THE RAINBOW CEDAR

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER

2008 Lambda Finalist

In this sequel to Hunter’s Way, Dallas Homicide Detectives Tori Hunter and Samantha Kennedy investigate the murder of a Catholic priest who is found naked and strangled. A sexual scandal threatens to erupt causing the Church to bring in its own public relations person to control what makes it into the press.

Cover-ups that reach outside the confines of the Church as are soon revealed as Tori and Sam's only suspect is found shot dead only hours after the murder. The detectives struggle to find the truth behind the priest's death digging for answers even as their superiors demand the case be closed.

Added to the mix this time is Special Victims Detective Casey O’Connor who teams with the duo to find the answers no one seems to want revealed.

In the Name of the Father is a fast-paced police thriller, moving beyond the grandeur of the Church to the politics involved in
concealing the details behind the murder of one of its own, a priest well-loved in his parish but with a secret life no one wants to admit.

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THE COTTAGE

The Cottage is the story of two women who meet by chance . . . or did they? Jill and Carrie, both married with teenaged children, fall into a routine of meeting during Jill’s lunch break at the local park, forging a friendship that deepens with each visit.  

Jill Richardson gave up teaching high school years ago, instead choosing to manage an office despite objections from her family. Her husband still lives and breathes the coach’s life, a life that leaves him little time to spare for Jill. Left on her own more and more, Jill is searching for that something that’s missing in her life.

Married to a successful businessman, Carrie Howell retired early from a career in real estate to spend more time with her teenage boys, and to pursue her lone passion—painting. She, too, realizes something is missing.

This is the story Jill tells, a story of two women pulled by a force stronger than their marriages, stronger than themselves. They give into their desires—their love—as they find something in each other that was lacking in their marriage and their life . . . they find their soul mate.

Jill shares their story for the first time with a stranger. Jill tells her about the stolen moments during a rushed lunch hour, moments stolen at a cottage that becomes their haven. She describes a love so destined it couldn’t be denied . . . stolen moments to be cherished forever. It was a love so complete, having it for only a brief moment in time did nothing to dispel the joy of a true, true love.

The Cottage is their story . . . Jill and Carrie . . . two women, one love.  

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THE TARGET

Sara Michaels, owner of the self-help clinic The New You, is taking a group of ten women on a two-week sojourn into the Rocky Mountains to celebrate their newly found self-confidence. Her father, a senator and presidential candidate, has received death threats against his family. The FBI tells Sara of the threats, but she refuses to be intimidated and declines their offer of protection.

Denver homicide detective Jaime Hutchinson is recruited to infiltrate the group of women and secretly provide protection. She reluctantly agrees only after being assured the assignment is purely for appearance purposes only. She has no desire to “baby-sit” a senator’s daughter, so she views the trip as a vacation. After feigning injury on the trail, she is absorbed into the group as a tag-a-long.

Sara, however, is not thrilled having an outsider join their group, fearing she may damage the progress the women have made. But Jaime quickly gains the confidence of the women and is accepted as one of their own. She is having a great time, teasing Sara and even enticing the group into frolicking naked in hot springs. Soon, ten conservative women are playing matchmaker with Sara and Jaime. But her so-called vacation comes to an abrupt end when she notices they are being followed. Fearing Sara is the target of a real threat, Jaime is forced to confess her mission. She attempts to lead the group out of the mountains and away from the sniper’s bullets. Suffering casualties along the way, they make it to the ghost town of St. Elmo, where Jaime and Sara confront their feelings for one another. After a climatic shootout with the sniper, the FBI whisks Jaime back to Denver, and Sara is taken to her family’s estate in Colorado Springs. It is there that she soon learns the surprising origin of the death threats and the motive behind them.

When Jaime realizes the truth, she must convince the FBI to return to Colorado Springs before it’s too late to save Sara.

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COYOTE SKY

When Kate Winters, author of the mystery series The Masters, develops writer’s block, her old friend, wealthy widow Brenda Granbury, invites her to spend the summer in Coyote, New Mexico, to clear her mind. Leaving behind the Dallas heat—and her live-in girlfriend—Kate retreats to the high mountain desert, and finds herself surrounded by Brenda’s eccentric friends and artists, including the somewhat cultish Harmony, Sunshine and Starlight. But it’s the local sheriff, Lee Foxx, who holds her attention. Lee, however, has a penchant for only dating the young tourists that flock to the river canyon each summer. She has no intention of ever settling down.

Soon, the women develop a friendship, despite Kate’s repulsion of Lee’s dating habits, and Lee’s distaste of Kate’s so-called girlfriend, Robin. Over the summer months, their friendship threatens to evolve into more, and Kate tries to maintain her conviction that she is in a committed relationship and will not become one of Lee’s “groupies”.

Harmony, Sunshine and the Fates intervene, slowly pushing the two women together. When they finally give in to their attraction and desire, an unexpected visit by Robin sends everyone scrambling. Kate is torn between her perception of the safe relationship she has with Robin, and her overwhelming desire to be with Lee. Lee, on the other hand, is trying to cope with the realization that she has fallen in love for the first time. And fallen for someone who is technically unavailable. Will Lee fight to keep Kate in Coyote? Or will she let her escape back to Dallas with Robin?

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BEHIND THE PINE CURTAIN      

2007 GCLS WINNER

Jacqueline Keys was ostracized from her small hometown of Pine Springs, Texas when she was seventeen, sent away because she was gay. Her family was the largest employer in the county, owning Pine Springs Lumber, and her father was mayor of this small town. Her mother could not accept the fact that her only child was gay, could not tolerate the gossip about her family. So, with a hundred dollars in her pocket and a one-way bus ticket out of town, Jacqueline was told not to come back until she had come to her senses. And that included being prepared to marry the son of a business associate of the family.

Fifteen years later—long after she’d hitch-hiked to Los Angeles, long after she’d worked nights to put herself through college, and long after she’d written her first best seller, No Place For Family—Jacqueline is persuaded to go back to the tiny town of Pine Springs after her father’s death. She agreed to go back, not out of a sense of duty—for she felt she owed them nothing—but for closure.

The quick trip she’d envisioned for the funeral turns into weeks as she learns her father’s business is suddenly hers to manage. And she is also again face-to-face with the woman who, as a teen, had been Jackie’s first crush. She and Kay had been inseparable as kids, and later as teens. They find themselves falling back into their old habits, and Jackie is soon fighting the same feelings she’d had when she was seventeen. But this time, after suffering through a horrible marriage, Kay finally accepts what she felt for Jackie back then . . . and what she feels for her still.

But living behind the pine curtain, Kay is afraid of her love for Jackie, afraid of what her family will say, afraid of how the town will react. Jackie refuses to hide, refuses to crawl back into the closet, so once again, she leaves Pine Springs . . . alone.

Will Kay let her go? Or will Kay follow her heart?

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THE KILLING ROOM         

2007 GCLS WINNER

Denver detective Jake McCoy was rehabbing at her cabin in the mountains, trying to reconcile the shooting death of a young boy.  Psychologist Nicole Westbrook, an expert in domestic violence, is in those very same mountains, escaping from the horrors of her profession for a brief vacation. Nicole becomes lost when she leaves the well-marked hiking trail in search of hot springs, and she stumbles upon Jake, who is enjoying her own soak in remote springs. They exchange first names only, but after a few hours together, a physical attraction neither can explain, engulfs them, leaving them as lovers, not strangers, when Nicole departs the following day. But when Jake returns to Denver, a murder investigation leads her to Nicole. Both are surprised that they are face to face with the stranger they thought they’d never see again, Nicole tries to remain in the professional closet that she’s been hiding in for so long, a place where out cop Jake McCoy does not fit. And Jake, still trying to recover from the shooting that left her injured, does her best to distance herself from Nicole. It is soon evident that a serial killer is targeting Nicole’s former patients. Try as they may, they can not deny the physical attraction between them, even if it means compromising the investigation. But after all is said and done, the fact remains that Nicole and Jake live in two different worlds. Despite the physical attraction and the gentle tug of love, both women accept that when their case is over, they will go their separate ways. Jake retreats back to the mountains, and Nicole resumes her practice in earnest, both trying to forget the other . . . and both failing.

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ARTIST'S DREAM 

2005 Lambda Finalist

Cassie Parker has grown used to denying her sexuality. Her father, the Reverend Parker, has made that a necessity. But when she meets Luke Winston, she can no longer deny it to herself. In the small town of Sebastopol, California, where artists outnumber farmers, Cassie struggles to accept the feelings that Luke brings out and to deal with the unexpected visit of her father. She must choose either a life without family or a life without love.  

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HUNTER'S WAY                

2005 GCLS Finalist

Homicide detective Tori Hunter was used to doing things her way. After six different partners in seven years, she was not prepared for the hot-tempered Samantha Kennedy. Samantha, on the other hand, was trying to juggle a demanding boyfriend, a new job, and the challenge of being partnered with the most difficult detective in the squad. After a brief terrorist scare disrupts their serial killer investigation, the two women find themselves growing closer. Sam begins to question her relationship with her longtime boyfriend, and Tori, never one to allow anyone to get close, begins to feel her defenses slipping in Sam’s presence. A serial killer and drug deals gone bad; the two detectives struggle with their feelings, trying to maintain their professional relationship while keeping their nearly flammable physical relationship in check.   

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THE DAWN OF CHANGE

Susan Sterling wanted nothing more than to escape her life . . . and her marriage. the family's secluded cabin in Kings Canyon National Park seemed the only place for her to find peace. But it took Shawn Weber coming into her life for her to find the courage to make changes. The budding friendship between the two women strengthens into an intense emotional bond, a bond that soon eclipses friendship. Despite pressure from her family to reconcile with her husband, Susan can't deny the feelings that Shawn stirs in her. Susan finds she's willing to forsake her entire family for a chance at love with Shawn. 

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ONE SUMMER NIGHT

Embarrassed after their night of passion, Jo hopes to never see Kelly Sambino again, especially when friends warn her of Kelly’s reputation as a runaround. When fall classes begin, Jo is as surprised as anyone to find Kelly has been hired to teach at the same college. She denies the attraction and refuses to be swayed by Kelly’s considerable charm, vowing never to repeat her summer indiscretion. Kelly insists she is not the womanizer others claim. She pursues Jo, breaking down her resistance and professing her love, only to have her reputation come between them again. In a moment of need, Jo turns to Kelly, accepting the physical comfort Kelly offers, while still denying her own heart . . . denying the love that has grown between them.

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SIERRA CITY     

Chris McKenna gladly escaped the crowds of Yosemite to work as the new Search and Rescue in tiny Sierra City, nestled just west of Lake Tahoe. Always a loner, she didn’t mind the seclusion of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Jessie Stone, a successful but reclusive writer, is haunted by memories of her childhood and finally returns to Sierra City after sixteen years of estrangement from her mother. The odd assortment of residents of this small mountain town bring them together but it is Annie Stone, a woman Chris has grown to admire and a woman Jessie still feels hatred for, that binds the two. Through lies and deception, they still cannot deny the growing attraction that will brighten both their lives . . . if only they will allow it.

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GULF BREEZE                    

2004 Lambda Finalist

Carly Cambridge wanted nothing more from life than to get the latest Habitats For Nature project off the ground. She had come home to the Texas Gulf Coast to do just that. But when photographer Pat Ryan enters her life, she finds herself wanting something she swore she would never have again. And Pat, always searching for that someone to take her breath away, finds that and more in Dr. Cambridge. But Carly is not easily convinced to take a chance on love.

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