Except when the battle is over love, all bets are off. Derby Cain Casey was groomed from birth to take the reins of the Casey family enterprises, which just happens to be one of the major crime organizations in New Orleans. Surviving by never turning away from a fight and knowing how to win at all costs, Cain is as careful with her heart as she is with her business - until she meets Emma Verde. The farm girl from Wisconsin puts a hit out on Cain’s heart and leads her down a dangerous road filled with great joy and devastating sorrow. The Devil Inside is the story of unexpected passion, a shattering betrayal, and the challenge of love put to the test.

    She soon finds herself rehabbing at her cabin in the mountains, soaking in the remote natural springs—which is exactly where Psychologist Nicole Westbrook vacations and soon stumbles across her...When Nicole leaves the next day, the two women know little more about the other than her first name—yet they are now lovers instead of strangers.When Jake returns to Denver, a serial murder investigation soon leads her to Nicole. As the investigation develops, their physical attraction threatens to compromise the case. Nicole finds herself struggling to remain in the professional closet that she's been hiding in for so long—a place where an out cop like Jake McCoy simply does not belong.Once the crimes are solved, will the women go their separate ways? Or will the physical attraction and the gentle tug of love prove that opposites do attract...

    When breast cancer ends their life together, Poppy finds herself at a loss as to how to begin to live again. Julia Johnson is running to Carly’s Sound with her newborn daughter Tallulah in search of the path to her future. On a chance meeting two years after Carly’s death, these two women form a bond of friendship that lays the foundation for something more. “Carly’s Sound” will bring you from New Orleans to a five star resort in the Caribbean as Julia and Poppy struggle to define their lives and Poppy’s past comes back to haunt her – literally.

    But Rye is a poor builder's labourer with a teenage sister to raise, while Flora is a wealthy artist-celebrity with a tree-top condominium and a sporty, late-model flying carpet. If those aren’t obstacles enough to the scorching attraction that rapidly develops, Rye lives under the pall of a dark secret that has made her a fugitive in the very land where she sought freedom. The more Rye reveals to Flora, the more vulnerable she is to her past catching up with her. Can she and Flora find their way to loving one another in the face of their social and cultural differences while struggling with the dark forces that threaten Rye? Broken Wings is a soaring celebration of the power of love, family, and justice to triumph over intolerance, homophobia, and slavery.

    What no one can know is that the course, The Psychology of the Lesbian Experience, will propel Jamie onto a journey of self-awareness and realization. For the required fieldwork, Jamie is paired with the darkly beautiful Ryan O'Flaherty - a boldly "out" and sexually adventurous lesbian. This somewhat unlikely pair, slowly, and sometimes painfully, becomes aware that what they feel for each other is more than just friendship. The temptation to live life on her own terms is great, but so are the costs, as Jamie struggles to break out of her establishment-fashioned, pre-ordained mold. If she can summon the courage, however, she might find out that love, and life, have so much more to offer than she ever dreamed.

    In fact, she's so adept at trying to stamp out her feelings that she could probably write a How-To guide on the subject. One, move 3,000 miles away from your best friend. Two, get a time-consuming job so you don't have time to think about your best friend. Three, hang out with new friends who aren't anywhere as enchanting as your best friend. Four, get involved with a striking woman who is smart, sexy, caring and, most importantly, available, unlike your best friend. Five, hope the new love interest doesn't find out about your pathetic best friend obsession before you have time to replace it with actual life-altering love. Even following her own step-by-step process, Austy may not be able to redirect all of her misguided feelings. Becoming involved with Elise Bridie helps her realize how pointless her pining has been. But when Elise suspects that she harbors feelings for someone else, will their new found love survive the unrequited infatuation of Austy's fantasies?

    Struggling to work through her grief, she always puts her children’s needs first, leaving little time for herself. Five years later her youngest child leaves for college and Abby decides to kick start a new lease on life by returning to the dating scene, as well as transforming the backyard of her home into an oasis of beauty and tranquility. She hires Clancy O’Connor, a high-spirited young landscape architect who is trying to build a business. Clancy develops a serious crush on the beautiful widow before their first meeting is finished. It's a recipe for heartache; even though Abby seems remarkably comfortable with Clancy’s lesbianism, Clancy is unable to imagine that Abby would be willing to take the leap given the differences in their age, class, wealth and lifestyles.As Abby reveals more of herself to Clancy during their many hours of consultation, the connection between them begins to spark. After an evening of small intimacies and shared dreams, the women can no longer fight their mutual desire. Although Abby has her doubts about the future, she and Clancy embark on a torrid love affair… but all too soon a threat develops that could destroy the tentative bond that holds them together.

    Her family was the largest employer in the county, owning Pine Springs Lumber, and her father was mayor of this small town. Her mother could not accept the fact that her only child was gay, could not tolerate the gossip about her family. So, with a hundred dollars in her pocket and a one-way bus ticket out of town, Jacqueline was told not to come back until she had come to her senses. And that included being prepared to marry the son of a business associate of the family. Fifteen years later—long after she’d hitch-hiked to Los Angeles, long after she’d worked nights to put herself through college, and long after she’d written her first best seller, No Place For Family—Jacqueline is persuaded to go back to the tiny town of Pine Springs after her father’s death. The quick trip she’d envisioned for the funeral turns into weeks as she learns her father’s business is suddenly hers to manage. And she is also again face-to-face with the woman who, as a teen, had been Jackie’s first crush. She and Kay had been inseparable as kids, and later as teens. They find themselves falling back into their old habits, and Jackie is soon fighting the same feelings she’d had when she was seventeen. But living behind the pine curtain, Kay is afraid of her love for Jackie, afraid of what her family will say, afraid of how the town will react. Jackie refuses to hide, refuses to crawl back into the closet, so once again, she leaves Pine Springs . . . alone.

    She's a very successful real estate agent, happily married to a man who encourages her to live the independent life she loves; and they're actively working to have a baby.The wrench in the works is that Blair favors adoption, while her husband David desperately wants to have a biological child. The fates are against them, and they finally seek the help of a group of reproductive specialists. One of the doctors, a surgeon named Kylie Mackenzie, eventually becomes a good friend to Blair. And she needs all of the friends she can get when things start to go horribly wrong at home. As her marriage teeters on the brink of collapse, she relies more and more on Kylie's friendship.Kylie's happily gay; Blair's happily straight. But the way they structure their relationship leads friends and family to privately question whether the pair is setting themselves up for heartache. They eventually come to a crossroads, which could either destroy their friendship or turn it into what each of them has been seeking. The question is whether each woman can change her view of herself and her needs. The answer is all that matters.

    As they battle the challenges of nature for survival, they discover that true love may be nothing at all like they imagined.

    Exiled in a dangerous and confusing world filled with monsters, bandits, and sorcerers, Tevi battles demons within and without as she searches for her place in the strange new world.Jemeryl has her future planned out - a future that will involve minimal contact with ordinary folk who do not understand sorcerers. Her ambition is to lead a solitary life within the Coven and to devote herself to the study of magic. It is all very straightforward - until she meets Tevi.Two unlikely allies join forces to defeat an insidious evil and on the journey find one another.

    But Miami's hot, sultry nightlife offers plenty of opportunities for a girl to drown her disappointments and Dez wastes no time hooking up with her old friends. The last thing on Dez's mind is finding bliss in the arms of a seductive new partner who couldn't be more different from her ex - and who awakens in her a hunger she's tried to deny.

    But when Anna unexpectedly interrupts an attack on a beautiful woman lounging by a lake, she is drawn into the relationship of two other survivors of the sickness: young, idealistic Elin, who welcomes Anna into their makeshift family with open arms, and Elin's lover, the older, more jaded Kael, whose dark and brooding nature initially keeps Anna at bay. The threesome journeys south for the winter season but is beset by accidents, relationship strain, and an attack upon Elin by a group of religious fanatics who believe that a woman's duty in the post-apocalyptic world is to bear children and repopulate the earth. Kael and Anna's fragile connection will be tested repeatedly. Will they find a way to work together to save the woman they both love? Intense, exciting, and sexually provocative, The Three is one book you do not want to miss.

    Do you know where your androids are? In the near future, the world will grow complacent and a brilliant, if misguided, mind will seek to capitalize on that complacency by providing the common man and royalty alike with just the convenience he needs to aid him in his day to day labors. But what if suddenly those companions were to turn on their masters, sowing the seeds of destruction and death across the land? What if man's helper became his killer, and no one knew why or how to stop it? The Growing is the story of such a post-apocalyptic vision, and of the brave men and women who give everything they have to save the world from its eventual destruction. It is also the story of two lonely hearts, bitter enemies at first, who learn to trust and to love again in a world falling down all around them. Koda Rivers is a Lakota veterinarian and shaman whose roots run deep in her culture and in the soil of her native Black Hills. Kirsten King, Ph.D., is a brilliant cyberscientist and the sole surviving member of President Hillary Clinton's Cabinet. Each drawn by her own mission to destroy the androids, they meet in fire and blood at the North Dakota facility where the insurgent machines are manufactured. The Growing has all the bells and whistles of a classical epic: sweeping battles, a heroic love story, Amazon warriors, a blind bard, the gods of the land and a monster or two. The challenges present are met by our two heroes and their companions. These include Dakota's remarkable father and her warrior brother, Tacoma; Maggie Allen, USAF Colonel and crack pilot; an extraordinary German Shepherd named Asimov; and the spirits of the land in their various forms.

    Keller Mitchum has already lived a lifetime in 17 years. Fully responsible for her 5 year old sister Parker, Keller has seen and experienced things in life that should only be read about in books. Can Garrison break through Keller's defenses, and help her regain control? Contains some child abuse, but nothing in great detail.

    Riding bulls in the rodeo is the only life Shelby Fisher has ever known. She thinks she's perfectly happy in her world of one night stands until she goes to a rodeo/fair and meets spoiled barrel racer Rebecca Starrett. Suddenly, Shelby's life feels emptier, and she can't figure out why. The two women take an instant dislike to each other, but there's something about Rebecca that draws the silent and angry bull rider to her. It's not long before Rebecca's overtures pays off, and a grudging friendship occurs. Against a backdrop of mysterious accidents that are happening at the rodeo grounds, the women's friendship develops into something more. But when Shelby is implicated as the culprit to what's been happening will Rebecca stand by her side?

    So when her old friend and wealthy widow Brenda invites Kate to spend the summer in Coyote, New Mexico, Kate decides that a summer in Coyote might be just what she needs to clear her writer's block.Leaving behind the Dallas heat—and her girlfriend Robin—Kate retreats to the high mountain desert and soon finds herself surrounded by Brenda's eccentric friends and artists. But it's the local sheriff, Lee Foxx, who soon grabs her attention. It doesn't take long for Kate to discover that Lee has a penchant for dating the young tourists that flock to the river canyon each summer—and that Lee has no intention of ever settling down.Then an unexpected visit by Kate's girlfriend sends everyone scrambling. Torn between safety and desire, Kate has no idea which way to turn. And as for Lee—she can't quite believe that she's actually fallen in love... for the very first time in her life.

    She is looking for something or someone to rekindle the spark in her life. Hilton Withers is the lesbian lesbian daughter of a senator & heiress to a pickle company fortune. She hates her father & pickles. Anne & Hilton become fast friends.

    She lives well and is happy with her partner, Rebecca. All of that changes with a simple phone call from her brother. Beth Sayers was Emily's best friend from the time they were children until the day Beth left Emily stunned, confused, and alone in a college dorm room ten years later. Emily must delve back into her past and into a friendship that had fallen apart, taking her love and trust with it.

    Set in the drag underworld of Buffalo, 'Burning Dreams' chronicles the challenges faced by a young drag king and an older woman who share a love 'outside the bounds'.

    Not until its most celebrated daughter returns for one last performance.Four women, Manon, Eryn, Vivian and Mike, whose lives unexpectedly intersect in a small town by the sea share one thing in common--they all have secrets. Despite tragedy, past and present, each learns that life holds more than they dared dream. Manon Belmont, socialite and president of a wealthy foundation, leads a closeted life. She thrives helping others, but denies herself happiness for reasons she shares with no one. Nothing is the same after she meets Eryn Goddard, a reporter who has lost track of her dream of a grand writing career years ago. Eryn is suddenly rescued from her mundane assignments at the local paper when Vivian Harding, East Quay's only world famous celebrity, returns for a farewell performance. Vivian carries with her a secret that she fears has not only ended her career, but will also destroy her life. She finds an unexpected source of understanding in Michaela "Mike" Stone, a street smart and brilliant café owner. Mike, in turn, works hard developing her business, and even harder at overcoming the shadows of her past. She feels utterly protective of Vivian, but will she dare to eron her heart again?

    But the moment she first lays eyes on the tall, cute blonde who is to be her kouhai, all of that changes...

    The San Francisco Chronicle declared it "a superb television series. . . The cast is wonderful, the writing impressive, and it has a lure that is undeniable," while People magazine raved, "The L Word is HOT." Now, here is the official guide to this groundbreaking show, featuring more than 250 behind-the-scenes photos and all-new interviews with the show's cast, crew, and creators. With sections focusing on the main characters, the episodes, the styles, and loaded with fun sidebars that decode the show's trademark teaser openers and rank the hottest sex scenes, The L Word: Welcome to Our Planet is a no-holds-barred look at the show and the world behind it. The book's exclusive, insider access will reveal: What it's like for a straight actress to film a lesbian sex scene The favorite moments of the show's stars and creators How an episode is written The actresses' favorite clothing designers Which of the show's stars spend their off-camera hours riding horses on a ranch, collecting mid-century modern furniture, or doing Janet Jackson dance routines . . . and much, much more. A VIP pass into the world of the show, The L Word: Welcome to Our Planet is an absolute must-have for fans everywhere.

    In these poems, food feeds both disease and celebration, sometimes in the same breath. Whether we are eating out of necessity or pure desire, these poems have something to say about our most internal -- and often inexplicable -- impulses.

    Hesed is the story of two very different women, Reverend Elizabeth (Beth) Kelly, an Episcopalian priest and Nicole Thera, a respected business woman and the owner of a popular local nightclub catering to the gay/lesbian community. Despite tempestuous beginnings and at times against their better judgment, the women establish an unorthodox friendship that will eventually challenge the young priest to rethink all she's ever believed about her religion and about herself.

    It starts with the lingering looks across the room at an interesting stranger, romantic e-mails, flowers, and wearing leather on your first date. Then once you have her, stage two kicks off with all night sex sessions that leave you sore but still wanting more. Soon you don't even want to leave the house for months, and some of your friends even forget your name. Then, if you're lucky (and not on the second date, mind you), the third stage comes around and you've settled into the comfy couch of your relationship. Come join Nghosi Books down memory lane or take this journey for the very first time as we introduce you to ultimate pleasure in our New Voices Series of longing, lust, and love!

    This chatty, opinionated guide to gay life and culture is written by longtime gay-neighborhood-dwelling Chicagoans for residents and visitors. Photos.

    When Taryn has mail, a lost soul is crying out for help.Then Kerrigan Archer, a beautiful witch, comes to Taryn. Kerrigan needs to retrieve one of these other-worldly messages and she knows Taryn can do it. Unexpectedly, Taryn finds herself thrown into a world of magicks and spell casting. Side by side, Taryn and Kerrigan face down the evil forces that reside on both sides of existence. Can love prove to be the strongest magick? Can Kerrigan cast a wide enough circle to keep them safe from harm?There's only one way to know.

    Each short story is introduced by one of Colleen's peers. Proceeds from the sale of this edition of Coming Together will be donated to the Kaplan Family Hospice Residence in her memory. Reviews posted at the point of sale are very much appreciated, as are blog posts, tweets (@Coming_Together), and social networking updates. Every little bit helps Coming Together sell more books and raise more money for charity! Thank you for supporting erotic altruism. NOTE: This purchase also entitles you to a digital (ebook) copy of this title. Simply forward your receipt to the publisher via the email address below, and a ZIPped file containing PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and LIT formats will be attached and returned. Publisher: Coming Together (erotic.cocktail [at] gmail [dot] com)

    Emily discovers that not only is her house being built on the sacred ground of the Blood Creek Massacre, but also one of her ancestors was responsible for the massacre. Can Emily find a way to repay the debt? Will she survive the haunting?

    Susan Hawthorne explores the impact of the love between lesbians. The butterfly effect is a force that can destroy families and bring down governments, but also a force full of vitality and world changing creativity.She evokes the ancient worlds of pre-Vedic and Sapphic lovers, of Mediaeval jonglaresas and nuns 'fingering petals and hips' as well as the contemporary world of circuses and global politics.

    Shona MacLeod, an eighteen year old from a small Island off the west coast of Scotland is leaving home for the first time to study at university. This is the story of her struggle to cope with a domineering father and her attraction to a woman she meets in the city.

    But while these two writers have achieved iconic status, observers of the Chicana/o experience have been slow to perceive the existence of a whole community—lesbian and straight, male as well as female—who write about the Chicana lesbian experience. To create a first full map of that community, this book explores a wide range of plays, novels, and short stories by Chicana/o authors that depict lesbian characters or lesbian desire. Catrióna Rueda Esquibel starts from the premise that Chicana/o communities, theories, and feminisms cannot be fully understood without taking account of the perspectives and experiences of Chicana lesbians. To open up these perspectives, she engages in close readings of works centered around the following themes: La Llorona, the Aztec Princess, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, girlhood friendships, rural communities and history, and Chicana activism. Her investigation broadens the community of Chicana lesbian writers well beyond Moraga and Anzaldúa, while it also demonstrates that the histories of Chicana lesbians have had to be written in works of fiction because these women have been marginalized and excluded in canonical writings on Chicano life and experience.

    Sex should be intense, joyful, and liberating--exactly as written in these edgy and uninhibited stories. While there are many anthologies of lesbian erotica available, none so far have focused on the interaction between the lifestyles and sexual adventures of lesbian bikers. Well, why the hell not? What's sexier than a hot woman, clad in form-fitting leather, fiercely in control of the Iron Horse between her legs? The contributors to Hard Road, Easy Riding have transcended the experience of power between their thighs that responds to the caress of their fingers. On the road, brief encounters come with the territory. In Rakelle Valencia's "Bikeless and Bored on Snow Days" a rock musician plays a few bars with a would-be groupie, while Judy Snow's "Motorcycle Week Virgin" gets the most out of a day at a biker rally. An EnduroCross competitor in Muffin McGill's "The New Sport" takes a quick dip with (and in) a casual acquaintance, and war is the force that throws two women together and tears them apart in Connie Wilkins' "Riding the Tiger." Bike-riding dykes span a broad spectrum of roles and images as well. Alison Laleche's "Sweet Thing" is a seductive minx. The boss's wife rides Val Murphy's mechanic in "Hot Rides." The leather biker in Jess Davis's "Shifting" meets a determined Catholic schoolgirl just old enough to be legal. And Jake Rich's "Speed Junkie Johnny" is a blue-collar butch getting by on hard work and memories of a tough but loving "Daddy."