Dear lesfic fan,

Here are this week’s new ebook and audio releases, sales, and announcements.

Authors: Want to see your new releases in the newsletter? Click here for details. Or if you’re having a sale, please email me and let me know: tbmarkinson@gmail.com. Include “Sale for IHL Newsletter” in the subject line.

Anyone with lesfic news, give me a shout at tbmarkinson@gmail.com.

Happy reading and listening,

TB

ROMANCE

NOT THE MARRYING KIND
Fair Oaks: Book 2

by Jae

Small-town florist Ashley loves creating wedding bouquets. Her own love life is far from blossoming since she’s stuck in the closet.

Sasha isn’t faring much better. Her bakery keeps her too busy for romance anyway.

When the town’s first lesbian wedding forces them to work together, Sasha is soon tempting more than just Ash’s sweet tooth.

Can be read as a standalone since it has different main characters.

HUMMINGBIRD COVE

by Giselle Fox
Available in Kindle Unlimited

A bestselling author lives in paradise behind a secret identity until a sexy developer comes to take her land…

Hummingbird Cove seemed like the perfect place to write and raise a family, until Keira’s partner ran off and took the son she loves. Now Keira’s battling heartache, seclusion, and a bad case of writer’s block, and even her best friend and agent thinks it’s time to move on. When a gorgeous newcomer comes to buy the only other house on the cove, Keira wonders whether fate is trying to jumpstart her life again.

To Daisy, the cove seems like the perfect oasis for a development, and she’s ready to employ all her powers of persuasion. Owning the cove could make her family millions, and Keira Maitland is the only thing standing in her way. But when Keira gives her a taste of heaven on Earth, Daisy must decide what’s more important, love or money.

LOVE PURSUED

by Ellie Spark
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Twenty-nine-year-old Margie Roberts is a successful financial advisor and part-time matchmaker. Her own romantic relations, however, are not a priority; she’s building a career and has an excellent chance at promotion — if only she could stop her manager from undermining and sabotaging her at every opportunity.

Recent high school graduate, Stacey Green is determined to follow her dream to teach yoga and open her own studio. Her father, an avid believer that a college education is essential, has other ideas for her future.

When the two women meet, there is an instant and completely unexpected spark — one Margie knows cannot be pursued. They’re at different stages of life, the age gap is too big, and if something goes wrong, she wouldn’t want to be responsible for breaking Stacey’s heart.

For Stacey, age doesn’t matter. She listens to her heart, not her head, and believes Margie should do the same. How can she convince Margie that age is only a number?

MERMAID

by Max Ellendale
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Ex-Detective Veronica Baird lost almost everything she’d worked for in life to a spray of fateful bullets. A desperate move from Portland back to Seattle at the beckon of a friend, promises a safe place to live, a job, and support. When Veronica reunites with her best friends after circumstances urged them apart, Jordan and Alice rally around her in hope of nursing her back to life. The only ray of light in Veronica’s existence belongs to that of her nine-year-old daughter.

Uprooted, devastated, and battling the abyss of despair, Veronica stumbles into meeting pediatrician, Scarlett, at the worst time ever. Or so it seemed. Veronica, and her pod of colorful friends, float together in darkness and light, though not all entanglements are meant to lead her to the surface.

COACH M
Coach Z Series: Book 2

by Q. Kelly

Andi Zappa never expected to coach the Richmond College Ravens again, but she’s back five years after she left. She takes over as the women’s basketball coach midseason and must contend with obstacles, old and new. The biggest may be Melissa MacKenzie, the player she fell in love with five years ago. Melissa is now an assistant coach for the Ravens and navigates treacherous waters as she tries to keep her relationship with Andi professional.

Deals with alcohol issues.

WHEN SHE THAWS

by Lily Craig
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Sadie Powell is going on an adventure. After her beloved mother has a health scare, Sadie decides it’s finally time to see the world. So, Sadie crosses the Atlantic to work as an au pair for a year. Austria’s supposed to be nice: chocolate, beer, and scenic mountain ranges beckon. She’ll figure out teaching and living with an Austrian family along the way.

Inga Weber trusts only herself. Ever since her husband of twenty years left her for an Instagram model, Inga’s opted to homeschool her three children. Better keep them close so they can’t get hurt. Except it turns out it’s hard to keep an au pair on staff when Inga’s expectations tower higher than the Alps. Exercises, punctuality, and rigor grind down even the best candidates.

When Sadie arrives at Inga’s doorstep, her fate seems clear. She’ll be sacked like the rest of them, inadequate in the face of precise demands. Except something about Sadie’s warm smile and caring green eyes makes Inga falter. Though the two diverge in their approaches to life, maybe this time, it’s different.

Maybe this time, Inga’s met someone who can melt her frozen heart.

FREE SPIRIT

by Erica Lawson

Priory McAllister has fought off boardroom sharks, handled high-pressure jobs, and thought she’d seen it all. Ready to live the suburban life she found her dream home and can’t wait to move in.Unknown to Priory, the house is inhabited by two ghosts, Rhee and a mischievous Dylan who call Priory’s new house their home and have since 1935. They have no intention of leaving after all, she couldn’t be harder to get rid of than the others who tried to encroach on their home.Jacey Ryder, Priory’s long-suffering secretary has agreed to help her boss move…the things you do for your crush! Now, she gets to play referee between her boss and a bossy ghost, as each side try to lay claim to the house. What can she do when an unstoppable force, (her boss) meets an immovable object, (the ghost) besides hope for a peaceful solution? They are like two peas in a pod—two angry, stubborn peas in a pod.

KNIGHT & DAI 

by Kay Bigelow

Dai Fremont, a former surgeon and now a recluse, agoraphobe, and all-around curmudgeon, has been ordered to hire another in-home nurse she knows she doesn’t need. Though her body is slowly healing from the catastrophic accident that robbed her of her beloved profession—and the life she knew—the emotional wounds run deep, and the last thing she wants is another nosey, unqualified paraprofessional with a hero complex.

Marti Knight, fresh off a twenty-two-year stint in the Navy as a corpsman, finds herself in idyllic southern California trying to land an assignment with a home-care placement agency. While her butch good looks served her well romantically in her world travels, they seem to be a liability in conservative Orange County, and no potential client will hire her. Marti is desperate for a job and a place to finally settle down, even as she wrestles with a threatening past that she’s been running from for over two decades.

Neither Marti nor Dai is happy about being thrown together in a last-chance, must-work situation, but despite their resistance soon find themselves drawn to one another. Defensive and guarded, they struggle to trust each other with their deepest secrets and pain, both of which could have devastating consequences for the two of them.

They say opposites attract, but they can also destroy. Join these headstrong women as they navigate the minefield of contradictions that make up their tenuous and unlikely relationship in Kay Bigelow’s new romance, Knight & Dai.

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

CRAVE
Cherished Choices: Book 3

by Tessa Vidal
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Can Two Damaged Hearts Find The Love They Crave?

Two woman with deep scars are at a turning point in their lives. Will they finally experience the love they’ve denied themselves for so long?

Crave is a steamy lesbian office romance between an older, sophisticated woman with a past, and the sweet yet strong woman who works for her. 

There is some gun violence in the novel.

SAVING SAM

by Lynnette Beers

As an experienced San Diego lifeguard, Sam Cleveland has been trained to save others. While she risks her life to rescue swimmers from the rough surf, Sam’s world comes crashing down when she learns that her brother has been in a serious accident. She then must leave San Diego and the young woman she’s recently started dating to return to her hometown in Mississippi—a place that holds a horrid memory from her childhood.

Always protective when Sam was a child, Robert clings to life while investigators search for the person responsible for his accident.

On the hunt for the man who intentionally harmed Robert is Lieutenant Annie Wright—the woman who captured Sam’s heart years ago. As painful childhood memories resurface, so do old feelings of love. Will Sam choose to move forward with the chance at new romance in San Diego, or will she return to the comfort of familiar love with Annie in Mississippi?

There’s one brief scene of violence in the novel.

STEAMBOAT REUNION
Barb and Janet: Book 3

by Anne Hagan
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Can you go home again?

Barb knows she loves Janet, but she’s not sure she’s ready to take the next step and commit for life, not again, not so soon. No one is saying it, but she knows they’re all thinking she should just move on.

Janet is in love with being in love and Barb is the object of her affection and devotion. She won’t stop until they’re married. Oh, she’ll be patient, or so she tells everyone who will listen. She’ll wait. How long will she have to, though, she wonders?

Just when the two of them start to work things out, Janet is injured on the job and an old high school crush of Barb’s comes back into the picture, a crush who wants things to be the way they were, twenty years before. Both things send Barb into a tailspin of regret and old memories.

This is the third and final ‘Barb and Janet’ story. It isn’t necessary to read Broken Women or Healing Embrace first, but the author recommends it.

EROTIC ROMANCE / FANTASY

THE PRINCESS AND THE EVIL QUEEN

by Lola Andrews
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Meet Snow White and the Evil Queen as you never have before in this lesbian erotic romance retelling of the classic fairytale.

Once upon a time, there was a princess, and an Evil Queen.

Fated by powers of old to be enemies, Princess Snow White and the Evil Queen wage war, until the Evil Queen poses an unusual truce: Snow will spend a Moon’s cycle by her side, during which time she will decide whether she wants to stay with the queen, or return to her husband, the prince.

Can Snow White and the Evil Queen overcome their terrible past and find love? Or will destiny tear them apart?

SPORTS ROMANCE

MAKING THE TEAM

by Lark Maren
Available in Kindle Unlimited

She’s the hottest professional softball player in the country.

All my teammates want to be her or be with her. They think the fact that she retired and took a job coaching our college team is the greatest thing that ever happened to the Marchant State Hawks.

They don’t know the real Penelope Flynn.

I’ve spent the last eight years of my life trying to erase the pain she caused me back in high school when she broke my heart and left me crying in the dugout. If she thinks she’s going to ruin my senior year of college, she has another thing coming.

All I need is to make it through the playoffs, keep my grades at a passable level, and hopefully sign a professional contract of my own, but whenever she’s near me, I just can’t think straight.

Maybe it’s because I simply hate her so much…

or maybe, it’s time to finish what we started.

ACTION & ADVENTURE ROMANCE

AVALANCHE OF LOVE

by M.E. Tudor
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Back Lands magazine for outdoor enthusiasts has featured Robin Hawke and her outfitting business several times. When her friend, Josie Whittle, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, asks Robin to take a group of writers and photographers out for a week Robin is happy to do it until she finds out that one of the writers going on the trip has never even been camping, let alone gone on a multi-day hike.

After getting fired from a business magazine, her life in ruins, and forced to go home to Colorado where her father has her under his thumb, Marianne Jones is lucky to be writing for anyone. Her new boss at Back Lands magazine, Josie, insists Marianne go out on a weeklong hike with some other writers and photographers from the magazine. The only hiking Marianne does is at the mall and she’s never been camping, so she is not happy about this trip.

Marianne makes Robin mad before the hike even starts, and Robin assumes Marianne is just another snooty socialite forced to work by her parents. Both women try to ignore the sparks flying between them on the trails in vain.

These two women with nothing in common, except broken hearts, are thrown together by fate. Can they find common ground, or will tragedy take away the chance for them to find out what they could have had?

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

MEANT TO BE ME

by Wendy Hudson

A compelling, slow-burning, romantic suspense that will keep you guessing right to the end.

Trying to find “The One” is never easy and engineer Darcy Harris is finding it tougher than most. It doesn’t help she’s also dealing with a shadowy stalker trying to make trouble for her. But Darcy’s determined not to let anyone ruin her life.

Her loyal best friend and boss, Anja Olsen, is stuck in a strange conundrum, forced to question who she has become and who she wants to be.

Meanwhile, stranger Eilidh Grey’s first instinct is to run fearlessly toward chaos and love. But this time she’s on a collision course with fate.

A chance meeting on a snowy bridge in Inverness, Scotland, binds all three women together, creating an unexpected, tangled, love triangle. What happens when it all unravels?

SCI-FI ROMANCE

DANCING IN THE DARKNESS
The Alpha God: Book 1

by Lexa Luther

Charlie and her team of mercenaries head to the planet named Kander, which is home the Kalmar – a race of Alphas & Omegas. The planet’s ruler, Kal, hires Charlie and her team to retrieve a kidnapped Omega. Soon, Charlie learns intimate details about Kal’s rare nature as a “female” Alpha. As Charlie embarks on the journey to rescue the Omega, she must face the true motives behind the kidnapping.

Book contains g!p material as well as intimate scenes suitable for mature readers.

SCI-FI SPACE OPERA

SAFE PASSAGE
Black Flag: Book 1

by Rachel Ford
Available in Kindle Unlimited

Kay Ellis is playing a dangerous game, and she knows it. She’s made herself Enemy Number One of the Conglomerate. She’s relying on privateers for her safety. It’s a fool’s game. But the worst part is, her fool’s heart is starting to warm to the enigmatic privateer, Captain Magdalene Landon; and that’s a risk for which she hadn’t planned.

FICTION

CLIO RISING

by Paula Martinac

In 1983, Livvie Bliss leaves western North Carolina for New York City, armed with a degree in English and a small cushion of cash from a favorite aunt. Her goal is to launch a career in publishing, but more important, to live openly as a lesbian. A rough start makes Livvie think she should give up and head home, but then a new friend helps her land a job at a literary agency run by the formidable Bea Winston.

Bea hopes Livvie’s Southern charm and “boyish” good looks will help her bond with one of the agency’s most illustrious clients—the cranky Modernist writer Clio Hartt, a closeted octogenarian lesbian of the Paris Lost Generation who has rarely left her Greenwich Village apartment in four decades. When Livvie becomes Clio’s gofer and companion, the plan looks like it’s working: The two connect around their shared Carolina heritage, and their rapport gives Clio support and inspiration to think about publishing again.

But something isn’t quite right with Clio’s writing. And as Livvie learns more about Clio’s relationship with playwright Flora Haynes, uncomfortable parallels emerge between Livvie’s own circle of friends and the drama-filled world of expatriate artists in the 1920s. In Clio’s final days, the writer shares a secret that could upend Livvie’s life—and the literary establishment.

EMENDARE

by R. E. Bradshaw

“Her name is Jane Doe? Really? You aren’t joking?”

“Yes. Her father’s name was John Doe. Her mother’s last name was Smith. Jane Smith Doe, that’s her. Her dad said he guaranteed her anonymity for life. Thought it was funny.”

Forty years away from Doe’s Ferry, it didn’t take long for word to get around that Jane Doe had come home. Most people remained unconcerned with her arrival—memories of young Jane having been long forgotten or never known. But like any tiny place with tiny minds, the whispers at her sudden reappearance revived old rumors and fanned long cold embers into a blaze.

“So, you haven’t set foot in Doe’s Ferry since 1979, what finally brought you back?”

“Do I have to answer that question?”

“You didn’t come home when your father died in 2000. With your history, you can see why this sudden appearance would concern me.”

“My history? Which part? The part where we were cradle to grave friends, all of us, or the part where one of us died, three of us lied, and one of us went to prison.”

“I’m assuming that means this isn’t a nostalgic trip home.”

“No point in pretending…”

There were those who wished Jane had stayed gone. Most folks were willing to let the past die with the ones that lived it—but not Jane, and not the person who sent the package that summoned her home. Wrongs needed righting. The time had come for the truth of what happened at Doe’s Ferry to come to light. Jane Doe has come home to amend the record, to make it right: Emendare.

SALE ALERT

SATIVA STRAIN
The San Franciso Mystery Series: Book 5

by Alexi Venice

$0.99 $9.99 

A legal thriller/crime drama that tests the bonds of love and loyalty among District Attorney Amanda Hawthorne, Dr. Jen Dawson and Detective Tommy Vietti.

In Sativa Strain, Amanda carries with her the quiet confidence of a yogi, the unrelenting burden of a prosecutor, and the demons that torture the corners of her soul.

Newly re-elected as San Francisco’s DA, Amanda faces her biggest internal and external foes yet when she and Detective Tommy Vietti investigate a high-profile murder implicating Kara Montiago, the CEO of a Silicon Valley tech company and candidate for President of the United States.

Sleep evades Amanda as she obsesses over the specter of a respected colleague’s involvement in the toxic murder scheme. Navigating the shoals of SFPD corruption, Tommy and Amanda learn that Kara Montiago is a philandering, Sativa-smoking dominatrix who preys on male subordinates at her company.

Amanda is especially vulnerable during her outpatient drug rehab therapy, fighting urges that tempt her day and night. Battling her desire to control everything around her, Amanda rekindles her relationship with Dr. Jen Dawson, the love of her life, testing the boundaries of Jen’s patience.

NEW AUDIOBOOKS

LONDON, ACTUALLY
London Romance Series: Book 5

by Clare Lydon
narrated by Lucy Price-Lewis

Rules are made to be broken….

Two years after her marriage implodes, event planner Cleo Nightingale is ready to get back in the dating game. However, she has one key rule: No younger women. How hard can it be?

Fresh out of uni, Becca Cramer is single and ready to embrace her new career. She’s not looking for a relationship, but then fate steps in and introduces her to Cleo.

Mix in two weddings and a festival, a jilted brother, and a pregnant best friend, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a hilarious pause register featuring the unlikely love-match of the year!

Book 5 in the London Romance series features favorite characters from previous novels, and is another uplifting, sparky romantic comedy from best-selling author Clare Lydon.

This is a stand-alone novel.

L.A. METRO
L.A. Metro Series: Book 1

by RJ Nolan
narrated by Angela Dawe

Dr. Kimberly Donovan’s life is in shambles. After her medical ethics are questioned, first her family, then her closeted lover, the Chief of the ER, betray her. Determined to make a fresh start, she flees to California and LA Metropolitan Hospital.

Dr. Jess McKenna, LA Metro’s Chief of the ER, gives new meaning to the phrase emotionally guarded, but she has her reasons.

When Kim and Jess meet, the attraction is immediate. Emotions Jess has tried to repress for years surface. But her interest in Kim also stirs dark memories. They settle for friendship, determined not to repeat past mistakes, but secretly they both wish things could be different.

Will the demons from Jess’s past destroy their future before it can even get started? Or will LA Metro be a place to not only heal the sick, but to mend wounded hearts?

GHOSTLY LOVE

by K’Anne Meinel
narrated by Aimee Aguilera

What happens when you fall in love with your best friend? What if that best friend is a ghost?

Stacey is your normal teenager, living with the the “normal” teenage angst moments. She just happens to have a friend who is a ghost. This takes her on a journey; while it would have been normal for most people, it is guided by her friend Renata who just happens to be dead. As the years go by and Stacey experiences life, she finds that love eludes her until she realizes it has been there all along. What do you do when the love of your life turns out to be a ghost?

SUVI

by Prudence MacLeod
narrated by Aimee Aguilera

Enslaved as a child, her DNA altered until she was barely half human, Jeannie Sorenson still managed to engineer her escape back to the ship that brought her to that deadly planet.

Could the humans accept her now that she was half alien?

Could she learn to interact with them and still retain her freedom?

And why the hell did they keep asking her for answers when they didn’t want to hear them?

GIVEAWAY

LONDON HOLIDAY

One lucky winner will receive the e-book.

To enter, simply leave a comment below and state which novel by Miranda MacLeod is your all-time fave. Haven’t read a book by Miranda? You can still enter. Just tell me Miranda MacLeod’s name. Hint: it’s Miranda MacLeod. Honestly, I’m not trying to trick anyone or make this difficult.

The winner will be selected on May 14th.

Please note, the author will contact you via email to arrange delivery of the e-book.

PODCAST NEWS

Episode 32: Harper is easily bamboozled 

In this episode, Harper talks about her 4th-week wobble, and we announce the release date of French Kissing: Season Five. We do our best to live up to our ‘Explicit’ label and Harper recommends this meditation.

While Caroline was away feeling very old on the golf course, Harper read Writing and Releasing Rapidly by Elana Johnson. Harper also finally realised that she really likes a posh girl.

Click here to listen.

Get in touch with Harper Bliss and Her Mrs with your questions, comments or suggested topics at harperblissandhermrs@gmail.com

***

LWW-11: Top Ten Tips for Writers, Part Two 

In this episode, TB & Clare finish dispensing their top tips for writers.

First, they catch up with what’s going on in their lives. Clare discusses her upcoming trip to Jamaica and TB shares a Lesbians Who Write surprise with Clare, getting them one-step closer to world domination. Huzzah!

During the comment section, Clare and TB accept a challenge by a listener, and TB admits she’ll blush a lot discussing lesbian sex on the podcast.

TB also slips in another mention about her mint chocolate chip ice cream addiction. It’s possible she has a serious problem.

Then they launch into the final five tips for authors. They dive into the necessity of honing observational skills, which both of them admit they’re rubbish at, but they are trying to improve. Clearly, this is an example of do as they say, not do as they do. Also, they give advice about the importance of hiring a professional editor—an absolute must in their humble opinion. Next up is a misconception that all writers are like Ernest Hemingway, which means they drink a lot and write little. This romantic image is so wrong! TB and Clare discuss one thing that can be a difficult concept to live by: the need to be patient. To succeed in this career, it’s important to keep plugging away. Finally, they delve into one of the biggest aspects that holds back so many: fear of failure and fear of success. TB reveals she has a very niche fear. Clare says she’ll always be there for TB when this fear rears its ugly head. It’s a beautiful Lesbians Who Write moment.

Click here to listen.

Stop back next week for a discussion about word counts: should writers keep track? If you’d like to leave a comment on the episode, head on over to www.lesbianswhowrite.com. They’d love to hear from you!

LESFIC NEWS

Announcing the first annual LESFIC BARD AWARD winners

Click here to find out who won what.

CALLING ALL LESFIC AUTHORS

I Heart Lesfic is coordinating a sale to run May 27 to May 31. Five days.

I’m looking to recruit tons of authors.

To find out how to join, click here.

The deadline for supplying the details is May 10th.

FREEBIES

Have you checked out the freebies page on I Heart Lesfic?

Many authors, like Niamh Murphy, give away a freebie when you sign up for their newsletter. Click on the image to sign up for Niamh Murphy’s newsletter.

For all the offerings, click this page.

Happy reading!

TB

Prices may change without notice, so make sure to check the price listed by the retailer before making the purchase.

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