Contemporary Books

Going to work never felt so good. Three office romance novellas from talented writers Julie Cannon, Aurora Rey, and M. Ullrich. 

In For Your Eyes Only by Julie Cannon: Dress for success takes on a very different meaning. CFO Riley Stephenson finds herself in a particularly difficult position when the stripper she's fallen for shows up at her office - as her new employee.

In Lead Counsel by Aurora Rey: 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. 2019 RITA® Finalist! 

In Opportunity of a Lifetime by M. Ullrich: Luca Garner is eager and hardworking but her new boss is a total nightmare: snarky and uncooperative, not to mention an ice queen. VP Stephanie Austin doesn’t mean to be unkind but the last thing she wants is an assistant getting under her skin, especially one who is as attractive as she is kind.

Kat Jackson is successful despite her estrangement from her parents and the loss of her wife. She’s resigned to live alone while struggling to maintain her dream ranch. When she falls for weekend cowgirl DJ Callahan, she soon fears all she knows to be true may be a cruel façade developed for her own protection. 

DJ Callahan is a corporate lawyer who lives in the moment, never limiting herself to any one relationship. When DJ arrives at the Jumpin’ J Ranch, she has no plans to become involved with Kat, let alone open the door to her own past, which bubbles just below the surface, threatening to destroy her entire existence as a “big city lawyer.” 

Having everything she could ever want in life, twice, is something Kat never expected. When she gets a second chance at love, following her heart will prove the hardest decision of all.

Falling in love is the hardest business of all.

Entrepreneur and innovator Kadrienne Davenport gets results. A demanding executive and stickler for punctuality, Kade throws herself into work to avoid hurting anyone, convinced she only causes pain to those she loves.

When Jennifer Spencer meets an incognito Kade at a conference, sparks fly. But when Kade unexpectedly becomes her boss, Jen’s problems multiply. The company she founded is going broke, her grandmother’s dementia is worsening, and her attraction to Kade—her difficult, brilliant, charismatic mentor—is growing.

Kade’s desire to keep things professional between them is in Jen’s best interest. Yet what’s in Kade’s best interest…is Jen.

Ronda Meyers plays cornerback for the Texas Stars. She’s the league MVP, and she plays hard both on and off the field. Ronda’s life is going great until she gets a devastating injury in the second game of the new season.

Gayla Adkins is Ronda’s assistant and part-time lover. She takes care of Ronda after her injury and does her best to nurse her back to health. In the process, they discover love. They’re very happy until Gayla suspects Ronda of becoming addicted to her pain pills. She gives Ronda an ultimatum—get off the pills or lose her.

Is Ronda strong enough to kick her addiction? Or will she choose the easy way out and lose Gayla?

Nora Calhoun keeps her life just like her Provincetown B and B, neat and tidy. She’s thrilled when her niece Graham comes to stay with her while completing her graduate fieldwork aboard the Dolphin Fleet. She’s less than thrilled when Graham starts hanging out with Willa Lange, a sexy wanderer who works for the Fleet and seems to have her sights set on Graham. 

At the encouragement of her sister Emerson, Will’s short stay in Ptown becomes a fresh start. She’s doing great—a decent job, a place of her own, and new friends. But when she meets Nora, she finds herself pining for more. The only problem? Nora is fifteen years her senior and doesn’t like her. Can the women overcome past hurts and find love or will their affair leave battered hearts in its wake?

It’s a long weekend among six friends whose lives have intertwined through years of U-Hauls and regrets, almosts and what-ifs. As that poorly timed snowstorm whirls into town, it threatens to kick pent-up desires and tightly held secrets over the edge—especially for Jessie, who can’t stop thinking about her best friend Hadley.

Meanwhile Brie’s past overshadows her present-day, and the Lasleys just hope to enjoy their much-anticipated wedding anniversary. If everyone would just keep it together for the next few days, and if this snow would taper off, they just might pull off Sunday’s celebration. Drama free.

Advance praise from Foreword Reviews: "Truth or Dare is an entirely fun read. It’s a low-tension slice-of-life meditation on the way that lives intersect....This book is a must for fans of multiple-character structures and shows like The L Word. Truth or Dare is charming with its stories of queer women falling in and out of love. It is smart, funny, and romantic—the perfect read for a snowy night in."

Dakota Scott has spent her entire adult life trying to outrun her past, but even the privilege and reputation her family name affords her haven’t helped her forget. Her mother’s mental illness and the memory of the night that haunts her from so long ago won’t release her. When the one woman with the power to set her free shows up, Dakota is drawn to her, but she is a painful reminder of everything Dakota has been trying desperately to escape. 

When Jessie Weldon returns to her hometown after thirty years of avoiding it, she knows she has demons to face and a conflicted past to resolve, but she has no idea love awaits her. Can she give her heart to Dakota with the tragic past that lies between them?

No one pencils in falling in love.

All work and no play has Autumn Primm in the market for a little excitement. Her Venice Beach coffee shop, The Cat’s Pajamas, is her pride and joy. While she doesn’t mind the long hours, she finds herself staring dreamily out the window, imagining the life she’s yet to lead. The time has come to take off the apron and see what the world has in store.  

Kate Carpenter needs to get away. And quick. A small-town firefighter, Kate’s been crowned a local hero for reasons she can’t quite get behind. An open highway and some time off have her fleeing the scene to sunny California to catch her breath and put some distance between herself and the unwanted acclaim. Dreamy Autumn Primm was never supposed to be part of that bargain. What Kate needs is a temporary escape, emphasis on temporary.

Successful but suffocated by the demands of her corporate career, Shaw Daily walks out on it all. She returns to her grandparents’ rural property in Cooper’s Creek, North Carolina, with a plan to hide out and reboot her life to be simple and stress free. But escapism eludes her when her attentions are captured by small-town beauty Kate Elkins.

Kate has spent almost her entire life in Cooper’s Creek. For Kate, the bonds of small-town life are a source of strength and comfort. When her aging mother weakens, Kate takes a leave from teaching to care for her. Romance is the last thing on her mind when she bumps into her unrequited teen crush Shaw Dailey just back from California. Long-buried feelings resurface for Kate, but all Shaw sees is a beautiful woman saddled with the responsibilities she is finally free from.

Police detective Callie Burke returned to western New York after a bad breakup. She immerses herself in work as a way of avoiding any personal connections. But as her feelings for her sister’s boss and late friend’s widow move beyond friendship, she isn’t quite sure how to handle it.

Bar owner Taylor Fletcher lost her firefighter wife almost four years ago. Dating is the last thing on her mind. She gave her heart away once and isn’t willing to risk that kind of pain again. But now Callie, a woman she isn’t even sure she likes, is getting under her skin. 

Because of a threat on Taylor’s life, they spend more time together, and both begin to feel things they never expected. Callie’s never had the once-in-a-lifetime type of love. Taylor has, but Callie makes her wonder if it’s possible to find that kind of love twice in a lifetime.

Olivia Reynolds is just where she wants to be—in control. The youngest brand manager for Vital, an athletic wear company, she has no family, no pets, and no obligations. When Olivia literally bumps into Cardic Lawson, her world is turned upside down. Cardic insists a no strings fling will meet both their needs. No commitments and sex anytime, anywhere.  

Cardic is as carefree as they come. Other than her career, life is all about fun. She’s a cultural anthropology professor at Loyola, and studying human culture and growing up in a household of infidelity has made her bitter about love. After an eighteen-month field study in the Amazon, Cardic is back in the states and ready to let loose. She wants nothing more than a casual affair with the fiery redhead, but will her desire to break Olivia’s control also break the bonds of her own heart?

Haven Thorne and Willa Bennette were childhood sweethearts who had it all—a partnership, a home, and a future planned out ahead of them—until Willa’s life is threatened by a silent killer and their relationship is torn apart. Heartbroken and alone, both women struggle to live without each other for the first time.
 
Years later, they both believe they’ve finally moved on and settled into their new lives. But it doesn’t take long for fate, chance, and Mother Nature to step in and mix things back up.  Can true love withstand both time and distance in order to bring Haven and Willa back together or are they now as different as the sand and stars—too far apart to be together once more?

Finnian Kane, famous master of illusion, mentalist, and renowned atheist, has a crisis of faith after her sister’s death. She rents a cottage in the village of Axedale in Kent, desperately trying to find a safe haven from the intrusive media to grieve and work out how to move on. 

The Reverend Bridget Claremont makes it her mission to help the enigmatic Finnian find her faith in life again. Bridge has long yearned for a life partner, and her best friend’s wedding has intensified that desire. But when you’re a lesbian vicar in a small English village, it’s not easy to find your perfect match. 

Their chemistry is clear from the start, despite their different beliefs and Bridge insisting Finn isn’t her type. But will the mentalist find the magic that can charm the vicar?

Hudson Frost thinks she has it all until her relationship is cut short. Unprepared for the end she didn’t see coming, she relocates to mend the pieces of her broken heart. Ariana Marks is out to prove she’s got what it takes to start a catering business and show her parents she isn’t a failure. When her business loan is denied, she’s left wondering if they’re right.

When Hudson’s and Ari's paths keep crossing, it feels like destiny. Hudson has the expertise to help Ari get her business up and running. Ari can help with Hudson’s awkward living situation. Both women want control over their lives—one to protect her heart, the other, her lifelong dream. Can they learn to give up control and give in to the growing attraction between them? Or will their reluctance to rely on each other prevent either from the life they’ve always wanted?

As the go-to therapist at Elite Therapy, Dr. Hayley Sims is the best in her field. It’s exactly why she’s just been assigned her most challenging patient yet, hockey player Elizabeth Stone. Not because Stone’s injury is complicated, but because she is intense to work with and needs someone to keep her in check. When Hayley’s personal life starts unraveling and she realizes she might be developing feelings for her patient, she’s torn between finishing her assignment and walking away to protect herself. Can Hayley get Stone back on the ice in one piece while keeping her heart from breaking?

Newly promoted police captain Bennett Carlyle considers being project manager for the new district substation the way to prove her worth in the male-dominated upper ranks of the department. But when the first girl she loved returns as the architect with little understanding of the operational needs of a police station, Bennett’s career and her heart could face permanent damage.  

Architect Kerstin Anthony believes the new police substation will be the springboard to her own firm and the necessary resources to care for her mother. When she confronts the girl she kissed in high school, now a tantalizing police officer with unrealistic expectations about the new facility, Kerstin’s path to success becomes littered with unexpected hurdles. Along with tight deadlines, budget restraints, and architectural challenges, she has to battle both past and present feelings for the woman she was torn away from years ago.

If you had the chance to grab on to happiness and not let go, would you?

Kathryn Hawthorne, local Chicago celebrity, thinks everything in her life is just fine. She has friends, money, a job—everything she needs to survive. Except, of course, love, which, after getting her heart broken, she avoids like the plague. Pam Phillips, on the other hand, just buried the love of her life—her husband of twenty-one years. The last thing she wants is a new friend, let alone a new love interest. When the two women meet and swap witty banter, things start to change. Kathryn can feel that familiar tug of desire in her chest as she suggests—in a smooth as silk way—that they meet up again someday. In a moment of pure insanity—or desperation—Pam decides to take a chance. What happens next changes Pam’s life forever

Accountant and financial advisor Lacey Chamberlain doesn’t consider herself a control freak. She’s merely a planner—orderly, neat, and content in her tidy little life. When a marketing firm moves into the empty office next door, the loud-music-playing, stinky-food-ordering, kickball-in-the-hall staff make Lacey crazy.

Marketing expert Alicia Wright is spontaneous, flies by the seat of her pants, and lives in the moment—all the things Lacey is not. She’s also gorgeous, thoughtful, and seems determined to make Lacey like her.

They say opposites attract, but for how long? And is that really a good idea?