Contemporary Books

Self-made business owner Dale McGuire has always enjoyed two things in life: women and fast cars. Now in her mid thirties, she’s restless and can’t work out why. Then one day a ten-year-old boy turns up, claiming to be her son, and her simple ordered world turns upside down.
 
Rebecca Harper bears the emotional scars of her father’s crimes, and now she has two rules: never let anyone get too close, and never admit weakness. Thanks to an anonymous egg donor, infertility didn’t stop her from having her son Jake. Now pregnant for a second time, she’s horrified when Jake brings home the woman he believes is his other mother.
 
When distrust turns to understanding and passion, can Dale and Rebecca, two women bound by fate, make a family neither expected?

With the holidays over and the New Year beginning, Chloé Deveraux and Amelia Winters are finally in a position to concentrate on themselves and their new love. Chloé hopes that she and Amelia can finally stop worrying and start living.

The course of true love is never easy, however, and Chloé and Amelia struggle to keep their love strong in the face of mounting complications. Family conflict and a woman from Amelia’s past conspire to keep the two lovers apart. These problems, combined with Chloé’s desire to leave Amelia’s art dealership, may act as the ultimate blow to their tenuous romance. Can Chloé and Amelia overcome these threats, or is it time to move on?

Sequel to A Palette for Love

Jay "Flash" Reynolds has a brilliant future as a trauma surgeon until a truck on a rainy night changes her life. Assistant chief medical examiner Olivia Price is more at ease with the dead than the living—at least the dead never lie. All she needs to do is listen to their stories. What she doesn't need is a surly new resident who would rather be somewhere else.

Two women, one with a damaged body, the other a damaged spirit, challenge each other to dare to live again.

When campaign organizer Trevor Connelly comes to Indianapolis to help local advocates fight their Republican state government’s religious freedom law, she finds that’s not her only challenge. Librarian Gail Moore would rather avoid both politics and romance, but with Trevor, she finds it hard to resist either.

Can two women from different worlds overcome their misgivings and find true love?

Darcy Flynn, a former police officer in East Quay, works as a night guard and a private investigator. Framed for a bad shooting while on the force, she is set on finding out the truth about what happened.

Sabrina Hawk, a successful accountant with an impressive client list, still suffers the aftereffects from an assault during her college years. Victim-blaming on campus was bad enough, but she loathes the authorities for mistreating her.

Darcy notices Sabrina often works late, and the elegant blonde stirs her innate protectiveness. Sabrina finds herself able to relax around Darcy. A mutual attraction develops, but then Sabrina’s office is subjected to several break-ins. Wary of the police, she hires Darcy to investigate. Darcy fears Sabrina’s reaction once she learns Darcy was a cop—a cop who left the force in disgrace.

Animal rescue worker Iris Mallery thinks she has created a stable and secure home for herself, but when her small town is battered by an earthquake, Iris needs to rebuild not only her own life, but the lives of the displaced dogs and cats now filling her shelter.
 
The quake’s effects are personal for Iris, but not for seismologist Casey Radnor. Casey is a scientist above all else, logical and disconnected from the natural disasters she studies. When she rescues a stray dog from some rubble, she finds herself caught up in the lives of Iris and the others affected by the quake, despite her best efforts to remain professional.
 
The beautiful San Juan Islands in Washington State become the epicenter of both the earthquake and the collision of Iris's and Casey’s hearts. Can love bind the shattered fragments together again?

In this sequel to Escapades, Mel O’Brien has a string of bad luck with women but is determined to take another chance with Susan Maloney who’s new to the women’s community in which Mel lives. Susan Maloney moved to Maybon Tir looking for a new start after a bad breakup. She is determined to stay single and happy.
 
Things seem to be going Mel’s way until Susan’s ex, Dorinda, shows up in town, determined to take Susan back. Will Mel be able to win Susan’s heart? Or will she crash and burn once again?

Can the truth really set you free? Genevieve Applegate is tired of her stagnant life and she’s ready to make a change by going after her dream job in New Jersey. The listing seems ideal when Genevieve scans it, but a big surprise comes at her interview: Out Shore Magazine is an LGBT publication. She’s willing to work around this detail with an innocent lie, one she’ll keep from her longtime boyfriend as well as her new boss, Harper Davies. Out Shore has been Harper’s main focus since her heart was broken years ago, but Genevieve may be the one to change that with her fresh perspective and charm. While both women enjoy what they learn about each other, Genevieve is most surprised by what she learns about herself. Pretending to be a lesbian has never felt more honest.

Johnnie Hamilton has conquered a lot in life. An anxiety disorder, loss of her business, and homelessness have been difficult to overcome. But Johnnie has come through the other side to find success as an artist. Now, however, she’s lost her creative drive and she’s struggling to produce.

Elaine Taylor has an interesting job. She’s a “creative practitioner,” known to awaken her client’s creative side by using many different approaches, including a sensual or sexual approach. Most of her clients are male and she likes it that way. Women are the last thing she wants in her life, having lost the most important woman she’s ever known, her wife.

Fearing she’ll lose all she’s worked so hard for, Johnnie takes her friend’s advice and calls a lone number on a business card, steps into Elaine’s office, and shakes up both their worlds forever.

Shelly White is a coding genius who has mastered the IT world but hasn’t quite mastered dating. While she searches for Ms. Right with the help of Samantha Monteiro’s matchmaking agency, Shelly embraces her inner nerd, and when one of her newest ideas turns into a creative goldmine, she hires PR exec Claire Moseley to help her professional dreams become reality. But is Claire the girl of her dreams in more ways than one?
 
Being raised by four brothers has made Claire tenacious. Her assignment to Shelly’s high-profile project focuses her desire to prove her worth, even though she secretly fears she’s out of her depth. And she absolutely, positively isn’t going to let her growing attraction to Shelly White derail her career.
 
When passions and ambitions overlap, Shelly and Claire must decide whether mixing business and pleasure can result in a perfect match.

Sarah O’Shaughnessy, a high school counselor, is very good at taking care of others. What she hasn’t mastered is how to take better care of herself. Four years after the death of her wife, Sarah’s life has settled into a safe, solitary rut. That is, until the arrival of a new student and her mom.
 
Lauren Emerson and her teen daughter, Kat, move back to Lauren’s hometown in Central New York, fleeing her unsupportive husband and Kat’s traumatic bullying experience. Lauren is determined to create a better life for them both. She soon discovers that the compassionate Ms. O’Shaughnessy is someone in whom she can confide.
 
The newly forged friendship between Sarah and Lauren provides support and encouragement, yet neither is prepared for the undeniable attraction that ignites between them. When the future looks like nothing they had planned, will they find the courage to go where love leads?

What to do when a tiny little lie is the one thing that keeps you from winning the girl of your dreams?

Still being a virgin is Ashley’s dirty little secret. That, and the fact she’s hopelessly in love with her best friend Leah. When Leah needs help extricating herself from an awkward one-night stand, Ashley runs to the rescue. An innocent touch turns electric, and Ashley has to come clean about her charade or risk losing the woman she loves.

Trigena Gillmore is about to become a mother, but she never wanted children. Her wife, Dr. Karri Gillmore, PhD, is pregnant. Karri’s been dreaming about being a mom for as long as she can remember. Trigena is so in love with her wife, she agreed to the insemination to make Karrie happy. Trig thought she had plenty of time to get used to the idea of being a parent, but Karrie got pregnant on the first attempt. The baby is only a few months away, and Trigena’s fears run deep. The stress has made everything more difficult, and Trigena must keep it all inside. She can escape it all, but the loss might be too much.

"In this romantic journey, the main characters must find their fresh start if they are to survive the stresses and turmoil of a renewed life together....New Life is a thought-provoking story with charming main characters who seem more real because of their struggles." –Lambda Literary Review

Myra Owens runs a therapeutic riding program for returning soldiers. She won't risk getting hurt by becoming personally involved with her riders until Ainslee Harriot challenges her to take a chance on love.

Risk Factor was previously published in Sweet Hearts (Bold Strokes Books, 2015).

Princess Rozala of Denbourg enjoys her reputation as a wild child, especially when it annoys her father, the King. When Roza’s latest girlfriend brings scandal to the palace doors, her father sends her to Britain, in the hopes that time with her cousin Queen George and the new Queen Consort will finally make her face her responsibilities.

After overcoming personal demons and quitting the high-stakes world of finance, Lennox King is content to keep her life simple. As the new director of a hospice charity, she uses a strict business approach to help the charity grow and prosper.

When Roza comes to work at the charity under orders from the Queen Consort, babysitting a spoiled princess is definitely not on Lennox’s agenda. But when passion flares between them, will Lennox’s past stop their relationship in its tracks, or will a twist of fate bring a new future that neither was expecting?

Therapist Kayla McCormick is the quiet, sensitive type who prefers her life orderly and predictable. Kayla has an open heart, but the pain of loss has taught her to avoid risks that could get her hurt. She dreams of family and forever but no longer believes she’ll have her own happy ending.   
 
Jackie Phillips hides her fear and hurt behind fierce independence and impulsive behavior. Raised in an atmosphere of abuse and neglect, she is haunted by the disappearance of her mother when she was a teenager. Determined not to need anyone, she has closed her heart and lets lust drive her encounters. 
 
When their lives converge in a classic case of opposites attracting, will Kayla and Jackie have the courage to embrace love and rewrite their own stories, when that might mean risking all?

Izzy Calabrese wants to make her restaurant a success. She has a passion for cooking and life in general. Romance is the furthest thing from her mind when she finds Mel Thomas crying after being abandoned by her husband…again. She tries to distance herself from Mel, but she keeps showing up. 
 
Clients know Mel Thomas as the CEO of her own consulting firm. She’s smart, engaging, and successful. Anyone who knows her would never think she’s insecure, but she’s more fragile than anyone knows. Her marriage on shaky ground, she doesn’t know how, or if, it can be salvaged. All she’s ever wanted in a relationship is someone’s attention. She thinks she may have found the person who can give that to her. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect it to be Izzy.

When Grace Danner finds out her great-aunt has passed away leaving her a flower shop in Ireland, she is anxious to get it off her hands as quickly as possible. Her career with the most prestigious advertising firm in Dallas has her busy six days a week, and she doesn’t have time to step away from her life to handle her aunt’s estate. She plans a quick trip to sign papers and save family heirlooms, hoping to return home before the end of the week.

She meets real estate agent Kerry Mulligan who was consigned to the property quite by accident. Their relationship starts off rocky, and as much as Grace wants to get to know the red-haired Irish beauty in the short time she is there, Kerry is nothing but business. Can Grace break through Kerry’s icy disposition and open her up to a quick affair? Even if Grace manages to seduce Kerry, can she return unscathed to the life she left in Dallas?

Praise from Lambda Literary Review: "This story is filled with loving familial interactions, caring friends, romantic interludes and tantalizing sex scenes. The dialogue, both among the characters and within Grace’s head, is refreshing, original, and sometimes comical. Forget Me Not is a fresh perspective on a romantic theme, and an entertaining read."