Hardwired

Award-winning teacher Clary Stone is home for the summer, helping her family and recovering from a personal tragedy. She loves her Wisconsin city on Lake Michigan, hoping to find what's left of herself in the familiar warmth and safety. At first, the city is the same, but she soon finds things have changed. Clary becomes involved in parts of the town that she's never seen or known before. The summer's odd journey leads her to the city's homeless shelter for small children.

Leefe Ellis manages the shelter and is totally unlike anyone Clary's ever met. Homeless since the age of three, Leefe reveals another side of life with remarkable courage, honesty, and humanity. Working side by side with the little children, both realize they are fellow travelers, but neither has met another person as completely different as they are from each other. It's often confusing, sometimes frightening, but always fascinating.

Brie O'Malley, successful author and college professor, isn't sure if she believes in destiny in a universe where a random act of violence extinguished her happy-ever-after. The life she had, the woman she loved, the future she was planning for, were stolen from her the day she and her lover were shot. The only survivor, Brie has recovered two years later, at least that's how it seems to others. She is dedicated to her work, volunteering in the community, and researching her next historical novel. Yet she hasn't laughed since the tragedy. Until the day she meets Jordan.

Skateboarding to show her two kids how an expert does it, Jordan Carter can't believe her bad luck when she collides with beautiful blond Brie and meets her later at the hospital. A carpenter and partner in the family business, Jordan has also struggled to pull her life together after a tragedy.

Neither woman is looking for or expects a second chance at love but each must make a decision about the past that will open a door to the future.

Renowned international news correspondent Annie T. Booker has covered Iraq for over three years when a friend and colleague is killed, and Annie is injured in Baghdad. Exhausted, she returns stateside to recover. However, life at home is not the sanctuary it has always been. Her name is on an Iraqi hit list, her partner of ten years has left, she is betrayed by a friend, and her TV network wants the FBI in her life full time. When the danger escalates, senior FBI agent Sarah Moore is assigned to her case.

Annie and Sarah struggle to stay one step ahead of disaster as Annie's life becomes the war zone she once reported on.

Green Valley, Alabama, is a quiet, close-knit community and Hazel Quinn intends to keep it that way. Her family, neighbors, and renters mean the world to her. Unfortunately, modernization is knocking on the door, and as her hometown grows from cute and quaint to up-and-coming, Hazel is constantly on the lookout for anyone who would attempt to change the slow-paced, Mayberry feel. Even if that person is an incredibly stylish and attractive blonde.

Andy Richter was just as stunned as everyone else that she inherited her great-aunt’s property in Green Valley. The small-town realty scene is exactly what she needs to escape the pressures and dirty past of defense law. She’s determined to modernize the town at a profit and put the nightmare of her last client behind her. The only thing standing in her way is Hazel Quinn.

Andy is thrilled by the newer conveniences, while Hazel feels her town slipping away. They can’t deny their attraction, but will they ever agree on the place they call home?

Drew Barker is used to having to fight for acceptance, and when they get the chance to represent non-binary people on a popular podcast, they are determined to make the most of the opportunity. They’re even more excited once they get to know the elusive host.

Hannah Carr spends her spare time focusing on her passion project. Her books podcast was a welcome distraction as she recovered from the breakdown of her marriage following becoming polyamorous. Drew gets her, and they share an extraordinary passion, but is she ready to date again?

As a queer autistic woman, Hannah knows that not everyone can be trusted to understand her. As Drew pushes her to put more of herself out there, they risk pushing her away. In a world that does not make space for either of them, they must learn that there is more than one way to have pride.

Conner Cody is poised to have it all. Whether on the big screen or a concert stage, she commands adoration, lust, and more money than she can count from millions of fans across the world. Behind the scenes, she keeps people at arm’s length, having learned her lessons from her famous parents—better to hurt them first before they can hurt her.

Her love life is as dramatic as the roles she plays, so Conner fills the void with meaningless hookups, and her infamous parties provide a facade of friendship. But when a few people begin to slip past her defenses and her estranged sister returns, happiness finally appears within reach.

But letting people in is risky and her insecurities take center stage, pushing away everyone she cares about. On the verge of destroying everything she holds dear, Conner must choose: will she stay behind her walls, safe yet alone, or will she risk it all to finally learn what it means to love?