Book picks similar to
The Summers We Lost by Helen Blacksmith


lesbian
romance
culture-african-american
second-chances

Strong Hearts


Ellie Green - 2019
    She expects to find an empty house. Instead, she finds a naked woman in the bathtub. A beautiful, naked woman. Tilly can’t decide if she’s angry at Eva or attracted to her, but either way they can’t avoid each other in the small community. A quiet break in the country is turning out to be anything but for Tilly. But it might also be exactly what she needs. As attraction turns to romance, she learns there is more to Eva than meets the eye. Eva is strong, and strength is what Tilly needs when she has to face the fight that is waiting for her in the city. Will she be strong enough to overcome what stands between her and a chance at happiness?

The Moments


Nicole Pyland - 2018
    That decision will impact her entire life. If she says something, she risks embarrassment and her heart. If she doesn’t say something, she may never know if Jenna Cabot feels the same way about her. In Path I, Bailey risks it all and asks Jenna out on a date on their high school graduation day. In Path II, Bailey does not ask Jenna out on a date on their high school graduation day. What follows in both paths is Bailey and Jenna’s story. It’s the most important moments that make up their lives together and apart. It’s the story of how they were always drawn together and always would be. It’s the ups and the downs, the perfect moments and the difficult ones. It’s the tears and the laughter. And it’s the drive to make forever possible with the love of your life no matter the circumstances.

Love's Knocking


Jade Winters - 2018
    Career driven and with no time for love, her ambition is crushed when Jo is brought in by Nikki's manager to restructure the struggling company.Nikki instantly labels Jo as her nemesis but at the same time finds her undeniably attractive. As both women's lives take a dramatic turn, they are thrown together again unexpectedly. The tension between them is palpable but can they both overcome the simmering resentment to build a future together?

First


Kim Pritekel - 2006
    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.

Accidental Love


Lydia Rose - 2016
    She decides to take a long vacation and gets in her expensive car and heads south to her friend in Miami. Fate has a different plan for Marnie. She is involved in an accident in Georgia and finds herself roped into representing Tom a seventeen year old accused of murder. Marnie's first instinct is to say no, but then she meets the lovely Leslie Reynolds. Leslie is Tom's stepsister who asks Marnie to represent him. Before Marnie realizes what is happening, she falls for the petite beauty. Unfortunately, she has to go back to NYC and to her life. Trying to keep a long distant relationship afloat especially when Leslie's old girlfriend comes back into the picture. Falling in love is the easy part, but finding a way to be together is the hard part.

One Little Yes


Jamey Moody - 2021
    She is so tired of being sick and alone.Angel Ruiz is a loner with a scarred heart that began with homophobic parents years ago.When Gina meets Angel at her friends’ New Year’s Eve party she feels an instant bond. She sees Angel’s damaged heart and wonders if it is as weary as hers?And then she has an idea.All Angel has to do is say yes.

It's Complicated


Evelyn Dar - 2018
    And who could blame her? Caitlyn is smart, generous and the kind of beautiful that makes Bailey’s stomach do backflips, then front flips, then somersaults. Needless to say, Caitlyn’s perfect in every way…well, she would be if she wasn’t Bailey’s high school English teacher. On graduation night, fueled by liquid courage, Bailey does the unthinkable and confesses her love to her former teacher. She’s all in and hopes Caitlyn will be too. Who cares if there’s an obstacle…or two…or ten in their path? True love conquers all, doesn’t it?

Turning for Home


Caren J. Werlinger - 2015
    Unlike her mother, though, Jules couldn’t disappear forever. When she’s called back for her grandfather’s funeral, the visit unleashes a flood of memories and starts her on a lonely—and familiar—path. Her partner, Kelli, feels Jules slipping away but can’t figure out how to pull her back. In desperation, she turns to Jules’s oldest friend—and her ex—Donna. The problem is, Donna never could figure out why her relationship with Jules ended so long ago, and she never stopped loving Jules. When a lonely, confused teenager reaches out to Jules for help, the past and present are set on a collision course, igniting a chain of events that will leave none of them unscathed.

Plus 1


Erica Lee - 2018
    While she loved weddings and everything involved in them, she knew marriage wasn’t the path for her. She was happy casually dating. At least that’s what she thought until she met the beautiful, flirtatious Jenny Hanson at a wedding and her whole world was turned upside down. Jenny didn’t have any plans of getting married either. It was the perfect formula for a lasting friendship, except for the fact that the two girls were highly attracted to each other and lived at opposite ends of the country. As the two girls navigate through this friendship filled with plane rides, weddings, and lots of flirting, Rory begins to question if the life she always planned on is really what she wants.

The Amnesia Project


Barbara Winkes - 2018
    What happened behind these doors? In the summer of 2003, three young women and a teenage girl take a trip to New York City…Only three of them return. More than a decade later, one of them uncovers the shocking truth.

My Sister's Keeper


Mavis Applewater - 2004
    She just wants to be in love. Sound simple? Well, there's a catch. She wants to be deeply in love with someone who is also deeply in love with her. Jenny must face the past and the present when she discovers her lover's infidelity and her first love walks back into her life. Her life becomes even more complicated when old feelings surface for her first love -- the woman who broke her heart as a teenager, then entered the church and became "Sister Rachel". In her third published book, Mavis Applewater brings to the printed page a perfect combination of heat and romance, with just the right amount of adventure.

Wind and Sea


C.L. Ryder - 2018
    Not in high school, not in art school, and not since she’d gotten her work into major galleries across the country. It’s not that she doesn’t want it—she’s just never found the right woman—until a trip to the beach put her right onto Cammy’s canvas. The mysterious surfer in red. She’s charming and sexy, and Cammy can’t get her out of her mind… but there’s only one problem: The girl is 100% undeniably straight. Lei Castle is a real free spirit. She’s traveled the world with only her surfboard, and now she’s finally back home in the California. With her van set up on the beach, her only worry is how the waves are going to be that day. When Cammy shows up at her private cove the two are drawn into a close friendship, and Lei takes it upon herself to show the risk-averse painter how to have a little excitement. As Cammy falls deeper in love with her friend, it becomes harder and harder to keep her tremendous desires a secret. Will she suffer the pain of unrequited love for as long as they’re together? How can the tides of fate make an impossible love a reality?

West of Nowhere


K.G. MacGregor - 2013
    At twenty-five, Amber Halliday had thought life on the road with the band was her ultimate fantasy come true. In the blink of an eye she finds herself abandoned at a truck stop in Kentucky. No money, no family and nowhere to go.Even though her common sense tells her to drive on by, Navy veteran Joy Shepard simply can’t ignore a woman in distress. With more than half of a cross-country trip ahead of her, she does have space and a temporary job caring for Joy’s wheelchair-bound father.Though Amber is grateful for Joy’s help, she’s immediately challenged by Joy’s excessive tidiness and stringent rules. Her father is even worse! For her part, Joy can’t believe anyone is so slovenly, so undisciplined, so…frustrating! Every mile increases the chances that their lives—and their hearts—will end up right where they met: nowhere.Lambda Literary Award Winner - KG MacGregor

And a Time to Dance


Chris Paynter - 2013
    But Corey's life is turned upside down when a car accident tragically claims Judy's life. Two years later, still broken and reeling from her painful loss, Corey moves from her home in Lansing, Michigan, to Grand Lake, Colorado. There, she hopes to begin healing.Erin Flannery and her Aunt Tess are co-owners of Grand Lake's Rainbow Lodge. Erin questions Tess's immediate hiring of Corey as the lodge's new maintenance worker-but then it takes a lot for a woman to earn Erin's trust. Afraid to put her heart on the line after her partner's betrayal five years before, Erin is not ready for any long-term commitment and covers her pain with meaningless one-night stands.Although Corey and Erin start out on shaky ground, as the summer months go by their friendship slowly grows into something more. Will Corey take a leap of faith and allow love to enter her heart again? And will Erin stop running long enough to trust a woman who seems almost too good to be true?Against the backdrop of the magnificent Rocky Mountains, Corey and Erin must decide: will they let fear rule their lives-or will they simply let go and dance another dance with love.

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.