Romance or erotica, really. It would help if one or both the characters are bi/trans, it has queer themes, or it just generally has queer vibes in some way. Basically, a straight romance that feels “egalitarian” in the way queer romances usually do (even if sub/dom dynamics are present).
by fuzzyguy95
4 Comments
Detransition Baby- Torrey Peters, not really a romance but a good love triangle anyway
Good question. Closest I have are some “role reversal” recs, where the FMC is the strong, confident one doing the pursuing and the MMC is the shy one. But a lot of those recs still feel kind of grounded in heteronormativity, since they’re inverting it.
Charlotte’s Reject by K. R. Treadway is like that. It’s a bullies to lovers shifter romance where the MMC is picked on by a rugby player and they end up in a mating bond that feels inescapable. She’s the one doing all the fighting and rescuing.
If it helps, it doesn’t feel like a Joss Wheedon “Hey, I bet you thought this was the trope you’ve seen a thousand times! But look at me, I’m going to invert the shit out of it! Also, I’m going to make it painfully obvious what the first trope is so you’re definitely thinking about it.” The author just quietly puts the FMC as the stronger, more confident one and doesn’t draw *too* much attention to that fact. But it doesn’t have the queer energy you’re looking for either.
Hope this helps
If you like fantasy, Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner
You, Again by Kate Golbeck is a gender swapped When Harry Met Sally retelling and the fmc is bisexual. The story spans several years and she is shown having relationships with both men and women before the couple finally ends up together which I appreciated.
With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson is a workplace/forced proximity story about coworkers at a winter themed tourist attraction. The MMC is bisexual, has several LGBT+ roommates, and is still dealing with harmful, religious family members throughout the story. I liked this one because he doesn’t just forgive his awful parents and live happily ever after.
I don’t know if you’d be interested in sci-fi at all, but you might enjoy the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers. There are same sex and straight couples, interspecies couples, poly couples, and even some species that change gender throughout their lives for various reasons. Really unique takes on gender, identity, sex, etc.