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The Lesbian Review

Oct 2026: A Cozy Read Recommendation

Published 9 days ago • 4 min read

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, and starting over then this is a great one. It has two reviewer favourite badges on TLR putting it in the best of the best category.

This book has no spooky stuff but we love it for the warm heart vibes.

​See our review​

NEW REVIEWS

This week brings three new reviews, each one with a sort of mystery thread, but they are not all mysteries in the strictest sense of the word.
​
​GUESS THE BOOK

This week we are guessing a very well known speculative fiction book. Can you figure it out?

AI IN SAPPHIC FICTION EVENT​
Patrons got their free tickets to the event and I have been compiling my list of talking points for the discussion.

Tamara has been busy creating the very nice looking booklet that our ticketholders are going to be able to download as well with further reading, a book game, and information about our panelists.

For non Patrons there is still time to get your ticket here. It’s $7 and the event is global, via zoom.

COMMUNITY

Queer the Shelves has officially launched their kickstarter. If you want to get our books from someone who is not Amazon then see what they are offering. Link at the end of the newsletter with some more info.

Patrons

Authors got a reminder to book their free adverts, everyone got a new Book Bingo but this one is designed to take you on a reading adventure so check it out.

Have a cozy Sunday,

Sheena

TLR is powered by readers who love sapphic fiction. Become a Patron and help us keep it going.

These are the latest reviews from TheLesbianReview.com - click on the cover or title of the book to read the full review.
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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.

The Rewind Effect by Morgan Lee Miller is an emotional, heart-rending story about the enduring power of love that will take you on a rollercoaster of a journey.

From our review: “At this novel's heart lies the lifelong relationship between Jamie and Mallory, a bond that refuses to be broken and shapes both of their lives.”

Two favourite badges puts this in the Best of the Best category

​Read the full review here​

Cards on the Table by Lana Harper and Jilly Gagnon is a witchy mystery that combines tarot cards, a gothic mansion, family secrets, a suspicious death, and enough questionable rich people to make me very happy.

From our review: “Like a lot of Lana Harper’s books this is beautifully atmospheric and yet cosy book. The mansion, the occult elements, and the sense that there are secrets hiding behind every door all work really well together.”

​Read the full review here​

The Lost Brontë by Catherine Friend is a compelling mystery set in the late 1800s that captivated me and kept me reading well into the night.

From our review: “Lily was a gem of a main character. She defies societal norms and expectations of the era”

​Read the full review here​

In case you missed last week's reviews, here they are again.

When the Bell Rings by Claire Donniere is a cozy Christmas romp with a serious case of mistaken identity (or house identity anyway) and it is a very funny ride. This was the perfect beach read after a couple of pretty serious books.

From our review: “Neither one is particularly keen on the soulmate trope, so neither one takes their chemistry seriously – at first.”

​Read the full review here​

Get a Grip by Michelle McMenamon is a super family centric story of two women who fall in love in the midst of both their families tightly interwoven dramas.

From our review: “The two soon discover they are part of two large families that are coming together in both dramatic and humorous ways.”

​Read the full review here​

Eloise by Melissa Tereze is a super-slow-burn romance about overcoming grief, loss, and claiming the life and love you want.

From our review: “Elllie. Seriously, she is one of the best characters I've read in a long time. She's been through so much, and endures so much, yet she's determined, kind, supportive, confident, and genuine. She never fails to show up for those she cares about.”

Read the full review here

Guess the book: In this series I give you clues to a book that is featured in our Best of the Best category on TLR. That means it has at least two favourite badges from the team. Can you guess the book? Play to find out.

This book has 6 favourite badges on TLR.
It's a speculative fiction novel about a dystopian future filled with toxic algae blooms, swarms of jellyfish.
The book takes place aboard a pirate ship.
The main character has an unwavering sense of direction.
​FInd out if you are right here​

This section of Sapphic Sunday is about the community. It features things that I am aware of before I schedule this newsletter. I am not involved beyond that.

​Queer The Shelves is Live on Kickstarter​

We're building Queer the Shelves Infinite: a reading platform where every single book is queer, and the LGBTQ+ community is our focus.

Infinite is a globally available digital home for LGBTQ+ books: a store that opens the door to the whole rainbow of queer storytelling — romance, mystery, fantasy, memoir, and everything between and beyond. Like K***le Unl****d, you can have a subscription to read all the books you want to every month, but all of them will be queer. Not a filtered category. Not a curated list buried inside a platform built for someone else. Every single title, chosen for readers who are done hunting for their stories on platforms that were never designed for them.

​More here​

We always have been and always will be Human Made, just like cookies. We do not review or promote AI work and ask authors to be honest about their books when they submit to us.

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
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