Book picks similar to
Dark Horse by A.L. Brooks


age-gap
lesbian
drama
lesbian-romance

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S.W. Andersen - 2017
    A rising star in women's professional downhill mountain bike racing, she has all the tools to become a world champion. All she needs to do is fully commit herself. Something far easier said than done. As stubborn as she is independent, Sierra has always carved her own path, refusing to fall in line with the controlling, commercialized aspects of the sport. Her trademark no-holds-barred, reckless style of riding has earned her as many cheers as it has jeers. Dr. Kara Davies, a highly regarded and accomplished physician, is well on her way to achieving her dreams in chiropractic research. Commitment to her goals has never been an issue, but her personal life is a different story. Preferring the comfort and safety of her lab over personal relationships, Kara's one-track mind allows no deviation. But life is full of twists and turns. After an accident on the track lands Sierra in Kara's on-site medical center, the doctor suddenly finds she has more on her mind that work. Blindsided by mutual attraction, Sierra and Kara struggle to accept their feelings for each other and to deal with the change it brings. Will love be enough? Or will life's little switchbacks send them both careening off course?

Future Leaders of Nowhere


Emily O’Beirne - 2017
    Not in body, but in being. She’s gravity and kindness and all those good things that anchor.""Willa’s confusing. Sometimes she’s this sweet, sensitive soul. Other times she’s like a flaming arrow you hope isn’t coming for you."Finn and Willa have been picked as team leaders in the future leader camp game. The usually confident Finn doesn’t know what’s throwing her more, the fact she’s leading a team of highly unenthusiastic overachievers or coming up against fierce, competitive Willa. And Willa doesn’t know which is harder, leaving her responsibilities behind to pursue her goals or opening up to someone.Soon they both realise that the hardest thing of all is balancing their clashing ideals with their unexpected connection. And finding a way to win, of course.

Sidebar


Carsen Taite - 2017
    She’s determined not to let any mistakes, past or future, get in her way, but a complex murder case and undeniable attraction to her rebellious law clerk threaten Camille’s carefully planned future at every turn.Attorney West Fallon is a social justice crusader, reluctant to put her career plans on hold to clerk for a federal judge, even if the judge is the man who saved her life. When he’s suddenly forced to retire, West is stuck clerking for Judge Camille Avery, an infuriatingly stubborn—okay, brilliant, intense, and sexy—law-and-order jurist who seems just as unhappy to be saddled with her.As Camille and West explore their growing desire and challenge the boundaries of their work and personal relationships, a big case threatens to destroy both their careers. Can their love survive?

Romancing the Girl


Camryn Eyde - 2016
    Life is easy and full of hard, dusty work, but when her brother Joseph decides to become a contestant in a reality TV dating show, Romancing the Farmer, everything goes to hell.The station gets overrun by city women and stuck-up producers right in the middle of shearing season. Justine Cason, the ringleader of the circus Aimee instantly detests is an irritating, arrogant presence that she is forced to chaperone around the massive property.The two women find more in common than trading insults the more time they spend together, sparking an unexpected connection neither was looking for. As Joseph navigates the dating scene, and Aimee's sister Sally navigates a crumbling marriage, Aimee's life turns on its head in more ways than one when her blooming connection with Justine is the catalyst to leaving the land she loves.When the worst fire season in decades strikes their patch of the world, the Turner family must find a way to save themselves and the ones they dearly cherish. Can they put aside their differences to protect each other?*minor edits updated 1st May 2016*

Hard Times


Blayne Cooper - 2007
    Terrified and desperate to belong, she sold her soul one piece at a time. She survived to sit atop the ever-shifting trash heap of prison society. Lorna has learned the hard way not to trust anyone, particularly penal system virgins like Kellie Holloway, her unrepentant new cellmate. But Kellie's pride and cluelessness guarantee that without help, she won't last long. Together, Kellie and Lorna navigate through an oppressive, hidden world where the lines between right and wrong blur, sexual passion is forbidden but explosive, and love is the biggest risk of all.

Coming Home


Lois Cloarec Hart - 2001
    A triangle with a twist, "Coming Home" is the story of a couple who find their relationship threatened when a young nurse arrives.

In the Distance There Is Light


Harper Bliss - 2016
    All they have left is each other.Sophie's life is turned upside down when her partner, Ian, dies in a tragic accident. The only one who can understand her devastation is Ian's stepmother, Dolores. Together, they try to make sense of their loss and rebuild their shattered lives. While their shared grief brings them closer, it also takes their relationship in an unexpected direction. Where does sorrow end and romance begin? Or has Ian’s death blurred the lines too much?If you love deeply emotional lesbian romance with a twinge of controversy, don’t miss this intense but hopeful novel by chart-topper Harper Bliss.

Exception to the Rule


Cindy Rizzo - 2013
    Robin is determined to hide in her room writing until she can get back to her homeless gay friends in New York City, whose easy exchange of sex and friendship inspires her creativity. She's sworn off perfect princesses like Tracy Patterson, no matter how attractive she finds the mysterious Southerner on her hall with the long blonde hair and tight jeans. And Tracy has no interest in cynical, smart-mouthed Northerners like Robin. She has her own set of rules—fine-tuned back home in North Carolina where she had a fake boyfriend and an uncomplicated string of older female lovers, including her mother's best friend. Here at college, she already has her first conquest planned, and it's certainly not Robin Greene. This is a love story about two young women who can only find their true selves by finding one another. But are Robin and Tracy willing to give up all they think they know in order to find happiness? Sometimes in life, the person who will matter most is the one who's an exception to the rule.

L.A. Metro


R.J. Nolan - 2011
    Kimberly Donovan’s life is in shambles. After her medical ethics are questioned, first her family, then her closeted lover, the Chief of the ER, betray her. Determined to make a fresh start, she flees to California and L.A. Metropolitan Hospital.Dr. Jess McKenna, L.A. Metro’s Chief of the ER, gives new meaning to the phrase emotionally guarded, but she has her reasons.When Kim and Jess meet, the attraction is immediate. Emotions Jess has tried to repress for years surface. But her interest in Kim also stirs dark memories. They settle for friendship, determined not to repeat past mistakes, but secretly they both wish things could be different.Will the demons from Jess’s past destroy their future before it can even get started? Or will L.A. Metro be a place to not only heal the sick, but to mend wounded hearts?

Homespun


Magnolia Robbins - 2020
    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.

And Playing the Role of Herself


K.E. Lane - 2007
    Her sometimes-costar Robyn Ward is magnetic, glamorous, and devastatingly beautiful, the quintessential A-List celebrity on the fast-track to super-stardom. When the two meet on the set of 9th Precinct, Caid is instantly infatuated but settles for friendship, positive that Robyn is both unavailable and uninterested. Soon Caid sees that all is not as it appears, but can she take a chance and risk her heart when the outcome is so uncertain?

Change of Heart


K.A. Moll - 2019
    She’s successful, wealthy, and a highly sought after Washington lobbyist. At first glance, one might think that she has it all. She doesn’t. Not even close. She lives life in the fast lane without a moment to spare. She leaves no time to smell the roses. She’s consumed by work in a world of politics and power brokers. She has money, her job, booze, and nothing else. In quiet moments, against her will, her mind drifts back to her days in high school and to all that she gave up. Jack Camdon is a complex woman, and yet not at all. She earns her living as an entomologist, has a passion for bees, and the environment. She’s an Ojibwe healer and someone who has a good grasp on the things that are most important. Jack is also a woman who has never moved beyond the sudden and unexplained departure of her high school sweetheart, her lover, and her soul mate. When circumstances bring Courtney back to town two decades later, their paths will cross. Can high school sweethearts, apart for the entirety of their adult life, rekindle their flame that still burns hot? Or, will hurt feelings, shattered trust, and conflicting priorities destroy their second chance at love?

The Road to Wings


Julie Tizard - 2017
    She has to face thunderstorms, the death of friends, and male instructors who want to wash her out. Captain Kathryn Hardesty is the toughest and best instructor pilot on the base and the chief of flight safety. She’s demanding because she knows the price of failure is tragedy and a smoking hole. She looks out for all the students, especially the female ones. Casey has to learn to fly a supersonic jet, not get killed in the process, and face a growing forbidden attraction. Can she muster the intelligence, courage, and unbreakable determination to become an air force pilot? Does she have what it takes to earn wings, find love, and not crash and burn?

Ordinary is Perfect


D. Jackson Leigh - 2019
    In fact, she bought a rundown farm on seventy acres to retreat from the world and live out her simple, ordinary life. Atlanta marketing superstar Autumn Swan’s world is anything but simple. Constantly plugged in to what’s trending on social media, it’s her job to keep her clients ahead of the competition. When her favorite cousin dies suddenly, she finds herself the owner of a modest country home, guardian to a sullen, tomboyish ten-year-old, and neighbor to an intriguing woman who isn’t as ordinary as she appears.

Pining & Loving


Emma Sterner-Radley - 2019
    Which one carries the highest cost? And what price is worth paying? The quiet, tough Aya Lawson has been forced to leave her career as a professional boxer behind and now scrambles for a purpose. Gwen Davies is a chatty barista, and artist in her free time, who lives with clinical depression. They both have battles to fight but they also have something else in common - pining over the woman of their dreams. When daydreams one day meet reality, things get complicated. Is it best to stay with what’s safe? Or to fall and maybe break? If they do take the chance and break, who will get back up?