Lights, camera, action! This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category is all about sapphic characters working in the entertainment industry.
They might be stealing the spotlight as actresses, setting the stage on fire as musicians or singers, crafting unforgettable stories as writers–or they could be working behind the scenes of the entertainment industry.
If you’re new to the Sapphic Book Bingo
If you’re discovering our reading challenge just now, check out the rules & category post and download your bingo card on the Sapphic Book Bingo main page.
You can also check out more book recommendations in my Facebook reader group or the Sapphic Book Bingo Goodreads group.
15 books with sapphic characters working in the entertainment industry
Below, you’ll find a list of 15 recommended books with sapphic characters working in the entertainment industry:
Damage Control by Jae
An actress practically since birth, Grace Durand has finally made it in Hollywood. When a photo of her in a seeming compromising situation with another woman is plastered all over the tabloids, she fears for her career as a lead in romantic movies.
Desperate for a publicist who’ll convince America that she’s straight, Grace hires Lauren Pearce, one of Hollywood’s leading PR agents, not knowing that she’s a lesbian.
Lauren has dealt with PR nightmares for years, so doing damage control for one more rich, spoiled client shouldn’t be a problem—or so she thinks. But the more time she spends with Grace, the more she realizes how different she is from her television persona.
Getting involved with her client is not in her game plan, especially since it would confirm the rumors and ruin Grace’s career, but the attraction between them is growing as they run the gauntlet of the paparazzi together.
Available at:
Posing in Paradise by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeod
Margo Wells hates everything about Hollywood. Especially actors. But she loves her job as a wardrobe supervisor, until a spoiled film legend has her fired for an accident on set that wasn’t even her fault. Margo faces the real possibility of returning home to Minnesota in defeat. That is until a friend suggests a crazy solution: pose as his cousin’s fiancée for a family wedding in Hawaii and earn some cold, hard cash.
There’s just one problem. It turns out the cousin in question is none other than Caroline Jacobs, the woman responsible for Margo losing her job. Unfortunately, there’s too much at stake to back out, especially after a desperate Caroline offers to triple Margo’s pay to go through with the charade.
What could go wrong?
How about three of Caroline’s most famous exes showing up at the same exclusive island resort at the same time?
Now Caroline and Margo will have to turn in the performances of their lives to avoid being caught in a lie. But can Margo survive being trapped for two weeks in paradise with so many Hollywood A-listers without choking on her lines? Or worse, falling madly in love with the beguiling blond she’s sworn to hate?
Available at:
Write Your Own Script by A. L. Brooks
Beloved famous British actress Tamsyn Harris is in her early fifties and works hard to prove she’s still got “it”, despite her age. That means never revealing she’s a lesbian, for fear it would threaten her acclaimed career. After an on-set incident blows up, she disappears to a retreat to lay low for a while.
Maggie Cooper is a successful author with two pseudonyms and suffering from burn out. It’s hard enough trying to maintain both worlds, let alone keep them separate from real life. After checking herself into a retreat in Norfolk, the last thing she expects to find is the respected, beautiful actress she’s had a crush on her whole life.
As passion sweeps them up, they agree it can only be a holiday fling. But is that enough? Can they just return to their lives and leave each other behind?
Available at:
Off the Menu by Alaina Erdell
In less than 48 hours, reality TV sensation Restaurant Redo and its gorgeous host will arrive to film in chef Taylor Mobley’s kitchen…and she just found out.
Fixer Erin Rasmussen has a reputation for saving failing restaurants with her take-no-crap attitude. She gets the job done on time, under budget, and millions of viewers tune in to watch her do it.
The fine dining restaurant Taylor works for has some serious problems, and management doesn’t want her input. It’s time to leave. But how is she supposed to find a new position when a TV host with delusions of grandeur keeps painting her as a problem chef? Taylor refuses to play nice with Erin, especially on camera. They make each other’s blood boil, which is why it’s even more annoying that they can’t manage to keep their hands off each other.
Erin only cares about entertaining viewers. Taylor is unprofessional and immature. Or at least that’s what they each think. As the cameras roll and their careers hang in the balance, will Erin and Taylor make the jump from enemies to lovers?
Available at:
A Love to Stay For by Amy DeMeritt
Joyce Peterson is an international bestselling historical fiction author, who’s often accused by her friends as being a workaholic. Joyce knows finding a balance between work and leisure helps feed her creativity and ensures steady productivity. However, she is stubborn and often fights against the reality that she needs to take a break.
Avery West is a travel journalist looking for a place to lay roots. While she’s out exploring Harbor City, the small lakeside town that she’ll call home for at least a year, she clumsily plants herself in Joyce’s life.
Since happenstance often fuels her creative muse, Joyce happily accepts the role of welcome wagon and helps Avery get settled in. The more time they spend together, the more attached they become to each other. But with fifteen years separating them, and the fact that Avery is a wanderer, Joyce is hesitant to allow herself to acknowledge her feelings for the younger woman. And when the dark and dangerous secrets surrounding a lost local treasure come to light, their relationship becomes further imperiled. Can Joyce and Avery survive their curiosity of the past so they can have a future together?
Available at:
Under The Spotlight by Anne-Marie Pellow
Carrie James wears her heart on her sleeve. In fact, honesty may as well be her middle name. As an entertainment manager, she’s easygoing and unflappable. Until the summer season of 2022, that is.
Natalie Prince is the new East Coast Regional Director for Freedom Holidays. With a no-nonsense attitude and a penchant for perfection, she likes to play her cards very close to her chest.
The pre-season training seminar brings them into close proximity for the first time. It’s not a complete disaster on the calamity scale, but there’s definitely room for improvement in poise and refinement on Carrie’s part.
The two women play their roles admirably, but behind the scenes, it’s a different story. Amidst sadness and heartache, life takes an unexpected turn for both of them.
And in addition, there’s an oversized badger and a court case to contend with.
Available at:
Tempting Olivia by Clare Ashton
Olivia Sachdeva’s life is flawless. With a first from Oxford and as the youngest partner at Bentley lawyers, she expects high standards from everyone. Her only indulgences are eating iced desserts and repeat watching romcoms, especially those featuring Kate Laurence – pure escapism and cinematic perfection.
But, when the actor walks into Olivia’s office with a bag full of divorce and a messy personal life, that perfect bubble bursts. Kate seems nothing like the screen goddesses she plays, and Olivia must put aside her comfort viewing and handle the case like the true professional she is.
It requires secrecy, especially with indiscreet friends. Will best-friend Charlotte ever read the room? And will Millie, who instantly reads the room, ever stop commenting loudly?
And Kate? She doesn’t know what to think about this frosty lawyer. But she needs a quick divorce from a mistake of a marriage, which was over before it started, and Olivia Sachdeva is the best.
But little by little, Olivia and Kate glimpse behind the mask, to find someone they weren’t looking for, who may not even be perfect, but might be the right person for them.
Available at:
SapphicLover69 by Edale Lane
Sapphic romance author Aspen Wolfe is forced off social media by a vicious online stalker. Putting it behind her, she accepts an invitation to speak at a prestigious writer’s conference where two of her books are up for awards. While she makes new friends at the gathering in New Orleans, her stalker, SapphicLover69, is the last person on her mind—until Aspen gets a text message declaring she is there.
Between authors, industry professionals, and fans, over three hundred people are at the conference, any of whom could be the sinister stalker Aspen sacrificed so much to avoid. To complicate matters, there’s this cute, sci-fi nerd, Winter Bliss, who has proclaimed herself Aspen’s guardian for the duration of the event. But when threats take a dangerous turn, who will make it home from the most haunted city in the South?
Available at:
Broken Beyond Repair by Emily Banting
Sydney MacKenzie, personal assistant to the rich and famous, is looking forward to a well-earned break to go travelling in her beloved VW camper van, Gertie — that is, until Gertie cries off sick. When her boss calls in a favour, one that will pay Sydney handsomely and put Gertie back on the road, she can’t refuse.
Internationally renowned actress Beatrice Russell — adored by her fans and despised by those that know her — is splashed across the tabloids, all thanks to her broken leg. She limps back to her palatial English country estate to convalesce for the summer, where she finds herself in need of yet another new assistant.
Enter Sydney, who doesn’t take kindly to the star’s demands, attitude, or clicking fingers — much less her body’s own attraction to the gorgeous diva. If not for that, and Gertie’s worn-out engine, she would leave tomorrow. Or so she tells herself.
As the summer heats up, the ice queen begins to thaw, and Sydney glimpses the tormented woman beneath the celebrity bravado, drawing her ever closer to the enigmatic actress — sometimes too close.
Can Sydney reach the real Beatrice and help heal her wounds before the summer ends and she returns to filming in the States, or is the celebrity broken beyond repair?
Available at:
Beyond the Shelves: A Sapphic Lit Pop-Up Anthology by Felice Cohen, Tagan Shepard, Cade Haddock Strong, Lori G. Matthews, Anne Shade, Rita Potter, Nan Campbell, Jennifer Karter, Louise McBain, Serena J. Bishop
Bookstores hold the greatest treasures of the world. Knowledge. Sanctuary. Acceptance. Love.
Even a little bit of magic.
The authors from the Sapphic Lit Pop-Up Bookstore bring you a collection of stories celebrating the wonderful spaces that are bookstores. Included are stories about finding your courage or seeking refuge from a storm. Finding a portal to another world or discovering that your fairy godmother has a penchant for colorful language.
Welcome to a world where the magic of storytelling intertwines sapphic love with the allure of bookstores, inviting you to embark on a journey of discovery and delight.
Available at:
You See Me by Gabbi Grey
Elouise
After a public breakup with my fiancée, I’ve retrenched in Vancouver, British Columbia, to lick my wounds and star in a movie. I’m acting as if everything is okay, but then I meet a woman who sees the real me. Dare I take a chance to find real love?
Kelci
I’ve admired Elouise Hynes from afar for years. She’s recently come out of the closet and was dumped just a short time later. I want to offer comfort, but I’m a makeup artist on her movie crew. Can we really form a lasting bond when she lives in LA and I’m staying in Canada?
Available at:
Nothing Heals Me Like You Do by Harper Bliss
Justine Blackburn has dedicated her life to the Rainbow Shelter, providing a safe haven for homeless queer youth. When her story is brought to life on the big screen, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Sienna Bright, the magnetic actor portraying her former lover.
But Justine’s old wounds run deep, and Sienna’s Hollywood life seems worlds apart from Justine’s reality. Can they overcome their fears and take a chance on love, or will past hurts keep them apart?
Get ready to fall head over heels as Justine and Sienna’s unputdownable story steals your heart and makes you believe in the power of love to heal even the toughest scars.
Available at:
The Dating Show by Violet Morley
It was only supposed to be one night.
Working multiple jobs while trying to put herself through school is catching up with Avery. Luckily, she has a contract for a hot new dating show in her hand. Now, all she can think about is making it to the end of the show, where she can win money to help ease her burdens.
Stella can’t catch a break. She’s been trying to get a job in front of the camera, but after ten years, she’s thinking about packing it in. Just when she’s ready to give up, she’s asked to host a hit new TV show, For Love or Money: Sapphic Edition. Jumping on the chance, Stella’s ecstatic about the opportunity until she sees that one of the contestants is someone she’s very familiar with—someone whose body she still craves.
Avery needs to win, and Stella needs the job. What can go wrong as they navigate their feelings while the camera rolls twenty-four-seven?
Available at:
American Superstar: Set the Stage by Shay Paris
Lennon Emery, an aspiring singer and closeted lesbian, auditions for a spot on the famous American Superstar, a singing competition that promises fame and fortune for the winner. Lennon’s goal is simple, win the show and become the performer she was born to be, and then maybe her parents might finally be proud of her – all the while keeping her secret just that, a secret.
Camila Bianchi, child star turned wild party girl turned redeemed performer. Camila was finally coming out on top, her image rebrand finally allowing her to reap the rewards. She has one more deal to fulfill with her label before she would be free of their clutches – be a judge on American Superstar and mentor the hopeful singers. Falling for one of the performers was not part of the plan.
Available at:
Falls From Grace by Ruby Landers
Savannah Grace is a huge star in Nashville. At least, she was. Her hit band Twice Struck topped the country music charts for almost a decade until her high profile marriage to her bandmate and co-writer publicly exploded. Now she’s fading from the spotlight and her own life, just trying to keep her head above water.
Brynn Marshall is a little lost. Dropping out of med school made her the black sheep of the family and now she’s floating around LA trying to find a sense of purpose. When she falls down on her luck, her best friend – indie musician Noah Lyman – refuses to let her wallow. After all, he’s just got his big break: co-writing with a megastar!
When Savannah enlists Noah to help her break out of country music and make a name for herself for once and for all, what better way to do it than to spend the Winter in her secluded vacation home in the woods of Vermont? And what better way for Noah to help out a friend than to pretend he’s bringing along his wife?
After all, what could possibly go wrong?
Available at:
Subscribe to my blog for more Sapphic Book Bingo posts
If you’d like to get all Sapphic Book Bingo posts sent to your inbox, subscribe to my blog. The next recommended reading list will be posted next Thursday.
Leave a comment
What sapphic book will you read for the “entertainment industry” category? Let us know in the comments!
2 Responses
Darn I already used ‘Posing in Paradise by T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeod’ seeing as it was mentioned in your “Witty Banter” suggestions.
Also by Harper Bliss: About That Kiss. Such a good one and great audiobook!