A church steeped in taboos against almost everything, but especially against homosexuality. She has been brought up to make her mother proud – marry, have children, and bring no shame on the family.She marries Scott, the son of a Southern Baptist minister who is the choir director of his dad’s church; Mandy is the director of the Young People’s Department. The church is full of nosy old busy bodies. It is impossible to do anything outside the ordinary without the pack of gossipy old vultures tearing you to pieces. Mandy and Scott, unable to have children, adopt a baby boy and are seemingly happy.However, Mandy unexpectedly encounters her true destiny, a graduate student and also a member of her church, Kathleen Crutchfield. Kathleen brazenly makes a pass at Mandy forever changing her life. Feeling new, deliciously different emotions, Mandy, struggles with the implications of what has happened.Knowing that her life will never be the same, Mandy tries to see if there were clues in her life that should have alerted her to her hidden forbidden identity.Kathleen captures Mandy’s heart and rules her body with a passion she has never known before. They are made only for each other. They know they must find a way to be together, but how will they get the courage to escape Mandy’s marriage, the church, and Kathleen’s powerful family?

    Her life was everything she had dreamed it would be, but it all came crashing to a halt when her parents died. As a result, she has an acute case of writer’s block. After several months, she goes to a Bed & Breakfast on the coast to relax and regenerate. Kate is a a successful archeologist. She loved traveling the world and studying matriarchal societies. However, her work and life were upended when her sister was arrested and sent to prison. Kate had to give up her job, go home to raise her sister’s ten-year-old twin girls, and help her aging mother run the family Bed & Breakfast. They say that love happens when you’re least expecting it. Can Claudia and Kate satisfy their hungry hearts in each others’ arms?

    She’s a lesbian with a ton of baggage—fearful, guilty, and alone. Very few things would compel her to leave the familiar. The job offer of a lifetime is one of them. Against her better judgment, she packs up, and moves to Illinois. Unfortunately, she’s not there long before she’s convinced that the devil is hunting her down. Gabe Garst is a police officer. She’s also a powerful medium. Her work with juvenile delinquents and ghosts is all that keeps her going. Inside she’s dead, certain that her capacity to love is buried six feet under. Talking with and seeing the dead has always come easily, and yet for some reason, she’s not able to communicate with her late wife. She’s grieving, depressed, and alone. Suicide seems like the best option. It’s just a matter of time.Anna and Gabe’s paths cross. Their attraction is immediate, but they hold back until all hope seems lost. As good battles evil, two tortured souls must engage in a struggle to overcome demons of their own.

    When she bumps into her old best friend Amy, the one she had to get away from, all that was left unspoken bubbles to the surface and they revisit the past in more ways than one.A HIGHER EDUCATIONAt an economics conference Gail Garvey ends up sharing a room with a teacher she had a crush on twenty years ago. They're both professors now, and Gail's crush has long faded, but finding herself in the same room as Professor Joanne Ferguson two nights in a row proves to be more challenging than Gail would like to believe.A HARD DAY'S WORKJo fancies her straight, married boss Amanda. She's convinced her crush is a hopeless one, until a performance review changes everything.YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAYRose's husband died seven years ago, but when she welcomes an unexpected guest in her Tuscan holiday home, she's forced to remember what instant desire feels like. Desire for a younger woman no less.LEARNING CURVEAda's company relocated her to Berlin, provided that she'd take an intensive course in German. It proves to be a steep learning curve, until her teacher Giselle implements some alternative educational methods.THE HONEYMOONA sizzling novelette featuring a couple of newlyweds honeymooning in Phuket. When they encounter a mysterious Asian woman in their beach side resort, they decide to give each other a very special wedding gift.PIANO LESSONSRuby is finding it hard to get over the break up with her girlfriend, but her piano teacher Jill is not having any of it. After Ruby's lack of focus makes for another dismal lesson, Jill invites her reluctant student into the home she shares with her partner Charlotte for an afternoon of extreme relaxation, and getting over her ex.At over 75,000 words, this collection is sure to provide some blissful reading.

    After a particularly bad fire leaves Alex and another member of her team in the hospital, she finds herself entranced by Dr. Rachel Tom. She doesn’t plan to fall in love and doesn’t need the hassles of a new relationship, but Rachel felt the pull as well. And she’s not the kind to let something so good slip through her fingers.Both women quickly succumb to their desires, but the relationship may be over before it begins. Alex soon realizes that the horrible blazes they’ve been fighting recently are too uniform to be anything but arson. And if she’s right, someone is setting them for the express purpose of killing firefighters.

    Lake, winner of the Ann Bannon AwardKennie McClain is a security guard who, unbeknownst to her tenants, owns the Allen Arms where she works. She’s still recovering from the loss of her partner three years earlier and has moved from upstate New York to Portland to escape the tragedy. In her off hours, she rehabs apartments and nurses a broken heart.Lily Gordon, a nationally-acclaimed painter, lives in the Allen Arms penthouse. She’s beautiful and accomplished – and haunted after her lover ditches her. Sparks fly in a big way when Kennie and Lily finally connect . . . but then in one shattering moment, Lily betrays her, and Kennie’s world comes crashing down, leaving her untrusting and in deep emotional pain. Can Kennie ever rise above these losses and risk her heart again?

    It was Christmas, after all, and if anyone deserved some extra Christmas cheer, it was Mo Davy.

    In the past, it has always been followed with disappointment. Now, when it comes to relationships, she's more than a little skittish. When her best friend asks her to be best "man" at his wedding, how can she decline? Through a series of coincidences and mishaps, she and the gorgeous maid of honor end up sharing Jess's apartment for a long weekend. In that short amount of time, Jess discovers something very significant. Things are so much better when you let go and just say yes…

    She jumps at the chance to guide a group of foster children through a community haunted house—never suspecting that her partner Kim will provide her with a trick and treat of her own.This short story, “A Treat for Halloween Tricksters,” takes place after the events in the novel "L.A. Metro."Join Jess McKenna and Kim Donovan as they celebrate their first Halloween as a couple.

    Alexandra Hartway is burned-out and disillusioned with her job. Seeing the same patients use the ER day after day in an effort to seek drugs has left her bitter, skeptical and unsympathetic. Jess Bolderson refuses to be held back. Although she has been confined to a wheelchair for the past ten years, she is as capable as anyone and doesn’t like to be told otherwise. So when she hears this ignorant doctor bashing people with disabilities as lazy at a professional meeting, she rips into Alex, leaving everyone around the table stunned and speechless. After a rough beginning, Jess and Alex quickly develop a deep respect for each other. Soon they become close friends, and then more—more than either could have ever imagined. But then a freak accident leaves Jess once again fighting for her life while Alex faces the ultimate challenge. Can she save the life of the woman she’s fallen in love with?

    She should be thrilled, but somewhere along the line she took a wrong turn and ended up in the dreaded rat race of life. When she meets Jolene, a scuba instructor from Bonaire, curiosity stirs deep within. Suddenly, she begins to crave adventure. By getting out of her comfort zone, Sarah soon begins to realize that life begins to bloom beneath the facade of materialism. Purpose and meaning can’t be found on the surface. It can only be found when she digs deep and uncovers things that make her question what’s most important in life. Does Sarah have the courage to embrace her newfound discoveries, even if that means letting go of what brings her comfort in the process?

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

    Unfortunately, her youth and round, child-like face work against her. No matter how skilled she becomes, how knowledgeable, the old school, male-dominated medical hierarchy wants to keep her in ‘her place.’Deanna has worked hard to become an expert in her chosen field, but few believe this ‘child’ capable. Specializing in infectious diseases, she travels the world—from the States to Europe to South America—honing her skills before winding up in Africa where her skills are desperately needed.Meeting a nurse by the name of Madison MacGregor, she finds they share an insatiable curiosity and a love of helping others, but falling in love was not what she intended. Later, when she loses Maddie to a misunderstanding, she is haunted by the one that got away…Ten years have passed and both the doctor and nurse have moved on with their lives, but fate intervenes when they find themselves working at the same hospital. Their friendship is revived…can their love be rekindled? Will the past haunt them or bring them closer? Will the secrets that both harbor keep them from realizing a future together?

    When medical debt looms, she doesn’t hesitate to do whatever it takes.Even if it means putting herself – and her inexperience in love – up on the auction block.She only asks that nobody discover her biggest secret. The reason she’s gone gray at twenty and now has something to offer a would-be suitor looking for a month-long affair.ASTRID EVANSTwo years after the death of her husband, Astrid is used to the jokes and jeers from the peerage. Everyone knows she’s a trophy wife who received the inheritance of a lifetime.But it didn’t come without a price. Traumatized by her former experiences, Astrid now spends her nights subjecting herself to the same events that once changed her life.That’s how she discovers Tara, a young and naïve woman who will be chewed up by the same system that stole Astrid’s own youth.THE ONLY KEY… IS HYPOCRISYWhen Tara arrives at Evans Manor for a month of companionship, Astrid rejects their mutual attraction, if only to sleep better at night.Soon, she can’t sleep at all.The electric chemistry between Astrid and Tara is unlike anything to hit the quiet country manor. While Tara explores what it means to fall in love and indulge in her lifelong fantasies, Astrid confronts the nightmares that have turned her into the ice-cold queen of her fortress.Everything she needs is within grasp – yet she denies it.Until she can’t anymore, and all hell breaks loose.

    Ricky hunts a savage serial killer while trying to provide protection for the headstrong Senator as Christine takes on the task of securing agreements with Mexico to build a wall along the Texas border. The two become embroiled in life and death situations as they battle to keep each other alive. Fast action and romance make this one of the top romantic thrillers of the year.