Contemporary Books

New York advertising executive Lauren Montgomery loses her job, inherits an inn, and moves to England—all in the span of a week. It’s not how her career, or her life, is supposed to unfold. But necessity is the mother of invention and Lauren has a new plan. She’s going to spruce up the inn, turn the attached pub into a hot spot, sell it for a killing, and start her own advertising agency.

Gin distiller Camden Crawley has a soft spot for the Rose & Crown, the pub where her parents and grandparents got engaged. But the opinionated new owner who wants to turn it into some trendy bed and bar? Not so much. The last thing she wants to do is stick her nose in, but that might be her best chance to save a place she holds dear. And boosting her new line of gin wouldn’t hurt either.

It’s one thing to give in on the cocktail menu. But the very inconvenient, very mutual, attraction? That’s another matter entirely.

Kenzie Shaw is the most sought-after rookie in women’s major league soccer, but her life changes forever when she’s drafted in her home state of New Jersey. After all, it’s not every day you get a chance to play alongside your idol and the woman you’ve crushed on for years.

Sutton Flores has soccer in her blood. Her father raised her to play, her brothers pushed her even harder, and her coaches shaped her into a superstar athlete. Despite her success, Sutton never lost sight of what matters most—her family, friends, and the woman she’s dating—even if most of her relationships fizzle out as quickly as they start.

Kenzie and Sutton’s chemistry as teammates quickly escalates to undeniable attraction off the field, but when allegations of sexual harassment rock the team and their relationship, they must decide if they’re willing to sacrifice their dreams for love. Are they destined to last, or are they players in a game set to lose?

Stevie Adams doesn’t believe in fate, not after losing her parents in a car crash. Now twenty-eight and a star in the Chicago improv scene, Stevie puts career first. No one’s going to get in the way of her New York City dreams. When her friends beg her to tag along to go see Constance Russo, a deaf psychic, Stevie begrudgingly agrees, as long as no one makes her get a reading. 

American Sign Language interpreter Bernadette Thompson has two priorities: caring for her mother and working with her best friend, Constance Russo. But when the headstrong Stevie Adams accidentally stumbles into her life, Bernadette feels an instant connection that’s so intense it frightens her. They can’t seem to stop bumping into each other, or deny their attraction. 

When Stevie’s goal of starring in New York becomes more than a pipe dream, will competing desires prove their love to be everlasting or a fleeting act?

The instant Delaney Peyton and Jade Taylor meet, they sense a connection neither can explain. That is until Delaney starts having strange visions that feel more like memories. Scotland, 1465: two young women meet and fall in love, but that love is threatened by deception and hatred. Delany isn’t sure if her feelings for Jade are real or left over from five hundred years ago. The more she sees, the more she’s convinced the key to her future lies in their past.

Jade is fresh from a bad relationship, and the last thing she wants right now is another one. Her attraction to Delany is overshadowed by a fear she doesn’t understand, and she is convinced she needs to keep Delany at arm’s length.

First publication 2015

Taylor Finn aspires to be a stunt driver, but driving a limo is what pays the bills. When she finds herself chauffeuring a drunk guy harassing his date, she leaves him stranded and is sure she’s going to get fired. Maybe it's finally time to pursue her dream.

Iris Fleming’s flight to Atlanta was a scene from a disaster movie, the scariest landing ever. She’d desperately wanted a part on a new sci-fi series, until the director made a pass at her. Now Iris doesn’t want the role and has no intention of getting back on a plane.

Making their escape from Atlanta, Iris and Finn end up at Hideaway Haven, in neighboring cabins. Iris isn’t sure what’s scarier, sexy Taylor Finn or woodland nighttime noises. But maybe they can help each other out. There are schools for stunt drivers in LA, and Iris needs a ride. Wrong turns and roadside hijinks ensue as Iris and Finn set off on a road trip, chasing the sunset and falling for each other along the way.

City girl Alana Brendt accepts a one-year contract as an event coordinator in remote Yakima, Washington, to reboot her career. So what if she padded her résumé a little…doesn’t everyone? Then she discovers she has to lead trail rides and white-water adventures, not just coordinate them. Add a litter of puppies underneath her rickety farmhouse’s porch, and Alana is desperate enough to accept help from the local vet…the gorgeous, sexy, outdoorsy vet who is absolutely not Alana’s type. At all.

Veterinarian Tegan Evans avoids the tourist side of Yakima, venturing there only when an animal needs her. Tourists only break your heart. Still, she can’t resist helping Alana, who, despite being in over her head with rambunctious puppies and a job she is barely qualified to perform, seems determined to make a success of things.

Alana and Tegan both know they don’t belong together. Only problem is, they’re falling in love.

Who says you can’t go home again?

Philadelphia real estate broker Devyn Winters is at the peak of her career, closing multimillion-dollar deals and relishing it. She’s pretty much blocked out her formative years in Dreamer’s Bay, where the most exciting thing to happen was the twice a year bake sale. Unfortunately, a distress call hauls her back home and away from the life she’s constructed. Now the question is just how long until she can leave again? And when did boring Elizabeth Draper get so beautiful?

Elizabeth Draper loves people, free time, and a good cup of coffee in the warm sunlight. In the quaint town of Dreamer’s Bay, she’s the only employee of On the Spot, an odd jobs company. She remembers Devyn Winters as shallow in high school, but now everything about Devyn makes her lose focus. Though her brain knows Devyn is only home temporarily, her heart didn’t seem to get the memo.

"I love this book. I want to kiss it on its face. I also want to go to Dreamer’s Bay, so I can eat the donuts, hang out on the beaches, and maybe even join in on the Saturday night cornhole game with Devyn and Elizabeth. Instead, I’m going to stick Beautiful Dreamer on my to-reread-when-everything-sucks pile, because it’s sure to make me happy again and again." —Smart Bitches Trashy Books

World famous violinist Gail Owen is devastated after a car accident leaves her unable to play her beloved instrument. She withdraws from her privileged life to an old farmhouse in Rhode Island.

Romi Shepherd is homeless in New York City and barely survives by singing for pennies in the subway. After being wrongfully arrested, she hitchhikes back to Rhode Island and, out of money and options, hides in a secret room in the house she grew up in, unaware that the new owner is about to move in permanently. 

When Gail discovers Romi has been living in her house, she is curiously drawn to the young woman. Romi is torn between feeling guilty for lying to Gail and enamored of her, and she fears the truth will set them on a path toward heartbreak.

After a startling discovery, Chloe Jensen embarks on a new life without her wife, Shay. When Shay realizes she’s leaving, tragedy strikes. A car accident leaves Shay confused and vulnerable, and with no friends or family to care for her, Chloe feels obligated to stay until she recovers.

Shay Buchanan can remember her whole life except for the past year. Everything seems to fit into place, but Chloe is distant, and Shay can’t figure out why. Something is missing.

As Chloe helps Shay recover, they become close again, working together to rebuild her memories. Except Shay doesn’t remember what she did to break their marriage, and Chloe can’t seem to forget.

When their happiness is threatened, will they be able to forgive each other and give love a second chance?

***2019 ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA® RITA® FINALIST***

Attorney Elisa Gonzalez is happy working behind the scenes while still having time for a life. All that changes when her firm takes on a major case and Parker Jones, powerhouse litigator and her law school crush, is named lead counsel.

Lead Counsel was previously published in The Boss of Her: Romance Novellas (Bold Strokes Books, 2018).

Romance novelist Jackie Mitchell has built a life that works: few responsibilities, friends that know she’s far from outgoing, and sex whenever she needs it. She has her past, but she doesn’t think about it. Ever.

All that changes when she finds the child she gave up for adoption standing on the doorstep. Now sixteen years old, Beth Weber is resourceful, a blossoming artist, and a spitting image of her birth mom. To say Jackie is stunned is the understatement of the year.

When Jackie meets Beth’s adoptive mom, Susan, they’re immediately attracted to each other, but there’s no way Jackie is getting involved with a married woman, especially Beth’s mom. But when Susan and Beth need a place to stay and end up back on Jackie’s doorstep, their lives change forever.

Will these three women who share a past and face an uncertain future be able to forge a life of love together?

Since she was fourteen, singer Sophie James has been an international superstar. With her career (and life) directed by her manager, Ray, she hasn’t had to worry about a thing for more than a decade…not where she goes, not what she sings, not who she is. But when Ray has a heart attack, Sophie is left without the only real father figure she’s ever known and questioning everything she believes about what’s important to her. 

Enter Dana Landon, the new manager sent by Sophie’s record company. Dana is gorgeous, sophisticated, and ready to do her job keeping Sophie’s career on track and making the record company money. Dana captures Sophie’s attention in ways Sophie never expected and isn’t ready for, but after so many years of being told what to do, Sophie’s ready to shake things up with some ideas of her own. Ones Dana hasn’t been planning on and isn’t at all sure she likes.

Takira Lathan’s life revolves around her restaurant. She owns it, cooks in it, and is one hundred percent dedicated to its success. Her life starts to veer off course when money goes missing and so does her restaurant manager, leaving her in the lurch. Most importantly, raising her young nephew was never anywhere in her plans.

Dante Groves could be the answer to Takira’s prayers. She’s an excellent manager and is totally at ease with children. She’s also mature, kind, and unashamedly butch. Takira can’t help being attracted, but Dante’s emotional baggage from her last relationship has left her way too wary of romance.

Betrayed by those they trusted, Takira and Dante must rely on each other to create a recipe for success, both in business and in love.

Meet law school friends Campbell, Abby, and Grace, law partners at Austin’s premier boutique legal firm for young, hip entrepreneurs. Or, it will be as soon as they score a victory for their first big client.

Campbell Clark wins the big pitch, and lands the client, or so she thinks, until the internet start-up insists her firm work with the legal counsel Campbell thought they’d be replacing. Wynne Garrity has never been second best, and she’s not going to let anyone screw up her chance of making partner, but to do so she needs to hang onto her client and prove to everyone her firm isn’t stuck in the stone age. 

Reluctant team players, Campbell and Wynne would risk everything by giving in to the attraction that flares between them. In the boardroom and the courtroom, only one can win, but the price of victory could mean losing at love.

Legal Affairs: one law firm, three best friends, three chances to fall in love.

Growing older has hit youth softball club owner Hannah Carter across the face like a jilted lover. So much so that she’s let her long-time partner, Sasha, slip right through her fingers. Hannah has convinced herself things are better this way for everyone involved, that is until Sasha calls her, near death and pleading for her to come quickly.

Sasha Bashton is trying like hell to move on with her life after the breakup, but dating someone new and throwing herself into her work doesn’t stop her from reliving Hannah’s warm smile and loving embrace no matter how much she wants to forget. When her chronic disease recurs, she’s rushed to the hospital fighting for her life. The only person she wants by her side is Hannah, but can she truly depend on her sticking around? 

Hannah has one last chance to show Sasha how wrong she has been and start fresh for a love worth fighting for. All she has to do is convince Sasha she's the right woman for her—the second time around.

Maggie Davidson lives in fear after being robbed on the street outside her office. But the trauma has only just begun, and now she must face her attacker in court. A chance encounter with a beautiful woman in the courthouse café is the only bright spot in her day, until she finds out just who the woman is.

Ally Becker has always been her brother’s hero, and she’s at the courthouse to support him as he faces up to his mistakes. When she discovers that the stranger she shared coffee with is actually Maggie, the victim of her brother’s crime, she is torn between family loyalty and an attraction she can’t seem to forget.

Maggie and Ally have absolutely no intention of falling in love, but what they find in each other just might heal them both.

Shaylie Beck just wanted to go home.

She managed to snag the last seat on a late flight from New York to Denver. No one thought anything would go wrong. Nobody expected the unimaginable to happen. When the plane crashes, Shaylie fights for her life and is one of only eleven survivors.

Piper Cole wants answers.

Why did her fiancée’s plane crash? She lost everything that night, and the investigation is taking too long. To help cope with losing the woman she loved, Piper attends a support group for survivors.

The friendship Piper and Shaylie develop helps each to heal, but as their feelings turn to love, Shaylie’s torn. She can follow her heart to the woman she loves, or she can come clean about what really happened right before the plane crashed and risk losing Piper forever.

As the sole heir to her family’s banking empire, a lot is expected of Madison Prescott. Falling in love with her childhood friend Ana Perez was not in the cards. As Madison’s father puts it, “A gay daughter? Married to the maid’s daughter? Running my company? Over my dead body.”

By the time George Prescott dies, it’s been 15 years since Madison and Ana were ripped apart by his lies. They haven’t spoken since, but Madison has spent every minute waiting for this day to come. Unfortunately, it turns out time doesn’t heal all wounds. Why was Madison willing to give up everything in the face of her father’s threats, and why can she never tell Ana the truth about what really separated them?

Caught between a present they can’t trust and a past they can’t forget, Madison and Ana must decide if this is their second chance, or their final heartbreak.