The act of "coming out" has the power to transform every aspect of a woman's life: family, friendships, career, sexuality, spirituality. An essential element of self-realization, it is the unabashed acceptance of one's "outlaw" standing in a predominantly heterosexual world.

These accounts -- sometimes heart-wrenching, often exhilarating -- encompass a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences. From a teenager institutionalized for her passion for women to the mother who must come out to her young sons at the risk of losing them -- from the cautious academic to the raucous liberated femme -- each woman represented here tells of forging a unique path toward the difficult but emancipating recognition of herself. Extending from the 1940s to the present day, these intensely personal stories in turn reflect a unique history of the changing social mores that affected each woman's ability to determine the shape of her own life. Together they form an ornate tapestry of lesbian and bisexual experience in the United States over the past half-century..

When her rental car has a flat tyre, Liz Hardy stops at the Tillot farm for a car jack. Nora Tillot walks Liz out to the barn and, as they search for the jack, the two women begin a journey neither anticipated. As their friendship turns passionate, will their happiness be shattered by rumours?

When police detective Foster Everett witnesses the unspeakable, average becomes deadly. A cover up ensues and Foster begins numbing herself with alcohol at a neighbourhood bar. There she meets Riley Meideros, the one person strong enough to hear Foster's painful secret and not turn away.

Erica Boyd is just trying to keep her life calm and steady, but a family feud and a far-too-attractive newcomer threaten to blow it to pieces. The town of Whitehall, Texas is preparing to honour two revered former inhabitants, and audacious historian Rae arrives to help.

During an interview with a murder suspect, Toni Barston stumbles on information about an organised crime operation dealing in drugs and who knows what else. Within days she finds herself barely escaping a kidnapping attempt - who wants her this badly?

When Brett's long-term live-in lover Allie catches her cheating, it's not just with one woman, but two. Allie insists that Brett, on discovering her family is dying off, does something about it, to show she can care about something. Brett must face her worst nightmare, the family who tore her apart mentally, physically & emotionally.

Marcel shares a home with her mother and her friend, Cricket Lomas, who also happens to be her mother's lover. Roslin, Marcel's mother, is a gambler by trade who experiences a run of bad luck with the cards. But Roslin finds it difficult to stop. Sometimes its just not about the money.

Anna's ambition for a peaceful life is thrown into turmoil when her first case as a private investigator leads her from a missing manuscript to murder, greed and betrayal.

The murdered body of lesbian publisher Rosemary Finney is found on a remote hiking path south of San Francisco. Local police of the wealthy Woodside enclave quickly focus on a prime suspect: investigative reporter Velvet Erickson. Velvet appeals to her friend and former lover, private eye Yoshi Yakamota, for help.

Set in the drag underworld of Buffalo, 'Burning Dreams' chronicles the challenges faced by a young drag king and an older woman who share a love 'outside the bounds'.

A collection of over 30 erotic tales of love and lust that know no bounds, this title explores just how far women will go to get the girl.

In a magical world where being different is the norm, why must Rye Woods fear for her life if the truth about her hidden identity is revealed?

Archeologist Valerie Foret has spent a year searching for a tomb in the Egyptian desert--a labor broken only by high risk trysts with a powerful man's wife. When she finally makes the discovery of a lifetime, she is set upon by jealous rivals and religious fanatics. Worse, she is drawn into the depths of the desert by forces that offer knowledge of vast mysteries and at the same time threaten to destroy everything she knows. For what she's found is a glimpse into the hereafter, and it's nothing like it's supposed to be.

Brilliant scientist that she is, she has loved most unwisely and learned what she does not want to know. Follow her adventures through modern and ancient Egypt, through this world and the next, with Book One of the Ibis Prophecy.

This collection of lesbian erotica includes stories by Ronica Black, Cheyenne Blue, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Crin Claxton, Amie Evans, Lynne Jamneck, Karin Kallmaker, Meghan O'Brien and Radclyffe.

Nothing exciting ever happens in East Quay, a quaint New England coastal town. Not until its most celebrated daughter returns for one last performance. Four women, Manon, Eryn, Vivian, and Mike, whose lives unexpectedly intersect in a small town by the sea share one thing in common - they all have secrets.

Cassie Parker has grown used to denying her sexuality. Her father, the Reverend Parker, has made that a necessity. When Cassie meets Luke Winston, she can no longer deny her attraction to women, or more accurately - to Luke. Will Cassie choose life without family or life without love?

Investment analyst Lynn Gregory was used to taking risks. But even Lynn has her doubts when Matt, her best friend, asks her to participate in a charade to hide his sexuality from his parents. The plan seemed simple enough - Matt would introduce his friend Chris as his fiance. All Lynn has to do was back up the story. As the three grow closer, Lyn is forced to decide if she is willing to make the riskiest investment of all, an investment in which she may lose her heart.

No Sister of Mine is the first entry in a series of lesbian Science Fiction novels set in a world where humans are nothing more than a genetic trace. But that trace has left its mark - namely a race of telepathic women who must fight to coexist with a patriarchal humanoid society who wishes nothing more than the eradication of its white witch cousins.

When Cheryl Trinidad's lover Mickey runs off with another woman, Mickey's sister Elaine is quick to offer support. Secretly in love with Cheryl for years, Elaine hopes she'll finally have a chance to win Cheryl's heart. But will she? Mickey's fling will soon be over and she'll want Cheryl back...in the worst way.

Struggling to make ends meet, Sugar has invested everything into her home business of supplying Sugar's Cakes and Pastries to local Denver eateries. A friend suggests she enter a local bakeoff with a $10,000 grand prize and oodles of free publicity. The money would make a world of difference to Sugar's future. Working--and baking--night and day to perfect her business and her chances of winning, she's not prepared when the apartment oven starts a fire. Within a few hours she's got no place to live, no clothes and no business, not even a bag of flour and a measuring cup. Support arrives in the form of a Victim's Advocate social worker named Tree, a sympathetic firefighter named Charlie, and the local TV producer coordinating the bakeoff competition. She's Emily, and the first one of the trio to make a serious play for Sugar in the morning, Sugar in the evening, and Sugar in the afternoon. After nine years as a single lesbian who couldn't seem to get a heartbeat from any woman anywhere, all this attention has Sugar's head spinning. Forced to live with her ailing, homophobic grandmother, she finds it difficult to openly date any of these new women in her life. They all offer changed circumstances, stability and a hope at forever. But which one will she choose?

Rich, handsome attorney Sydney Van Allen is a rising star on the political horizon. So cool and controlled that colleagues have dubbed her "The Ice Queen," Sydney has built a fortified closet around every part of her being--including her heart... Lovely professor Faith Fitzgerald is a dedicated scholar and award-winning author. Engaged to Sydney's brother, Faith prays that this marriage will save her from the pain of the past--and the secret she dare not reveal... Thrown together by fate, these strong, independent women find themselves impassioned by a dangerous longing that threatens the very foundations of their carefully constructed lives and compels them to surrender--body and soul!

Alyssa Norland is a woman with a past complete with a different name and identity. Now making her living as a professional dog trainer in a small Michigan town, Alyssa wants nothing more than to forget all about the life she left behind. But someone doesn't want her to forget. When the burglaries begin, all the evidence points to Alyssa as the obvious suspect. But former cop Sue Hunter doesn't believe Alyssa is guilty of any crime.

Dr Maxine Weston and her lover Betina Abbott have been together for a very long time. Their desire for each other is evident in everything they do. When Betina begins experiencing bouts of depression, their world starts to crumble as antidepressants play havoc with Betina's life.

Brandy Monsoon is looking for love. Since there's never a shortage of casual playmates at the tropical resort where she works, most of the time she gets it, too. Welcome to Sanibel Island, Florida and Cancun...where each new day brings plenty of swimsuits, sandy beaches, wine, sailing and more women for Brandy to enjoy. When an all-lesbian tour group arrives for a week, Brandy is sure she'll be in paradise on earth. So used to having paramours fall at her pedicured feet, she isn't prepared for her encounter with Celina Griffin. Celina, a celebrity in the lesbian community as a humorist and writer, tells Brandy under no uncertain terms that she's not interested in a quickie with an addled sex kitten who can't get her thinking above her crotch. The encounter haunts Brandy for some time, changing the way she views her playmates as well as her thoughts about the future. When Brandy and Celina come face to face under different circumstances, will the encounter lead them to happiness...or just to a hot and steamy embrace sure to lead them both longing for more... "Karin Kallmaker's first Bella After Dark novel is so hot... you may need sunglasses to read it...