Find Your Next Sapphic Read
We spend a lot of time thinking about how to help you find your next sapphic read.
To make it easier to find exactly what you are looking for we categorise books into a number of different subsections. Here they are in a way that can hopefully help you find what you want a lot faster.
Click on the category to see all the books we have reviewed for that section.
The site is built to only show a handful of reviews per page, so to see the older reviews you will need to use the link at the bottom of the page that says Previous. This is a hierarchy of the categories so you can see main and sub categories. (B) means it’s a book. The highlighted categories are links to that category.
We also have a sapphic fiction advanced search where you can look for books based on multiple categories.
Books with Best of Badges
One of the best things about TLR is that we do the reading for you. This means you are much more likely to find excellent books, avoid the book blues and get just the right read.
These are books that we think are awesome
Legendary Books with six or more reviewer favourite badges
Hall Of Fame Books Books with four or more reviewer fave badges
Best Of The Best Books Books that get two reviewer favourite badges
Highly Recommended Books Books with a reviewer favourite badge
Best of Lists
How Hot is the Book?
Did you know? We were the first to include heat levels so that you can find just the right read for you? We are paving the way to a better reader experience.
How much graphic intercourse/relations is there in this book?
No Graphic Physical Relations (B) Fade to black or no scenes involving physical relations.
Euphemistic / Tame Physical Relations (B) On page descriptions but tame or euphemistic descriptions.
Medium Heat Physical Relations (B) 2 or 3 graphic scenes of physical relations intended to titillate.
Hot Physical Relations (B) Lots of on page and graphic descriptions intended to titillate.
Physical Relations Includes BDSM (B) Physical relations includes bondage, discipline, spanking and all the sub categories that falls under the BDSM banner
Physical Relations With Toys (B) Toys are used in a graphic manner
Books by Main Character
Age of Main Character
25-39 Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is 25-39 years old.
40+ Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is over 40.
New Adult (18 – 24) Lead (B) This is aimed at the older teen and young 20s market. The stories are generally more sophisticated and include sex scenes.
Young Adult (15-18) Lead (B) This is generally aimed at the teen market and most often doesn’t have sex or has fade to black sex, depending on the age of the characters.
Careers / Hobbies
Accountant / CFO (B) A woman who does accounting or is a chief financial officer and oversees the financial management of a company.
Actress (B) An actress in any kind of acting.
Amateur Detective (B) A detective who is not being paid by the police department and has no official training in police work.
Architect / Builder (B) A woman who works as an architect.
Artist (B) Someone who paints, draws, sculpts or does anything artistic as a career or a significant hobby.
Author / Writer (B) A main character who is a writer/author as a serious hobby or for a living
Bartender (B) A main character who is a bartender as a serious hobby or for a living
Celebrity (B) One of the main characters or strong secondary character is a celebrity. Anyone famous like authors, film stars, sports people or YouTubers.
CEO (B) A main character who is a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), director or other high ranking executive in a large business.
Chef / Foodie (B) Someone who loves to cook and gets paid to do it.
Cop (B) Anyone who works as a police officer.
Criminal (B) A main character who is a criminal
Dancer (B) A main character who is a dancer
Equestrian / Horse Breeder (B) Someone who works with horses, owns a ranch, breeds horses, races or otherwise works with horses.
Farmer (B) A main character who is a farmer.
Firefighter (B) A woman who fights fires
Flight Attendant (B) Someone who works for an airline.
Lawyer / Judge (B) Main character whopractices law.
Medical Professional (B) Doctor, nurse, anaesthesiologist, dentist, physical therpist etc. Not someone like a secretary or janitor that works at a hospital
Military Professional (B) Anyone who works in the military including Army, Navy, Marines, Airforce and Coast Guard.
Musician (B) Either professional or amateur musician.
Pilot (B) A person who flies airplanes, helicopters or spaceships for a living or for pleasure.
Politician (B) A woman in politics.
Private Investigator (B) A story that revolves around a formal or informal PI. For example a journalist who ends up solving a case can also be considered a PI.
Rancher (B) A person who works on a ranch or owns a ranch.
Realtor / Property sales (B) A main character who sells houses to clients, stages houses or otherwise works with property sales.
Royalty (B) Anyone who is royal – from the queen all the way to some minor duchess or second cousin to a duchess.
Scientist (B) A woman who works in science.
Sex Worker (B) Women who work in the sex industry and exchange money for sexual services or performances.
Small Business Owner (B) Owns her own coffee shop, book store or other small business and employs a handful of people or works for herself as something like a graphic designer or cake maker.
Social Worker (B) A Social Worker helps people of all ages to cope with the problems caused by poverty, unemployment, illness, antisocial behaviour and other social inadequacies. Works for the government.
Sports Player (B) A person who plays sport as a hobby or as a professional.
Baseball / Softball: A main character or strong secondary character who plays or coaches softball or baseball.
Basketball: A main character or strong secondary character who plays or coaches basketball.
Cheerleader: A main character or strong secondary character who does or coaches cheerleading.
Golf: A main character or strong secondary character who plays or coaches golf.
Hockey: Main character who plays or coaches hockey.
Olympics: A main character or strong secondary character who enters or coaches for the Olympics.
Racing: A main character or strong secondary character who or coaches or races in any form including cars, bikes, horses, humans running.
Soccer / Football: A main character or strong secondary character who plays or coaches soccer.
Surfer: A main character or strong secondary character who surfs.
Tennis: A main character or strong secondary character who plays or coaches Tennis.
Student (B) Someone who is currently studying part time or full time.
Teacher / Professor (B) Someone who has a career teaching people.
Tech Specialist (B) Someone who specialises in any kind of technology eg, IT, hacking, website design.
Veterinarian (B) A person who is a trained medical professional who handles animals.
Character Themes
Bildungsroman / Coming of Age (B) A novel dealing with one’s formative years, spiritual education or coming to terms with oneself and growing up.
Coming Out (B) A story of someone coming out at any age.
Divorcee (B) A divorcee main character
Girl Next Door / Sunshine (B) A main character who is sweet and charming and everyone likes.
Lead With a Physical Disability (B) A main character with a physical disability.
Neurodiverse Lead (B) A main character who is neurodiverse.
Pet Mommy (B) A main character or strong secondary character who has a pet or gets a pet and it’s a significant part of the story.
Pretending To Be A Man (B) A cisgender woman who dresses and behaves like a man in order to pass for one. Not necessarily a butch character (but often is). This is often a case of having to pass as a man in order to survive or be safe.
Recluse (B) A main character who doesn’t like people and prefers her own company. Often lives in remote places or rarely ventures out into public.
Single Mother (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is an unattached mother and raising her child predominately alone. Someone can also be a single mother if they are divorced but have custody of the child or if the other parent is involved but not as often.
Ice Queen / Beast / Grump (B) A main character who is nasty, prickly or grumpy. The ice queen main character in a thawing the ice queen romance.
Widow (B) A main character or strong secondary character with a deceased spouse or long time life partner.
American Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character from America
Country / Culture of Main Character
American Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character from America
Asian Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is Asian or partially Asian decent
Australian Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character from Australia
Black Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is black or partially black.
British Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is from England
Canadian Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is from Canada.
European Lead (B) A main character from Europe (excluding the UK)
Indigenous Person Of America (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is an Indigenous Person of America, known formerly as native Americans.
Irish Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is from Ireland.
Jewish Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is Jewish.
Latinx Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is from any Latin American country or with family roots from a Latin American country
New Zealand Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character from NZ.
Identity/Gender presentation of Main Character
Asexual / Aromantic Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is on the asexual or aromantic spectrum
Bisexual / Pansexual Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is bisexual or pansexual
Butch / Stud Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is clearly butch or a stud and presents more masculine.
Chapstick Lead (B) A lesbian main character who is somewhere between the femme and butch presentation. Sometimes she will be sporty and she may occasionally wear feminine clothing but predominantly wears jeans.
Femme Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who identifies as a femme – lipstick, nails, dresses, heals.
Lesbian (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is a lesbian.
Non-Binary Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is non-binary.
Transgender Woman Lead (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is trans.
Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Characters
Magic User (B) A main character or secondary character that uses magic
Mermaid (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is a mermaid
Pirate (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is a pirate
Psychic (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is psychic
Shifter (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is a shifter
Superhero (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is a superhero
Vampire (B) A main character or strong secondary character who is a vampire
Genres
Action Novels (B) guns, running, shootouts, anything that an action heroine would be in – has physical challenges
Adventure Novels (B) has puzzle challenges for the main character – eg, needs to solve something like find a treasure
Comedy / Humour Novels (B) Comedy ranges from ridiculous humour to physical humour to satire. Tag this if the book makes you laugh more than usual.
Drama Novels (B) A serious book that is likely to make you cry or really feel bad for the characters. you will probably cry.
Erotica / Erotic Fiction (B) A story that deals substantially with erotically stimulating subject matter. A book with more than two or three sex scenes or a book with the main theme of sex.
Light and Fluffy / Warm Hug (B) Books that are super cute, light and fluffy. They make you feel like you got a warm hug
Literary Fiction (B) This is a term that describes books that are serious fiction. A book which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison from genre fiction and popular fiction.
Romance
Find romance novels based on the kind of romance, the pairing or the theme.
Kind of Romance
Dramatic Romance (with lots of angst) (B) Do they break up and feel miserable? If yes then it’s a dramatic romance. If no then it’s a sweet romance.
Erotic Romance (B) A romance where there is a lot of sex but it is key to the story of falling in love and the sex scenes develop the romance.
Romantic Comedy (B) A romantic comedy is a piece of fiction that focuses on a romance story in a lighthearted way with the idea that true love can overcome anything. This is part of the comedy genre and is light and funny.
Romantic Subplot (B) A romance that is connected with but less important than the main plot in a story. A secondary part of the story and not the main focus. (Choose this if it is only a small plot point)
Romantic Suspense (B) Romantic suspense is any genre of romance that features a prominent mystery, suspense or thriller plot.
Slow Burn Romance (B) A romance where the attraction and getting together takes the entire book to develop. It’s slow, sometimes painfully so.
Sweet Romance (with little angst) (B) Do they break up and feel miserable? If yes then it’s a dramatic romance. If no then it’s a sweet romance.
Romantic Pairing
Age Gap (May / Dec) (B) Two leads with a significant age difference. 10 years or more. Or they at very different phases of their lives, for example one is still studying and the other is a successful career woman.
Butch / Butch (B) Two butches fall in love
Butch / Femme (B) A butch and femme fall in love.
Enemies to Lovers (B) The main theme of the romance is how they go from an antagonistic relationship to falling in love.
Femme / Femme (B) Two femmes fall in love.
Friends to Lovers (B) A story where friends finally realise that they were meant to be together and fall in love.
Grumpy / Sunshine (B) A couple where one is sullen or grumpy or aloof and one is a bright, happy, sunshine person.
Rich Girl / Poor Girl (B) Two women fall in love even though they are from vastly different financial backgrounds.
Romance Theme
Fated Love / Soulmates (B) Two people who are meant to be together. The author will mention soul mates or the feeling that they are meant to be. Not all couples who are awesome fit into this category. It’s specially mentioned in the book.
Marriage of Convenience / Fauxmance (B) Two women pretend to be married or in a relationship so that they can attain something they couldn’t without the relationship and then they realise that they are actually madly in love with one another.
One Night to Forever (B) A one night stand turns into a real relationship.
Opposites Attract (B) Sometimes women who are complete opposites in personality, status and/or beliefs can complement one another and ultimately become a perfect match as they compensate for the other.
Second Chance (B) They broke up a long time ago and meet up again only to realise that the chemistry has never gone away.
Toaster Oven (“Converting Hetero”) (B) The concept of a character going from straight to not straight, at least in her own mind.
Speculative Fiction
Speculative fiction is also known as specfic. It is a combination of several genres of books that are not based in reality such as fantasy, science fiction and supernatural.
Alternate History
Events other than what we have lived which brings about a different kind of life.
Alternate History (B) Focusing on historical events if they happened differently with implications on the present.
Cyberpunk (B) Stories about a world where technology evolved differently.
Steampunk / Dieselpunk (B) Science fiction that generally has a historical setting and features machines that are powered by steam or diesel.
Dystopian / Post Apocalypse (B) A story set in a time where everything is bad, often a totalitarian environment.
Fantasy
Fairytale / Myth / Legend (B) A retelling of a fairytale, Greek mythology or historical legends all fall into this category.
Fantasy Of Manners (B) This is the fantasy equivalent of a Comedy of Manners, which focuses on or satirises the manners and affectations of a social class. This book gives fantasy elements to a story that is set in an otherwise specific cultural setting.
Magical Realism (B) Magic Realism or magical realism is a style of fiction that depicts fantastical story elements in an often mundane or real-world setting. It often blurs the lines between fantasy and reality.
Sword and Sorcery (B) The most common type of fantasy novel. Often it will include magic, sword play and fantastic creatures like dragons.
Urban Fantasy (B) A fantasy story with an urban setting. This can be historical or modern.
Horror (B) A book which intends to scare, disgust or startle the reader.
Gothic Horror (B) A subset of horror in which the creepy elements come more from the overall atmosphere. It’s less gruesome and more oppressive in atmosphere than typical horror.
Paranormal (B) Non-human entities or previously human like demons and ghosts – also includes aliens.
Science Fiction
Science Fiction (B) Fiction based on future scientific and/or technological advances. There are often large social and environmental changes. Science fiction also often revolves around space or time travel and life on other planets.
Space Opera (B) Space Opera is a subgenre of science fiction. It tends to be over the top and often emphasizes warfare, adventure, interplanetary battles, chivalric romance, and risk-taking with melodramatic flare.
Supernatural (B) Supernatural beings can present as human but have extra powers or abilities. These include Vampires, Shapeshifters, and Werewolves
Tentacles (B) Books with themes of squid, octopus, jellyfish or other tentacled creatures.
Mystery, Suspense and Thrillers
Love a good whodunnit? Want to read about killers, thieves or grannies who solve crime? This is the section for you
Mystery
Mystery (B) A genre that involves something that needs to be solved. It could be anything from mysterious death to a piece of art that has been stolen and needs to be recovered.
Cozy Mystery Novels (B) A sector of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.
Missing Person (B) A story with a significant plot about a missing person.
Police Procedural (B) A sub-genre of detective fiction that focuses on the investigation process of a police officer.
Thrillers and Suspense
Thriller Novels (B) Basically something that messes with your head and has nothing supernatural in it.
Crime Thriller (B) A thriller that combines the pacing and storytelling of a thriller with a crime plot.
Espionage (B) Also known as spy fiction. CIA, secret agents, Bourne etc. Spying at its best.
Historical Thriller (B) Thrillers set before 1960s in a specific time period that is accurately represented.
Legal Thriller (B) The main theme of this thriller is around the law and usually a courtroom.
Medical Thriller (B) A story that revolves around something medical like a race to uncover who is selling organs on the black market or stopping a terrorist from letting a disease free in a city.
Military Thriller (B) This thriller is set in the military.
Psychological Thriller (B) This story revolves around a battle of minds and wills. They are often darker and focus on emotional trauma
Supernatural Thriller (B) These thrillers blend the fast paced plot of a thriller with supernatural elements like magic, psychics or ghosts.
Techno Thriller (B) Technology focused thrillers for example, the main character needs to stop a criminal from unleashing the world’s biggest computer virus and wiping out all defence systems.
Setting
Academia / Education (B) The story takes place in an academic environment or one of the leads is a teacher, professor etc.
Boats and Ships (B) Books where boats play an important role in the story
Reality Show (B) A book where an important part of the plot takes place on a reality show.
Small Town (B) A story set in a small town and the setting is central to the story.
Trapped Together / Forced Proximity (B) They are stuck together unexpectedly and discover that they have feelings for one another.
Vacation (B) Finding love while on holiday (vacation). Maybe on a cruise, at a ski resort or in a mountain cabin.
Workplace (B) A story set in a workplace
Time Frame
Across Time / Time Slip (B) A story that takes place over two or more time periods. The most common type of this story is time travel.
Christmas (B) Christmas stories and stories set around the Christmas holidays.
Contemporary (B) Contemporary novels are set in present day
Futuristic (B) A story set in the future but not necessarily science fiction.
Halloween (B) Stories set around halloween
Hanukkah (B) A story set around Hanukkah.
Historical (B) A story that is set in the past and uses true characteristics of the time. Generally set quite far back in history and not within the last 50 years.
Period Piece (B) A book that is set is a specific time in history. This can be as recent as the 90s or as far back as cavewoman times. It represents the era well and often nostalgically.
Valentines Day (B) A story set around Valentine’s Day.
War (B) A story set against the backdrop of war. Any war, regardless of the other themes, so a real war or a fictional war.
Western / Historic USA (B) Stories that revolve around The Wild West or traveling across the US to populate the country or are set in the 19th century frontier America.
Looking for books we haven’t reviewed yet?
Check out our Listings, New releases and Spotlights/Zines
Non Fiction Reviews
Biography / Memoir / Autobiography (B) The real life telling of someone done as a biography, memoir or autobiography.
Diary / Letter (B) The real life telling of someone thought their diary entries or letters.