Book picks similar to
Stay by Michelle Arnold


lesbian-romance
lgbt
ku
read-and-reviewed

Sweet Temptation


Spencer Pearson - 2020
    Harper, the woman she'd been crushing on for the last three years.After five years of teaching accounting at the same college as her brother, Lauren Harper was finally settling in.She'd left behind a high paying, high stress job at an accountancy firm, and although teaching didn't pay nearly as well, she was starting to enjoy the simpler things in life, like sipping on a whiskey while she played cards at a local casino.When one of her students sits down at her poker table, it piques Lauren's curiosity. It wasn't unusual for students and teachers to mix in such a small town, but for some reason, she didn't expect to see Riley playing poker.Lauren had been badly burned by a student in the past, and there was no way she was going there again.No way. Under no circumstances.That's what Lauren keeps telling herself anyway, but as the two get to know one another, Lauren finds herself being drawn to the younger woman.How bad would it really be to date a student?

Freestyle Flirting


Nicolette Dane - 2016
    I couldn’t look away from her. The smile built on Dasha’s face, growing from a slight curl to something that could only be described as elation. God, I was so infatuated with her. I felt silly about the whole thing. Loopy, even. I wondered if Dasha felt the same way. Marie Mullally, competitive swimmer, has had it tough. Just a few short years back family tragedy kept her from her dreams of competing in the Olympic Games. But 4 years later she’s more driven than ever, focused on her training, and ready to bring home the Gold in the Summer Olympics. That singular focus, keeping her eyes on the prize, has proven to be great for her athletic goals… but not so much for her love life. These goals get challenged once Marie meets her new coach, Dasha Belenko. Dasha is beautiful, fit, inspiring, a former Olympic Medal winner herself and the kind of coach any swimmer could easily swoon over. Marie and Dasha soon find themselves entangled in a joyful secretive affair, excited for the possibility of love. But jealousy on the team mixed with the impropriety of a coach/swimmer relationship cause for some conflict that could once again keep Marie from her Gold Medal ambitions. Will Marie be able to navigate unfounded jealousy, regain focus on her swimming, and hoist the Gold Medal? Or will this high level competition on the world’s stage leave Marie dead in the water? With tragedy behind her, the spirit of a champion, and love in her heart, Marie is prepared to do what it takes to win in the pool… but at what cost?

A Trick of Light


Michele L. Rivera - 2019
    Madison is a talented but struggling artist who can never seem to live up to anyone’s expectations. On the evening of an exceptionally bad heartbreak, she does something reckless, and now she is haunted by the events of that fateful night. Unable to forgive herself for fleeing the scene of an accident, Madison is convinced that she’s unworthy of love.Spencer’s epilepsy makes her a prisoner in her own body. After surviving a seizure-induced car crash, she’s determined to make the most of her new lease on life. With some encouragement, she enters the dating scene, but rules out finding love, believing that no one will be able to see beyond her limitations. Madison has a dark secret. Spencer carries a burden. When they happen to meet, their connection is instant but oddly familiar. As these two women begin to discover that their demons tie them together, will the truth bring them closer, or stop a romance before it even starts?

Head Above Water


Emma Chamberlain - 2020
    Blonde and unpolished, Zoe struggles to fit in with the high-caliber rich crowd at Brentwood High. A scholarship honey, her athletics carry her far. Ryan Astor, on the other hand, has all the money and all the brains, but she can't seem to overcome her emotional struggles after a brutal year of disappointments and a disastrous summer away.When a random party lands Ryan in Zoe's lap, Zoe can't seem to shake her new addiction to the somewhat shy and obviously beautiful girl.

Moving On


Sage Donnell - 2021
    She has a teenage daughter, Jordan, who is great and becoming more independent all the time in spite of, or maybe in part because of, her fairly recent diagnosis of epilepsy. She has friends, including an ex-husband who makes a good parenting partner. She has a part time job she enjoys. But when she meets Jess, a physical therapist volunteering her time with her Jordan's high school track team, she feels something stir.Getting closer to Jess brings romance, for sure, and also acts as a catalyst for some necessary change. But when Lisa learns more about Jess, will the spark still be there? Will Jordan be okay with the changes in Lisa's life? What about her ex-husband, with whom Lisa's life is still pretty entangled? And how will Jess deal with that?This feel good lesbian romance follows Lisa as she navigates a new romance at thirty-eight, a changing family unit, and a teenager with health issues. The drama is low, but the romance is strong. Features an ace (asexual) character.

Avalanche of Love


M.E. Tudor - 2019
    When her friend, Josie Whittle, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, asks Robin to take a group of writers and photographers out for a week Robin is happy to do it until she finds out that one of the writers going on the trip has never even been camping, let alone gone on a multi-day hike. After getting fired from a business magazine, her life in ruins, and forced to go home to Colorado where her father has her under his thumb, Marianne Jones is lucky to be writing for anyone. Her new boss at Back Lands magazine, Josie, insists Marianne go out on a weeklong hike with some other writers and photographers from the magazine. The only hiking Marianne does is at the mall and she’s never been camping, so she is not happy about this trip. Marianne makes Robin mad before the hike even starts, and Robin assumes Marianne is just another snooty socialite forced to work by her parents. Both women try to ignore the sparks flying between them on the trails in vain. These two women with nothing in common, except broken hearts, are thrown together by fate. Can they find common ground, or will tragedy take away the chance for them to find out what they could have had?

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?

The Miracle Girl


T.B. Markinson - 2015
    Not many people know she’s living a carefully crafted lie. She may not hide ties to the LGBT community, but she does hide past struggles with addiction. When the Colorado native is handpicked to take the helm at a dying Denver newspaper, she ends up reconnecting with her long lost love in this contemporary lesbian romance. Only there’s a catch. If JJ fires the most belligerent editor at the paper, she risks losing the love of her life. Mid-afternoon office romps abound in this romantic comedy while also focusing on what it takes for a newspaper to remain relevant in this age of social media. Must JJ lose everything in order to gain a life more fully her own?

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?

Killer Instinct: A Lesbian Thriller


Barbara Winkes - 2018
     Joanna’s career ends after she kills a murderer and fails to cover her tracks. After serving a prison sentence, she struggles to pick up the pieces. The only person from her old life still keeping in touch is Vanessa, the Internal Affairs Inspector who was the lead investigator in Joanna’s case. Guilt and open questions define their tentative friendship. When there’s a new development in one of Joanna’s old cases, she can’t stay away, even at the cost of losing everything…including Rue, the woman she’s been falling for... Enough is enough...

Love on The Westside


Riley West - 2020
    ASIN B08TRNQJXK moved to the most recent edition

Heatwave


Maggie McIntyre - 2020
    She is hired under the radar of the female CEO, Katherine Konrad, but within hours of starting, Cat discovers nothing about her new life is going to be straightforward.Raised by her hippy artist mother in Portland, Oregon, Catriona has never followed the crowd, and she certainly doesn’t fit in at Montpellier. Her colleagues dress and act like wannabe starlets, and seem to despise her on sight. Her line manager, Frankie, is a man whose career is in trouble, and it takes all her energy to keep him in his job in charge of “Montage”, Montpellier’s current affairs program. Cat begins to question why she stays.Maybe the answer lies on the top floor of the Montpellier building. Katherine Konrad, CEO, beautiful, quick-witted and a broadcasting legend, has played verbal mind-games with Cat from day one. But Katherine’s quips are often barbed and her wit acidic. She is unpredictable and her private life is a mystery.Events bind the two women together, literally as well as figuratively as they embark on a much closer relationship expected. It’s a struggle for emotional survival, but then Cat discovers the truth about Katherine. Will she run for the hills, or be drawn into the battle as her boss fights with her own past? Summer in the city, two women in love, and the heatwave is not the only thing sizzling. A seductive age-gap story of love and loss, danger and delight.

Lovestruck


Allie Keane - 2019
    Their weekend-long reunion brings back countless great memories from their youth. But it also revives a past crush that Colleen thought she buried away.Meanwhile, Molly is grappling with her own feelings of attraction—feelings she never expected and can’t ignore. She doesn’t have time for love, though, with a 7-year-old daughter under her sole care and a mounting pile of debt.Once they share a kiss, however, Colleen and Molly can no longer just be friends. They decide to give a long-distance relationship a shot. But busy lives, bad cell phone reception, and hundreds of miles between them prove to make it difficult. Will they be forced to give up each other, or will they find a way to make their love last?LOVESTRUCK is a standalone friends-to-lovers romance with an HEA.

Love's Encore: The Complete Trilogy


Miranda MacLeod - 2018
     Read the complete Love's Encore Trilogy in this special omnibus edition, which contains all three unabridged books in one convenient bundle. A Road Through Mountains While working back stage at a suburban Connecticut community theater, star-crossed lovers Rorie and Cecily are reunited almost twenty years after their relationship came to an abrupt end. Can they overcome the ghosts of the past to find their happily ever after together? Your Name in Lights The second book of the series finds Rorie and Cecily embarking on a new life in sunny California, but will the pressures of time, distance, and some very persistent paparazzi be too much for them? Fifty Percent Illusion In the final book of the series, Rorie and Cecily are looking forward to a quiet, predictable life when unexpected news changes the course of their future forever. Can the twists and turns of fate lead to a happy ending?

Close Enough to Touch


Cade Brogan - 2017
    She's murdered before and she'll do it again. She's intelligent, educated, and beautiful. At thirty-five, Rylee Hayes is a respected homicide detective. Her best friends are her grandparents, her coonhound, and her partner—in that order. She's about ready to give up on the idea of a relationship. She hasn't seen the love of her life, Kenzie Bigham, since college. At thirty-four, Kenzie Bigham is the single mom of a thirteen-year-old, a church secretary, and a woman who's struggled much of her adult life with her own sexuality. Their paths will cross when Rylee's new investigation involves members of Kenzie's congregation. They'll discover that the passage of time may have offered them a second chance at love—just as Joanna sights her next target. Will Rylee have what it takes to meet the challenge of a serial killer who's proven herself to be a more than worthy opponent?