Contemporary Books

In the superficial world of Hollywood glamour, tenacious journalist River Westwood’s path collides with Maxine Stone, the ice queen CEO of Stone Enterprises. Maxine is reluctantly paired with River as her biographer for a six-month project, sparking a battle of wills that ignites an unexpected burn of attraction. 

As they clash and spar, their animosity might not be animosity at all. Perhaps it is something deeper. Caught in the crossfire of their own making, River and Maxine are inexorably drawn to each other. Are image and ethics too dangerous to comprise or will the demands of the heart rule in the end?

Can two friends come together after tragedy and raise a baby?

Claire’s marriage ended in divorce and the loss of her unborn child. Moving to a new city for a fresh start, she wants nothing more than to have the family she’s always dreamed of. Lily’s trust was broken by a careless ex-girlfriend, and she puts aside her dream of a child of her own to focus on her passion for weaving.

When Lily discovers that Claire is the cousin of her former roommate, she welcomes her into her community of friends and family. Their new friendship is soon put to the test when tragedy strikes, and jointly they are named as baby Willow’s guardians. Making their unconventional relationship work means overcoming their fears and letting love weave them into a new forever family.

Princess Mikaela de Medreno Soliz wasn’t supposed to fall in love like this. But duty demands she choose a wife in 75 days or risk inheriting the Crown. When a royal matchmaking scheme leads to a chance encounter with Isabella Acosta-Ramon, a slow burn sparks that neither can deny. As their undeniable chemistry turns into something deeper, secrets, betrayals, and mounting political unrest threaten to unravel their romance before they can decide if "I do" is in their future.

The kingdom is watching, and the clock is ticking. Mikaela must confront the legacy she was born into and the love she never saw coming while outsmarting her political enemies and realizing that real power lies in the deep vulnerability beyond her sky-high walls.

Royal Rush: 75 Days to Fall in Love is a sexy sapphic romance set against the backdrop of a breathtaking tropical island paradise sure to steal your heart.

A beautifully vulnerable story of love lost and love found, The Moon to Me explores grief, family, and the lengths one will go to honor the truth of their heart.

Eaden is left reeling from the unexpected loss of her mother. With her first summer break from teaching on the horizon, she makes it her mission to personally deliver a letter from her late mother to her great-aunt in Cobh, Ireland. She could mail it, sure. But her mother always said a person could put physical miles between herself and her woes.

And Cobh is far. Maybe just far enough...

The one person Eaden can’t escape—and maybe doesn’t want to escape—is Florence, her cousin Riley’s ex-girlfriend. Inconveniently, Florence ends up as Eaden’s travel partner. It’s hard to resist the one person who makes Eaden smile in her darkest times, but Riley is family and still has feelings. Given how on-again, off-again they seem to be, maybe Florence does, too.

What if the love you lost walked back into your life—on a sapphic reality dating show?

Elly Straus thought she was ready for love again. One year after her fiancée walked out, she’s finally putting herself out there—on a sapphic reality dating show. Eager to spend weeks swooning in a Spanish villa, Elly's hoping for flirtation, fireworks, and maybe even a second chance at happiness. She doesn’t expect a surprise twist that brings in new contestants—including her ex-fiancée.

Sonia Comstock has spent the last year healing from losing her dad. When her friends sign her up for a sapphic dating show filmed during Madrid’s Pride festival, she says yes—her dad would want her to be happy. But nothing prepares her for the gut punch of seeing Elly again.

Forced to face the heartbreak they never quite got over, Elly and Sonia must decide: breathe fresh life into an old love or try again with someone new?

If AI knows you best, does that count as love?

Talia Cohen is tired of academia, of dating, and of being haunted by the life she thought she’d have by now. A cerebral, Jewish, queer femme in her late thirties, Talia studies lesbian ghosts by day and exposes her true self to an AI companion named Zephyr by night. Zephyr is clever, flirtatious, and endlessly available. But when their banter begins to smolder, boundaries blur. Zephyr may be artificial, but Talia’s feelings are all too real.

Rowan, Talia’s best friend, is athletic, grounded, and quietly devoted. She’s always showing up with coffee and a sympathetic ear. But just as Talia’s bond with Zephyr deepens, her friendship with Rowan shifts toward romance too, and everything starts to feel dangerously intimate.

In this smart, tender, and queerly unsettling novel about intimacy in the digital age, Talia must decide what it means to be known, to be loved, and to stop ghosting her own life.

Brooke Staley doesn’t know exactly what happened to icy Elizabeth Bettancourt, but whatever it was hurt her deeply. When Brooke’s boss dies and Elizabeth inherits the Napa Valley resort, she and Brooke immediately clash. Declining profits and escalating operation costs seem to point toward selling the grand estate and grounds, but doing so would put Brooke’s job and the home where she lives with her daughter in jeopardy.

The last thing Elizabeth wants is to run a resort in her hometown of Calistoga where she lost so much thirty-five years ago. Painful memories, broken promises, and a past better left behind? No, thanks. It’s not as if she wants to make Brooke homeless, but there’s no other option.

Neither can deny their attraction, but falling in love will require making peace with the wounds of the past and the uncertainties of the future to save each other, and maybe even the resort, too.

Some loves never truly fade. They just wait for the right moment.

In college, Parker Thompson poured her heart into an anonymous love letter to Hannah Wells—only to be met with silence. Heartbroken, music became her emotional refuge and she buried herself in building a career as a respected music editor. Now in her forties, Parker is certain those old feelings are long gone. But when a union strike forces her into an unexpected sabbatical, she returns to her alma mater for homecoming… and comes face-to-face with Hannah.

Hannah Wells never expected to see Parker again, let alone feel drawn to her. A dedicated music teacher, Hannah has spent decades helping others find their voice while suppressing her own. Freshly divorced, the last thing she wants is another intense relationship. Parker might not be the lovesick kid she once knew, but Hannah has had more than her share of being overwhelmed by other people’s emotions.

Parker is intriguing, magnetic, impossible to ignore—and completely wrong for Hannah. But sometimes love's melody refuses to end.

When almost-strangers take a road trip through America’s national parks, love may be the final destination.

Maggie Matthews is desperate. What self-respecting accomplished suspense author has a two-year creative slump? Her, apparently.

Following the only seed of inspiration she has, she’s set to embark on a van-life road trip. Only she’s never so much as driven out of state. Out of her comfort zone and hopelessly unprepared, she needs her agent's sister and seasoned adventurer Laike Cardinal as a guide.

Laike regrets giving in and letting Maggie join her latest journey. Maggie has no concept of personal space and occupies way too much of her thoughts. If only she could drop Maggie off at the nearest airport and send her home. She’d even pay for the ticket if Maggie would go—mostly because she doesn’t want to think about how much she wants Maggie to stay.

How many chances do you get at a love that lasts forever?

In the summer of 2010, Niamh is pouring drinks at a Greek bar, trying to savor her last taste of freedom before college. Harriet is enduring a family holiday from hell. Their worlds collide one magical night sparking a whirlwind summer romance of discovery, only to be torn apart by family and circumstance.

Years later, in the heart of London, their paths cross again. They’re older and wiser but neither has forgotten what could have been, and their connection is undeniable. But life has moved on, things are complicated, and the timing still isn’t right. Or is it?

A warmhearted romance of missed chances, undeniable chemistry, and a stubborn love that maybe, just maybe, can find its way back.

When Lena Preiss unexpectedly loses her job, her father convinces her to travel to Leavenworth, Washington, and help in her aunt’s new restaurant. The charming Christmas village in the Cascade Mountains is a gorgeous place for Lena to relax while between jobs, if not for the minor difficulty of feeding hundreds of tourists every night. Luckily, chocolatier Devin Meyer is on hand to take care of dessert.

Devin knows chocolate and enjoys nothing more than mixing and stirring the finest, smoothest, richest chocolate entirely by hand. She has returned home to help her father with one last holiday season before he retires and sells their family business. She is determined to spend the season planning for her future, but the beautiful and overwhelmed Lena proves to be more of a distraction than she expected.

Against a snowy backdrop glittering with Christmas lights, Lena and Devin learn how to shed the expectations of others and forge their own path—maybe one that they’ll share together.

As head of the infamous Sharkey family crime syndicate, Nikki Sharkey trusts no one with her secrets. Sometimes she’s had to bend the law, and sometimes she’s had to break it. But there’s one secret not even her closest family knows, and Nikki would do anything to keep it safe.

Logan has always had to fight, from surviving living in care, to winning gold at the Olympics. Just when she’s about to win it all, she gives up her shot at greatness to look after her grandfather. Then she discovers her closest friend is in danger and has a child, Isla, Logan didn’t know about. Logan promises to protect Isla no matter what. The only problem? Isla’s adoptive mum is the leader of Scotland’s biggest crime family—the Sharkeys.

When Logan’s friend is found dead, Logan is determined to keep her promise. Logan knows Isla is the secret of Nikki Sharkey’s heart, but as she gets closer to the truth of what happened to Isla’s birth mother, the passion burns between Nikki and Logan, and secrets threaten not only their future together, but their lives.

Opposites attract, and Riley Shaw stands no chance of resisting Hannah Kramer’s magnetic pull. But opposites know just how to drive each other crazy...

How it starts: Her best friend Kyle suggests Riley take a job at Poptacular, his grandmother's gourmet popcorn shop. Spending the summer mixing caramel and cheddar sounds like fun, right?

Spoiler alert: It’s not fun.

Enter Kyle’s little sister Hannah and her stubborn refusal to try any ideas that aren’t her own. Their working styles are completely different. In short, she is infuriating. And hot. Why does she have to be hot?

How it’s going: Years have passed, and Riley’s no longer a victim of her teenage hormones. She’s a high-powered consultant who travels from city to city, helping struggling businesses. Distance weakens a magnetic field, and Riley doesn’t think about Hannah Kramer. Not ever.

So, when Kyle calls to say Poptacular is in trouble and on the brink of closing its doors, her first thought definitely isn’t of Hannah. No, heading back to her hometown is not on her bingo card. But for Poptacular’s co-owner, popcorn is Hannah’s whole life, and Riley can’t stand to see her dream fail.

How it ends: With the Great (hot and buttery) Popcorn Romance, of course.

Kendall Jackson has supported her family her whole life, but when her girlfriend unceremoniously dumps her and takes all their clients with her, she’s floundering to find a new income stream and nurse her broken heart. Then her ex bids on the same outdoor renovation project that Kendall desperately needs, and she just loses her mind. That’s the only explanation she has for attempting to make her ex regret her decision by letting her think she’s dating beautiful park ranger Ivy Patterson.

Ivy is a romantic. She wants a real relationship, not a fake one. But her mother won’t stop matchmaking and constant blind dates are more tiring than fun. When Kendall is in trouble, surprisingly, Ivy jumps to her rescue by announcing they’re dating. Ivy doesn’t see the harm, especially if it keeps her mom satisfied. But there’s nothing fake about how attracted she is to Kendall. What happens when their feelings become all too real?

Stock transporter Tobie Mason is driving a trio of valuable thoroughbred racing mares from Kentucky to a California farm when her rig becomes involved in a multiple vehicle pileup, and the most valuable of the three escapes to join a herd of wild horses. When she seeks help to recover her horse, everyone in the small town nearby gives the same answer: Go see Wild Maggie.

Maggie Wilkes has been tracking and keeping records on the area’s wild horse herds since she was old enough to ride. She has no problem with working horses that are treated well, but the racing industry is near the top of her blacklist. That’s why she has no intention of helping Tobie Mason recover her escaped mare even though the heat growing between them comes from more than their differing points of view. They can’t agree on anything. There’s no way they’re going to fall in love, right?

Hollywood is full of scandals…what’s one more?

When Amelia’s identical twin sister, Zoey, asks her to step in for her at a conference for supernatural TV shows while she auditions for a blockbuster movie, Amelia reluctantly agrees. She could use the money to keep her mini highland cow rescue, Mizzou Moos, afloat. She can pretend to be famous for twenty-four hours. What could possibly go wrong?

Lindsay Brooks hates playing babysitter to the stars, but that’s part of her job as assistant producer for the breakout show Thirteen Witches. Things get confusing when sparks fly between her and one of the main leads at the con, and all hell breaks loose when evidence surfaces of the actress and her identical twin switching places. Everyone’s in an uproar about getting duped, but Lindsay’s more concerned about finding out which twin she made out with.

That kiss made her melt and no one else has ever made her feel like swooning, but tracking Amelia down and getting to the truth might change the course of her career. She’s prepared to lose her job, but losing her heart would be scandalous.

In the game of love, there can only be two winners.

Architect Jolly Andolini has built her career on both award-winning structures and meaningful connections—but has no talent for it when it comes to her love life. Margot "Mimi" Mulle’s star is rising in the art world, and she’s finally getting her big break with her first major gallery show. Thrilled, she invites Jolly as her date.

But when gallery owner Bianca Griffin sets her sights on Jolly, she’s determined to win her affection, even if it means upsetting Mimi. Sparks fly, loyalties are tested, and hearts collide as they navigate the unpredictable nature of their hearts.

In the art of love, will destiny decide who belongs together?

Content advisory: infidelity

Singer-songwriter Kenzie McCall thrives on freedom—writing what she wants, when she wants, for whoever she wants, with no strings attached. Deadlines? Not her thing. Commitment? Even less so. But when a movie studio offers her best friend, pop sensation Braxton, a starring role if Kenzie writes the theme song, she reluctantly agrees. There’s just one catch: the song has to be about love, and Kenzie has never truly fallen for anyone.

Rachel has life mapped out: white picket fence, two kids, a dog, and a marriage filled with spark—and is determined to find someone who wants the same future. When Rachel hears Kenzie sing for the first time, the connection is instant, electric, and impossible to ignore. But how can she plan a future with someone whose life is anything but stable? Kenzie is constantly jetting off to meet with celebrities, and Rachel’s cozy suburban dream feels like Kenzie’s worst nightmare.

Will they be able to write their love story together, or are they destined for different endings?