Let the Lover Be

When Toya meets Folami and joins the activist collective RiseUP!, she thinks she’s found her life’s purpose. Folami’s sensuality and her passion for social justice leave Toya feeling that, at last, she’s met someone she can share all parts of her life with. But when a controversial police shooting blurs the lines between the personal and the political, Toya is forced to examine her identity, her passions, and her allegiances. 

Folami, a mature and dedicated activist, challenges Toya’s commitment to the struggle while threatening to pull her back into the closet to maintain the intense connection they share. However, Nina, a young, free-spirited artist, invites Toya to explore the intersections between sexual and political freedom.

With the mounting tensions and social unrest threatening to tear the community apart, can Toya find a safe place to live and love while working to uplift her people?

Functional alcoholic Kiana Lewis is looking for a way out. Running away from the memories of her mother's horrific death and her own dead-end existence, she decides to crash her ex-lover's New Orleans wedding and put a stop to the whole thing. She arrives in the Big Easy to reclaim her old love, and hopefully, reclaim her own life.

Her plans are disrupted when she meets Genevieve Durand, a seductive and spiritual New Orleans native who challenges Kiana's skewed sense of resolve and control. Spending time with Genevieve, just like drinking, offers Kiana moments of escape. But unlike the numbing effect of alcohol, the intoxicating Genevieve makes Kiana feel and think about things she'd rather not, like the death of her mother and the destructive ways she uses to cope.

On the brink of losing it all, Kiana must decide if she will reach for the next drink or if she'll reach beyond herself to finally slay the demons driving her since childhood.

A gripping and poignant ode to chosen family, intergenerational friendship, and resolute persistence.

This is not a good time for Berry Garland to realize her dream of opening a women’s health center. Florida has become more conservative, and “women’s health” raises a red flag. Berry’s intent to serve victims of domestic violence, gay women, migrant workers—documented or not—makes reliance on government funding and the cooperation of local agencies precarious. When the owner of Pansy’s Café donates space, though, MJ Beaudry and her lover Vonnie Lowe’s brother volunteer to revamp the space into a health facility.

Berry’s best friend, activist Allison Miller, is disgusted with the frenzied hurricane of right-wing extremism, homophobia, and violence. As mayor of Four Lakes, she helps navigate local bureaucracy. A community of lesbians, neighbors, and patients, rise up to protect this critical resource from a shocking saboteur.

Despite Berry and her partner Jaudon Vicker’s devastating life changes at home, these everyday dykes and their friends will stop at nothing to see the center thrive. Their ideals, their wounds, and a steadfast allegiance to one another render them heroes.

Maxine Terrell lurches into adulthood madly in love with a woman and her child. Unfortunately, Daphne Polk is someone else’s wife, and her daughter Lena is someone else’s child. But Daphne’s been there for her ever since Max and her father weathered a terrible tragedy, one that’s still whispered about in their small Texas town. After years of hope and heartbreak, and too many lies to count, Max seems poised to settle for the various "friends with benefits" she encounters.

Unexpectedly wealthy after her father’s death and emotionally adrift with no idea what she really wants from life, Max decides to take to the road and signs up to become a truck driver. During her training in Lubbock, she meets Trillian—“Thrill”—and manages to screw things up from the start. After another chance encounter and a sweet kiss she can’t forget, Max begins to rethink not only what, but who she really wants.

As Max traverses the open road, her journey of impossible love, loss, and courage mirrors her voyage of self-discovery. But before she can look to the future, she must come to terms with the history she’d rather forget.

Cassie Burke never believed in second chances. If something didn’t work out, then it was never really meant for her. In the years following two heart-wrenching breakups, she kept her life simple. She’d dated when the opportunity arose but focused her energy on her career and best friends of over thirty years, Jenn and Maggie. Tight since their high school days in the 80s, they’ve weathered many storms. The most tempestuous being Deana, who had briefly joined their “pantheon” and stirred things up as only a beautiful lost soul can, testing their friendship and the strength of Cassie’s heart.

Now as Cassie, Jenn, and Maggie plan a celebration for their fiftieth birthdays, none of them are prepared for the whiplash changes their half-century mark year has in store. Least of all Cassie, who discovers a second chance with Deana might be just what her heart needs.

Reader advisory: References to homophobic violence/sexual assault.