Book picks similar to
Beyond the Blue by T.J. O'Shea


age-gap
romance
workplace-romance
ice-queen

Heartwood


Catherine Lane - 2016
    So, when the firm sends her to the Springs, a women’s resort town and home of famous lesbian author Beth Walker, Nikka jumps at the chance to prove herself to her sexy boss, Lea.But nothing in the Springs is as it seems. Beth is hiding secrets about her mysterious past with movie star Dawn Montgomery. Lea may only be out for her own gain and keeping Beth a prisoner in her own home. And the only person who might see the truth of the situation is adorably impulsive Maggie.Will Nikka stay true to her life’s ambition, or will she dare look into the mystery—and into her own heart?Words: 86,000Themes: 1960s · author · lawyer · lesbian · movie star · women’s resort

Chain Reactions


Lynn Ames - 2019
     Now in her adult years and a sought-after scientist herself, Diana learns that Nora is dying. She hires private-duty nurse Brooke Sheldon to care for Nora. Over the days and weeks spent in Nora’s company, Diana and Brooke are privy to Nora’s long-held secrets, along with her deep-seated regrets. Trapped in a failing body, but with a keen mind, Nora Lindstrom watches as the spark of attraction between her great-niece and her caregiver grows into a flame. Determined to help the two younger women find the kind of deep love they so richly deserve, Nora makes a fateful decision that brings the past and the present directly onto a collision course. After all this time, it’s still about chain reactions.

Measure of Devotion


C.F. Frizzell - 2021
    She believes the Constitution’s declarations of equality and freedom apply to everyone, and dreams that someday they will extend to her own pursuit of happiness with a woman.Helping her father raise her siblings on their Gettysburg farm, Sophie Bauer likewise clings to hope for a woman to love, but when she serves as an army aid and meets Cooper, Sophie is confounded by her growing feelings for him. Catherine, meanwhile, wrestles with her deception and the disguise she must maintain. Disclosure could not only repulse Sophie but send Catherine home a social outcast.When the battle of Gettysburg engulfs the Bauer farm, Catherine and Sophie learn far more about themselves than they ever expected. But first there’s a war—and hearts—to be won.

Curious Wine


Katherine V. Forrest - 1983
    The intimacy of a cabin at Lake Tahoe provides the combustible setting that brings Diana Holland and Lane Christianson together in this passionate novel of first discovery.

Soul Unique


Gun Brooke - 2015
    She has created an empire by discovering and developing new artists. When she agrees to visit an art school in Boston, she encounters a woman, Hayden Rowe, whose paintings take her breath away. Greer realizes Hayden is not a student, but lives in a remote wing of the school and the maddeningly frustrating headmaster is her mother.Mesmerized by Hayden and her art, Greer learns the young woman has Asperger syndrome. Hayden awakens something in Greer she didn’t know she was capable of. Having suffered from a profound loneliness for most of her life, Greer develops an overshadowing love and protectiveness toward Hayden. As she learns more about Hayden and her heartbreaking family situation, Greer is amazed at how courageous and brilliant she is. Can there be a future with a woman like this, and will Hayden, who can only put words to her emotions through her paintings, return her feelings?

All of Me


Emily Smith - 2018
    Galen Burgess has a reputation for keeping it casual. She likes women close—but not too close. Nothing is more important to her than her budding surgical career as chief surgical resident at Boston City Hospital. After spending years trying, and failing, to please her father, Galen knows getting close enough to care is a recipe for heartbreak. Everything in her carefully structured life begins to change when she meets her newest intern, the disconcertingly beautiful Dr. Rowan Duncan. Sheltered doesn’t even begin to describe Rowan’s comfortable, quiet life before moving to Boston. When Rowan starts to fall for Galen, everything Rowan's ever known comes into question, including her relationship with high school sweetheart Brian. With her own heart on the line, will Rowan have the courage to make the cut, or risk losing Galen forever?

On the Square


Brenda Murphy - 2020
    So what if twenty years of neglect has left the building in need of a major renovation?Seduced by Mai’s charm and determination, hard-edged contractor Dale Miller agrees to take on her renovation project.After a spring storm causes significant damage to the building and renovation costs exceed Mai’s budget, Dale offers her a deal, but is it a price Mai is willing to pay?

Pretending in Paradise


M. Ullrich - 2019
    Ten days in paradise would be a dream assignment, if only they'd stop arguing long enough to enjoy it.Reputations are Caroline's business. Too bad she was forced out of her previous job when an ex smeared hers all over the office grapevine. She's never getting involved with a coworker again, especially not one as careless and unprofessional as Emma.Emma knows that life is too short to play by the rules. But when she goes too far and a defamation lawsuit puts her job in jeopardy, she has to make nice with Caroline, the image police, and deliver the best story of her career.Only pretending to be in love sure feels a whole lot like falling in love. When their story goes public, ambition and privacy collide, and their chance at making a fake relationship real might just be collateral damage.Genre: RomanceWords: 81,000Cover Artist: Sheri Halal

The Practitioner


Ronica Black - 2017
    An anxiety disorder, loss of her business, and homelessness have been difficult to overcome. But Johnnie has come through the other side to find success as an artist. Now, however, she’s lost her creative drive and she’s struggling to produce.Elaine Taylor has an interesting job. She’s a “creative practitioner,” known to awaken her client’s creative side by using many different approaches, including a sensual or sexual approach. Most of her clients are male and she likes it that way. Women are the last thing she wants in her life, having lost the most important woman she’s ever known, her wife.Fearing she’ll lose all she’s worked so hard for, Johnnie takes her friend’s advice and calls a lone number on a business card, steps into Elaine’s office, and shakes up both their worlds forever.

Always a Love Song


Charley Clarke - 2019
    And maybe while she’s there, she’ll finally be able to face the woman she left behind who she never let go.Bar owner Alex Marlow has spent the past five years mending her broken heart by pretending she doesn’t have one. But Bridget’s return disrupts her ordered life and brings all those chaotic, buried feelings back to the surface. Can they forgive each other and themselves for mistakes made when they were younger?A lesbian romance about music, accepting the past, and embracing second chances to write a new future.Themes: music · pop star · second-chance lesbian romance60,000 words

Grace Falls


H.P. Munro - 2014
    Alex Milne has spent most her adult life putting other people’s needs first. She is busy raising her daughter in her hometown while running her business and the last thing she expects is to be attracted to Grace Falls' newest, albeit reluctant, resident. Sometimes you don't know what it is you're looking for, until it comes along and finds you.

The Right Thing Easy


Laina Villeneuve - 2015
    All she has now is an empty home, a broken heart and a young mustang that needs a slow, gentle hand.Hope Fielding watches the intriguing, attractive newcomer with a nameless panic. She’s been the mother to her siblings most of her life, and the choices she’s made to please her family and church weren’t easy. She never dreamed she’d have to make them again.As the long mountain winter sets in, passions catch fire and two women desperately resist the choices of the heart.

A Wish Upon a Star


Jeannie Levig - 2018
    It’s time for a fresh start, a move across the country, and a new set of rules to help heal her heart—no straight women, no women with kids, and no commitment. But when she meets her new neighbors, the beautiful Erica and her special needs daughter, Siena, she struggles against the pull she immediately experiences.Erica Cooper has learned to rely only on herself. She knows most people don’t stick around when the going gets tough. And when caring for a child with autism, the going can get tough fast. She is content with the quiet and emotionally safe life she’s constructed, but when they are befriended by their kind, playful, and—damn it—really hot new neighbor, the walls protecting her heart threaten to crumble.So much for good intentions and firm resolutions—neither stand a chance when the stars align for love.Words: 88,000Cover Artist: Melody PondGenres: Contemporary / Romance Tags: Children / Families, Animals, California, Disability, Friends to Lovers Romance, Homecoming

It's Not a Date


Heather Blackmore - 2018
    Entrepreneur and innovator Kadrienne Davenport gets results. A demanding executive and stickler for punctuality, Kade throws herself into work to avoid hurting anyone, convinced she only causes pain to those she loves. When Jennifer Spencer meets an incognito Kade at a conference, sparks fly. But when Kade unexpectedly becomes her boss, Jen’s problems multiply. The company she founded is going broke, her grandmother’s dementia is worsening, and her attraction to Kade―her difficult, brilliant, charismatic mentor―is growing. Kade’s desire to keep things professional between them is in Jen’s best interest. Yet what’s in Kade’s best interest…is Jen.

The Fall


Robin Alexander - 2014
    After several failed relationships, she's more than happy to keep it casual. Sunny Chase is willing to be another notch on Noel's bedpost, after tragedy of her own. Despite their playful intentions, they find themselves poised to fall, especially if Noel’s old-school Italian mother and Sunny's cross-dressing uncle have anything to say about it. The only thing standing in their way is Noel’s niece, Harper, who is also captivated by one of the Chase women. Love becomes a complicated family affair. Robin Alexander’s latest romantic comedy has all the ingredients to warm you on the inside as you slip into the fall.