Literary agent Alison has been in love with her favorite author-client for years. Not that paperback romance writer Carolyn has ever noticed. She sees Alison as a close, loyal friend; she has never questioned society's conventions. When Alison negotiates a lucrative contract for her, Carolyn seizes the unexpectedly large advance to fulfill a passion of her own. Beginning in Paris, scene of her brief, calamitous marriage, she will immerse herself in great music from the world's great orchestras. Paris brings a dramatic encounter with Nicolas Frost, the remote, driven young conductor who is creating a reputation for musical brilliance. When the smitten Carolyn discovers the conductor's masquerade - necessary to achieve recognition in the male - dominated higher echelons of classical music - she is suddenly faced with the true nature of her powerful attraction to Nick. Meanwhile, Alison has found her own consolation. But does sweet, passionate Samantha have any chance of winning Alison's affections away from Carolyn? Can there be any future for Nick and Carolyn? Find the answers in this captivating, deliciously romantic and erotic tale from one of our most entertaining storytellers.

A deep kiss and a single rule. Like most women in dead-end relationships, Holly Markham was used to finding substitutes for love. Like chocolate. Fun times with good friends. Throwing herself into her work. But throwing herself into the arms of a leather-clad stranger was never on her list. When Holly's best friend Tori takes her to a dance for lesbians only, she realizes that Tori is gently trying to push her out of the closet. While it was true that Holly had been trying to come to terms with her growing attraction toward women, no one expected Holly to take one look at the mysterious Reyna and fall hopelessly in lust. Unable to resist the purely physical appeal of Reyna's sensuous demands, Holly quickly succumbs to Reyna's delicious seduction. After a night of delirious passion, Reyna gives Holly a long kiss and single rule: Call whenever you want me to make love to you. There can be nothing else. Although sexually fulfilled for the first time in her life, Holly soon realizes that pleasure without emotion is no substitute for love - a love she knows she and Reyna could share. Knowing too well the high cost of living in shadows and denial, Holly risks everything and sets out to pierce the deep shroud of mystery surrounding the woman she has come to love.

Scholar and award-winning author Faith Fiztgerald has every reason to be happy: a wealthy, charming man who adores her and a family cheering her marriage prospects. But from the moment she meets Eric's sister, Sydney Van Allen, she knows her safe, predictable feelings for him are a shadow of what could be. Openly lesbian and running for Senator, Sydney can only succeed if she can live down her wild past. That means no liaisons, especially with the achingly alluring woman on her brother's arm who looks at her with confusion—and desire.

Don't miss this Lammy Award Winner!!! CJ Roshe knows she can never relax her vigilance, especially when her grip on her secrets begins to slip. Contact with the good-hearted Karita Hanssen leaves CJ wishing for impossible things—friends, roots, a lover who knows her real name. With a life cheerfully balanced between all the things that she loves, Karita gives freely of her time and affection. She isn't looking for more until something in CJ's eyes suggests that there could be feelings deeper, stronger—and more dangerous—than any she has ever felt. CJ is committed to only tonight with her body and certainly no tomorrows when it comes to her heart. Karita has always lived for today while she waits for tomorrow to happen. One kiss couldn't change all that—unless it's the kiss that counted. Golden Crown and Lambda Literary award-winning author Karin Kallmaker's tale of two women, two outlooks and two futures trying to become one adds to her long list of best-selling and critically acclaimed lesbian romance novels.

What if you had the power to change the past—but doing so would destroy your future? Thirteen years have passed since the fiery explosion that killed seven people and shattered the lives of thousands more, but Amanda Martin is unable to forgive herself for her part in the tragedy. Deep in the hills of Arizona, she lets time pass her by, but the torrential rains fail to wash away her pain. During a storm unlike any other, she goes to the aid of a woman caught in the resulting flood. After a daring rescue that nearly claims both their lives, Amanda has no choice but to offer the stranger the safety of her hogan for one night. The next day, she vows, the hapless woman will be out of her life and she will go back to her isolated, private world of regrets. When the mud is washed away, a shattered Amanda recognizes her guest—one of the seven the whole world had watched die. The mysterious, compelling Sharon may hold the secrets Amanda needs to fix all the mistakes of her past, but Sharon is no ordinary woman,and their growing feelings for each other no ordinary love.

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 kind of fire. Most dangerous of all is the one thing Toni can't control—the way her heart reacts when Syrah looks at her...just like that.

Jessica has it all. An expensive condo in the city of dreams, San Francisco. A high-powered, prestigious career as a management consultant that takes her all over the country... to passionate Roberta in Chicago, to delicious Marilyn in San Antonio... To all those cities and all those willing women Jessica has recorded in her well-used little black book. Sex with these women doesn't really mean a thing, Jessica tells herself. It's all just good times. Because she is not really a lesbian. No, of course not. Her sexual adventures are merely keeping her occupied until she decides to settle down with a man. Then she meets Cat, the alluring young hotel executive who lives across the hall from her new condo. What is Jessica to make of her chaotic feelings, her yearning—and yes, her deepening love—for the sensuous, captivating Cat, who offers entrancing friendship, but nothing more?

Second helpings—you know you want some. Feast on a literary dessert buffet of short stories featuring the beloved characters who took your breath away and stole your heart. Inspired by classics like Touchwood, Wild Things and Substitute for Love, as well as bestsellers and award-winners like Above Temptation, The Kiss That Counted and Warming Trend, Karin's second volume of follow-up stories is sure to satisfy your craving for more.

Big city girl in a small town—Liddy Peel has culture shock. Marian Pardoo, Reference Librarian for the Iowa City Public Library, would be happy if the woman she's loved for years wasn't already married. Annoyed by the thoughtless out-of-town Liddy, she isn't prepared for the seething passion that erupts when Liddy careens into her meticulously controlled life. Liddy has run two thousand miles from a devastating love affair. Now the idea of spending the sweltering summer watching the corn grow is driving her mad. Finding herself lusting after Marian the Librarian seems like yet another cosmic jest at her hopeless love life. The only thing that keeps her sane is the coffee. In a town where everybody knows your name, the names of your exes, pets, and your third grade teacher, Marian is thankful that she and Liddy at least don't have an ex-girlfriend in common. One degree of separation is too close for comfort.

Twenty-nine-year-old Rayann Germaine, betrayed by her lover, flees in grief and rage. She meets book store owner Louisa Thatcher, a woman many years her senior, who offers shelter and work... and soon, passion, and a loving place in her life. But Rayann encounters challenges to this new love—from friends who question its wisdom, from her mother who disapproves of this liaison with a woman her own contemporary, from Louisa's son who learns for the first time his mother's true sexuality. And there are profound differences between Rayann and Louisa themselves, two women who come from dramatically different places in the spectrum of age and life experience. Their only common ground seems to be the searing attraction that they both try to deny...