World-renowned artist Madison Lorraine leads a quiet life in Islamorada, Florida, with her nine-year-old daughter, Mo. Madison hasn't painted in over three years since her wife and muse, Callie, lost her battle with cancer. Supermodel Gabrielle Valenci's arrival at her family home in Islamorada unsettles Madison's comfortable routine. Gabrielle has left a floundering relationship behind in New York and travels to Florida to undergo the last of her chemotherapy. Her prognosis is excellent, but her journey since the initial cancer diagnosis has been rocky. The appearance of a dolphin in their cove coincides with Gabrielle's arrival next door. With each unannounced visit, he inspires Gabrielle and Madison as he gently nudges them together. Soon, Madison is accompanying Gabrielle to her treatments. Although the bond between them strengthens and their mutual attraction grows, both are hesitant to take the next step. Can they learn To Love Free again? Sometimes, the fragile human heart is reluctant to heal. But Madison and Gabrielle never counted on the persistence of one determined, magical dolphin they call "Free."

To Love Free

Romance

Paynter, Chris

LGBTQ+ Romance

Companion Publications LLC

Lisa Collins feels she has it all as an Indianapolis sportswriter covering the city's minor league baseball team and as a freelancer for the newspaper. Her best friend, bar owner Frankie Dunkin, helps keep her grounded and sane. Her life is uncomplicated-that is until Amy Perry enters her world. Amy, the all-star first baseman for a professional women's baseball team, dreams the dream most boys do-to play in the major leagues. The Cincinnati Reds are about to give her that chance. While covering Amy's ascent through the minor league system, the out-and-proud Lisa finds herself falling for the closeted first baseman. But as they begin a relationship, something unexpected happens: Lisa realizes her feelings for Frankie run much deeper than a friendship. With Amy facing harassment from her male teammates in her quest to break through the gender barrier, Lisa is torn between supporting her and exploring her feelings toward Frankie. Frankie has her own demons to face as painful physical and emotional scars from her past haunt her. Despite the myriad conflicting emotions raging in Lisa's life, one thing is clear-Frankie and Amy are Playing for First in her heart.

Playing for First

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Author Angie Cantinnini's agent convinces her she must use a pseudonym if she hopes to land a contract with a mainstream publishing company-especially since the protagonist of Angie's novels is a hard-boiled male detective. Neither Angie nor her agent anticipates the raging success of the series of books or the mountain of wealth that accompanies each new release. As a best-selling author, Angie should be delighted with her Bohemian life in Key West, but happiness is elusive because it's her alter-ego, Zach England, who's receiving the accolades, while Angie is relegated to anonymity. Meryl McClain, the recently hired book review editor at the prestigious New York Banner, wants to make a strong first impression with her readers, so she picks Zach England's latest novel for her debut review. She offers a scathing critique, unaware the real author behind the pseudonym is her long lost true love, Angie. Heartrending choices separated the lovers eleven years earlier. Seeing Meryl's review overwhelms Angie with feelings she thought she'd laid to rest years ago. This stroke of Fate beckons them to reunite, but Angie's secret identity and Meryl's struggle with a childhood trauma conspire to keep them apart. Torn from a shared moment in their past, the words Come Back to Me have haunted the two women for more than a decade. Is it too late for Angie and Meryl to choose love again?

Come Back to Me

Literary

Amy Perry's dreams have come true: she's the starting first baseman on a major league baseball team. Unfortunately, not everyone accepts an out and proud lesbian in the macho world of men's baseball. In addition to adapting to life in the big leagues, Amy also has to learn to cope with harassment from many sources. Thank goodness she can count on her loving relationship with her partner, Stacy McCrady, and the friendship and support of sportswriter Lisa Collins, who travels with the team to report on every game. Then personal tragedy strikes. Amy's game suffers badly, but her union with Stacy bears the real damage. Help comes from some unexpected sources, including one of Amy's male teammates and her former coach, as well as from Lisa, who has just been through a crisis of her own with her partner, Frankie Dunkin. Chris Paynter's Playing for First introduced Amy Perry and Lisa Collins to readers and gave them a taste of the excitement that could come from a female athlete breaking the "jockstrap barrier" and making it into a sport that only men have played. In Two for the Show, Ms. Paynter irrefutably demonstrates that baseball is really just a metaphor for the game of life. Step up to the plate and take your best swing. Two for the Show is sure to be a hit with long-time baseball fans and newcomers alike.

Two for the Show

Hired to work on a biography of the late film star, Daphne DeMonet, Bailey Hampton arrives to conduct an interview with Eleanor Burnett, Daphne's "longtime companion." To Bailey's dismay, she learns Eleanor has set up a co-interview with Bailey's ex-partner, Chelsea Parker. Estranged for eleven months, the two women hide their painful memories and strain to be civil to one another. Eleanor startles them by insisting that they take turns reading aloud from Eleanor's diaries of her life with Daphne DeMonet. Only after the diaries are read in her presence will Eleanor proceed with a full interview. Once Eleanor discovers that Bailey and Chelsea are ex-partners, the diary readings take on a new meaning for her. Can they learn from the mistakes she and Daphne made as young lovers? Will that knowledge bring Bailey and Chelsea together again? Or is it too late to mend their broken relationship?

Survived by Her Longtime Companion

Contemporary

Corey Banner is happy in a six-year relationship with her partner Judy, and sees only a bright future ahead for them. But Corey's life is turned upside down when a car accident tragically claims Judy's life. Two years later, still broken and reeling from her painful loss, Corey moves from her home in Lansing, Michigan, to Grand Lake, Colorado. There, she hopes to begin healing. Erin Flannery and her Aunt Tess are co-owners of Grand Lake's Rainbow Lodge. Erin questions Tess's immediate hiring of Corey as the lodge's new head of maintenance-but then it takes a lot for a woman to earn Erin's trust. Afraid to put her heart on the line after her partner's betrayal five years before, Erin is not ready for any long-term commitment and covers her pain with meaningless one-night stands. Although Corey and Erin start out on shaky ground, as the summer months go by their friendship slowly grows into something more. Will Corey take a leap of faith and allow love to enter her heart again? And will Erin stop running long enough to trust a woman who seems almost too good to be true? Against the backdrop of the magnificent Rocky Mountains, Corey and Erin must decide: will they let fear rule their lives-or will they simply let go and dance another dance with love.

And a Time to Dance

First baseman Amy Perry and her Cincinnati Reds teammates have one goal for the new season: win the World Series. Sportswriter and best friend, Lisa Collins, is there to cover the action from spring training through the hot days of summer. But baseball isn't the only thing on Amy's mind. Her wife, Stacy McCrady, is trying to have a baby. The thought of becoming a mother pushes Amy to think this might be her last year--if the Reds were to win it all. While covering the Reds, Lisa gets the surprise of a lifetime. Her father, whom she has never met, contacts Lisa. Can Lisa's partner, Frankie Dunkin, help Lisa set aside more than thirty-five years of anger? Kat Benson is the cocky second baseman for Amy's former team, the Kansas City Bandits. The Bandits manager insists that Lisa and Amy attend a game to assess Kat's potential for the minor leagues. Kat, however, struggles to focus on baseball while confronted with her family's secrets. From Third to Home continues Chris Paynter's Playing for First baseball series. Join Amy, Lisa, Kat, and the women who love them for an exciting season full of ups and downs, hopes and dreams.

From Third to Home (Playing for First)

Sports

A year after Dani Roberts's girlfriend infamously broke up with her on Twitter, Dani attempts to live a quiet life running her bookstore in Francis, Georgia.
Sexy blues singer C.J. James rolls into town for a limited engagement at the local gay bar. Without warning, C.J. slams into Dani's life, writes a song about her beautiful eyes, and offers a wild and scorching ride.
Veterinarian Liz Springer has returned to her hometown to mend a broken heart. Liz wants no drama in her life and longs for the peaceful time needed to heal. But when Dani brings her beagle, Frodo, to the clinic, tamped-down desire begins to simmer.
A firestorm is in the making, and Dani is right in the middle.

More Than a Song

When a family tragedy strikes, successful children's book author Lindsey Marist withdraws from her world. Barely coping with day-to-day living, she isolates herself in her cabin. Her troubled mind seems unable to write another uplifting children's story.
Artist Cloe Parsons struggles to sell her work. She supplements her income by helping out at her parents' grocery store. Trips to deliver Lindsey's groceries spark a friendship between the two women that evolves over the course of a summer. When the longtime illustrator of Lindsey's books retires, the door opens for Cloe to step in and be hired to illustrate Lindsey's next release.
As they work together on each page of the new book Cloe has urged Lindsey to try, Lindsey and Cloe grow closer. Will Lindsey be able to break free from her sadness and follow her heart? Will Cloe finally take a chance on love that is just a touch away? A relationship between the two seems ideal, but will it happen? Can it happen?

Just a Touch Away

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