This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category features the popular “who did this to you?” micro-trope.
It’s when one character discovers that the other one has been physically or emotionally hurt and flies into a protective rage, demanding to know “who did this to you?” or “who hurt you?”
15 sapphic books with the “who did this to you?” or “who hurt you?” micro-trope
Below, you’ll find 15 sapphic books that include the “who did this to you?” or the “who hurt you?” micro-trope:
The Wilding of Em’s Path by Ana K. Wrenn
Untamed and wild, Cynda is an outdoorswoman living alone in the Appalachian backcountry. Her solitary existence is shattered when Kadija, a fierce, dogged freedom fighter, tracks her down.
Kadija demands Cynda return to civilization to face the consequences of an out-of-control research project she worked on years before. But how can Cynda take on the destructive research institute preying on vulnerable, sensitive people when it almost destroyed her once? How can she face the outside world again, now it’s awash in so much fear and violence that it suffocates her?
As the reluctant, warring pair journey into a dystopian world, the ties that bind them slowly draw them closer. But what happens if the delicate ties break, leaving them alone in a hostile world?
A gripping, lushly told sapphic dystopian tale about knowing when to fight…and when to surrender.
Available at:
The Dreamcatcher Tattoo by Anne-Marie Pellow
For Lisa Lewis, the days of waking up in the morning and looking forward to what the day may bring are long gone. The reason? Her relationship with Peter. Or more precisely, it’s a manipulationship. Her motto nowadays is “anything for a quiet life”. That is until a new neighbour moves into flat number three.
Kim Henshaw encounters her neighbour whilst moving into her new flat above a second-hand bookshop. And there’s something tantalisingly familiar about Lisa.
Simmering tension begins from the moment their eyes meet. Kim tries her hardest to break the chains that bind Lisa, but in doing so, they realise they need to outwit a dangerous narcissist with a grudge.
Available at:
Pirates of Aletharia by Britney Jackson
Emilia Drakon was once the youngest and kindest of the dragon sorcerers, but she’s now the last of her kind. Betrayed and angry, she trades her meekness for a sword and embarks on a quest for vengeance that will lead her straight into the arms of the legendary Captain Maria Welles.
Captain of the famed pirate ship, the Wicked Fate, Maria is every bit as treacherous and bloodthirsty as they say. She has her own vendetta and practically jumps at the chance to trick Emilia into joining her crew.
But when their animosity toward each other blossoms into a passionate romance, the two women will have to decide what they want most.
Vengeance?
Or love?
Available at:
Haunting Melody by Chloe Spencer
Failure is a sinister song. One that Melody Myere is all too familiar with.
The only child of an acclaimed ghost hunter couple, Melody’s First Sacred Hunt should have been a walk in the park. All she needed to do was catch a ghost, like she’s done all her life. But when an unexpected wraith showed up causing havoc, Melody was left scarred and embarrassed.
Suffering from depression and PTSD post-hunt, Melody relocates to the sleepy island town of Murkmore, where her parents have been tasked with capturing the ghost responsible for a series of grisly deaths. Determined to prove herself, and despite her parents’ protests, Melody sets out to capture the specter on her own.
When a haunting song lures Melody to an abandoned theater, she encounters a recently deceased musical prodigy by the name of Cyrus. All signs point to Cyrus being the killer, but Melody isn’t so sure, suspecting something more discordant is afoot.
Haunted by more than just a sinister song, Melody must learn to trust her instincts to catch the killer and prove herself before it’s time to face the music.
Available at:
What Happened at Lee House by Frances Lucas
In 1964, young Alaska Native Jenny Adjuk mysteriously fell to her death from the roof of the infamous Elmer Lee House, a boarding school in Silver Lake, Alaska. The school was shut down soon after, left abandoned along with its secrets.
Sixty years later, journalism student Mare Mason discovers Jenny’s forgotten story. When the abandoned school reopens as a “haunted hotel,” Mare takes a job there, determined to expose the owners for exploiting Jenny’s death.
Former social media star Kat Howard also joins the staff, hoping the hotel’s eerie past can help her escape her own.
Mare and Kat clash from the moment they meet. But strange things start happening—unexplained noises echo through the walls, Kat begins seeing visions of Jenny’s ghost, and a murder rocks the nearby Denali National Park. As the town whispers that Jenny’s restless spirit is responsible, Mare and Kat are forced to confront their growing attraction—and the reality that something far more sinister may be at play.
Available at:
Rising From Ash by Jax Meyer
Phoenix Murray has had enough. Enough of her incompetent boss. Enough of her addict father always asking for money. Enough of the struggle to survive. So when her aunt offers her a job as a cook at the South Pole, she jumps at it. Even when she’s asked to avoid casual sex to keep the peace in the tiny community.
Astrophysicist Ashley Bennett can’t wait for her year at the South Pole. Not only will it allow her to focus on her PhD research, it’s a key step in her plan to become a Mars colonist. Avoiding the complications of dating in a society that doesn’t understand asexuality is a bonus.
When Phoenix and Ash meet, they can’t help but push each other’s buttons. Phoenix doesn’t understand that her confident sexuality puts Ash on edge while Ash’s curt formality triggers Phoenix’s insecurities about her upbringing. But living at the bottom of the world means there’s nowhere to run, and as they find common ground, their differences aren’t nearly the hindrance they thought.
Available at:
Cheerfully Yours by Laura W. Chance
It has been one year since Julie, wife and partner of Hilary (To Cornwall, with Love), passed away from cancer. Now, Hilary is trying to figure out life on her own again, but is struggling to pull herself out of her grief and depression. During her first year of bereavement, Alice has never been far away, always hoping that Hilary will be with her one day. But once they form a romantic relationship, Hilary wonders if she can love Alice as much as she deserves to be loved.
Available at:
Number Six by Lee Winter
All cool, pragmatic Ottilie Zimmermann has been dreaming of for years is retiring from her top-secret, morally gray job to sip Mai Tais on a Pacific island. While in Las Vegas tying up some final loose ends, she crosses paths with a woman who is clever and intriguing yet far too sex-obsessed for Ottilie’s taste. So why can’t she stop thinking about her?
Flirtatious Monique Carson thinks she’s met—or made love to—every type of woman there is until she encounters commanding, charismatic Ottilie. Around others, though, Ottilie shrinks into an older, inconspicuous persona. Who is this chameleon? What secrets does she hide? Monique would dearly love to find out…if only Ottilie would let her in.
For two smart women accustomed to seeing through everyone else with ease, it’s disconcerting to discover they cannot read each other. How can they walk away now?
Available at:
One Light by Michelle Arnold
Ari is eleven when she first hears voices seemingly coming from inside the wall of her house. Scared but inquisitive, she pulls back the baseboard and discovers a portal. She peeks through it to see her own family in a terrifying scene she knows can’t be real. She quickly convinces herself she must have imagined it.
Thirty years later, Ari is a middle-aged woman struggling with chronic illness, but married to the love of her life, her vibrant wife Mandira.
One night she decides to share the secret she’s kept all these years, telling Mandira about the other world she once imagined seeing in the wall and the different life she witnessed.
Mandira’s simple response changes everything: “What if it was real?”
With her mind open to the possibility, Ari starts to hear the voices in the wall again, and this time when she investigates, she opens multiple portals showing alternate universes in which she and Mandira are living slightly – or completely – different lives.
Mandira believes Ari has this gift for a reason and that they have a duty to bring their other selves together. Ari isn’t so sure. Is it safe to interfere in other worlds? And if they physically venture through a portal, could they be cut off from their own world?
As Ari grapples with her worsening disability, she works on honing her gift for reaching other worlds, with Mandira serving as her moral compass.
But can a power like this ever truly be harnessed?
Available at:
Aithlin ~ Rosemarked Assassin: A Fantasy Thriller by Paul Mouchet
To save the realm, the king must die.
Sent away as a child for her own safety, Princess Aithlin was raised in a temple of warrior priests, far from the king’s reach. Within its grim walls, she was trained in the art of war, the use of magic, and how to deliver justice upon the wicked.
Preparing to deal death from the shadows, the princess finds herself out of her element. Backstabbing companions and unlikely allies make it difficult to tell friend from foe. Her survival will depend on figuring out who she can trust.
With the fate of her younger brother and the future of the kingdom at stake, Aithlin’s path is fraught with peril and personal demons. As she embarks upon this righteous mission, a lingering question haunts her—will her quest save her homeland, or will it lead to her own undoing?
The answer lies in a tale of magic, courage, and a battle against impossible odds.
Available at:
The Hunter and Her Witch by Rachel Sullivan
Hunter Sarah left her religious witch-hunting family behind for the freedom to be herself. Simplicity is her mantra now, as she lives and works alongside her found family of supernatural women. The day Sarah shows up at a witch’s property to build a yoga studio, though, her mantra skips a beat.
For witch Oriana, leaving her abusive ex was her first step toward a new life. Moving to Obsidian Falls and becoming a yoga instructor quickly followed. Her dismal romantic track record is proof she needs to focus on anything but love. But the moment she sets eyes on a member of the supernatural construction crew building her studio, she knows her heart didn’t get the memo.
When Oriana’s ex shows up, and Sarah’s inner Hunter responds, their painful pasts collide in a waterfall of revealed secrets and fears come to life. They must decide if their love is worth building, or better left behind.
Available at:
Mark of the Maker by Sharon K Angelici
Wildwood Blackstone believed her dream of being a country blacksmith was coming true.
Life would be simple; move to Bannock, restore the abandoned carriage house into a working blacksmith shop, build a new life as a welder and artist, and finally have a place to call home.
But shortly after her arrival, she discovers this truth; there are more than ghosts in Bannock.
When a teenage crush and childhood friend from foster care, Shay Courtland, answers a call for help, Wildwood finds a part of her past that she longed to rediscover. Never did she imagine Shay’s presence in her life would bring her back to the magical world she’d abandoned.
As the flames of their past relationship rekindle, Wildwood, Shay, and Shay’s K-9 companion Dexter experience curious ethereal events that prompt an investigation. Through these supernatural oddities in the new place Wildwood calls home, Wildwood and Shay’s hidden abilities are exposed, taking them on an adventure to realms they’ve never known.
As the trio’s exploration of demons and evil unfolds, Bannock’s secrets are unveiled, leading them to their future and the mystery behind the Mark of the Maker.
But with these two extraordinary women, there is so much more to this story.
Available at:
Lost in Paradise by Rachel Lacey
When a Manhattan businesswoman and a reclusive French artist are stranded together on a deserted island, opposites attract…and sparks fly. But with love on the horizon, will they survive to claim their happy ending?
Nicole Morella boards a private Mediterranean cruise with one goal: to reclaim herself after her divorce. When she sits next to a beautiful blonde in the ship’s lounge, she’s knocked off balance by the immediate attraction between them, and it’s not just because Nicole hasn’t found her sea legs yet. Fiona stirs things in Nicole that haven’t been stirred in a long time, but a fiery kiss turns dangerous when the ship is hijacked. The women launch a daring escape, leaving them adrift in an empty lifeboat.
Fiona Boone has been adrift most of her life, but never in such a literal sense. She’s a survivor, though, so when they land on a deserted island, Fiona’s ready to do whatever it takes to stay alive until they’re rescued. In the meantime, she can’t get enough of the feisty woman she’s stranded with, despite her usual fiercely independent nature. Although they’re lost, Fiona finds something unexpected in the comfort of Nicole’s touch. But when an injury puts her life in jeopardy, they begin to worry help won’t arrive in time. If she survives their ordeal, Fiona might just face her biggest challenge yet: falling in love.
Available at:
Captive in the Underworld by Lianyu Tan
In the land of the dead, Queen Hades’ word is law. Hades gets what she wants–always–and what she wants is a certain goddess of the springtime.
Innocent Persephone chafes beneath her mother’s hawkish gaze and mercurial temper. Demeter has rebuffed all her daughter’s suitors, but she is not yet satisfied; she strives to crush Persephone’s spirit.
Still, when Hades pulls her into the dark realm of the underworld, Persephone longs for the world above, even if it means an eternity under her mother’s thumb.
With her tears and pleas for freedom ignored by pitiless Hades, Persephone must learn to satisfy her keeper in all ways, lest she suffer the consequences.
And though she cannot deny that something blooms within her, something forbidden, Persephone despairs of ever feeling the sun upon her skin once more.
No matter the cost, Hades intends to keep her.
Forever.
Available at:
Promised to the Queen by Barbara Winkes
MIA
I can’t believe my parents have agreed to marry me off in order to have their debt to the Morettis paid by the Falcone family. Tying the knot with Alessandra Falcone seems to be the only way—but I can’t do that, can I? This is not the marriage I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl.
This marriage is all but convenient for me because it comes with strings attached. There’s nothing romantic about it, and the fact that I’ve met Alessandra before makes it all worse.
Because I am attracted to her.
ALESSANDRA
I wish things were different, but I have a responsibility to my family. This includes keeping my siblings in line, and the company going. It means I must go along with my grandfather’s ridiculous idea. The Leonards’ predicament is just convenient. Mia…
She’s dangerous, because every time I’m with her, it’s harder to pretend this is just business.
I can’t be distracted, much as I’m tempted. Lives are on the line, and sometime soon, it could be hers…
Available at:
Leave a comment
What book will you be reading for the “who did this to you?” or the “who hurt you?” micro-trope category? Let us know in the comments!
2 Responses
Sorry, Jae, but Mark of the Maker is not up to this list’s standard. Lost in Paradise is my pick.
I am going old school – really old. Redemption by Susanne M. Beck – the 2019 re-issue.