The Best Queer Romance Novels According to a Queer Book Professional

When I was a baby queer, freshly out at 15, I dreamed of one day being a professional queer. You know, the kind of person whose brand is queer and whose day job doesn’t just tolerate their queerness but centers it. Running a Pride-themed B&B, say. Or starting an LGBTQ bookstore. Today, I get paid to write the Our Queerest Shelves newsletter (among other things). I’ve also been running a queer book blog of my own for over ten years, which occasionally makes money, so I can officially call myself a professional queer reader at this point.

Admittedly, the romance genre is not my particular expertise, but I’ve been enjoying the new abundance of traditionally published queer romances, and I have three that are absolute stand-outs. These are must-read queer romance novels, whether you’re new to the genre or a professional.

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I should probably end with a caveat that the “queer book professional” framing is tongue in cheek: these are just my personal favorites and aren’t actually an objective ranking of the best in queer romance, especially since I’ve read only a tiny portion of all the queer romances out there.

What’s your favorite queer romance novel? Let’s chat in the comments!

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