seen from Netherlands
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from China
seen from Japan
seen from Türkiye
seen from Italy
seen from Yemen
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
seen from Italy
Happy (Upcoming) Lesbian Visibility Day 2025!
Saturday is Lesbian Visibility Day, and we’re celebrating with lesbian fiction! For even more recs, check out last year’s post. Middle Grade Pasta Girls by Taylor Tracy (September 9, 2025) Hot-headed and energetic Romea Marino is starting ninth grade with a full plate. Between confusing social dynamics of high school and juggling extracurriculars, Ro can only find peace in the reliable comfort of…
my lesbian book recs:
1. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
2. Zoe Brennan, First Crush by Laura Piper Lee
3. The Next Chapter by Camille Kellogg
The Next Chapter by Camille Kellogg
Official Summary:
Katrina Kelly is a former child star with five blockbuster movies under her belt and a face that’s instantly recognizable to most of America. Unfortunately, her career ended with her teens. Now she’s twenty-four, running out of money, and spends most of her nights alone Googling things like ‘how do I know if I’m bi or gay?’ She’s desperate to rebrand herself as a Serious Adult Actress and restart her career—at any cost. Jude Thacker, a butch bookseller at The Next Chapter, doesn’t want to admit she might be stuck. After all, she’s running the queer feminist bookstore of her dreams with a staff of chosen family. Sure, she hasn’t even tried to go on a first date in two years. And she may have a tiny problem with panic attacks. But as long as her life stays small and tidy, she’s fine. When Kat and Jude meet in the bookstore, Kat realizes that coming out as queer is the perfect way to transform her image. She and Jude can date for a few weeks, cause a media firestorm, and then Kat will move on. But what’s meant as a temporary publicity stunt quickly turns into real feelings for both women. As the media scrutiny intensifies, each must decide what’s real, what’s not, and if true love is worth losing everything they believe is keeping them safe.
My Thoughts:
The Next Chapter begins with one of the main characters, Jude, working in a bookstore and crying over a Sapphic romance novel. She's interrupted by Kat, the other main character, to ask for queer book recommendations. Jude's sincere thoughts and love of queer books here will resonate with many queer readers and writers.
We learn that Jude works in the bookstore that her mom used to own. With her mom's death, a wealthy businessman purchased the store and is slowly making changes that Jude isn't happy with. Jude also still lives in her mom's increasingly expensive apartment and has been stuck in a rut since her last breakup. Kat is a former child star who is trying to reinvent herself to secure more mature roles. As she is just discovering her queer identity, her team suggests using her queerness to get some press. Her manager decides that having Kat publicly date a girl will gain her both attention and a new demographic of loyal fans. Since Kat recently had a moment at the bookstore with Jude, Kat decides to invite Jude out.
Kat isn't exactly likable for some of this book. Her actions are selfish, and there were moments when she made me frustrated with her snowballing lies. Jude also has a few moments of selfishness. Both characters are dealing with several heavy, stressful, and emotional issues in their lives, and neither is in a good place to start a stable, healthy relationship. This makes their early relationship bumpy!
Thankfully, in the second half of the book, the characters and their relationship go through some major growth. The longer Jude and Kat know each other and the deeper their relationship gets, the more they inspire each other to make changes and improve their lives. By the third-act breakup, I was fully rooting for both and wanted to see them work through all of their relationship issues.
My favorite part of this book is Jude's three friends and co-workers, Rhys, L.J., and Talia. These three characters are a fun, loyal, and diverse group. Lovers of the Found Family will love what they add to the story. Their support of Jude is lovely and all the best scenes in the book involve these three!
I'd recommend this most to romance readers who don't mind their romances a little messy. These characters aren't likable at times, and their relationship isn't healthy for much of the book. If you're willing to go on a journey with them as they grow into better, more mature people together, then I think you'll likely love where they end up. Like Jude, you too may end up crying at the end of a Sapphic romance; I certainly did!
My Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑 (3.75/5 stars).
Pages: 319 (Kindle Edition)
Tropes/Tags: Romance, Queer, Sapphic, Celebrity Romance, Miscommunication, Found Family, Emotional Romance, Mental Health
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5. There are kisses and spicy scenes. The sex scenes are explicit.
Content Warnings: From the beginning of the book: "This book contains depictions of disordered eating, panic attacks, and loss of a parent."
Links: Storygraph | GoodReads | CamilleKellogg.com
The Next Chapter will be released on June 3, 2025, and is available for pre-order!
I received an advanced copy of this book for free, thanks to NetGalley, The Dial Press, and Random House. The above are my honest feelings about the book provided. I don’t have any affiliate links in this post, and I do not make any money from my reviews. I review books simply because I love to read.
[ See Everything I’ve Read in 2025 ]
JOMP BPC - July 16th - Cool Colours
💚🩵💙
New Releases: June 10, 2025
Middle Grade Fiction The Incorruptibles by Lauren Magaziner Fiora Barrowling lives in a world where sorcerers rule over humans. After surviving an encounter with The Radiance—the very worst of the sorcerers—she’s whisked away to the incredible Incorruptibles (“Inc”) Academy, a school for resistance fighters in training. But most of the other students think Fiora hasn’t earned her place there, and…
Authors in Conversation: Camille Kellogg and Susie Dumond
Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome Sapphic Romance authors Camille Kellogg and Susie Dumond, whose newest releases (The Next Chapter and Bed and Breakup, respectively) both release this month! Here’s a little bit about each book, as told by the authors: Bed and Breakup by Susie Dumond is a second-chance romance about two ex-wives who fell in love while renovating a historic inn in a…
JOMP BPC - September 5th - Representation
what I wouldn't give for more representations of butch lesbians in traditionally published books. preferably where being butch is treated like an identity not just an aesthetic. and extra preferably written by butches themselves. a girl can dream...
JOMP BPC - July 7th - Books and a Cold Drink
some multi-fruit cordial with my current read Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg, an f/f adult romance that I’m hoping is gonna give me some butch lesbian representation 🤞
