Book picks similar to
Hard Times by Blayne Cooper


lesbian
lgbt
prison
lesbian-fiction

How Sweet It Is


Melissa Brayden - 2013
    Her friends and neighbors all think so. While she enjoys her quiet life running the town bakeshop in Applewood, Illinois, she wonders if there could be more. After losing the love of her life four years prior in a plane crash, Molly thinks she’s ready to navigate the dicey dating waters once again. However, you can’t always pick who your heart latches on to. When Jordan Tuscana, the beautiful younger sister of her lost love, returns to town, Molly finds her interest piqued in a manner she wasn’t prepared for.As secrets are uncovered, Molly and Jordan must figure out how to navigate the difficult terrain of their multi-faceted relationship. Especially when something much deeper seems to be bubbling between them.

Don't Call Me Hero


Eliza Lentzski - 2014
    She knew that coming back after eight years in a war zone wouldn’t be easy, but she’d underestimated the real difficulties of transitioning back to civilian life. War is hell, but the aftermath is endless. Looking for a fresh start, she’s left her friends and career in Minneapolis to be a police officer in northern Minnesota. It’s in the tiny town of Embarrass where she learns more about Julia Desjardin. The city prosecutor is cool, professional, and untouchable. But she and Cassidy have history, and Cassidy isn’t going to let her easily forget that. For all their surface differences, Cassidy and Julia have more in common than they first realized—both are reluctant to hand over their pasts to be judged and studied. But it might take someone just as damaged as the other to help each cope with the skeletons in their respective closets.

Just Jorie


Robin Alexander - 2013
    Jorie Andolini is one of those people and has spent a lot of time envisioning that moment. She bumps into a woman at a grocery store, the woman drops a can of peas, Jorie picks it up, their eyes meet, and two souls connect. But it’s actually a wasted trip to New York, a snowstorm, and a canceled flight home that puts her in the path of Lena Vaughn.Lena has found fault in every man she’s ever dated. Her dream of finding a husband is dwindling with every year that passes. Despite what her friends say, Lena doesn’t believe she has a fear of commitment, she simply hasn’t found a man she wanted to commit to. It comes as a surprise that in fact it is a woman who stirs those desires. For Lena, it’s not really a matter of sexuality, it’s just Jorie.Travel the road to happiness with Jorie and Lena. Two crazy old women, meddling friends, and cattitude are just some sights you’ll see along the way.

Starting from Scratch


Georgia Beers - 2010
    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.

Edge of Darkness


Jove Belle - 2008
    Diana Collins charges at life with an irreverent comment and a right hook, but even her hard-headed attitude may not be enough to protect her heart - or her life.

Always Faithful


Isabella - 2010
    She is left alone to wonder why she and she alone. Survivor's guilt has nothing on the young Major as she is forced to deal with the scars, both physical and mental, left from her ordeal overseas. Before the accident, she couldn't think of doing anything else in her life. In fact, she even had sacrificed love for service, but now she questions the very ideals she once believed in. Was it worth it? Sent Stateside to recover, she finds herself at the Marine Corps base in California where her new job is to inform families of a loved one's death. One of the "informs" will change her life forever. Claire Monroe is your average military wife, with a loving husband and a little girl. She is used to the time apart from her husband. In fact, it was one of the reasons she married him. Then, one day, her life is turned upside down when she gets a visit from the Marine Corps. She finds herself losing a husband but awakening a long-gone side of herself she never thought she would see again. Is she being disrespectful to the memory of her recently dead husband or is she finally being true to who she really is? Can these two women come to terms with the past and finally find happiness, or will their shared sense of honor keep them apart?

Under the Southern Cross


Claire McNab - 1992
    the grandeur of Ayers Rock... legendary Alice Springs... the Great Barrier Reef... the primal beauty of Cape Tribulation…Two women, from different continents, with different values, collide with spectacular results... UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS.American Lee Paynter has built her Small travel agency into an international tour company. Brash, confident, openly lesbian, her great love is her business. Women? They're to enjoy and let go.Alexandra Findlay is pursuing a career in Australian tourism with quiet focus and determination, convinced that her career is the best she can hope for in her arid, closeted emotional existence.Now Alex has been assigned to accompany Lee on the American woman's visit Down Under, to win Lee's company over to Australian tourism. Suddenly Alex's quiet life explodes... And Lee is challenged by a woman unlike any she has ever known.

A Call Away


K.C. Richardson - 2018
    She has questions about her grandparents that she hopes to find the answers to while preparing the farm to sell. Abigail Price, a neighbor of Syd’s grandmother, has lived on her grandmother’s farm in Iowa for most of her life, leaving only to promote her latest novel. In helping Syd find the answers she’s looking for, they develop a mutual attraction and deeper feelings for each other.Syd has to return to her life in Chicago, but will Abby stay in Iowa, or will she give the big city, and love, a chance?Cover Artist: Sheri HalalGenres: Contemporary / Romance

One Degree of Separation


Karin Kallmaker - 2003
    Marian Pardoo, Reference Librarian for the Iowa City Public Library, would be happy if the woman she’s loved for years wasn’t already married. Annoyed by the thoughtless out-of-town Liddy, she isn’t prepared for the seething passion that erupts when Liddy careens into her meticulously controlled life.Liddy has run two thousand miles from a devastating love affair. Now the idea of spending the sweltering summer watching the corn grow is driving her mad. Finding herself lusting after Marian the Librarian seems like yet another cosmic jest at her hopeless love life. The only thing that keeps her sane is the coffee.In a town where everybody knows your name, the names of your exes, pets, and your third grade teacher, Marian is thankful that she and Liddy at least don’t have an ex-girlfriend in common.One degree of separation is too close for comfort.A hilarious, erotic and insightful story of a close-knit community in America's Heartland from master storyteller Karin Kallmaker.

Hearts Aflame


Ronica Black - 2007
    Real estate guru Krista Wyler is soon at the mercy of the Arizona desert when she learns she has inherited her family's business, Wyler Ranch. Her aunt is dying and her uncle is no longer capable of making decisions. Krista reluctantly moves in, but her plan is to sell the ranch as soon as possible. Rae Jarrett, the strong, stubborn vet who has cared for the ranch as well as the horses, objects to her selling and offers her aid. Krista resists the help as well as her attraction to the mysterious vet, but decides instead to turn the ranch into a dude ranch. Soon city folk are knocking at the door ready to pay good money to get a chance to herd the Wyler cattle across Arizona. The plan seems full proof until Krista herself, along with Rae, has to set out on the trail with them. The journey leads to a life changing adventure neither woman could have foreseen and will never forget.

September Canvas


Gun Brooke - 2009
    Her first day in town, Faythe receives unsolicited warnings from the locals to stay away from her neighbor, which only rouses her curiosity. Deanna Moore, a successful illustrator, has dedicated her life to her work and her family. Beleagured by accusations stemming from an event she is powerless to explain or defend, Deanna lives a solitary life. When she meets Faythe she is reluctantly attracted to her, but she fears Faythe will not be able to see beyond the rumors. This is a story of hurt and betrayal, but also of trust and endurance as two women struggle to show faith and dare to love.

Blurred Lines


K.D. Williamson - 2016
    Only a select few know her as a loyal, loving friend. To a fault, she is committed to her family, friends and her job.As a surgeon, Nora Whitmore is used to being in control. The hospital is her life. There is little else. Respected by her colleagues but ridiculed by the residents, Nora takes what she needs and keeps everyone else at arm’s length, creating unexpected enemies.Tragedy brings them together in a clash of personalities. As the chaos around them continues, they find the lines between them blurring. A friendship forms, understanding grows, and attraction soon follows. Together, they may conquer their own misgivings, but will the outside forces keep them apart?Themes: lesbian · medical · police

More Than Friends


Erin Dutton - 2013
    But when she finds herself falling for one of them the delicate balance shifts. Will loyalty keep Evelyn from pursuing an unexpected chance at love?

Trigger


Jessica L. Webb - 2016
    Kate Morrison doesn’t know how or why someone would create human bombs that are triggered by touch. But when Sergeant Andy Wyles blocks Kate from touching the patient who collapses in her Vancouver ER, Kate joins the investigation to demand answers, regardless of the danger. As the two women work together to find those responsible for creating an army of human weapons, Kate finds it increasingly difficult to ignore her feelings for the fiercely protective and unrelentingly perceptive cop. The investigation escalates, and Kate gradually begins to trust Andy, not only with her safety but also with the difficult details of her past. With lives at risk and her heart on the line, Kate must search for a way to defuse the bombs and save her patients, even as she questions the intensifying connection between herself and Andy.

Seven Minutes In Heaven


Kat Fletcher - 2015
    Enter Andi, an old friend she'd all but forgotten.Sixteen years ago, Andi was the independent local girl with short blond hair and a reputation for kissing other girls. Megan's family disapproved of Andi, both for her attitude and her unapologetic sexuality, but the girls became quick friends. When Megan's cousin locked them in a closet for a game of Seven Minutes In Heaven, it was meant to be a cruel joke to drive them apart. Instead, it led to Megan's first kiss... with Andi.Now adults, neither woman has forgotten their brief but tantalizing game. Slowly, they edge their way toward each other once more, but is being together in the adult world only a game... or heaven?