Recommended media by the Students’ Union
Alison Cochrun - 'The Charm Offensive', 'Kiss Her Once for Me'
Alison Cochrun is a former high school English teacher and a current writer of queer love stories, including her debut novel, The Charm Offensive. She then went on to write her second queer love story Kiss Her Once for Me which was published in 2022.
Our thoughts – “Alison's style of writing is quite universal and would be appropriate to anyone wanting to get into queer fictional literature. Her novels tell queer love stories that typically would fit a heteronormative narrative, however, stories that are explored still feel fresh.
'The Charm Offensive' sees an awkward tech wunderkind on a reality dating show goes off-script when sparks fly with his producer. This book is will having you laughing and shedding a tear. Going beyond romance this book explores mental health, making it not only a love story but educational journey for it's readers to learn more about hard hitting subjects.
'Kiss Her Once for Me' is like a Hallmark Christmas Movie, and it’s also nothing like a Hallmark Christmas movie. It follows the life of a bisexual disaster artist in the midst of a quarter-life crisis and a butch lesbian baker with a dog named Paul Hollywood. This book will take you through family drama, a winter cabin and a fake engagement. Basically everything you want in a sapphic holiday rom com."
Find out more about Alison Cochrun
Erik J. Brown - 'All That's Left in the World'
Erik J. Brown graduated from Temple University with a degree in Film and Media Arts with an emphasis in Writing for Media. In 2021 he was selected as a Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow. His debut novel 'All That's Left in the World', a post-apocalyptic queer YA romance, was released in 2021.
Our thoughts – "If your a fan of 'The Last of Us', or post-apocalyptic fiction in general, you will love this book. After a deadly pathogen kills off most of the world's population two boys brought together go in search of civilization and safe haven. This story will keep you gripped with it's action packed chapters and character development in the most unlikely of circumstances."
Find out more about Erik J. Brown
Casey McQuiston - 'Red, White & Royal Blue'
Casey attended Louisiana State University and received a degree in journalism. Prior to publishing their first book, McQuiston waited tables, freelanced and worked extensively in magazine publishing. She has three novels 'One Last Stop', 'I Kissed Shara Wheeler' and her debut novel 'Red, White & Royal Blue' which is about to be made into a movie to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Our thoughts – "As if being the first female presidents son wasn't enough, Alex Claremont-Diaz finds himself falling in love with Henry, an English prince. Whilst their first interactions aren't a fairy-tale romance, through their forced friendship they soon find they have a lot more in common. This story will have you laughing at one point, and then grumbling over the conflicts that come with having status. We personally can't wait to see how this story will be told on the big screen, but we fully encourage you to read the book before it comes out."
Find out more about Casey McQuiston
