7 New LGBTQIA Books to Read This April: They Want Us Dead, Fruitcake, and more

Are you ready to get one book closer to your yearly goal? We have new LGBTQIA stories to bring you into worlds that portray characters who are like you and experience things the way you do.

If you have read the books in our LGBTQIA picks for March, we have 7 new titles to add to your TBR list. Montblanc, Ogle, and Valeza are among the authors we highlight this month.

In order of release date, here are 7 LGBTQIA books we are looking forward to reading this April:

1. Fruitcake: A Graphic Novel by Rex Ogle and Dave Valeza – April 7

Eighth grade isn’t as enjoyable as Rex would want it to be. With everyone around him finding a partner, he feels the pressure to find someone himself. Even though Charlotte is everything everyone would want in a partner, Rex doesn’t have feelings for her. Instead, he has feelings for his childhood best friend, Drew.

Things get even more confusing for Rex when Drew kisses him, then proceeds to act as if he didn’t know Rex. Adding to that, the pressure of everything he hears from his friend and his church about who he does or doesn’t like is not helping Rex enjoy his eighth-grade year.

Book Description: A pitch-perfect middle-grade audio memoir about crushes, coming out, and finding the courage to be yourself.

Eighth grade isn’t off to a great start. Everyone but Rex seems to be coupling up, and he’s starting to feel like an outsider… until he meets Charlotte. She’s fearless, smart, pretty, and she likes him back. But as great as Charlotte is, there’s someone else Rex can’t stop thinking about.

Drew is Rex’s childhood best friend, so when he kisses Rex, all kinds of new feelings begin to stir. Though at school, Drew acts like he doesn’t even know Rex, making those feelings turn really confusing really fast. And with all the strong opinions Rex hears from friends and at church, he questions his own worth and what his affections actually mean. Rex wants to be more like his new friend, Nina, and not care what others think, but being himself seems impossible.

When did middle school get so confusing?!

2. More Like Enemigas by Stephanie Hope – April 7

Isabella Valdes wants to be the perfect daughter to her Cuban immigrant parents. That includes continuing her late father’s legacy by preparing the perfect meal for her cousin’s wedding to get her fiancé to invest in their restaurant. But in order to make it through the wedding, Isabella will have to room with Valentina, her former friend who ruined her quinceañera.

Valentina tells Isa she wants to make a deal before the wedding. She will help Isabela uncover a secret in her father’s journal if, in return, she helps her ruin the wedding. As they work together, everything begins to turn inside Isabel as she second-guesses her beliefs about love and loyalty.

Book Description: One wedding, two rivals and a whole lot of secrets…

As the daughter of Cuban immigrants, Isabella Valdes knows three things for her late father’s restaurant is thriving she owns lots of designer things both of those statements are absolute lies to make her mother happy.

Isabella would do anything to keep her father’s legacy alive, including attending her estranged cousin’s weeklong wedding extravaganza. Because once Sofia’s wealthy fiancé tastes the recipes Isa prepares from her father’s cherished journal, he’s sure to invest.

To Isa’s annoyance, she’ll be sharing a cabin with Valentina, the former friend turned rival who ruined her quinceañera. But Val is offering an unexpected deal—she’ll help Isa unravel an old family secret found in her father’s journal in return for help sabotaging the wedding and winning the heart of the bride.

Saying yes is a bad idea. Isa’s perfectionism meets its match in Val’s carefree demeanor, but as they work together, the usually responsible Isa can’t seem to say no to Val’s shenanigans. There’s no hiding from Val, no ignoring this complicated but undeniable connection that’s changing Isa’s beliefs about love, loyalty and just how much she owes to her family—and to herself…

3. Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates by T.J. Rose – April 10

Since becoming a tech expert for Killigrew Street, Felix has felt eyes on him. Now, he is sure he has a stalker because he has seen someone lurking. Lucky for him, Kit offers to teach him self-defense and help him figure out who is following him. But it might not be easy for Felix to focus when there are feelings brewing between them.

What he doesn’t know is that Kit is the stalker. He hadn’t planned on stalking him; he simply fell in love and has been waiting for the right moment to make a move. Clearly, he went about it the wrong way. He decides to teach Felix self-defense because he knows there are enemies that might come for him.

Book Description: How to accidentally on purpose stalk and traumatize your soulmate:
1. Hide behind wheelie bins like all proper predators do.
2. Stare through his window until he spots you.
3. Volunteer to teach him self-defense to protect him from his “stalker” (i.e., you).
4. Try not to spontaneously combust when you touch him during training.

Felix
Someone’s been watching me for months.
As Killigrew Street’s tech expert, I’ve hacked into enough systems to know we’ve made serious enemies—particularly since discovering Greywatch, a military unit exploiting supernatural soldiers. When I finally spot my stalker outside my flat, Kit—my brooding, cardigan-wearing older colleague—swoops in to investigate.
There’s always been weird tension between us: strange looks, wordless tea deliveries. But when he offers self-defense lessons, I’m not complaining. Even if his proximity makes my hands shake for entirely different reasons.
My stalker better watch out, because Kit’s teaching me exactly how to handle creeps like them.

Kit
I am the worst person alive.
Two years I’ve been pining for Felix—my brilliant, beautiful mate who doesn’t even know what he is to me. Two years of watching him from afar, following him home, lurking outside his flat like some kind of sick freak.
Now he’s noticed. He thinks some faceless enemy is hunting him. He’s petrified.
And it’s all my fault.
The mature thing would be to confess everything and quit Killigrew Street. Instead, I’ve convinced myself that teaching him self-defense will help. Because, apparently, my capacity for self-sabotage knows no bounds.
I should tell him the truth. I should walk away. I should definitely stop stealing his hoodies.
But with enemies from my shady military past circling, and Felix in real danger, walking away isn’t an option. Even if staying means risking my heart.

Glitched Fates is the third in the Killigrew Street Case Files series, a collection of humorous MM PNRs centered around a found family of supernatural detectives. Each one is a standalone adventure following a different couple, but prior reading of Moonlit Nights (book two) is recommended for maximum enjoyment.

4. Forgive-Me-Not: A Graphic Novel by Mari Costa – April 14

Aisling is considered the heir to the throne, a princess. However, as she gets closer to her 18th birthday, she discovers she is actually a changeling. With that, her entire story is about to change.

The real heir to the throne knows the truth. Her name is Forgive-Me-Not, and she has been living in the chaotic realm of Fearie. But as the fake princess’s birthday approaches, Forgive-Me-Not sneaks into the castle seeking revenge. Instead, she finds someone with the same spirit and passion.

Book Description: A queer “enemies to lovers” journey of a lost princess and a changeling who was made to take the heir’s place as part of a fey scheme.

Aisling is many things to many people: princess, heir to the throne, teenage daughter of two loving parents… She’s also about to learn a lot more about herself: changeling. Fey creature. Hunted. Feared. Loved?

Forgive-Me-Not is the name given to the true princess — the lost teenage biological daughter to the king and queen, who’s grown up in the chaotic and untrustworthy realm of Faerie. When Forgive-Me-Not breaks into Aisling’s room the night before their 18 th birthday looking for revenge, the two embark on a long and arduous journey. And what starts as a confrontational and adversarial pairing grows into a bond of mutual understanding, friendship, and maybe something more…

5. Wish We Were Here by Risa Cruise – April 20

Ash is in town, carrying a backpack full of cash and a bullet wound. He doesn’t want to interact with anyone, but he needs a ride to Miami. That is when he meets Sam, who has just been dumped by his girlfriend and has to drive back home. Sam agrees to drive Ash because he offers to pay for the entire trip.

As they ride back down to Miami, the two strangers soon become close and begin sharing secrets. However, Ash has been lying to Sam about who he is and what happened to him, which inevitably brings tension to their bond.

Book Description: One car. Two strangers. Thirteen hundred miles. What could go wrong?

When Ash rolls into town with a backpack full of cash and a bullet wound, the last thing he’s looking for is a connection. All he needs is a ride south, fast.

Enter Sam, a young man struggling with his identity, freshly dumped by the girlfriend he drove up the coast to visit. He doesn’t know a thing about the gorgeous stranger begging him for a ride back to Miami, but when Ash offers to cover all expenses, it’s hard to say no.

What starts as convenience turns into late-night confessions, shared hotel beds, and feelings neither of them are prepared to name. As they rack up the miles, casual recklessness turns into something intimate and real.

But Ash is lying—about who he is, what he’s done and why. And when his secrets catch up with them both, it’ll put their fragile new connection to the test.

WISH WE WERE HERE is a whirlwind strangers-to-lovers MM romance set against the grungy backdrop of the mid-90s. Featuring a bisexual awakening and a guaranteed HEA, it’s a standalone love story shaped by tender nostalgia.

6. The Risk Taker by Stephanie Alves – April 26

Nathan Hayes is the perfect member of the team. He does what’s expected and keeps his head down. But his life is turned upside down when the coach puts him in charge of keeping an eye on Logan Gray. Logan, unlike him, is a party boy who takes nothing seriously and knows exactly how to get under everyone’s skin. Nathan takes on the challenge, but everything becomes harder when he spends a little too much time watching Logan.

Logan notices how he starts getting under Nathan’s skin and uses that to his advantage. Even though he thought Nathan was straight, one night of confessions and a touch leads them down a path of sneaking around. Can they keep this up? Or will their secret come to light?

Book Description: Nathan-
I’ve built my entire life around control. I do what’s expected of me, keep my head down, and avoid anything that might drag me off course.
Which is why, when Coach gives me the task of keeping Logan Gray in check, it feels like a cruel joke.
He’s too loud, parties too hard, takes nothing seriously, and has made an art out of getting under my skin. He doesn’t try to hide how much fun he has pushing my buttons by walking around shirtless, tossing out flirty comments, and refusing to give me any space.
I tell myself I can handle him, that it doesn’t matter how many times I catch myself watching him when I shouldn’t. I’ve spent too long being careful to let someone like Logan Gray knock me off balance, but it becomes hard to remember that when he doesn’t play by the rules.
I’ve avoided risk my entire life.
 But lately, I’m not sure I want to.

Logan-
I’ve always been good at getting under people’s skin. It’s kind of a talent—one that Nathan Hayes is immune to.
He’s disciplined to a fault, annoyingly focused, and has spent the last two years barely acknowledging my existence. But when Coach decides his son is the perfect guy to keep me in line, that all changes.
Suddenly, he’s watching me. Paying attention. Frowning every time I push his buttons.
And I push. Obviously.
Because he’s straight, untouchable and completely unaffected.
Or so I thought.
Turns out, Nathan isn’t quite as immune as he pretends to be. One touch and one unexpected confession is all it takes until we’re sneaking around.
I’ve never been one to turn down a little fun, and if my tightly-wound, rule-following roommate wants someone to help him figure things out? I’m more than willing to be of service.
What can I say? I’m a very supportive teammate.

7. They Want Us Dead by CL Montblanc – April 28

Sam creates videos online to bring awareness to crimes against LGBTQ+ teens. So when the opportunity to attend a true-crime content creator event arises, they don’t hesitate. However, everything takes a turn when the group is stranded in a Victorian mansion, and one of them is killed at night.

The only way Sam can prove their alibi and identify the killer is by working with their nemesis, Dylan. The two decide to set their rivalry aside to investigate and find the murderer before the murderer comes for them.

Book Description: In this new mystery from CL Montblanc, the author of Pride or Die, two internet enemies are forced to work together after a true crime meetup turns into a deadly case of its own.

Seventeen-year-old Sam Tombs hopes to get more eyes on the videos they make to raise awareness of crimes against LGBTQ+ teens. A true crime content creator event seems like the perfect opportunity to grow their channel—until the group becomes stranded at an eerie Victorian mansion, and one of them is killed in the night.

Sam’s alibi, and the only person they can trust, happens to be their mean, dorky internet nemesis Dylan. But the two must now put aside their rivalry and use their investigative skills to figure out who among the remaining teens is the killer, before their own deaths become tomorrow’s trending content.

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What will you be reading in April? Share your picks in the comments below!

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