For Chris, love, compassion, and trust are critical. In their absence, Chris has turned to her dog and her horse for the emotional fulfillment she craves. Then along comes Mary Jo Cavanaugh. Fresh out of veterinary school, Mary Jo inadvertently antagonizes Chris with her overconfident assumptions about how to care for animals. She comes to learn that Chris's practical experience provides both a wealth of knowledge and a friendship unlike any she's ever known.The carefully built walls around Chris's heart begin to crumble as she acknowledges the unfamiliar feelings evoked by being with Mary Jo. Just as she believes she's found the happiness that had always eluded her, someone from Chris's past comes back into her life, intent on winning Chris's affections, no matter what the cost.Can the love between Chris and Mary Jo survive so that they can share A Kiss Before Dawn?

    Locke has lived over two centuries and works like a demon, both figuratively and literally. As the owner of a successful pharmaceutical company that specializes in blood research, she has changed the way she can live her life. Wanting for nothing, she has smartly compartmentalized her life so that when she needs to, she can pick up and start all over again, which happens every twenty years or so. Love is not an emotion A.J. spends much time on. Since losing the love of her life to the plague one hundred fifty years ago, she vowed to never travel down that road again. That isn't to say she doesn't have women when she wants them, she just wants them on her terms and that doesn't involve a long term commitment. A.J.'s cool veneer is peeled back when she sees the love of her life in a lesbian bar, in the same town, in the same day and time in which she lives. Is her mind playing tricks on her? If not, how did Clarissa survive the plague when she had made A.J. promise never to change her? Clarissa Graham is a university professor who has lived an obscure life teaching English literature. She has made it a point to stay off the radar and never become involved with anything that resembles her past life. Every once in a while Clarissa has an itch that needs to be scratched, so she finds an out of the way location to scratch it. She keeps her personal life separate from her professional one, and in doing so she is able to keep her secrets to herself. Suddenly, her life is turned upside down when someone tries to kill her. She finds herself in the middle of an assassination plot with no idea who wants her dead.

    After claiming her first (and hopefully last) victim, Harper thinks she has it all figured out. Her job keeps her busy. Her family locks her up during the full moon. She’s even friends with the local vet who is always armed with tranquilizers.But her fragile grip on the situation can’t last. Not when newcomer Emerson moves into Harper’s small town and sets the wolf free. Now Harper must figure out what the wolf wants, and stop it before she ends up with more blood on her teeth.

    The presence of these supranormals (“supras”)—werewolves, vampires, demons—is a closely guarded government secret, as is the existence of a cadre of specially engineered Hunters charged with exterminating them.Code-named Malice, Hunter Mary Alice Nolan was genetically modified and rigorously trained to use her great strength, heightened senses, and killer instincts to track and eliminate supras who prey on the innocent. A loner by choice, her only real link to the human world is her close connection to her mother and sister—until the unthinkable happens…Ruri Samson has been a werewolf for more than a century and is comfortably situated as the Beta of her peaceful pack. Until she is betrayed by the woman she loves and an evil outsider massacres her Alpha and his most loyal followers. Barely escaping with her life, Ruri is forced to tread the perilous path of a lone wolf while vowing vengeance against the usurper and his minions.Although these two powerful women should rightfully despise each other, fate will soon compel them to join forces on a dangerous quest to avenge their loved ones—and will ignite a forbidden passion that neither of them ever imagined.

    She is also a friend to the secret community of vampires living in Los Angeles, and occasionally she assists them when they have a problem that requires a human to handle it. The vampires are led by Voshki Kevorkian, a gorgeous, sexy female vampire, who has made it clear that she would like Dante to be her human. Dante, although attracted to Voshki, is wary of the possessiveness and jealousy involved in being a vampire's chosen human lover and resists. When the Children of Judas, a two-thousand-year-old sect of murderous, rebel vampires shunned by the main community, rise up under a new leader and threaten to topple Voshki's leadership and expose the whole community, the vampires turn to Dante for help. Dante travels to a small town in upstate California where the Children seem to be active, in the company of Ellis Kovacs, another vampire sired by Voshki, and Voshki's "right-hand woman." There, whilst investigating the Children and their leader Robin Shepherd, Dante succumbs to being seduced by the alluring Ellis. When Dante is kidnapped by the Children, Voshki decides it's time to take matters into her own hands. Hell hath no fury like a vampire scorned. This is the first in a brand-new series.

    Trained all her life to be just as comfortable fighting terrorists as mixing with the gala crowd, she is proficient at playing any role necessary to accomplish her objective and believes the cause sanctifies the means. But her latest assignment to investigate journalist Hayley Ward will test more than her skills, ingenuity, and courage, because this time she faces the ultimate dilemma: a choice between loyalty and love.

    During the summer before they turn sixteen―just as the two are discovering that there might be something more to their friendship―a tragic accident befalls Willa’s family and without warning, Willa and Lee's world is torn apart.Twenty-five years later Willa is a successful author of the young adult ghost stories she loved to read as a child. She returns to the lake looking for a writer’s retreat and an opportunity to connect with her troubled teenage sister, Nicole.Lee, now a single mother to her wise-beyond-her-years teenage daughter Maggie, is the director of the summer camp on the other side of Forestlands Lake. Before Willa and Nicole even have the chance to unpack, their plans are upset by a mysterious young girl, a near drowning, and a surprise reunion. Soon Willa and Lee are working to protect the girls, reconcile their past and unearth the secrets surrounding Forestlands Lake―putting old ghosts to rest once and for all.Genre: Romance, ParanormalEditor: Ann RobertsCover Designer: Judith Fellows

    Now her days revolve around time with her daughter Laya and launching a new career in philanthropy. She doesn’t expect a brief encounter with Eleanor Chapin, Laya’s new kindergarten teacher, to make a lasting impression.As the end of the school year nears, however, Tessa realizes that her daughter’s beloved Miss Chapin may be the perfect nanny for the summer. Natural and direct, Eleanor already understands Laya’s need for life out of the public eye. Even though it means inviting a stranger into their household, Tessa is certain her own carefully guarded secrets will not be at risk.For Eleanor, L.A. is merely a stop between Boston and a long-awaited Ph.D. program. But the job offer from Tessa Flanagan is so lucrative she is tempted to put her plans on hold. The idea of working closely with Tessa is equally enticing, but the job is about Laya. There’s no reason not to take it—after all, she’ll be leaving L.A. soon.Kate Christie explores the distance from Chicago’s South Side to the Hollywood Hills, from bucolic New England to lush Kauai through the passionate connection between two women looking for home.

    This time...it's worse.Ice begins when a boy is kidnapped from a London park and Detective Inspectors Alex Blake and Maggie Campbell are brought together to work on the case. While their goal is the same, their work ethics are not. Intelligent, perceptive and at times disobedient, Alex Blake does what she believes it takes to do her job. Maggie Campbell has a slightly different approach. She believes that rule books were written for a reason. Unexpectedly, their dynamics mesh, but when her feelings for Alex become stronger than she wants to admit, Maggie provokes the worst in Alex to ensure that they will never be partners again. Three years later, fate brings them together again. Their assignment is simple, but a plane crash gets in their way. Now, in the middle of a blizzard, they have to try to survive...and fight the feelings that refuse to die.

    Her parents cut off all funding when she dropped out of medical school, and graduate school is expensive. A full-time nanny job at the Wellington estate is the answer to her problems, except working for beautiful, successful Brook Wellington wasn't in the job description.Brook has always had a head for business. Born into a global shipping empire, she sits at the helm running it with skill and savvy. But success comes at a cost. Her priority is her six-year-old son, but she can't be in two places at once. Hiring a nanny isn't the perfect solution, but it would certainly help, and Cassie came highly recommended. If only she wasn't so damn attractive.Can Cassie and Brook deny their growing attraction and keep things professional? Or will they sidestep propriety and give in to temptation?

    Rock goddess. Notorious for leaving a string of broken hearts behind her tour bus. Jessica always looked down on those brokenhearted girls. Silly groupies who loved a terrible band. She'd never do something crazy like that. Until she did. It was all a big accident. Jessica was dragged to their concert against her will. She had no idea the sexy girl she met before the concert was Ivy, and by the time she realized who Ivy really was it was too late. She was in too deep. Gorgeous. Smart. Sexy. Yeah, Ivy Thompson was the last thing Jessica needed in her life until she was the only thing she needed in her life. But can the reformed rock star and the accidental groupie, women from two very different worlds, get over those differences long enough to find true love?

    She’s pretty much blocked out her formative years in Dreamer’s Bay, where the most exciting thing to happen was the twice a year bake sale. Unfortunately, a distress call hauls her back home and away from the life she’s constructed. Now the question is just how long until she can leave again? And when did boring Elizabeth Draper get so beautiful? Elizabeth Draper loves people, free time, and a good cup of coffee in the warm sunlight. In the quaint town of Dreamer’s Bay, she’s the only employee of On the Spot, an odd jobs company. She remembers Devyn Winters as shallow in high school, but now everything about Devyn makes her lose focus. Though her brain knows Devyn is only home temporarily, her heart didn’t seem to get the memo.Cover Artist: Jeanine HenningGenres: Contemporary / Romance Tags: Homecoming, Small Town RomancesWords: 95,000

    I’m a 34-year-old single lesbian and my heart belongs to my rescued mutt, Steve. I work as a graphic designer and my life is quiet and comfortable. All in all, I’m a pretty regular girl and for the most part, I lead a pretty regular life.Things I look forward to: baking goodies and then sharing them; spending time with my grandmother; reading anything I can get my hands on; enjoying dinner with my friends; a quiet evening and a glass of wine; hiking new trails and exploring nature with Steve. Things I’d like to avoid at all costs: in-depth discussions with my ex; dealing with children; online dating; babysitting; falling for somebody’s mom; taking my perception of myself all the way back to square one.See that list of things I’d like to avoid? Yeah, guess who’s going to hit every single one of them this year… What happens when your life takes an unexpected turn? What happens when you need to protect the one you love from the one you want to love? What happens when you lose something you never knew you wanted?Lambda and Golden Crown Literary Award-winning author Georgia Beers brings to you her long-awaited seventh novel, Starting from Scratch, a story where learning, laughing, loving, and baked goods are just a few of life’s basic ingredients.Starting from Scratch…where life is what you make it.

    Schwab's Shades of Magic trilogy and A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES.Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and finally, finally becoming a full witch-plans that are complicated when another coven, rumored to have a sordid history with black magic, arrives in town with premonitions of death. Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the granddaughter of their coven leader.And then a witch turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with the blood symbol of the Butcher of Manchester-an infamous serial killer whose trail has long gone cold. The killer's motives are enmeshed in a complex web of witches and gods, and Dayna and Meiner soon find themselves at the center of it all. If they don't stop the Butcher, one of them will be next.With razor-sharp prose and achingly real characters, E. Latimer crafts a sweeping, mesmerizing story of dark magic and brutal mythology set against a backdrop of contemporary Ireland that's impossible to put down.

    Since she never did find the story she was looking for all those years ago, she decided to write it.In Book I of the trilogy, Tamras arrives in Merin's house to begin her apprenticeship as a warrior, but her small stature causes many, including Tamras herself, to doubt that she will ever become a competent swordswoman. To make matters worse, the Lady Merin assigns her the position of companion, little more than a personal servant, to a woman who came to Merin's house, seemingly out of nowhere, the previous winter, and this stranger wants nothing to do with Tamras.