Here are 100 books that Spectr fans have personally recommended if you like
Spectr.
Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
This book is an unconventional romance, but it is a sweeping one, with language that made me swoon and a love story that gave me reason to hope again. The main character, Vin, was a mystery I needed to solve. King Perry is the first in a book series that has opened my heart in ways I didn’t even know my heart needed opening. It’s a beautiful book (and series) that has the potential to change the way you look at life. Yes, it’s that good.
In a trendy San Francisco art gallery, out-of-towner Vin Vanbly witnesses an act of compassion that compels him to make investment banker Perry Mangin a mysterious offer: in exchange for a weekend of complete submission, Vin will restore Perry’s “kingship” and transform him into the man he was always meant to be.
Despite intense reservations, Perry agrees, setting in motion a chain of events that will test the limits of his body, seduce his senses, and fray his every nerve, (perhaps occasionally breaking the law) while Vin guides him toward his destiny as 'the one true king.'
Awakening the handsome prince is supposed to end the fairy tale, not begin it. But the Highvalley witches have rarely done things the way they're supposed to. On the north Pacific island of Eidolonia, hidden from the world by enchantments, Prince Larkin has lain in a magical sleep since 1799…
As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
I love a good world-building tale, and this series is phenomenal. I also felt a real connection with Kai in the second book, The Soldier, but to understand him, you have to read this book first. Kai’s thrown into a situation not of his own making, but he manages to land on his own feet. Not only that, but he finds the courage to open his heart in a situation where he’d be justified in completely shutting down. His bravery is something to behold. I also loved Tam’s unwavering optimism and their Master’s heart of gold. Unconventional relationships are my jam, and this is a gem of a series.
At twenty-seven, Tamelik has been a slave more than half his life. Submissive by nature, he can't help but fall in love with the master who treats him kindly.
When the mistress walks out, Tam dares to hope his love will be enough.
Then he's ordered to purchase another slave.
He wants to hate Kai for being unruly and ungrateful. For being of the same race as the men who murdered his family. For being his eventual replacement in their master's bed. But it's hard to hate a man who cries himself to sleep, flinches…
As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
This book and series has everything, an enigmatic main character, an elusive serial killer, and best of all, a romantic relationship between LGBTQ+ characters that’s enviable and healthy and something to aspire to. Levi Abrams is likely my favorite character in any book I’ve ever read. He’s prickly, difficult, whip-smart, and driven, but he’s also vulnerable, genuine, and fiercely loyal. I love that I didn’t guess who the killer was in the first book (I had a theory, but I genuinely didn’t know for sure until the big reveal), and this series kept me on my toes the whole time. The writing is solid and the character development is spot on. It’s the kind of series I wish I had written myself.
Homicide detective Levi Abrams is barely holding his life together. He’s reeling from the fallout of a fatal shooting, and his relationship with his boyfriend is crumbling. The last thing he’s prepared for is a serial killer stalking the streets of Las Vegas. Or how he keeps getting thrown into the path of annoyingly charming bounty hunter Dominic Russo.
Dominic likes his life free of complications. That means no tangling with cops — especially prickly, uptight detectives. But when he stumbles across one of the Seven of Spades’s horrifying crime scenes, he…
Awakening the handsome prince is supposed to end the fairy tale, not begin it. But the Highvalley witches have rarely done things the way they're supposed to. On the north Pacific island of Eidolonia, hidden from the world by enchantments, Prince Larkin has lain in a magical sleep since 1799…
As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
It takes a lot to make me emotional, and Jenn Burke managed to get me in the feels with each book in this series, starting with Not Dead Yet. Wes Cooper is not living, but not quite dead due to a spell performed by a witch. He can travel between the living plane and the other plane. When Wes witnesses a murder by something otherworldly, he’s not sure what to do. Crossing paths with his one-time lover Hudson Rojas isn’t what Wes expected, but it does mean he has help to figure out what’s going on. He just doesn’t expect to fall in love again. And oh what a love it is. More than once, I got choked up over Wes and Hudson. Read it. You won’t regret it.
Don’t miss this thrilling and suspenseful second chance romance, book one in a fan-favorite supernatural detective series from Jenn Burke.
Dying isn’t what it used to be.Wes Cooper was dead. Then he wasn’t—though he’s not exactly alive, either. As an immortal not-ghost, he can transition between this world and the otherplane, which makes him the perfect thief for hire. For seventy years he’s made a “living” returning items to their rightful owners, seeing his fair share of the bizarre in the process. But he’s never witnessed murder. Until now.
His latest mission brings him more than he bargained for: a…
I’ve loved books about vampires ever since reading Dracula at much too young an age, but I was always looking for stories in which the women were more than virtuous heroines, objects of desire, or hissing brides. Or wearing negligees. I was also drawn to tales that explored the practical and ethical challenges of being a vampire. Fortunately, the vampire fiction boom beginning in 1980 opened the way for new stories, many by women, that depicted the nuances of vampirism through a female gaze. Travel from 6th century Byzantium to Mexico City to futuristic Mars with these novels that put new spins on the old conventions and introduce some fascinating female vampires.
Gilda begins her life as a runaway slave in pre-Civil War Louisiana and this beautifully-written novel explores her life over the next two hundred years as she faces danger, love, and loss. It’s memorable not only for the lens of Black and LGBTQ history that it brings to the vampire myth, but for the main character’s commitment to maintaining her connection to community, both vampire and mortal, and her openness to the world that transforms around her.
Before Buffy, before Twilight, before Octavia Butler's Fledgling, there was The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez's sexy vampire novel.
"The Gilda Stories is groundbreaking not just for the wild lives it portrays, but for how it portrays them--communally, unapologetically, roaming fiercely over space and time."--Emma Donoghue, author of Room
"Jewelle Gomez sees right into the heart. This is a book to give to those you want most to find their own strength." Dorothy Allison
This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as…
Thirteen years ago, when my partner and I started our family, we didn’t know any other LGBTQ+ parents. We decided to learn all we could about the experiences of LGBTQ+ families. Our interviews with more than 70 families grew into an LGBTQ+ parenting guide called Pride and Joy. These real-life stories blew us away with their diversity; made us laugh, cry and gasp as we saw how families thrived, often against the odds. Yet we rarely saw families like these in the books our children read, so I started writing stories of my own. Thankfully, there are now many more - you’ll find some of my favourites on this list.
This book focuses on ten-year-old Archie, as he comes to terms with his father coming out as gay. Archie’s difficulties, and some of the book’s drama, come from his dad’s inability to talk to Archie honestly and openly about what’s going on and family uncertainty resulting from the divorce, rather than any issue that Archie has with his dad being gay. My favourite thing about this book is its portrayal of LGBTQ+ community - from teenage babysitters with dyed hair to drag queens and lesbian mums - as a place that’s warm and supportive for people of all ages. This book makes being LGBTQ+ sound like a whole load of glitter-filled fun! And that gets my vote every time.
The rainbow-filled, JOYOUS debut from a hugely exciting new talent. Perfect for 9+ readers and fans of Elle McNicoll, Lisa Thompson and Onjali Rauf's bestselling THE BOY AT THE BACK OF THE CLASS.
My name's Archie Albright, and I know two things for certain:
1. My mum and dad kind of hate each other, and they're not doing a great job of pretending that they don't anymore.
2. They're both keeping a secret from me, but I can't figure out what.
Things aren't going great for Archie Albright. His dad's acting weird, his mum too, and all he wants is…
While I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a fan of horror, I have recently found myself drawn to darker books—especially at this time of the year with Halloween just around the corner. As a bisexual non-binary person, I love finding books with diverse LGBT+ rep in them, so these are just a few of the spookier LGBT+ books I think would make for great autumnal reading. Plus, my own book—My Name is Magic—features all kinds of mythological werebeasties and a race to save the day before the traditional Finnish Kekri festival, an equivalent of Halloween, although it involves less candy and more fire.
Despite being a spin-off of the equally gruesome but less queerSomething is Killing the Children, this graphic novels stands all on its own and deserves a spot on the list. Although, please consider yourself warned, as this is not a story for the faint of heart. This graphic novel is very much the origin story of a character who is mostly portrayed as more of a villain in the main series. This installment, however, is just as harrowing, and terrifying as the original, with gorgeous, vibrant panels that somehow manages to turn gore into fine art.
A BRAND NEW SERIES IN THE WORLD OF SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN!
Discover the inner workings of the House of Slaughter in this new horror series exploring the secret history of the Order that forged Erica Slaughter into the monster hunter she is today.
You know Aaron Slaughter as Erica's handler and rival. But before he donned the black mask, Aaron was a teenager training within the House of Slaughter. Surviving within the school is tough enough, but it gets even more complicated when Aaron falls for a mysterious boy destined to be his competition.
I think Mother Goose got it all wrong. I have been creating books and coloring books for LGBTQ families for over two decades. I believe we deserve stories about LGBTQ children that are jubilant and adventurous; that are about love, mystery, time travel, and all the things everyone else treasures in their favorite books without being lesson books about bullying or being “different.” I have closed many children's books as soon as I get to the part where they are beaten up and made fun of for being gender non-conforming. I am also a visual artist and I love well-written books that are beautiful to look at.
This book was published by Lollipop Power Press, an iconic feminist publishing house formed in 1969. I have a soft spot for old-school one-color illustrations (these ones are forest green against an off-white background). Emily is raised in an intentional community of four women. One mom is studying to be an electrician. Another is a healer. Vicki drives a school bus. Annie Jo is a carpenter who loves to cook. No one at school believes that Emily has so many mothers, but that all changes when she falls on the playground and her amazing parents get called into school. Suddenly it's très cool to have so many moms. I want this book to have a revival. It’s so good.
Growing up gay in Missouri in the 1970s, it was LGBTQ novels that opened the door to the unraveling and discovery of my best self, my true queer identity. Initially potboilers with side gay characters (I hid my copy of Valley of the Dolls from the nuns in grade school) I soon discovered writers that unlocked worlds I did not know existed representing choices, loves, and adventures I would later make my own. As a writer, it was risk-taking, gorgeous LGBTQ novels that urged me along in my literary journey and helped me find and define my voice.
The fact that this queer masterpiece was written entirely in the solitude of a prison cell is only the first of many awe-inspiring truths about the book and its author. The drag queen Divine, a pimp named Darling Daintyfoot and Our Lady populate the book (published in 1943) offering a glimpse into a voluptuous Parisian fringe world. It was the thrilling—at times disturbing—story that first drew me in as a budding writer, but ultimately it was my realization that a book can be at once highly artful and literary as well as deeply erotic. It opened up a new freedom that I draw on every day as a novelist.
Jean Genet's masterpiece, composed entirely in the solitude of his prison cell. With an introduction by Jean-Paul Sartre.
Jean Genet's first, and arguably greatest, novel was written while he was in prison. As Sartre recounts in his introduction, Genet penned this work on the brown paper which inmates were supposed to use to fold bags as a form of occupational therapy. The masterpiece he managed to produce under those difficult conditions is a lyrical portrait of the criminal underground of Paris and the thieves, murderers and pimps who occupied it. Genet approached this world through his protagonist, Divine, a male…
A member of the LGBTQ community, I set out to write books about people that looked like me, that were under-represented in the media. I’m disabled, living with multiple medical conditions and mental health issues, which also inform my writing. I self-identify as a “full-time geek” – I have a passion for history and science, as well as being an avid gamer. My reading (and writing) time is spent wandering through fantasy realms, traveling the outer reaches of space, or delving into historical time periods.
A classical space romp with a twist. World-building is a must for any sci-fi, and this doesn’t disappoint. You’re sucked into this world and its people, carried by an interesting cast of characters. It’s a short read, filled with a big heart, and a world just dying to be explored further in future installments.
Fighting with your back to the wall is all well and good—as long as you’ve chosen the right wall.
When the local authorities ask Kyle Juenger to hunt a shape-shifting Glyrinny spy, he can’t refuse. After all, he can use the reward to replace his paralyzed legs with cyberware, and maybe even to return to his home planet. Besides, he hates the morphs—those invasive, brain-eating monstrosities whose weapons cost him his legs.
Kyle’s best lead is the Scorpion, a mercenary ship armed to the teeth. Grimm, the Scorpion’s pilot and captain, fascinates Kyle. He’s everything Kyle lost with his legs,…
