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?

    Upon the distant shore prowls an ancient sea god kept captive by a generations-old spell, a spell that Meriel alone must protect.Meriel's life has been lonely and unchanging--until the arrival of Nor. Nor's shape is that of a woman, but her heart belongs to the sea. Even though Nor is also held captive by Meriel's spell, she shows kindness to the isolated witch. Nor sparks a passion within Meriel, defying every law that binds them both.This award-winning short story ("The Witch Sea" won first place in the "Kissed by Venus" Fresh Voices short story competition) is a dark fantasy tale of love, loss and the price of freedom.

    Good thing vampire teeth are indestructible…or so she thinks—until a night of passion with her girlfriend, Alana, has unexpected consequences.6,200 words; short story

    Which one carries the highest cost? And what price is worth paying? The quiet, tough Aya Lawson has been forced to leave her career as a professional boxer behind and now scrambles for a purpose. Gwen Davies is a chatty barista, and artist in her free time, who lives with clinical depression. They both have battles to fight but they also have something else in common - pining over the woman of their dreams. When daydreams one day meet reality, things get complicated. Is it best to stay with what’s safe? Or to fall and maybe break? If they do take the chance and break, who will get back up?

    

    Jane doesn’t realize she’s about to embark on her honeymoon until the bride, Natasha, shows up on her doorstep, with luggage. Jane’s roommate, Ethan, can’t stop drooling over sexy Natasha. Luckily, after the demise of the local newspaper, Jane has just taken a job at the public library where she has lots of coworkers smarter than she is that she enlists to help her figure a way out of this accidental marriage. Natasha believes if she can get Jane to consummate their marriage that, according to California’s new state rulings on same-sex marriage, she’ll be a US citizen. But is that all she’s really after? Or does true romance begin to bloom between Natasha and Jane? If Jane’s part-time girlfriend, Dorothy, has anything to say about it, the answer is no!

    Georgia and Lillian find themselves posted to a new Radar station on the south coast of England, where they share a small room and try to keep their growing feelings for each other a secret, even to themselves. When Lillian invites Georgia to her home for a weekend visit, the floodgates burst and a passion both of them have been holding back erupts. What starts as a need for mutual relief quickly escalates into a wild, physical passion that neither can control.

    Ran away from my crazy religious parents, ran away from the judgment, and ran away from what I couldn't accept about myself. And all of that wouldn't be so bad... if I hadn't also run away from my best friend. But now I'm forced by circumstance to come back. And I'm terrified. Because I made a lot of mistakes in leaving, some of the worst mistakes of my life. I don't know if I've grown up enough to face them. I don't know if I can face Amy. Or, even worse, if she doesn't forgive me... I don't know if I can survive walking away again. Nobody has ever made me feel as good and as bad as she does.  I've never been as close to anyone as I was to Jessica. But she just left when I was at my most vulnerable. She did worse than that, in fact. There are things I don't know if I can forgive, things I never planned to forgive. And then she just waltzes back into my life unexpectedly I'm supposed to just forgive her? What if I don't want to forgive her? But that's the problem, I do want to forgive her. I want to have her as my best friend again... and so much more. But I'm terrified of what is going to happen if I allow myself to love her again. This is a standalone lesbian romance novel with HEA ending!

    Janet ran away from forbidden love 15 years ago. She did what her parents wanted, married the boy who got her pregnant and became a mom. Now a working single parent struggling to take care of her father and a teenage boy, she is still trying to do the right thing and keep everyone happy while denying her own true desire.It’s only when her boy gets in trouble with the law that she realizes that she can’t do it alone. Everyone needs love and to feel desire. When Officer Susan Carter reenters her life, will she take the safe way out or risk everything to experience the heart-melting passion she had so long ago?HER KISS is a short story by author Willow Hawke and contains sexual themes. It is not intended for readers under the age of 21.

    When they meet, there is a connection for them both. But can they overcome their fears, regrets and an old love to find a future in each other?BadSquirrel's Page on The Athenaeum

    Now he’s dodging a posse of angry yobs, his head reeling from more than the missile that just hit him. Just who is this stranger sprinting at his side? By the time it’s safe for him and Raf to emerge from their refuge, there’s a definite connection between them. And yet there’s something about Raf’s story that doesn’t quite add up. Will Barney's I-dared-to-believe dreams go up in smoke or is this New Year’s Eve the one Where Forever Started?

    A decade ago, her heart was broken by a devastatingly beautiful woman–the woman she thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. Now, ten years later, two of her oldest friends, Elizabeth and Heather, are getting married in Vermont. And they have a request: They want the old gang to take that infamous road trip they always talked about in college but never set into motion.The brides’ not-so-secret goal: to enable Andee and her ex, Robin Barnes, to finally patch things up.So, four college friends hop in a green convertible and begin a thousand-mile road trip that Andee isn’t quite sure she’ll survive. They visit the strangest places and encounter some wild adventures, and throughout it all, Andee struggles to come to terms with her conflicting feelings for Robin.Because, despite her misgivings, Andee is falling in love with Robin all over again.This is the complete collection of the three “Thousand Mile Love Story” novellas about two women who reconnect, forgive and forget, and love again; and the funny mishaps a thousand-mile road trip can bring. It contains “Road Trip Reunion,” “Roadside Attractions” and “Destination: Love,” and is approximately 70,000 words long (the length of a novel, providing many hours or a few days of romantic reading).

    Now, Santa has a problem. No child's wish has ever gone unanswered, but the child isn't a child anymore. Believing there is nothing in Santa's Village to satisfy the little girl's wish now that she's an adult, he calls on a Higher Power and is given a suggestion. Although most of Santa's workshops contain only toys for boys and girls, there is one that holds a possible solution to his problem. Learning that Diana will be attending three upcoming Christmas parties, Santa calls on his lead elf to deliver three sprigs of mistletoe, hoping that under one, Diana Clarke will find what she asked for thirty years before.

    When the bank threatens to put the farm—which has been in their family for generations—into foreclosure, they search desperately for a way to save it. Fortunately, Hollywood calls! They would like to hire Aspen as a stunt double for the famous actress, Wren Emerson. Willing to do anything to keep the farm, the naïve Aspen agrees to leave her home long enough to endure the rigorous film schedule and dangerous and demanding stunt double role under the command of the productions renowned director and prominent producer. The first awkward meeting she has with the actress eventually flourishes into a friendship Aspen never thought possible. Despite the hometown boy who pines for Aspen’s heart, and the productions staff that think Wren should date whom they deem acceptable, the two girls can’t deny their growing desires for one another. Aspen must now complete one more stunt. One that she hopes will overcome all the unrelenting obstacles they face, and will keep her home and heart in harmony, happily together.

    If only she liked her job as much as eggnog lattes and mistletoe. Stuck as a marketing analyst for London-based recruitment company Caldwell & Atkinson, Ellie is desperate for a career change but afraid to take a chance.CEO Rosalind Caldwell needs a new personal assistant after the last one quit, putting the extremely important corporate Christmas party in jeopardy. Christmas Girl is just the holiday miracle Rosalind needs, and Ellie is quickly promoted to the top floor of the Canary Wharf skyscraper.Ellie isn't a PA, has never planned a party in her life, and is terrified of heights. If things weren't bad enough, she then goes and develops a ridiculous crush on her totally intimidating new boss. With the festive season fast approaching, what could possibly go wrong?