Picture Perfect

By Lisa Moreau

Rivals
Weddings
Enemies to Lovers Romance
California

Two rivals. One competition. Winner takes all.

Olive spends her days taking awkward family photos. Her dreams of being a travel photographer are thwarted by a debilitating phobia. Ready to face her fears, Olive enters the Catalina Isle of Love contest where the winner will tour the world as staff photographer for a popular travel magazine. Olive’s biggest opponent is Gabby, who wins the competition every year and has a reputation for doing anything to succeed. Gabby manages her Italian family’s chain of pizza restaurants. She’s ready to break free from her large, overbearing family and live her secret dream of being a photographer. 

For Gabby and Olive, nothing will stand in their way of winning…except maybe ve.

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Set the Stage

By Karis Walsh

Actors/Artists
Second Chance at Love
Friends to Lovers Romance

Emilie Danvers wins a place in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s company and gets a second chance to launch her acting career. She’s vowed never to repeat the mistakes she made the first time: no following her heart, no putting herself second to someone else, no relationship drama. She won’t let any woman keep her from reconnecting with her dreams.

Arden Philips has stood on the outskirts of the festival for years, tending the gardens of nearby Lithia Park. She’s seen actresses come and go and only allows herself the occasional dalliance. But when she comes across Emilie rehearsing on a mossy riverbank, Arden realizes her heart might not listen to her head.

The stage is set, the house lights dimmed. Is true love merely make-believe or can these two women write it into the script of their lives?

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Strike a Match

By Fiona Riley

A Perfect Match Novel
Children / Families
Firefighters
Big City
Financial gap/Class disparity

Every date that firefighter Sasha McCray has had in the last year has been orchestrated by matchmaker Samantha Monteiro through Perfect Match, Inc., and she still has nothing to show for it. After a series of near matches, Sasha has all but given up on finding that special spark with someone else.

Accountant by day and reluctant millionairess by night, Abby Rossmore wants nothing more than to be the normal girl she reads about in all those romance novels. But the truth is, once people find out about her family, their interest in her flares for all the wrong reasons.

When Samantha tries to help Abby and Sasha discover they have more in common than being unlucky in love, they have to decide if their shared passion will blaze on or burn out. Could they be each other’s perfect match? Or did the notorious Miss Match strike out?

 

Praise from Publishers Weekly (starred review): "Riley balances romance, wit, and story complexity in this contemporary charmer....Readers of all stripes will enjoy this lyrically phrased, deftly plotted work about opposites attracting."

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The Price of Cash

By Ashley Bartlett

Cash Braddock | Book 2
Police / Cops
Amateur Sleuths
Friends & Community
California
Good girls/Bad girls

Cash Braddock’s summer started bad and it’s getting worse. Her suppliers keep getting arrested. Her competition is poaching all her customers. Laurel isn’t who Cash thought she was. And her farm is under a microscope, which makes money laundering difficult. 

There’s a new dealer on Cash’s turf. When kids start dying from the dealer’s pills, Detective Kallen turns to Cash for answers. Turns out her reputation for selling pills doesn’t make her an expert. It makes her a suspect. Cash preferred it when she knew which cops were bad and good.

Last time, her business and reputation were on the line. Now, she’s got to worry about staying out of jail. And stay alive.

Second in the Cash Braddock series.

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Under Her Wing

By Ronica Black

Animals 

Kassandra Haden loves working with kids, her quaint condo on the golf course, and most of all, her dog, Lula. She’s happy being alone, having convinced herself that people can’t be trusted. But when Lula gets lost, Kassandra’s thrown into a different world, one that insists she come out of her shell. As allured as she is frightened, Kassandra can’t seem to stay away from the dog shelter, and the devastatingly attractive owner seems to be the cause.  

Jayden Beaumont isn’t used to taking no for an answer. Running a no kill dog shelter isn’t easy, but Jayden embraces it. She lives for her work and saves many lives in the process. But in doing so, she’s neglected her own, and it’s about to cost her big. When Kassandra walks into Jayden’s shelter, two very different personalities collide. Can either woman open and trust in order to embrace the life they could have together?

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Underwater Vibes

By Mickey Brent

Multicultural 
Food
Workplace Romance
Coming Out
International Setting
Sports
Actors/Artists
Animals 
Friends & Community

How to survive that pivotal moment when admiration turns to attraction?

Hélène Dupont, a scientific translator in Brussels, Belgium, cherishes two things: flowers and her cat. She writes bad poetry to help her survive her painful existence with her husband, until she is forced to undergo a radical lifestyle change. Sylvie Routard, a young Greek photographer, enters Hélène’s world as her new private swim coach. During their daily lessons, Hélène’s admiration toward Sylvie turns to attraction. As unsettling feelings hijack Hélène’s mind and body, daydreams featuring Sylvie enter her world—even her poems. While the two athletes increasingly feel underwater vibes in the pool, Hélène questions her relationship at home, and everything else in life.

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A Date to Die

By Anne Laughlin

Workplace Romance
Police / Cops

Kay Adler is a hardworking Chicago detective who seeks justice for the victims of murder. She has one close friend, no lovers, and a difficult family. Her life is her work. If she drinks enough on her off hours, it suits her just fine. 

When people she knows start dying, her team works to track down the killer. He’s a master of disguise and impossible to find, and she must look at uncomfortable parts of her past to find a suspect. She finds two. She’s removed from the case because of her personal involvement and is replaced by Detective Jamie Sidwell, a woman with whom she has a troubled relationship. Their uneasy alliance takes them places they never would have guessed, but their bond is tested when the killer turns his sights on Kay.

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A Guarded Heart

By Jennifer Fulton

Moon Island Series | Book 4

A bodyguard gig for a celebrity on a tropical island...there are worse ways to make a living.

As wholesome Dr. Kate in the hottest soap on daytime television, Lauren Douglas is promoted to her audience as a role model for young women. The strict morality clause in her contract is not the only reason she stays closeted. Her dad is a powerful right-wing politician, and a gay daughter won’t help his political aspirations.

Just as she is about to renew her contract, Lauren is publicly outed by an unfaithful former lover with a grudge. The story is all over the media, embarrassing her father and enraging a fan who loses his mind and shoots her.

All of which sounds like spoiled-people problems to FBI Special Agent Pat Roussel, whose hunt for the Kiddy Pageant Killer has consumed every waking moment for three years. Suffering from burnout, Pat is taking a few months’ break, working in private security. The last thing she expects is to find herself babysitting a celebrity who has been banished to a desert island by her father, while the cops hunt down the guy who wants to kill her. It’s a dirty job. 

Originally published 2005; first Bold Strokes Books edition.

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Captured Soul

By Laydin Michaels

New York City
Psychological Thriller
Second Chance at Love
Actors/Artists
Big City

Kadence Munroe heals her broken heart by painting, and she’s about to have her first big gallery show. The excitement is dampened by the fact that Sheva, the woman who destroyed her last relationship, is also showing at the gallery. Sheva’s bronze figures are amazing, so lifelike and enthralling, but something about them repels Kadence.

Gallery director Mallory Tucker is still struggling to win her mother’s approval, and this new show might just be the key. Her rocky relationship with Sheva is the only aggravation. Mallory knows she should just end it, especially as the new artist, Kadence, has sparked her interest.

Sheva knows she has a gift. It’s undeniable that her bronzes are captivating, imbued with soul. She’s found the perfect way to capture the essence of human emotion, and it’s a secret no one can ever know.

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Dawn's New Day

By TJ Thomas

Close Quarters
Second Chance at Love
Friends to Lovers Romance
California

Cam Cooper is still recovering from the loss of her lover but has not given up on the possibility of finding love again. Dawn Oliver has been stung by love in the past and avoids the potential complications of romance completely. When Cam moves in next door, Dawn is unwittingly intrigued by her new neighbor. 

Can Dawn put her past to rest and allow Cam to break down the walls around her heart?

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Definite Possibility

By Maggie Cummings

Bay West Social | Book 3
Friends & Community
New York City
Friends to Lovers Romance
Children / Families
Second Chance at Love

Sam Miller followed her heart to the West Coast. Now she’s back, she’s single, and she’s got one mission: spend as much time as possible in Bay West, her favorite all-lesbian condo development. When she meets the sexy owner of Lucy’s Coffee Bar, Sam reshuffles her priorities right on the spot. But Lucy Weston has zero time for distractions, and she’s not about to make an exception—even if Sam’s easy confidence and subtle charm get her every time.  

Meanwhile, Meg McTiernan’s finally in a steady relationship with Reina Ramirez. So why can’t she stop wondering what Sasha Michaels is up to? When a chance run-in with her ex offers a glimpse into what her life could be, Meg wonders if she will be brave enough to risk it all for the girl she’s never stopped loving.

Bay West Social: where friendship, fun, romance, and drama are always brewing.

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Eyes Like Those

By Melissa Brayden

A Seven Shores Romance | Book 1
California
Actors/Artists
Celebrity
Workplace Romance
Friends & Community

When it comes to love, no one is in charge. 

Isabel Chase is reeling. She’s just been offered her dream job as a staff writer on one of the hottest shows on television and quickly trades in the comfort of New England for sun, sand, and everything Hollywood. While stoked for what could be her big break, the show’s stunning executive producer has her head spinning and her feelings swirling. 

Taylor Andrews is at the top of her career. Everything she touches turns to gold and the studios know it. Just when she’s on track for total television domination, Isabel Chase arrives in her office and slowly turns her world upside down. Isabel is intelligent, sarcastic, and dammit, downright beautiful. Unfortunately, she’s the one person that can take away all Taylor has worked for. 

Will Isabel’s success lead to Taylor’s downfall? Or perhaps Isabel is all she needs…

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Heart's Orders

By Jaycie Morrison

The Love and Courage Series | Book 2
Financial gap/Class disparity
Women in Uniform
Coming Out
Friends to Lovers Romance
Workplace Romance
Close Quarters
Virgins/First Love
People of Color
Military
Multicultural 

Can the heart’s orders overrule the chain of command? 

September 1944. Private Helen Tucker has two goals—to drive for the Women’s Army Corps motor pool and to convince Tee Owens to be more than best friends. Helen has always done whatever it takes to survive, and she’s not good at waiting for what she wants. But Private Teresa Owens is a good Baptist girl who’s struggling with how her feelings for Helen can be wrong when she can’t bear to be without her.

Sergeant Gale Rains has learned to make her way in both the Sioux and White worlds, but will her love for Bett Smythe put her career in the WAC at risk? Private Elizabeth Smythe hopes Rain will be her future, but is she truly free from her past, including her class-conscious family?

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Hiding Out

By Kay Bigelow

Small Town Romances

Businesswoman Treat Dandridge sells her very successful business and moves to the peace and quiet of rural Vermont. There she begins falling in love with Mickey Heiden, a carpenter who, unbeknownst to Treat, is in the Witness Protection Program. Shortly after their first meeting, a threatening presence from Mickey’s past resurfaces. Despite Mickey’s efforts to protect Treat, their relationship and their lives are in danger. 

Can love survive dangers of the past?

A romantic intrigue novel.

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Omnipotence Enough

By Sophia Kell Hagin

Dystopian
Military
Children / Families
Psychological Thriller
The Jamie Gwynmorgan Series | Book 3
Political Thriller
Friends & Community
Celebrity
Homecoming

War veteran Jamie Gwynmorgan had made a sweet life for herself. Then, one morning on her way to work, she’s abducted off the street. She doesn’t know why. Or who did it. Or where she’s been taken. She can’t even measure the passage of time. 

Utterly alone, only rarely able to hear a human voice, prohibited from seeing human faces, even her own, Jamie endures in a sinister, disorienting fog that devours her memories of before and weakens her grip on sanity—until a bit of contraband darts into her imploded world with a message, and with hope.

It’s just a tiny voice recorder/player, no doubt unwillingly forsaken, but it gives Jamie the means to measure time, to remember. And if she can remember before, then maybe she can find her way home to reclaim the life and the deep, abiding love some unknown enemy has stolen from her.

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Passion Bay

By Jennifer Fulton

Moon Island Series | Book 1
Second Chance at Love

Two women from different ends of the earth discover passion in paradise—a passion threatened by secrets and impending disaster.

New Zealander Cody Stanton loses her lover of five years, and then her job. But there’s a silver lining. Someone in admin made a mistake and her severance check is $100,000 instead of $10,000. She rashly decides to take the money and run, and Moon Island seems like the perfect hideaway.

Annabel Worth has just inherited the island, a tiny women-only resort, from an eccentric aunt. She travels there determined to uncover secrets long hidden by her very proper Bostonian family, but soon finds herself distracted by an attractive guest.

Both women are burdened with secrets that could destroy the passion that ignites between them. When Hurricane Mary strikes, each must make a choice that will change her life forever. 

Originally published 1992; first Bold Strokes Books edition.

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Saving Grace

By Jennifer Fulton

Moon Island Series | Book 2

Cute, confused, self-conscious, and emotionally vulnerable. It’s almost too easy.

Scientist Grace Ramsay takes one look at the young woman limping into the villa next door and decides Dawn is just what she needs: a distraction. Tasked with evaluating Moon Island for a chemicals giant looking for a waste dump far from civilization, Grace feels increasingly uneasy about her job. She usually responds to stress by having good sex, and it sure looks like Dawn could use a confidence booster, given the scars she’s so sensitive about.

After surviving a hurricane on Moon Island a year earlier, champion swimmer Dawn Beaumont vowed she would never return. But here she is, taking refuge after a car crash that claimed the life of a teammate. Haunted by guilt and bitter over the injuries that have ended her Olympic dream, she is in no mood to be hit on by a player like Grace, who acts like she’s doing her some kind of favor.

As sparks fly between the two women, Annabel Worth, the owner of the island, refuses to sell her home to the chemicals conglomerate, but then her plane goes down in the Pacific under suspicious circumstances. 

Originally published 1993; first Bold Strokes Books edition.

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Summer's Cove

By Aurora Rey

A Cape End Romance | Book 2
Small Town Romances
Actors/Artists
Food
Provincetown
Children / Families

Emerson Lange knows that life comes with no guarantees. After her parents’ unexpected deaths, she drops out of medical school and moves to Provincetown to pursue her real passion—art. Darcy Belo is also no stranger to life’s unexpected twists and turns. She never expected to become a single mother at twenty-two, but she has no regrets over moving back home or the life she’s built with her son. 

A chance meeting at a wedding sparks an instant attraction between them, but pursuing it is not without complications. Neither woman is looking for love, but when their summer romance reveals the promise of so much more, each of them must confront their notions of love, the future, and what it means to be a family.

 

Praise from RT Book Reviews: "As expected in a small-town romance, Summer's Cove evokes a sunny, light-hearted atmosphere that matches its beach setting... Emerson's shy pursuit of Darcy is sure to endear readers... Darcy desires romance yet is unwilling to disrupt her son's life to have it, and you feel for Emerson when she endeavors to show how there's room in her heart for a family."

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