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The Warm Machine by Aimee Cozza

When a robot built for construction work first sees an angular, sleek prototype military robot slink onto the base he's working outside of, he immediately falls in love. The problem is, only anomalous bots understand the concept of love, and the lowly laborbot has not deviated from his default programming once. So he thinks, anyway. When the laborbot is scheduled for decommission, the military bot cannot possibly live without him, and the two bots set out on a path to find the fabled anomalous robot utopia Root. COVER ARTIST: Aimee Cozza PUBLISHER: 9mm Press YEAR: 2024 LENGTH: 196 pages  AGE: Adult GENRE: Science Fiction RECOMMENDED: Highly Queer Rep Summary: The main characters are robots, likely closest to aro/ace but those terms aren't quite applicable. Gender is also not an important factor. THE WARM MACHINE plays with ideas of friendship, connection, and searching for utopia, all through the lens of a construction robot who falls in love at first sight with a military bot....

Three Kings by Freydís Moon

Ethan Shaw—lighthouse keeper and local witch—lives a charmed life in his chilly, coastal hometown. Blessed with a flourishing garden and a stable livelihood, Ethan can’t complain. But when his husband, Captain Peter Vásquez, brings home a wounded leopard seal after an impromptu storm, Ethan is faced with a curious situation: caring for a lost selkie named Nico Locke.

As Ethan struggles with the possibility of being infertile, insecurities surrounding his marriage, and a newly formed magical bond with a hostile, handsome selkie, his comfortable life begins to fracture. But could breakage lead to something better?

With autumn at their heels and winter on the horizon, Ethan, Peter, and Nico test the boundaries of a new relationship, shared intimacy, and the chance at a future together.

COVER ARTIST: M. E. Morgan
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
YEAR: 2023
LENGTH: 146 pages 
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance
RECOMMENDED: No

Queer Rep Summary: Lesbian/Sapphic Secondary Character(s), Gay/Achillean Main Character(s), Bi/Pan Minor Character(s), Genderqueer/Nonbinary Secondary Character(s), Trans Main Character(s).

*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book. 

**My recommendation has been pulled based on issues with the author. The original text of the review remains below.

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Poignant and sensual by turns, THREE KINGS is the story of a fishing captain and a male witch who open their marriage to a selkie. 

Ethan and Peter have been trying for a baby, but Ethan is worried he might be infertile as a result of the desperate magic he used to bring Peter back from the dead three years ago. When Peter brings home a dead seal, Ethan is convinced it’s actually a selkie and brings it back to life as well. It turns out Ethan was right, and as Nico recovers in their care, the three of them start bonding. 

I enjoyed this! It’s fully able to stand alone, though I would be interested in more stories in this setting or with these characters. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like it even though it deals with a topic (fertility) that I normally have zero interest in.

Graphic/Explicit CW for sexual content.

Moderate CW for alcohol, drug use, infertility, violence, injury detail, medical content, animal death, death.

Minor CW for pregnancy, blood, self harm.

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A red-haired man in a black and white sweater looks at orange fruit above him, below are ocean waves with a seal and a fishing boat.


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