The great thing about the literature industry is that new books are always coming out. Every month, a long list of new stories hits the bookshelves, and readers must decide what to read next.
If your TBR list lacks something, this March brings magic, love, and fights to life to entertain you. Some of these stories are new, some are sequels to existent realms, and others fall in the same category as previous books these authors have written.
In order of release date, here are 9 LGBTQIA books we are looking forward to reading this March:
1. The Marble Queen by Anna Kopp & illustrated by Gabrielle Kari – March 5
Pirates, arranged marriages, and kingdoms are all part of Anna Kopp and Gabrielle Kari’s new book, The Marble Queen. Princess Amelia must figure out what to do and how to feel after a marriage alliance with Iliad that pushes her to marry Queen Salira.
Both the Princess and the Queen must face the challenges of their anxiety disorder and the looming war to make sense of their new living situation. Amelia, particularly, must understand her newfound feelings for this woman.
Book Description: Princess Amelia’s kingdom, Marion, is in shambles after months of their trade routes being ravaged by pirates, and now the only seemingly option left is for her to save it through a marriage alliance. When she gets an exorbitant offer from the royalty of Iliad—a country shrouded in mystery—Amelia accepts without question and leaves her home to begin a new life.
But she lands on Iliad’s shores to find that her betrothed isn’t the country’s prince, but the recently coronated Queen Salira.
Shocked, Amelia tries to make sense of her situation and her confused heart: Salira has awakened strange new feelings inside her, but something dark hides behind the Queen’s sorrowful eyes. Amelia must fight the demons of her own anxiety disorder before she can tackle her wife’s, all while war looms on the horizon.
2. Infinity Kings by Adam Silvera – March 12
Infinity Kings is the final book in Adam Silvera’s trilogy Infinity Cycle. This trilogy tells the story of two brothers, Emil and Brighton, who find themselves at war with one another.
After their different conflicts in Infinity Son and Infinity Reaper, Infinity Kings is the culmination of their battles and will determine which brother will be named Infinity King. Meanwhile, Ness, Wyatt, and Maribelle must face their own challenges.
Book Description: After the ultimate betrayal, Emil must rise up as a leader to stop his brother before he becomes too powerful. Even if that means pushing away Ness and Wyatt as they compete for his heart so he can focus on the war.
Brighton has a legion of followers at his command, but when he learns about an ancient scythe that can kill the unkillable, that’s all he will need to become unstoppable against Emil and other rising threats.
Meanwhile, Maribelle aligns with her greatest enemy to resurrect her lost love, and Ness infiltrates political circles to stop Iron from ruling the country, but both missions lead to tragedies that will change everyone’s lives forever.
As the Infinity Son and the Infinity Reaper go to war, who will be crowned the Infinity King?
3. Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – March 19
Shortly after starting the school year at Alfred Nobel Acamdey, Sade Hussein’s roommate, Elizabeth, goes missing, and people think Sade had something to do with it. Luckily, the Unholy Trinity brings Sade into her group and gives her somewhere to belong.
As people seem to forget Elizabeth, Sade and Baz, Elizabeth’s best friend, continue investigating her disappearance. Things take a quick turn in Where Sleeping Girls Lie when a student is found dead.
Book Description: Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school, after being home-schooled all her life. Misfortune has clung to her seemingly since birth, but even she doesn’t expect her new roommate, Elizabeth, to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think Sade had something to do with it.
With rumors swirling around her, Sade catches the attention of the girls collectively known as the ‘Unholy Trinity’ and they bring her into their fold. Between learning more about them—especially Persephone, who Sade is inexplicably drawn to—and playing catchup in class, Sade already has so much on her plate. But when it seems people don’t care enough about what happened to Elizabeth, it’s up to she and Elizabeth’s best friend, Baz, to investigate.
And then a student is found dead.
The more Sade and Baz dig into Elizabeth’s disappearance, the more she realizes there’s more to Alfred Nobel Academy and its students than she thought. Secrets lurk around every corner and beneath every surface…secrets that rival even her own.
4. Icarus by K. Ancrum – March 26
Icarus has grown up to become a thief. His father creates forgeries of well-known art pieces, and Icarus steals the originals and replaces them with fake ones. After his mother’s death, the father-son duo targeted Mr. Black for his participation in her death.
Things seem to be going in their favor until Icarus is forced to break his own rules by starting a friendship with Mr. Black’s son in order to avoid the consequences of his actions. This bond starts changing how Icarus sees his life in Icarus by K. Ancrum.
Book Description: Icarus Gallagher is a thief.
He steals priceless art and replaces it with his father’s impeccable forgeries. For years, one man—the wealthy Mr. Black—has been their target, revenge for his role in the death of Icarus’s mother. To keep their secret, Icarus adheres to his own strict rules to keep people, and feelings, at bay: Don’t let anyone close. Don’t let anyone touch you. And, above all, don’t get caught.
Until one night, he does. Not by Mr. Black, but by his mysterious son, Helios, now living under house arrest in the Black mansion. Instead of turning Icarus in, Helios bargains for something even more dangerous—a friendship that breaks every single one of Icarus’s rules.
As reluctance and distrust become closeness and something more, they uncover the bars of the gilded cage that has trapped both of their families for years. One Icarus is determined to escape. But his father’s thirst for revenge shows no sign of fading, and soon it may force Icarus to choose: the escape he’s dreamed of, or the boy he’s come to love. Reaching for both could be his greatest triumph—or it could be his downfall.
5. The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste – March 26
Love potions, witches, death, and politics are all part of Bethany Baptiste’s The Posions We Drink. After Venus’s mom dies, she takes on the responsibility of caring for her little sister. That is when the Grand Witcher gives her the opportunity to get revenge on her mom’s killer.
However, given her experience brewing love potions, Venus must use her knowledge and power to create potions to enslave politicians. Is this the life she wants for herself?
Book Description: In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.
Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.
Then an enemy’s iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother’s killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.’s most influential politicians.
As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it’s hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.
6. Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis – March 26
Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis tells the story of Temple Baker as she goes undercover as a camp counselor in her father’s old hunting grounds. After her serial killer dad confesses to killing her mom, Temple isn’t sure he is guilty.
As a camp counselor, she tries to find evidence of her mom’s murder. However, a girl turns up dead, and now Temple must find out if one of the girls at camp is imitating her dad’s crimes.
Book Description: Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.
Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.
But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans” might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.
7. Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura – March 26
Tatum Vega lives in Chile with her partner, trying to forget her past in New York City, where she worked alongside famous author M. Domínguez. However, as badly as she tries to run away, her past soon catches up with her.
A reporter is calling her after allegations of assault against Domínguez come to light. That throws her into a spiral, wondering what her relationship with him meant and why she still struggles with the effect of that bond in Like Happiness.
Book Description: It’s 2015, and Tatum Vega feels that her life is finally falling into place. Living in sunny Chile with her partner, Vera, she spends her days surrounded by art at the museum where she works. More than anything else, she loves this new life for helping her forget the decade she spent in New York City orbiting the brilliant and famous author M. Domínguez.
When a reporter calls from the US asking for an interview, the careful separation Tatum has constructed between her past and present begins to crumble. Domínguez has been accused of assault, and the reporter is looking for corroboration.
As Tatum is forced to reexamine the all-consuming but undefinable relationship that dominated so much of her early adulthood, long-buried questions surface. What did happen between them? And why is she still struggling with the mark the relationship left on her life?
Told in a dual narrative alternating between her present day and a letter from Tatum to Domínguez, recounting and reclaiming the totality of their relationship, Like Happiness explores the nuances of a complicated and imbalanced relationship, catalyzing a reckoning with gender, celebrity, memory, Latinx identity, and power dynamics.
8. The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist by Sophie Gonzales – March 26
Ivy is a TV fanatic and fanfiction writer who one day wakes up to find the main character of her favorite fantasy TV show has come to life and is claiming to be her soulmate. All those tropes she used to write about have magically appeared in her life.
However, she soon realizes that what was romantic in theory isn’t as romantic in real life. To understand why this fictional character is in her life, she must team up with her best friend, Henry, and her now-enemy, Mack. As they work together, Ivy begins to wonder who really is the perfect person for her.
Book Description: Ivy Winslow has the house to herself for a week while her parents are away. She’s planning to use this newfound freedom to binge-watch her favorite fantasy TV show, H-MAD, and hang out with her best friend, Henry. She’ll also have to avoid her former best friend-turned enemy (and neighbor), Mack. But things quickly go awry when Ivy wakes up to find Weston, the gorgeous, very fictional main character of H-MAD in her bedroom, claiming to be her soul mate.
Ivy realizes that her fanfic writing has somehow brought Weston as she’s imagined him to life. But it turns out that the tropes she swoons over in her stories are slightly less romantic in reality, and her not-so-fictional crush is causing some real-world problems. To figure out why Weston is here and what to do with him, Ivy decides to team up with Henry and (against her better judgment) Mack. But with Mack back in her life, Ivy starts to wonder if Weston, her “perfect guy”, is the one who’s truly perfect for her . . . or if that was someone else all along.
9. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang – March 26
In different timelines, two strangers seem drawn to each other no matter who they are and what they do for a living. Whether they live in 4 BCE as a courtier and an emperor, in 1740 as an innkeeper and a visitor, or as college students in present-day, they always return to one another.
In The Emperor and the Endless Palace, the love between these two men is so strong that it goes beyond time. Could that same love be what consumes them?
Book Description: In the year 4 BCE, an ambitious courtier is called upon to seduce the young emperor—but quickly discovers they are both ruled by blood, sex and intrigue.
In 1740, a lonely innkeeper agrees to help a mysterious visitor procure a rare medicine, only to unleash an otherworldly terror instead.
And in present-day Los Angeles, a college student meets a beautiful stranger and cannot shake the feeling they’ve met before.
Across these seemingly unrelated timelines woven together only by the twists and turns of fate, two men are reborn, lifetime after lifetime. Within the treacherous walls of an ancient palace and the boundless forests of the Asian wilderness to the heart-pounding cement floors of underground rave scenes, our lovers are inexplicably drawn to each other, constantly tested by the worlds around them.
As their many lives intertwine, they begin to realize the power of their undying love—a power that transcends time itself…but one that might consume them both.
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What will you be reading in March? Share your picks in the comments below!
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Lara Rosales
By day, Lara Rosales (she/her) is a solo mom by choice and a bilingual writer with a BA in Latin-American Literature who works in PR. By night, she is a TV enjoyer who used to host a podcast (Cats, Milfs & Lesbian Things). You can find her work published on Tell-Tale TV, Geek Girl Authority, Collider, USA Wire, Mentors Collective, Instelite, Noodle, Dear Movies, Nicki Swift, and Flip Screened.
