An invitation to play at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival is an opportunity she can’t turn down, and a challenge she might not be up to until she enlists the help of a mysterious neighbor who’s surprisingly knowledgeable about jazz.When Jac Winters reluctantly agrees to help, a past she wants to forget threatens to destroy the carefully ordered life she’s built with her guide dog, Max, in the quiet town of Carmel-by-the-Sea.With music and love swirling around them like ocean currents, will Liz and Jac play it safe or risk everything on making a comeback?

    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

    She’s visiting her old friend, the Earl’s heir Jimmy Yoxall—but she wants to spend a lot more time with Jimmy’s fiancée. The irrepressible Miss Fenella Carruth, with her laughing eyes and lush curves, is the most glorious woman Pat’s ever met, and it quickly becomes impossible to remember why she needs to stay at arm’s length.But while the women’s attraction grows, the tensions at Rodington Court get worse. Affairs, secrets, betrayals, and blackmail come to light. And when a body is discovered with a knife between the shoulderblades, it’s going to take Pat and Fen’s combined talents to prevent the murderer destroying all their lives.

    Logan Delaney is too busy trying to reconcile the legacy of her grandparents’ failed magazine company to invest in anything more than the occasional affair.Can two women who aren't looking for love find it in each other's arms?

    That she would never be a part of her family’s legacy. But when her posh, cozy world went up in flames, she was forced to return to her small hometown of Bardstown, Kentucky, and face a bitter truth. That she was stuck there, working in the family business, whether she liked it or not.And it wasn’t that bad. Until Charlotte realized that her boss was Marlow Miller.Marlow and Charlotte are exact opposites in every imaginable way, yet Charlotte can’t seem to get enough of the sexy-southern-as-you-could-get-woman. But the problem is, Marlow doesn’t want anything to do with her. Everyone in Bardstown knew that the Millers and the Livingstons had been at war for decades, and for good reason. And if her parents found out she was falling hard and fast for a Miller woman, her life might actually be over. And Marlow’s would be, too. This enemies to lovers, rich girl/poor girl novel is a modern twist of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

    Her love life’s been a lot bumpier, though. Ever since a heart-breaking affair with a straight colleague, she’s vowed to steer clear of women unsure of their sexuality. Talent-agency executive Carmen Lyttleton is straight, career focused, and not prone to distraction from her occasional casual relationships. When her best friend gets a tattoo at Ash’s studio, Carmen finds herself unexpectedly impressed by Ash and her business. When they accidentally meet again, Carmen is shocked by the sparks between them and the realization that she feels a lot more than just admiration for Ash’s work ethic. It can’t possibly mean what it seems…can it? The pull between the women is powerful but so are their fears, old baggage, and stubbornness. Can they dare to love? A slow-burn lesbian romance about leaving the past behind and opening your heart to new possibilities.

    But when a lifelong friend with connections recommends her to the king to track down a runaway princess, her life gets turned upside down. Finding the princess is easy. Deciding what to do in a conflicting mess of politics and emotions… not so much.175,000 words

    She wants nothing more to do with the mountains, and turns her back on it all.Rhian Phillips is a successful London marketing executive who has the chance of a lifetime fall in her lap. She’s sent to produce a reality TV series on competitive climbers, while showcasing the stunning beauty of a Patagonian glacier and the Cerro Fitz Roy range.An accident brings Jayden and Rhian together, and outside pressures keep them at each other’s sides. When you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place eventually something has to give. The one thing they never counted on was them both wanting to stay together.A lesbian romance about pushing onwards and defying expectations.100,000 wordslesbian romance · mountain climbing · Patagonia · reality TV series

    An attempt on her life makes her realize that her biggest problem is not which woman is her wife, but who wants to kill her and why. She discovers that she holds secrets that will topple governments and bring down illegal poachers in Africa. The only problem is that Sloan can’t remember where she hid the evidence. Sloan quickly realizes that she must trust one of the women to help her escape Africa. Which one will it be? Wife Number One: Amarosia (Amy) Cartwright, a beautiful Halle Berry look-a-like who tells Sloan that they have been married for five years and make their home in Africa. Wife Number Two: Leigh Redding Cartwright, blonde, wholesome, girl-next-door beauty who obviously adores Sloan and claims they have been married for seven years and live in New York. Wife Number Three: Alexandra Roland Cartwright, gorgeous international business mogul who has flown into Africa to take her wife home with her. Sloan isn’t sure it is her the women want or the evidence she has hidden. You will laugh and cheer for Sloan as she juggles the three beauties while trying to stay alive and escape from a country where everyone wants her dead.

    Her nineteen-year-old daughter Becca is a freshman at Chilton College in Ashton, Vermont. Becca also happens to be a rising star for the Lady Stingers basketball team – just as her mother had been twenty years ago. But back in those early days a dirty little secret had collapsed Liz’s world - a secret she has kept hidden from everyone - especially her daughter. Now Liz finds herself accepting her daughter’s challenge to return to college and finally earn the degree that has so long eluded her. As if that isn’t enough, Liz has also somehow found herself back in the gym – and playing out her final year of basketball eligibility. Soon sparks fly when Liz encounters resistance from the new head coach, Sheridan Ross.Coach Ross has no patience for babysitting an over-the-hill athlete - not while she’s worried about her own plans to move up the career coaching ladder as quickly as possible. Now in addition to battling the coach, Liz’s world begins to crumble when the secret from her past returns to Ashton...

    Could things get any worse?All Ray wants is to finish her job and say adios to the world’s most high-maintenance client. But after being mistaken for Monica’s girlfriend, how can Ray walk away when going along with the charade would grant an old lady her dying wish? It’s not like Ray intended to be so charming that Monica’s grandmother would rewrite her will.Now the unlikely couple stands to inherit a vineyard in rural New England and a heap of cash large enough to change both their lives. The only hitch? They have to get hitched. And since Monica is a professional wedding blogger, they’ll have to make it the wedding of the century while convincing two million followers they’re madly in love.No problem, aside from the simple fact that they can’t stand each other. There’s a good chance the whole thing could end in disaster, but is it possible these enemies might find true love along the way?

    The child of a loveless marriage, witness to her father’s infidelities and her mother’s pain, Harry has no intention of ever falling in love.Annie Brannigan is a survivor, remaining positive through hardships. As an agency housekeeper, she moves from post to post with her daughter Riley, taking care of people who have everything she will never have. Annie’s greatest wish is to find her happy ever after.Can love restore the countess’s heart and the crumbling Axedale Hall, or will the first foundations of love turn to dust?

    The mind is a powerful ally, and 26-year-old Jesse has no memory of the abduction or the subsequent torture. Inevitably, as Jesse drifts from one itinerant job to another, the protective walls carefully constructed by her subconscious are beginning to crumble. Fate lands her on a farm owned by Dr. Ryland Caldwell, a retired psychologist and her partner, Morgan Davis, the master of the Myrena Fox Hunt club. Ryland suspects there is more to Jesse’s foul temper than meets the eye. When Morgan and Ryland accidentally discover vicious scars on Jesse’s back, Ryland knows that without their help, Jesse’s descent into insanity will rapidly overwhelm them all.

    The story takes us through her first case, and her first love, both bringing her more than she bargained for. An erotic, funny, and suspenseful tale of one young lesbian's accidental growth.Jobeth O'Brien awakens on the floor of her kitchen, her battered face and the memory of an angry visitor tells her that she is close to something important in her investigation. In between this surveillance and delivering newspapers, her beloved ‘62 Falcon is the scene of middle-of-the-night romps with a lonely socialite, who gives her more than she bargained for. Her quest for the truth pits her against errant husbands, a modern-day madam with a taste for blood, a horny landlady, a vicious attack dog, and the lies she tells herself.Amid these challenges, Jobeth stakes out her prey and runs for her life, continuing the investigation that pulls her into close calls, unexpected allies, and more secrets. But Jobeth has secrets of her own, and only love can excavate them.

    When they meet, there is a connection for them both. But can they overcome their fears, regrets and an old love to find a future in each other?BadSquirrel's Page on The Athenaeum