Book picks similar to
In the Black by L. Dreamer


butch-femme
lesbian-romance
romance
second-chances

The Best Lines


Nicole Pyland - 2018
    After earning her Ph. D in Literature, she became a professor at the same college she’d called home as a student. When she loses the only job she’s ever wanted, she’s forced to consider leaving the only home she’s ever really known. Ember Elliot, the reformed player, has finally committed herself to looking for the right woman while struggling to find herself in other ways. She’s tired of being misunderstood by her family and hiding a very important part of herself from them. Being gay isn’t her secret. Wanting to be more than just a manager at her family’s restaurant is and she’s ready to take steps to get what she wants. The two women meet when Ember does her best to keep Eva from being a notch in another woman’s bedpost. They find each other at the time when both of them have lives and careers in flux. It starts with a scribbled warning on a napkin, continues with a tree house kiss and ends with a wall covered in chalkboard paint.

Heart to Heart


Saxon Bennett - 2017
    She returns home to Fenton, Missouri after many years to find her childhood home on fire and her aging mother in need of long-term care. It's more than she can handle, but with the help of her new found friends, she finds a life—and love— she wasn’t expecting. Parker is a self-made woman and owns her own carpentry business. She has had plenty of girlfriends in her life. The only problem is none of them seem to stick around for the long haul. Parker is tired of rejection and has reconciled her fate to being alone. Until the new girl in town hires her to renovate her burned house. Parker is torn between falling for Amy or guarding her heart and playing it safe. Heart to Heart is an emotionally charged novel that explores loss, friendship, and a love that is discovered where you least expect it. This is book one of the True Heart series.

Casting Lacey


Elle Spencer - 2017
    At least that’s how the hyper-private Quinn Kincaid sees it. When her publicist suggests a good old-fashioned sham of a Hollywood relationship, Quinn reluctantly agrees. And that’s how the star of Jordan’s Appeal, TV’s highest rated legal drama, ends up with a fake girlfriend – the very real, very sexy and very gay soap star, Lacey Matthews. In Casting Lacey, Elle Spencer gives us a hilarious new take on a classic storyline, complete with nosy mothers, fawning assistants and two beautiful actresses who might learn about true love. If they don’t kill each other first. 110,000 words

The Last Place You Look


Aurora Rey - 2020
    Oh, wait. She can. Without a career or a place to go when that exact thing happens, she’s forced to move home and take a job at her family’s winery.Taylor Winslow has been in love with Julia since tenth grade. Not the desperate, pining sort, but the kind that never really went away. When Julia reappears, Taylor has a chance to finally win her heart. The only problem? Julia’s hell-bent on making up for lost time by dating every eligible lesbian in town.Signing on as Julia’s wingman may land Taylor in the friend zone for good, but it’s a gamble she’s willing to take. With Taylor in her corner, will Julia find love, and herself, where she least expects it?

Points of Departure


Emily O’Beirne - 2016
    It’s exactly what they all need after the final slog of high school. But when Kit’s suddenly forced to drop out, Liza’s left with three girls she barely knows. There’s Mai, committed only to partying. There’s Tam, who already has her doubts about leaving her sick father behind. And there’s Olivia, so miserable about screwing up exams she’s not even sure she wants to get out of bed, let alone on a plane. Meanwhile Kit’s stuck working double shifts to pay off a debt, wondering if she’ll ever get it together.All Liza wants from this trip is to discover a new version of herself. She just hadn’t planned on doing it without Kit by her side. And they’re all learning that travel isn’t just about the places you go, but who you’re with at the time.

The Woman in 3B


Eliza Lentzski - 2020
    Spill a drink on an airline passenger and be one square closer to winning the company’s secret bingo card game. Twenty-five different challenges, at various levels of difficulty, had to be accomplished within a month’s time. After nearly eight years of being a flight attendant, Alice Kaminski had spilled drinks on plenty of passengers, mostly on accident and during rough air. She didn’t particularly like the idea of the bingo card, but she had massive student debt; the financial incentives were enough to make her momentarily forget the questionable ethics of it all. The challenge was supposed to be simple—that is, until Alice saw her intended target—the beautiful woman seated in 3B. And after that, nothing was simple ever again.

Still Not Over You


Jenny Frame - 2020
    Stories by award winning authors Jenny Frame, Carsen Taite, and Ali Vali.In My Forever Girl by Jenny Frame, when tragedy tore their family apart, Brayden and Faith’s marriage ended in divorce. Four years later, they’re thrown together on a cruise by their friends. Can the spark that refused to die reignite the fire of their love?In Double Jeopardy by Carsen Taite, Katie James didn’t plan on being a runaway bride. Twice. But when the gorgeous, accomplished, former love of her life, Emma Reed, reappears in her life the week of her wedding, will Katie risk everything for another chance with the woman who might be her soul mate?In On the Rocks by Ali Vali, whiskey distiller Preston Maxwell still has no idea why her college sweetheart, Hayley Wyatt, disappeared from her life right after collecting her diploma. But when Hayley shows up to work on the advertising campaign that will take her business to the next level, Preston isn’t letting her get away a second time.Cover Artist: Tammy SeidickGenres: Contemporary / RomanceTags: Lawyers, Reunion Romance

One More Chance


Ali Vali - 2020
    But when she ends up in the ER after an argument gone wrong, she can’t help wondering if the right thing is worth the cost.Harry refuses to let Desi return to an unsafe home, even if that means putting aside her own broken heart. With love on the line, can they give each other one more chance?

Hotel Queens


Lee Winter - 2020
    Over one long night at a bar in Las Vegas, two powerful hotel executives meet, flirt, and challenge each other—having no clue they’re rivals after the same dream deal.Brilliant ice queen Amelia Duxton is a hotel vice president who thrives on control, truth, and efficiency. She’s in no mood for love or the mess it brings. All she wants is to buy the coveted Mayfair Palace—a massive deal that could finally help her land the CEO job in her family’s hotel empire.Fiery Kai Fisher is charming and chaotic and renowned for closing ambitious deals. Her sights are set on snatching the Mayfair Palace out from under the nose of her hated arch rivals, the Duxton family.But when secrets emerge and everything starts to fall apart, how can either of the warring women win—especially when they’ve just met their match?Tags: fire queen, hotel executives, ice queen romance, Las Vegas, opposites-attract romance104,000 words

Beautiful Accidents


Erin Zak - 2019
    Now twenty-eight and a star in the Chicago improv scene, Stevie puts career first. No one’s going to get in the way of her New York City dreams. When her friends beg her to tag along to go see Constance Russo, a deaf psychic, Stevie begrudgingly agrees, as long as no one makes her get a reading. American Sign Language interpreter Bernadette Thompson has two priorities: caring for her mother and working with her best friend, Constance Russo. But when the headstrong Stevie Adams accidentally stumbles into her life, Bernadette feels an instant connection that’s so intense it frightens her. They can’t seem to stop bumping into each other, or deny their attraction. When Stevie’s goal of starring in New York becomes more than a pipe dream, will competing desires prove their love to be everlasting or a fleeting act?Cover Artist: Jeanine HenningGenres: Contemporary / Romance Tags: Children / Families, Big City, Age Gap, CelebrityWords: 86,000

Relic


Anne Hagan - 2014
    These days, she spends life on the road, moving from one case to another until one day when runs run right into the path of Sheriff Mel Crane. The feisty, sexy butch cop is as determined to uncover a counterfeiting ring in her county as Agent Rossi becomes to stop a stalker obsessed with Mel and hot for her company. Dana is under the added pressure of conducting an undercover investigation of her own with a tight deadline: finding and then stopping a ring of smugglers bringing high end designer knock-offs into the states.Could their cases be related? When repeated vicious attacks on Mel and on her home accelerate the danger for her and also their attraction to each other, they become desperate to find the truth and solve the two mysteries. Can they find a way to work together to resolve both cases while coming to terms with their growing feelings for one another? Can Dana move beyond her jilted lover past and find true happiness with a small town Sheriff?

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

Good Enough to Eat


Alison Grey - 2015
    Unlike millions of other women, she isn't tempted by chocolate or junk food. She's a vampire, determined to fight her craving for a pint of O negative.When she goes to an AA meeting, hoping for advice on fighting her addiction, she meets Alana, a woman who battles her own demons.Despite their determination not to get involved, the attraction is undeniable.Is it just bloodlust that makes Robin think Alana looks good enough to eat, or is it something more? Will it even matter once Alana finds out who Robin really is?64.000 words

Not This Time


M.A. Binfield - 2020
    After collapsing on stage, she’s forced to recuperate at her beach house.Madison feels settled for the first time in a long while. She’s back home in Miami and her interior design business is thriving. So what if she’s a little lonely, the universe will send her someone when she’s ready. But Madison soon discovers the universe has a sick sense of humor when Sofia turns out to be her new client. Once upon a time, they were bandmates in America’s hottest girl band. Their biggest secret? They were in love―the forever and ever kind―until Sofia told Madison she was going solo.Flung back into each other’s lives, each is forced to face the hurt they caused the other. But maybe, just maybe, Sofia’s new single, “Not This Time,” is the universe playing matchmaker again.

Born Out of Wedlock


Lyn Gardner - 2016
    Two worlds. Two problems...and two attitudes. Addison Kane does not want for much. With a touch equaling that of Midas and a confidence overstepping the borders of arrogance, Addison’s ability is vast, yet her focus is narrow. Her vision tunneled by haunting memories of her youth, she is blinded to the peripheral. She doesn’t care that life is passing her by. She doesn’t notice as friends fall to the wayside, and the finery that comes from wealth holds no importance for Addison is single-minded. Her goal is the ultimate of paybacks. She needs to succeed like no other before her and prove someone wrong. Joanna Sheppard lives a simple life because she can afford no other. At the age of seventeen, her father falls ill, and for the next eleven years, Joanna’s sole focus is providing for the only parent she has ever known. For the man she loves with all her heart, she gives up her dreams and doesn’t look back. She goes about her days with no complaints, working three jobs so she can pay off her father’s creditors, but there is no light at the end of Joanna’s tunnel...or so she thinks. When an edict from the grave threatens all Addison holds dear, two women from two different worlds are brought together, and a deal is struck. In exchange for uttering a few words, both get what they need...but not what they bargained for. There is a thin line, as they say, but when it is crossed, can love survive when more family secrets are revealed?