Contemporary Books

Elena Murphy tried to escape the ghosts by moving as far away from Owen Station as she could get. It didn’t work. So when her dad asks her to manage the front-of-the-house at Murphy’s Mortuary Funeral Services, which her cold-as-ice brothers are burying, she packs up her art studio and comes home. This time, though, she’s not the town weirdo but an up-and-coming photographer who has embraced her sixth sense—and learned how to use it.

Allison Jones is the charismatic new assistant fire chief—and maybe the only person not happy Elena’s back. Not only is Al the first woman to hold this post in Owen Station, but she is up to her eyeballs in swirling conspiracy theories that are thwarting efforts to prevent wildfires during a record-breaking Southwest summer. The last thing she needs is somebody with Elena’s profile telling ghost stories.

Elena’s not too wild about the chief, either. No one can be that upbeat all the time and not be hiding something, right? But when Elena needs Al’s help to solve a 70-year-old mystery and finally give her tortured family peace, sparks fly. Will it be enough to melt the ice between them and let love ignite?

Advance praise from Publishers Weekly: "Kelly and Tana Fireside tantalize in their third Owen Station queer romance....[W]hen [Al and Elena] band together to solve a decades-old mystery, sparks fly. Readers will warm to Al, Elena, and the solid supporting cast, especially Elena’s feisty grandmother, who seems to know more about the mystery than she should. This quirky and tolerant small town remains a joy to visit."

What happens when your carefree spring fling shows up to work as your newest summer intern?

When Gwen Strickland and Etta Monroe agree to a steamy anonymous fling, they make three promises: No names. No details. No feelings.

Gwen’s a prominent Atlanta attorney who wants nothing more than to be the next justice on the Georgia State Supreme Court. Etta is fully focused on getting out of law school unscathed. A relationship is not on the agenda, but somehow, they can’t help totally falling for each other.

Then Gwen discovers Etta has accepted a summer internship at her law firm. Logic and ethics say they should end their relationship. But logic and ethics are no match for their unstoppable attraction. Sneaking about, clandestine dating isn’t a long-term solution, but the promise of a future with Etta means Gwen must risk her biggest goal for a younger woman whose life—and plans—could change.

All of Aubrey McFadden’s college friends are tying the knot, and she’s been invited to five weddings. Five. In one year. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate so much love and romance?

Aubrey, that’s who.

She’s going anyway, of course. It’s not her friends’ fault her college boyfriend left Aubrey on the day of their wedding. Lies, selfishness, unhappy surprises…no, thank you. And you know who’s responsible for her permanently single status?

Monica, that’s who.

Their friends all say Monica Wallace had a thing for Aubrey back then—not that Aubrey cares one little bit why that still makes her heart race. Monica convinced her best friend Cody that marrying Aubrey, settling down, and locking himself into a 9-to-5 at the expense of his dreams would be a huge mistake. Cody called off the wedding, and Aubrey has never forgiven them.

Aubrey McFadden is never getting married, but she does have five weddings to attend, and she’ll be avoiding Monica at every single one.

Settle in for an opposites attract, renovation-to-remember from RITA award finalist Aurora Rey.     

After years of hustling from one adjunct gig to another, Kathleen Kenney has finally hit the big time. Forget tenure, she’s got a best-selling novel under her belt. That means leaving the campus grind for rural Vermont, fixing up the old farmhouse of her dreams, and writing romance fiction from the comfort and quiet of her new home. She doesn’t believe in the happily-ever-afters they promise, but really, who does? 

As the youngest member of the Barrow Brothers Construction team, Logan Barrow leaps at the opportunity to take lead on the Kenney job. It’s a chance to prove she can go beyond design and see a project through, from start to finish. Unfortunately, a flirtatious foible puts Kathleen on the defensive and leaves Logan scrambling to be taken seriously. Nothing goes as planned, and their meet-cute is a definite fixer-upper. 

The renovation gets done because that’s what Barrow Brothers is all about. The hardest job of all, though, will be convincing Kathleen their love is as move-in-ready as her farmhouse.

Melissa Hart is a shy, mousy introvert, afraid to step out of her comfort zone until she dons a mask and leather as the dominatrix persona Mistress Heart. Living a double life, she develops an intimate relationship with a mysterious client who chips away the wall separating Ms. Hart from Mistress Heart to show Melissa the woman she really is. 

Golden Hughes had one goal, to turn her passion for dance into a professional career. Then tragedy strikes and Golden sets her dreams aside for a regular job and steady paycheck. Now that she has everything she needs, her passion for dance is reignited in burlesque performance, putting her in the path of two unique and sexy women.

Zoe Grant has spent most of her adult life putting her wants and needs on the back burner to focus on raising her daughter, her career as a beautician, and expanding her family’s natural hair care products business. When a woman running from a painful past comes to the salon for a life-changing haircut, Zoe finds what she wants and needs in the most unexpected way.

Three friends, each on their own path, discover love could lead to happily ever after.

A new friendship evolves into something unexpected and extraordinary in Rainbow Overalls, a heartfelt college romance by debut author Maggie Fortuna.

All Ginny Holland wants is to skip over her dramatic coming out story and live a being out story. Arriving for her first year at an artsy, incredibly queer college in middle-of-nowhere Vermont, she’s ready to be her true bisexual self. But being out and welcomed doesn’t mean self-acceptance is so simple.

Natalie Becker knows exactly who she is, and she’s right where she wants to be—so why isn’t she happy? She shouldn’t be preoccupied by what awaits her after college: working at her mother’s Jewish deli and giving up on her dream of being an artist. With anxiety about the future always in the back of her mind, Nat is determined to live in the moment at all costs.

Nat and her friends welcome Ginny into their group, but there’s an undercurrent of something more between them. A friendship is safe—not too intimidating for Ginny, and not too serious for Nat—as long as they can keep it that way.

In their twenties, PJ Addison and Wylie Parsons were hot young actors. Their iconic performances as the final girls in Dangerous Summer Nights launched a slasher franchise, and their real-life relationship only made their characters’ romance—and the film—more popular. But young love rarely lasts, and the Hollywood machine is brutal.

A decade later they are called back to the most recent Dangerous Summer Nights installment. Their days of shifting cultural paradigms are long past. It’s hard enough just to maintain Hollywood careers and pseudo happy lives. PJ’s a director, finally making a name for herself that isn’t attached to having been a sexy starlet. Wylie is on marriage number three and most days doesn’t even mind that she’s a cliché.

Their job is simple: pretend to be wildly in love on film again. Like professionals. But the more they fake it, the more they realize their feelings are anything but an act.

Charlie Dawson is really good at running away. After the loss of her parents, she’s stayed as far away from Manhattan and her parents' hotel empire as she could—an act made easier when her brother ruthlessly cut her off from the family fortune. Closing her art gallery, abandoning her dreams, and moving across the country weren’t simple, but that was easier than grieving the loss of the two people she loved most.

When her sister asks her to be maid of honor at her wedding, Charlie has no choice but to return to a city full of memories. As she faces a hectic wedding schedule and a hotel business in chaos, the last thing on her mind is romance. But the beautiful stranger she meets on her first night back changes everything. As family secrets are exposed and Charlie learns the truth about her stranger’s identity, she discovers that the only way to heal is to confront her past.

Is fifty-one too late to accept you’re a lesbian?

When the sexuality she swept under the rug as a teenager refuses to stay hidden, Erin finally accepts who she really is, divorces her husband, and sets about starting a new chapter in her life. Perhaps a reunion weekend with her three best high school friends will help her sort out what she really wants now. She’s especially looking forward to seeing Jodi, her not-so-secret crush whose kiss confirmed her teenage sexuality and sent her reeling. It can’t hurt to see if the spark is still there.

Jodi has been living out and proud since she moved away to go to college over thirty years ago. She’s happy with her life and career, but she’s a serial monogamist who always finds a reason to move on. She has no idea this reunion weekend has the potential to open old wounds.

Erin hopes it’s never too late to live as her true self. Can she convince Jodi to forgive her complicated past and accept her complex present after all this time?

A contemporary lesbian romance that illustrates the power of finding love again and the importance of reaching for your dreams.

Cate Colson has spent more than a decade building her successful law practice. After losing a woman she loved due to her single-minded career dedication, she’s done with serious relationships (aka she’s terrified of failure). Cate’s drawn to the magnetic widow of a former client, but Meg certainly isn’t the one-night-stand type. Besides, she might be straight. There’s no way Cate’s going to risk her heart again, if only The Meg Effect didn't leave her wanting more.

Meg Mullins wants a relationship with Cate, but things are complicated. She dedicated herself to her family after becoming pregnant at twenty, burying her attraction to women and the dream of becoming a professional artist. As Meg the unMuzzled, she writes a popular anonymous blog, processing her true feelings. Now that her kids are adults, she’s ready to come out and move beyond the fallout of her marriage, but change isn't as easy as it seems, and not everyone is happy for Meg. 

Cate and Meg are so good for each other, but a second chance at love means untangling their pasts, learning to trust, and daring to let go of who they thought they were to discover who they’re meant to be together.

Joanne Billings knows what it’s like to lose people. Adopted from foster care as a child, she loses her parents all over again when they die unexpectedly in a car accident. Trying to come to terms with her grief, Joanne discovers the deed to a house among their possessions and moves on impulse. As if she doesn’t have enough tragedy, a hurricane threatens her fresh start, and Joanne flees to South Carolina with her neighbor.

Shanna Mills is recently divorced from a scary ex who still can’t let go, has no idea what direction her life will take, and is temporarily housing her mom and Joanne. The very last thing she expects is her undeniable attraction. When Shanna's mom falls ill, she and Joanne work together to help care for her, growing closer as she recovers.

As the hurricane rips through Florida, so too are Joanne's and Shanna’s lives upended. It’ll take a force of nature to show them the love it takes to rebuild.

Things get complicated when Rory’s roommate Maya falls madly in love with Hollywood superstar London Green and Rory is dragged into the path of Ellis the uptight ice queen in this enemies-to-lovers lesbian romance.  

Hollywood talent agent Ellis Turner is at the top of her game. Her star client has landed the role of a lifetime, and all Ellis must do is get her to the set without scandal. Enter Rory Hatten, the nosy roommate of London’s latest questionable romantic entanglement, and an absolute nobody in the industry. Their disastrous first encounter seems destined to destroy everything that Ellis has worked so hard to achieve.

Rory doesn’t want to come between Ellis and London. Actually, she’d rather stay out of Hollywood altogether. But she begins to suspect Maya’s motives aren’t as pure as they seem, and she has no choice but to work with Ellis to save London’s reputation and the Ellis Turner Agency.

Will badly behaving celebrities, erotic sex tapes, and steamy scandals prevent Rory and Ellis from leaning in to love?

Rayne Thomas is an introvert and likes it that way. But after being spectacularly dumped and losing out on professional opportunities because she doesn’t put herself out there, she definitely needs to make a change. Enter her new personal trainer, Maggie Flanders. Kind? Yes. Fun? Yes. Sexy? Oh God, yes. But not even the most erotic dream of her life gives Rayne the confidence to risk this tentative new friendship.

Maggie Flanders has thrown herself into her work since her partner died eight years ago. There’s lots of opportunity to meet women and an occasional night of pleasure to satisfy her needs without letting anyone close. She lets everyone think she’s a player. It’s less lonely than the truth. But Maggie is never, ever falling in love again.  

As Rayne and Maggie work together in and outside the gym to build Rayne’s confidence, they struggle even harder at denying their attraction. Letting go of the past to embrace a better future takes herculean effort, but with love on the line, will Rayne be brave enough to tell Maggie how she really feels?

After their book club reads a romance about an American tourist falling in love with an English princess, Harper and her best friend, Alice, book an impulsive trip to London hoping they too will find the women of their dreams. When Chelsea, an old flame of Harper’s, offers a place to stay and to show them around, Harper welcomes the chance to reconnect. Chelsea had always been the one that got away.

But a chance meeting leads to an unlikely suitor, who lavishes upon Harper every romantic gesture she’s ever dreamed of. It’s irresistible, and exactly why she came to London. Or is it?

As her head is spinning, Harper’s heart reminds her that, this time, maybe happily ever after isn’t just something that happens between the pages—it can happen to her.

The residents of Ruth Miller’s small rural village took it upon themselves to guide her after her parents died. But she’s an adult now and determined to find her own path, starting with learning more about the parents she lost too soon. Maybe if she understands who they were and how they shaped her, she’ll be able to share her life with someone special without the cold fingers of anxiety locking her into the comfort of familiar surroundings.

Olivia Bell’s chaotic childhood has left her lonely. Her independence has served her well in everything except relationships, and she’s desperately searching for connection. She never had a happy home and left the minute she was old enough. The only person she can rely on is her little sister Grace, but Grace needs her help caring for their father—the last thing Olivia wants to do. 

When Ruth and Olivia meet, they become the one bright spot in each other’s days. But Ruth wishes more than anything for the family she lost, and Olivia would do almost anything to escape hers.  Could home ever be more than a four-letter word?

Junior associate Elizabeth Taylor has just landed her dream job at New York City’s largest and most elite law firm. Situated on the top floor of a Manhattan skyrise, it’s everything this Southern girl could want. She’s determined to prove herself, but when Lizzy meets managing partner Darcy Hammond during orientation, her focus begins to shift to her undeniable attraction. Soon, Lizzy is actively flirting, and much to her surprise, Darcy reciprocates. No matter—nothing ever came from a little harmless banter...right?

Darcy Hammond is strictly business. She doesn’t have time for distractions, no matter how good they may look in a pencil skirt. As the youngest and only female managing partner, she has both hands full. But when Elizabeth catches her eye, Darcy goes against her better judgment and puts her on as co-counsel for a huge upcoming trial.

As the line between business and pleasure blurs, the jury is out on whether getting up close and personal will lead to the love of a lifetime, or career disaster.

Nancy and Sam have no intention of playing nice. Each aims to win the bid for the abandoned Narragansett Island Lighthouse, and compromise isn’t in the cards. It’s preservation versus profit, but the lighthouse’s dissatisfied governing board insists on better from both women.

Ironically, a battered old book at the lighthouse just might provide the key to success. Inspiring parallels are discovered in the dog-eared pages: the struggles, dreams—and love—between two Danish women braving WWII’s desperate days, guided by a valiant lighthouse they know well. 

The heroic tale could navigate Nancy and Sam to success, if they stop floundering long enough to see love coming to their rescue.