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.

    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.

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

    That she doesn’t share the mayor’s politics is her secret, and it’s not the only secret she’s keeping in conservative Oklahoma City.Madeline Stratton believes that you reap what you sow. Yes, she has allowed her marriage to become one of bitter expedience, but she is devastated by the magnitude and viciousness of her husband’s sudden scandal that erupts into off-color headlines and late night comedy routines.When her young staffer offers a hideout no one will suspect she gratefully accepts—and finds Jo’s sympathy and advice increasingly useful and needed. Until one night feelings far beyond gratitude will no longer go away…Politics and passion collide in this debut romance from Riley Scott!

    Her finances in shambles, she gratefully accepts a junior-level job at a magazine in Sacramento and wills herself to move on.Summer Winslow has pieces of her own to pick up, pieces that were scattered when her partner began drinking again. Fighting pressure from all directions to patch things up, she finds a welcome break from the drama in Ellis, her mysterious new neighbor. Happy to have a friend on her side, Summer is caught off-guard when her feelings for Ellis take a romantic turn.With the tragedy fading behind her, Ellis too entertains the possibility of romance. A handsome coworker is eager to fill the void in her heart, and it's clear he can give her a life much like the one she lost. Only now she's paralyzed by a stunning discovery—she's fallen for a woman.

    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.

    You can stay can't you? she whispered breathlessly as she unbuttoned Dorian's shirt. It was hard to understand why a woman as attractive and likable as successful civil engineer Dorian Sandier would still be living single. Her friends think it's because she's clueless when it comes to picking up on the romantic signals women were always sending her way. But in reality, Dorian has yet to recover from a disastrous relationship that left her numb and empty inside. Enter Lorraine Niles, a beautiful single mom with just the right tools to break down the wall around Dorian's heart. With Lorraine taking the lead, their friendship grows to intense passion, and Dorian begins to fall in love. But, by finally letting down her defenses, is she opening herself up to a devastating betrayal?

    Everything Keile Griffen ever loved was taken away, including her family. Surviving a youth in Child Support Services has left her driven to succeed as an adult--and she has. A successful, sought after planning consultant, she maps out solutions for other people, but never for herself. When Hayden Davenport's partner walked out on her in the midst of planning their family, she decided to go it alone. It hasn't been easy, and she's not used to help. When her missing son is found by a stranger at the park, she's overwhelmingly grateful to the young woman. When her gratitude blossoms into something more, her first impulse is to protect her child--and her battered heart. All Keile knows is that fateful day in the park she fell for a pair of big, brown eyes. But if she wants a family she has to take a chance, a big one. She could win it all...or lose everything. Dillon Watson's tale of unexpected love unfolds in the beautiful southeast, and introduces an insightful new storyteller who explores the passionate commitment that leads to love and family.

    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.

    What happens when two strong willed women meet and are forced to find common ground?Respected sociology professor Diane Cole has written the book on love. Every matter of the heart is neatly explained, and Diane’s life spins in a smooth circle. At her fortieth birthday party a beautiful young stranger named Ronnie Frost surprises her with a kiss, and the predictable story that is Diane’s life is complicated further when Ronnie appears in one of her classes.Diane finds her views on love challenged by her own heart, as she fights the attraction she feels for a woman half her age, a woman who is brilliant in every way.

    She had put her artistic passion on hold when she married, raised two children and kept a happy home.Now that the kids are grown and out of the house, it is Alana’s time, at last. However, she and her husband find themselves faced with a new, and sad dilemma—figuring out who the stranger is that sits across from them at the dining room table. The questions and doubt now begin when Alana retraces the decisions she has made that brought her to this point.As her life unravels around her, she meets Toni O’Hara, a Chicago fire inspector. Through her humor and compassion, Toni helps Alana come to terms with her life, her culpability in her failed marriage, and the most wonderful realization of all—Love, at last.

    The high-powered high life loses all its allure in the face of family tragedy.A return to the Gulf Coast life and a chance to reconnect and reclaim what really matters leads to unexpected passion and a final chance at true love in this tumultuous summer romance from best-selling author Gerri Hill!

    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.

    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.