Sarah O’Shaughnessy, a high school counselor, is very good at taking care of others. What she hasn’t mastered is how to take better care of herself. Four years after the death of her wife, Sarah’s life has settled into a safe, solitary rut. That is, until the arrival of a new student and her mom.
 
Lauren Emerson and her teen daughter, Kat, move back to Lauren’s hometown in Central New York, fleeing her unsupportive husband and Kat’s traumatic bullying experience. Lauren is determined to create a better life for them both. She soon discovers that the compassionate Ms. O’Shaughnessy is someone in whom she can confide.
 
The newly forged friendship between Sarah and Lauren provides support and encouragement, yet neither is prepared for the undeniable attraction that ignites between them. When the future looks like nothing they had planned, will they find the courage to go where love leads?

Wallace Lake, Ohio, takes care of their own. Unwelcoming of outsiders, the community closes ranks when four women are found murdered along the water’s edge. Agent Luce Hansen of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation must find a way in before another woman loses her life to the ruthless serial killer.
 
With the help of her new team—a hot rookie and a smart, beautiful medical examiner—Luce uncovers a ring of devotion surrounding the prime suspect. As Luce works to unearth the dark secrets of this close-knit town, she learns to what extraordinary lengths people will go to protect the ones they love. And when Luce feels forsaken, both professionally and personally, she must regain trust in her most valuable investigative tool: herself.

An accident-prone rodeo rider and an EMT find time on the circuit to share a night of pleasure. 

Previously published in Lesbian Cowboys: Erotic Adventures, ed. S. Green and R. Valencia (Cleis Press, 2009).

The Maverick Heart is bored. That is until it discovers a top team of engineers and scientists in a barren, backwater system have created the Gate, a stable, artificial wormhole that will revolutionize interplanetary travel forever. Breaching the wall of secrecy around this radical new technology is a temptation too sweet for human partners Keene and Lexa-Blue to resist.

Elsewhere, Ember Avanti is a thief, with the highest of high tech toys in his arsenal. And he’s damned good at it, too. But sooner or later, every thief chooses the wrong mark. When he targets Quintaine DiaStellar, he soon learns the corporation will stop at nothing to make the Gate its own.

Ember’s team and the Maverick Heart crew must unite in a desperate attempt to stop the most vicious act of industrial espionage in the history of the Pan Galactum.

At twelve years old, Claire Barker developed a massive crush on her best friend Sarah’s older sister, the handsome, butch Alex Williams. Now twenty-seven and a successful entrepreneur, Claire’s interest hasn’t waned—despite Alex’s fashion photography career keeping her overseas for months at a time. When Alex moves home unexpectedly, she and Claire end up enjoying a surprise, wine-fueled reunion that alters their relationship forever.

Are Claire’s dreams about to come true, or will real life prove to be more complicated than her fantasies?

What to do when a tiny little lie is the one thing that keeps you from winning the girl of your dreams?

Still being a virgin is Ashley’s dirty little secret. That, and the fact she’s hopelessly in love with her best friend Leah. When Leah needs help extricating herself from an awkward one-night stand, Ashley runs to the rescue. An innocent touch turns electric, and Ashley has to come clean about her charade or risk losing the woman she loves.

Federal prosecutor Bianca Cruz has spent her life balancing motherhood with the call of her career. As she draws closer to making the case against the notorious Vargas brothers, danger casts dark shadows over her family. When her case leads her to a gorgeous horsewoman with a mysterious background, will she take a chance at love even if it means risking everything she’s worked her entire life to protect?

To horse breeder Jade Vargas, happy family is a fiction. Unlike her privileged half sister, she grew up knowing her heritage was rooted in darkness, yet she’s managed to live in the light despite the looming criminal enterprise ever poised to drag her down. When crisis strikes, will she burrow back to her past or will her undeniable attraction to the prosecutor investigating her family pull her out of the darkness once and for all?

Trigena Gillmore is about to become a mother, but she never wanted children. Her wife, Dr. Karri Gillmore, PhD, is pregnant. Karri’s been dreaming about being a mom for as long as she can remember. Trigena is so in love with her wife, she agreed to the insemination to make Karrie happy. Trig thought she had plenty of time to get used to the idea of being a parent, but Karrie got pregnant on the first attempt. The baby is only a few months away, and Trigena’s fears run deep. The stress has made everything more difficult, and Trigena must keep it all inside. She can escape it all, but the loss might be too much.

"In this romantic journey, the main characters must find their fresh start if they are to survive the stresses and turmoil of a renewed life together....New Life is a thought-provoking story with charming main characters who seem more real because of their struggles." –Lambda Literary Review

Myra Owens runs a therapeutic riding program for returning soldiers. She won't risk getting hurt by becoming personally involved with her riders until Ainslee Harriot challenges her to take a chance on love.

Risk Factor was previously published in Sweet Hearts (Bold Strokes Books, 2015).

Princess Rozala of Denbourg enjoys her reputation as a wild child, especially when it annoys her father, the King. When Roza’s latest girlfriend brings scandal to the palace doors, her father sends her to Britain, in the hopes that time with her cousin Queen George and the new Queen Consort will finally make her face her responsibilities.

After overcoming personal demons and quitting the high-stakes world of finance, Lennox King is content to keep her life simple. As the new director of a hospice charity, she uses a strict business approach to help the charity grow and prosper.

When Roza comes to work at the charity under orders from the Queen Consort, babysitting a spoiled princess is definitely not on Lennox’s agenda. But when passion flares between them, will Lennox’s past stop their relationship in its tracks, or will a twist of fate bring a new future that neither was expecting?

Therapist Kayla McCormick is the quiet, sensitive type who prefers her life orderly and predictable. Kayla has an open heart, but the pain of loss has taught her to avoid risks that could get her hurt. She dreams of family and forever but no longer believes she’ll have her own happy ending.   
 
Jackie Phillips hides her fear and hurt behind fierce independence and impulsive behavior. Raised in an atmosphere of abuse and neglect, she is haunted by the disappearance of her mother when she was a teenager. Determined not to need anyone, she has closed her heart and lets lust drive her encounters. 
 
When their lives converge in a classic case of opposites attracting, will Kayla and Jackie have the courage to embrace love and rewrite their own stories, when that might mean risking all?

Izzy Calabrese wants to make her restaurant a success. She has a passion for cooking and life in general. Romance is the furthest thing from her mind when she finds Mel Thomas crying after being abandoned by her husband…again. She tries to distance herself from Mel, but she keeps showing up. 
 
Clients know Mel Thomas as the CEO of her own consulting firm. She’s smart, engaging, and successful. Anyone who knows her would never think she’s insecure, but she’s more fragile than anyone knows. Her marriage on shaky ground, she doesn’t know how, or if, it can be salvaged. All she’s ever wanted in a relationship is someone’s attention. She thinks she may have found the person who can give that to her. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect it to be Izzy.

Seniors and fraternity brothers at Beta Kappa, Brandon Benson and Phil Connor begin playing a manipulative game of love and seduction with increasingly higher stakes, without a care about the damage they leave in their wake. But the primary problem with the seduction game is sometimes the players’ emotions can get involved…but it’s too late to turn back from the destructive path.

Gregor Slavinsky went overboard. Or did he? He was murdered. Or was he? It’s up to Detective Heath Barrington and his partner, police officer Alan Keyes, to find out as they search for clues and a missing twenty-five thousand dollars aboard an old lake steamer and throughout 1947 Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

They are up against gangsters, con artists, and a very seductive Grant Riker, a fellow policeman who could come between Heath and Alan, upsetting their romance. 

The three of them race the clock to find the truth amidst lies, secrets, and possible scandal, while riding the waves of a potential love triangle.

When Grace Danner finds out her great-aunt has passed away leaving her a flower shop in Ireland, she is anxious to get it off her hands as quickly as possible. Her career with the most prestigious advertising firm in Dallas has her busy six days a week, and she doesn’t have time to step away from her life to handle her aunt’s estate. She plans a quick trip to sign papers and save family heirlooms, hoping to return home before the end of the week.

She meets real estate agent Kerry Mulligan who was consigned to the property quite by accident. Their relationship starts off rocky, and as much as Grace wants to get to know the red-haired Irish beauty in the short time she is there, Kerry is nothing but business. Can Grace break through Kerry’s icy disposition and open her up to a quick affair? Even if Grace manages to seduce Kerry, can she return unscathed to the life she left in Dallas?

Praise from Lambda Literary Review: "This story is filled with loving familial interactions, caring friends, romantic interludes and tantalizing sex scenes. The dialogue, both among the characters and within Grace’s head, is refreshing, original, and sometimes comical. Forget Me Not is a fresh perspective on a romantic theme, and an entertaining read."

Eve Eddison describes her ideal woman to her best friend, Roxanne, over pints in their local pub a few days before she travels to the Scottish Highlands. There she falls head over heels for an enigmatic local, Moira Burns, and the usually reticent Eve wants more than a holiday romance. Forestry officer Moira Burns has no intention of letting go—either of past pain or for present pleasure. If that means she misses out on her chance at happiness, so be it. Convinced Eve is headed for heartbreak, Roxanne advises her to let Moira go…but has Eve found her ideal woman at last?

From the breathtaking Highlands of Scotland to the buzz of a Leicester gay bar, family and friendship are tested to breaking point, as letting go proves painfully hard.

"Take a day off, curl up and lose yourself in this lovely lesbian romance by debut novelist Anna Larner. And you'll adore the gorgeous cover designed by Sheri Halal too!" DIVA

The Iron Phoenix, the masked vigilante of Storm’s Quarry, has not been seen since the solstice and the tragedy it brought. Haunted by nightmares and striving for control over her powers, Nadya Gabori watches from afar as the city struggles to heal, and Kesali, the woman she loves, works to rebuild their dream of peace. 

A new masked figure has arrived in Storm’s Quarry, the Shadow Dragon, one who can conjure blades of light. Nadya feels a powerful connection to her and begins to question if Kesali is the future she wants. When the neighboring Kingdom of Wintercress takes advantage of the city’s weakness, it will take the strength of both young women to defend Storm’s Quarry against invasion and save everyone they hold dear.

An anthology of short fiction featuring the finalist selections from the 2017 Saints+Sinners Literary Festival.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction by Michael Thomas Ford
• Moonshine by Michael Chin
• The Gay Restaurants of New York by William Moeck
• The Gods Are Stacked Against Us by Sheila Morris
• Jesus Year by Dale Corvino
• Must Love Animals by Louis Flint Ceci
• Temporary Adhesions by P.D. Walter
• Leaves by James Penha
• Curo The Filthmonger: A Tale of Art and Survival in the Cold Embrace of Outer Space by J. Marshall Freeman
• Passing Through by John Morgan Wilson
• Obituaries by Thomas Westerfield
• The Fool by Ellis Anderson
• Oni and Marie by Debra Curtis
• Slaying the Dragon by W. C. Smith
• Beauty Marks by David James Parr
• Bear Food by Alise Wascom