Queer Romances You Never Had Growing Up

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag
Fifteen-year-old Morgan has a secret: She can’t wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. She’s desperate to finish high school and escape her family and friends who don’t understand Morgan at all. She also wants to kiss another girl, but she won’t tell anyone that. But then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends, and suddenly life on the island doesn’t seem so stifling anymore. But Keltie has some secrets of her own. And as the girls start to fall in love, everything they’re each trying to hide will find its way to the surface…whether Morgan is ready or not.

While this book does have a bit of the story focus on the internal struggle of Morgan coming to terms with queerness, this romance is a really great depiction of a first queer love. The two are young and don’t have a ton of experience, but their feelings are infectious and sweet. It’s a great story from Molly Ostertag, who is one of my favorite queer artists and writers. They are married to N.D. Stevenson, so the two are truly a power couple for YA and middle grade stories.

Bloom by Kevin Panetta
Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band–if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.

Who doesn’t love a sweet young adult story with a bit of youthful angst? This book, focusing on a love of baking and what it can create, is a great romance between young men who are still figuring out their place in the world and what they’d like to do. Partly a coming of age story and partly learning to love someone else, this story has a really nice flow and rise to it. I highly recommend having a pastry to enjoy while you read!

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert. But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she be able to keep her secret?

I love Deya Muniz and have read their comics for years! This book has gorgeous colors, a range of styles, and the best character expressions, a classic mark of Muniz’s work. Muniz’s take on royalty makes it more of a diverse, change oriented, and community focused society instead of the reality of older times, giving the book a fantastical whimsy. Plus who doesn’t love a “disguise yourself as a different gender” to queer romance plot? The characters are so real; they have passions, insecurities, relationships, and mannerisms that make it so lovely to explore their lives and connections. With a princess focused on activism against animal cruelty and modern pjs and gaming devices, this story feels like the perfect balance of fancy fantasy and cozy relatable cuteness.

Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti
Lu and Fassen are from different worlds and separate solar systems. But their friendship keeps them in each other’s orbit as they grow up. They stay in contact in secret as their communities are increasingly threatened by the omnipresent, ever-expanding empire. As the empire begins a new attack against Fassen’s people–and discovers Lu’s in the process–the two of them have the chance to reunite at last. They finally are able to be together…but at what cost?

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel is an epic science fiction romance between two non-binary characters as they find one another through time, distance, and war. I have to say that it’s so amazing to see a queer relationship that features people that push the very narrow expectation of nonbinary people to be white, thin, and masculine. Their personalities are authentic, wonderful, and unique, and that’s what queerness is all about. If you’ve often been frustrated by how heteronormative Star Wars is, this is the book for you.

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking (anything that hinders the player with possession of the puck, ranging from a stick check all the way to a physical sweep). And then, there is Jack–his very attractive but moody captain. This is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.

This story feels like a slice of life mixed with a sports anime where you watch the progression of the main characters as they live out college years and beyond. As they grapple with leaving home and finding their new team, the story makes an interesting commentary about male identities, relationships, and the romance that can exist between them. Without being too heavy, this story is a delightful read that is so fun to follow along with.

Marry Me a Little by Rob Kirby
In Marry Me a Little, Rob Kirby recounts his experience of marrying his longtime partner, John, just after same-sex marriage was legalized in Minnesota in 2013, two years before the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges made same-sex marriage the law of the land. This is a personal story–about Rob’s ambivalence (if not antipathy) toward the institution of marriage, his loving relationship with John, and the life that they share together–set against the historical and political backdrop of shifting attitudes toward LGBTQ+ rights and marriage. With humor, candor, and a near-whimsical drawing style, Rob relates how he and John navigated this changing landscape, how they planned and celebrated their wedding, and how the LGBTQ+ community is now facing the very real possibility of setbacks to marriage equality.

Focused on the real story of this couple, this book delves into some of the everyday struggles against homophobia and heteronormativity that queer couples face. It’s set in reality, but it has sweet, funny, and joyful moments as well. Documenting the two’s feelings on marriage is also interesting, presenting that this is a loaded topic, regardless of orientation or identity.

Cosmoknights by Hannah Templer
For this ragtag band of space gays, liberation means beating the patriarchy at its own game.

Pan’s life used to be very small. Work in her dad’s body shop, sneak out with her friend Tara to go dancing, and watch the skies for freighter ships. It didn’t even matter that Tara was a princess… until one day it very much did matter, and Pan had to say goodbye forever. Years later, when a charismatic pair of off-world gladiators show up on her doorstep, she finds that life may not be as small as she thought. On the run and off the galactic grid, Pan discovers the astonishing secrets of her neo-medieval world… and the intoxicating possibility of burning it all down.

The second I saw the words “space gays” I knew I would love this book. And it absolutely deserves that love and so much more, with amazing art and quick dialogue. Another (better) alternative to Star Wars, this series focuses on a couple who is trying to destroy the practice of marrying princesses off for political power from the inside. When Pan runs into them, they can’t help but tag along like a thorn in their side, repairing their suits when needed and working on the ship to get out of their small town. Each character is so real and has a load of secrets and mysteries, and their interactions are so well written and intriguing as we dive headfirst into learning more about them. If you read this book, let me know so we can gush about it together! It’s seriously one of my new all time favorites.