Peri Garritsen thought it was a simple assignment: get a small-town librarian to answer a few questions. Easy is what everyone tells her she needs right now. She'll make it a quick trip, prove she's fit for duty, and get back to doing something actually important.Librarian Lisette Osborne is not happy at the arrival of another imperious government agent in her office. The library policy is not hard to understand: no warrant, no answers. But that doesn't seem to matter to Ms. "I Hate Small Towns and the Holidays" Homeland Security.Agent Big City Grumpy meets Librarian Small Town Sunshine. Checked Out is all that in a jingle bells novella full of books and cookies, plus one very old coin.

Setting out on the "vacation of a lifetime" Marissa Chabot is well-provisioned with sunblock, rum and a stack of good books. Being one of the founders of Finders Keepers, the successful, high-tech "soul-mate matching service," she knows that vacation romances are hopeless. When Linda Bartok--tall, dark and beautiful--sweeps her off her feet anyway, Marissa yields to the magic of a storybook rescue, moonlit walks on the beach and longed-for whispers of passion. Though it hardly seems possible that the Amazonian, adventurous Linda could be truly interested in a desk-bound computer geek, the most erotic encounters of Marissa's life complete her surrender. Vacations end. Real life resumes. Waiting for the phone to ring, Marissa wonders if what she had seen in Linda's eyes could have possibly been true. 

Kesa Sapiro had to grow up fast. With her parents gone and a little sister to protect, Kesa has spent over a decade of her life trying to keep a roof over their heads. She’s learned the hard way that love is a luxury and that the price is way too high. When her sister Josie announces she wants to marry a boy she’s known for less than a month, Kesa immediately forbids it. Shannon Dealan is floored when her son-by-choice says he wants to get married to a girl he’s just met. Shannon has real reason to scrutinize any strangers who come into Paz’s life. She’s not about to let him do anything stupid—and that includes believing in love at first sight. She knows too well there’s no such thing. Hoping to soften the objections of their jaded, overbearing elders, Josie and Paz arrange for them to meet and discuss the future like civilized adults…but absolutely nothing goes as planned.

The Coin of Love Series: Women looking for their perfect match get the inspiration they need at just the right moment. Artie Bryson came to Venice to finish her PhD. Five years later the PhD still isn't done, but life is okay. Leading guided tours of the magnificent city pays the bills. The days are all the same — until she seeks respite from the summer swelter in the Casino di Venezia cabaret. Nikki Velvet has finally found her musical niche singing Postcards from America in a solo tour across Europe. Her bluesy, jazzy, sultry voice brings Artie back the next night. And the next... The two Americans find they have a lot in common, but Nicki's gig in Venice ends in two short weeks. Not long enough for anything more than a bit of fun, right? One very old coin knows otherwise... Welcome to Venice, a city like no other, where a touch of old magic can create a new future.

Anita Topaz, Queen of the Bodice Rippers, is deliberately a woman of mystery. But pressure is mounting for Anita to reveal herself to her clamoring public. It's scrutiny that writer Paris Ellison can't allow, especially since the glamorous "Anita" is a work of pure fiction.Lady Diana Beckinsale excels at disappearing into a good role. Especially if that role gets her close to certain objects she desires. When Diana proposes the perfect solution to Paris's predicament, Paris is less than enthusiastic. She can't let someone as unsettling and observant as Diana get too close.But Diana is persistent. After all, if she and the handsome, secretive Paris both get what they want out of an unorthodox arrangement, then it's a win-win for them both.My Lady Lipstick is high stakes on a merry-go-round of lies—it's all fun and games until somebody loses her heart.

Shunned by her family, a girl is sent west on a one-way stage ticket. Penniless, she takes up the only profession open to her. Years later she encounters the cowboy she can love, and her first taste of pleasure - and happiness.Cowboys, however, are born to wander, and their kisses are as brief as the lives of young women without family or means. Accepting that her days will be numbered too few, Darlin' clings to her scribblings for escape. Until she recognizes her own truth and a chance for love in the longing gaze of a townswoman.Two determined women in a hostile world save themselves — and each other — in a lyric, sensual love story of the American West as only Karin Kallmaker can tell."Sexy, engrossing stuff, in a life that seems so perilous until Darlin finally finds solid, safe ground. Description of the landscape was great, made me long to visit Big Sky country again." – Reader email"More than a story about an interlude with a passing...

Simply the Worst…Alice Cabot’s only great love is science, but a lapse in judgment has exiled the New York journalist to the glitzy Gallerias and vapid bubble-babble of Beverly Hills. The assignment to do a flattering feature series on Simply the Best and the superficial nonsense it sells threatens to crush what little is left of her spirit. Simply the Best…Pepper Addington can’t believe she’s moved up from grunt intern to personal assistant for Helene Jolie, the celebrity socialite founder of SimplytheBest.com. Succeeding at the job she worked so hard to get is her only priority. Keep a cynical know-it-all reporter in check? She promises Helene that she can. Simply Irresistible…Expecting nothing but games from the beach-blond surfer girl that Helene Jolie has assigned to keep an eye on her, Alice is fully prepared to resist any and all of California’s charms. Or so she thinks.

Irene Carson has always been what everyone else needed her to be. She abided by her husband's edicts, raised her daughter through the Depression and War, and took care of whatever needed doing for the church. Now that her daughter has inherited her father's role in his ministry, Irene realizes that Sissy wants her to go on being exactly the same, as becoming to a widow and matron. Certain that her life is at a turning point but having no means to change the road she's on, Irene is stunned by the gift of a beautiful touring car. Over Sissy's strenuous objections and equipped with maps, sunglasses, and a full tank of gas, she sets out on a road trip all by herself for the first time in her life. Irene has no goal in mind but to see something new. She gets her wish — and a great deal more. Join Karin Kallmaker for a journey to California in 1952, where a woman yearns to escape from her conventional, constrained life, and a magical...

Syrah Ardani tried independence—but the call of the Napa Valley hills and rolling vineyards of her family's winery have brought her home again. She is content with her ordered world until she learns that her father's feckless management has put Ardani Vineyards into receivership.Corporate turnaround specialist Toni Blanchard's arrival is preceded by tales of her slash-and-burn techniques. Determined to meet this soulless corporate raider head on, Syrah proudly prepares to do battle for her home and family business.Toni has reason to retreat from a high-pressure Manhattan lifestyle, not the least of which is a bitter break up. She's been told that Syrah Ardani is attractive and single, but Toni never mixes business and pleasure.Creditors clamor for a quick sale and payment. The beautiful—and hostile—Syrah wants Toni off her land and out of her life. Their clashes smolder with distrust and resentment, but also threaten to light a completely different...

A Very Lesbian Little Mermaid...An above sea hunt for the pleasure and song of human women turns disastrous when Ariel, 77th daughter of the Mer Queen, shares rising tides—and human passion—with the forbidden Erica. Court rivals quickly report her transgression and Ariel finds herself an example of what happens to those who defy the Queen.Stripped of her voice and placed under a powerful curse, Ariel makes her way above water to Erica’s side. Erica, who is now dying for want of the one thing they can never share again. 33,000 wordsA Fish Out of Water turns an old-fashioned fairy tale into a sensual modern lesbian romance exploring love and trust, atonement and pleasure.The Lesbian Review says, “I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t put it down. It even haunted my dreams and I woke in the middle of the night to just keep reading it. I think Kallmaker put her...

Struggling to make ends meet, Sugar has invested everything into Cake Dreams by Sugar with hopes of becoming the most sought-after designer of event desserts in Seattle. Working – and baking – night and day to perfect her business and her chances of winning a large bake-off prize, she’s not prepared for disaster. Within a few hours she’s got no place to live and no business, not even a bag of flour or a measuring cup. Support arrives in the form of an empathetic Victim’s Advocate social worker named Tree, a hunky, charming firefighter named Charlie, and a dynamic, ambitious local TV producer. She’s Emily, and the first of the trio to make a serious play for Sugar in the morning, Sugar in the evening, and Sugar in the afternoon. After years as a single lesbian who couldn’t get a heartbeat from any woman anywhere, all this attention has Sugar’s head spinning. Forced to live with her ailing, homophobic grandmother, she has no idea how she'll get to know any of these new women in her life. They all offer changed circumstances, stability and a hope at forever. But which one will she choose?

As a behavioral scientist, Professor Nicole Hathaway’s work strips away the foolish mystique that surrounds the human mating dance. When her academic tome is treated as a viral “love manual” her ecstatic publisher books her to appear all over the U.S. and Europe. Worse yet, her quiet, managed life has been shattered by a series of incompetent assistants. And she’s certain this Lily Smith creature isn’t going to be any less a burden than the last assistant they sent her. Or the one before that. Or before that... Lillian Linden-Smith needs this job. With a relentless TV lawyer and public mob still out for her blood for crimes committed by her “American royalty” parents, getting out of the country is her only hope for anonymity. If that means cleaning up and presenting an antisocial know-it-all Ph.D. for bookstores, clubs and lectures, fine. Dr. Hathaway may have succeeded in driving away all the others, but not this time. From their first meeting the sparks fly, and each is thinking: She has no idea who she’s dealing with. It’s hate at first sight in this love adventure from the author of Above Temptation, Roller Coaster and dozens of other best-selling, award-winning novels.

Teresa Mandrell's first encounter with advertising executive Rayann Germaine begins badly and goes downhill from there. Within minutes of their meeting, Rayann dubs Teresa a "bumbling amateur." The event changes the course of Teresa's life -- she abandons the corporate world for what she hopes is a more satisfying career in Fine Arts Management. When budget cuts leave her without work, Teresa gets a job as a design artist in another firm, only to discover that the new department head is ... Rayann! But the difference in the woman's demeanor is so startling that Teresa can't believe her eyes. Although the woman she'd fought with had been insensitive and rude, she was full of fire and passion. This Rayann is cold and withdrawn. To Teresa's chagrin, the woman doesn't even remember their fight. In fact, the two fall easily into an increasingly harmonious work relationship. As they grow even closer, Teresa slowly uncovers layer after layer of Rayann's hurtand pain. When she at last arrives at the terrible truth, Teresa is left with one burning question: How can she turn Rayann's heart away from grief and lead her back toward life and love?ReviewHer insightful portrayals of hot-headed Teresa and tormented Rayann pull us in, and her descriptive powers are impressive! -- Lambda Book Report, Feb 2000Kallmaker has always been a fine writer, but in Watermark she exhibits a depth that is gut-wrenching. -- Bay Area Reporter, May 2000From the PublisherA heartfelt sequel to the erotic classic Touchwood...it's been ten years and so much has changed...

Book passage on a deliciously sensual Mediterranean cruise with tour guides Radclyffe and Karin Kallmaker. Poolside, topside, below deck and ship-to-shore--grab a deck chair and feel the temperature climb. From honeymooning couples to strangers with mutual desires, there are no secrets about what goes on between embarkation, midnight buffets and ports-of-call. Passengers, entertainers, ship's crew and tour staff explore every inch of each other and their floating paradise. The lounge. The ex's stateroom. The casino. The little room no one else has realized is so handy, and so private. It's like no vacation you've ever experienced before when these two adventurous authors lure you into the deep waters where everyone gets wet.From the PublisherBella Books is proud to present best-selling romance authors Karin Kallmaker and Radclyffe's first collaboration. About the AuthorRadclyffe and Karin Kallmaker combined have written and edited more than sixty works of lesbian fiction.