Book picks similar to
The Flesh Trade by Maggie Brown


lesbian
crime
insta-everything
polar-opposites

Thorns of the Past


Gun Brooke - 2017
    Framed for a bad shooting while on the force, she is set on finding out the truth about what happened. Sabrina Hawk, a successful accountant with an impressive client list, still suffers the after-effects from an assault during her college years. Victim blaming on campus was bad enough, but she loathes the authorities for mistreating her. Darcy notices Sabrina often works late, and the elegant blond stirs her innate protectiveness. Sabrina finds herself able to relax around Darcy. A mutual attraction develops, but then Sabrina’s office is subjected to several break-ins. Wary of the police, she hires Darcy to investigate. Darcy fears Sabrina’s reaction once she learns Darcy was a cop—a cop who left the force in disgrace.

Bishop's Run


B.D. Gates - 2017
    Usually, she's good at getting out of it, but this time, the trouble was more than she bargained for and it almost killed her. Finding herself in a small town in Virginia, tucked away for safety by the Witness Protection Service, she is given a second chance at a new life. The security detail watching over her is headed by Detective Tess Hayes, a by-the-book police officer with a history of her own. Coming from a big city, the rural town of Tenley provides Bishop the opportunity to reclaim the better aspects of her former life and introduces her to the people who help her start over. Can Bishop run from her troubled past? How do you bury the truth and live the lie? WARNING: REVIEWS CONTAIN ENDING SPOILERS!

Lake Effect Snow


C.P. Rowlands - 2008
    Booker has covered Iraq for over three years when a friend and colleague is killed, and Annie is injured in Baghdad. Exhausted, she returns stateside to recover. However, life at home is not the sanctuary it has always been. Her name is on an Iraqi hit list, her partner of ten years has left, she is betrayed by a friend, and her TV network wants the FBI in her life full time. When the danger escalates, senior FBI agent Sarah Moore is assigned to her case. Annie and Sarah struggle to stay one step ahead of disaster as Annie's life becomes the war zone she once reported on.

Rush


Carsen Taite - 2013
    When the investigation and her attraction to Ellen Davenport collide, Danny must choose between the safety of sameness and the peril of the unknown.Ellen Davenport has secrets, but until Danny Soto entered her life, she hadn’t realized that protecting her privacy would come at such a high price. Can she explore her attraction to Danny without exposing herself and her family to danger, or must she risk everything for love?

Desperate Measures


P.J. Trebelhorn - 2014
    After assaulting him, she’s suspended from her job. She uses her unexpected time off to make some home improvements, but Kay has no idea Rayne is stalking her, and he’s hell-bent on revenge. Brenda Jansen owns Jansen Construction with her father. A routine job brings her to Kay’s doorstep, and Brenda is blissfully unaware of the twists and turns her life is about to take. The instant attraction she feels toward her newest client is something Brenda’s doing her best to ignore. Since her two previous girlfriends cheated on her, she’s having a hard time putting her trust in anyone. Brenda’s indifference toward her intrigues Kay, who does everything she can to get Brenda to admit their attraction is mutual. As they grow closer, so does Tommy Rayne, until he finally threatens everything Kay holds dear.

I Will Meet You There


S.M. Harding - 2015
    But a sniper’s shot through her front window soon ends the tranquility she’d been seeking. It also brings Sheriff Sarah Barrow Pitt—her one time best friend—back into her life. For her part, the Sheriff has fought crime her entire life. But her latest battle seems to be keeping her own job in a deeply conservative area. She and Win were once close, until an unguarded moment profoundly altered their friendship. Now Win is in trouble—and doesn’t want her help. As evils of the past and present threaten to engulf them both, admitting to their feelings might just pose the most dangerous risk of all.

The Killing Ground


Syd Parker - 2012
    His victims have nothing in common except being pregnant. Detective Rebecca Foxx of the Chicago Detective Division has her hands full trying to catch the murderer before he kills again. She has enough pressure without the overbearing FBI butting in.FBI Special Agent Jordan Gray isn’t sure what she is in for when a midnight call brings her to her boss’s office. She asks her to take an assignment off the records. Investigate the attack of her partner, but don’t let anyone outside her office know.It soon becomes obvious that Rebecca resents the FBI’s intrusion and it seems Jordan’s personal attention. With no breaks in the case, she is forced to accept the FBI’s help, but she’ll be damned if she is taking anything else from Jordan.What follows is a series of missteps and twists and turns that leaves both women wondering if they will ever catch the killer and trying to figure out how to keep their feelings for each other from becoming a distraction.

Worth Dying For


Trin Denise - 2009
    When three key government informants connected to the Massino crime family turn up dead, all signs point to an internal leak and FBI Deputy Director Kyle Edwards decides to take action and Rheyna jumps at the opportunity to join the team. Using friendship and deceit, she soon finds herself deeply immersed in the family of Anthony Big Tony Castrucci, the man slated to become the next Under Boss. Over the course of several months, a rising body count, and countless hours of mind numbing surveillance, Rheyna jeopardizes the mission, her life, and those of her team when she unexpectedly falls in love with Caroline, the mobsters all too beautiful and very straight daughter. If Rheyna thinks things cannot get much worse, she is sadly mistaken when the mole releases her identity, setting Big Tony on a path of destruction like none the bureau has ever known, a path that in the end will produce the unlikeliest hero.

White Roses Calling


Dakota Hudson - 2014
    In the midst of a career making serial murder prosecution she finds herself having an unexpected attraction to the arresting officer in the case - a female police sergeant. The attraction leads her to a confusing journey of self-discovery in regards to her own sexuality.Sergeant Alex Chambers is a talented veteran of the LAPD. Fearless on the streets but gun shy when it comes to relationships - the result of a heartbreak years prior. Despite this she cannot deny the attraction she is feeling towards a certain beautiful - and straight - assistant district attorney.As the women attempt to figure out their emerging relationship, a serial murderer begins targeting female attorneys in the southland. The killings appear to be a copy cat of the case which introduced the two, yet that killer remains behind bars. When it becomes apparent the killer has set his sights on Sydney, Alex vows to protect her -even at the potential cost of her own life.

I'm Gonna Make You Love Me


Tracey Richardson - 2018
    Firing the young Ellie Kirkland for the offense was a no-brainer.But when fate brings the two women together again, Claire finds herself questioning everything she thought she was—especially her cynical, take-no-prisoners approach to life. When she’s not breaking stories or breaking in reporters, Claire’s one outlet is to lose herself in Motown music and in the seat of a cheerful antique Mustang. But lose herself to the much younger, far-too-nice Ellie? There’s no breaking news there. Nope. That’s a story that needs to be spiked before it ever sees print.Ellie Kirkland is at loose ends—and not for the first time. Resistant to following the path her parents insist on, she’s been trying out careers like she’s trying on outfits at Banana Republic. Now that her dream of being a journalist is over, Ellie must begin again. And the woman who crushed that very dream is the very woman who just might hold the key to Ellie’s future.Genre: RomanceEditor: Medora MacDougallCover Designer: Sandy Knowles

Captive Hearts


Natasha West - 2020
    So when she hears about a hostage situation, she runs right towards it. Because when Ashley sinks her teeth into a story, nothing can stop her. Not good sense, not the threat of danger, and certainly not her incredibly laid-back, yet annoyingly sexy camerawoman, Gina Tucker.Gina doesn’t want to jump into danger, and she doesn’t care about chasing the scoop either. She just wants to do her job and go the hell home. If only the ambitious (yet irritatingly hot) reporter she’s been paired up with would stop trying to drag her into disaster for five minutes.But Ashley and Gina are about to find themselves closer to the action than they’d ever dreamed. And with lives on the line - including their own - they’re going to have to learn how to work as a real team just to stay alive. However, the danger they’re facing together might just bring them closer than simple coworkers…‘Captive Hearts’ is a witty romantic comedy packed with adventure and thrills, from the internationally bestselling author of ‘Just Married?’ and ‘The Plus One.’Content note: This story contains a police element, with mentions of implied threat from the police.

Just Enough Light


A.J. Quinn - 2016
    Dana Kingston expected to find herself. Still, when she’s offered an opportunity to partner with Kellen’s operation and develop a medical triage center, Dana follows her heart. Dana falls hard and fast for the enigmatic Kellen. But she quickly realizes Kellen’s heart is as carefully guarded as her past, and breaking through will take time. Except time is the one thing they may not have, because a deadly threat has returned, and this time he plans to finish what he started.

A Dark Horse


Blayne Cooper - 2015
    It happened so slowly she barely noticed... Then it was too late. On the cusp of landing her dream job, Natalie is forced to New Orleans in search of her runaway teenaged brother Joshua. Desperately short of clues, she's grateful that NOPD Detective Adele Lejeune seems to genuinely care. Detective Lejeune's interest in Joshua's disappearance dangerously shifts from professional to intensely personal, as do her feelings for Natalie. The women doggedly navigate the depths of the city's seething underbelly as they work to solve the tangled mystery that is poised to crush Natalie's heart and leave Adele's life in ruins. Best-selling, award-winning author Blayne Cooper exposes the intrigue of the Big Easy in this epic story of dedication, risk and passion.

Sizzle


Kat Evans - 2016
     It’s the summer of 1981. Miami, the sunny vacation destination known for its sandy white beaches, has just been flooded by another powdery substance: cocaine. When Miami Vice Detective Rachel Moss goes on a routine undercover surveillance op, she soon finds herself thrust in the midst of the infamous Colombian drug cartel. Surrounded by danger, deception, and greed, she desires the one woman off limits--the Brazilian bombshell who belongs to the man at the center of it all. Top-notch DEA Special Agent Monica Vega is deep undercover in Miami's lucrative drug trade. When a rookie detective unexpectedly arrives on the scene, Monica is certain she’ll get herself killed. In the sultry and sizzling Miami heat, Monica realizes she would risk her cover and her career just to keep Rachel safe. Bestselling author Kat Evans does it again in the seductive crime drama that explores the city of Miami’s opulent and corrupt past. Get ready to heat things up South Beach style in SIZZLE.

The Acquittal


Anne Laughlin - 2014
    That means finding the real killer, a task made more difficult by Lauren’s unwillingness to cooperate and a large family problem—Lauren’s parents have been kidnapped for a ransom she can no longer pay. Josie has a big challenge of her own: how to redeem herself after losing her job as a detective. When Josie and Lauren join forces to rescue the parents, they discover they make a great team, in more ways than one.Will Josie’s troubled past come back to haunt her? And who did kill Lauren’s lover?