CONTENTS
Is it your first visit to my work? Looking at the backlist and not sure where to start? I hope this list helps!
First off, all of my books have an “all about” page that will give you a lengthy sample from the book. Have a taste or two and see what might suit your palate.
If you’re interested in specific themes or tropes, you can visit the All About the Stories page and use the filters. Like a meaty enemies to lovers story? Try “Hate at First Sight.” Women who are trying so hard to figure out life and surviving it? Try “Coming into Their Own.” Instant attraction? Butch-femme pairings? Adventure, Fantasy, Super Sexy Times, or Romance So Sweet? There you go.
Of course, you can always decide to read in order of publication. You would definitely see my growth and change as a writer over the thirty-mumble years. With few exceptions, however, my books do not have to be read in any order, so I wouldn’t priortize that. But you do you. Everybody has their own particular jam.
The Books that are Linked
The Coin of Love Series
Books in this series are definitely connected, but they have been written out of order, in terms of their era, and I mean them to be read in any order. I plan more installments under this same premise: a magical coin helps women get out of their own way when it comes to finding their perfect mate. So far there are four books: two set in contemporary times, one in medieval Scotland, and one in California of the 1950s. The next addition will be contemporary times.
Touchwood and Watermark
One main character in Touchwood, Rayann, is a main character in Watermark. Watermark was written nine years after Touchwood. The time gap between the two stories does matter! I humbly suggest – without giving away any spoilers – that the reader wait nine years between the two.
Captain of Industry and Stepping Stone
This is more than you likely want to know, but here goes!
The novel opens in the present with a swanky cliffside fundraising party raising money for Planned Parenthood. With celebrities, politicos, artists, and entrepreneurs in attendance, I drew on successful, smart women from my own stories, like Laura Izmani (Roller Coaster), who caters the evening, Syrah Ardani (Just Like That) who donates the wine, and Leah Beck (Painted Moon) who provides the central piece for the art auction. I don’t think it impacts the experience not to know the full history of those people for that scene, but if you have read those novels then it does give a little glimpse of the characters later in life, much like the short stories do in the Frosting on the Cake collections.
Captain of Industry is a fully standalone novel, and it is also a wraparound novel – both prequel and sequel.
One main character, Jennifer Lamont, is a secondary – and not very nice – character in Stepping Stone from seven years earlier. There’s plenty in Captain to demonstrate that Jennifer has not been nice in her past, so a reading of Stepping Stone is not necessary. However, Captain is written so that a reader can enjoy Acts 1 and 2 of Captain, then all of Stepping Stone and finish with Acts 3 and 4 of Captain.
And Now for the Picks
Bad Girl Goes Good: Captain of Industry
If the above wasn’t clear, Captain of Industry is very special for me. The story is long and layered. Instant attraction, second and third chances, smart, strong women, celebrity, fame, a high femme and unabashed butch – and redemption after 20 years of regrets. Like butch-femme pairings? There’s also Butch Across the Hall, Black Velvet and a Little Boi Smile, and One Degree of Separation.
Lesbian Community History and Love: Touchwood
If you’ve ever wondered what times were like “back in the day” then Touchwood gives you not one “back in the day” but two. The story was written in the wildly open and hopeful Gay 90s, and features a lesbian who survived the repressions of the 50s and 60s. It also showcases my love of bookstores. The burn is very, very slow. More stories about women who love books? One Degree of Separation and Paperback Romance might tick that box.
Sapphic Retelling: Just Like That
Love the structure of the classic romance in a modern sapphic setting? Pride and Prejudice is that classic happy-ending romance, and Just Like That takes the story to the soft nights and sunny days of California’s Wine Country. Other stories with classic tropes and structure are In Every Port, Love by the Numbers and Wild Things.
Snow-Bound Cabin: Painted Moon
A blizzard, a timely rescue, two days trapped by snow, only one bed, and a great dog. That’s just the beginning. Once the snow melts, the freeze sets in. Other books where nature takes control (at least for a while)? Warming Trend and
Lesbians Survived: Cowboys and Kisses
We were there. Name any era of history and we were there. In Cowboys and Kisses, it’s the American West, where conditions were brutal for women. From the perspective of a young woman running out of survival time in a brothel, the short novel is a story of women saving themselves and each other. We were there. We survived. We’ve always had each other. Another story in this vein is Knight of Nights