Book picks similar to
The Longing by Lucy Heart


lesbian
romance
age-gap
lesbian-romance

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?

The Gravity Between Us


Kristen Zimmer - 2013
    Payton Taylor is Kendall’s best friend since childhood, and the one person who reminds her of who she really is – her refuge from the craziness of celebrity life. With her career taking off, Kendall moves Payton to LA to help keep her sane. But Payton is hiding a secret that could make everything ten times worse. Because to her, Kendall is more than a best friend – she is the only girl that she has ever loved. Just as they need each other more than ever, they’ll have to answer the question of where friendship stops and love begins? And find out whether the feelings they have can survive the mounting pressure of fame… The Gravity Between Us is a daring, romantic, emotional story about friendship, love, and finding the courage to be yourself in a crazy world. New Adult novel: recommended for 17+ due to mature themes and sexual content

Forget it


Claire Highton-Stevenson - 2019
    Moving back into civilian life, she never imagined it would mean looking after her teenage sister and searching for a new career. But, with the sudden loss of their dad, Brooke finds herself stepping up, and in the process, looking for a new job; any job. Getting the chance to let off some steam, she heads to Art, a lesbian bar, and meets Catherine. It’s lust at first sight as both women feel that instant connection, despite the obvious age gap. With Brooke’s new job being the same place where Catherine works, she assumes it was meant to be. Catherine, however, has other ideas and puts a halt to any prospective love affair, much to Brooke’s confusion and heartbreak. When she tells Brooke to forget it, she didn’t quite mean it so literally and wishes she hadn’t said it, but Brooke is injured on the job and loses her memory…and forgets Catherine….Will they get a second chance to work things out?60,800 words

Jericho


Ann McMan - 2010
    Her plans to hide out and heal her wounds go by the wayside as she gets drawn into the daily lives of the quirky locals and becomes fast friends with Maddie Stevenson, the enigmatic physician who has returned to the backcountry community to take over her late father’s medical practice.Ann McMan weaves a story of life and love in the beautiful mountains of Virginia.

Building Love


M.E. Tudor - 2018
    Theresa Garland is working as a foreman for her father's construction company. He assigns her a job working for Patty McNeal's mother. The two young women are on different paths that converge. They will have to get over the pain from the past caused by other people, and their fears of the future to build a life together.

A New Leash on Life


Suzie Carr - 2012
    Aid comes from a surprising source: Chloe Homestead, Olivia's ex-girlfriend from thirteen years ago and the only girl Olivia has ever loved. Chloe, a self-made millionaire, offers to finance and manage the shelter’s repairs and operations, a gesture Olivia is in no position to refuse. Working intimately together to provide loving care to homeless animals, Olivia struggles to keep her composure in Chloe’s fun and flirty presence. As Olivia's walls start to crumble, the past catches up to them. Chloe has a dark secret, a secret that she’s been carrying around for thirteen years. Will Chloe's secret threaten the future of the shelter and the relationship she has worked so hard to restore?

Telling Lies Online


Miranda MacLeod - 2016
    Tired of her impulsive streak leaving her heartbroken, she's determined to do everything right the next time she's in love. But her resolve crumbles when a technical glitch matches her with perfection in Claire, a woman who lives on the opposite side of the country. Who is straight. And under the impression that Jamie's a guy. But Jamie can't help being smitten. Would one tiny lie be so terrible if it gets her closer to the woman of her dreams?Claire Flores is a dreamer and a believer in signs, but she has a secret that keeps her cautious about love. All she wants is a picture-perfect family of her own, but she's never met a man who attracts her. Until now. Throwing caution to the wind, she goes from Portland to Boston to meet Jay, her online love. Instead she meets Jamie, his work colleague, who befriends her in Jay's unexpected absence. Claire's heart is aflutter. Jamie stirs up feelings Claire never knew possible, but how close can she get without having to admit that she's been lying to herself about her dreams all along?What starts as a simple fib soon snowballs as Jamie fabricates increasingly ridiculous tales to keep her identity as Jay under wraps, until a comedy of errors threatens to topple the whole charade to the ground. Can true love prevail when it's founded on a lie?

Keeping You a Secret


Julie Anne Peters - 2005
    But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship?

The Chosen One


T.B. Markinson - 2016
    Her powerful political family sees her as the Chosen One who will someday be president. Upholding a carefully crafted veneer is second nature until the first day of class when Maya's mysterious gray eyes hold her in thrall. Ainsley may be out publicly regarding her sexual orientation, but she lives under the shadow of the Carmichael's ancient but shrewd matriarch in this contemporary lesbian romance. The girls pair up for a history project, and it soon becomes clear Maya is hiding something when she cuts their first kiss short by pointing out they come from different worlds. The privileged world of the Carmichael clan stands in stark contrast to Maya's limited means. Ainsley's sexually fluid, quirky, and carefree cousin helps her investigate, only to discover details of Maya's past are sketchy at best as the suspense builds in this work of LGBT fiction. Family scandal erupts, making the inevitable truth come out about Maya the Gray. Will Ainsley’s love for the enigmatic girl enable her to break her Carmichael shackles?

Bad Girl Love


Cynthia Dane - 2018
    They don't even know about her ex-girlfriends or her fake IDs.But it's that fake ID that leads her to the hottest club in the city. While her friends tear up the dancefloor, however, Audrey meets the foil to her suppressed desires and curiosity.Dylan. The resident bad girl with an affinity for good girls like Audrey.What begins as a torrid fling soon transforms into something that opens Audrey's eyes to the life she's always wanted. The longer she's with Dylan, the more she realizes the sources of her suffocation. A toxic family. Airheaded friends. Caring for nothing but the trappings of wealth. "A bad girl is someone who refuses to accept the status quo." Dylan has dated her fair share of heiresses, but Audrey is the first one to make her believe in a chance at love.Yet it's not easy to give over to someone like Audrey. She represents everything Dylan has spent her whole life rejecting, for she knows all too well what it's like to be forced into the good girl role.And her past is constantly threatening to ruin everything she's built for herself since her darkest days. "Good girls don't go bad. They save themselves." The fatalistic love that haunts both Dylan and Audrey will last the summer. After that? Someone will have to give up the only life they've ever known.Easier said than done.Please note that this book contains examples of transphobia and growing up in an abusive cult.

Solve for i


A.E. Dooland - 2017
    Not only is she not straight, but she’s developed feelings for her best friend Sarah.Sarah and Gemma go way back—since they met at university, they've been completely inseparable. They've travelled together, got jobs at the same company, and shared each other's triumphs and sorrows. There was even that one memorable time when Sarah, completely drunk, told Gemma she couldn't live without her. A relationship seems like the perfect solution. There's just one teensy little problem with this whole equation: Sarah is straight.Gemma knows the logical thing to do is to get over Sarah. She wants to be in her own happy relationship and not caught up on her straight best friend. But how is she supposed to get over Sarah when, despite all those advanced problem-solving skills, she can’t even work out who she’s attracted to anymore?

Moonstone


Jaime Clevenger - 2016
    With a successful career in San Francisco and plenty of opportunity for casual relationships, the last thing Joy wants is to return to the small town she’d planned her whole life to escape. But family obligations pull her back home and it isn’t long before Joy runs into someone she’s always dreamed of seeing again—the first girl she ever imagined kissing. Kelsey West.Olympic dreams are a thing of the past for Kelsey. Now an out of work swim coach recovering from a bad relationship, she’s back home only long enough to get her life together. When she learns that Joy Henderson, the high school crush she never forgot, is also back in town, she can’t help but wonder if there’s a chance to rewrite the past.Time has changed their hometown. Time has changed Kelsey and Joy. But when it comes to two women who have never trusted love—has time changed them enough?

More Than a Kiss


Saxon Bennett - 2014
    Amy Stewart finding true love together... except a banana peel, a psycho stalker, a lesbian poetess, an extreme chef, a KGB spy, and a sex toy inventor. Join Saxon Bennett and Layce Gardner as they combine their creative *genius to bring you the romantic comedy of the century. ** Guaranteed money back if you don't laugh out loud. * Geniuses in their own mind. ** This is a lie. The authors are broke.

Her Name in the Sky


Kelly Quindlen - 2014
    The last thing she wants is to fall in love with a girl--especially when that girl is her best friend, Baker. Hannah knows she should like Wally, the kind, earnest boy who asks her to prom. She should cheer on her friend Clay when he asks Baker to be his girlfriend. She should follow the rules of her conservative Louisiana community--the rules that have been ingrained in her since she was a child.But Hannah longs to be with Baker, who cooks macaroni and cheese with Hannah late at night, who believes in the magic of books as much as Hannah does, and who challenges Hannah to be the best version of herself. And Baker might want to be with Hannah, too--if both girls can embrace that world-shaking, yet wondrous, possibility.

Force of Nature


Kim Baldwin - 2005
    Wind. Fire. Ice. Love. Nothing for Gable McCoy and Erin Richards seems to go smoothly. From the tornado that sets its sights on them, to the perils they face as volunteer firefighters, the forces of nature conspire to bring them close to danger, and closer to each other. From the author of the acclaimed intrigue/romance Hunter's Pursuit.