Exploring the phenomenon of Femslash fanfiction (fan narratives that bring together heterosexual female characters from mainstream media and fiction), this book analyses fan-authored works as forms of literature worthy of studying at length. It examines the anti-racist, feminist, sapphic fan works produced in response to white supremacist, heteronormative, queerbaiting mainstream fantasy and argues that they represent a significant site of queer healing for marginalised audience members. Focusing on the 'Swan Queen' fandom, where fans pair the 'white trash' heroine, Emma Swan and the villainous Latina Evil Queen (Regina Mills) from ABC's hit show Once Upon a Time, Alice Kelly redresses the widespread academic neglect of queer female fandoms and responds to urgent calls to diversify fan and fantasy scholarship. With reference to complex theoretical subjects such as ethnography, sociology, psychology and decolonial, queer, film and media studies, the book also delves into the alternative timescales on which queer female and genderqueer fan authorship runs; offers intriguing insights into fanfiction narrative structures; and tackles the issues of broader fandom representation and contextualization. Making the case that fan texts deserve attention in the academy, Kelly shows how some of the most prolific fan works have the ability to enact colour reparation and a reclamation of memory, fantasy, romance, maternity, childhood, parenting and magic. These fictions serve fan communities as a whole through intersectional challenges to the power dynamics of the source text and within the fandom itself and, as the book demonstrates, offer attendant validation to fantasy fans who have been repeatedly told that the genre is not for them.

Queering Wolverine in Comics and Fanfiction: A Fastball Special interrogates the ways in which the Marvel Comics character Wolverine is a queer hero and examines his representation as an open, vulnerable, and kinship-oriented queer hero in both comics and fanfiction. Despite claims that Wolverine embodies Reagan-era conservatism or hegemonic hypermasculinity, Wolverine does not conform to gender or sex norms, not only because of his mutant status, but also because his character, throughout his publication history, resists normalization, making him a site for a queer-heroic futurity. Rather than focusing on overt queer representations that have appeared in some comic forms, this book explores the queer representations that have preceded Wolverine’s bisexual and gay characterizations and in particular focuses on his porous and vulnerable body. Through important, but not overly analyzed storylines, representations of his open body that is always in process (both visually and narratively), his creation of queer kinships with his fellow mutants, and his eroticized same-sex relationships as depicted in fanfiction, this book traces a queer genealogy of Wolverine. This book is ideal reading for students and scholars of comics studies, cultural studies, gender studies, sexuality studies, and literature.

A Sunday Times Bestseller! A 2022 Alex Award Winner! “Sparks fly” (NPR) in Everina Maxwell’s gut-wrenching and romantic space opera debut. Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor's least favorite grandchild, has been called upon to be useful for once. He's commanded to fulfill an obligation of marriage to the representative of the Empire's newest and most rebellious vassal planet. His future husband, Count Jainan, is a widower and murder suspect. Neither wants to be wed, but with a conspiracy unfolding around them and the fate of the empire at stake they will have to navigate the thorns and barbs of court intrigue, the machinations of war, and the long shadows of Jainan's past, and they'll have to do it together. So begins a legendary love story amid the stars. Like Ancillary Justice meets Red, White and Royal Blue, Winter’s Orbit is perfect for fans of Lois McMaster Bujold. “High-pitched noises escaped me; I shouted, more than once, 'Now kiss!' ... in a world so relentlessly uncertain, there’s a powerfully simple pleasure in the experience of a promise kept.” —The New York Times Book Review At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Desmond Mellow, a seventeen-year-old teenager transfers to an all-boys high school after causing trouble in his previous school. Known to have behavioral issues and a little too much sass, he is looked down upon by adults and is shadowed by his older brother's achievements. When he arrives at Ivory High, he sits beside Ivan Moonrich, the Class Prince. His entire world shifts the second he lays eyes upon the boy with mahogany curls and beautiful grey eyes. A cascade of events unravels: new friends, new enemies, a new crush... And so begins an adventure of friendships, love, mistakes, and a teenager's struggle to find his place in the world. "We break the rules to exist as individuals and not as people."

When two sworn enemies go head-to-head in this charming LGBTQIA romance, love isn't the only thing at stake. Charming, charismatic, and effortlessly popular, Conrad Stewart seems to have it all...but in reality, he's scrambling to keep his life from tumbling out of control. Brilliant, guarded, and endlessly driven, Alden Roth may as well be the poster boy for perfection...but even he can't help but feel a little broken inside. When these mortal enemies are stuck together on a cross-country road trip to the biggest fan convention of their lives, their infamous rivalry takes a back seat as an unexpected connection is forged. Yet each has a reason why they have to win the upcoming gaming tournament and neither is willing to let emotion get in the way—even if it means giving up their one chance at something truly magical. Praise for Conventionally Yours: "Sweet, emotional, and uniquely quirky." —Carrie Ryan, New York Times and USA Today bestelling author "You will ship this couple well before they figure out how much they need each other." —Sarina Bowen, USA Today bestselling author "Fast, funny, and fantastic. A quest for the new decade—gamers will love this." —Eoin Colfer, New York Times bestselling author

K. M. Szpara's Docile is a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles. There is no consent under capitalism. To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents' debts and buy your children's future. Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him. Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects—and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it. Content warning: Docile contains forthright depictions and discussions of rape and sexual abuse. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Two girls embark on a summer of montage-worthy dates (with a few strings attached) in this hilarious and heartfelt lesbian rom-com that’s perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Jenny Han. Seventeen-year-old cynic Saoirse Clarke isn’t looking for a relationship. But when she meets mischievous Ruby, that rule goes right out the window. Sort of. Because Ruby has a loophole in mind: a summer of all the best cliché movie montage dates, with a definite ending come fall—no broken hearts, no messy breakup. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters have fallen in love...for real. Ciara Smyth’s debut is a delightful, multilayered YA rom-com that will make you laugh, cry, and absolutely fall in love.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

An addictive fantasy romance from TikTok sensation Piper CJ, now newly revised and edited. Two orphans grow into powerful young women as they face countless threats to find their way back to each other. Farleigh is just an orphanage. At least, that's what the church would have the people believe, but beautiful orphans Nox and fae-touched Amaris know better. They are commodities for sale, available for purchase by the highest bidder. So when the madame of a notorious brothel in a far-off city offers a king's ransom to purchase Amaris, Nox ends up taking her place — while Amaris is drawn away to the mountains, home of mysterious assassins. Even as they take up new lives and identities, Nox and Amaris never forget one thing: they will stop at nothing to reunite. But the threat of war looms overhead, and the two are inevitably swept into a conflict between human and fae, magic and mundane. With strange new alliances, untested powers, and a bond that neither time nor distance could possibly break, the fate of the realms lies in the hands of two orphans — and the love they hold for each other.

By analyzing contemporary Les Misérables online fandom, how can we conceptualize fandom racism, especially when it complicates the typical and sometimes reductive narratives that assign racism to only the "bad" and the conservative "other"? Victor Hugo's Les Misérables is a well-adapted novel with films, television shows, anime, and stage productions constantly bringing new fans into the fold. Fans of these adaptations use the political text as a breeding ground for contemporary political conversations about socio-economic inequality, republicanism, and gendered violence. Yet in these conversations, race is an awkward, silenced topic. This primer presents findings from the author's study of a decade of Les Misérables fanart, in which they catalogue the formulation of racial identity in the fandom. Citing interviews with fans of color, they discuss the mechanics of how fandoms leverage concepts of “diversity” to downplay and ultimately silence criticisms in the name of fandom hegemony. They argue that despite using Hugo's barricade boys to process their white guilt, fan artists often see race as skin-deep and non-specific, rarely as active cultural or ethnic identities. This study of fan racism is held around moments of racial characterization that have convinced fans of color that "nothing changes, nothing ever will." In looking at a fandom whose key principles are liberty, justice, and social equality, this research provides a base for future researchers and fans to have frank conversations about the subtle and thus more pernicious forms of racism that exist within fan spaces.