I've been diving into adult gay, trans, and lesbian indie books (since traditional only seems to want to publish YA about us) but I've notice that they are overwhelming steamy romances. What are some good non-romantic queer books? A lil' romance is fine, but it has to be secondary to the plot and no spice whatsoever. Also, the main character must be some type of LGBT.
Thanks!
by AsherQuazar
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The Gay Icon Classics of the World and The Gay Icon Classics of the World II by Robert Joseph Greene. It’s a collection of gay love stories from around the world.
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth is a fun book. It’s “horror” but it’s more spooky vibes than actually scary. There’s some romance but it’s not steamy.
Our wives under the sea by Julia Armfield
Have you read Less by Andrew Sean Greer?
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner! It’s genuinely a classic, one of the first published fantasy novels featuring queer characters, and beautifully written.
The [Pentecost and Parker](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/eb8c7ae9-41b0-442b-b3f1-8e01870fe219) series by Stephen Spotswood
Two of the main characters in _Legends and Lattes_ are lesbians and get into a relationship, but it’s extremely secondary to the plot. The book itself is very enjoyable but it kind of reads like YA (it was a NaNoWriMo originally, so it’s short and fluffy) so that might he a point against it
The Way of Water, by Wally Lamb.
Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen: in 1950s a gay cop gets fired because his sexuality is discovered and then hired by a rich family to solve a murder discreetly
The Paying Guests. There is sexual content but it’s not a romance and it’s not steamy it is woven into the plot and it’s a very minimal part of the content overall
*Magic’s Pawn* by Mercedes Lackey. No spicier than mentioned kisses and implied sex, and the romance thread is secondary to the plot. Main character is a gay man.
*Legends and Lattes* by Travis Baldree has lesbians.
*Good Omens* by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman has queer main characters.
*Sword Stone Table* is a short story anthology of Arthurian tales but there are a few stories with queer main characters (lesbians, I’m pretty sure). I think a few of the straight stories have spice, though, but definitely not all of them so I’m still going to recommend it.
If you’re into LGBT nonfiction at all, I recommend *Tranny* by Laura Jane Grace and *Pageboy* by Elliot Page.
Ethan of Arthos by Lois Bujold. An obstetrician from an all male planet has to leave to go get more ovarian tissue so they can continue to have sons. The guy gets pulled into a dispute with another planet when one of their genetic experiments wants to emigrate. On top of this Ethan is dealing with the worst kind of culture shock as he has never seen a woman before he got to the transfer station. There is a slight romance arc but the main issue is the spy games.
“Forbidden colors” and “Confessions of a mask” both by Yukio Mishima
“The portrait of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mostar. Modern Sci-Fi. It does have romance, but in the coolest, most unexpected way. It’s not steamy, sexy. Short read, I listened to the audiobook in about 4 hours.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
It’s a closed circle murder mystery involving lesbian necromancers in space. The only sexual content is dirty jokes and Gideon mostly just wants to find whatever it is that’s killing people and hit it with her sword. Here’s the first two chapters
https://reactormag.com/read-gideon-the-ninth-chapters-1-and-2/
*The Story of Us* by Catherine Hernandez is about a Filipino woman who comes to Canada and is employed as a personal care aide for a trans woman who has Alzheimer’s. Not YA, and definitely not steamy.
I really loved *Scarborough* by Hernandez. It’s been years since I read it (I want to re-read it), so I don’t recall all the details, but it’s about various low-income families and their struggles, and at least one of the characters is gay.