10 Best Lesbian Books You Need to Read

Must-Read Sapphic Romance, Fiction and Thrillers to Add to Your TBR

What makes a lesbian book impossible to stop thinking about?

Sometimes it's the romance. Sometimes it's the woman pointing a gun at someone. Occasionally, it's both.

The best lesbian books aren't confined to one type of story anymore, and that's one of the things I love most about reading sapphic fiction.

We can follow an astronaut training for the space shuttle programme in 1980. Watch a professional footballer fall for a senator's wife. Get tangled up with a former Russian operative who spent thirty years turning seduction into a weapon. Head into the desert with a female outlaw. Or spend considerably more intimate time with a hotel CEO who has very definite ideas about what she wants from her new assistant.

There are lesbian romance books, certainly.

But there are also thrillers, historical novels, Westerns, stories about fame and ambition, workplace romances, polyamorous relationships, small-town scandals and women rebuilding lives that haven't gone remotely according to plan.

That's why choosing just ten isn't easy.

For this list, I've brought together ten very different books that show just how broad lesbian and sapphic fiction can be. Some are intensely romantic. Some are dark. Some are sexy. Some will take you somewhere completely unexpected.

What they all have in common is women at the centre of the story.

Not as the best friend.

Not waiting around for somebody else's plot to finish.

They're astronauts, spies, outlaws, footballers, billionaires, nannies, tradeswomen and women who are still figuring out exactly who they want to become.

So if you're searching for the best lesbian books, looking for new sapphic authors or simply wondering what should go on your TBR next, these ten are an excellent place to start.

Why the Best Lesbian Books Go Far Beyond Romance

For a long time, finding lesbian characters in mainstream fiction could feel like a search in itself.

Finding them at the centre of the story was harder.

Finding books in which they were allowed to have adventures, careers, complicated sex lives, ambitions, terrible judgement and actual happy endings could be harder still.

That's changing.

The range of lesbian fiction available now means readers don't have to choose between finding sapphic representation and reading the genres they already love.

Want historical fiction?

Atmosphere takes us into the world of NASA's 1980s space shuttle programme, where astronaut candidate Joan Goodwin discovers a love she never expected while preparing to go somewhere very few human beings have ever been.

Want political romance?

The Senator's Wife throws professional footballer Alex Grey into the intensely public world surrounding a US senator's wife after one extraordinary act brings the two women together.

Prefer something darker?

The Reckoning puts a former Russian operative back into the world she escaped, facing traffickers, a pharmaceutical empire and the Kremlin itself.

Or perhaps you want a Western.

In Bloom Town, a woman travelling towards a new life in California is kidnapped from a train by a notorious female outlaw and discovers that neither her captor nor her own past is quite what she believed.

That's before we've even reached celebrity fiction, workplace romance, small-town enemies, polyamory or the rather enticing combination of an executive assistant discovering that the commanding woman she met at a luxury club is also her new boss.

There really is something for everyone.

What Makes the Best Lesbian Books Worth Reading?

Representation matters, but great representation isn't simply about putting a lesbian character on the page.

It's about giving her a life.

The most memorable sapphic books allow their women to be ambitious, selfish, funny, frightened, powerful, damaged, reckless, sexual, loving and occasionally spectacularly wrong.

They don't all have to be likeable.

They have to be interesting.

Take Suzette in The Reckoning, a woman who spent three decades as a weapon for the Russian government and now has to decide how much of that former self she's willing to resurrect.

Or Lara in Ribbonwood, who has become the scandalous femme fatale of a town of 907 people and apparently can't move without another rumour attaching itself to her.

Then there's Sloane Archer, whose spectacularly bad night involves champagne, a Porsche, an arrest and the deeply unfortunate nickname Princess Pigpen before she's sentenced to work at an animal sanctuary.

These aren't interchangeable romantic heroines.

Neither are their stories.

And that variety is precisely what makes today's best lesbian fiction so much fun to explore.

Lesbian Fiction Books Can Take Us Anywhere

One of the most exciting things about modern lesbian fiction is that the characters no longer have to exist within a narrowly defined kind of story.

Joan Goodwin can look towards the stars.

Abby Proctor can cross the American West.

Alex Grey can move between professional football and Washington politics.

Jessica Reaves can abandon an exhausting waitressing job and begin an entirely new career as a tradeswoman.

Greer Lockheart can find herself not simply falling for one woman while working as a nanny, but navigating attraction, family and the possibility of a polyamorous relationship involving three.

The setting changes.

The stakes change.

The relationships change.

But lesbian and sapphic women remain at the heart of the story.

For readers, that means the question is no longer simply Where can I find lesbian books?

A much better question is:

What do I feel like reading tonight?

A sweeping love story? A thriller? Something sexy? Something historical? A workplace romance? A story that'll break your heart before putting it back together?

Because now we get to choose.

10 Must-Read Lesbian Books to Add to Your TBR

The ten books I've chosen for this list aren't intended to represent one particular kind of lesbian fiction.

Quite the opposite.

I wanted books that demonstrate how much variety there is.

You'll find astronauts and outlaws. A professional footballer and a senator's wife. A dominant hotel CEO. A former Russian spy. A disgraced socialite sentenced to an animal sanctuary. A small-town femme fatale. A singer who has lost her voice. A nanny caught between three women. And a waitress whose thirtieth birthday becomes the beginning of an entirely different life.

Some of these books are romantic.

Some are steamy.

Some bring suspense, danger or darker themes into the mix.

And some are difficult to squeeze neatly into one box, which is often exactly what makes them worth reading.

So whether you're looking for lesbian romance books,sapphic thrillers, historical lesbian fiction or simply some excellent lesbian book recommendations for your increasingly unreasonable TBR pile, let's get into the ten books.

Atmosphere — Taylor Jenkins Reid

Love, ambition and the vastness of space come together in Atmosphere, an epic historical novel set against the backdrop of NASA’s 1980s space shuttle programme. In the summer of 1980, Joan Goodwin arrives at Houston’s Johnson Space Centre to begin astronaut training alongside an extraordinary group of candidates preparing for their first missions. As Joan pushes beyond the limits of the life she has known, she discovers both a passion and a love she never imagined, forcing her to reconsider everything she believes about herself and her place in the universe. Then, during mission STS-LR9 in December 1984, everything changes. Sweeping, romantic and ambitious, Atmosphere is a standout choice for readers looking for lesbian fiction that reaches far beyond a conventional romance.

Perfect for readers who love: sapphic historical fiction • astronauts • NASA and space exploration • 1980s settings • epic love stories • ambitious women • emotional lesbian fiction • high-stakes drama

The Senator’s Wife — Jen Lyon

One split-second decision brings two women from completely different worlds together in The Senator’s Wife. Professional footballer Alex Grey expects nothing more than a relaxing weekend on the South Carolina islands when she witnesses a sailing accident and risks her life to save a drowning woman. That woman is Catharine Cleveland, the wife of a US senator. Their connection should end with the rescue, but instead a friendship develops and gradually becomes an attraction neither woman can comfortably ignore. From the football fields of Portland to San Francisco Bay and the political circles of Washington, DC, Alex and Catharine are drawn increasingly closer while confronting everything they stand to lose if their relationship becomes public. With forbidden attraction, enormous differences in status and the relentless scrutiny surrounding political life, The Senator’s Wife is a compelling lesbian romance about deciding whether love is worth the risk.

Perfect for readers who love: forbidden lesbian romance • professional footballers • women in politics • public scrutiny • slow-building attraction • high-profile relationships • emotional sapphic romance • love against the odds

Boss of Her — Anna Stone

Jade Fisher moves to Los Angeles determined to build the high-powered career she's sacrificed so much to achieve. Before starting what could be her dream job, however, she allows herself one night of freedom at Club Velvet, a luxury club where women explore their desires. There she encounters a commanding older woman who awakens something in Jade she hadn't expected. Days later, Jade discovers exactly who that woman is: Simone Weiss, LA hotel queen, Club Velvet co-owner and Jade's new boss. Boss of Her combines workplace romance with dominance, submission and an age-gap dynamic as the attraction between Jade and Simone becomes increasingly difficult to keep separate from their professional lives. Neither woman intends to fall in love, but exploring Jade's submissive desires begins breaking through emotional barriers both have built around themselves.

Perfect for readers who love: boss/employee lesbian romance • dominant women • age-gap romance • BDSM romance • workplace attraction • older woman/younger woman • steamy sapphic romance • powerful female CEOs

The Reckoning — Ruby Scott

Suzette Conner-Wakeman spent thirty years as a weapon for the Russian government before finally escaping the intelligence world for a vineyard, a wife and the dangerous illusion of peace. Then twelve refugee women disappear into illegal drug trials and Suzette decides she cannot look away. In The Reckoning, what begins as an attempt to rescue those women escalates into a war involving traffickers, a pharmaceutical empire and the Kremlin itself. Former lovers return with unfinished business, trusted allies reveal hidden loyalties and Suzette is forced to resurrect skills she hoped she'd left behind. But every step deeper into her former world raises another question: how much of the woman she used to be can she bring back without destroying the life she fought to build? Combining espionage, action, dangerous women and intense sapphic relationships, The Reckoning is for readers who want their lesbian fiction considerably more lethal.

Perfect for readers who love: lesbian spy thrillers • mature female protagonists • former Russian operatives • international espionage • powerful women • morally complex heroines • steamy sapphic fiction • high-stakes action

Sloane Archer — Lise Gold

Sloane Archer has money, status, a Porsche and a life that looks considerably better before one disastrous wedding. After too much champagne, discovering her boyfriend cheating and making the exceptionally poor decision to drive, Sloane wakes to find herself arrested, splashed across gossip sites and saddled with the nickname Princess Pigpen. Her punishment is two months of court-ordered service at the California animal sanctuary she crashed into. Her father cutting her off makes matters worse. Sanctuary owner Maggie Dawson has little sympathy for spoiled socialites and an impressive list of unpleasant jobs ready for her newest volunteer. Stranded in tiny Duster with nowhere glamorous to escape to, Sloane is about to discover what happens when privilege meets hard work, animals and a woman who couldn't be less impressed by her reputation. Sloane Archer brings humour, consequences and opposites-attract energy to this list of must-read lesbian books.

Perfect for readers who love: opposites attract • rich woman/working woman romance • animal sanctuaries • forced proximity • small-town settings • celebrity scandal • redemption arcs • funny sapphic romance