Used to working out her problems in her work, the successful syndicated cartoonist plans a solo summer vacation on a houseboat, hopeful that the separation will resolve her doubts about her future with Shannon. But Shannon's frequent calls demanding some resolution only heighten her turmoil. Marine biologist Dr. Jamie Hughes sees Puget Sound in ways few other people do. The hours she spends diving its depths and running her laboratory absorb all of her focus and time. When Jamie meets the obviously distressed Dana at a friend's, she offers her scientific detachment to help Dana sort through her problems. Worrying about Dana's present is easier than examining her own past. It seems like an ideal way to help Dana sort out her future, but as the summer heats up, the distance between Dana and Jamie is anything but comfortable. Kenna White (Romancing the Zone, Braggin' Rights) explores unexpected passion, unexplored possibilities and unforeseen complications in this novel of summer on Puget Sound.

    She’ll go back, after some rest and relaxation. When her best friend suggests a diversion, she’s quickly smitten with the allure of cards and the intriguing stranger who never seems to lose a hand. Surely she can play with dangerous temptation, just this once. Courtney Langford’s favorite date is with Lady Luck. Ever since she missed a connection and avoided a deadly plane crash, she always comes up aces. Cards, women...seduction is just another way to win. Why should the lovely Ellen be any different? But Ellen turns out to be a wild card in a game Courtney has been trying so hard not to play.Tracey Richardson puts all the cards on the table as two women decide if they’re going to bet on love.

    Not that paperback romance writer Carolyn has ever noticed. She sees Alison as a close, loyal friend; she has never questioned society's conventions.When Alison negotiates a lucrative contract for her, Carolyn seizes the unexpectedly large advance to fulfill a passion of her own. Beginning in Paris, scene of her brief, calamitous marriage, she will immerse herself in great music from the world's great orchestra's.Paris brings a dramatic encounter with Nicolas Frost, the remote, driven young conductor who is creating a reputation for musical brilliance. When the smitten Carolyn discovers the conductor's masquerade - necessary to achieve recognition in the male - dominated higher echelons of classical music - she is suddenly faced with the true nature of her powerful attraction to Nick.Meanwhile, Alison has found her own consolation. But does sweet, passionate Samantha have any chance of winning Alison 'a affections away from Carolyn? Can there be any future for Nick and Carolyn?Find the answers in this captivating, deliciously romantic and erotic tale from one of our most entertaining storytellers.Editor: Christi Cassidy

    It's lust at first sight for blackjack dealer Rae Sutherland and aspiring Vegas singer Cori Romero.

    The death of her older brother, and her parents’ denial, have left her shaken and grateful her simple needs are being met. She’s not looking for the future—today is all she needs.It’s the last summer Emily MacKenzie will get to spend hanging out with friends, soaking up the sun and checking out the women on Seattle’s sporting fields. Come fall, she’s an assistant soccer coach with responsibilities. She’s planning on making every day of summer count.When their paths cross, Emily is surprised Sam remembers her. Years ago, they played soccer on the same high school team, only Sam was the star and Emily the new kid. Their youthful camaraderie had been simple, but under the warm Seattle sun, simple is the last word that describes their feelings.In this rich story of long days and hot nights, newcomer Kate Christie follows the collision course of two women during the summer that changes their lives.

    It soon becomes obvious - though not to Jean - that she has a major crush on the candidate, Rosie Monroe.Thrilled by the excitement of politics and strangely flustered every time Rosie calls on her for help, Jean has never felt more alive. Rising to every challenge with newfound passion, she surprises everyone, including her husband, by flourishing under the stress of the hard-fought campaign.When dirty tricks by the other side damage Rosie's reputation at the worst possible moment, Jean finally realizes that her feelings are not entirely about the thrill of the job. Two decades of doing what was expected of her are abruptly turned upside down, and she realizes she may just be in love - for the first time in her life.Newcomer Robbi McCoy tells a passionate coming-of-age story about a mature woman whose life is only beginning. Full of surprises and difficult choices, Waltzing at Midnight is a heartfelt, endearing story about a woman we all know and the love that transforms her life.

    Ashton Clarke, a local Casanova with a long history of falling into bed with a different woman every night, is perfectly content with her free and easy existence until she gives in to her best friend’s request to spend an evening helping out at the local gay and lesbian youth center. There, Ash meets Carrie Fletcher, a women’s studies professor who not only intrigues Ash but causes her to question the direction her life has taken. As if this disquieting attraction isn’t aggravating enough, Ash is forced to deal with Carrie’s teenage neighbor Tess, whose bad attitude and biting wit seem to complicate every situation. Ash doesn’t want to be attracted to Carrie, who isn’t looking for a relationship with anyone, and Tess is angry at the world, but especially, it seems, with Ash. Despite resistance on the part of all three women, it soon becomes obvious that the trio’s destinies are hopelessly intertwined and the lessons in store will change all their lives.

    But that means leaving her dog, Bentley, at home. So when Natalie Fox finds a skinny, terrified dog outside the bakery, the blue-eyed canine becomes the catalyst for a relationship between the two polar opposites.

    After moving to upstate New York from Atlanta, she falls in love with and purchases an old, run-down farmhouse. The only catch: she know s nothing about renovating a house, taking care of land, or snow . Joss Bauer is a New York native who grew up in her family’s construction business. She has a soft spot for old houses, but no patience for overpaid debutantes who want to play at country living. When Olivia hires Joss to do the renovations on her new home, the sparks fly, in more ways than one. It turns out both women have a lot to learn about life, love, and the meaning of home. But when a scandal threatens Olivia’s professional reputation, it puts her priorities and her new found love on the line.

    Suddenly, Carolyn's carefully manicured domestic life seems contrived and much less colorful. And her husband's love for her seems contrived and condescending, as if it's not the real Carolyn he loves at all. His tenderness turns to rage, caresses to blows.

    They are suffocating under the pressure of hurt and guilt.Old wounds begin to heal between them when a spirited beekeeper named Brooke Hastings contracts Jacky to train her overly-protective dog, Bee. A mutual affinity grows instantly between them, an affinity Jacky won't allow herself to embrace. But, the heart knows what it needs. Meanwhile, Brooke hires Sophie as her assistant in the bee apiary. A trust forms, and soon Sophie begins to feel alive again as she comes face-to-face with the many parallels between her and the honeybees she nurtures.Just as they learn to open up and dance with life again, a hurtful truth reveals itself. Will this truth set them free or unravel all they've come to learn about life?

    Reece Corbett grew up on the mean streets of New York City; abused, used, and in trouble with the law. A mysterious man named Frank stepped in, pulled Reece from despair and saved her life. The obstinant, angry street thug eventually earned respect and makes a name for herself, not to mention a "reputation" despite the demons that still haunt her. When Frank dies suddenly, he leaves her his business, a Gentleman's Club called "The Lounge," which may be the only thing she takes pride in. That, and protecting her "girls," especially one freaky little dancer with a heart of gold named Cori the unspoken friend, ally and confidante of one Reece Corbett. Faith Ashford grew up wealthy with all the creature comforts that wealth provides. Country Clubs, a house in the Hampton's, and debutante balls with white gloves, taffeta and gardenias. There was one difference though, Faith wasn't like the other spoiled rich girls, she had no desire to follow those rather shallow footsteps, instead, she wished to follow her own dreams wherever they may lead her and those dreams lead the aspiring actress into a tenement in New York's Alphabet City, working the night shift in a rather seedy Lower East Side bar whose denizens, a sea of oddities, freaks, and frat boys that call themselves customers. Then one night an exotic dancer with electric blue hair wonders into Faith's bar. Cori of the myriad piercings and tattoos has no idea, but she would become the blonde's ultimate salvation in her moment of desperation, just as Frank was for Reece. Faith needed a break, she needed a change, and bartending at The Lounge would at least afford her something new, more new than she could possibly imagine in fact, a tall drink of water by the name of Reece Corbett who in turn had been looking for "this woman" all her life.

    Lizzy Mayfield, a filmmaker who lost her lover three years ago, comes home from a business trip to find Judith and her child unexpectedly living in her apartment.Lizzy wants nothing more than to be left alone, but as Judith has nowhere else to go, Lizzy allows her to stay. While Judith struggles to create a new life for her daughter and herself, Lizzy is confronted with the vibrancy their presence brings to her emotionally barren existence. As Lizzy and Judith gradually become involved in each other’s lives, they are both forced to confront the ghosts of their pasts.

    A popular artist suddenly goes into seclusion; a reluctant reporter wants to know why; and a heart locked away yearns to be set free.Sometimes the greatest test of love is the willingness to take a chance when there are no guarantees.At the peak of her career, painter Cori Saxton's life changes irrevocably. With her future suddenly uncertain, she seeks refuge at her country home in Upstate New York where she successfully manages to shut out most of the world—until journalist Bennett McClain is assigned to get the story. Soon Cori has to remind herself that the charming reporter is simply there to do a job, even though something about the woman makes her want to reveal all her carefully guarded secrets. When Bennett accepted the assignment, she didn't expect to find Cori so attractive, on so many levels. Cori's intensity and energy are more appealing than down-to-earth Bennett cares to admit. But when Bennett discovers the truth behind Cori's seclusion, she is torn between a desire to soothe away Cori's pain and the instinct to flee that is born of her own painful past.

    When breast cancer ends their life together, Poppy finds herself at a loss as to how to begin to live again. Julia Johnson is running to Carly’s Sound with her newborn daughter Tallulah in search of the path to her future. On a chance meeting two years after Carly’s death, these two women form a bond of friendship that lays the foundation for something more. “Carly’s Sound” will bring you from New Orleans to a five star resort in the Caribbean as Julia and Poppy struggle to define their lives and Poppy’s past comes back to haunt her – literally.