Sapphic Slow-burn romances
This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo post features a special category: author’s picks.
For this category, choose an author and have them suggest one of their books to you to read.
You can either email the author of your choice and ask for their pick, or you can choose a book from the list of 185 authors I asked for you. You’ll find the list below.
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.
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books set in a country you don’t live in.
One of the great things about books is that they allow you to “visit” new places, even during a time when you might not be able to travel. For this category, choose a sapphic book that takes place in a country that you don’t currently live in. Depending on where you live, that could mean a book set in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, etc. Maybe pick a book set in a place that you’d like to visit or one that takes place in a country you don’t know much about.
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books with a mistaken identity theme.
A character is mistaken for someone else for at least a part of the book. Usually, it’s misunderstanding (or at least it starts out that way), rather than one character intentionally lying or disguising herself. The misunderstanding can be cleared up quickly or the other character can play along and start pretending to be someone she isn’t, but the situation didn’t start out as an intentional disguise.
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge category features body-positive books that celebrate women of all sizes and shapes, e.g., a plus-sized protagonist.
The romance novel industry has a reputation for abiding by Hollywood’s standard of beauty. It’s rare to find plus-size characters in f/f romance novels (or any romance, for that matter). Most of the main characters are portrayed as slim, with perfectly sized breasts, and if they are a bit chubby, their goal in the story is probably to lose weight.
So let’s break with that tradition and search out diversity when it comes to how the main characters look.
By the way, body positivity includes not just fat or plus-sized characters; it also refers to characters who are skinny or flat-chested such as Eliza from Wrong Number, Right Woman or who otherwise deviate from society’s beauty standards.
I hope that going forward, there’ll be more body positivity in romance novels and that women of all shapes and sizes will find themselves represented in a positive way.
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge post features sapphic books with a character who’s a musician.
The protagonist could sing or play an instrument for a living or as a hobby they are passionate about.