Seeing her city in shambles, coated in ash, and American lives lost, she enlisted to fight the War on Terror. Daniella Melo, a Rhode Island American History teacher, challenges her class to write letters to soldiers fighting overseas. With one name left and a student short, Daniella takes it upon herself to write letters to Private Taylor Phillips stationed in Afghanistan. Over the next two years, the women exchange letters, sharing stories of their daily lives: Daniella trailing after her rambunctious daughter, Jackie, and dealing with overeager seniors planning prom while Taylor trudges through sand and dirt, driving her humvee in cold deserts. Their friendship continues to grow until it becomes something so much more than either woman expect.

    The wild remote desert also holds gun-toting locals and desperate refugees, but the biggest hazard proves to be Bureau of Land Management geologist Claudine “Randi” Randall. Their mutual appreciation of the petroglyphs ought to bring them together, but Kim’s academic goals and Randi’s sense of ownership have them clashing from the word go.Randi, a tough girl whose fears about her past haunt her every move, is reluctant to acknowledge the other type of sparks that fly whenever she and Kim are forced into each other’s company. Professional resentment seems only to fan the heat threatens to burn them both.The beauty and mystery of the Sonoran Desert provide the vibrant backdrop for Robbi McCoy’s (Waltzing at Midnight, Songs Without Words) passionate story of two women forced to question everything they thought they knew about themselves before they can risk their fiery hearts on the biggest gamble of all.

    She never imagined an art student with a penchant for cheesy pick-up lines and stealing parking spaces would crack her rigid exterior and claim her heart.For four years, theirs was an enviable love—evergreen and growing. Unbreakable…Until it broke.Now, after five years on the opposite side of the country, Alex’s work brings her back to Boston. When, by chance, they meet again, Charlee and Alex are swept up in a whirlwind of heart-rending history, tossed between past and present, and lovers old and new. Will their lingering connection be enough to convince them that some loves are meant to last? Or should the past remain in the past?79,500 words

    But when she comes face to face with her first lover, she is overcome by the rush of desire that threatens to ignite the dangerous flames of rekindled passion.

    Overprotective of her heart, Vida pushes people away, and despite her loneliness, she's made of art of remaining detached and disconnected. Then she receives an unexpected letter from France. An aunt that Vida never knew she had has died, willing Vida a chateau in the French countryside. What feels like an impossible dream is now Vida's reality: she's an heiress, and the last living member of a family legacy steeped in secrets. When Vida arrives at the chateau, there are more surprises in store for her. She could never have predicted the effect that Renee Chanson, the fiery and captivating woman she meets at the chateau, would have upon her. And she could never have imagined how the decades-old mystery of her family's past would, at last, unfold. Can Vida learn to trust and open her stubborn heart to the possibility of a French romance? Or will she make the same mistakes her mother made and let the love of her life run away from her, leaving her to nurse a permanent broken heart? FRENCH LESSONS is a poignant, passionate novel about coming to terms with the past and learning to love; a tender romance to curl up with. It is approximately 64,000 words long (providing many hours or a few days of romantic reading).

    But that’s really not a problem for sixth form student Rylie Harcourt. Instead, what might prove somewhat difficult to overcome is the school’s strict policy concerning on-campus relationships.All sexual contact is expressly forbidden. Carnal pursuits are a distraction from learning, so says the Headmistress, and virtue is to be as highly regarded as education—if not higher. This harsh ban on expressions of love becomes especially problematic when Rylie meets her new French Housemistress, Vivienne Carriveau, and attraction sparks.In a sexless environment, thirty-one-year-old Mademoiselle Carriveau is a magnet for the affections of her hormonal, adolescent students. Competition for her attention is fierce, and when it starts to become clear that Rylie’s burgeoning interest in her is reciprocated in equal measure, tension among the student body rises to a deadly level.

    It’s that everyone thinks her advice comes free, even on weekends. That’s why she keeps a strict observance of her Saturday routine: a scone, a caramel mocha, and nobody bothering her.  So when she meets a new campus hire at the Bean Grinder who needs computer help yet doesn’t ask for it, she’s intrigued enough to offer. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship and possibly something more. But Elizabeth Markel is a little higher up the university food chain than she’s let on, and the truth brings out buried prejudices that Anna didn’t know she had. People and computers have one thing in common: they’re both capable of self-sabotage. The difference is that computers are easier to fix.

    With plans for renovations dancing in her head, she looks forward to breathing life into her old cottage by the beach and most importantly, herself. Not used to being on her own, she sets out on a new chapter of her life hoping to find friends and happiness. Inspired by some of her favorite books, Nadia discovers adventures are just a wine bottle away, but it's the friendship forming in her neighbor, Laine Montgomery, that has Nadia grateful for the move. With a bit of good-natured Southern meddling from Laine's best friend, Susannah, could more than friendship be on the horizon between Nadia and Laine?

    So when the Court decides to hear a case about gay marriage, Justice Victoria Willoughby must navigate the press, sway at least one of her conservative colleagues, and confront her own fraught feelings about coming out. ­­Just when she decides she’s up to the challenge,­­ she learns that the very brilliant, very out Genevieve Fornier will be lead counsel on the case.Genevieve isn’t sure which is causing her more sleepless nights: the prospect of losing the case, or the thought of who will be sitting on the bench when she argues it."With flashbacks to the main characters’ time at Harvard Law, we plainly see what kind of choices and sacrifices that generation was forced to make, to achieve what they wanted to achieve.......The author is to be commended for portraying this historical backdrop without judgment but with full emotional intensity. Blythe Rippon leads the reader right into that maelstrom of history, which mangled so many gay lives.......This backstory enhances the importance of the main storyline and shows why the decision for marriage equality was a landmark case. And it is fitting that the story at the end points at the next frontier, the fight for transgender rights." --Lambda Literary

    Cajoled into accepting an invitation for a seven-day cruise to celebrate her ten-year high school reunion, she comes face-to-face with her past when the woman of her dreams haunts her days on the warm seas, even as she struggles to keep a secret that tears at her heart.Sierra Connor works for the travel agency responsible for booking her high school reunion cruise. She doesn’t want to attend the reunion in the first place because one woman will be there—the one who always made her feel whole but then disappeared and left Sierra’s heart and soul crushed without so much as a word. She knows love is for people who can trust, and she’s not one of those people.It was only one touch, ten years ago. Forced together once more, will the memory of that one touch ignite a new future? Or will their old hurts quench the flame?

    Just released from prison for the murder of her pedophile father, she is trying to put the past behind her and build a new life. When Rhea goes to work for Morgan Scott, an ex-priest with a big heart and a damaged soul, Rhea is challenged to face her wildest dreams and worst nightmares.And Morgan isn’t without challenges of her own. When a man with a grudge comes to claim his revenge, she learns that, sometimes, there is no clear line between right and wrong. And sometimes redemption is about being willing to take a stand.

    She advises readers to avoid bisexual women at all costs—that is, until she meets Lennox. At first, Paige tries to deny her attraction to the captivating, openly bisexual woman for fear that her followers will think she is a hypocrite, but the more Paige gets to know Lennox, the more she begins to question her beliefs. Maybe the labels given to ourselves and to one another prevent the best connections. Will Lennox be the person to teach Paige that when it comes to love, the heart does not discriminate?

    But in between regularly scheduled happy hours and writing sessions, the women enter a tournament bass fishing competition, receive life coaching from a wise-cracking fish named Phoebe, and uncover a subterranean world of secrets and desires that is as varied and elusive as the fish that swim in the waters of Lake Champlain. Set on the beautiful shores of Vermont's Lake Champlain, Backcast is richly populated with an expansive cast of endearing and outrageous characters who battle writer's block, quirky locals, personal demons, unexpected attractions, and even each other during their two-week residency. For Barb and each of her twelve writers, the stakes in this fast-moving story are high, but its emotional and romantic payoffs are slow and sweet.Filled with equal parts laugh-out-loud humor and breathtaking pathos, Backcast serves up a sometimes irreverent, sometimes sobering look at the hidden lives of women, and how they laugh, love, lose, and blunder through their own search for meaning.Ann McMan is the author of five novels, including Jericho and Aftermath, and two short story collections. She has won two Golden Crown Literary Awards and her novel, Hoosier Daddy, was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist.

     Dre’s life falls into a nice, predictable rhythm and that’s the way she likes it. But when an adorable, fashionable 20-something bursts into Dre’s flower shop to cancel her wedding order after her fiancé’s change of heart, Dre finds a distraught young woman on her hands. She doesn’t have the heart to shove her out of the shop, so she takes her out for sympathy and tea. The idea of befriending this woman who is clearly her opposite, however, is the last thing on Dre’s mind. Kelsey feels awful for canceling the order, but she’s sincere when she tells Dre she wants to be friends. When she offers to make up the loss by using Dre’s services for a major project at work, Kelsey sees a chance to get to know the woman who represents the life she’s always wanted for herself. And as Kelsey gets closer to Dre, she proves to her that they aren’t so different. Will Dre take a chance and break out of her comfortable routine to find love in an unexpected place? And will Kelsey finally embrace the life she’s always dreamed about? Or will this budding flower of romance be cut short before it blooms?

    Fourteen years later, she’d become the love of Lily’s life.When a tragic boating accident takes away years of Lily’s memories, the two soulmates find themselves in uncharted territory. While Morgan is left holding onto the past they’d built together, Lily seeks desperately to fill the void in her life with answers. Left to rebuild the foundations of their relationship, Morgan fights to stand by Lily against unimaginable odds. The two find themselves learning how to fall in love with one another all over again, and discover that sometimes all you really need is a light to guide you amidst the storm.A steamy lesbian romance novel about the power of perseverance and hope, in the presence of unwavering love.