Burning Dreams

Dr. Rosalind Olchawski is an expert on Shakespeare, Nineteenth century poetry, and being the best friend you've ever had. She's been described so often as warm, Rosalind has come to think of herself as a sweater or a pair of mittens.

One night on a blind date at a drag club in downtown Buffalo, Rosalind is mesmerized by the performance of the drag king Taryn. Can a grown woman go mad over a girl who looks like a boy? One night of adventure threatens to tear down everything Rosalind has come to believe about herself.

Of Drag Kings & the Wheel of Fate is a novel about history, sex, drag, paganism, death, and the formation of family. Using an ancient myth reset in the queer community in Buffalo, New York, Smith explores gender fluidity, sexual diversity, and the deeper questions of love and identity that make us who we are.

2nd Edition

Jocelyn "Joey" Fellows is having a bad day.

At twenty-two, she's a college dropout who just got savagely dumped by her ex, Psycho Barbie. Joey works as a waiter in a pretentious, er, upscale Buffalo restaurant, the Heritage Room, with her best friend Steve, a gorgeous serial dater and gay man candy. He's had enough of Joey crying in her beer over Psycho Barbie and convinces her to get back on the horse. Joey is adamant she doesn't want a relationship. She needs time to heal and find out who she is. Steve informs her that she can find herself and get laid at the same time.

With Steve as her cyber-pimp, Joey posts an online personal ad: Newbie seeking erotic adventures. Good hearted, would-be ethical slut seeks experience. Train me. No men, no cheating, no relationships. Just good clean sexual fun. Joey embarks on quite a few never-before anticipated adventures, gets licked into shape, and discovers along the way a joy in sexuality, a new sense of self, and a woman, Leela, who teaches her to embrace life, lust, and laughter.

When an office attraction threatens her career, Hollis Reed’s carefully laid plans demand revision.

After a painful breakup, Hollis is determined to climb the corporate ladder by charting a meticulous three-year plan. Just as she vows to keep love at arm’s length, her new boss threatens to disrupt everything. Ainsley Jones is a force to be reckoned with—brilliant, sophisticated, and irrefutably attractive.

As Hollis navigates her new role, she can’t deny the magnetic pull between them. But workplace policies against fraternization, Hollis’s doubts about mixing business with pleasure, and Ainsley’s micromanaging style prevent their budding romance from blooming. With the unwavering support of her best friend, Harrison, Hollis must risk everything she thought she wanted to have the love she can’t live without.

In 2763, humanity teeters on the brink of extinction after centuries of war with the alien Sh’keth. Val Koroleva, special forces operative, sacrifices her universe to leap across space and time to avert the disastrous war before it begins.

Eight centuries earlier, the world has yet to tumble into chaos. Bush pilot Nicole Baker, blissfully unaware of the alien threat lurking near her home, lives in peaceful solitude flying her airplane between far-flung corners of remote Alaska until a charming, mysterious stranger turns her world upside down.

Val won’t set her mission aside, but neither woman can ignore their unlikely connection. Can Val risk the future? Will love find a foothold despite a world on the brink of war?

Conner Cody is poised to have it all. Whether on the big screen or a concert stage, she commands adoration, lust, and more money than she can count from millions of fans across the world. Behind the scenes, she keeps people at arm’s length, having learned her lessons from her famous parents—better to hurt them first before they can hurt her.

Her love life is as dramatic as the roles she plays, so Conner fills the void with meaningless hookups, and her infamous parties provide a facade of friendship. But when a few people begin to slip past her defenses and her estranged sister returns, happiness finally appears within reach.

But letting people in is risky and her insecurities take center stage, pushing away everyone she cares about. On the verge of destroying everything she holds dear, Conner must choose: will she stay behind her walls, safe yet alone, or will she risk it all to finally learn what it means to love?

Theo and Stella will never work out as more than just friends. Then why can’t they stop fighting and making out—up!—making up.

Stella James is back in town after ditching her friends for her (now) ex, whose career took her to London, and she’s bound to make a big entrance at her best friend’s wedding. What Stella fears more than an awkward reunion, though? Theo and their messy more than friendship but never quite love.

Theo Kingsley is an activist and a human rights lawyer in the making, oh, and she thinks monogamy is so last century. Stella couldn’t be any less socially conscious if she tried, unlike the women Theo dates. It’s not as if Stella really believes forever exists, but she’ll never understand how Theo can seem so into her and be dating other people at the same time.

When things between them quickly get complicated again, their push and pull threatens to ruin the friendship in all the worst ways and break their whole friend group apart.