Books published by Bold Strokes Books

Fifteen years is a long time. Long enough to forget the past, forge ahead, and create a terrific life. Bella Hunt has done exactly that, complete with a successful career, a gaggle of close friends, and a home she loves. Life is good.Or it was, until her teenage nightmare and the bane of her high school existence shows up for Bella's class on conflict resolution. Easton Evans, in all her pretty, blond, my-parents-are-surgeons glory, throws Bella into an existential tailspin as her unpleasant memories from her past come screeching back. Easton doesn't even recognize Bella, and what's worse, Easton is...different somehow. Softer, kinder. And still unfairly attractive. None of it computes in Bella's head. She's hated Easton for fifteen years, done her best to scrub the past away. But now here it is. The past. Sitting in her classroom and waiting for Bella to teach her how to resolve a conflict of the heart.

After appearing in Best Gay Love Stories, HarringtonGMFQ, Q Review, and Off the Rocks,Lenny and his partner Dave return in a hotbed of manhood and jealousy.Lenny is managing a failing bookstore and struggling to keep his promise of fidelity to Dave. He flirts relentlessly with grad student Ian until he discovers that Ian's ambivalence masks something personal and devastating. Caught up in a whirlwind of sex and lies, Lenny and Dave's relationship spins out of control. Lenny clings to Dave's unassuming manhood in hopes of keeping himself grounded, but when another seductive stranger becomes too tempting to resist, Lenny and Dave face the ultimate challenge.

When her cell phone rings, Giselle Cutler answers it-and finds herself speaking to a dead woman.As Giselle and her partner Marta Perry get ready for the birth of their baby, the last thing they expect is to be drawn into another mystery. But there's been a horrible mix-up with identification of a body found in the bay, and Marta's supervisor Chrissy Burton is very much alive and desperate for their help.Intrigue turns deadly as they uncover illegal organ transplants, black market sales, and ties to international terrorism. The killer is willing to do anything to keep the public from knowing how the transplant system really works, even if it means killing Giselle and Marta.

Penelope Huntingdon-Stewart, highly successful clean-eating food vlogger and owner of the website Penny's Kitchen, is looking for a new direction for her brand. At least that's what she tells herself when she retreats to Axedale to record a new web series and write a cookbook. That sounds so much better than damage control after her only live, on-screen interview ends in an oh-so-public epileptic seizure.Farmer Sam McQuade is immediately attracted to Penelope, but the ultra femme and high maintenance city girl seems way out of her league. When Penelope struggles to get her health on track, Quade insists on being her knight in shining armor, much to Penelope's displeasure. Quade is annoyingly good-looking, not to mention kindhearted, and falling for her would be so easy. If only it didn't force Penelope to face the secrets she's hidden from everyone. Can love alone bring a complex city girl and a simple rural farmer together?

Maggie McShay wants a little magic in her life. Something more than the drab existence of going to work and coming home to a cat that barely tolerates her.When she spontaneously replies to a want ad asking for someone to take care of a fairy tale cottage, it turns out magic wasn't as far away as she thought. Maggie discovers she wasn't who she thought she was either. Recalcitrant fairy tale shepherd and ladies' woman Kody Wilk shows Maggie a world she knew nothing about...a world they need to save before the villains of the world's fairy tales take over New York City.It's up to Maggie, her grumpy, shape-shifting cat, a dwarf hell-bent on finding romance, and Kody to set the fairy tale world to rights. The big bad wolf has nothing on Maggie McShay.

Naos has come to Calamity, and chaos has come with her. Cordelia had enough problems without teaming up with former enemies in order to defeat a mad goddess. And she doesn't yet know that the Storm Lord has been resurrected in a new body. On the plains, the prophet Lydia is convinced that Fajir is the one chosen to stop a massive firestorm in the future, if only Fajir wasn't so set on killing everyone around her.With their murderous leader dead, hostilities have ceased among the drushka, but the long-living aliens are slow to adapt. The last thing they want is a drushkan king with powers none of them dreamed of before.

For corporate consultant Paige Leighton, the ends always justify the means. She does whatever it takes to make her clients' businesses profitable. She has no room for sentimentality in business or in her personal life and loves nothing better than pushing others out of their comfort zones.Kassidy Drake has spent a lifetime creating her comfort zone, and she has no intention of leaving. Her home is as orderly and as beautiful as the rows of lavender surrounding it, but she needs to make Lavender Lane Farm solvent or she might lose everything. She agrees to listen to Paige's advice as long as Paige doesn't expect much more from her than changing the font on her business cards.Accompanied by the buzz of honeybees and the scent of lavender, Paige and Kassidy must find a way to compromise if they want to save Lavender Lane Farm--and find a way to make room for love along the way.

Since she was fourteen, singer Sophie James has been an international superstar. With her career (and life) directed by her manager, Ray, she hasn’t had to worry about a thing for more than a decade...not where she goes, not what she sings, not who she is. But when Ray has a heart attack, Sophie is left without the only real father figure she’s ever known and questioning everything she believes about what’s important to her.Enter Dana Landon, the new manager sent by Sophie’s record company. Dana is gorgeous, sophisticated, and ready to do her job keeping Sophie’s career on track and making the record company money. Dana captures Sophie’s attention in ways Sophie never expected and isn’t ready for, but after so many years of being told what to do, Sophie’s ready to shake things up with some ideas of her own. Ones Dana hasn’t been planning on and isn’t at all sure she likes.

Romance novelist Jackie Mitchell has built a life that works: few responsibilities, friends that know she's far from outgoing, and sex whenever she needs it. She has her past, but she doesn't think about it. Ever.All that changes when she finds the child she gave up for adoption standing on the doorstep. Now sixteen years old, Beth Weber is resourceful, a blossoming artist, and a spitting image of her birth mom. To say Jackie is stunned is the understatement of the year.When Jackie meets Beth's adoptive mom, Susan, they're immediately attracted to each other, but there's no way Jackie is getting involved with a married woman, especially Beth's mom. But when Susan and Beth need a place to stay and end up back on Jackie's doorstep, their lives change forever.Will these three women who share a past and face an uncertain future be able to forge a life of love together?

Meet law school friends Campbell, Abby, and Grace, law partners at Austin's premier boutique legal firm for young, hip entrepreneurs. Or, it will be as soon as they score a victory for their first big client.Campbell Clark wins the big pitch and lands the client, or so she thinks, until the internet start-up insists her firm work with the legal counsel Campbell thought they'd be replacing. Wynne Garrity has never been second best, and she's not going to let anyone screw up her chance of making partner, but to do so she needs to hang on to her client and prove to everyone her firm isn't stuck in the Stone Age.Reluctant team players, Campbell and Wynne would risk everything by giving in to the attraction that flares between them. In the boardroom and the courtroom, only one can win, but the price of victory could mean losing at love.Legal Affairs: one law firm, three best friends, three chances to fall in love.

Growing older has hit youth softball club owner Hannah Carter across the face like a jilted lover. So much so that she's let her long-time partner, Sasha, slip right through her fingers. Hannah has convinced herself things are better this way for everyone involved, that is until Sasha calls her, near death and pleading for her to come quickly.Sasha Bashton is trying like hell to move on with her life after the breakup, but dating someone new and throwing herself into her work doesn't stop her from reliving Hannah's warm smile and loving embrace no matter how much she wants to forget. When her chronic disease recurs, she's rushed to the hospital fighting for her life. The only person she wants by her side is Hannah, but can she truly depend on her sticking around?Hannah has one last chance to show Sasha how wrong she has been and start fresh for a love worth fighting for. All she has to do is convince Sasha she's the right woman for her—the second time around.

Success. Riches. Music. Passion. It's a life most can only dream of, but stardom comes at a cost.Rock star Nikki Razer has worked hard to achieve her dreams and she finally has everything she ever wanted--except true love. She's ready to find someone who can love the woman she really is, not just her rock star persona. When the band comes home for a break, she sets her sights on beautiful music teacher Drew McNally. But Drew is happy running her father's music store and she definitely doesn't want to date a celebrity--no matter how attractive she is. Her mother's obsession with fame destroyed her family and Drew's not going to let it happen again.Nikki thought she would do whatever it took to win Drew over, but she can't abandon her band and give up on her dreams. When it's time to face the music, will the price be too much to pay?

Have you ever fantasized about dipping into sensual waters? Tasting exotic fruit? Watching forbidden pleasures? Ever dreamed about the erotic games lesbians play when they’re far away from home?When life becomes mundane, the best way to shake things up is by getting away from it all. On vacation, anything is possible and fantasies really can come true. Edgy, wild, and wanton encounters promise satisfaction for those ready to play while away. Join these award-winning authors as they explore the sensual side of erotic lesbian travel.

Isabelle Ashford inherited her late aunt’s country home with a simple plan: a quick flip for a healthy profit, then off to buy her dream house by the water. But the house seems to have its own ideas. Startling discoveries reveal well-kept family secrets, drawing Belle into the mysteriously tragic life and death of her father’s young cousin.A flirtatious friendship with Deputy Sheriff Ally Yates blossoms into romance as they search for answers, hoping the clues they uncover will lead to the identity of a child predator and possibly, a murderer. Now with her plan for a short, uncomplicated stay in Danville foiled by the growing mystery and her undeniable feelings for Ally, Belle must decide whether to stick with her original plan for a clean getaway back to the Connecticut shore or to follow her heart’s lead.

Captain Quincy is a steady and reliable Royal Marines officer, decorated for gallantry after a mission that nearly killed her and the men under her command. At a crossroads in her career, Quincy reluctantly accepts when her old comrade, Queen Georgina, asks her to join the Royal Protection Command as the Queen Consort's new protection officer.Holly Weaver, Royal Dresser and self-confessed man-eater, starts to question her sexuality when she has a girl-crush on famous actor, Story St. John and, then, polo player and friend of George's, Captain Quincy.The good-looking captain's emotionless personality is the opposite of Holly's exuberant lust for life. When a threat to the Queen Consort emerges, Quincy and Holly clash over the best way to protect her. As the fiery passion they can't deny begins to melt Quincy's heart, Holly must decide how much of her own she is willing to risk.

Army veteran Catherine Daye long ago accepted her passable looks, mediocre talent, and average intelligence. In fact, she bought a rundown farm on seventy acres to retreat from the world and live out her simple, ordinary life. Atlanta marketing superstar Autumn Swan's world is anything but simple. Constantly plugged in to what's trending on social media, it's her job to keep her clients ahead of the competition. When her favorite cousin dies suddenly, she finds herself the owner of a modest country home, guardian to a sullen, tomboyish ten-year-old, and neighbor to an intriguing woman who isn't as ordinary as she appears.

The last thing Commander Neenja KahSandra wants is to be babysitting Zoem Malderyn, an orphan who can barely remember her past, and who has just regained consciousness after being used as a template for an army of changer clones. Despite herself, she comes to care for Zoem, whose courage and vulnerability is difficult to resist.But as Zoem starts to remember more, a deadly countdown to destruction occurs inside her. She needs to discover why the malevolent changers programed her, and how to stop herself from carrying out their plan. Can the famous sisters, Caya and Briar Lindemay, help save Zoem and the Gemoconians, or will Zoem end up sacrificing herself—before she kills them all?

An anthology of short fiction featuring the finalist selections from the 2019 Saints + Sinners Literary Festival. Brody's Family Secret by J.R. Greenwell Figures of Speech by Lewis DeSimone Foxes by Jonathan Harper Omaha by Michael H. Ward Fixing Uppers by Maureen Brady Stones with Wings by Louis Flint Ceci Flawed by Felice Picano The Grove of Mohini by J. Marshall Freeman Shopping for Others by William Christy Smith Solid Gold Saturday Night by W.L. Hodge Washington's Retreat by Stephen Greco Salvage by Karelia Stetz-Waters Trick Hearts by Michael Graves The Importance of Being Jurassic by Daniel M. Jaffe Arundel's Name by Jamieson Findlay The Unit by Aaron Hughes

When travelwisdom.com assigns PR specialist Caroline Beckett and travel blogger Emma Morgan to cover a hot new couples retreat, they're forced to fake a relationship to secure a reservation. Ten days in paradise would be a dream assignment, if only they'd stop arguing long enough to enjoy it.Reputations are Caroline's business. Too bad she was forced out of her previous job when an ex smeared hers all over the office grapevine. She's never getting involved with a coworker again, especially not one as careless and unprofessional as Emma.Emma knows that life is too short to play by the rules. But when she goes too far and a defamation lawsuit puts her job in jeopardy, she has to make nice with Caroline, the image police, and deliver the best story of her career.Only pretending to be in love sure feels a whole lot like falling in love. When their story goes public, ambition and privacy collide, and their chance at making a fake relationship real might just be collateral damage.

Sadie, Fin, and their two children were a perfectly ordinary family. Even if Fin felt taken for granted sometimes. Even if their introverted son, Liam, had terrible nightmares and knew things he shouldn't.But everything changes the night Sadie is viciously assaulted by former client Lance Sherry. Sherry knows where they live, and when the police fail to catch him, Sadie and Fin are forced to run. They think they've found the perfect place to start over. The house is everything Fin dreamed of, but as they settle in, Sadie discovers their home may not be what it seems, and daughter Lucy's imaginary friend might not be imaginary at all. Or even a friend. With Lance Sherry hunting them, the house could be the least of their problems. He's coming to finish what he started. And he won't stop until he finds Sadie.

When struggling actor Phillip Stalworth breaks up with his girlfriend, he returns home to the Deep South to care for his ailing mother and unexpectedly falls for a local carpenter. Working through his past with his complicated family, some old high school chums, and the desperate characters who grace his hometown, Phillip ultimately finds his own voice as his mother is finally regaining hers.Already adapted for film, Counting for Thunder was inspired by writer Phillip Irwin Cooper's personal experience and, like Augusten Burroughs, covers many of the universal themes of love, life, sex, and death with his own brand of gallows wit. Phillip's three-year quest is a hero's journey proving we truly can go home again to learn the lessons we should have mastered the first time around.

As the sole heir to her family's banking empire, a lot is expected of Madison Prescott. Falling in love with her childhood friend Ana Perez was not in the cards. As Madison's father puts it, "A gay daughter? Married to the maid's daughter? Running my company? Over my dead body."By the time George Prescott dies, it's been 15 years since Madison and Ana were ripped apart by his lies. They haven't spoken since, but Madison has spent every minute waiting for this day to come. Unfortunately, it turns out time doesn't heal all wounds. Why was Madison willing to give up everything in the face of her father's threats, and why can she never tell Ana the truth about what really separated them?Caught between a present they can't trust and a past they can't forget, Madison and Ana must decide if this is their second chance, or their final heartbreak.

Town manager Savannah Castillo has everything under control, just the way she likes it. But when she starts to receive unsolicited gifts and messages from a stranger, her life turns to chaos. Against her better judgment, Savannah accepts Deputy Chief Mackenzie Blake's help in the investigation and is more than a little annoyed when Mackenzie suggests herself as a part-time, live-in bodyguard.Savannah isn't Mackenzie's favorite person. She's rude and entitled, and she always has to have the last word. Always. But when she and her daughter Eliana need help, protecting them becomes more than just a job. Mackenzie's mission is to find the person harassing them before they cause real harm. Savannah's fleeting and incredibly sexy smiles don't make the task any easier, and there's no time for distractions.Not when someone waits in the shadows, watching and preparing to strike.

Shaylie Beck just wanted to go home.She managed to snag the last seat on a late flight from New York to Denver. No one thought anything would go wrong. Nobody expected the unimaginable to happen. When the plane crashes, Shaylie fights for her life and is one of only eleven survivors.Piper Cole wants answers.Why did her fiancée's plane crash? She lost everything that night, and the investigation is taking too long. To help cope with losing the woman she loved, Piper attends a support group for survivors.The friendship Piper and Shaylie develop helps each to heal, but as their feelings turn to love, Shaylie's torn. She can follow her heart to the woman she loves, or she can come clean about what really happened right before the plane crashed, and risk losing Piper forever.

Flynn County Sheriff Elle Ashley has spent her adult life atoning for her wild youth, but when she finds her ex, Jessie, murdered two weeks before the small town's biggest social event, she comes face-to-face with her past and all her well-kept secrets.Not only is this Elle's first murder investigation, it's the town's first in over fifty years. She must find a killer before there are any more casualties and keep her troubled little brother off the suspect list, all under the watchful eyes of a Chicago reporter.Investigative reporter Robin Oakes isn't a small-town kind of girl, and she's determined to get in and out of Turlough as fast as possible. One look at Sheriff Ashley has her rethinking her plans. As pressure mounts to solve Jessie's murder, Elle gets help from the most unlikely source-Robin, who appears to be more interested in her than getting the story.

Commander Berkley Levine and Captain Aidan Sullivan might have a life together if they survive the next mission. They're undercover hunting down a treasonous ex-vice president and the militia he's assembled to topple the US government, and the twisting trail grows deadlier at every turn. After an assassination and numerous attacks that could only have happened with inside help, they don't know who they can trust, and the future looks darker than ever.Just when they think the trail has run cold, their old enemy, North Korean pilot Jin Umeko, unexpectedly offers to help. Reluctantly, Berkley and Aidan accept the uneasy alliance, even while suspecting Umeko is motivated by vengeance for the loss of her mother and family. If they want to destroy the threat to the country, they'll have to risk their lives and their futures, but they've been prepared for that since the day they put on the uniform.The high-octane follow-up to the best-selling action-romance, Blue Skies.

Cash Braddock is doing...okay. She sort of has a girlfriend, her business sucks less, and the cops are only picking her up for interrogations every other weekend. Mediocrity has underrated appeal. It's fine.The universities are back in session, which means drugs are in high demand. Cash is becoming more reluctant to sell, while Detective Laurel Kallen is on the trail of someone who's been drugging and assaulting women at college parties. Cash's and Laurel's goals should be aligned, but neither is convinced of the ethics of her job anymore.When Laurel's younger sister is assaulted, okay stops being okay. If Cash wants to help the Kallen sisters, she must decide her own moral bounds.Third in the Cash Braddock series.

Betrayal is a wound that rarely heals.A devastating accident that claims the life of her Olympic-bound mount lands Jessica Black and her new stallion at Cherokee Falls Equestrian Center, where she is teamed up with an arrogant, womanizing trainer. Skyler Reese is a former gold medalist, now blacklisted as a professional rider. The sparks that fly between the two women are anything but friendly at first, but the heat between them changes to passion as Skyler helps Jessica prepare for the upcoming competition. Still, a dark secret Jessica is hiding threatens both her bid to win a spot on the U.S. Equestrian Team and Skyler's triumphant return to the eventing circuit.