Book picks similar to
Holding Fire by Annelise Sorrell


lesbian
crime
trope-opposites-attract
sex-not-explicit-tame

Good Composition


Lily Seabrooke - 2020
    An unsatisfying job, a relationship gone south, she’s heading nowhere fast—until she sends one little text to an old best friend, estranged with time.But bringing Aubrey back into her life changes everything for Erin, as the last things holding her relationship together fall apart. With nothing left to lose, what’s stopping her from leaving home, crossing the country and staying with Aubrey instead?In the middle of struggles with her self-image, with health and with work trying to start a new life starting from scratch, she finds herself falling into something unfamiliar—she never thought she might be a lesbian, but before long, her best friend starts to feel like maybe more than a friend.Good Composition is a 50k-word low-angst friends-to-lovers romance. Content warning for an emotionally abusive relationship, hospitalization, an eating disorder, open-door sex scenes and Britney—just Britney. Pick it up for a lighthearted, fluffy and easy read that feels like a shippy fanfiction or a teenage romantic daydream!

First Comes Love


Frankie Duncan - 2020
    She is used to calling the shots in her London life but a move to Scotland changes everything.When she meets a beautiful, younger woman, Libby, who sees the world quite differently, her life is turned on its head. Everybody loves Libby but will she be able to win Brogan's heart?A slow-burn, romantic tale of new beginnings, hope and family.Please also note that this book contains some hot and steamy sex scenes and a little angst. You have been warned.This novel was first published under the title of Reclamation in July 2020. First Comes Love is the edited and extended republished novel of the original work.

Crossing Into Brooklyn


J.A. Armstrong - 2020
    She spends her days creating fantastical realms full of magic, elves, and other mythical creatures. It’s not unusual for her characters to find true love. But Carter has lost faith in finding her Happily Ever After. Aside from her doubts about finding real-life love, Carter’s greatest nemesis is the chaos on her desk and in her computer files. Her best friend, Ali, thinks she has the solution: hire Brooklyn Brady to “organize” Carter’s life. Carter is skeptical. Brooklyn’s picture and her online profile pique Carter’s curiosity, and she agrees to meet Brooklyn in New York.A coffee meeting followed by a marathon dinner pave the way for a working relationship between Carter and Brooklyn. Brooklyn Brady quickly captures more than Carter’s interest. Leaving old wounds in the past and taking a chance with someone new isn’t in Carter’s plans. Brooklyn’s unassuming nature, her intelligence, humility, and her honesty test the limits of Carter’s resolve. The question for Carter is whether she can allow Brooklyn to clear more than the chaos from her desk. Can Brooklyn resolve the turmoil in Carter’s heart? Will Crossing Into Brooklyn finally help Carter find her Happily Ever After?

No Place Left to Run


Zarah Detand - 2015
    He doesn't want his time spoiled by the constant presence of bodyguards, and he is certainly not willing to have someone tail him each time he so much as goes to the shops. No way, no how. It's a good thing, then, that his head of security relents on the matter—or so he leads Samuel to believe.The break is starting to look even better when Samuel runs into his new neighbor. Ryan Halston is smart and hot and, quite possibly, everything Samuel wants. However, he doesn't know that Ryan is part of the rejected security detail, tasked with protecting him from the dangerous attentions of an unknown stalker.

Sworn to the Night


Craig Schaefer - 2018
    When she sleeps, though, she dreams of other lives; she dreams of being a knight, in strange wars and strange worlds. On the other side of the city, Nessa Roth is a college professor trapped in a loveless marriage, an unwilling prop in a political dynasty. She's also a fledgling witch, weaving poppets and tiny spells behind closed doors. When Marie's case draws her into Nessa's path, sparks fly. What comes next is more than a furtive whirlwind affair; it's the first pebbles of an avalanche. Nessa and Marie are the victims of a curse that has pursued them across countless lifetimes; a doom designed to trap them in a twisted living fairy tale, with their romance fated to end in misery and death. They aren't going out without a fight. As they race to uncover the truth, forces are in motion across the country. In Las Vegas, a professional thief is sent on a deadly heist. In a Detroit back alley, witches gather under the guidance of a mysterious woman in red. Just outside New York, an abandoned zoo becomes the hunting-ground for servants of a savage and alien king. The occult underground is taking sides and forming lines of battle. Time is running out, and Nessa and Marie have one chance to save themselves, break the curse, and demand justice. This time, they're writing their own ending.

Psycho Romeo


Jocelynn Drake - 2017
    He loves the club scene, hanging with his friends, and flirting with whomever catches his eye. He certainly isn’t going to stop living his life just because some would-be stalker starts sending him threats. But it all changes when Geoffrey is drugged and wakes up half naked in his own home with a new message from his stalker. He needs help and there’s only one person he trusts… Protective Agent Sven Larsen has been fighting Geoffrey’s flirtatious advances for months, even though he’s impossibly drawn to the man. There’s no way he can be around him twenty-four/seven and not finally crack. But one look at Geoffrey’s haunted eyes, and he knows there’s no way he’s letting Geoffrey walk out of Ward Security without him. Even if it means breaking his own rules, he will keep Geoffrey safe.Trigger warning: There is a very short section with sexual assault that some could find upsetting.

Sarah's Lover


Saxon Bennett - 2018
    She thought she had it all - until her lover threw her out for a younger woman. Now Sarah is hunting for a new place to live. A place where she can start over. When she finds the perfect house, she has no idea she is about to meet the woman of her dreams. Kristen fell off a ladder while remodeling her Victorian house and died instantly. She had a lot of unfinished business in life and is destined to roam the rooms of her house, all alone. When Sarah moves in, Kristen is overjoyed for the company. She has been lonely far too long. However, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. This is a romantic journey of two star-crossed lovers—one woman in the physical world, the other woman in the spiritual world. Can they overcome the great divide to find true love in each other’s arms?

Stacking the Deck


Charlie Cochet - 2020
    As head of Cyber Security at Four Kings Security, Jack spends his days working with high-tech systems. Life for Jack is pretty uneventful—despite working with his brothers-in-arms—and he finds himself longing for a little excitement.Be careful what you wish for.Two years ago, Fitz Harlow captured Jack’s heart and walked away with it. Now he’s back.Fitz spent the last two years picking up the pieces of his life after a disastrous end to a ten-year relationship. After much therapy, and ice cream, Fitz leaves the fashion world behind and returns home to St. Augustine to open his own high-end salon, Hair Comes Trouble. Two years later, Fitz finally has the quiet, peaceful life he’s wanted for so long. There’s only one thing missing, or rather, one man missing, but Fitz has his doubts. With Jack, he’s not just gaining a boyfriend, he’s gaining a boyfriend, his family of mischief-magnet ex-Green Berets, and one highly opinionated Belgian Malinois.Fitz and Jack discover their connection has only grown stronger over time, thanks in part to meddling friends, but just as they start to pick up where they left off, someone takes objection to their reunion. Danger hides in the shadows, a stalker determined to keep Fitz out of Jack’s life, no matter the cost. With the odds stacked against them, can Jack and Fitz win a battle against an unknown enemy, or will Jack lose Fitz forever?The Kings: Wild Cards series is a spin-off of the Four Kings Security series.

Late Night Roommates


Jill Gates - 2011
    A sexy, steamy story of lesbian sex and seduction between two women, redhead and a blonde.

Courting the Countess


Jenny Frame - 2016
    The child of a loveless marriage, witness to her father’s infidelities and her mother’s pain, Harry has no intention of ever falling in love.Annie Brannigan is a survivor, remaining positive through hardships. As an agency housekeeper, she moves from post to post with her daughter Riley, taking care of people who have everything she will never have. Annie’s greatest wish is to find her happy ever after.Can love restore the countess’s heart and the crumbling Axedale Hall, or will the first foundations of love turn to dust?

Snowbound


Cari Hunter - 2011
    Get someone here in one hour or I’m going to put her out of her misery.”An ultimatum that forever changes the lives of police officer Sam Lucas and Dr. Kate Myles.When heavy snowfall isolates the small English village of Birchenlow, a violent robbery shatters the community. Taken as a hostage and stranded with the increasingly desperate criminals, Sam is seriously injured during an ill-fated escape attempt. Already struggling to save the lives of the villagers caught up in the raid, Kate volunteers to walk straight into the lion’s den. Cut off from help, with only each other to rely on, Sam and Kate must find a way to fight the odds and stay alive if the growing attraction between them is to survive.

Blood Slave


Robin Roseau - 2014
    She is a gifted artist with a good day job as a designer and at night, she creates beautiful, delicate paintings. But one evening, Melissa makes a mistake, and in a world ruled by vampires, justice is swift and harsh. This is a paranormal novel of 155,000 words. Author's Note: This is not a light, happy novel. It does not quite reach the level of horror, but it is not that far off. If the bride ransom night from Fox Mate put you off, then you may not care for this novel. I tried for horror, but I don't believe I quite reached it.

Sword of the Guardian


Merry Shannon - 2006
    But in the midst of a birthday celebration, her world shatters when a mysterious assassin takes her brother's life. Shasta, the only remaining heir to the throne, narrowly escapes the assassin's blade thanks to the intervention of a traveling acrobat named Talon.With the threat of another attempt on Shasta's life imminent, her father declares that the young hero will be come the Princess's bodyguard. But what Shasta doesn't know is that her new guardian has a very well-kept secret: he is actually a she.Talon and Shasta soon grow closer than anyone, especially her father, could have predicted. Will the truth of her guardian's secret change their relationship forever?Book 1 of The Legends of Ithyria Series

Anyone But You


K.G. MacGregor - 2014
    Taking the media’s heat for Nation’s Oil is Corporate Communications Director Cathryn Mack, an old pro when it comes to spinning the facts in her company’s favor.Stuck in Duluth to handle the press during eight weeks of cleanup, she finds a silver lining when Stacie Pilardi pops up on SappHere, a mobile app that locates nearby lesbians. Stacie is smart, funny, sexy as hell, and wants a long-term relationship as much as Cathryn—which is to say, not at all.It’s a perfect arrangement until they realize they’re rivals—Stacie is head of the Clean Energy Action Network, in town to protest the greed and recklessness of oil companies and the havoc they wreak on the environment.It’s best for everyone involved if they end this, and that’s exactly what they intend to do. Eventually.

My Sister's Keeper


Mavis Applewater - 2004
    She just wants to be in love. Sound simple? Well, there's a catch. She wants to be deeply in love with someone who is also deeply in love with her. Jenny must face the past and the present when she discovers her lover's infidelity and her first love walks back into her life. Her life becomes even more complicated when old feelings surface for her first love -- the woman who broke her heart as a teenager, then entered the church and became "Sister Rachel". In her third published book, Mavis Applewater brings to the printed page a perfect combination of heat and romance, with just the right amount of adventure.