I'm a reviewer who loves to talk about sapphic fiction, writing and storytelling. Subscribe and join over 1,000+ newsletter readers every week!
Share
BEST BOOKS OF 2026! NEW NEW NEW
Published about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Download the images in this email to ensure the best reading experience. Make sure to whitelist our email address so we don't end up in your spam folder.
Best of lists are awesome for a number of reasons. They
give readers a manageable amount of book recommendations
are a great way to find new authors
and it’s a wonderful way to celebrate books we loved
TLR works with a single goal - share great books with great readers and best of lists do that really well.
I hope you enjoy our list as much as the team enjoyed reading the books.
This week we also have two new author interviews, one with Julia Underwood and one with Mandy Olivieri - they are free to read on our Patreon page.
New releases go live tomorrow Don't miss the current batch of New Releases here.
It has been a long, hard, start to the year but our community stands strong and I want to say thank you. You are a supporter of TLR. Whether you are a TLR champion and keep our lights on, or just read our reviews and share our content, we appreciate it.
The sapphic fiction community is one of the best places on earth and we are glad to be a part of it.
Have a beautiful Sunday and don’t forget to tell someone about a book you love,
Sheena
P.S. If you love what we do and want to keep sapphic stories in the spotlight, consider joining our patrons
This is the first part of our best books of 2026 list and it features everything from historic to romance and even horror. Look for the next part at the end of the year.
These are the latest reviews from TheLesbianReview.com - click on the cover or title of the book to read the full review. The great thing about reviews is that we read books and share ones we like, upping the chances of you finding only the best books out there.
New Audiobook Addition
The Wilding of Em’s Path by Ana K. Wrenn is a sapphic dystopian story set in the Appalachian backcountry, where isolation collides with resistance.
From our review: “The Appalachian setting is beautifully immersive, with lush trees, vibrant plant life, healing herbs, and an inquisitive fox all coming alive through the exquisite attention to detail.”
The Vanishing Act by Cade Haddock Strong is a life changing adventure in the deep woods for a computer analyst searching for clues to a mysterious hijacking, a death, and maybe a treasure.
From our review: "At one point I made a self-congratulatory note about figuring it out and then had to delete it when proved completely wrong. That’s a fun mystery.”
Mr. Moore: A Regency-Era Romance by Giny Morales is a beautiful historical romance where reputation is everything and secrets are traded as carefully as coins.
From our review: “Regency-era London comes alive in this story, capturing the elegance of high society along with its strict expectations, constant gossip, detailed fashion, and the reality of women being viewed as less than men.”
Above Rubies by Fyn Alexander is a compelling historical sapphic romance that follows two very different women finding love and strength on the Dakota frontier.
From our review: “The Dakota Territory feels real and vivid, with its endless skies, harsh sun, rugged landscape, wildlife, and hardworking farming community.”
The Siren’s Kiss by Leslie Vedder is a YA/new adult adventure romance with some grief, curses, mermaids, pirates, tension…among other truly glorious things.
From our review: “The tale is intriguing, two women searching for a foreboding sea witch and an angry ghost pirate to retrieve a lost soul, yet are enemies from the word go.”
The Call Room by Jaqueline Rose is a slow burn medical romance about first love and finding your feet when everything you've planned for and worked toward suddenly feels uncertain.
From our review: “I cannot believe this is a debut novel. It is incredible and worthy of the praise it will surely garner.”
Looking for your next sapphic read? We’ve got plenty of ways to help you find the perfect book!
Book Finder Advanced Search – Search using multiple criteria at once to narrow down exactly what you're looking for. Listings are excluded from these results. Tropes & Genres – Browse books by your favourite themes and categories. Clicking on the links in this list includes listings in the results.Top Ranked Books – Check out our highly recommended books. These are books with favourite badges.
Listings - Book listings that were previously new releases.
Remember, each page on the website displays a certain number of results and with thousands of reviews to see there is a high likelihood that there are multiple pages of results.
No matter how you like to search, we make it easy to discover your next great read!
Download the images in this email to ensure the best reading experience. Make sure to whitelist our email address so we don't end up in your spam folder. Hello Reader, This week we have a new Must Watch List - this time focused on Apple TV. I scrummaged around on there, watched a bunch of things and came out with a list of shows that I think are pretty cool, and all of them are sapphic. We also have some cool new book reviews, one is a weird and madcap journey while the other is a sweet cozy...
Download the images in this email to ensure the best reading experience. Make sure to whitelist our email address so we don't end up in your spam folder. Hello Reader, It's the spooky season! I love a good horror light, or dark. I adore cozy witchy things and wish I was cool enough to be a kitchen witch. So expect some cozy book love coming your way this month from TLR. COZY READ OF THE WEEK: A Wish Upon A Star by Jeannie Levig If you love a story that warms your heart, is about family, pets,...
Download the images in this email to ensure the best reading experience. Make sure to whitelist our email address so we don't end up in your spam folder. Hello Reader, When I was younger and first discovering the beautiful world of sapphic fiction there were maybe four to six sapphic fiction titles being published every month. Most of them were contemporary romance and about half of them were good reads. (I spent a lot of money importing books to South Africa back then). So it was really easy...
