Contemporary Books

Sasha Wolfe has been talking up her new girlfriend to her overbearing mother for months, and when her skeptical sister dares her to invite this new squeeze over for family Christmas, Sasha accepts the challenge. After all, how hard can it be to bring your nonexistent girlfriend home for the holidays?

Triple Dog Dare was previously published in All I Want for Christmas: Romance Novellas (Bold Strokes Books, 2020).

Martine Roberts and Elliot Tillman’s childhood friendship was intense. When they bump into each other again thirty years later, sneaking out of an apartment after one-night stands with a pair of roommates, all their feelings come rushing back. 

Elliot needs a place to stay, and Martine needs a roommate. It should be simple, but it’s not friendship simmering between them. 

Growing up in Key West, rum distiller Martine has friends and family to spare, but her deepest heart she keeps to herself. 

With her career in the Coast Guard, Elliot’s never had a permanent address and didn’t mind, until moving in with Martine gives her a home. Now she wants to chart a different course with a woman who likes her relationships short and seasonal? Perfect.

Sometimes friends with benefits isn’t a foolproof way to hide from the truth at the heart of an affair.

Jordan Spade doesn’t get involved. The last thing she wants is to be responsible for someone. When her father needed her the most she wasn’t there, and she never got a chance to express her regret. She’s channeled her guilt into building her business as a general contractor, to at least have a sense of purpose even if she isn’t exactly happy.

Callie Burke is well on her way to making a name for herself as a stained-glass artist. Her next job puts her on a job site with Jordan, where some of the crew harass her. Callie knows how to handle it. She doesn’t need Jordan’s assistance, but she can’t help but notice Jordan doesn’t intervene. 

Jordan later feels compelled to make it up to Callie, and an unlikely friendship fans their simmering attraction. But to get close to Callie, Jordan must open her heart and accept she can’t control every outcome, and that means forgiving herself for a mistake she can never undo.

For Mira Lavigne, cider is about tradition, elegance, and class. She has little respect and even less patience for self-anointed mavericks who think their ticket to fame and fortune is throwing the rulebook out the window. Dylan Miller is one of those people. The only thing she loves more than pushing the envelope is finding ways to make cider, perry, and a few things she hasn’t even named yet more delicious and more accessible to everyone.

When Mira and Dylan are tapped to co-chair Finger Lakes Cider Week, neither can pass up the publicity and prestige of the role. But professional compromises raise personal stakes, and Dylan and Mira are hard-pressed to keep their businesses—and their hearts—out of harm’s way.

When a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast, the animals at the Lonely Hearts Rescue Shelter need love, and so do the humans who adopt them.

Something About You by Morgan Lee Miller. After rescuing a cat stranded in the hurricane, animal control officer Reese Shepard is adamant about finding shy, timid Apollo the best forever home. When she discovers Apollo giving cheek rubs to Hannah Marsh, Reese’s high school crush, she’s captivated by her all over again.

Force of Nature by Missouri Vaun. Rebekah Hawks has stepped in to help with hurricane disaster relief. Challenges are no match for Rebekah. At least until she agreed to foster an impossible dog. Rebekah has no choice but to seek the aid of handsome local dog trainer Rory Maclaren. But who is training whom?

Test of Faith by Nell Stark. Rescuing a dog is a dream come true for Faith Kincaid—and a chance to prove to herself that she really can, in the words of her therapist, “commit to commitment.” When Faith takes her new best friend, Pinoe, to the vet, she can’t stop staring at Dr. Delphine Wu. Del is completely out of Faith’s league. Or is she?

After a chaotic childhood in a long line of foster homes, Sam McKenna found her version of serenity in her friendship with Brooke Fields. When tragedy forces Brooke to become a single mother, Sam is there for her. Sam ignores the crush she’s had on Brooke since college. Their relationship is too precious to risk.

After the loss of her husband, Brooke finally dips her toes back into the dating world only to have each encounter end in disaster. If it wasn’t for Sam by her side picking her back up, she might give up on ever finding love again.

After a night of unexpected passion when Brooke and Sam cross the line of friendship, Brooke can’t help but yearn for more with Sam. A chance encounter leads Brooke and Sam on a journey to Sam’s birth family, uncovering the ghosts of Sam’s past and revealing wounds that threaten the friendship both once believed to be indestructible, and any chance for something more.

Harriet “Harry” and Desi Basantes spent sixteen years waiting to find each other again, and now they’re weeks away from a wedding and the baby they’ve planned since high school.

Desi’s sister Rachel Thompson is happy for them. Rachel might wish for her own grand love affair, but her attraction to Harry’s ex Serena Ladding doesn’t exactly spell happily ever after. She’s pretty sure Serena is still in love with Harry and isn’t prepared to take the chance on a broken heart. So then why can’t she stop thinking about Serena?

Angola State Penitentiary is one of the toughest prisons in the country, but when Desi’s ex-husband Byron Simoneaux sees the chance to run, he does with only one goal in mind: to finish what he started and kill Desi, Rachel, and Harry, the women who stole his life.

Can you really outrun your past? For Harry, Desi, and Rachel, it’s a matter of life or death.

The sequel to One More Chance

As a sophomore, Andrea Foster doesn’t expect to earn the starting catcher position on the Alder University softball team. She’s used to blending in and leaving the spotlight for the likes of Maya Gonzalez, the team’s fiery ace pitcher. No one is more surprised than Andy when she’s named starting catcher and captain of the Alder Lions.

Maya was supposed to be captain, everyone says so. Instead, she’s forced to train with Andy every day, partners for everything, and she isn’t happy about it. But there’s something more than animosity building between them. Tough games, hard losses, and a memorable bus ride later, an undeniable attraction pulls Andy and Maya closer. Now they just need to rise above their differences and lead their team to the College World Series.

Music runs through Annie Foster’s veins. A jingle writer by day and hostess of Coffee & Chords, an open mic night at her best friend’s coffee shack, by night, Annie is doing exactly what she loves. Hitting the big time was never her dream. She has enough followers online to know her music matters. If it’s the right combination of success and happiness, why does she feel empty inside?

Bristol Baines is top of the pop charts, internet famous, and so lonely she could cry. She was tossed into the business at fourteen, and any other kind of life wasn’t in the cards. Living the dream with everything at her fingertips really means a life of disguises, secrecy, and failed relationships. Success has been a big disappointment, and she’s ready for a fresh start even if that means walking away from fame.

Serendipity brings Annie and Bristol together, and their undeniable attraction keeps them close, but will their different paths drive them apart?

Cherry Davis is turning her part-time influencer gig into a full-time venture. As Cherry on Top, she’s the happy, loved, lesbian lifestyle guide with an enviable relationship, friends, and wardrobe. Reputation is crucial for her business, and if she uses some smoke and mirrors to spice it up? She doesn’t hurt anybody. Everyone else does it too. Trolls might try to tell her she isn’t being authentic, but she’s tougher than they are. Her childhood gave her a thick skin.

Ellis Conrad dreams of becoming a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. You know what she doesn’t dream of? Debunking politicians, local celebrities, and online influencers for the less-than-reputable site, 11th Commandment. But the truth is important, especially to Ellis, and besides, she really needs the money.

A chance meeting leaves Cherry and Ellis reeling from the unexpected intensity, and they both start to long for a different life, perhaps even one that includes each other. But when Ellis’s search for truth crashes into Cherry’s insta-filter world, do they have any hope at all of a happily ever after?

Ornithologist Dr. Jaime Martin doesn’t have time for romance. She’s spent her life living up to her biologist-turned-conservative-senator father’s idea of who she should be. When she discovers that a bird thought to be extinct has been sighted in Alaska, Jaime seizes the opportunity to finally step out of her father’s shadow and make her career her own.

As a park ranger in Alaska’s largest national wilderness, all Rowan Fleming wants is to escape the stress of her failed marriage in the lower forty-eight. She needs solitude to heal her broken heart, so being ordered to act as a guide for an entitled senator’s daughter isn’t exactly a walk in the park. 

Jaime and Rowan couldn’t be more different, but as the landscape grows treacherous and remote, they’re forced to work together to find the elusive bird. Three arguments, two whispered confessions, and one rogue bear later, they’re beginning to suspect love isn’t extinct, after all.

To appease her mother and against her better judgment, Bindi leaves England to visit her relatives in India. They’re not thrilled she’s given up her legal career to pursue her dreams in music, but all her troubles take a back seat when Bindi discovers things are not as they seem between her cousin Dhona and his long-suffering wife, Rimli.

Publicly, Dhona and Rimli are the image of a wealthy, enviable couple with a perfect marriage. When Dhona’s drunken womanizing gets too much for Rimli, she seeks comfort in Bindi, and they engage in a passionate love affair. Bindi has never felt so much for a woman before, and soon she’s falling head over heels for Rimli.

In the months that follow, Bindi’s music career takes off, Rimli has an opportunity to study in England, and their journey of self-discovery is only just beginning. But their relationship is put to the test by the homophobia of their family, community, and culture, and Bindi and Rimli will need to fight for a chance at love.

Content advisory: This book contains instances of infidelity.

Poppy King wants to save the world, but if she can’t do that, then she’ll save her own little corner of it. The realities of a career in the fashion industry leave her disillusioned and, after years working with UNICEF to improve the working conditions of families exploited by the unethical garment industry, Poppy returns home to start her business degree and create her own ethical clothing brand.

Undercover reporter Casey James has spent her career exposing the worst vices of humanity. After witnessing so much corruption, greed, and death, she’s losing sight of who she truly is. When Casey is tasked with a royal exposé on the court of Denbourg, she only has one way in, the Crown Consort’s sister, Poppy. 

Poppy meets Casey during her night classes and is instantly annoyed, distracted, and intrigued. When they’re grouped together for a class assignment, Poppy’s enthusiasm for life and love may just save Casey’s soul. But will she ever forgive Casey for using her to expose royal secrets?

Firefighter Grayson Reeves barely survived a harrowing California wildfire, and the experience has shaken everything she believes about herself. Returning to her hometown of Sky Valley, NC, to heal and regroup seems like a good idea, but past mistakes and a small town that never forgets are painful reminders of why she left.

Faith Owen didn’t grow up in Sky Valley, but when an opportunity arises to relocate to one of her favorite childhood haunts, she jumps at the chance. A new environment is just what she needs to refocus on her art and regain her confidence after her last ill-fated relationship left her with loads of self-doubt.

When Faith meets Gray, she sees a suffering soul in need of saving. Gray can only see a woman for whom she could never be enough. Despite their misgivings, their mutual attraction ignites passions neither can fight.

Can falling in love melt the hearts of the iciest ice queens? 

Going back to college is never easy, but Caroline Stevens is prepared to work hard and change her life for the better. What she’s not prepared for is Dr. Atlanta Morris, her new professor whose tough demeanor is no match for Caroline’s burgeoning confidence.

Closed-Door Policy was previously published in Hot Ice: Romance Novellas (Bold Strokes Books, 2019).

Fate intervenes on behalf of love when characters are unexpectedly stuck together. With too much time and an irresistible attraction anything could happen.

In EF5 by Kris Bryant, wedding photographer Alyssa Bates is running late to a job she desperately needs when officer Katy Emerson pulls her over for speeding. She gets a warning from the sexy woman in uniform and the sirens alerting them to an approaching tornado. Their only option is to shelter in an abandoned diner where they must resist temptation and fight for their lives. 

In Trapped Tycoon by Amanda Radley, trainee investor Clara Foster spends her weekend at the office catching up on paperwork when the ice queen owner Francesca Burford arrives. Francesca doesn’t know who the shy employee is, and she doesn’t much care, until they attempt to leave the office at the same time and get trapped in an elevator.

In Wings Over Boston by Emily Smith, flight paramedic Ryland Matthews and pilot Tess Goodwin have an uncomplicated past that included a no-strings tryst before they went their separate ways and never looked back. That is, until a medical emergency and an unlikely coincidence leaves them grounded together in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but relive history and ignite the passion neither can forget.

When your parents name you and your three siblings after flowers, the world is stacked against you. At least, that’s how Aster Lavender feels. The youngest daughter, Aster always keeps her head down and lets her siblings stand in the spotlight. She sells her gourmet doughnuts from Hole in One, the small drive-through stand in sleepy Homer’s Bluff, Kansas, and daydreams about seeing the big beautiful world. Love is never going to happen, especially when the only other lesbians in town are already married to each other.

Beautiful Brynn Garrett arrives to fill in for Homer Bluff’s only veterinarian, and suddenly every pet in town is sick. Brynn’s older, smarter, and way out of Aster’s league. Plus, she’s only in town temporarily and definitely running from something. Aster didn’t plan for a connection so strong it knocks the wind right out of her, but Brynn makes her feel like anything but a wallflower.