||AMBY'S FAVORITE 2024|| (Editor's Choice July 2022) [LGBTQ+ Teen Fiction] High school junior, Callie Washington, is currently in a dilemma. Attending an all-girls, Catholic high school means most of her peers are focused on college, SATs, and the nearby boys at their brother school, Holy Spirit. But since the start of the school year, Callie can't forget the silky hair and gleaming brown eyes of her former Chemistry partner, Isabella Sandoval. After escaping from her Homecoming date one October evening, Callie runs into Aurora Gray, a smart, charismatic senior, who seems to be having as rough of an evening as Callie. After realizing they are in the same Calculus class, Aurora begins to shift Callie's life in ways she cannot comprehend. Deep down, Callie knows she must confront the thing inside her that is troubling her deeply, but what hurdles will she have to face to get there? (Published: 2020)

||WATTY'S SHORTLIST 2023|| [LGBTQ+ New Adult Fiction] When Mia Cunningham leaves her hometown in coastal Maine at 11 years old after her mother's death, her best friend, Leila Sutherland, gifts Mia a seashell "so she can hear the ocean and remember her home." Over a decade later, the two young women are beginning to navigate their post-grad lives. Leila has remained in Maine, afraid to branch out of her comfort zone, and Mia, after spending her college years in New York and unsure of her future, returns to the only place she ever felt home--Kenneburk, Maine. After a fateful meeting between the young women, Leila and Mia slowly begin to rekindle the friendship that had once been long forgotten. Their friendship is immediately tested, however, as Leila begins to develops familiar feelings and Mia, unsure of where she belongs, cannot help but wonder the direction her life is calling her towards. Will their friendship survive these new trials of adulthood, or should it have ended permanently the day that Mia left 12 years prior? Find out in "Can You Hear the Ocean?" (Published: 2021)

||AMBY'S FAVORITE 2024|| [LGBTQ+ New Adult Fantasy] In the colonized country of Landiani, Fetia is no stranger to the oppressive tactics of the Magnuvians, who first conquered the nation decades prior to drain Landiani of its magical resources. When a long-awaited opportunity arises for Fetia and her younger sister, Kiana, to aid in the liberation of their country, Fetia is sent to Esterpool, where the Magnuvian royal princess, Asteria, resides. The plan is simple; under the guise of a maid, Fetia will gain valuable information of the royal family from Princess Asteria, and together, she and Kiana will use their knowledge to assassinate the royal family, and consequently destroy Magnuvia. The only problem? Princess Asteria is dangerously more beautiful and charming than Fetia expected. Will Fetia be able to follow through with the plan, or will Princess Asteria be too great of a temptation to resist? Find out in the first book of the duology, "Ad Astra." (Published: 2023)

[LGBTQ+ New Adult Fiction] On the evening of October 8th, violinist and college student Noel Miller is murdered in a mysterious explosion. The primary suspect? Her girlfriend and fellow music student, Riley Davis, who was the first on the scene of the crime. Additional suspects include third-year soccer star, Lucia (Lucy) Peterson, who had a heated argument with Noel on the day of her death and currently has no evidence to prove where she was at the time of the murder. These are the details that junior criminal justice major, Piper Watson, is given when assigned by her professor to look for an alibi for Lucy in order to prove her innocence. In her quest to help Lucy, Piper makes a deal with the soccer player. Piper will help Lucy prove her innocence, and in exchange, Lucy, a well-known lesbian, will give Piper advice on how to win over her roommate she's been secretly in love with for half a year. All the while, a spinning mystery unfolds as to who was truly responsible for murdering Noel Miller, and why, on that fateful October evening. (Published: 2021)