Charmed & Bound's Monthly Queer Romance Book Pick

Queer Romance (MMC): Hold Me Like a Grudge by Celine Ong

When a fierce rivalry between two professional wrestlers heats up beneath the spotlight, neither man can fight the attraction burning between them, in this steamy sports romance.

From death-defying stunts to campy character gimmicks, everything in the world of professional wrestling is an act. Asher Ross's hatred for Caleb Knight, however, is not. When Asher finally gets drafted to Global Elite Wrestling's main roster and is thrown into a feud with Caleb for the World Championship title, he's hell-bent on making Caleb's life a living nightmare. But as both men trade barbs and blows across arenas, they're each surprised to find their chemistry is so electric, it can't be just for show.

Through rehearsals, training sessions, and injuries, Caleb's icy walls begin to thaw, revealing the real man hidden behind the cruel person GEW has molded him into. An unlikely truce blossoms into feelings neither want to deny, but, set in old ways, the company won't let them be seen as anything more than bitter rivals, both in and out of the ring.

With the risk of their forbidden romance upending their lifelong dreams, Asher and Caleb grapple with what they truly want in an industry known to erase queerness from its history, and square up against the hardest challenge yet: how much of their hearts they are prepared to give up, and if they are willing to fight to leave a legacy of their own.

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Queer Romance (FMC): Interirus by Ruby Roe

Four damned souls, two impossible bargains, and a romance powerful enough to topple the realms. 

Mercedes Midnight should be dead. 

Her year is up, her debt is owed, yet here she stands - alive, cursed, and crackling with demon magic she has no idea how to wield.

Lucy Corvine, the devil's broken daughter, clawed her way out of a contract that was never supposed to break. Now she's something the underworld doesn't have a name for. Something her father will tear the realm apart to find.

When two angels crash into Ora City, the rules change overnight.

One wants to watch the realms burn.

One wants to save them.

No one is safe.

Reunited and running, Midnight and Lucy strike a new bargain: trust each other, no matter what crawls out of the dark. But trust is a brittle little thing. And every kiss in candlelit libraries hides a betrayal that could damn them both all over again.

There's only one truth left... someone is lying. 

Find out who - before they lose their city, their world, and their hearts.

Three realms. Two damned hearts. One final reaping.

This is the second (and final) book in a dark and very steamy lesbian demon romance featuring masc daddies, soul-reaping bargains, fallen angels, dark academia vibes, gothic battles, found family, morally grey heroines, betrayal, sapphic obsession, and a love that levels cities. 18+ readers only.