Contemporary Books

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.

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?

Autumn Landers, a beautiful, successful business owner, thought she had life figured out until one little word, cancer, changed everything. When Caroline Cross answers Autumn’s ad for a live-in caregiver, Autumn is instantly drawn to her. But Caroline has suffered her own losses and isn’t about to risk her heart. Autumn knows the odds are against her. But for the first time in her life she is going to do things her way. The first thing on her bucket list? Falling in love.

Autumn and Caroline question the fairness of life, the cruelty of loss, and what it means to love as they navigate the complicated minefield of relationships, grief, and life-altering illness.

Praise from Publishers Weekly: "This optimistic lesbian love story showcases the power of vulnerability and accepting the care of others...Though Autumn’s illness is central to the story, Ford doesn’t allow it to overpower...The love story is mellow and mature, with the slightly older heroines bringing refreshingly level heads to their relationship."

In the midst of tragedy, can these first responders find love and healing? Three stories of courage, bravery, and passion.

In Rescued, firefighter Britt Everett’s job is to protect life and property. On her scenes, once a victim gets out, they don’t go back in. But when Claire Willows’s dog is trapped inside her burning apartment, Claire wants him rescued at any cost.

In Pushed, Nicole Klein thought she’d moved out of her comfort zone by attending a popular music festival, until a man plows his vehicle into the crowd right in front of her. Police officer Traci Sam is there to help Nicole tend to the victims, but how will they deal with the aftermath?

In Healed, after being seriously injured in an act of violence at a music festival, paramedic Jenna Teele returns to work alongside her EMS partner and best friend, Candace Cooper. Will discovering Candace’s feelings run deeper than friendship help them both heal from the tragedy?

Callie Anderson’s in over her head, but she’ll be damned if she’ll give up. A young widow with a ten-year-old daughter, Callie’s determined to keep her farm at any cost, even if that means going up against the Krugers from next door who are determined to snatch her land. Callie needs to learn how to take care of her cattle and undo all the problems the Krugers have caused before it’s too late, and there’s no one more qualified to help than veterinarian Dr. Lauren Cornish. If only Lauren understood that Callie’s still the one in charge.

Recently divorced and rejected by her teenage children, Lauren’s emotionally lost and has no patience for a woman who isn’t ready to be a farmer. She’s determined to keep her heart safe this time, no matter how intriguing Callie might be. When a string of perilous accidents threatens their safety and livelihood, neither can resist their heart’s desire. Danger is looming, but falling in love may be the scariest thing of all.

Charley Owens is content with her life. She has her super-organized job, her super-clean apartment, her long-time friends, and her cats. That’s all she needs after the crumbling of her twenty-five-year relationship, even if her friends keep trying to set her up with someone new. But when she meets the handsome and aloof Joanna, she’s forced to reevaluate what it is she wants, and maybe what’s been missing...

Everything seems to be going well until Charley’s ex-wife, Tricia, calls with devastating news and Charley’s hope for a quiet life is overturned. While trying to take care of Tricia, Charley is determined to get Joanna to take a chance on her. But is she ready to take one herself?

Between ruling the night shift in the ER at the Rivers and raising her teenage daughter, Blaise Richeilieu has all the drama she needs in her life. When a dashing young attending appears on the scene and relentlessly pursues her, Blaise has plenty of reasons to say no—or at least she tells herself she does, despite Grady’s nearly irresistible charm. Even if Blaise had the slightest desire to play Grady’s game, the past she’s kept hidden from everyone is a secret she intends to keep buried. What Blaise doesn’t know is the barriers she constructs make Grady even more determined to find a way through them.

Olivia Savage is newly divorced and embarking on the not-so-easy task of getting into shape. One morning, after struggling to run up a mountain trail, she meets Eve Monroe who stirs her in ways she doesn’t understand.

Eve helps women achieve the physical fitness they yearn for, but when it comes to her love life, she buries her own yearnings and only dates casually. All that changes the day she meets the beautiful and sheltered Olivia. Eve is surprisingly smitten, and she soon finds that her desire to help is quickly overshadowed by her desire to make love.

When Olivia hires Eve as her trainer, their attempts at controlling their attraction are no match for their unbridled passion. But it’s the deeper, more poignant feelings neither of them can ignore that have Olivia and Eve questioning everything they’ve ever known about love.

Clementine Fitzroy, Duchess of Rosebrook, doesn’t trust dreamers. After her grandmother and famous social reformer blew the family fortune on her dream of creating a new kind of community, the family land was sold off and their coffers drained. Clementine grew up watching her mother struggle and now lives in the small gatehouse behind her former family home.

Evan Fox has a dream that could change the world and save the planet. As CEO of her family toy company, she creates fuel for the imagination. When the Rosebrook estate comes up for sale, Evan jumps at the chance to make her vision of a utopian eco community come to life.

Clementine is wary of the good-looking newcomer, but Evan is determined to win over the beautiful duchess and prove that sometimes dreams really do come true.

When she’s passed over for the role of a lifetime, Hollywood actress Gwendolyn Carter is absolutely crushed. That’s when things go from bad to worse. Home to celebrate her dad’s birthday, Gwen discovers her mom is sick and might not have much time left. She stays to help and to repair the emotional rift that has kept them apart for so long. That’s easier said than done, though, because oh-so-perfect Lila Machowicz has all but replaced Gwen as Carol Carter's surrogate daughter.

Gwen and Lila are forced to work together to support the woman they both care about, even though they’re rivals for a place in Carol’s life. The last thing either expects is an attraction as undeniable as it is inconvenient. When Lila helps Gwen rebuild trust with her mom, Gwen’s heart begins to thaw. But every family has a closet full of skeletons, and when she discovers the family secret, will she ever be able to trust Lila again?

Have you ever met someone and felt like you’ve known them in a thousand different lifetimes?

Lindsay Hall was a high school senior when she and her friend Patty discovered peach schnapps, listened to a past-life hypnosis CD, and got an up-close look at who she once was. And who she used to love. The knowledge of her past life has always haunted Lindsay. As her ex is happy to point out, it’s gotten in the way of her relationships too. Even her teenage daughter has politely suggested that she “get the eff over it.” Except she didn’t say eff.

Ren Christopher just wants a quick break before she starts a new job in Paris. She’s just extracted herself from a not-brief-enough, drama-filled relationship. A few weeks relaxing and hanging with her old college friend Deb is just what the doctor ordered. No pressure, no expectations, and absolutely no drama.

Everything is perfect until Lindsay faints at the sight of Ren.

Music producer, Mason Liner, has one passion: the acts she can bring to the top of the charts. When the biggest record label in Nashville hands her a new client, country music royalty, Sophie Roddy, Mason’s reluctant to take on a problem diva whose excessive lifestyle almost ruined her career, but can't turn down the challenge.

Victoria Roddy has lived in Sophie Roddy’s shadow for as long as she can remember. Being her mother's assistant is more than a job description...it’s her life. Now arrogant and aggravating Mason thinks she can turn Sophie’s career around, but Victoria doesn’t believe Mason’s ridiculous demands and exhaustive schedule are what her mother needs right now.

Mason and Victoria have to work together, so it’s really too bad they can’t stand each other, and even worse that they can’t seem to deny their attraction.

Charlie Stetko had a life to envy. A penthouse in Manhattan, a beautiful girlfriend, and a high-octane marketing career. Or so she thought. When her girlfriend sends her packing, Charlie ends up unemployed. Without a place to live or money of her own, she’s forced to do the one thing she vowed she never would: go back to Shaker Falls, Vermont. Back to her parents and back to the small town life—and the people—she left behind. Back to a part-time job in the new bakery in town.

Emma Grier thought Charlie was the love of her life until that uppity Manhattan entrepreneur swept Charlie off her feet. Charlie left everything in Shaker Falls behind, including Emma’s shattered heart. But Emma picked herself back up and now owns a popular restaurant in town. As for her love life? She doesn’t need one. Something else she doesn’t need? Charlie waltzing into her restaurant to sell her the bakery’s pie.

Praise from Publishers Weekly: "Beers whips up a sweet lesbian romance...brimming with mouthwatering descriptions of foodie indulgences....Both women are well-intentioned and endearing, and it’s easy to root for their inevitable reconciliation. But once the couple rediscover their natural ease with one another, Beers throws a challenging emotional hurdle in their path, forcing them to fight through tragedy to earn their happy ending."

When rancher Bobbie Del Rey walks into the veterinarian’s office with an injured pup, the last person she expects to see is the one woman she’s never allowed herself to love. The only thing more dangerous than the storm raging outside is the tempest in her heart.

Veterinarian Grace Hammond is looking for a fresh start. Haunted by her past, she hopes moving back to her hometown will help her find the strength to stand up for what she needs in matters of the heart. The moment her first love, Bobbie Del Rey, walks into her clinic—tall, dark, and soaking wet—the boundaries Grace desperately needs become paper thin.

Can the heartbreaks of the past ever truly be mended?

Julia Pierce can think of nothing more humiliating than her wife of eight years leaving her for her personal trainer. Oh, wait. She can. Without a career or a place to go when that exact thing happens, she’s forced to move home and take a job at her family’s winery.

Taylor Winslow has been in love with Julia since tenth grade. Not the desperate, pining sort, but the kind that never really went away. When Julia reappears, Taylor has a chance to finally win her heart. The only problem? Julia’s hell-bent on making up for lost time by dating every eligible lesbian in town.

Signing on as Julia’s wingman may land Taylor in the friend zone for good, but it’s a gamble she’s willing to take. With Taylor in her corner, will Julia find love, and herself, where she least expects it?

"The romance is satisfying and full-bodied, with each character learning how to achieve her own goals and still be part of a couple. A heartwarming story of two lovers learning to move past their fears and commit to a shared future."–Kirkus Reviews
 
"[A] sex-positive, body-positive love story. With its warm atmosphere and sweet characters, The Last Place You Look is a fluffy LGBTQ+ romance about finding a second chance at love where you least expect it."–Foreword Reviews

Allison McDonald has a thriving massage practice and a spot on the local roller derby team. When an amazing woman swipes right on her dating profile, life couldn’t be more perfect. Perfection turns out to be illusion when she finds out she’s been catfished by someone using the photo of the actress, Geena. Determined to protect others from heartbreak, she contacts the dating site and Geena about the fraud.

Virginia Harris’s fans know her as “Geena,” the lesbian star of a popular web series. Playing the role of Geena, and protecting her identity, is Virginia’s latest way of keeping real life—and real love—at arm’s length. Until the woman of her dreams walks into her life. But is it Geena she’s really interested in?

Their attraction is immediate, but when Allison looks at Virginia, she struggles not to see the woman she thought she was in love with. As the lines between fantasy and reality blur, will they know the real thing?

Fate will find a way to intervene when it’s least expected.

Jax Levine and Gretchen Mills fell madly in love in college and never looked back. They built a great life together, but careers, a baby, and years of mounting tension later, they are living separate lives and their once grand love is forgotten.

After an accident, Gretchen suffers a brain injury that erases years of her memories. She wakes in the hospital with Jax at her side and everything seems normal…except Jax won’t look her in the eye and their baby boy is now a rambunctious toddler. Every line drawn between Jax and Gretchen starts to blur while Gretchen fights to figure out which of her most haunting recollections are real, and which are fake.

Is it possible for this accident to be the second chance neither Jax nor Gretchen knew they wanted?

One dark summer night, Beth and Jackie go out to the canoe dock.

Two years later, Beth is still carrying the weight of the secrets they shared, and the truth about what happened to Jackie.

At seventeen, she’s living alone in her father’s apartment, popping sedatives to squash the nightmares, and trudging to therapy with the indomitable Dr. Sullivan so that she can get into the bridge program that will let her start her life over. But the harder Beth tries to outrun her past—including her fraught family relationships—the more entrenched in memories she becomes.

As her life starts to spin out of control and Dr. Sullivan begins to succumb to her own demons, Beth is in danger of losing herself in the black waters of her own mind.