Trans Rights Readathon Romance Roundup (March 2026)
As per last month, I am now doing monthly roundups of my romance reading here. There will be two roundups this month, because this one is purely dedicated to the Trans Rights Readathon on 17th-31st March.
This is an annual event in support of Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) on March 31st, in which we read and uplift books written by and/or featuring trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming authors and characters.
Check it out here: https://transrightsreadathon.carrd.co/ and look out for the fundraising auction, more on that soon.
Right, to the books! All this post’s recs are for romance or romance-adjacent books by authors who identify publically as trans / nonbinary / gender-nonconforming. A lot of them are m/m because that’s very largely what’s out there currently, at least if you don't have KU. I would love additional recommendations for newer trans romance with trans women leads and/or BIPOC authors: have at it in the comments. (I read on Kobo, so can’t follow up any Amazon-exclusive recs fyi.)
The titles all link to Goodreads, even if they don't look like it. I am relaunching my website next month okay.
The Prospects by KT Hoffmann
Sports romance, trans m / cis m
A very sweet, exceedingly low angst m/m sports romance, leads are super cheery trans guy Gene and anxiety sufferer Luis. Fully fairytale--one MC is the first out trans player in US baseball as well as gay, and the majority of players and supporters he encounters are decent human beings, which would be nice. Very positive, very frothy, very likeable. I could have done with a bit more plot, within or outside the relationship, but I can fully see why the author chose to lean into the happiness and positivity. A highly readable book full of hope.
Yours Celestially by Al Hess
SF romance, cis m / cis m and cis m / agender nonhuman IDK shit’s weird
Absolutely delightful cosy SF weirdness. So basically there's a company that uploads you when you die and grows you a new body, and the AI running it is the Metatron, only the Metatron falls in love with one of the uploaded people, which means that back in reality, a resurrected recovering addict is trying to cope with his new life while getting Metatron emotion dumps. It all makes sense when you read it, and mostly it's a really lovely story about what life and love mean, and what we need to do with those things. Immensely inclusive, with a lot of trans and disability rep casually present, immensely kind. A terrific, bonkers comfort read: strong recommend.
Dear Bartleby by Sarah Wallace
Historical fantasy romance, trans m / cis m
A very cosy, low-stakes read, set in a queernorm alt-Regency with magic. This author understands that, where there is little plot, the character development and worldbuilding have to supply the propulsion and direction instead, and a ‘low-stakes’ romance has to make us care passionately for the characters’ HEA. It does, and I was very happy to spend a couple of hours watching Sebastian grow up from an Archbishop of Banterbury into a rather lovely young man. Soothing.
The Build-a-Boyfriend Project by Mason Deaver
Contemporary romance, trans m / cis m
Fake dating romance in which trans journalist Eli is teaching Korean-American shut-in Peter to date, in return for writing an article about his experience growing up gay in the US South. However, Eli is also writing a snide piece about the ‘teaching a loser to date’ part for his crappy Buzzfeed type job in hope of promotion. Any romance reader can see how this will unfold. Peter is lovely and it’s well written but I ended up not liking Eli very much: the betrayal was too personal and its rationale too thin.
Unbroken (Rath and Rune 4) by Jordan L Hawk
Paranormal historical romance, cis m / cis m
Fourth in the Widdershins spin-off series with tentacled Lovecraftian hero and lethal librarians. Enormous fun, as ever with JLH: there's good horror, much of it coming from standard issue humans as well as the cosmic sort, and a pair of deeply likeable heroes in an extended family, plus excellent throwaway lines about the glorious madness that is Widdershins.
A Wild and Hungry Place by EE Ottoman
Horror with romance, historical gothic, AFAB questioning / cis f (ghost) / trans f
What a fantastically strange book. Sort of Southern Gothic, deeply and delightfully weird queer horror. T Kingfisher adjacent with some very biological horror (bones, rot, underground) but firmly grounded in love and care and comfort. The writing itself is fantastic, vivid and compelling, the atmosphere is superb, and the central character Cricket is an angry, stubborn joy. More horror than romance, but romance readers won’t feel let down.
Jay Moriarty Violates the Official Secrets Act by Kit Walker
Contemporary, novelette, thriller/romance, trans m / cis m
I recced these last month but it’s TRR so I’m reccing them again. This is the free first instalment in this cracking series about the largely amoral hacker Moriarty and hard nut Moran in an S4S romance (that’s sociopath / sociopath), taking on unequivocally bad people and dispensing comeuppance. Very entertaining, fully glommable, and nicely written.
Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
Litfic love story rather than romance, trans f / cis m
Terrifically observed litfic about love of various kinds. Max is a part Chinese British trans woman, a lawyer and not-very-committed poet living in London, and this is basically the story of about eight months of her life where she has an accident, finds a new boyfriend, deals with friends and family drama. It's a super closely observed character piece with fantastic texture: a great example of how sometimes plot is literally just characters in action.
While this blog series is for current reviews, for TRR I’d also like to pimp some older romances by and about trans women. Please do check out the following, all highly recommended:
Dulhaniyaa by Talia Bhatt
Trans f / cis f, set in Mumbai, lots of UST and a fabulously Bollywood climax
For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes
Trans f / cis m, contemporary with BDSM, great writing
Show Girl by Alyson Greaves
Trans f / cis m, contemporary Cinderella / trans awakening fairytale
The Calyx Charm by May Peterson
Trans f / cis m, fantasy with amazing worldbuilding