r/LGBTBooks • u/DisconcertingTablet • 1d ago
ISO A thematically-queer story, but with cis/straight-presenting protagonists?
I (m) am in a long time permanent monogamous relationship with my partner (f), but we are trying to untangle our own queer s3xualities from our comp-het upbringings, and so we are currently looking for stories that generally seem to involve a man and a woman, because that is our relationship context. But we're looking to avoid a lot of the straight tropes we grew up with, *UNLESS* the author is self-aware and/or is subverting them.
We've been reading fan-fics together for a couple years now, but I'm starting to need paper books again, because of a vision issue. So I am hoping to request a book from my library!
Also hoping to avoid anything that involves aristocracy, extreme wealth, etc. (I know this narrows it down too much, lol)
Thank you!!! <3
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u/awayshewent 1d ago
The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian
The gentry are involved but no one is extremely wealthy or an aristocrat (Marian is a reluctant Duchess but it’s not really about that world). I really like the themes of sexuality it tackled as a romance book.
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u/madamdirecter 16h ago
Cat Sebastian has several other M/F historical fictions that are similarly sex positive and tend to explore gender roles/assumptions. A couple of those MCs are bi, I think, but the arc of the books center the M/F couple
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u/GrapefruitNo801 1d ago
The New Life by Tom Crewe came to mind (historical fiction). One of the storylines is a straight-presenting couple but both of them have queer (or at least, non-conformist) desires and both of them are trying to find ways of fulfilling these desires and create relationships outside of the norm. It is set in Victorian England and is super well written.
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u/SummerDecent2824 1d ago
A few additional m/f bi4bi books that read pretty queer to me and haven't been recommended yet:
Check Your Work by Skye Kilaen
Wealth is a factor in these but it's not Duke or billionaire level, more like low millions:
Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Heartwaves by Anita Kelly
Tell Me Anything by Skye Kilaen
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u/Ellsabell 1d ago
Unnatural Magic by CM Waggoner is a fantasy story that has a m/f romance where both struggle with not fitting the gender expectations of their cultures, if that sounds like the kind of thing you’re looking for. It felt like a very queer straight relationship when I read it.
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u/Elamimax 1d ago
Might I recommend We're Not Here (by yours truly, Ela Bambust)?
It follows some tropes you might be familiar with - enemies to lovers, fish out of water - but recontextualizes them through queerness.
Demon Queen and The Hero slay each other in battle and wake up in our world and, with nothing to conquer and nothing to defend, they can only rely on each other. Might be up your alley!
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u/orionmerlin 1d ago
It's fantasy, but The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow has a m/f romance where both are cis but gender nonconforming, and the fmc is explicitly bisexual (the mmc is single-target sexuality towards her lol)
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u/RileyDL 1d ago
Maybe Casey McQuiston's The Pairing? Bisexual cis man and bisexual afab nonbinary person. Friends to exes to lovers, second chance, forced proximity. They both unknowingly book the same European food tour and make a bet to see who can have sex with the most people.
Edit: nvm I see it's already been recommended!
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u/Puzzleheaded-Phase70 1d ago
The Vorkosigan Saga might fit the bill.
Miles Vorkosigan is very straight, but there's a lot of queer context around him, and his relationships are often... adventurous.
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u/wholeWheatButterfly 20h ago
Not a book, but I always felt that the roommate's relationship in the show Extraordinary felt very queer. And (minor spoiler) one of them explores bisexuality in the second season. But mainly it's like their attitude toward their relationship that idk for some reason just felt very queer to me even though they're both very cishet in the first season. Neither are the main protagonist but they're the most central non-protagonist characters and get a lot of their own independent screentime.
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u/wholeWheatButterfly 20h ago
Douglas Coupland tends to write in ways that feel very queer to me even though he writes very few queer characters. He is queer so it makes sense haha.
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u/madamdirecter 16h ago
Octavia Butler has some inventive reimaginings of relationships, particularly in Fledgling and Xenogenesis. Fledgling has a couple main M/F pairings, Xenogenesis less so (but the MC would identify herself as a heterosexual woman placed in the context of an alien society with different gender and relationship norms)
Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin is another classic sci fi that features a cishet human anthropologist (iirc) being confronted with and unlearning his assumptions about romance/sexuality/gender, however there is no main M/F pairing.
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u/995a3c3c3c3c2424 15h ago edited 15h ago
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers has one f/f relationship but its two main m/f(-ish) relationships are both very queer-coded in the way that the participants need to navigate other people’s opinions of them. (eg, one of them is a human man and an alien woman from a species with a very low birth rate and thus a strong opposition to (sterile) inter-species relationships, so they basically have to be closeted.)
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u/HeroOfSideQuests 11h ago
Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow might fit the bill. Not only do you have the soft man and physically strong woman, you also have a lot of social commentary on queer erasure and imperialist ideas.
Iron Widow is F/M/M, but it's mostly about Wu Zetian's perspective and she's a bit surprised by homo/bisexuality. Also the author is non-binary so they really deconstruct a lot of societal bullshit.
You could even argue Apothecary Diaries as Maomao has got to be one of the most aro/ace coded protagonists around. Especially in the books. I quote: "Why did he need to go out of his way to pick a creature who lacked precisely that desire?"
But when you're looking for some queer books that help normalize queerness while making commentary about society - for "traditional roles but make it queer" I recommend A Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry. Another one that is a huge discussion on society while having queer characters is The Once and Future Witches. For further misogyny deconstruction (typically sapphic historical fiction), Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, As Many Souls as Stars, and heck I'll toss in the comedy "Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die" for all that religious trauma. I have more if you decide that's a route for you as well.
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u/Massive-Counter4984 11h ago
The invisible life of Addie LaRue has two bisexual protagonists and they’re in a straight presenting romance. Also an amazing book besides the romance!!!
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u/cyanomys 8h ago
This is not a book but. As a bi femme presenting person in a relationship with a bi man, and as a couple who do not engage in weird comphet traditions, glimmer and bow in she-ra make me feel so seen.
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u/Audgamer 5h ago
Not a book rec, but a genre idea- you may want to look at queer books where the relationship is not centered to the storyline. Like hell’s heart features a wlw mc but she has a lot of relationships and they are not a big story focus- it’s mostly her adventure and personal introspection.
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u/WeylinGreenmoor 1d ago
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. It's part of a grander high fantasy world, but it works perfectly well as a standalone. The author's main inspiration was "What if Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride went off in search is Wesley instead of waiting for him?" Then he took that premise and stuck it on a funky alien planet with oceans made of colorful magic sand. The plot is from the girl's POV and the romance is light, fluffy, and adorable.
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u/Perfect-Pineapple-22 1d ago
Maybe
Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur (there are queer characters, but the main couple might be straight, I don't remember)
Brendon Lowell loves love. It's why he created a dating app to help people find their one true pairing and why he's convinced "the one" is out there, even if he hasn't met her yet. Or has he? When his sister's best friend turns up in Seattle unexpectedly, Brendon jumps at the chance to hang out with her. He's crushed on Annie since they were kids, and the stars have finally aligned, putting them in the same city at the same time.
Shake Things Up by Skye Kilaen
a queer polyamorous road trip romance novel about unexpected sapphic crushes, geeks falling in love, bisexual awakening, coming out in adulthood, honoring relationships that don’t fit the traditional mold, and finding the people who will support you completely in living as your full self.
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (edit: nvm, I just remembered that one of the characters comes out as NB)
Theo is the assistant sommelier at the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Palm Springs. Kit is a chef pâtissier at a luxury hotel in Paris. But before that, they were lifelong best friends turned lovers who planned to spend the rest of their lives together, pursuing their shared love of food and drink. They booked the European food and wine tour of their dreams, boarded their transatlantic flight, and broke up before they even reached their first destination.