Contemporary Books

Is there anything worse than your I-don’t-do-commitment ex finally getting married? Not according to Scottie Templeton. Factor in living with her grandma, her rattletrap car, and never-ending job struggles, and Scottie’s stressed. When a friend suggests they take dance lessons to blow off steam, she figures why not? How was she supposed to know that the super talented, ridiculously hot dance instructor is Marisa Reyes, the woman her ex dumped for her? Or that her friend would break his foot, leaving her without a dance partner? Or that dancers without a partner get paired with the instructor?

Scottie’s ready to quit, but her grandma won’t let her. She has nothing to be ashamed of and the playing field is level now. So, Scottie vows to finish the lessons, even if it kills her. And if the sizzling chemistry she has with Marisa, to say nothing of the closeness of their dancing, is any indication, it just might.

Kelly James has been handed a raw deal in life. When she is forced to give up Bear, the cat she’d recently adopted, it’s just one more heartache to add to the pile. To the outside world, Logan Spencer has it all, great looks, a killer body, a loving family, and any woman she wants with a snap of her fingers. When Logan agrees to take Bear, she promises him a good home and Kelly plenty of opportunities to visit him. It isn’t long before Kelly looks forward to seeing Logan almost as much as Bear. Logan seems so far out of her league that Kelly is sure she’s headed for even more heartache if she doesn’t keep her feelings under wraps. But there is much more to Logan than meets the eye and something special in Kelly that Kelly doesn’t see in herself.

Opposites really can attract, and as Kelly and Logan work together to create a loving home for Bear, they just might find one for themselves as well.

Despite being the youngest partner at her firm, corporate attorney Davy Dugan is gunning for a recently vacant name partnership—it would mean finally having the power to make a real change in her conservative workplace. But eighty-hour workweeks don’t allow any time with her much younger half-sister, Tally, who doesn’t seem to need Davy in her life anyway.

Davy aims to get back into Tally’s good graces by throwing her a big birthday party, but that means dealing with Tally’s other half sister, Anna. To say Davy and Anna don’t get along is putting it mildly.

When a misunderstanding leads to her boss’s assumption that she and Anna are headed to the altar, Davy sees a way to leapfrog over the competition straight into one of the top spots at her firm. She just has to convince Anna to be her faux fiancée in order to do it and keep her growing attraction in check, of course.

Marlene Diggs has her whole life figured out and a ten-year plan for success. You know what’s not on that plan? A one-night stand with a woman who makes her question everything. How could she have spent thirty years not knowing she’s a lesbian? Her first lesbian relationship ends in disaster and leaves her even more confused than before. Of course, the lingering crush on a certain bartender doesn’t help.

Abby McCallister has always felt good in her own skin. It’s everyone else who has a problem. When yet another girlfriend labels her “too much,” another relationship bites the dust, and she winds up sleeping on the couch in her art studio. A cute regular at the bar offers up her spare room in exchange for some tips on fitting into the gay scene, and Abby jumps at the chance. What’s the worst that could happen?

Marlene and Abby know that falling for your roommate is the worst cliché ever, and it’s absolutely not going to happen to them. But resisting their feelings is hard to do when being together feels so right.

Juliette Jennings lives her life like a tightly laced corset—not that she’d ever wear one. As a business owner of a stationery store, structure is her favorite. But when her best friend and her ex fall head over heels for each other, everything unravels and leaves her exposed. Even worse, a scandalous lingerie shop has moved in next door, and its tantalizing window displays will drive away her conservative customers. If only the owner would turn off the charm, Juliette is sure she could stop imagining her in nothing but the shop’s lacy best sellers.

Peyton Lane loves a clean slate. In fact, she desperately needs one after a series of bad choices. She also likes sexy things, and uptight Juliette next door would be a fun bow to untie. But when Peyton’s feelings enter new territory, she realizes the world might be scarier than she’d planned. Juliette has Peyton longing for forever on one hand and lacing up her running shoes with the other.

What’re a structured stationery store owner and a sexy lingerie peddler to do?

In less than 48 hours, reality TV sensation Restaurant Redo and its gorgeous host will arrive to film in chef Taylor Mobley’s kitchen…and she just found out.

Fixer Erin Rasmussen has a reputation for saving failing restaurants with her take-no-crap attitude. She gets the job done on time, under budget, and millions of viewers tune in to watch her do it.

The fine dining restaurant Taylor works for has some serious problems and management doesn’t want her input. It’s time to leave. But how is she supposed to find a new position when a TV host with delusions of grandeur keeps painting her as a problem chef? Taylor refuses to play nice with Erin, especially on camera. They make each other’s blood boil, which is why it’s even more annoying that they can’t manage to keep their hands off each other.

Erin only cares about entertaining viewers. Taylor is unprofessional and immature. Or at least that’s what they each think. As the cameras roll and their careers hang in the balance, will Erin and Taylor make the jump from enemies to lovers?

Overwhelmed by sudden fame, Lily Larimer retreats from LA and returns to McCall, the last place she’s felt truly happy, even if that means seeing her ex, Sam, who seems to have found exactly what she wanted in life. Hoping to get her future back on track, Lily isn’t looking for romance—not until she meets Alex, the gorgeous Cuban dance instructor at Lake Haven, Sam’s newly opened lesbian retreat.

Sam Draper, McCall’s chief of police, and her wife, Sara, are ready to start their family, but their plans go awry when Sara experiences fertility issues. Summer heats up as they open Lake Haven, but cracks soon start to emerge with the realization that what they want most, a family, might be just out of reach.

As the secret evil lurking just beneath the surface of their sleepy little lake town emerges, all four women discover that sometimes happiness comes when you least expect it.

Kennedy’s life is at a standstill. While on her therapist’s couch, she psychoanalyzes herself, her latest short-term failure of a relationship, and all of those mistakes she’s made along the way. On impulse, she books a getaway. Where better to find herself than a luminous gay-owned bed and breakfast on the coast of Maine?

Enter Logan, a stranger who approaches her in the lobby. Logan who’s oh-so-persuasive and determined to win her over. And maybe she does. Or maybe she’s beginning to, at least. But as the two find they’re inexplicably drawn to one another during an intoxicating and completely sublime few days secluded far away from reality, they’re also struggling with the relationship’s transience.

So It Went Like This is a candid and deeply personal exploration of fate, chosen family, and that dreamy vulnerability intrinsic in life’s uncertainties, as told in interwoven perspectives. It’s a portrait that seeks an answer to an enduring question: What if some were predestined and meant for one another?

Dani Raye has finally got her life back on track. After a messy divorce, Dani and her ex-wife, Catriona, have found a way to co-parent successfully. Most of the time. While Catriona has moved on, Dani is in no rush to find love again. She has her work and son, Jonah, and that’s all she needs to be happy.

Lucy Matthews is anything but happy. Her relationship is falling apart, and her son is taking out his frustrations on a boy in school. When Dani and Lucy are thrust together to sort out their children’s squabble, their priorities are clear—family first—despite the attraction neither expected.

All Maggie Hyde wants is to graduate from the School of Agriculture at Alder University and settle into her legacy by taking over Hyde Hill Farm, the apple orchard that’s been in her family for four generations. Well, okay, it’s not all she wants. Finding someone who loves her small hometown of East Sparrow, Georgia, is high on her list of priorities, too. Who wouldn’t want to fall in love and settle down?

Olivia Cypress, that’s who. A free-spirited traveler at heart, Olivia is enjoying life way too much to limit her options, especially by settling down in nowheresville East Sparrow. But when Olivia walks into Maggie’s horticulture class, she’s charmed by Maggie’s gorgeous smile. It’s fine, though. They can’t seem to agree on anything, especially farming.

Maggie is sure Olivia will leave, just like her mother did. Olivia is sure Maggie doesn’t need a 30-year life plan. Opposites don’t really attract, right?

Katie James didn’t plan on being a runaway bride. Twice. But when the gorgeous, accomplished, former love of her life, Emma Reed, reappears in her life the week of her wedding, will Katie risk everything for another chance with the woman who might be her soul mate?

Double Jeopardy was previously published in Still Not Over You: Romance Novellas (Bold Strokes Books, 2020).

Gina Henley doesn’t keep up with current events. She’s too busy partying with her friends and fending off her mother’s well-intentioned nagging about finding a man and settling down. When a mysterious illness causes her boss to close the office, Gina must work from home and life as she knows it changes forever.

Dr. Eleanor Osborne works at a busy London hospital and knows all too well the virus is causing panic. As if that weren’t bad enough, it’s too unsafe for her elderly neighbor to continue minding Eleanor’s daughter, Sophia. She needs a babysitter pronto, but who can she ask to take the risk?

Cut off from her social network, Gina finds the silence of her own company suffocating—who is she when no one is watching? Eleanor is sure she picked the worst time ever to become a single mother—how can she possibly raise a child in such an unpredictable world? Set against the backdrop of a viral pandemic, Gina and Eleanor are about to discover that loving another person is complicated when you’re desperately searching for yourself.

My Forever Girl was previously published in Still Not Over You: Romance Novellas (Bold Strokes Books, 2020).

Jody Acosta’s life was turned upside down the day her father died in a work-related accident. Struggling with her grief, all she can do is immerse herself in her work at the local animal shelter and help her mother while they wait for the settlement from the wrongful death lawsuit.

Nicole Bergeron, the company's representative, is conducting an internal investigation into the accident. She understands the Acosta family’s grief, but that doesn’t mean the company her father built is automatically responsible for the tragedy.

Jody doesn’t know what makes her more furious, that the wealthy Bergeron family refuses to pay for what they did, or that she can’t ignore her knee-weakening attraction to Nicole. But she’ll need to push aside her anger to work with Nicole to find the truth, about the company, about her father, and about her own heart.

Life changes like the ocean tides, and Mikayla Pierce is discovering that the hard way. Recently divorced and learning more about her bisexuality, she struggles to find her way on her own. Living in a borrowed home in Oceana Mobile Home Park, Mikayla knows one thing for sure. She’s done trying to be the person other people think she should be.

Gem Helmstaad, the property manager of Oceana, has resigned herself to the life she’s lived since she was a kid, helping her dad take care of his business. She thought she’d broken free of her family obligations, but with her father’s poor health and her siblings having lives of their own, she’s back in Oceana and it’s up to her to keep the business going.

Falling in love is the last thing on either of their minds, but when Mikayla and Gem meet, sparks of possibility begin to shine, revealing a new path that just might lead them to a future neither expected.

Once the first female quarterback of her high school team, Sutton McCoy has since landed her dream job as the offensive coordinator for the new NFL team the Connecticut Cheetahs. When the team recruits established quarterback Grayson Moats to lead them, Sutton’s heart is crushed. Grayson isn’t the problem. Sutton’s fifteen-year crush on his wife, Parker O’Neal, is.

Parker is living a life full of regrets dating all the way back to high school when her parents made her end her relationship with Sutton because there were too many rumors about her, not all of them good. When Grayson accepts the new quarterback position with the Cheetahs, he consults Parker first, knowing the three of them have history. But it’s not like she can tell him the truth, that Sutton still occupies so much of Parker’s head and heart.

Interfering in the personal life of the star quarterback and convincing Parker to walk away from her family were never in Sutton’s game plan. But standing on the sidelines when a second chance at true love comes their way proves all but impossible.