Never a Bridesmaid

By Spencer Greene

Close Quarters
Coming Out

Jessica Monroe is not going to her sister’s bachelorette party. She hates weddings, she hates her sister’s friends, and she hates everything having to do with her sister’s maid of honor, Tanner Caldwell.

Jessica knows Tanner from high school and has vowed never to speak to that preppy know-it-all again. When Jessica’s mother holds her inheritance hostage unless Jessica agrees to be a bridesmaid and attend all her sister’s pre-wedding events over the next six months, she must fly to Ashville for what’s sure to be the longest weekend of her life. It’s one thing to be blackmailed into obligatory heteronormativity, but it’s quite another to be continually thrown into situations with Tanner, who seems to enjoy getting under her skin.

As the wedding gets closer, Jessica’s hatred for Tanner is a bit more complicated than she thought. Maybe it’s not just hatred that’s getting under Jessica’s skin, but something more?

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The Rewind

By Nicole Stiling

Friends & Community
First Responders

Some choices break hearts. Others leave a body count.

Police detective Cami Lyons is finally doing okay following the devastating breakup of her relationship with crime reporter Alicia Flynn. Her work is mainly petty theft investigations and chasing down vandals, until a body is found in a nearby forest and everything changes. She has no choice but to pivot to homicide detective, and she’s in way over her head.

Alicia made a terrible mistake. When her existential crisis spiraled out of control, she left everything behind—her home, her family, her job, her longtime girlfriend—and ended up on the other side of the world. Time hasn’t healed her wounds and now she’s back. But the truth of all she’s lost may be too much to face.

With the captain, the mayor, the public, and the media breathing down Cami’s neck, her priority is figuring out who’s terrorizing their town, and fast. Sorting out her lingering feelings for Alicia? Definitely not a priority.

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Turning Point

By Cathy Dunnell

Multicultural 

Asha has worked hard to get where she is: a great job, a beautiful apartment and the city life she always wanted. But everything is turned upside down when her dad falls ill and she has to return to the hometown she once vowed to escape from. The only thing that could make this bad situation even worse? Seeing Jody, the mean girl who made Asha’s high school years unbearable.

Jody has tried hard to move on from who she used to be. When she runs into Asha again, painful memories are stirred up, but Jody is determined to prove to Asha that she’s changed for the better. Especially since Asha seems to have life all figured out while Jody has so many insecurities and baggage.

Asha and Jody deny the growing attraction between them, but when tragedy forces Asha to a turning point, both their lives will change forever.

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When Tomorrow Comes

By D. Jackson Leigh

Disability
Animals 

Teague Maxwell, a brilliant, reclusive inventor, knows two things about herself—she prefers the company of animals, and she will die in the next year following her fortieth birthday. Resigned to the inevitable, she hires Baye Cobb from a local pet rescue to find new homes for her menagerie of pets.    

When Baye decided to turn her late grandmother’s farm into an animal rescue operation, she had no idea so many animals would land on her doorstep. In dire need of more funding, more space and much better business management, Baye has no choice but to accept the lucrative offer from Teague—her very eccentric, but largest, donor. She agrees to help rehome Teague’s pets despite her disgust for someone who would adopt so many animals, only to rehome all of them. 

Neither woman expects Teague’s desperation and Baye’s disapproval to explode into undeniable attraction. The more time they spend together, the more they realize it’s not just animals Baye is adept at saving—she could be the one to rescue Teague from her catastrophic fate.

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You Had Me at Merlot

By Melissa Brayden

Big City
New York City
Bisexual
Food

What do you get when you combine a sweet cinnamon twist and robust Italian wine? Bestselling author Melissa Brayden’s You Had Me at Merlot, the perfect blend of sugar and spice.

Bordeauxnuts is New York City magic, and it all belongs to Jamie Tolliver. A charming coffee and doughnut spot by day, Bordeauxnuts transforms with a sprinkle of powdered sugar into a cozy sophisticated wine bar each evening. Jamie’s enjoying a blueberry latte with her quirky band of regulars when a stunning and enigmatic stranger saunters in, flips her laptop open, and Jamie’s world upside down. Each time Jamie speaks to Leighton Morrow, her crush multiplies. She’s drawn to Leighton's captivating presence, her kindness, and the faint lip print she leaves on her cup that winds a tingle up Jamie’s spine.

But sexy spine tingles can be deceiving.

Leighton Morrow didn’t set out to ruin anyone’s life, but she has a job to do. As a development coordinator for Carrington’s Department Store, Leighton’s part of the team that plans to take over the city block for the new location, including demolishing her new favorite café, Bordeauxnuts. A shame, but that’s life. She’ll miss the apple fritters and the cute owner. But work is a No Feelings Zone and she definitely cannot give in to the ones she has percolating for Jamie. Leighton and Jamie have all the ingredients to turn their attraction into love, but it’s a recipe for disaster.

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All Things Beautiful

By Alaina Erdell

Friends & Community
Financial gap/Class disparity
Actors/Artists
Blue Collar
New York City
Bisexual
Children / Families

Leighton Vaughn’s prestigious fine art atelier—and her life—appear to be settling down after a messy divorce. She prioritizes her daughter, art, and, teaching—that is until gifted Casey Norford joins the close-knit New York academy.

Casey didn’t receive the artistic education she expected from her degree, but a spot at Atelier Vaughn will remedy that. Even more than the opportunity to study with the famed Leighton Vaughn, Casey wants to give her son a stable childhood that won’t resemble her own. She’s not sure of the true extent of her artistic talent, but she’s keenly aware of her attraction to her instructor, and that attraction appears mutual.

Their sticky teacher-student relationship puts the future of the atelier in jeopardy, and Leighton’s obsessive ex tracks her down. Will they sacrifice everything to be together?

 

Content advisory: This book contains instances of domestic violence. 

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Appalachian Awakening

By Nance Sparks

Friends & Community

Facing yet another failed relationship and a full-blown identity crisis after losing her job in a corporate merger, unemployed executive Amber Shaw realizes she hasn’t been happy in a long time. Who is she if not a CEO, and if everything she’s worked for hasn’t made her happy, what will? Inspired after learning about the Appalachian Trail, Amber sets off in hopes of figuring it all out. 

Leslie Brown lives life on her own terms with nothing to tie her down. She’s an experienced hiker and has one final trail left on her bucket list, the Appalachian Trail. Only problem, all her friends have settled down and started lives that don’t allow for seven months away from responsibilities. She’s out there alone.

Amber and Leslie assume they are polar opposites based on their first impressions of each other, but the more their paths cross, the more this hike of a lifetime begins to look like a love of a lifetime.

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Dreamer

By Kris Bryant

Big City

Sawyer Noel’s car troubles leave her coasting into the dreamy town of Ladybug Junction, Alabama, on her way to the Fetch Veterinarian Conference. She tries to make the most of it, but cell phone signal is limited, and the library is the only reliable place for Wi-Fi. The attractive, carefree librarian with her wild, curly hair and infectious smile helps the time go by quickly, and suddenly Sawyer isn’t in such a rush.

Macey Burr loves helping people. She happily throws herself into her work solving problems and enriching the lives around her. When a sexy stranger rolls through town, Macey goes out of her way to make the doctor feel at home. It’s easy to see past Sawyer’s hard exterior and impossible to ignore her full lips, sparkling blue eyes, and brilliant mind.

When life seems to be too good to be true and love is within reach, Sawyer and Macey discover the truth about Ladybug Junction, and the cold light of reality tests the hearts of these dreamers.

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Eyes on Her

By Eden Darry

Psychological Thriller
Small Town Romances

Hoping to leave her past behind after ending her emotionally abusive relationship, Cally Pope moves to Halesbrook, a sleepy town in Gloucestershire. Content with her plans to open a glamping business in the forest and live a quiet life, she’s sworn off any kind of romantic entanglement.

Laurie Flanagan has lived in the forest all her life and has her dream job working for the forestry commission. She longs for the kind of relationship her parents have, but she hasn’t met someone who fits the bill. When she meets Cally, she feels an instant connection, only it seems Cally doesn’t feel the same way at all.

When increasingly violent acts of sabotage threaten to derail the opening of Forest Glamping and put Cally in grave danger, Laurie is the only one who believes the violence isn’t random. Together, Laurie and Cally try to figure out what’s going on, but the closer they get to answers the more Cally can’t shake the feeling her ex, Jules, has something to do with it. But Jules is dead. Isn’t she…?

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Letters from Sarah

By Joy Argento

Friends & Community
Actors/Artists
Animals 

It’s been almost two years since Sarah Osborn’s wife, Julie, died. She never expects that the email she sends to Julie’s old account, hoping for closure, would end up in someone else’s inbox.

Lindsey Cooper is deeply touched when she receives an email meant for someone else. She writes back, explaining the mistake and tries to ignore the immediate connection she feels to the sender. A handful of emails later, their growing online connection leads to a real-life meeting.

Even though Sarah wants to be ready for her growing feelings for Lindsay, her guilt over moving on after Julie’s death stands in her way. A simple mistake brought them together, but if Sarah is to embrace a future with Lindsey she never dreamed possible, she must find a way to let go of her lost love.

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Lost in the Wild

By Kadyan

Close Quarters

Allison, a Vancouver gallery owner, boards a small plane bound for Dawson City to meet a promising young First Peoples artist. Tour guide Mike is returning home to enjoy a well-deserved rest after tourist season. She’s skeptical of the sophisticated city slicker who sits next to her on the flight. The woman looks like she hasn’t camped a day in her life.

Neither the pilot nor the weather forecasters foresee the monstrous storm that forces their plane to crash-land somewhere in the Yukon wilderness, far from any town or road. As the only survivors, Allison and Mike must help each other and overcome their prejudices to survive and get home safely.

 Facing hunger, cold, and a terrifying encounter with a bear, mutual respect begins to blossom, and with it, desire neither expects.

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Not Just Friends

By Jordan Meadows

Virgins/First Love
Friends to Lovers Romance
Coming Out
Asexual/Aromantic

Seventeen-year-old Jen’s best (let’s face it, only) friend Deanna is five years older and big on parties. Jen has been trying to live in Deanna’s world, but she’s coming to realize guys, drinking, and drugs aren’t really her thing. Just as she’s figuring out how to tell Deanna the truth, tragedy hits, leaving Jen struggling to figure out who she is and what’s important to her.

Consumed by grief and guilt, Jen finds support in unexpected places. Stephanie’s sociable, smart, and upbeat—all the things Jen is not. Yet she seems to want to be Jen’s friend. Stephanie is also a lesbian, and when she takes Jen along to an LGBTQIA+ club, Jen starts to see not only her past with Deanna in a new light, but more importantly, her feelings about Stephanie.

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Of Auras and Shadows

By Jennifer Karter

Friends & Community
Magic
Close Quarters
Bodyguard/Protection Romances
Military
Other Worlds
Ghosts

Eryn is the greatest hero the Community has ever trained. When a priest foresees that she and her guardian will save the Community, it seems like Eryn’s future is assured. But when she loses her guardian on their first mission to gather the ichor that maintains the life-preserving dome over the Community, Eryn is stuck with Rina, the worst-ranked guardian. Things get harder as Eryn’s resentment turns to love. Heroes don’t fall in love with their guardians. It’s supposed to be the other way around.

Rina has spent her entire life trying to prove that shadows don’t always lie. She fights her unconditional love for her hero rather than accepting it as she is supposed to. When Rina discovers that the corruption of the Dark Lands may not just be outside the dome but also in the Community’s system itself, Eryn is the only person who might listen. But will Eryn accept that the Community she loves so dearly is causing the destruction Eryn was prophesied to fix?

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The Secret Duchess

By Jane Walsh

The Spinsters of Inverley | Book 3
International Setting

When the Duke of Stanmere’s will reveals a nasty secret, London Society is shocked—and so is his widow, Joan. Humiliated by the scandal, Joan flees to Inverley in disguise. Surely the quaint seaside town would be the last place anyone would look for a duchess on the run.

After her mother’s remarriage, fashionable spinster Miss Maeve Balfour must make a living with hands whose only labor has been arranging her hair into the latest style. With nowhere to turn and nothing to lose, she persuades mysterious newcomer Joan to let her stay in her manor house.

Although entranced by worldly and seductive Maeve, Joan doesn’t know if she can trust again. As Maeve learns Joan’s secrets, she yearns to protect her from the men who have sought to destroy her. But can a spinster and a widow dare to defy a dukedom—and win each other’s hearts?

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Winter's Spell

By Ursula Klein

Actors/Artists
Magic

Theater director and high school drama teacher Tessa Flowers is still carrying a torch for her old college roommate, Roxy Bright, despite not having seen her in years. When they end up in Provincetown over the winter, Tessa convinces Roxy to help her put on a Shakespeare production. What better way to fan the long-held spark of attraction into the roaring fire of passion? Cue the instant attraction they long to explore. But when Roxy unwittingly saves a stranded mermaid named Mo, things go off script.

Mo is tall, curvy, and stunning, with long green hair and absolutely no clue about life on land. Lured into Cape Cod Bay by an evil spell, she cannot return to her true form. In gratitude to Roxy for having saved her, she vows to help Roxy find her true love. This would all be great, except that Mo doesn’t actually know anything about human courtship, and her help creates more problems than it solves. Throw in Tessa’s icy ex, who has the lead role in the play, and the stage is set for a comedy of errors that even the Bard could appreciate.

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Coasting and Crashing

By Ana Hartnett

Good girls/Bad girls
Close Quarters
College Life
Friends & Community
People of Color
The Alder Series | Book 4
Multicultural 

Emma Wilson has it all figured out. She’s the starting point guard for the Alder Lions. She’s got a post-grad job lined up. Every queer woman on campus wants her. And she’s definitely over her old flame. The one she never even got to date.

She’s coasting. 

Until the new basketball coach arrives on campus and clearly dislikes her. So does Lake Palmer, the arrogant new player the coach brought with her. Sure, Lake’s gorgeous, and Emma wants to kiss those annoyingly enticing lips, but she plans to steal Emma’s spot. And that just can’t happen. It won’t happen. Their epic arguments are the stuff of courtside legend, but the more Lake pushes her to play better, the harder it is for Emma to resist her attraction.

Oh, and maybe Emma’s major makes her want to rip her own hair out as much as being Lake’s teammate does. With her future anything but a slam dunk, coasting is beginning to feel a whole lot like crashing.

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Every Beat of Her Heart

By KC Richardson

Friends & Community
Friends to Lovers Romance
Actors/Artists

Piper James was given a new lease on life when she received a heart transplant. She lives in the apartment above her art supply store, Rainbow Arts, with her cat. She has all she wants, except a woman she can love for the rest of her life. Her biggest problem? The rest of her life is on borrowed time and love isn’t an option.

Gillian Phillips moves into a new neighborhood for a new start after losing her wife in an accident two years ago. After taking advice to be more social, she decides on a pottery class at Rainbow Arts. There’s something about her instructor, Piper, that seems so comfortable and familiar to Gillian, but she can’t quite put her finger on it.

When a tragic coincidence leads to an unexpected connection, revealing secrets neither wants to face, they realize that love never really dies.

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Fire in the Sky

By Radclyffe and Others

Friends & Community
A Red Sky Ranch Romance | Book 1

Kelsey Brunel knows exactly what the future holds: she’ll one day inherit the Arizona dude ranch that has been in her family for three generations. She tells herself that the business and her good friends are all she’ll ever want or need. Long-term relationships aren’t in the picture, which after witnessing the devastation of her parents’ failed marriage, is just fine with her.

Elizabeth Sutton has grown up proving to her family that she’s as capable and accomplished as they demand her to be, even if that means working for the family business. Her latest assignment, to turn a backwater ranch in Arizona into another link in their international chain of wellness centers, feels like a demotion and she can’t wait to get it done and escape back to civilization.

Two women from different worlds have nothing in common and every reason to wish they’d never met—except for the attraction neither can deny.

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