Death Overdue

By David S. Pederson

A Detective Heath Barrington Mystery | Book 5
Friends & Community
Children / Families

I know what you are. Five words scrawled on a note, and Heath knew his life was now in jeopardy. He had no choice but to confront the blackmailer and find out what proof he had. But what then? Pay up and risk demands for future payments? Or not give in and throw his life away?

The decision’s made for him when the blackmailer turns up dead. Is Heath a murderer? Even he isn’t sure, thanks to several double martinis. Other suspects include a voluptuous neighbor, a smarmy grocer, a ruthless gangster, Heath’s cousin Liz, who was once married to the blackmailer, and Miss Caldwell, a wily librarian who has eyes for the blackmailer’s current wife, Alice. Heath tries to read between the lines to solve the case of a death overdue before he’s arrested for the crime.

 

Praise from Mystery Scene: "Pederson successfully evokes and shrewdly capitalizes upon the time in which his mystery takes place, using the era’s prejudices and politics to heighten the story’s stakes and more thoroughly invest readers in its outcome. Plausible suspects, persuasive red herrings, and cleverly placed clues keep the pages frantically flipping until the book’s gratifying close."

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Entangled

By Melissa Brayden

A Tangle Valley Romance | Book 1

Josephine Wilder’s torrid love affair is with Tangle Valley Vineyard, her family’s legacy. She’s grown up dreaming between the vines. She’s always had secret ideas about how to make the place shine, so when it passes to her, Joey vows to make Tangle Valley everything she knows it can be. Her biggest obstacle? That overly commercial hotel going up, and the uppity manager trying to kill the vineyard’s rustic charm.

Becca Crawford loves to unwind with a good glass of wine. An astute business woman who has climbed the hospitality ladder, she’s the perfect person to head up Elite Resorts’ newest property, The Jade Hotel, and give tourists all the luxury they desire. As a bonus, The Jade is not far from the cutest vineyard with the best pinot she’s ever tasted. If only the captivating owner would get on board with her plan and stop badmouthing the hotel to everyone in town.

Is it possible that a nice glass of red could help Becca and Joey see each other in a new and alluring light?

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First Do No Harm

By Emily Smith

Physician assistant Pierce Parker wants nothing more than to find true love, but after a series of heartbreaks and lackluster first dates, she’s beginning to question if such a thing even exists. That is, until she begins working with Dr. Cassidy Sullivan, a new emergency medicine resident. Their chemistry makes Pierce start to believe all her dreams will come true, but a secret from Cassidy’s past may end the fairy tale before it gets to happily ever after. For Pierce and Cassidy, the risk of heartbreak may be too high a price for the chance at love.

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Kiss Me Every Day

By Dena Blake

Time Travel

Wynn Jamison is turning thirty. Her career has made her rich, but her love life is sorely lacking. She’s okay with that until she spends her birthday dinner with the woman who could’ve changed it all. There’s only one problem. She’s married to Wynn’s sister.

Carly Evans is tired of her wife ignoring her needs to put her career first. Family has always been important to her, and Jordan just doesn’t seem to care.

A freak thunderstorm rages during the night, and Wynn finds herself catapulted back in time to the day she made the worst decision of her life—stepping aside to let her sister romance Carly. Reliving the day over and over again, Wynn must decide what is most important: success, loyalty, or love. Given a second chance at happiness, will she take the opportunity and change her destiny?

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Olivia

By Genevieve McCluer

How does a centuries-old vampire suffering from severe PTSD take her parrot to the vet? With Olivia’s intense fear of humans, what sounds like the start of a joke is instead the start of therapy. Only when she has help can her parrot receive his.

Veterinarian Mia Sun knows all about being damaged, and she and Olivia slowly build a friendship that develops into something a lot more intriguing. When a figure from Olivia’s past surfaces, hell-bent on ruining any happiness she’s managing to find, Olivia must fight back if she wants to forge a new life with Mia. Will she be strong enough to face her own worst fears for love?

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One Woman's Treasure

By Jean Copeland

After Daphne accidentally “steals” a family heirloom from Nina’s front lawn thinking it’s junk left for trash pickup, she learns she’s wanted by the police for questioning. Once the dust settles, Daphne and Nina form a friendship inspired by their mutual love for antiquing and a desire for a fresh start in their lives.

As they grow closer, their attraction moves way beyond friends. But who will be brave enough to confess her feelings first? Daphne, the self-conscious procrastinator who’s working hard to get her new business off the ground, or Nina, the newly-out mom whose priority is creating a stable life for her son? Before they can take a chance on becoming lovers, they’ll have to decide if love is worth the risk.

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Silver Ravens

By Jane Fletcher

Magic
Holidays |
International Setting

The Celts knew it as Annwyn, the Otherworld—certainly not a destination IT professional Lori Cooper anticipates when distracting herself with a magazine puzzle page in the dentist’s waiting room. Clues buried in the answers lead her to Tamsin, who claims to command a band of warriors for the queen of the fay. From this, Lori concludes that Tamsin is both insane and dangerous. She’s also quite worryingly attractive.

However, Lori’s own sanity becomes a bigger concern when she finds herself held captive in a strange world with yet more puzzles to solve. She must pick her way through layers of illusion and deceit. Nothing and nobody, including Tamsin, is quite as they seem. Who can Lori trust? She will need to uncover the full truth if she is to return home, mind and body intact.

 

Praise from Publishers Weekly: "Fletcher serves up tasty, trope-filled political intrigue with a side of wholesome lesbian love...Fletcher succeeds in crafting a gentle, fanciful lesbian love story about questioning cultural bias."

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Still Not Over You

By Jenny Frame and Others

Reunion Romance
Lawyers

Old flames die hard in these tales of a second chance at love with the ex you’re still not over. Stories by award winning authors Jenny Frame, Carsen Taite, and Ali Vali.

In My Forever Girl by Jenny Frame, when tragedy tore their family apart, Brayden and Faith’s marriage ended in divorce. Four years later, they’re thrown together on a cruise by their friends. Can the spark that refused to die reignite the fire of their love?

In Double Jeopardy by Carsen Taite, Katie James didn’t plan on being a runaway bride. Twice. But when the gorgeous, accomplished, former love of her life, Emma Reed, reappears in her life the week of her wedding, will Katie risk everything for another chance with the woman who might be her soul mate?

In On the Rocks by Ali Vali, whiskey distiller Preston Maxwell still has no idea why her college sweetheart, Hayley Wyatt, disappeared from her life right after collecting her diploma. But when Hayley shows up to work on the advertising campaign that will take her business to the next level, Preston isn’t letting her get away a second time.

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Storm Lines

By Jessica L. Webb

Bodyguard/Protection Romances
First Responders
Police / Cops
Women in Uniform
Children / Families

Constable Bridget “Marley” Marlowe is always doing the wrong thing for the right reason. This time she’s skating the line of police procedure by protecting a young girl caught up in her father’s designer street drug ring. But when Marley gets injured, she needs help from someone she can trust.

Dr. Devon Wolfe is a burned out psychologist on leave from her job in a busy hospital trauma unit. When Devon meets the injured Marley, she doesn’t know what to make of the bright and beautiful—and occasionally rogue—cop. Devon decides to help Marley and gets mixed up in the world of addictive street drugs, a young girl who knows something but won’t speak, and the uncertainty of knowing right from wrong. All Devon knows is she and Marley are in this together.

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The Politics of Love

By Jen Jensen

Coming Out
New York City
Age Gap
Lawyers

Is it possible to love across the political divide?

Shelley Whitmore is a successful attorney, working on behalf of her Evangelical parents’ faith-based organization, championing conservative values of individual liberty and limited government. Everything’s totally fine, except that it really isn’t. Shelley manages depression and crippling anxiety because of the secret she can never reveal: she’s gay.

Rand Thomas is a psychotherapist, transgender rights activist, and political liberal. Widowed and struggling with her wife's toxic parents, Rand isn’t going to allow herself to love again.

When Shelley and Rand meet in Manhattan, neither one expects to find that the other is exactly who they need.

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All the Paths to You

By Morgan Lee Miller

Second Chance at Love
Reunion Romance
California
Big City
Sports

Swimmer Quinn Hughes has given up a lot in order to be an Olympian: her social life, her love life, and everything that comes with being a normal twenty-three-year-old. Just days away from competing in the Tokyo Games, Quinn runs into her childhood best friend and high school sweetheart, Kennedy Reed. Five years earlier, they’d made a pact that they would try again if their paths ever crossed, and now she can’t shake the feeling that this is a sign.

But Kennedy has a whole life in New York City, and Quinn’s at the opposite end of the country in San Francisco, struggling to redefine who she’ll be after the Olympics. Feeling lonely and lost from everything she’s given up, Quinn finds comfort in reconnecting with Kennedy, and they both discover that time and distance have only fueled their passion. As Quinn comes to terms with herself and what the future holds, she’s sure of only one thing: she’s not letting the only girl she’s ever loved get away for the second time.

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Arrested Pleasures

By Nanisi Barrett D'Arnuk

BDSM
International Setting
Multicultural 

Travel writer Katherine Lowe falls asleep on a train and awakens on the border of Rebinia, well past her transfer stop. When she reaches for her passport, her luggage and her documents are missing. She seeks help from the authorities, but first she’s told the U.S. has no record of her identity, and then her backpack is found filled with illegal drugs.

Facing a twenty-three-year prison sentence, Katherine fears the worst until beautiful attorney Jocelyn Buza is assigned her case. As they work to prove her innocence, Katherine discovers that the erotic secrets hidden in Jocelyn’s mansion ignite her desire for submission.

But not everything is as it seems, and when the truth of the case is revealed, will their bond survive?

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Bonded Love

By Renee Roman

Virgins/First Love
Actors/Artists
Blue Collar
Financial gap/Class disparity
Medical Romance

Master carpenter Blaze Carter has upheld her family legacy for honesty and excellence and honed a reputation to match. Her greatest desire is to pass her knowledge on to her children. All she has to do is find her perfect partner who wants the same things—a full life and a family of their own.

Trinity Greene grew up poor and has risen above the stigma of believing she’ll never amount to anything. She’s worked hard and is well on her way to becoming head nurse in the ED. Her dream is within reach and the last thing she needs is an oh-so-attractive distraction.

When a devastating injury threatens to derail her future, Blaze struggles with the possibility of giving up on her dream. Trinity knows all too well the odds are against Blaze but isn’t willing to let her stop believing. Not when she’s beginning to care for Blaze’s heart as well as her recovery. Together, they must decide if love and a future is a possibility worth fighting for.

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Convergence

By Jane C. Esther

Second Chance at Love
The Portal | Book 2
Other Worlds

After surviving a harrowing explosion in Seneca Lake, Olivia Ando and Aerin McLeary return to Indiana with more questions than answers. While Olivia revels in their newfound love, finally having everything she’s wanted since high school, Aerin begins to build a life for herself outside of her small hometown.

But all is not as it seems.

By chance, Olivia discovers that Aerin has plans for a machine that will open the portal in the lake and channel alien energy to Earth, a revelation that exposes an even greater and unforgivable betrayal. With the world on the precipice of a monumental invasion, Olivia must choose between protecting her heart and trusting that Aerin has lied for a greater good. With life as they know it at stake, will their love survive the inception of a new world?

The sequel to Uninvited 

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Coyote Blues

By Karen F. Williams

Marriage of Convenience/Fake Relationship
Holidays |
Virgins/First Love
New York City
Second Chance at Love
Shifters
Psychological Thriller
Animals 
Financial gap/Class disparity
Small Town Romances
Children / Families

Riley Dawson is a psychotherapist with a lycanthropic affliction. She’s a werecoyote to be precise.

A foundling adopted by wealthy parents, Riley led a privileged life until she fell in love with Fiona Bell, an evangelical preacher’s daughter. Raging hormones, the full moon, and the pull of Fiona Bell on her teenage heartstrings triggered her first transformation. Unfortunately, her parents witnessed the change and sent her off to college with a trust fund and an agreement never to return home.

Twenty years later, Riley shares a lucrative therapy practice with Dr. Margaret Spencer. Margaret, her wife, and her gay brother-in-law are the only ones who know Riley’s secret. Afraid of risking exposure, Riley restricts her love life to online hookups. But when a family is referred for treatment and Fiona Bell comes back into her life, all the rules of the client-therapist relationship are tested and Riley’s world is turned upside down.

 

Praise from Publishers Weekly: "Injustice and self-acceptance drive this excellent paranormal lesbian romance...[Williams] manages to tug at the heartstrings without being preachy...Grounded in kindness, queerness, and just a hint of magic, this is sure to satisfy."

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Drawn

By Carsen Taite

Big City
Actors/Artists
Police / Cops

Urban artist Riley Flynn spends her days wandering the streets of Dallas, sketching the city she loves. Then dead bodies start showing up in the exact locations she was sketching, and the police arrive on her doorstep. With every reason in the world to distrust the law, she’s reluctant to help the striking detective assigned to the case, especially after the cops start treating her like a suspect. As the stakes get deadlier, Riley’s instinct for self-protection wars with civic duty and unexpected attraction.

Detective Claire Hanlon is all about the facts, all about the law, and all about climbing the Dallas PD ladder. Her career advancement hinges on capturing the killer terrorizing the city, and the only thing in her way is the incredibly stubborn, incredibly beautiful person of interest, Riley Flynn, who is also incredibly off limits. Because she might be guilty of murder.

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Every Summer Day

By Lee Patton

Friends & Community

Determined to record every summer day, young history teacher Luke Devlin starts school vacation imagining he’ll describe backcountry adventures in the Rockies and sun-splashed days home in Denver. But all too soon the season veers into crisis, when his older brother faces life-threatening illness and Luke becomes entangled in a love affair that’s as fast-moving and possibly as fatal as his brother’s diagnosis.

As Luke manages the household for his absent parents and struggles with the constant pressure of his unfinished master’s deadline, his fling with a Wyoming rancher grows serious just as his brother’s crisis overwhelms him. Luke’s love of his native ground and his search for romance collide with the hard realities of mortality and loss during an unexpected summer.

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Lucky

By Kris Bryant

Enemies to Lovers Romance
Financial gap/Class disparity

Winning the lottery is the best thing that’s ever happened to Serena Evans. Gone are the days of living paycheck to paycheck. On her own and fully funded, Serena’s excited to open Pet Posh Inn. She can’t imagine a more fulfilling dream than caring for and being surrounded by animals.

Gabrielle Barnes can’t understand why anyone would dump millions of dollars into a pet daycare, but if she wants to prove herself worthy of a partner position at Arnest & Max Architecture, she’s going to have paste on a smile while designing the ridiculous waste of space.

Serena’s kindness and big heart draw Gabrielle in, but her stubbornness drives a wedge between them. As the design builds, so does their attraction.

Was Serena’s luck really about money, or is she about to get lucky in love?

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