Best of
Butch-Femme

2021

The Next Life


Lise Gold - 2021
    No longer wife and homemaker, she feels low, lonely and purposeless in her huge mansion in the Hamptons. Her life suddenly changes when she meets Belle, her new pool technician, who brings back feelings long forgotten. Her emotions conflicted, Belle roars into Reina’s life like a storm; the calm waters now a thing of the past, and Reina has no idea how to deal with the situation.Single mom Belle Rodgers services pools during the day and works for Hamptons’ Escorts a few nights a week. She loves giving her female clients the only thing their rich husbands can’t provide: an unforgettable night between the sheets. Belle’s number one rule is to not get emotionally invested but when her secret crush Reina books her, that proves to be a tough challenge.Between their differences in lifestyle and Belle having a less than conventional job, nothing is simple and they struggle to fight their undeniable chemistry. Can Reina come to terms with her sexuality? And can Belle find the trust to open herself up? Storms are beautiful but they can also be destructive…The Next Life: a sizzling collaboration from bestselling author Lise Gold & erotica author, Madeleine Taylor.102,000 words

Controlled Burn


Sherryl D. Hancock - 2021
    Just when she thinks she can't hold on anymore, she is reminded of another lost love.Kori is the one that got away, and years later Hunter is unexpectantly thrust back into Kori's life. But it’s not easy moving on when the past still haunts her at every turn.Filled with love, loss, and characters that will steal your heart, this new series will take you into the flames on a ride like never before.

Twist of Fate


Raven Cavaleu - 2021
    

A Place to Call Home


Jae - 2021
    What started out as a marriage of convenience between a woman living as a man and a former prostitute slowly grew into love. But now that they have arrived in Oregon City, the real adventure is just beginning. Winter is approaching, and they need to claim a piece of land and build a cabin, all while trying to establish their new roles as life partners and parents. Will they find a place to call home and, more importantly, a way to grow as a couple? “A Place to Call Home” is a lesbian historical romance short story that continues Jae’s award-winning Oregon series. It picks up directly after the end of Backwards to Oregon.

Worth the Wait


Jae - 2021
    Will their intimate celebration turn out to be worth the wait?“Worth the Wait” won the Good Sex Awards 2021 in the Best Use of Sex Toys category.The short story (previously published in the anthology Laid Bare) is a mini sequel to Jae’s lesbian romance Just Physical.Length: 6,000 words (short story)Tropes & themes: Butch/femme, sex toys, steamy lesbian short storySeries: The Hollywood Series

Prewrath and Rapture


T.J. Dallas - 2021
    When Death gives her the chance to save her family, her second act will prove infinitely worse.When Persephone arrives at the Cardinal, it’s time for Harry to keep her end of the deal. But it isn’t Pride, or even Humility, that Persephone wants; it’s Wrath.Emilia must join ranks with four forces of evil that long predate the Seven Deadly Sins; Death, Pestilence, War, and Famine. Emilia’s ruthless volcano has lain dormant for centuries, but a hidden agenda and a betrayal could tip her over the edge, causing an eruption felt throughout the very fabric of time and space.Content warning; 18+, sexually explicit lesbian erotica, mature audiences only. One scene features consensual role-play between two women using Daddy/Baby Girl names, and one scene involves consensual and safe erotic asphyxiation.

A Woman to Treasure


Ali Vali - 2021
    A scroll she acquires to sell in Montbard’s Antiquities in New Orleans leads Levi on an adventure that will take her from London to Morocco, by way of the Sahara Desert. A story of a female Templar Knight should sound like a hoax, but to Levi the new information rings true. Proving the scroll accurate becomes an obsession. She’ll stop at nothing to uncover the truth.Yasmine Hassani spends her days teaching female studies in Marrakech to women who want to leave a mark on their country. An arrogant Westerner storming into her office is highly unexpected and leaves Yasmine laughing off the absurdity of her claims. No one knows more about the history of the Templar Knights than Yasmine, and reluctantly intrigued, she agrees to help Levi.But their search turns down one dead end after another, almost as if someone is working hard to keep old secrets buried. They’ll have to fight the Catholic Church, centuries of tradition, and their growing attraction for each other to uncover the mystery of the female Templar Knight.Cover Artist: Tammy SeidickGenres: Action & Adventure / RomanceWords: 100,500

The Burden of Happiness


L. Dreamer - 2021
    She would rather go through life with minimal interaction than learn to open up and trust others; keeping her emotional scars in the front of her mind so she won’t get hurt. When a visit back to her hometown doesn’t bring the answers or closure she’s yearned for, she wonders if she’ll ever be made whole again.While in town Sarah meets Kate, a professor at the local community college. The instant connection she feels with Kate confuses and scares her, but it also gives her a glimpse of a life she wished she could have. Will Sarah finally find it within herself to conquer her fears and pursue the life she’s always wanted but thought she could never have?Content warning: This novel deals with alcoholism and references a suicide, an abortion and a rape. They all occur off-page and are only mentioned as backstory with no graphic detail.

Trails of the Heart: A Lesbian Medical Romance (City General: Medic 1 Book 5)


Ruby Scott - 2021
    

Calumet


Ali Vali - 2021
    She’s now a popular English lit professor. Life is good. Really. The only problem is the invite in her mailbox. Who in their right mind has a fifteen-year high school reunion?Iris Long’s days are predictable. She did the safe thing and married the high school quarterback. While her life isn’t a grand love affair, it’s comfortable, and as the secretary at the local high school, she can see her daughter and son throughout the day. Her family is great, but Iris longs for the one person she can’t have.Jaxon comes back to town amid gossip that started sixteen years earlier and never really died down. After crushing on Iris in high school, seeing her again is a welcome surprise. But it’s Iris’s daughter, Sean, whose dark hair, blue eyes, and brilliant mind are startlingly like Jaxon’s own who exposes scars from small town secrets.Jaxon has been kept in the dark by those she loves most, including Iris. But when the truth is finally revealed, will she leave for good?

Measure of Devotion


C.F. Frizzell - 2021
    She believes the Constitution’s declarations of equality and freedom apply to everyone, and dreams that someday they will extend to her own pursuit of happiness with a woman.Helping her father raise her siblings on their Gettysburg farm, Sophie Bauer likewise clings to hope for a woman to love, but when she serves as an army aid and meets Cooper, Sophie is confounded by her growing feelings for him. Catherine, meanwhile, wrestles with her deception and the disguise she must maintain. Disclosure could not only repulse Sophie but send Catherine home a social outcast.When the battle of Gettysburg engulfs the Bauer farm, Catherine and Sophie learn far more about themselves than they ever expected. But first there’s a war—and hearts—to be won.

Not Guilty


Brit Ryder - 2021
    No one expects their heart will.Claire Weaver’s only goal is to climb the ladder of success. After winning an unwinnable toxic tort case and securing a ninety-million-dollar verdict, she’s a shoo-in for a judgeship at Kansas City’s circuit court.The last person fire investigator Emery Pearson expects to see in court is the stranger she had the pleasure of dominating last night—only this time, Judge Claire Weaver is definitely in charge. To say she’s excited is an understatement. Claire is everything she needs—sexy, available, and not looking for a relationship. Their day jobs clash, even as their desire burns, and a discreet sex-only arrangement is the only option. But when pushing their sexual limits threatens the boundary of their hearts, will they be guilty of breaking their own rules, or allow love to tip the scales?

Courage


Jesse J. Thoma - 2021
    She charges into danger without a gun or badge to de-escalate crises. She’s quick on her feet and confident in her opinions. If only she could convince her by-the-book, humorless partner that she’s an asset, not the enemy.Being a cop is in Tommy Finch’s blood. She comes from a long line of cops and grew up learning how to protect and serve with honor and integrity. Getting saddled with a shrink who’s reckless and brash isn’t something Tommy signed up for. How can she do her job when she’s responsible for the safety of an unarmed civilian?No matter how often they clash on the job, an undeniable attraction simmers just beneath the surface. Can they find the courage to change so love has room to grow?

A Convenient Arrangement


Jaime Clevenger - 2021
    She’s not sure it’s really her thing, but the assignment gives her the chance to write something more substantial than her usual fluff pieces. All she needs now is a willing lesbian.For Cody Dawson, signing up for Jess’s project is a no-brainer. She gets to date an interesting woman, enjoy her company, and not disrupt the tidy life she’s built for her son. Everything’s perfect until she starts falling for Jess. When she realizes she’s heart-deep in the feelings she’s agreed not to have, their convenient arrangement becomes anything but.

The Golden Trinity


Robyn Nyx - 2021
    Antiquities is her game, and she’s the best there is, moving in the shadows even as she trades in the light. When an ambitious businessman approaches her to take on a deadlier game than even she’s willing to play, she knows she has to stop him. But she’ll need help…After a previous betrayal, Chase Stinsen doesn’t want anything to do with Rayne. Chase believes archeology is a tool to understand the past in an effort to help the future and has no use for profiting from the finds of history. But when Rayne proposes they track the legendary Golden Trinity, with the added benefit of helping indigenous tribes, she’s hooked.Danger lurks around every corner, and their defenses crumble as they have to depend on one another to survive. If Chase can finally trust Rayne again, she might just end up with more than the gold.

The Gunrunner and Her Hound


Maria Ying - 2021
    It is unpredictable. Luck alone will not shield them. Together they must survive assassins, rival gunrunners, and their own lethal attraction.The Gunrunner and Her Hound is an F/F/F mosaic novella (40,000 words) built from short stories connected by an overarching plot. Part romance (happy ever after included), part thriller, this is a high-heat love story set in contemporary Hong Kong, where passion burns between a ruthless ice queen and an ex-soldier who fled a ruined empire.

Scripted Love


Helena Harte - 2021
    She moves to LA and jumps in with both feet to turn her books into movies. It gets even better when her new director is dapper butch, Rix Reardon. Everything is looking damn near perfect. For now, anyway.Rix Reardon splits her time between running her own production company and fundraising for the local LGBTQ Center. Life is great, but she yearns for a soul mate and the patter of tiny feet. When she starts filming with her favorite writer and they hit it off, Rix begins to wonder if Layla could be her future.But Layla receives an offer of a lifetime that Rix sees as a betrayal. Then there's the bombshell that Layla doesn’t believe in happy ever after, and Rix’s dream life begins to slip away.Will Layla and Rix find their way to love, or is happy ever after not in the script?

Seeing by Heart


K.A. Moll - 2021
    For Kora Garver, Horseback Inn is one of those places. Inherited from her great aunt, she spends her time caring for its guests and horses. Truth be known, it’s the thing that’s kept her going, helped her to push through her darkness. But her darkness has darkened to the point that she can no longer see the light. Once a beautiful woman, at forty, she sees herself as scarred and undesirable. Miserable and alone, ashamed of who she’s been and what she’s done, retraumatized every time she closes her eyes, she’s decided to end her life.At seventeen, Finn Warner lost what most take for granted, her sight. But she didn’t let that hold her back. She graduated from medical school at the top of her class. She finished her residency in psychiatry. She established a lucrative private practice. At forty-three, most of her dreams have been fulfilled—with one exception—that she has no one with whom to share her life. In a world where attraction often begins with sight, she’s come to accept that, in all likelihood, she’ll never have an intimate partner. But she has a rewarding career, good friends, and a great dog. That’s enough. The handsome woman counts her blessings each night and recognizes that she has more than most.When a blinding snowstorm leaves Finn in a snowdrift, she’ll stay at Horseback Inn, her favorite place to visit as a kid. While there, she’ll be reunited with Kora, the girl she held for hours when she was fourteen years old; the girl she’s never stopped thinking about; one of only a handful of girls that she’s ever held that close. When Kora takes a tumble, she’ll have the opportunity to get even closer. But she’s not sure that Kora is a lesbian. And if that’s not enough, Kora’s loaded down with baggage, more than any person should have to carry. After passion ignites, Kora will push her away. Snowbound, during the final countdown to suicide, two women, as different as night and day, are given a chance at love. But to seize it, they must navigate a difficult path through the darkness.

Broken Not Shattered


Rita Potter - 2021
    Jill is trapped in an abusive marriage, while raising two young girls. Her husband has isolated her from the world and filled her days with fear. The last thing on her mind is love, but she sure could use a friend.Alex McCoy is enjoying a comfortable life, with great friends and a prosperous business. She has given up on love, after picking the wrong woman one too many times. Little does she know, a simple act of kindness might change her life forever.When Alex lends a helping hand to Jill at the local grocery store, they are surprised by their immediate connection and an unlikely friendship develops. As their friendship deepens, so too do their fears. In order to protect herself and the girls, Jill can’t let her husband know about her friendship with Alex, and Alex can’t discover what goes on behind closed doors. What would Alex do if she finds out the truth? At the same time, Alex must fight her attraction and be the friend she suspects Jill needs. Besides, Alex knows what every lesbian knows – don’t fall for a straight woman, especially one that’s married…but will her heart listen?

Footprints: Strong Southern Women Book 4


Ali Spooner - 2021
    

Nero


Valden Bush - 2021
    On Nero, gem shards match people’s eyes and give them their special powers and purpose. But Stele has completely black eyes, and although legend recorded that she could be the chosen one to touch the legendary black shard, fear of her potential power makes her an outcast. Exiled to Alton, she’s torn from Ariane, her one and only love, who has always accepted Stele for who she is. She drowns her sorrows and wallows in her loneliness until Colonel Kian Ray of the Alton Defense Force offers her the chance to join the ADF and make something of herself. Begrudgingly, Stele accepts, and with the help of new friends, Questa and Domino, she finds new purpose and perhaps even a home.But Ariane remains the woman Stele wants, the one she needs. When pirates invade Nero to find the fabled and all-powerful black shard, putting Ariane in danger, Stele must lead a rescue that will either destroy them all or fulfil her ultimate destiny.

For the Love of Charley: Book 3 in the Romance in the Yukon Series


Patty Schramm - 2021
    

Winter Spell (Chronicles of Mahon #1)


Brenda Murphy - 2021
    

The Warrior Within, #1


Brooke Campbell - 2021
    

A Shadow In Love


Karen D. Badger - 2021
    Kenzie chose herself, and relocated to Sedona, Arizona, a beautiful desert town surrounded by red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls, and famous for metaphysical enhancement while hiking and spending time among the many vortices in the area.Zangendar Tafadon is on a mission to help her community find a new home world, as her planet, Vakillia is slowly dying and would soon be unable to support the proliferation of their species. For generations, Vakillians had travelled to other planets in order to use the resources of those worlds in the procreation process between Vakillian females, after which, they would return to Vakillia to raise their offspring . Only this time, the planet of Vakillia was approaching toxic levels. Zan was on one of many investigatory missions to several different worlds, and her destination was Earth.Life will never be the same for Kenzie or Zan when their paths literally cross on the hiking trails of Sedona, Arizona.

Chemistry Lessons


Jae - 2021
    Sometimes the perfect person has been right in front of you all alongKylie and Regan have been best friends since kindergarten, supporting each other through thick and thin.While everyone thinks they would be perfect for each other, they insist there’s no chemistry between them—and Regan should know since she’s a chemistry teacher.To prove it, they agree to a little chemistry experiment: they’ll go on three dates with each other.So what if their gazes start to linger and accidental touches no longer feel platonic? They chalk it up to the romantic atmosphere—until a friendly good night kiss turns passionate.Can their friendship go back to the way it was before? Do they even want it to? Or will they risk losing what they have for a chance at love?73,000 wordsTags: friends to lovers, slow burn romance

Wisdom


Jesse J. Thoma - 2021
    She’s determined to make sweeping changes on day one. Old school politics won’t dare stand in her way.As a prison guard, Reggie Northrup has seen the system fail to provide healing for families or rehabilitation for offenders. She closes herself off emotionally to do her job, but it costs her more than she knows.When Sophia and Reggie are chosen for the governor’s new community design team and tasked with tackling substance use and mental health issues, battle lines are drawn even as sparks fly. Do Reggie and Sophia have the wisdom to set aside the things they cannot change and fight courageously to change what they can? Love just might depend on it.

Darcy Comes Home


Jen Silver - 2021
    Family complications arise including a reluctant engagement, secret surrogacy, and a persistent ex-wife.Villagers in Professor Darcy Belsfield’s childhood home of Sycamore Haven remember her being sent away to a Christian conversion camp in Canada when her father discovered her making love to her school friend, Angie.Angie has never married but she does have a past and some unenthusiastic plans for the future. Will the differences in their lives doom the chance of Darcy and Angie discovering if they can build a future together?

Never Be The Same


M.A. Binfield - 2021
    They aren’t kidding.When Casey meets Olivia—the actress she’s driving around for two weeks—she figures it’s going to be all business. Sure, Olivia’s hot and has women throwing themselves at her feet, but Casey is only interested in making the money she needs before going back to Portland. London is full of painful memories, and anyway, perfectly put together celebrities are not really her thing.Olivia loves being “Susie,” her TV alter ego. She’s sassy, sexy, and never short of admirers, but living her life in the public eye is taking its toll. When her new driver turns out to be tall, dark, and undeniably handsome, Olivia is intrigued. But Casey seems like she has something to hide, and the last thing Olivia needs is someone she can’t trust.