Too bad those are the least of their worries.After being severely wounded in a covert operation, ex-Australian Secret Service officer Vivian Andrews has built a quiet life for herself in a small fishing village in Northern Queensland. Or so she believes, until she discovers a rotting corpse in the mangroves. An angry crocodile drags the body away, but not before Vivian snags the man’s money belt which contains nearly $75,000—and a phone number that Vivian knows all too well.At the police station to report her discovery, Vivian finds two government agents who are looking for her. A young man has gone missing and they need an experienced guide to help them negotiate the terrain to find him. Vivian knows they aren’t telling her the whole story but is attracted to the idea of returning to action—and to behavioral scientist Claire Walker.When Claire’s partner is injured, tough, resilient Vivian and smart, intuitive Claire must use every skill they possess to complete their mission despite nearly impenetrable walls of vegetation, trails that lead to deadly traps, the damp simmering heat—and another kind of heat neither of them wishes to acknowledge. Could the woman sleeping next to you be a master thief…or worse?

    She doesn't believe in anything much. Except that people can't be trusted -- certainly not anyone she's ever met. But Jamie knows some things. From experience. She knows if she died, nobody would give a damn. Nobody would even notice. She knows the better she can fight, the safer she'll be. That's why she can't resist the sleek, dark lethality of the weapon -- and the recruiter's promise that yes, if she's strong enough, good enough, she'll get to fire that weapon in combat. She doesn't care about the uniform. And screw the pretend-camaraderie. Only Safe matters -- and if she can do combat, then maybe she can fight her way to Safe. Jamie expects a grueling fight that she might lose. What she never expects is to win love.

    Her friends despair of cheering her up. Even making her mayor of their idyllic Colorado mountain town doesn’t awaken the joyous, passionate Lenny they once knew.But the arrival of the corporate planners from the Wilderness Campaign brings back some of Lenny’s fire. They already act like they own the place, including the arrogant Sloane McHenry. Pinedale—and her fractured family—does not need a Fortune 500 fix.Sloane is always hunting for the complete package and she’s got it in Pinedale. The mayor is a spineless pushover, the site only holds a dilapidated shop owned by the aforementioned mayor and Sloane has a secret weapon that will prove useful should she meet resistance. This project’s not just about profit, either, for reasons she can’t explain—not even to herself.

    When her car is washed into a rising creek, it could be the last thing she does. Lexington (Lex) Walters has run the Rocking W Ranch for the last ten years, alone except for hired hands and her feisty housekeeper, Martha. She doesn’t have the time or inclination for dating, but when fate drops a beautiful woman into her path, how can she resist? With the bridge out of service and the weather against them, Lex and Amanda work together to take care of the ranch. When they stumble across a group of rustlers also stranded by the weather, will the stress destroy their budding relationship?

    Three years later when offered a business opportunity she can't pass by, she decides it's finally time to return home—even though she’s far from sure of her welcome.Katherine Hunter took a different path in the face of loss, throwing herself into her work to fill the emptiness in her heart. She doesn't have the time to date, even if she wanted to. But then fate drops Devon on her doorstep—literally—and Kat begins to question if the life she has painstakingly rebuilt is really enough.Despite Devon and Kat’s powerful attraction, the past stands between them—preventing them from taking a chance on the future. Will what is growing between them be enough to convince them that from this moment on, anything is possible, even love?

    Enjoy a new look at lesbians in love or revisit favorite characters from some of Bold Strokes Books' best selling romances.

    "What do you want from me?" she whispered.Suzanne pressed up into Sage's embrace, her body making demands on the skillful hands, commanding pleasure from the exciting mouth. "I need you to love me...as long as you possibly can".What was it about Sage Bristo that drew women to her? Maybe it was the tall, toned body and androgynous good looks. Perhaps they liked her confidence -- her movements and manner so sure and decisive. Or was it the air of mystery, the temptation of a challenge to unravel?Sage couldn't explain the attraction, but she had certainly benefited from it, at least physically. As her reputation as a Don Juana grew, so did her black book of admiring women. Women who wanted to spoil her, to own her, to please her. Women who would do anything for her. But never the woman she needed the most -- the one woman who could lead her through the realm of desire, to the thing she desires most...

    A war of words soon spirals into a forbidden and passionate love that covers many years.But as the years move on, troubled waters lie ahead.

    And she does. We marvel at every year's batch of annual excellence. Swooningly romantic, shudderingly erotic, poundingly good prose that will tug at your heartstrings (etc) at the beginning of every single year, or every time you open the volume.Love stories from Cheyenne Blue, Andrea Dale, Charlotte Dare, Sacchi Green, Anna Meadows, Radclyffe, and others span the tumultuous, exhilarating roller-coaster ride of romance, from the breathtakingly discoveries of new passion to the poignant depths of a shared lifetime. Love, newly minted or aged like fine wine, is ever young at heart—savor the pleasure of romance with Best Lesbian Romance 2013.

     But her search proves fruitless until she tracks down Jessica – the granddaughter of the elusive woman. An immediate attraction is sparked between the two women but Adriana’s life is already planned out for her and the last thing she needs is any more complications. As both women embark on a journey around the world, they uncover forbidden love, deep regret and are taught that true love should never be denied.

     Returning home to a house full of bad memories only reinforces Dr. Jordan Kalusky’s desire to never get attached. But then the mysterious super-spy Carys Mitchell comes through the door of her ICU. A woman of more questions than answers, Carys has long put her country ahead of her heart. She won’t make the mistake of falling in love. Last time cost her a friend. What would it cost this time? When Carys is forced into retirement, she smells a rat and starts delving into the case surrounding her injury - one that draws Jordan in, deeper and deeper. When Carys rescues Jordan from an assassin, she realizes their lives are twined together whether she wanted them to be or not. When the temptation becomes impossible to resist, Carys has to figure out whether she can protect her heart - or whether she wants to risk opening up to Jordan for the first time. Can they overcome the barriers between them? Or will fate break them apart and destroy their happy ending?

    Through her talk show, Nightlight, she is a fun, anonymous friend and confidante, until one mysterious caller attracts her attention. Behind Sable’s “mask,” Murphy Callahan allows herself to enjoy the no-strings radio relationship—she’s mourned the death of her partner for three years—and ignores the growing attachment as their very public conversations push permissible limits.But when local tradeswoman Riley Burke enters her life, Murphy faces a difficult choice: continue the safe, “night voice” fantasy or risk the reality of falling in love. If only she could have both…

    Detective Inspector Carol Ashton uncovers tangled relationships among six teachers, threats by letter and phone, and another corpse. Plus she is attracted to prime suspect Sybil Quade.

    Losing loved ones made her an automated survivor living life with anger as her driving force until one day she finds herself leading an important taskforce formed to solve a series of gruesome murders. This case forces her to face a reality in her life she hasn't known before: loneliness. Separating herself from family and working relentlessly is not working for her anymore. Challenges she faces with this case are like no other: not much evidence, few clues, and no witnesses. She questions whether she has what it takes to solve these murders before the murderer can strike again. That's when her dreams begin to change everything; they may be able to help her find the clues if she can listen to them. When she goes in search for a woman who may well have seen the killer, she begins to have feelings she had long since locked behind her walls. These feelings are too strong to ignore and they threaten to topple those walls, leaving Kelsey without their protection. Can she cope without hiding from the REAL Kelsey MacGregor? Can she still solve this case, while shutting down emotions, that bubble up at every turn? OR will SSA MacGregor learn to accept who and what she is and stop a serial murderer from killing again? Follow FBI Senior Special Agent Kelsey MacGregor on her journey of self-discovery as she scrambles to stop the killing and finds the woman who will change her life forever.

    She owns a private island with an Inn off the coast of Maine. She treasures her loving relationship with her older brother Jack, his wife, Marie, and dotes on her niece Laura. She has a passionate and supportive relationship with her partner, Brooke, and a successful business that doesn't require her undivided attention allowing her ample time to pursue her true passion, painting.Ren's idyllic world crumbles when Brooke dies. Friends and family worry that Ren may never fully recover from her loss. Dr. Lindy Caprini, a multi-lingual professor, is looking for an artist to illustrate the book she is writing comparing fairy tales from around the world. To make working together on on the book easier, Lindy take a year sabbitical and leaves friends, home, and boyfriend in Pennsylvania and moves to Ren's island. Ren soon discovers that the beautiful and mischievous Lindy is a talented author and a witty conversationalist. Their collaboration on the book leads to a close, light hearted, and flirtatious friendship. Will their collaboration end there?