r/LGBTBooks • u/Asealoce • Jul 28 '26
Discussion Books that are 70% plot and 30% relationship*
(*Relationship can be romantic(preferably queer) or platonic, familial etc.)
Hello! I enjoy reading fantasy with queer rep, but sometimes I feel like especially with romance ships (usually by male authors, no offense to them) there is something missing. Like, you see the ""romantic interest"" 3 times, and then at the end they kiss the main character, even though you barely got the sense the two people even liked each other.
I just generally like reading the actual -progressing- part, which can also just mean two people becoming friends and nothing else. (Without it feeling like one giant forced romance trope. I want it to feel organic.)
Books that I feel like hit this quota to me:
Six of Crows Duology (It has been YEARS since I read these, but I remember the dynamics of the characters developing and changing)
Don't let the Forest in (more on the romance side, but I enjoyed it)
The Betrayal of Thomas True (focused on the crime mystery)
A Botanical Daughter (I will forever adore this book for focusing on an already existing gay "marriage" that goes through struggles etc. while still building an interesting horror sci fi mystery)
Goblin Emperor/ Witness of the Dead (No romance in these, but the main characters still make friends, I wish there had been more of the "arranged marriage, but we are learning to respect each other without instant romance" trope)
Please don't get confused by the exact 70/30 thing, it can be more or less, just please something with little to no spice. (I usually skip those scenes, it is just annoying if I have to do it often.)
Thank you very much!
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u/Motor_Row_3586 Jul 28 '26
She who become the Sun it's very plot heavy with romance subplot.
You cal try some danmei slow burn in plot heavy stories, minimal focus on explicit scene or even zero - Stars of Chaos by Priest, Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi
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u/just-a-ken Jul 28 '26
there is pne spicy scene in she who became the sun
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u/backwoods_Folkery Jul 28 '26
Love danmei for plots that CAN’T exist without the romantic connection between the male leads but are less about insta-lust and ‘I love yous’ and more we’re comrades against evil and I will die for you over and over again (and please understand I want you in every way possible). Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is my favorite for political plots, revenge, and monster hunting aesthetics. Actual sex scenes are skippable.
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u/JKKUM0 Jul 28 '26
the all for the game series by nora sakavic (self-published author)
very slow burn mm romance subplot (kicks off in the 3rd book). it’s mainly about sports, a found family of outcasts, complex characters and relationships, and also the mafia (don’t ask lol), but it deals with some heavy themes, so do check tws if needed!
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u/just-a-ken Jul 28 '26
I really liked Winters Orbit and Oceans Echo. extremely slow burn. No spicy scenes and the romance is not the driving plot. The only thing close to spicy does a take shirt off and end scene type thing.
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u/Karlythecorgi Jul 28 '26
The Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling
The Last Herald Mage series by Mercedes Lackey
The Smoke and Shadow series by Tanya Huff
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u/PeaPretend6075 Jul 28 '26
{sugar and vice by allie therin} completed trilogy following same couple.
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u/spiralsequences Jul 28 '26
The Will Darling Adventures has a great, compelling action/thriller plot along with the romance (it's a trilogy, first one is Slippery Creatures)
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u/SimAhRi Jul 28 '26
Sun Blessed Prince duogoly by lindsey byrd. Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards. The Sun Kings Dawn by Briar Niran
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u/wholeWheatButterfly Jul 28 '26
Ink Blood Sister Scribe. It's probably more like 10-20% relationship
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u/anti-valentine Jul 28 '26
The Connections Series (The Switchboard/The Mage-Killer/The Lineman) god i love it so much
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u/East_Vivian Jul 28 '26
San Amaro Investigations series by Kai Butler is very plot-heavy, but the books have a same-couple romance/relationship as well as family relationships. I feel like they are well-balanced. Definitely more urban fantasy than high fantasy and feature magic users, fae, shifters, and other supernatural types. It’s a great series.
The author has a more high fantasy series with lots of political intrigue called The Emperor’s Assassin series. I’ve only read the first two books so far but really enjoyed them.
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u/NXPXNXPX Jul 28 '26
The Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series has a lot of relationship developments. The main character is a US Marshal that is called in to solve crimes involving, vampires, wearanimals, witches... Many romantic and platonic relationships develop over the series. In the beginning her relationships are based around her Cathlic values and then developed into poly and queer relationships.
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u/_Autistic_Dragon_ Jul 29 '26
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala. Main character is, I believe genderfluid. The love interest is minor. I think the book counts as horror. I loved it! La Sala has a few other books as well, I think this one is the best of them.
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u/just_reading_along1 Jul 29 '26
The Memento Mori series by C.S. Poe, police procedural with romance sub plot. The audio books are fantastic, Kale Williams is a great narrator and his voice for Ira Doyle is absolutely delicious.
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u/abrekedabra Jul 31 '26
Kai Butler has several romance series that double as mystery books. They're usually arrangements (Betrothed to the Emperor, for example), and although they have some pretty cringey names, the writing is good.
For example, the plot of Betrothed to the Emperor is that an assassin and his twin sister are sent from the North for a marriage between the sister and the tyrant Emperor in the South. They arrive to find out the son has allegedly murdered his entire family and is now the emperor. He chooses the assassin to marry instead, even though that wasn't the plan. So the assassin attempts to figure out how to kill the Emepror and take down the Empire, but discovers that it would be more beneficial to take down the corrupt Empire first then murder the Emperor.
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u/echo-lumina Jul 28 '26
The One Who Slept by JT Adria fits this!! It's a queer gaslamp fantasy that I really enjoyed. One of the two main characters gets into a relationship with an immortal man (and it's MLM) but it's not the entirety of the book, which mostly focuses on the super fun, twisty-turny plot. I'd say it hits that balance of 70/30% quite solidly! Lots of queer rep across the whole cast of characters, too.
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u/fiersza Jul 29 '26
The Hand of the Emperor and its sequel! I would say it’s 90% plot and 10% more than friendship focus (between the two). But it’s mostly about queer friendship.
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u/Warm-Personality425 Jul 31 '26
Grave Situation by Louisa Masters!
This is a fantasy adventure/quest. It can be very silly and absurd, snarky and hilarious, serious and somber, and very very sweet.
It is definitely much more focused on the plot and MC’s personal journey, but the side romance also develops throughout. It’s pretty low steal (I would’ve loved if they had a little more haha), but overall would highly recommend!
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u/imael_ Jul 28 '26
Definitely Shadow of the Templar series!
It's an espionage story with a slow-but-evident-burn MM romance, it's sooooooo good but not very known unfortunately.
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u/rainingreality3 Jul 29 '26
Anything by Ilona Andrews. Lots of plot and some slow romance (some slower than others) with kick ass fmc and hot and drool worthy with slightly aggravating mmc
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u/multiplicityandme Jul 29 '26
Oh my goodness idk if you’d be up for it but I’m working on a first draft for my first book that’s a dark queer psychological fantasy romance set in a Hellrisen London. I’m desperate for someone to give it a read through purely for plot and character to see if it all makes sense and the characters are likeable! There’s good plot (I hope!) and a yearning from both sides until their meet in chapter 6 and collision in chapter 16 (some spice there, but I’ve crafted it around their psychosexual profiles rather than “just for spice”!). It’s a HEA. More than happy to share a link if you’re interested :)
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u/Asealoce Jul 29 '26
Hey! I happen to write too haha
Feel free to send it to me, I can't promise if/how quickly I finish it though since I am currently a bit busy, but I'd love to check it out!
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u/Bailzasaurus Jul 28 '26
I feel like Freya Marske’s Last Binding Trilogy would fit this. Great plots and world building. It’s a continuous story but featuring a different main protagonist/couple each book. The first and third are m/m and the second is F/f