12 New Queer Latine Books (…Plus 14 More)

In Bogota, Colombia, teen Valentina is desperate for details surrounding her mother’s drowning and for her father to snap out of his depression. But all Ignacio does is smoke cigarettes all day in a long blonde wig, heavy with guilt over his marriage and memories of a man he once loved and betrayed. Enter Mamadora Eléctrica, the travesti queen of Bogotá’s queer underground who was once a mother figure to a young Ignacio and now steps into this role for Valentina. But Mamdora begins to fear that Ignacio’s self-destructive behavior has unleashed a curse on them all in this striking and brutal coming-of-age story. —Vanessa Diaz

A zookeeper in 1960s Cuba risks everything for a love affair in a country where same sex relationships are branded as “counterrevolutionary.” Told from the eyes of those around him to fit together the puzzle pieces of his life, from Cuba to exile in London and Miami, the complicated life of Felix and his family begins to come together. How do we hurt the ones we love? And how do we make sense of the people who shape us, even long after they’re gone? —Rachel Brittain

Librarian Jude Fuller is happy with the community and profession he’s built in Ithaca, but he would love to find someone to settle down with. Someone like Afro-Caribbean food truck owner Nesto Vasquez, who recently moved from New York City, looking for a place where his business can thrive. Nesto knows he should focus on work, but Jude is impossible to ignore. Jude wants to trust Nesto with his heart, even though he has been burned before. They both have to work through their baggage if they want to build a happy life together in Herrera’s delightful small-town romance. —R. Nassor

(This trilogy—American Dreamer, American Fairytale, and American Love Story—was republished this year with new covers.)

In this sapphic rivals-to-lovers wedding romance,
Isabella is lying to everyone, including herself. She’s lying to her mom to keep her happy, lying about her late dad’s restaurant thriving when it’s not, and lying about being able to afford a designer lifestyle. But she has a plan! She’s going to her cousin’s big, fancy weeklong wedding celebration, where she’ll prepare some dishes from her dad’s journals and use them to convince her cousin’s fiancé to invest in the restaurant. Problem(s) solved! To Isa’s annoyance, she’ll be sharing a cabin with Valentina, the former friend turned rival who ruined her quinceañera. But Val wants to make a deal: she’ll help Isa unravel an old family secret in return for her help sabotaging the wedding and winning the heart of the bride. Our very own Susie Dumond blurbed this one, and Susie has never steered me wrong! —Vanessa Diaz

Last year, I was happy to spread the word about Zakiya Jamal’s two 2025 releases: her adult romance, Sparks Fly, and her YA romance, If We Were a Movie. Her latest adult release is a fake-dating sapphic sports romance about a rising influencer and a WNBA star who link up after a chance courtside encounter. What starts as a strategic partnership and image rehabilitation job soon takes a turn for the steamy. —Vanessa Diaz

I went into this book cold when I saw it was a work of gothic horror by a Latine author. Should I have probably deduced from the title that it was going to involve a creepy ass doll? Pues si, But did I? Nope! Doll feelings aside, I’m glad I didn’t make the connection because I might have missed out. In late 1960s Oakland, Natalia is a queer, Latine, working-class witch who schemes her way into a position caring for Violeta Miramontes, a glamorous heiress to Spanish colonial wealth who’s been paralyzed by a mysterious illness. Natalia, whose mother once worked for the Miramontes, suspects Violeta’s condition is the work of malevolent witchcraft and vows to break the curse, a pursuit that will endanger not only her charge, but herself. Make sure to read the author’s note for this one, which provides some great context for the people and places that may (or may not) have inspired the story. —Vanessa Diaz