Books published by Bella Books

It's the boldest conquest of our time--the colonization of Mars. Of the thousands who clamored for a one-way ticket to the Red Planet, only a fraction remain in the running. Now they're converging on Hawaii's Big Island for a nail-biting competition to be the first to launch. Mila Todorov has prepared for this moment throughout her young life. With her revolutionary propulsion design already built into the Mars vessel, she likes her chances--especially if she can team with her all-time idol, Major Jancey Beaumont, a former NASA astronaut whose last space mission made her a worldwide hero. Jancey is desperate for a return to space, but the margin for error is razor-thin. Can she afford to gamble her destiny on a woman so distracting as Mila?

"Settlling into a new job at a hospital on the wild southern coast of Washington, Sara Patterson has carefully realized her cautious hopes for a steady, practical life. Education, check. Secure employment, check. Tumultuous attraction to an attractive drifter? Not on the list. Jessie Singer loves the way billiard balls roll over the green baize of a pool table and her dream of playing pool professionally keeps her wandering from job to job, and from woman to woman. But she keeps coming back, drawn to the coastal waters and mountain scenery. And to something she never expected. Two women thenk they know what they want fro life--until their lives collide."--Page 4 of cover.

Mac Griffith is used to risk and digging up dirty secrets in dangerous places, and this time it's her twin that's gone missing. Rachel Anderson wants no help from a war-shocked journalist-what police detective ever needs an amateur tagging along, especially a damnably attractive one?But Brisbane is under siege and a serial killer's body count is rising. With the clock ticking, no lead is too slim. Rachel needs Mac's help, and there's no chance Mac won't take. Neither of them means for it to go as far as it does...From the author of the sizzling, breathless I Can't Dance Alone

Antuniet Chazillen lost everything the night her brother was executed. In exile, she swore that treason would not be the final chapter of the Chazillen legacy in Alpennia''s history. A long- hidden book of alchemical secrets provides the first hope of success, but her return to the capital is haunted by an enemy who wants those secrets for himself.Jeanne, Vicomtesse de Cherdillac is bored. The Rotenek season is flat, her latest lover has grown tediously jealous and her usual crowd of friends fails to amuse. When Antuniet turns up on her doorstep seeking patronage for her alchemy experiments, what begins as amusement turns to interest, then something deeper. But Antuniet''s work draws danger that threatens even the crown of Alpennia.The alchemy of precious gems throws two women into a crucible of adversity, but it is the alchemy of the human heart that transforms them both in this breathtaking follow-up to the widely acclaimed Daughter of Mystery.

Nearly ten years ago, after the sudden death of her sister, Kate Bellem didn't hesitate to become surrogate mom to her niece Megan. Her life has become a treadmill of work, motherhood and celibacy. Her long perfected calm, necessary in a surgical nurse, is tested the moment she meets Megan's new mentor. Sportswriter "Tommie" Tommelson sets off all the alarms, both good and bad. Out as a lesbian, brash in her seductive powers and with a reputation for breaking hearts, Tommie is obviously looking for nothing more than a fling. Kate knows she is finally ready for so much more, but she's seen too much of life to believe that Tommie can ever change. Newcomer RJ Layer delivers a story of tumultuous passion in her debut romance.

Dani Blazer has "an empty home, a broken heart and a young mustang that needs a slow, gentle hand. Hope Fielding watches the intriguing, attractive [Dani] with a nameless panic. She's been the mother to her siblings most of her life, and the choices she's made to please her family and church weren't easy"--Back cover.

Fort Bliss-it''s anything but. Caroline "CJ" Jamieson gave up studying history and joined the Women''s Army Corps to live it instead. Along with her new WAC friends, she is ready to do her part to help boys like her brothers, fighting in the European and Pacific theaters, make it home sooner.The Army, however, has derailed her plans. Instead of the California post she anticipated, west Texas cacti and an artillery training base are the unexpected sights on her new horizons. Not one to question orders, she''s not sure how her skills in airplane engine maintenance will be of use in this desolate region.But when CJ meets fellow WAC enlistee Brady Buchanan, Fort Bliss might live up to its name.

Electra Campos has kept her life cleanly divided. By week she tends to her academic duties and her students. Weekends she frequents the Down Under, a Chelsea sex club for women.When her spiteful ex Isabel Cortez issues yet another petty threat, she brushes it off-until she finds Capital College''s dean in a pool of his own blood. At first, NYPD Detective Carolina Quinn seems concerned only in Electra''s details of finding the body. Then the interest grows intensely professional...and personal.Why would the police think Electra had a motive for murder? She had no personal interaction with Dean Johnson. But his wife was no stranger to the Down Under, and Detective Quinn is extremely curious about every detail of Electra''s other life.Bella After Dark title!Electra''s Complex is a sexy romp through queer New York and the groves of academia from a writer who knows the landscape and is a confident and engaging guide. Emma Perez''s book is a pleasure!-Michael Nava, critically acclaimed author of the seven-volume mystery series featuring gay attorney Henry Rios.

"Equal in station and age, it was foreseeable that neighbors Clara Battersley and Serena Coleridge would become fast friends. More surprising is that they would become lovers--a secret they tell no one. Giddy with love and the prospect of their London season, they are about to embark on a social whirl of fashionable, high season balls. But Serena's fortunes are reversed by Napoleon's escape from Elba. Her financial resources compromised, the two debutantes are parted. Bereft and facing unbearable pressure to conform to social and family expectations, how can they keep the promises of their hearts?"--Page 4 of cover.

"Jordan Weston never felt alone with a basketball in one hand. Then she got hurt. The roar of the crowd faded away and so did the friends. Her lonely, small town world is blown wide open by the arrival of a breath of fresh air called Taylor Reeves. Gorgeous, wild, confusing. Bouncing from one town to another in the wake of her father's ministry, Taylor has learned to keep her wildest outlets a secret--especially her history with other women"--Amazon.com.