Book picks similar to
Shaken or Stirred by Georgia Beers
romance
lgbt
lesbian-romance
netgalley
Without Warning
K.G. MacGregor - 2007
Two strangers, trapped in a collapsed shopping mall, find each other amid the rubble and join forces to escape. Hampered by injury and darkness, they dig and claw their way through one crumbled store after another, emerging long after most have given up hope for survivors.The ordeal leaves both women shaken, but their shared triumph sets them on a life-changing course together, igniting a connection like neither has ever known.Anna Kaklis—whose perfectly planned life never included falling in love with another woman—is thrown for a loop, but she doesn’t doubt her heart.Lily Stewart—abandoned too many times by people she trusted—won’t let herself believe that Anna’s love will endure.Without Warning is the story of their courageous journey through adversity, and their promise of steadfast love.
For the Love of Cake
Erin Dutton - 2015
When she takes a turn as a judge on the very show that launched her career, she expects to find a nice change of scenery and a little diversion.A late-bloomer at forty-two years old, Shannon Hayes is finally on the precipice of achieving her dreams. She has one shot to prove she can compete with chefs half her age with much more experience. Engaging in a fling with a judge fourteen years her junior would almost certainly kill that chance.
Other Girls
Avery Brooks - 2019
She lives in her hometown of New Orleans where she has a close relationship with her family and her best friend, Drea, who is a loyal friend when she’s not busy sleeping her way through the local lesbian population.Sam’s wife Anna was the love of her life and she can’t imagine ever finding such a love again. Instead, she focuses on being the best mother to Jake she can be and getting through each day as it comes. It’s not exciting, but she understands that she had her love story with Anna. As long as she gets her weekly girls’ night out with Drea and her softball team keeps winning, everything is fine. That is, until Ashley Valence, the girl who tormented Sam throughout high school, moves back home after sixteen years. Ashley, the former softball star, joins Sam’s softball team, sending Sam into a series of nightmares. As tensions rise on the softball field, the unexpected and undeniable chemistry between the women grows.No matter how much Sam wants to hate Ashley, those once icy green eyes only hold warmth now. As Sam introduces Ashley into her life with Jake, she begins to let go of the past to follow her heart. But when Jake is bullied by a student at school, all of the former hurts resurface for Sam, and she lashes out at Ashley in an attempt to protect both herself and her son. Though Sam realizes her knee-jerk reactions are wrong, she also begins to realize that she’s in love with Ashley.One last problem remains—can she trust her heart to someone who once hurt her so deeply?81,000 words
The Secret of You and Me
Melissa Lenhardt - 2020
Not since she fled Texas to start a new life. Away from her father’s volatile temper and the ever-watchful gaze of her claustrophobically conservative small town, Nora has freed herself. She can live—and love—however she wants. The only problem is that she also left behind the one woman she can’t forget. Now tragedy calls her back home to confront her past—and reconcile her future.Sophie seems to have everything—a wonderful daughter, a successful husband and a rewarding career. Yet underneath that perfection lies an explosive secret. She still yearns for Nora—her best friend and first love—despite all the years between them. Keeping her true self hidden hasn’t been easy, but it’s been necessary. So when Sophie finds out that Nora has returned, she hopes Nora’s stay is short. The life she has built depends on it.But they both find that first love doesn’t fade easily. Memories come to light, passion ignites and old feelings resurface. As the forces of family and intolerance that once tore them apart begin to reemerge, they realize some things may never change—unless they demand it.
The Fake Game
Kim Hartfield - 2020
It’s a dream job... and a certain colleague is the cherry on top. Marie is kind and supportive, as well as drop-dead gorgeous, and Tabby’s heart does a little dance whenever she’s around.Given half a chance, Marie could fall for her smart, witty coworker - but Tabby is straight, so they can only be friends. When the two run into the last jerk Tabby dated, Marie pretends to be her girlfriend as revenge. It's just a silly game to put the ex in his place... until he gets hired at their company.Now Tabby and Marie can fess up to the truth - or double down and fake a whole relationship. Choosing to continue is a dangerous game. But what if the prize could be greater than either of them imagine?
Written in the Stars
Alexandria Bellefleur - 2020
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?
Fake It
Lily Seabrooke - 2021
She’s staying optimistic, though: she’s confident she can fake it till she makes it, roll with the punches, and find a way to save her luxury restaurant, Paramour.But it gets harder when she gets restaurant mogul and star chef Mike Wallace angry, and finds herself on the other end of a campaign to shut down Paramour.Celebrity chef Holly Mason’s show is in trouble: people are bored with her routine of helping struggling restaurants. Worse, her ex-boyfriend Mike Wallace is making backdoor deals trying to steal the starring role.Luckily, Holly’s agent Tay has a solution: ditch her show plans for the season, throw their lot in with luxury restaurant Paramour against Mike Wallace’s racketeering operation of a restaurant partnership. The cherry on top? A fake relationship between Holly and Avery to stir up drama.It would already be a mess if Holly and Avery weren’t already struggling to hold back their attraction for one another. Despite their promise not to date, the lines between acting and reality get awfully blurry sometimes.Fake It is an 80,000-word fake-dating celebrity romance between a disillusioned TV cooking star and a bright-eyed restaurant owner who’s sure she can manifest a solution to her hard times if she believes hard enough. Features an agent named Tay who calls their brilliant ideas “inspir-Tay-tion,” plenty of descriptions of food that made me hungry while I wrote the book, and a cute bisexual trans girl who gets to fall in love. Content warnings for open-door sex scenes that get a little bit kinky, a gross man who won’t stop calling his ex-girlfriend babe, and sapphics getting in the way of their own feelings, like they always do.
Far from Home
Lorelie Brown - 2016
I’m straight . . . I think. I also have a mountain of student loans and a smart mouth. I wasn’t serious when I told Pari Sadashiv I’d marry her. It was only party banter! Except Pari needs a green card, and she’s willing to give me a breather from drowning in debt.My off-the-cuff idea might not be so terrible. We get along as friends. She’s really romantically cautious, which I find heartbreaking. She deserves someone to laugh with. She’s kind. And calm. And gorgeous. A couple of years with her actually sounds pretty good. If some of Pari’s kindness and calmness rubs off on me, that’d be a bonus, because I’m a mess -- anorexia is not a pretty word -- and my little ways of keeping control of myself, of the world, aren’t working anymore.And, if I slip up, Pari will see my cracks. Then I’ll crack. Which means I gotta get out, quick, before I fall in love with my wife.
Tailor-Made
Yolanda Wallace - 2017
The edict is an easy one for her to follow, considering the overwhelming majority of the shop’s clients are men. But when Dakota Lane contacts her to commission a suit to wear to her sister’s wedding, Grace finds herself tempted to throw all the rules out the window.Dakota Lane works as a bicycle messenger by day and moonlights as a male model. Her high-profile career, gender-bending looks, and hard-partying ways garner her plenty of romantic attention, but she would rather play the field than settle down. When she meets sexy tailor Grace Henderson, however, she suddenly finds herself in the market for much more than a custom suit.
The Space Between
Michelle L. Teichman - 2016
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
Jericho
Ann McMan - 2010
Her plans to hide out and heal her wounds go by the wayside as she gets drawn into the daily lives of the quirky locals and becomes fast friends with Maddie Stevenson, the enigmatic physician who has returned to the backcountry community to take over her late father’s medical practice.Ann McMan weaves a story of life and love in the beautiful mountains of Virginia.
Top of Her Game
M. Ullrich - 2019
After all, it’s not every day you get a chance to play alongside your idol and the woman you’ve crushed on for years.Sutton Flores has soccer in her blood. Her father raised her to play, her brothers pushed her even harder, and her coaches shaped her into a superstar athlete. Despite her success, Sutton never lost sight of what matters most—her family, friends, and the woman she’s dating—even if most of her relationships fizzle out as quickly as they start.Kenzie and Sutton’s chemistry as teammates quickly escalates to undeniable attraction off the field, but when allegations of sexual harassment rock the team and their relationship, they must decide if they’re willing to sacrifice their dreams for love. Are they destined to last, or are they players in a game set to lose?Cover Artist: Tammy SeidickGenres: Contemporary / Romance Tags: Sports, Celebrity, Friends to Lovers Romance
Us, Here, Again: A First Time Lesbian Romance
Scarlett Grace - 2020
It just kind of happened.I blame that stupid kiss at our high school graduation. The kiss was never mentioned, we did not talk about this unspeakable thing she made me feel. Her family left town right after that. And that night, she left me with something I never felt before. The thing kept me wanting, wanting to see her again.After a decade, I have a chance to make everything right again.A reunion party. Will I see Megan again? Well, I hope so.Would everything comes to light, even the truth about our kiss ten years ago.I can't keep my feelings for her a secret anymore.It’s all innocent at first until you’re back in Megan’s hotel room and things start heating up between us both.No more regrets.
Let Go
Nicole Pyland - 2021
She didn’t have a lot growing up in her small town. As the black sheep of her family, instead of staying home and taking over the family business, she moved to Boston, got into Harvard Law School, and is about to graduate when she gets an internship at a personal injury law firm. It’s not what Gretchen wanted to do, but it’s the reason she meets Amanda Dixon.Amanda Dixon comes from old money, and that’s helpful, but it doesn’t stop her from working hard for what she wants. On her way to a master’s in her instrument from one of the most prestigious music schools in the country, she does not have time for a pesky lawsuit.When the two women meet, they clash instantly due to their differences and perceptions. Once they’re forced to work together, they find they have more in common than they initially thought, and they might just have met the person that finally gets them to let go.
Heart Failure
Chris Zett - 2020
Jess Riley’s life is perfect, ticking all the boxes—successful cardiologist, newborn daughter, and a luxurious condo. That is, until she suddenly collapses from acute heart failure. Her entire world crumples along with her exhausted body.Jess is forced to face facts—she can’t keep working endless hours, and she’ll have to move back home to recover.To her shock, her mother has already taken in Lena Walker, a struggling artist who isn’t a stranger to heartbreak either.At first, an unimpressed Jess resents Lena’s cheerful presence. Gradually, though, the two women form a tentative friendship over tai chi, picking fruit, and evening walks with the baby. A sexy massage leads to friends-with-benefits fun. But is it all too soon? Should two barely mended souls try to risk a future together?This is a standalone novel (101,000 words) set in the same universe as medical romance "Irregular Heartbeat".