Contemporary Books

Honey Singh and Cara Espinoza have two things in common: Their despicable, odious, lying spouses are having an affair, and they need a vacation.

They take a road trip, filming their adventures and posting them online to prove to everyone back home that they’re fine—not heartbroken and not staying home grief-eating cartons of ice cream. What better way to make a new friend than late nights and long drives? As their heartbreak takes a back seat to healing, they realize that they want more from each other than just conversation. Passion and friendship are a potent combination, but a seemingly small secret could end their romance before it truly begins.

Set against the backdrop of ever-changing landscapes and starlit skies, Anywhere with You is full of hope and humor, a second chance at love, searching for aliens, hooking up in nature, and avoiding dangerous wildlife (most of the time).

Drew Barker is used to having to fight for acceptance, and when they get the chance to represent non-binary people on a popular podcast, they are determined to make the most of the opportunity. They’re even more excited once they get to know the elusive host.

Hannah Carr spends her spare time focusing on her passion project. Her books podcast was a welcome distraction as she recovered from the breakdown of her marriage following becoming polyamorous. Drew gets her, and they share an extraordinary passion, but is she ready to date again?

As a queer autistic woman, Hannah knows that not everyone can be trusted to understand her. As Drew pushes her to put more of herself out there, they risk pushing her away. In a world that does not make space for either of them, they must learn that there is more than one way to have pride.

Green Valley, Alabama, is a quiet, close-knit community and Hazel Quinn intends to keep it that way. Her family, neighbors, and renters mean the world to her. Unfortunately, modernization is knocking on the door, and as her hometown grows from cute and quaint to up-and-coming, Hazel is constantly on the lookout for anyone who would attempt to change the slow-paced, Mayberry feel. Even if that person is an incredibly stylish and attractive blonde.

Andy Richter was just as stunned as everyone else that she inherited her great-aunt’s property in Green Valley. The small-town realty scene is exactly what she needs to escape the pressures and dirty past of defense law. She’s determined to modernize the town at a profit and put the nightmare of her last client behind her. The only thing standing in her way is Hazel Quinn.

Andy is thrilled by the newer conveniences, while Hazel feels her town slipping away. They can’t deny their attraction, but will they ever agree on the place they call home?

Meet Lily Chambers—the hugely successful, book-tour loving, swoon-inducing romance writer at the pinnacle of her career. At least for now.

When Lily sent her last manuscript to her publisher, she had no idea it could be her last. Struggling with more than a terminal case of writer’s block, Lily has lost her passion. For writing. For romance. For life. How can she not feel like a fraud after being on her own for years?

Hoping to shake things loose, Lily’s BFF suggests she spend some time in one of the most romantic cities in the world: Rome. If the architecture, the history, and the food don’t inspire her, nothing will. Or it would, if Lily was able to look away from Marina Troiani, her witty, smart, and unassumingly beautiful Italian tour guide.

Marina makes Lily feel <i>something</i>. Finally. Slowly the words start flowing. But the age gap and continent that separates them make starting a new chapter together impossible. What’s even worse than torpedoing your career? Falling in love only to have your own HEA just out of reach.

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.

Audrey, Reid, Emma, and Sadie have been best friends since they were fourteen years old. When Sadie tragically passes away more than a decade later, she leaves them each a note with her last wish: to complete the bucket list they made together on the night of their high school graduation.

Audrey and Reid haven’t spoken since the last time they ticked an item off that list. As they work with Emma to fulfill Sadie’s wish, they’re forced to confront their unresolved emotions—none of them good. But when Audrey goes through a devastating breakup, she finds an unlikely support system in Reid. Perhaps she’s been wrong about her all along.

As Audrey and Reid draw closer in ways they never thought possible, their last promise to Sadie takes them on a journey toward healing their broken friendship and discovering the love they’ve always had for each other.

A soaring tale of love, resilience, and the power of following one’s heart.

Alora Anders’ paintings are sought after by wealthy collectors worldwide, and up until recently, she’s led the life she’s always dreamed of. There’s only one problem. She’s quickly losing her vision to a degenerative eye disease with no cure. Devastated, she falls into a deep depression, assuming her life is over. Worse, she must hire someone to help her get along in life with her impaired vision. 

Bodie Banks is a struggling young artist looking for a new lot in life. When she learns of a job as a live-in caregiver for a well-known artist, she jumps at the opportunity. It might be inspiring to work with a fellow artist. All her hopes are dashed when her new employer, Alora, is rude, angry, and anything but welcoming.

As these two opposites learn to navigate daily life together, they grow closer and Alora slowly begins to soften, learning to live with her new reality and maybe even open her heart.

Forest Ranger Nat Evans is perfectly happy with the safe haven she has created in the Adirondack Forest and her life fighting forest fires, aiding stranded and injured hikers, and policing the waters of Lake George, New York. She has a good friend with uncomplicated benefits, and romance with a much younger woman is not on her to-do list.

After losing everything that matters, Vic O’Brien takes a seasonal position on the Water Patrol unit while she figures out her life. Emotionally bereft, when Vic reconnects with Nat over their shared past and the present challenges of keeping the tourists safe on lake and land, she refuses to deny the attraction kindling between them.

One wounded woman, one determined to protect her—and a summertime of risk, danger, and desire.

A heartwarming love story about overcoming loneliness and grief by embracing the power of connection.

Grace Langley needs to make peace with the past to finally be happy. She’s lived her life in relative isolation consumed with the death of her childhood best friend. An artist’s residency in beautiful Cape Cod is an extraordinary opportunity for her to figure out how to have a full and rewarding life.

When an accident stole her memories, Fagan Shaw’s future turned bleak. She lost friends and any motivation to relate to others. Returning to the scene where she almost died may be her only chance to remember what really happened and recapture what she’s lost.

Amid an angry Atlantic storm, Grace and Fagan find comfort in each other while sheltering together, but can they brave the emotional tide that comes with falling in love?

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?

Senior associate Ana Mendez is always being overlooked. By her family, by her peers, heck, even by her latest crush. But when a power vacuum emerges at her law firm, she knows the medical malpractice case she's working on is her golden ticket to the promotion she deserves. 

Cardiac surgeon Rachel Cohen is stunned when she is served legal papers compelling her to testify in a lawsuit. One night after work, Rachel goes out to a bar and ends up going home with the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen. Rachel’s world is rocked when she arrives at her deposition and discovers that the attorney questioning her is none other than the woman she just slept with.

Like opposing sides of a magnet, Rachel and Ana are undeniably drawn to one another. But will love find a way to beat this conflict of interest? Or does fate have other plans in store?

Lindsay Chase had everything she’d ever wanted until a gambling addiction ruined her flashy life in Los Angeles. Forced home to Connecticut to start over, she’s broke, on probation, and ordered to do community service.

When she meets social worker Ellie Tuttle, their attraction is immediate, but Lindsay’s self-centered nature tests Ellie’s usually endless patience and empathy. Lindsay struggles to reconcile who she used to be with her new, humble existence, and she’s not exactly making a great first impression. As Ellie and Lindsay get to know each other while working together at the homeless shelter, they fall into an unlikely friendship that slowly leads to love, despite Ellie’s efforts to avoid it.

But when the shelter is set to close due to lack of funding, Lindsay has the chance to prove she isn’t as selfish as everyone thinks. She’ll save the day and show Ellie she’s worthy of her love. That is if she doesn’t go to jail for it first.

In this small-town second chance romance, Melissa Brayden’s Dream a Little Dream explores the pain of betrayal, the courage to face the unexpected, and the longing for a love that’s unforgettable.

Savanna Potter is having an off year. Her aunt died, and the woman of her dreams, who had agreed to meet her on the suspension bridge one year after their first amazing date, stood her up. Then, in news that rocks her, it turns out the dad she knew isn’t her biological father. So, who the hell is?

Savanna, angry and adrift, can’t believe it when Dr. Kyle Remington, the very woman who left her standing on that bridge like a fool, shows up in Dreamer’s Bay.

Not only has Kyle landed in Savanna’s small town, but she’s managed to charm every other person who lives there. Savanna has no plans to forgive and forget. There’s nothing between them anymore, even if Kyle’s sparkling blue eyes and shiny dark hair make Savanna’s pesky knees go weak. Life is too complicated for second chances. Or is it?

A delightful modern-day romance inspired by one of Jane Austen’s most beloved novels.

Twenty-five-year-old Emma Wilson, tall, blond, and rich, has an enviable life, but her father’s dementia makes it difficult to leave him and their home on Highbury Lane. With her future on hold, Emma turns to her neighbor and confidante, thirty-eight-year-old Dr. Georgia Kostigiris, for advice and comfort and to keep their little world tightly ordered.

All that changes when Georgia's seventeen-year-old niece Cora comes to stay for the summer, invading Highbury Lane with her teen angst, big mouth, and knack for seeing things that Emma wished she wouldn’t. Like the way Emma and Georgia lean on each other. And the way Emma’s eyes track the sway of Georgia’s curving hips. Cora makes it impossible for Emma to ignore her feelings for Georgia, but it’s too complicated, and besides, she’s certain Georgia doesn’t feel the same. That’s how she ends up on a date with easy-breezy Bridget, mired in mixed signals.  

Emma and Georgia are perfect for each other, but can they build a future when Emma is avoiding the life and love she truly desires?

Kelly’s world collapsed when her father died. They had been very close and now she’s lost. How is she supposed to rebuild her relationship with her mother without someone to facilitate their conversation? But her grief takes a back seat when the unexpected happens the day of her father’s funeral.

When Teresa got the assignment to write up the obituary for Mr. Matheson, it brought back so many memories of when she had dated his daughter Kelly in high school. They had ended awkwardly, and, ready to apologize for how she had acted back then, she goes to the funeral to see her again.

The spark is still there, but Kelly and Teresa aren’t convinced their reconnection will lead to a forever romance. With so much time apart, all the ways they’ve changed since high school, and the challenges of a long-distance relationship, their second chance at love may end just as disastrously as the first

Vancouver’s hit competitive cooking show Recipe for Success has begun filming its second season and two talented young chefs are desperate for more than a winning dish.

Grace Donahue is trying to get out from under her wealthy family’s control, and winning would give her everything she needs to be free. What she didn’t count on was falling for her rival, a sexy-as-hell butch and bad-ass chef who knows exactly how to dish it out and satisfy Grace’s other appetites.

Yaz Sano is as striking as her tiger tattoo and she can’t let herself be distracted by anything or anyone, especially not her spoiled and gorgeous opponent. Winning the competition is her only goal, but as she and Grace duke it out in the kitchen, she soon realizes that she is hungry for much more.

Can they stay focused enough to showcase British Columbia’s bounty and produce winning dishes? Or will their attraction for each other be the one ingredient their considerable skills cannot master?

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.

College freshman Kelly “Razor” Mitchell boldly asked out senior star pitcher Ashton Sharpe and was crushed when Ashton turned her down. Seven years later, Ashton is one of the team’s coaches and shows up on Razor’s doorstep asking her to don her gear once more. Razor is cautious. She hung up her cleats early for a reason. But Ashton is very persuasive and as beautiful as ever, and Razor can’t help but hope the longing in her gaze has nothing to do with softball.

Ashton has few regrets, but one is turning down Razor’s request for a date back in college. Ashton can’t think about what-ifs now, or how great Razor looks, or her dormant feelings stirring. A crisis has left the university softball team without a catcher, and their best solution is the one person Ashton never expected to see again.

Ashton and Razor’s coach-player dynamic gets tricky as the sparks fly faster than a line drive. As they struggle with old feelings and new discoveries, the season seems endless. Plus, Razor is sure Ashton won’t want to explore romantic possibilities once she discovers the real reason Razor abruptly departed the team all those years ago.