The Flywheel


Erin Gough - 2015
    Preferring chaos to bullying, Del makes it her mission to save her dad's crumbling café, the Flywheel, while he 'finds himself' overseas. Accompanied by her charming troublemaker best friend Charlie, Del sets out to save the cafe, keep Charlie out of prison, and maybe get a date with Rosa, the beautiful flamenco dancer from across the road. But when life is messy enough as it is, can girl-on-girl romance ever have a happy ending? This hilarious and accident-prone novel is about how to be heartbroken and how to fall in love; about rising above high-school drama and wrestling with problems that are (almost) too big. It speaks directly to teens and assures them that they’re not alone, and does it all with an abundance of heart.

Yellow Jessamine


Caitlin Starling - 2020
    Her family is dead, her country is dying, and when something foul comes to the city of Delphinium, the brittle, perilous existence she's built for herself is strained to breaking.When one of her ships arrives in dock, she counts herself lucky that it made it through the military blockades slowly strangling her city. But one by one, the crew fall ill with a mysterious sickness: an intense light in their eyes and obsessive behavior, followed by a catatonic stupor. Even as Evelyn works to exonerate her company of bringing plague into her besieged capital city, more and more cases develop, and the afflicted all share one singular obsession: her.Panicked and paranoid, she retreats to her estate, which rests on a foundation of secrets: the deaths of her family, the poisons and cures that hasten the dissolution of the remaining upper classes, and a rebel soldier, incapacitated and held hostage in a desperate bid for information. But the afflicted are closing in on her, and bringing the attention of the law with them. Evelyn must unearth her connection to the spreading illness, and fast, before it takes root inside her home and destroys all that she has built.

I Can't Think Straight


Shamim Sarif - 2008
    As Tala’s wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.Moving between the vast enclaves of Middle Eastern high society and the stunning backdrop of London’s West End, I Can’t Think Straight explores the clashes between East and West, love and marriage, conventions and individuality, creating a humorous and tender story of unexpected love and unusual freedoms.

Not Since You


Fiona Riley - 2019
    Boarding her honeymoon cruise alone and decidedly unmarried wasn’t her intention. Neither was running into her high school love on board. Lexi looks so confident, and so hot, and so irresistible... How could she have let this woman get away?Lexi Bronson hasn’t had a permanent address in almost a decade and couldn’t be happier. Life is good bartending for a luxury cruise line—open seas, warm beaches, beautiful women, and no unnecessary anchors—until the woman who broke her heart shows up on her ship, and all those dreams of forever come rushing back.When passion flares, will the storm that rages shipwreck them both?

What Memories are Made of


Diana Jayne - 2021
    She’s had to rebuild her whole life from scratch since losing her daughter and her marriage. But Chelsea’s a people person with hope and humour and love to spare.She’s a woman on a mission now; throwing herself into her job at a motorcycle shop, and dedicating her free time to taking disabled children for rides on her motorbike. Walled-up, divorced banker Madeleine Jones is not an impulsive person. But for some reason, that’s exactly how she acts around Chelsea, the cute woman with a love for motorbikes that she meets in the most unlikely of places. Is it her son giving her a nudge from the other side? Why does she suddenly need to know everything about Chelsea?Before long the two women bond over their shared experiences and reflections of a life that didn’t go to plan. But are they ready to put aside the past and discover something new? Something fresh and exciting?A heart-warming, slow-burn lesbian romance about finding love through loss.

If You Must Know


Jamie Beck - 2020
    Amanda follows the rules—at the school where she works; in her community; and as a picture-perfect daughter, wife, and mother-to-be. Erin follows her heart—in love and otherwise—living a bohemian lifestyle on a shoestring budget and honoring her late father’s memory with a passion for music and her fledgling bath-products business.The sisters are content leading separate but happy lives in their hometown of Potomac Point until everything is upended by lies that force them to confront unsettling truths about their family, themselves, and each other. For sisters as different as these two, building trust doesn’t come easily—especially with one secret still between them—but it may be the only way to save their family.

Good Spin


Monica McCallan - 2019
    Not because she needs a girlfriend, but because she needs an easier way to come out to college friends that she hasn’t seen in five years. Her job is about controlling the narrative, and as she sees it, there's no reason why that can't extend to her personal life. When her next door neighbor ends up single a few weeks before the wedding, problem solver Emery realizes inviting Jordan along and faking romance for a week in Hawaii could be perfect for both of them. Jordan Davis doesn’t worry about much, especially what will happen tomorrow. Life’s too short to plan every second, and it usually doesn’t work out anyway. When Emery invites her on an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii, it’s not a hard sell. She’ll get to enjoy a tropical vacation with one of her closest friends, and she’ll get to spend more time with Emery, away from Emery’s hectic work schedule back in Austin. But, there’s more to the request than Emery’s letting on, and there’s more to Jordan’s willingness to help than she wants to admit. It’s only eight days, but time passes differently when there’s nowhere to be and nowhere to hide. Faking it is all about the spin, but when lines begin to blur, both women have to decide if falling in love for real is worth the jump.

Tipping the Velvet


Sarah Waters - 1998
    Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.

What the Heart Remembers Most


M. Ullrich - 2020
    Jax Levine and Gretchen Mills fell madly in love in college and never looked back. They built a great life together, but careers, a baby, and years of mounting tension later, they are living separate lives and their once grand love is forgotten. After an accident, Gretchen suffers a brain injury that erases years of her memories. She wakes in the hospital with Jax at her side and everything seems normal…except Jax won’t look her in the eye and their baby boy is now a rambunctious toddler. Every line drawn between Jax and Gretchen starts to blur while Gretchen fights to figure out which of her most haunting recollections are real, and which are fake.Is it possible for this accident to be the second chance neither Jax nor Gretchen knew they wanted?Cover Artist: Tammy SeidickGenres: Contemporary / Romance

Finley


Ella Frank - 2016
    But that’s all about to change.On his thirtieth birthday, he receives the one thing he never dared hope for. Something that was promised to him years earlier—a note. One simple sentence from the man he’s never been able to forget.Six words will forever change the course of their lives.Brantley Hayes has it all. Or so he thinks. When he first made the decision to take a job down in Florida, his family thought he was crazy. But, after years of living in the quiet beach town, he finally feels a sense of community. He’s surrounded himself with friends who are like family, has a job he loves, and owns a spectacular beachfront property that is his sanctuary.Yet he still feels unfulfilled, as if a piece of the puzzle is missing, and he knows exactly which piece it is. On an impulse, he follows through with a promise he made years earlier. A promise to call home the one he sent away.Nothing is as simple as it seems.After years of separation, the former lovers are reunited, but Brantley wasn’t expecting to encounter the high walls now guarding Daniel’s heart. Daniel may not be the same person he was when he left, but he knows that the first step to healing is the note in his hand.

The Breath Between Waves


Charlotte Anne Hamilton - 2021
    Heartbroken, Penelope isn’t looking forward to the weeklong journey. Or that her parents want her to find a husband in America. To make matters worse, she also has to share a cabin with a complete stranger.Ruby Cole, her spunky Irish roommate, is unlike anyone Penelope ever met. They become fast friends as they bond over crushing family expectations and sneaking into lush parties together. That Ruby likes women, too, comes as a surprise to Penelope, but she knows their affair can only be temporary. Because as soon as the Titanic arrives in New York, Penelope will have to marry someone of her father’s choosing.Before long, though, they’ll both have to decide what–and who–is really worth fighting for.

Unlikely Hero


Sean Michael - 2009
    Brock never expected to hear from Eric again, but he never got over the man, either. When Eric comes to him to help find the three-year-old Josie, there's no way Brock can turn him down. He has the money and the contacts Eric needs, and he can't let Eric walk out of his life again. Not after all these years.Brock has no idea what he's letting himself in for. Together, Eric and Josie turn Brock's world upside down while they work with police and private security to find the people who took Josie, and to keep Eric and Josie safe while they do. Even as they get to know each other again, Brock has to fight the feelings he still has for Eric, at least for time being, which just makes it all that much harder. Can Eric and Brock find out who wants to hurt them before it's too late, or will Brock fall off his pedestal as Eric's hero?

On the Square


Brenda Murphy - 2020
    So what if twenty years of neglect has left the building in need of a major renovation?Seduced by Mai’s charm and determination, hard-edged contractor Dale Miller agrees to take on her renovation project.After a spring storm causes significant damage to the building and renovation costs exceed Mai’s budget, Dale offers her a deal, but is it a price Mai is willing to pay?

All My Mother's Lovers


Ilana Masad - 2020
    But when Maggie’s mom, Iris, dies in a car crash, Maggie returns home only to discover a withdrawn dad, an angry brother, and, along with Iris's will, five sealed envelopes, each addressed to a mysterious man she’s never heard of.In an effort to run from her own grief and discover the truth about Iris—who made no secret of her discomfort with her daughter's sexuality—Maggie embarks on a road trip, determined to hand-deliver the letters and find out what these men meant to her mother. Maggie quickly discovers Iris’s second, hidden life, which shatters everything Maggie thought she knew about her parents’ perfect relationship. What is she supposed to tell her father and brother? And how can she deal with her own relationship when her whole world is in freefall?Told over the course of a funeral and shiva, and written with enormous wit and warmth, All My Mother's Lovers is the exciting debut novel from fiction writer and book critic Ilana Masad. A unique meditation on the universality and particularity of family ties and grief, and a tender and biting portrait of sex, gender, and identity, All My Mother's Lovers challenges us to question the nature of fulfilling relationships.

Strong Enough


Melanie Harlow - 2017
    I wasn’t looking for Derek Wolfe.I wasn’t looking for anybody. All I wanted was to start a new life in America. But when I found myself stranded here with no place to go, he came to my rescue, offering me a place to stay.He’s smart, successful, and sexy as hell—I can barely sleep knowing he’s right down the hall. And when the chemistry between us explodes one night with fierce, fiery passion, it’s hard to deny there’s something real there.But he does.He says he was drunk. He says it was a one-time thing. He says he’s not into guys and what we did meant nothing.He’s lying. Because it happened again, and again, and again. And it’s better every time. I know we could be good together, and I want the chance to try, but I’m done hiding. If he’s not strong enough to admit the truth, I’ll have to be strong enough to walk away.