Book picks similar to
The Reef by Lois Kay


lesbian
romance
lgbt
mystery-intrigue

UnCatholic Conduct


Stevie Mikayne - 2014
    The P.I. firm belonging to her mentor, Padraig, is in a financial mess, and to help him, she must take this latest assignment—which couldn’t be more offensive. When Jil is sent to St. Marguerite’s Catholic School to investigate teachers breaking their contracts of Catholic conduct, her investigation takes a dramatic turn after a student winds up dead on campus. To further complicate matters, circumstances keep throwing her together with the hot blond principal, Jessica Blake, at the center of her investigation. Decades-old secrets run deep through the veins of this traditional school, and Jil has to find answers to some chilling questions—like what really happened to those two boys in the old gym forty years ago—before another student pays the ultimate price. Difficult, when all she can think about is getting Jessica into bed.

Jenna's Awakening


Missy Redstone - 2014
    Jenna Harper arrived in a small town in New England, she only had one thing on her mind. She wanted a new start for herself. She wanted a place to settle down and start her career. Dr. Harper was soft-spoken, but she had a hard shell around her heart. She had completely closed herself off from love and threw herself 100% into her work. She believed that was one of the things that had gotten her to the top of her field so quickly. Little did she know, the fortress she had built around her love life was about to be crushed by someone she would have least expected, another woman. Kristen Fletcher awakens thoughts and desires within Dr. Harper that she had never known existed. Unfortunately, Dr. Harper has no idea how long she will be in town. She has to battle the conflict of pursuing her newfound love or staying grounded in the reality that she may have to leave soon.

Firebird


Rory Wilde - 2016
     Since her grandparents died, wildlife rehabber Reese Greeley became a hermit with only wild animals and her dog, Cocoa, for company. Juggling the care of dozens of injured and sick creatures in her barn, she's forged a simple, if lonely, life for herself. Everything changes when her former best friend returns to town with a Purple Heart and a horrific story. A former hotshot pilot with broken wings... Jean Jardine left Big Woods for the Air Force Academy so she could escape her late father's abuse. After a harrowing and widely-publicized experience in the Middle East, she's back, but she's not the same person she used to be. Hindered by pain and PTSD, she can only see a bleak and solitary future for herself. But when she finds an injured hawk in her backyard, she crosses paths with her best friend from high school. Two best friends open their hearts to love... Jean starts helping Reese with the animals, and the two friends rediscover the rapport they once had—as well as the fact that they're both into women. But when more hawks are found injured and a wildfire threatens the barn, Jean finds she has to overcome her fears to save the animals. Will Reese be able to help her fly again? Firebird is a F/F romance novel with a HEA and no cliffhangers.

Memory


Lucy Heart - 2019
     Until Estella left. Piper and Estella met when they were kids. Estella was rich and spoiled, Piper was poor and curious, and—in each other—the two girls found an unexpected friendship. Year after year went by as they grew up together, growing closer and closer as time passed, until Piper realized that she loved Estella more than anything in the universe. The day Piper told Estella she loved her was the day Estella walked out the door, never to return again... Or so Piper thought. Years have passed, and they're both grown women living opposite lives on opposite sides of the country. All they have between them are the memories of a young love that was so beautiful and profound that it changed their lives forever... But a chance encounter pulls the two women together once more. Does true love exist? Or are some scars too deep to ever heal?

Thorns of the Past


Gun Brooke - 2017
    Framed for a bad shooting while on the force, she is set on finding out the truth about what happened. Sabrina Hawk, a successful accountant with an impressive client list, still suffers the after-effects from an assault during her college years. Victim blaming on campus was bad enough, but she loathes the authorities for mistreating her. Darcy notices Sabrina often works late, and the elegant blond stirs her innate protectiveness. Sabrina finds herself able to relax around Darcy. A mutual attraction develops, but then Sabrina’s office is subjected to several break-ins. Wary of the police, she hires Darcy to investigate. Darcy fears Sabrina’s reaction once she learns Darcy was a cop—a cop who left the force in disgrace.

Making Waves


Erik Schubach - 2016
     She learned how to be strong again and break the shackles her old life had hobbled her with. While Paya is out making waves in London, Lenore is assigned as the driver for the contractor, McGrath, who is renovating a building for the Flotilla, which will allow people who had fallen upon hard times to have a place to call their own. The problem? Lenore finds McGrath to be the most infuriating, cocky, and egotistical woman on the planet. They mix like oil and water and Lenore wants nothing more than to throw a match on the mixture and be done with the woman. She just can’t figure out what it is that boils her blood around McGrath, though apparently all of her smug and smiling friends have an inkling… The Flotilla series is a spinoff of the bestselling London Harmony series.

Private Dancer


T.J. Vertigo - 2006
    Reece Corbett grew up on the mean streets of New York City; abused, used, and in trouble with the law. A mysterious man named Frank stepped in, pulled Reece from despair and saved her life. The obstinant, angry street thug eventually earned respect and makes a name for herself, not to mention a "reputation" despite the demons that still haunt her. When Frank dies suddenly, he leaves her his business, a Gentleman's Club called "The Lounge," which may be the only thing she takes pride in. That, and protecting her "girls," especially one freaky little dancer with a heart of gold named Cori the unspoken friend, ally and confidante of one Reece Corbett. Faith Ashford grew up wealthy with all the creature comforts that wealth provides. Country Clubs, a house in the Hampton's, and debutante balls with white gloves, taffeta and gardenias. There was one difference though, Faith wasn't like the other spoiled rich girls, she had no desire to follow those rather shallow footsteps, instead, she wished to follow her own dreams wherever they may lead her and those dreams lead the aspiring actress into a tenement in New York's Alphabet City, working the night shift in a rather seedy Lower East Side bar whose denizens, a sea of oddities, freaks, and frat boys that call themselves customers. Then one night an exotic dancer with electric blue hair wonders into Faith's bar. Cori of the myriad piercings and tattoos has no idea, but she would become the blonde's ultimate salvation in her moment of desperation, just as Frank was for Reece. Faith needed a break, she needed a change, and bartending at The Lounge would at least afford her something new, more new than she could possibly imagine in fact, a tall drink of water by the name of Reece Corbett who in turn had been looking for "this woman" all her life.

The Acquittal


Anne Laughlin - 2014
    That means finding the real killer, a task made more difficult by Lauren’s unwillingness to cooperate and a large family problem—Lauren’s parents have been kidnapped for a ransom she can no longer pay. Josie has a big challenge of her own: how to redeem herself after losing her job as a detective. When Josie and Lauren join forces to rescue the parents, they discover they make a great team, in more ways than one.Will Josie’s troubled past come back to haunt her? And who did kill Lauren’s lover?

Passionate Kisses


Megan Carter - 2006
    Their strong bond earned them the nickname of the Three Musketeers. When Taylor turned 14 and announced she was gay, James and Sara stood by her. When James and Sara began dating, Taylor hid her love for Sara and moved on with her life.

Heart's Tempo


C.L. Ryder - 2017
    She’s been single since college, and she just can’t admit to herself that she’s got a thing for women. That is, until she meets her at a client’s wedding. She’s impossibly gorgeous, she’s got a voice of gold, and she’s one of the most famous pop stars in the world. Passions under the spotlight… Winona Heart’s life has been a flurry of stage lights, five star hotel rooms and flashing cameras, never giving her a moment to pursue her true passions or show her real self to the world. She also desperately needs a change, to make a true connection that has been sorely missing in her heart. When she meets Lily, the beautiful stranger unaware of her celebrity status, the two hit it off in a way neither have felt before. Their desires must stay backstage… As the notes of their passion begin to perfectly harmonize, they must do everything they can to keep their relationship out of the public eye and away from Winona’s uptight and authoritarian stage mother. Can the two women keep their secret hidden, or will the curtain come crashing down on their love forever?

A Quantum Convergence


C.A. Farlow - 2016
    When the pollution is in the pristine wildness of northern Colorado, her own backyard, her friends challenge her professional ethics and demand that she not just identify the pollution but do something about it. Things spiral out of control, as Lauren begins to question her life choices and culpability in enabling the corporations to continue damaging our fragile ecosystem. Alexandra Aoeron Aonwyn, Queen of Fuar Ćala, is struggling with the after effects of a heinous bio weapon released on her world. The children are falling ill with a mysterious disease. If she is not able to find information about her enemy's weapon for her healing technicians, her people are doomed to die with this generation. A winter field trip, a ragging blizzard, and a grievous injury bring Lauren and Alex together. Will Lauren find answers to her self-doubt and professional guilt? Can she help Alex find a cure for her people? Only a soul mates bond is strong enough to create a quantum convergence and allow them to find each other and heal.

Two Shades of Blue


Sydney Gibson - 2018
    Just as she's looking forward to early retirement, she is assigned a disturbing new homicide - and an unwelcome new partner, stretching her boundaries to their limit.Beautiful rookie detective Sasha Garnier is as infuriating as she is impressive, and the combination wreaks havoc on Emma's careful defenses. The reluctant pair soon realize they have a serial killer on their hands, one who plays games only Emma seems to understand. As the case heats up, more than their professional relationship is put to the test. When the FBI inserts itself into their investigation, secrets are revealed that cut Emma to the bone. It's a race against time to figure out who she can trust, before the murderer claims his next victim, likely, Emma herself...

Hot Blooded


Bridget Essex - 2019
     Billie Cross isn't afraid of anything. A quick witted, sarcastic trouble maker, she knows how to rock a good lipstick, a pair of heels...and a sharp dagger. Billie has one of the most dangerous—and secretive—jobs in the world, but someone's got to hunt demons. And Billie is very, very good at it. But a random run-in on the streets of Pittsburgh has Billie's head out of the game. Because she can't stop thinking about the mysterious, smoldering woman in the leather jacket with the wicked grin: Jet. Billie can't get tangled up in a relationship; it's too dangerous. But a one-night stand sure as hell sounds like a good time. Only thing is, one night turns into something much, much more. Billie swore she'd never let anyone close to her ever again: she was done with getting her heart broken, and yet now she's fallen for Jet with her whole heart. But if Billie finds out who—and what—Jet really is, there'll be more than a broken heart on the line. There'll be hell to pay.

1st Impressions


Kate Calloway - 1996
    Private investigator Cassidy James tracks down the killer of a wealthy summer resident of Cedar Hills, Oregon in this installment of Kate Calloway's exciting new mystery series..

Bad Girl Love


Cynthia Dane - 2018
    They don't even know about her ex-girlfriends or her fake IDs.But it's that fake ID that leads her to the hottest club in the city. While her friends tear up the dancefloor, however, Audrey meets the foil to her suppressed desires and curiosity.Dylan. The resident bad girl with an affinity for good girls like Audrey.What begins as a torrid fling soon transforms into something that opens Audrey's eyes to the life she's always wanted. The longer she's with Dylan, the more she realizes the sources of her suffocation. A toxic family. Airheaded friends. Caring for nothing but the trappings of wealth. "A bad girl is someone who refuses to accept the status quo." Dylan has dated her fair share of heiresses, but Audrey is the first one to make her believe in a chance at love.Yet it's not easy to give over to someone like Audrey. She represents everything Dylan has spent her whole life rejecting, for she knows all too well what it's like to be forced into the good girl role.And her past is constantly threatening to ruin everything she's built for herself since her darkest days. "Good girls don't go bad. They save themselves." The fatalistic love that haunts both Dylan and Audrey will last the summer. After that? Someone will have to give up the only life they've ever known.Easier said than done.Please note that this book contains examples of transphobia and growing up in an abusive cult.