That includes rebellious rival player Fran Doherty, a burnt-out barmaid with a past as messed up as her attitude. So when the clashing pair find themselves on the same Edinburgh women football team, how will they survive each other, let alone play to win?100,000 words

    Sexually abused by her father when she was a child, she keeps secrets with her twin sister and numbs past trauma with the bottle. When her twin is psychiatrically hospitalized, she’ll work with the hospital social worker, and in doing so, will be offered no choice but to deal with past horrors. Sage Carson is a clinical social worker, a divorced woman who has no desire for a relationship, one man being enough for a lifetime. When she meets Sawyer, questions about her own sexuality will be awakened, and she’ll have no choice but to deal with them. And, with this backdrop, as these two women begin a new relationship, Sawyer must perform at the top of her game, engaging in a desperate hunt for a serial rapist-murderer, a hunt that will become all too personal.

    Things might go easier for her if she didn’t almost run over the standoffish, beautiful local cop on her first day in town. And it’d really help if her film set was being mysteriously sabotaged.When Ika Whenu’s Senior Constable Sam Keegan isn’t trying to stamp out a motorcycle gang drug problem afflicting her town, she’s publicly slamming everything about the exploitative film, Shezan, and the Hollywood blow-ins making it. That includes its nerdy, cute director, Alex, who has woeful driving skills to go with her smart mouth.Against the stunning scenery and chaotic film-set backdrop, attraction flares between the two warring women as they’re forced to work together to find the set saboteur.A funny, small-town lesbian romance about clashing cultures and daring to dream big.This is a Breaking Character spin-off novel that can easily be read as a standalone story.Themes: female police officer · lesbian cop · New Zealand104,000 words

    Poppy Jenkins makes everyone smile. She’s the heart of Wells, a beautiful village in mid-Wales, leaving light and laughter in her wake. She has a doting family, an errant dog and a little sister with a nose for mischief. But she’s the only gay in the village and it’s a long time since she kissed a girl: the chance of romance in sleepy Wells is rarer than a barking sheep. If she doesn’t think too hard, life is cosy, until a smart sports car barrels into town with the last woman Poppy wants to see behind the wheel. Beautiful Rosalyn Thorn was once Poppy’s high school BFF even though she was trouble. Then one day she abandoned Wells and Poppy without explanation. Now the highflier is back and bound to cause fresh havoc in the village and with Poppy’s heart; folk are not happy. Wells needs to wake up to the 21st century and Rosalyn can help, but old prejudices die hard. If they can be friends it could be the chance to make everyone’s happy ever after. Couldn’t it?

    Two weeks. Six days.That's how long recovering addict Sophie's been drug-free. Four months ago her best friend, Mina, died in what everyone believes was a drug deal gone wrong - a deal they think Sophie set up. Only Sophie knows the truth. She and Mina shared a secret, but there was no drug deal. Mina was deliberately murdered.Forced into rehab for an addiction she'd already beaten, Sophie's finally out and on the trail of the killer—but can she track them down before they come for her?

    It’s that everyone thinks her advice comes free, even on weekends. That’s why she keeps a strict observance of her Saturday routine: a scone, a caramel mocha, and nobody bothering her.  So when she meets a new campus hire at the Bean Grinder who needs computer help yet doesn’t ask for it, she’s intrigued enough to offer. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship and possibly something more. But Elizabeth Markel is a little higher up the university food chain than she’s let on, and the truth brings out buried prejudices that Anna didn’t know she had. People and computers have one thing in common: they’re both capable of self-sabotage. The difference is that computers are easier to fix.

    Emily had to rebuild her life... her sense of self. How far would she go to hold on to a dream? Emily Warner moves to Vermont hoping for a fresh start. Anything to forget the past four years. She didn't plan on the past finding her. And she didn't plan on Ann Hight. Ann helps Emily through a crisis, and re-awakens emotions Emily thought she would never experience again. For Ann, what she begins to feel for Emily promises everything she never knew she needed. Just when it seems they've found the love they've yearned for, fate conspires to tear them apart. Even if they can somehow hang on despite all the obstacles thrown at them, Emily still has to face the biggest obstacle of all herself.

    She thinks she's prepared for anything, but when she responds to a bloody domestic violence call, only to find her high school sweetheart is the victim, she knows she has to find a way to help.When Adrienne Contreras's mother moved her to the south side of Chicago at seventeen, she quickly saw her safe life and idealistic love with Kaia replaced with poverty, crime, and violence. Now twenty-seven, Adrienne is dating Gianna, a high-ranking member of a brutal gang. She has the streets figured out, but the first rule is to never talk to cops, even one she used to be in love with.As their attraction grows into love, Adrienne and Kaia struggle to see past the changes in each other and escape Gianna and the gang, who have threatened both their lives.

    That is, until she meets Sarah Jamieson. Sarah is a reclusive artist, a loner who wears black makeup and doesn’t have any friends, but for some reason, Harper can’t stop thinking about her.Sarah isn’t used to people looking her way, especially popular girls like Harper Isabelle. Scared, religious, and unsure of herself, when Sarah begins to realize that her feelings for Harper might go beyond friendship, she is afraid to take the plunge and tell Harper how she feels.Emotions build between these young women until they both reach their breaking points, and they need to make a choice about coming to terms with who they really are, and what they can and cannot live without.Words: 92,000

    Amanda was only seventeen at the time, but she should have been there that night, and she blames herself for her sister’s death… Now, on the twentieth anniversary of the drowning, Amanda goes back to Lake George to face her past and unexpectedly meets Summer McBride. Summer is a beautiful, vivacious, carefree woman--everything Amanda isn’t--and Amanda begins to fall for her until she learns Summer’s dark secret. Can love heal all wounds?

    Betrayed by the lover who was her partner in a successful law practice, August Reese is waiting at a small cattle ranch to testify against a drug kingpin. Attraction sparks when Teal’s aging Honda blows its engine and she and August meet on a steamy Texas blacktop. But as the spark bursts into flame, their worst nightmare comes calling. Will they survive or swelter as the heat becomes unbearable?

    Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account, Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy... a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother—and Elle's new business partner—expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because... awkward.When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship.But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?

    Madison hasn't painted in over three years since her wife and muse, Callie, lost her battle with cancer.Supermodel Gabrielle Valenci's arrival at her family home in Islamorada unsettles Madison's comfortable routine. Gabrielle has left a floundering relationship behind in New York and travels to Florida to undergo the last of her chemotherapy. Her prognosis is excellent, but her journey since the initial cancer diagnosis has been rocky.The appearance of a dolphin in their cove coincides with Gabrielle's arrival next door. With each unannounced visit, he inspires Gabrielle and Madison as he gently nudges them together. Soon, Madison is accompanying Gabrielle to her treatments. Although the bond between them strengthens and their mutual attraction grows, both are hesitant to take the next step. Can they learn To Love Free again?Sometimes, the fragile human heart is reluctant to heal. But Madison and Gabrielle never counted on the persistence of one determined, magical dolphin they call "Free."Words: 80,220

     Julia has it all. Fame, fortune, and all the ladies she can get her lips on. But she can’t write her next book. She’s as blocked as a teenager’s pores. Could it be because of the one who got away? Susan had it all, and now it’s gone. She moves through life like a zombie, doing only what she needs to do to get by. Then Julia returns, and her irreverence and impulsiveness sends a tiny electrical pulse to Susan’s heart. When Susan and Julia are reunited, they try to ignore the flying sparks. There’s too much baggage—Julia is almost half Susan’s age and was once her student. But they need each other now more than ever. As their bond strengthens and heals, the attraction between them becomes impossible to ignore. Do Julia and Susan have a future together? Or just a past?

    Firing the young Ellie Kirkland for the offense was a no-brainer.But when fate brings the two women together again, Claire finds herself questioning everything she thought she was—especially her cynical, take-no-prisoners approach to life. When she’s not breaking stories or breaking in reporters, Claire’s one outlet is to lose herself in Motown music and in the seat of a cheerful antique Mustang. But lose herself to the much younger, far-too-nice Ellie? There’s no breaking news there. Nope. That’s a story that needs to be spiked before it ever sees print.Ellie Kirkland is at loose ends—and not for the first time. Resistant to following the path her parents insist on, she’s been trying out careers like she’s trying on outfits at Banana Republic. Now that her dream of being a journalist is over, Ellie must begin again. And the woman who crushed that very dream is the very woman who just might hold the key to Ellie’s future.Genre: RomanceEditor: Medora MacDougallCover Designer: Sandy Knowles