Here are a few of the finalists for the 2025 Lambda Literary awards that you might not have come across.
In GAY FICTION category: Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst. An absorbing life story.
In LESBIAN ROMANCE category: Loser of the Year by Carrie Byrd. I enjoyed this.
In LGBTQ+ MYSTERY category: Rough Pages by Lev Rosen, an entry in his atmospheric 1950s San Francisco series, really good. (I’ve liked everything I’ve read by this author.) Author site HERE.
In LGBTQ+ ROMANCE & EROTICA category: Oyster by Fearne Hill (category winner). This is definitely romance, not erotica, though the sex scenes are very good. The main characters don’t rush into sex and sex doesn’t drive the storyline. It’s a thoughtful book that gave me all the feels, featuring a formerly straight-identifying man and the trans woman he falls for. Author site HERE.
In LGBTQ+ YOUNG ADULT category: Icarus by K. Ancrum. This is a FANTASTIC thriller / romance.
Of the finalists for the GAY ROMANCE category, I have read only the first, but the others are on my wishlist:
It Takes Three To Tango // Jem Wendel. Larking About Press
Our Own Light // Logan Sage Adams. Self-published
Outside the Wire // William Leet. Flashpoint Publications
The Spring Before Obergefell: A Novel // Ben Grossberg. University of Nebraska Press
We Could Be Heroes // Philip Ellis. G.P. Putnam’s Sons | Penguin Random House
The winner for the GAY ROMANCE category was The Spring Before Obergefell.
Congratulations to Ben Grossberg!
For the full list of finalists, click here: LAMMYS. Happy reading!