So when the Court decides to hear a case about gay marriage, Justice Victoria Willoughby must navigate the press, sway at least one of her conservative colleagues, and confront her own fraught feelings about coming out. ­­Just when she decides she’s up to the challenge,­­ she learns that the very brilliant, very out Genevieve Fornier will be lead counsel on the case.Genevieve isn’t sure which is causing her more sleepless nights: the prospect of losing the case, or the thought of who will be sitting on the bench when she argues it."With flashbacks to the main characters’ time at Harvard Law, we plainly see what kind of choices and sacrifices that generation was forced to make, to achieve what they wanted to achieve.......The author is to be commended for portraying this historical backdrop without judgment but with full emotional intensity. Blythe Rippon leads the reader right into that maelstrom of history, which mangled so many gay lives.......This backstory enhances the importance of the main storyline and shows why the decision for marriage equality was a landmark case. And it is fitting that the story at the end points at the next frontier, the fight for transgender rights." --Lambda Literary

    . . Alyssa has crushed on her client, Mia, for months. So, when Mia invites Alyssa over for an all-girls’ “game night,” she’s all-in. But Alyssa quickly finds the stakes are much higher than she anticipated when she learns the name of the game is poker -- strip poker. Alyssa must up her ante when she realizes she faces stiff competition -- and that there's much more to lose than clothing…

    Spend a couple years running her hometown library, get job experience, then get the hell out of Small Town, USA. The last thing she expected was to meet someone like Savannah. Savannah loved life in the small town slow lane, even if it meant hiding who she really was. She was content until she met Kirsten and remembered what was missing in her life. Girl meets girl and everything is perfect. Almost. Sort of. Except for the part where they have to keep their budding relationship secret because Kirsten is worried about getting fired and Savannah never told her mother that she was into girls. Oops. To the world they might be just friends, but they'll have to stand up to prejudice and their own fears if they want their girl meets girl story to have a happy ending!

    A sexy, sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, contemporary romance that gently exposes the damage to heart and soul when we fail to look beneath the surface for what truly matters.Mia Sanchez is rocked when her partner of four years, Brenda Montalba, informs her that she has fallen out of love with her and that she's planning on leaving town for several months to give them time to "think about their future together." Mia hadn't thought words could be more painful until Brenda followed up hers with, "You've really let yourself go over the last few years." Alone, hurt, and embarrassed, Mia decides to take the advice of her sales assistant and friend Mathew "Goody" Good, the self crowned Queen of Getting Dumped when he tells her, "The best way to get over them is to get even."

    and too scared to let the world see any of those qualities. Interacting with her restaurant coworkers makes her want to melt into the floor. They're all beautiful, outgoing, and confident - terrifying to a shy lesbian. When Chloe somehow catches the most intimidating girl's eye, she wonders if their mutual attraction could develop into more. Waitressing isn't Jennie's passion, but then neither is anything else. Adrift in life, the tattooed beauty only cares about weed and her motorcycle. At least this job's paying the bills until she can move on to better things. Fooling around with coworkers isn't in her plans - but once she notices the resident wallflower is drop-dead gorgeous, those plans change. Falling for Chloe, though? That's another matter. Will Jennie chew Chloe up and spit her out? Or could Jennie be the first person to see Chloe for who she really is?

    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.

    Practicing law by day, she moonlights as a singer in a rock band by night. Young, beautiful, smart and talented, her life is nothing if not busy. So, why does her boss think she has time to not only train, but spend her spare time babysitting the lead actress in the TV series he’s producing? With a small contingent of both male and female fans waiting for their chance and one very persistent special friend, Jessie is already on the verge of overwhelmed. Not sure where her life is going, if anywhere, she’s still hiding from her past. The fact that her favorite actress just walked through her door isn’t helping either. Actress Stephanie Winters arrives in Ohio determined to just ‘do her job’ and go home. Still depressed after her latest failed relationship, she has no desire to take on a new role, let alone a part in a new TV series. Still, she does need to work and keep her career going. At least that’s what her agent keeps telling her. When she meets Jessica Drake for the first time, she becomes intrigued by the emotionally detached, yet gorgeous lawyer. No longer interested in one night stands or long distance relationships, Stephanie still finds herself drawn to Jessie. Can Jessie move beyond her inability to trust someone again? Is Stephanie Winters worth the pain? For that matter, is Stephanie willing to break her own self-imposed loneliness and wait for Jessie?

    But when an average day ends in a tragic accident, Tru must embark upon a quest to regain the life she once had with her lover, while sinister outsiders take advantage of the precarious situation. Yearning, revelations, and lurking danger pull at the threads of a once-idyllic life. As You Were is a romantic story driven by mystery and suspense.

    Yet, as too many lovers have discovered too late, though Joanna's bedroom door is always open, she keeps her wounded heart under lock and key.Knowing too well Joanna's "love 'em and leave 'em" reputation, beautiful Fiona Maddison is determined to keep their friendship platonic -- unless she can break through Joanna's impenetrable public persona. But as the sexual tension between them starts to smolder, Fiona's resolve starts to melt.Editor: Christine CassidyGenre: Romance

    But wealth and esteem came second only to the passionate, albeit illicit, love she felt for Princess Anima. Their secret liaison came to an abrupt end when Anima’s duty to her father and the Kingdom tore them apart; triggering an ancient curse. Heartbroken and cast in stone, Maxima was left yearning for her paramour. Finding Anima’s soul was the only way to break the curse and reclaim her lover. Rich and beautiful, Sara Laramie grew up as one of the most sought after socialites in Boston’s elite circles. A failed relationship caused her to retreat from the social scene and instead focus all her attention on starting a private gallery. Finally, with a purpose in life, she thought she had enough to keep her busy. That was until she received an unexpected request to showcase the statue of a formidable ancient Greek female warrior in her gallery. The arrival of the statue coincided with the appearance of a gorgeous flint-eye stranger who with a single kiss spun Sara’s life out of control.

    The last thing she expects is for her foster brother and the story of a missing toddler to turn her life upside down. Selma Flores has been helping Karen and Derek Bering search for their missing daughter for years. She isn't prepared when some sensationalist air time on a show about missing children actually bears fruit. Even less expected is how drawn Piper and Selma become to one another amidst a slew of family drama...53,900 words

    When breast cancer ends their life together, Poppy finds herself at a loss as to how to begin to live again. Julia Johnson is running to Carly’s Sound with her newborn daughter Tallulah in search of the path to her future. On a chance meeting two years after Carly’s death, these two women form a bond of friendship that lays the foundation for something more. “Carly’s Sound” will bring you from New Orleans to a five star resort in the Caribbean as Julia and Poppy struggle to define their lives and Poppy’s past comes back to haunt her – literally.

    Leading a quiet, solitary existence as the city librarian, she is busily preparing for a special appearance by a mysterious new author whose first novel, Gold Fever, has become an instant best-seller. But the news that Ashley Maclean is also coming to town quickly turns Kate’s carefully controlled world upside down.Growing up together, Kate and Ashley used to be inseparable, first as best friends, then as lovers. Never doubting Ashley’s love, Kate thought their lives were mapped out – that they would always be together. But Ashley’s family had other ideas. After catching the young lovers together, Ashley’s mother forced them to separate. Upon receiving the news that Ashley was about to be married, a distraught Kate left home, vowing never to let anyone get close enough to hurt her again.Although Kate had convinced herself that the pain was behind her, the very mention of Ashley’s name brings all of the old memories – and feelings – rushing back. What will she do if Ashley wants to see her again? Even worse – what if Ashley doesn’t?

    For Blayne Keller, being in the wrong place at the wrong time just might turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to her - once she stops running for her life.

    But she doesn't have a choice when an injury forces her off the engine and into the office. Her first case, a fire at a downtown bar, is a clear-cut instance of insurance fraud, or so she thinks.But the property co-owner and prime suspect, Alexi Clark, has spent too many years battling her own demons to quietly go to jail for a crime she didn't commit. Soon Alexi is fighting both the false charges against her and an unexpected attraction to the investigator determined to prove them.Amid a blaze that threatens to consume them both, Kate and Alexi redefine love and trust.