We thought it would be fun to do a little something in recognition of Pride Month here at Rockstarlit BookAsylum. So, I went through and picked books that I had enjoyed that had some LGBTQ content, and matched the pride flag to the dominate color of the covers, with varying degrees of luck.
I tried to find only books I had read but sadly, yellow, orange, and green, are not go-to choices for book covers and I had to pad out my list with a few choices off my TBR.
Self-pub/Indie and the Small Publisher houses, are really wonderful for having content that you wouldn’t normally find in a traditionally published book and there is a rabbit hole of choices you can jump down if you start looking. The big pubs are starting to sit-up and take notice though and we are seeing more and more content every year.
Clicking on the titles will take you to the book’s Goodreads page!
Today we are catching the cool side of the flag! Check out the first post here!
GREEN
Balam, Spring by Travis M. Riddle
I was totally charmed by this one- somewhere between slice of life, cozy mystery, and tragic love story. This quaint little story is full of atmosphere and wonderful characters. This was one of my favorite reads, last summer.

Balam is a sleepy town on the eastern coast of Atlua, surrounded by forest and sea. It’s a village where nothing happens and everybody knows each other. But now, people are dying.
School is out for the spring, and schoolteacher Theodore Saen is ready to spend the next few months relaxing with his family. But when the town’s resident white mage falls ill and several townspeople begin to show similar symptoms, they must call on a new mage. Aava has freshly graduated from the nearby mage academy when she is swiftly hired to deduce the cause of the unknown illness and craft a cure before the entire town is afflicted. Aiding her is an ex-mercenary named Ryckert who keeps to himself but has grown bored with retirement and is itching for a new investigation when a suspicious young man appears in the local pub the same night the sickness begins to spread.
On top of it all, whatever is causing the sickness seems to be attracting strange insectoid creatures from the surrounding woods, desecrating the bodies of the victims and tearing through anyone unlucky enough to cross their path. Theo, Aava, and Ryckert must come together to discover the cause of the illness and put a stop to it before there is nobody left alive in Balam.
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
I haven’t read this one but it’s been on my list for awhile. I mean, really, how can you go wrong with a bayou full of feral hippo’s and a cast of diverse characters wrangling them? Smacks of all those B-movies that I like so much, or that scene from Jurassic Park trailer with Chris Pratt and Blu. Fun all around!

In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true.
Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.
This was a terrible plan.
Contained within this volume is an 1890s America that might have been: a bayou overrun by feral hippos and mercenary hippo wranglers from around the globe. It is the story of Winslow Houndstooth and his crew. It is the story of their fortunes. It is the story of his revenge.

BLUE
Where Oblivion Lives by T. Frohock
This book hit all my buttons – the use of music, the atmosphere, and the characters. It’s just a lovely book all around. Diago and Miguel have the kind of relationship that has been built upon trust and love, and it shows in their interactions with each other, and their son. This was one of those reads that I never could quite pinpoint what it was that resonated – it’s an all-over feeling that worked for me. Like I said – it hit all my buttons.

A lyrical historical fantasy adventure, set in 1932 Spain and Germany, that brings to life the world of the novellas collected in Los Nefilim: Spanish Nephilim battling daimons in a supernatural war to save humankind.
Born of daimon and angel, Diago Alvarez is a being unlike all others. The embodiment of dark and light, he has witnessed the good and the horror of this world and those beyond. In the supernatural war between angels and daimons that will determine humankind’s future, Diago has chosen Los Nefilim, the sons and daughters of angels who possess the power to harness music and light.
As the forces of evil gather, Diago must locate the Key, the special chord that will unite the nefilim’s voices, giving them the power to avert the coming civil war between the Republicans and Franco’s Nationalists. Finding the Key will save Spain from plunging into darkness.
And for Diago, it will resurrect the anguish caused by a tragedy he experienced in a past life.
But someone—or something—is determined to stop Diago in his quest and will use his history to destroy him and the nefilim. Hearing his stolen Stradivarius played through the night, Diago is tormented by nightmares about his past life. Each incarnation strengthens the ties shared by the nefilim, whether those bonds are of love or hate . . . or even betrayal.
To retrieve the violin, Diago must journey into enemy territory . . . and face an old nemesis and a fallen angel bent on revenge.
Sorcerous Rivalry by Kayleigh Nicol
Another of my favorite reads last year. Light and fun- Reshi is just endearing in his flirty cuteness and Kestrel is the broody quiet type, together they are awesome!
There are parts of this story that have that romance formula feel to their relationship (all you Harlequin readers will know what I mean) but combined with the rest, it keeps it from feeling too tropey. The two of them together have the bromance/buddy feel to their relationship, that just makes the whole book enjoyable.

Finalist in the LGBT category for the Independent Author’s Network 2018 Awards!
In the peace following the Great Mage Hunt, the king’s long-time mistress is revealed as a sorceress. Locked away for the safety of the kingdom, bounties are placed upon the heads of the seven children she birthed. Mage hunters have scoured the kingdom for four years, searching for the seven scattered mage-born bastards.
After growing up in an orphanage, Reshi discovers his parentage and learns to hide his magic, living peacefully in a remote village with an unusual friend. But when an alluring mage hunter comes to town, his secret is revealed, forcing Reshi to reach out to his brothers and sisters for help. A family reunion might be Reshi’s only hope for survival–or it might become a spell-slinging battle royale.
Who can Reshi rely on when his own family turns against him?

PURPLE
Straight Outta Fangton by C.T. Phipps
I listened to the audio of this and it was just a fun quick read that’s laugh out loud hilarious at times featuring a gay mc, who is a vampire. Total popcorn and the narrator was perfect in his tone.

Peter Stone is a poor black vampire who is wondering where his nightclub, mansion, and sports car is. Instead, he is working a minimum wage job during the night shift as being a vampire isn’t all that impressive in a world where they’ve come out to mortals.
Exiled from the rich and powerful undead in New Detroit, he is forced to go back when someone dumps a newly-transformed vampire in the bathroom of his gas station’s store. This gets him fangs-deep in a plot of vampire hunters, supernatural revolutionaries, and a millennium-old French knight determined to wipe out the supernatural.
Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to get out of the coffin.
The Demons We See by Krista D. Ball
The first book in the Dark Abyss of Our Sins series has several LGBTQ2 characters. The budding friendships amid the story were some of my favorite things about this book. Krista knows her craft and writes quality characters that feel alive and relatable. Another series that I need to get back to!

Society was rocked when the Church asked Allegra, Contessa of Marsina, to negotiate the delicate peace talks between the rebelling mage slaves and the various city states. Not only was she a highborn mage, she was a nonbeliever and a vocal objector against the supposed demonic origins of witchcraft. Demons weren’t real, she’d argued, and therefore the subjection of mages was unlawful.
But that was all before the first assassination attempt. That was before Allegra began to hear the strange whispers in the corridors. That was before everything changed. Now, Allegra, and her personal guards race to stabilize the peace before the entire known world explodes into war with not just itself, but with the abyss from beyond.
So much for demons not being real.
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