For the Love of April French

Aimes’s steamy, heartfelt debut centers on the eponymous April French, a transgender woman and mainstay of her local Austin kink club scene, putting in the work to make the club feel like a community. She’s grown used to being overlooked as a romantic prospect and viewed instead as a supportive caretaker to the club and its patrons. Enter Dennis Martin, a dominant yet tender millionaire recently arrived from Seattle. As he and April fall into a searing game of erotic give-and-take, April must confront what it takes to trust somebody and learn to prioritize her own needs. Aimes nimbly explores the labyrinthine balance of sex, consent, dysphoria, and trauma without ever sacrificing the story’s incredible heat. The narrative excels when it zooms in on the characters and their dynamic as they figure out how they fit together; the world outside of April’s and Dennis’s relationship can become blurry and bland when the perspective pulls out, but when it returns to the two of them, everything comes back into focus. Aimes beautifully accomplishes the feat of making the reader think while also making the reader feel in equal and abundant measure. (Sept.)