The Three

Alice Wu is at Camp Rewind only because her therapist thinks it’ll help her overcome the social anxiety she’s battled since childhood. She’s not sure she believes that theory, but will try anything to make a real friend. A casual fling would also be nice, but she’s not holding her breath.

Rosa Salazar hopes camp will be an escape from a life permanently altered. Eviscerated online for her feminist critique of a popular video game, Rosa has endured months of anonymous threats over social media, doxxing, and, worst of all, the posting of graphic, sexually explicit material stolen from her cloud storage—including a dirty video she made for an ex. Using a fake name, she enrolls in camp craving a return to a simpler time, before the shame.

Alice and Rosa soon discover that at Camp Rewind, anything is possible. Even an unlikely friendship that swiftly becomes something more.

Praise from Publishers Weekly: "Romance is on fast forward at Camp Rewind....Alice’s awakening is beautiful to watch as Rosa tries to protect them both from online scrutiny. This is a quick, satisfying read for those longing for the nostalgia of a summer camp romance."

Erotica author Kate McMannis has crippling writer's block and a deadline in less than two months. When a beautiful woman named Erato appears at her house and claims to be her muse, Kate isn't certain whether Erato is mentally ill or truly her supernatural savior. Either way, when the incredible sex Erato offers leads to genuine inspiration, Kate isn't inclined to refuse her unusual brand of help.

When a little fantasy fulfillment with Erato inadvertently leads her to the shy and gorgeous Olive Johnson, unexpected feelings threaten to derail Kate's motivation once again. Erato is just as determined to keep her writing on track as Kate is to explore her very real attraction to Olive—which leads to friction that threatens not only Kate's ability to meet her deadline, but also her burgeoning romance with Olive.

Caught between a contractual obligation and her heart, is there any way for Kate to have it all?

Suri Daniels, a beautiful and troubled woman, is the descendant of a family of supernaturally gifted women, known as the Blessed, and literally holds keys to gateways between the earthly plane and seven powerful gods. A series of tragic losses and a stipulation in her grandmother’s will has her returning to the family’s home in New Orleans, unaware that she will need to step into the role of Orisha priestess and escape the attention of a powerful demon. To top it all off, she must accept the help of a Cambion—Lyla Jefferies, a dark supernatural being she has spent her life avoiding. What’s worse? She can’t help being drawn to Layla in ways she doesn’t understand.

Being the child of a top-tier demon and a human isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For the past two hundred years, Layla Jefferies has lived a life of quietude. When an unknown force draws her out of seclusion, the pull is too strong to ignore. Layla is tasked to assist with protecting the gateways and saving Suri from becoming a vengeful demon’s avatar. Falling in love with her is definitely not part of the plan.

Layla and Suri are brought together by fate to defeat the darkness threatening to tear their world apart. What they don’t expect to discover is a love that might set them free.

Content advisory: Opening chapter includes a depiction of sexual violence and rape.

Dear Reader,

I wrote The Blessed to honor the resilience, strength, and faith of my community’s ancestors. To tell a story, in my own way, of their survival in a world that treated them as less than the lowest of creatures. A world that continues to methodically strip away our sense of selves as humans and our culture as a people. Layla is the embodiment of all People of Color, particularly Women of Color, in this country and the suffering they have endured, which was violent, painful, and has lasted for generations. I choose to honor all those women like Layla, her mother, and grandmother who survived and rather than turn to violence themselves, chose to stand tall and lift their community up.

The Blessed begins with an act of physical violence to represent how some People of Color were brought into the world. Just as we survived our violent past, so does Layla. Just as we did not allow what was wrought upon us to break us, to take away our capacity to love and cherish others the way we were not, Layla also does not let her circumstances break her. She turns that violence into the resolve to help her community. In the process, she finds a love that strengthens her even more.

You may feel discomfort when reading Layla’s beginnings as it mirrors the pain of the past. Atrocity and its generational impacts should not feel comfortable or easy. But her story is ultimately an uplifting one of family, faith, culture, and love that I believe you will enjoy. I hope you see The Blessed as honoring the struggles of my ancestors and accepting the blessing of life, faith, and love that they have bestowed upon me as a result of their survival.

Forever thankful, always grateful, abundantly blessed,

Anne Shade

Bronwyn Charles had everything she’d always wanted: a handsome fiancée, the career in fine arts that she adored, and an enviable home in Notting Hill, London. Everything was perfect until she ran into Jaq Bailey, her first love, during a classmate’s wedding in the English countryside. Suddenly, her carefully constructed life started to seem like it belonged to someone else, and she’s forced to decide whether she’s brave enough to let herself remember how it felt to be truly loved.

Jaq Bailey, a mathematics savant from a rundown trailer park in east Texas, attended Stratford Academy in London on a scholarship and fell in love with Bronwyn the moment they met. Despite being forced apart by Bronwyn’s wealthy family when their romance was discovered, Jaq never forgot her. After the wedding, their lives become entwined again as dangerous secrets emerge and Bronwyn’s seemingly perfect life starts to unravel.

Are they strong enough to hold on to true love, or will they lose each other again, this time forever? Reprint

A brief detour to a ranch in the middle of nowhere doesn’t lead to forever, does it?

Olivia Martinez, forced to leave her high-power Manhattan job with no prospects, is at a crossroad. Not only is she a city girl down to the tips of her Jimmy Choos, she wants to stay close to her parents, who depend on her more than they’d like to. Generally not a risk taker, Olivia steps out of her comfort zone when her best friend, Elizabeth Sutton, asks her to temporarily lend a hand at the Red Sky Ranch. After all, what can a few months change, and New York City is just a plane ride—or three—away, right?

Haunted by an hour that changed her life, Riley Mitchell escapes the memories and the guilt by riding motorcycles way too fast, skydiving, and running into burning buildings. She is good-looking, charming, and never wants for female company, as long as no commitment is expected. When Olivia returns to the Red Sky Ranch, Riley’s carefully crafted safe world goes up in flames.

Can they take a risk and cross the fire line to find love?

Behind the lights, camera, action of Hollywood lies the real world and the real lives of the A-list.

Alix Somers has it all. New job hosting a primetime dating show, new beach house, and the new face of the queer scene. Fans chase them, paparazzi stalk them, and Hollywood loves them, but the interviews and parties aren’t bringing Alix happiness. Just when they think they’ve had enough, a run-in with a beautiful stranger gives them something they thought was lost. Hope.

Marianna Smith hates Hollywood. Her ex-girlfriend dumps her the minute she finds fame, and most of her friends are looking for the next big break. What’s the draw? It’s fake people pretending to be other people. She’s perfectly happy being a teacher and making extra cash working for her aunt’s catering business. Until Alix leaves her swooning.

They say opposites attract, but they have totally different dreams. No Hollywood love story is perfect, right?