spent their nights together in a lavender haze of love. It was a happy life or so Destiny thought.
One day Faith not only moved all her things out of their apartment, but she quit her job and opened her own landscaping company. On top of that the only explanation Destiny ever received was: you know what you did.
Three years later, Destiny now runs her own landscaping company and has an opportunity to bid on a huge, career-defining project. She knows her company is too small to secure the bid, but if she can convince Faith to team up with her she’s sure they could win.
The only problem is that Faith can’t stand to look at Destiny and Destiny still doesn’t know what she did wrong. Can these two talented landscapers bury their past long enough to let their companies flourish?
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Amazon
Wild Love by Gemma Addison Dove
Cupcake baker Nelly needs to make it to her sister’s cabin for her birthday, but grumpy mountain woman Lora is the only one available to drive her. When a storm causes a tree to fall and block their path, they’re forced to take shelter in Lora’s cozy cabin. And there’s only one bed.
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The Orc and Her Bride by Lila Gwynn
RUGA KARRSDAUGHTER, dutiful orc princess with a heart of gold, has spent the years since her sister was elected queen serving the orc country of Torden. Her duties now include marrying an elf princess for a much-needed alliance against an outside threat.
ELKETH CERIDWEN, rakish elf princess with a penchant for chaos, has never lifted a finger in her life. Now that an engagement is sprung upon her by the stern elvish king, she has to fulfill a fifty-day betrothal period in Torden surrounded by strangers…unless she can wreak enough havoc to get sent back home.
These poor orcs don’t know what they’re in for.
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Outlaw Hearts by Lori G. Matthews
Outlaw Elle Barstow spends her days robbing stagecoaches and her nights bedding women—all while keeping her heart safely locked away.
But everything changes when Isabella “Izzy” Collins enters her life. Banished by her family, the fiery suffragette from Boston is reluctantly traveling west to marry a man much older than herself.
When Elle rescues Izzy during a stagecoach robbery gone wrong, she plans to ransom Izzy for a hefty reward. But Elle soon finds herself drawn to the captivating woman who challenges her every instinct.
As Izzy insists on learning how to survive in the wild, Elle’s plan begins to unravel, and she faces a new peril—the growing attraction that threatens to melt her hardened heart.
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An Inappropriate Affair by Lyn Denison
Gian Crane, youngest of six, the family underachiever, started out with reasonable goals, but now, at thirty-two, the sum of her life is an uninspiring job and one major broken heart. If it wasn’t for her best friend, Maddie, she’d have no joy in her life.
Then a management shuffle elevates Gian to the new boss’s Personal Assistant, a boss who is reserved, icily attractive, and older. Just Gian’s type. No, Gian will not complicate her life by foolishly allowing herself to be wildly attracted to her new boss. That can’t go anywhere, can it?
Flynn Fox finds her fortieth birthday looming and what does she have to show for it? A failed marriage. A son who doesn’t seem to care if she’s part of his life or not. And she’s still allowing family pressures to leech the colour from her life, while her supposed ‘unnatural tendencies’ have seen her moved out of the limelight in the family company.
She’s under no illusions about why her father suddenly wants her to take charge of the struggling Kingstone branch of Fox and Sons. If it fails it won’t be on him. Is this her chance to show her worth, even if it means going against her father’s instructions?
Into Flynn’s life steps Gian and attraction flares. But Gian is younger, and unlike any of the women Flynn is usually attracted to, and she’s Gian’s boss. If she acted on this attraction it would be totally inappropriate. Wouldn’t it?
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Benefactor to the Baroness by Melissa Kendall
Plagued by survivors’ guilt after escaping her impoverished childhood selling matchsticks, Fontaine Shepherd, the Dowager Lady Kerry, uses her position on the board of a charitable foundation to relocate starving orphans to the new world—until contact with the new office is abruptly lost. Fearing the foundation will discover she’s been clandestinely using funds to bribe workhouse owners to release children, she decides to travel across the ocean and re-establish communication herself.
Except the only captain who can transport her in time insists that she not travel alone.
Facing a lonely life after marrying off her nieces, Rosemary Summersby reluctantly agrees to attend a ladies’ charity group. There, she meets the vivacious Lady Kerry, who challenges her long-held beliefs of how a lady should look and act. Compelled by a desire to experience the excitement of which her niece often speaks, Rosemary accompanies the dowager baroness to a workhouse and witnesses the cruelty of poverty firsthand.
Then Lady Kerry stumbles into Rosemary’s cottage one night with an outrageous request: to travel across the ocean as her companion and help her uncover the mystery behind the missing orphans.
Unable to convince the dowager baroness of the dangers of her plan and remembering the sense of responsibility that drove her to accept three orphans into her life fifteen years prior, Rosemary decides to join Lady Kerry on her trip. But as the vast ocean and a noble mission stretches before them, a shared purpose and a single bunk ignite an unexpected passion that makes both women question what they truly want for themselves.
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In Too Deep by Rachael Sommers
Lucy Holloway is dying for an escape. The high-flying lawyer’s life has just spectacularly imploded so it’s time to hit the reset button and soak up some sun, sea, and relaxation at a swanky hotel across the Atlantic.
Laid-back physical therapy student Elena Garcia is home for the holidays. Picking up a few shifts as a lifeguard at Sol Plaza, the hotel her father manages, sounds like fun. Speaking of fun…there’s also that sweet summer flirtation she’s having with a smoking hot American lawyer. But when their sizzling romance slides into real emotions, everything gets complicated.
Also complicated? Wild accusations against Elena’s father about how Sol Plaza’s being run. Teaming up with Lucy, Elena’s determined to clear his name.
But will working together bring the two even closer? Where do flings end and feelings begin, anyway?
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The Sorceror’s Lament by Sam Dogra
Ever since the restoration of magic, Magicians and Enchanters have been in an uneasy alliance. The Magicians’ power maintains peace, while the Enchanters’ potions prevent magic’s dangerous side effects.
But the Enchanters have become increasingly evasive, and the High Magician suspects foul play. Thus eighteen-year-old Jessie Balthanders, a Magician prodigy, is recruited to investigate. If she can expose their possible treason, she’ll be hailed a hero.
She finds herself apprenticed to Lahara Redford, a powerful but jaded Enchanter who deeply mistrusts Magicians. With tensions running high, the two must learn to work together as they are dragged into a dark conspiracy.
But Jessie needs to find answers soon, and if Lahara discovers her true nature, she’ll have far more than the High Magician’s wrath to fear.
The cost of success, however, may be far greater than failure.
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Nero by Valden Bush
Stele Hosun has been banished. On Nero, gem shards match people’s eyes and give them their special powers and purpose. But Stele has completely black eyes, and although legend recorded that she could be the chosen one to touch the legendary black shard, fear of her potential power makes her an outcast.
Exiled to Alton, she’s torn from Ariane, her one and only love, who has always accepted Stele for who she is. She drowns her sorrows and wallows in her loneliness until Colonel Kian Ray of the Alton Defense Force offers her the chance to join the ADF and make something of herself. Begrudgingly, Stele accepts, and with the help of new friends, Questa and Domino, she finds new purpose and perhaps even a home.
But Ariane remains the woman Stele wants, the one she needs. When pirates invade Nero to find the fabled and all-powerful black shard, putting Ariane in danger, Stele must lead a rescue that will either destroy them all or fulfil her ultimate destiny.
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A Lady to Treasure by Marianne Ratcliffe
Louisa Silverton is the daughter of a wealthy American businessman, brought up to believe a healthy profit is the only route to happiness. With the family company over-leveraged and in need of a capital injection, she travels to England to find a rich husband. The Honourable Miss Sarah Davenport has no time for romance. The family estate of Kenilborough is mired in debt and only she can save it. Unconventional and outspoken, Sarah is dismayed that somebody as intelligent and attractive as Louisa is willing to sacrifice herself for financial gain. As Louisa pursues her campaign, Sarah realises her objections to the project run deeper than mere principles. At the same time, Louisa finds herself captivated by Sarah’s independent spirit. Yet to indulge their unexpected passion would surely mean the ruin of both their families. Bound by duty, will they ever be free to follow their hearts?
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There’s Magic Between Us by Jillian Maria
A diehard city girl, 16-year-old Lydia Barnes is reluctant to spend a week in her grandma’s small town. But hidden beneath Fairbrooke’s exterior of shoddy diners and empty farms, there’s a forest that calls to her. In it, she meets Eden: blunt, focused, and fascinating. She claims to be hunting fae treasure, and while Lydia laughs it off at first, it quickly becomes obvious that Eden’s not joking—magic is real.Lydia joins the treasure hunt, thrilled by all the things it offers her. Things like endless places in the forest to explore and a friendship with Eden that threatens to blossom into something more. But even as she throws herself into her new adventure, some questions linger. Why did her mom keep magic a secret? Why do most of the townspeople act like the forest is evil? It seems that, as much as Lydia would like to pretend otherwise, not everything in Fairbrooke is as bright and easy as a new crush…
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A free ebook for you
As a thank-you to my readers, I’m offering my new novelette “A Shape-Shifter’s Guide to Romancing a Human” for free. It’s a sequel to my latest novels, Enemies by Nature and Shifting Nature.
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What book will you be reading for the “only one bed” category? Let us know in the comments!
