Only a Bridesmaid

A tribute to the value of self-awareness and self-kindness, Untethered is the heartwarming story of a vacation gone wrong that leads to an unexpected journey of the heart.

Helen Rogers is ready for a relaxing cruise in Bali with her friends and married couple Martha Jo and Amy. After flying from Dallas to Australia, they board a small ship bound for Bali, only to quickly realize they have stumbled into a strenuous expedition more suited to CrossFit enthusiasts than vacationers like themselves in their seventies and eighties. Amid shipboard chaos and excursions to seldom-visited Indonesian islands, Helen becomes mesmerized by the younger, enigmatic Grace—unhappily married and searching for a resolution.

Things go from bad to worse when Helen and Amy become ill and must stay in isolation. Totally alone for the first time, memories of her time with Grace begin to haunt Helen. Was Grace’s last declaration that she was returning to her husband true? Why does Helen always fall for unavailable women? Could it have something to do with her lifelong aversion to meeting strangers and socializing in general?

After a nightmarish flight home and several months of recovery and reflection, Helen uncovers an earth-shattering realization that will change her life, and the possibilities of love, forever.

Julia Martin is a thriving physical therapist and gym owner with a steady relationship and even a dog. Her life is uncomplicated, simple, and fun, even if she sometimes feels like she’s missed out by never leaving the Midwest town she grew up in. That is until a heartbreak from her past comes crashing back into her world, and everything starts to spin into motion and out of control.

Raegan Holcolm thought all they wanted was a proud military career, and that’s what they had. But a sudden injury sends them back to their hometown with a wealth of pain, both physical and emotional, insecurities, and the reality that the career they’d chosen above all else has rejected them.

The first time they fell in love, Rae left Jules behind. For love to have a second chance, they’ll need to realize all along that home might have been a person just as much as a place.

For some, first love is never forgotten—even when left behind. A story of queer love that never ends, new beginnings, and the town that steals two hearts from award-winning author Ana Hartnett.

Tanya Brees enjoyed an idyllic childhood in the small coastal tourist town of Coral Bay, skimboarding, racing ATVs through sandy trails, and getting into mischief with her small band of friends. Things are clear: stick with the locals and hope the high-rises don’t take over their small fishing community.

When Tanya is thirteen, Juliette Peralta walks into the restaurant at the Coral Bay Inn with her parents and catches the eye of all the teens in town, especially Tanya. Every summer Juliette spends in Coral Bay brings them closer until first love blooms. But Juliette always leaves, her parents keep acquiring property to develop in town, and Tanya can’t take it anymore. No matter how much she loves Juliette, their family values are too different, and they lose touch as adults. That is, until a hurricane forces Juliette to return to Coral Bay indefinitely.

What’s worse than still being attracted to your first crush? Realizing the storm that tore you apart has gotten a lot more complicated.

Sydney meets Reagan in an Italian café when Reagan helps her order. Instant best friends, they spend an idyllic fall sightseeing until Sydney’s semester abroad comes to an end and she returns to the States. Reagan’s a young Army second lieutenant living under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and must stay behind and complete her assignment. But their final night together—complete with a first kiss—lives on in Sydney’s mind.

Over the next fifteen years, Reagan and Sydney ricochet in and out of each other’s lives, with each parting leaving deeper longings and scars than the last. When DADT is repealed and they both end up in Washington, DC, it’s a chance for Reagan to finally win the heart of the woman she has always loved, if only the Army didn’t threaten to send them to opposite sides of the world once again.

An epic love story that traverses the complexities of duty, loyalty, and sacrifice across the decades, Sydney and Reagan know what their hearts want, but love keeps slipping through their fingers.

It’s Emerson Fields’s last summer before she starts her dream internship at the prestigious Bardot Design Studio architectural firm in Paris. The only problem? Her application hasn’t been accepted yet. Without a backup plan in place, Emerson heads to North Carolina to stay with her aunt and uncle and resume her seasonal job waitressing at the beach…and her no strings fling with town local Peyton Reilly.

In desperate need of a Bardot distraction, Emerson asks her coworker Alice Scott to teach her how to surf. What she doesn’t expect is to fall so quickly for the Aussie surfer. While her casual relationship with Peyton is in full swing, her feelings for Alice deepen, and her future with Bardot hangs in the balance. Emerson is standing at a crossroads. The question is, which path will she take?

A new friendship evolves into something unexpected and extraordinary in Rainbow Overalls, a heartfelt college romance by debut author Maggie Fortuna.

All Ginny Holland wants is to skip over her dramatic coming out story and live a being out story. Arriving for her first year at an artsy, incredibly queer college in middle-of-nowhere Vermont, she’s ready to be her true bisexual self. But being out and welcomed doesn’t mean self-acceptance is so simple.

Natalie Becker knows exactly who she is, and she’s right where she wants to be—so why isn’t she happy? She shouldn’t be preoccupied by what awaits her after college: working at her mother’s Jewish deli and giving up on her dream of being an artist. With anxiety about the future always in the back of her mind, Nat is determined to live in the moment at all costs.

Nat and her friends welcome Ginny into their group, but there’s an undercurrent of something more between them. A friendship is safe—not too intimidating for Ginny, and not too serious for Nat—as long as they can keep it that way.