The Orchid and the Lion by Gabriel Hargrave

Dorian Vidales left his cushy but constrictive life on Earth behind to become the star femme Dom at a space station brothel. Convinced that love makes people stupid and will ruin everything he’s worked so hard for, Dorian remains happily married to his career. But when Laith Ritter, a gorgeous trans man, is hired at the brothel and Dorian gets roped into training him as a sub, he’ll find it hard to follow his own “don’t get attached” rule. At first, having a bratty, inexperienced live-in sub is more chaos than he expects, but it soon becomes everything he could never admit he needed. As he trains Laith, Laith helps Dorian find himself outside of his high-strung, overly controlled work persona. With their relationship growing more and more serious, Dorian realizes this is what was missing in his otherwise glamorous life. But amidst the glitz and glamour of the space station—a haven for people otherwise disenfranchised by Earth’s Purity Laws—trouble is brewing. When a pro-Purity politician gains power and begins pushing her political agenda, Dorian and the man he’s falling in love with will be thrust into a dangerous fight to keep the station free. The trials they face will test their burgeoning romance and change their lives forever. The Orchid and the Lion is the first novel in a kinky, sensual series about love, self-acceptance, and fighting for what you believe in.

Adult • Science Fiction/Soft SF • Science Fiction/Romance • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+/Own Voices • Romance/Erotica • Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense/Amateur Sleuths

Content Warning: This book is sexually explicit, and contains profanity, kinks, and fetishes that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Some of these characters use drugs and/or alcohol, and a major character suffers from PTSD. The following content may also be upsetting to some readers: transphobia, homophobia, whorephobia, brief violence, death, mentions of suicide, and off-page sexual assault. I tried to approach each of these topics with respect and use them only as the story required them.