2022 Winners of the Lesfic Bard Awards
Amanda Hawthorne, Dr. Jen Dawson, and Detective Tommy Vietti volunteer to help in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Dr. Jen treats victims in the hospital, including someone once very special to her, but makes a new friend in Nurse Denni Russo.
While on a dark ops mission, Amanda summons her inner strength to avoid falling into old habits as she learns earth-shattering revelations about her Scottish ancestry.
Tommy feels like he’s walking on shifting sands as he transitions from a city detective to an international agent, relying on his gut instincts, drinking abilities, and shooting skills.
Roxy performs a highwire balancing act by revealing something life-changing to Amanda while deftly training Tommy and Amanda to operate in her clandestine world.
Roxy, Tommy, and Amanda might be outgunned and outnumbered on foreign soil, but they’ll never be outsmarted as they attempt to save humanity.
Venice is a member of International Thriller Writers, Golden Crown Literary Society, the Crime Writers’ Association, and Romance Writers of America.
Thirty-four years of practicing law informs Venice’s legal, medical, and crime fiction. Her heart, imagination, and life experience are the pesto on the pizza.
Drama
Awakening Souls: A Tale of Love Recovered
Angie K. Love
E-Book: https://bit.ly/40C9zr3
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3N5tXhe
Self-Published
Synopsis: A serendipitous reconnection. A trip to France. A powerful attraction that never waned. Does true love grant second chances?
Alex: There’s my Sage, looking more beautiful than ever! What are the odds I’d run into her the first time I’m on a date—with a woman? My heart and body have always wanted her, but my faith led me to walk away seventeen months ago . . .
When she asks me to join her on a trip to France, my head spins. Is this God giving me a second chance? Will I be able to show up in the way Sage deserves if I say yes, or will my old demons and guilt come back to haunt me?
Sage: My body and heart respond to Alex as strongly as ever, while my mind’s apparently already on vacation. I hear myself invite her on my trip to France . . . What am I thinking?!
I know the pain of losing her intimately—but she’s clearly been working on herself, and I, too, have been doing my own healing. Still, is it crazy to risk my heart a second time?
Can love overcome all obstacles and mend old wounds?
Bio: For the past decade and a half, Angie K. Love has had a rewarding career as an Acupuncturist, finding deep fulfillment in helping people heal in body, mind, and spirit. Through her writing, she hopes to bring healing to people’s hearts and souls.
From an early age, Angie has been an avid reader and prolific writer. It’s been her lifelong dream to be a published author. Her debut novel, Awakening Hearts: A Tale of Love Across Lifetimes, is the proud winner of the I Heart Lesfic Book of the Month Award in the Historical Fiction category. She’s since published a sequel that can be read as a standalone, Awakening Souls: A Tale of Love Recovered. Her third book is in the works. All three are lesbian fiction.
Erotica
Mistress of Desire
Ruby Scott
E-Book: https://bit.ly/3AjriJp
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3mPJ04d
Publisher: D&V Publishing
When healing the past to find your truth means tearing down everything you thought you knew about yourself, would you have the courage to face the challenge?
Having escaped Mhairi’s clutches, Alison is on a journey of self-discovery supported by her polyamorous lovers (Victoria and Abby) as well as Dr Eleanor Hopkins, her charismatic therapist. But the path to a bolder future is never straight, and as she delves into the depths of her desires, every twist and turn means navigating unchartered territory.
Where will her journey take her, and will her current relationship be able to withstand the inevitable change that follows?
Bio Ruby Scott is a Scottish-based writer of lesbian romance. She is a No1 best seller on lesbian book charts around the world and her books are bursting with strong women, so why not read one today?
She is currently writing numerous books, including but not limited to: The fourth book in An Awakening of Desire Series, following Abby, the devoted sub, and her Mistress Victoria: Evergreen II, following Zoe and Alex as they strive to make the world a better place in their own way: The seventh book in her hugely popular The City General Series, picking up where Emily and Meredith left off in The Healing of The Heart.
When Ruby is not writing, she loves to travel the world with her wife experiencing new adventures and when they aren’t gallivanting to foreign lands, you will find them on a beach or up a hill with Bailey, their furry little girl.
Fantasy
Persephone’s Mare
Iza Moreau
E-Book: https://amzn.to/3V60gig
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3KXL0PD
Publisher: Black Bay Books
Bio: Iza Moreau lives in the southern United States, where she rides dressage at the fourth level and shoots target archery…
Persephone Gwilt lives with her mother, Alice, and their horses on a small farm in rural North Florida. Alice had intended to wait until Persephone turned 18 to reveal to her that their real home was a magical place called Equidona, which they had fled because Alice was being hunted by Rogue Wizards. But, when Alice is killed several months before Persephone’s birthday, the 17-year-old finds herself whisked away to a world that uses magic instead of technology and where the management and training of horses is the main enterprise.
But the Rogue Wizards are still on the hunt—this time for Persephone. So together with a small band of her new friends, Persephone sets out across Equidona on horseback, following the steps that her mother had taken twenty years earlier. She learns that Alice was once a member of the Pathfinders, seven wizards and witches who had banded together to search for ancient magical powers. She also finds that she can communicate with the Old Ones—gigantic, almost-mystical horses that still roam Equidona.
Armed with this newfound knowledge, Persephone begins to discover that it is she who must undertake a bold and very unlikely plan to defeat the Rogue Wizards before they can subjugate and forever destroy Equidona.
Fiction
Evermore (A Mystic Meteor Tale Book 2)
Elle Hyden
E-Book: https://bit.ly/40rDFO1
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3oyCLSJ
Self-Published
Bio:
In Book Two of this Mystic Meteor Tale, the meddling spirit Lily is back in matchmaking mode, working with a few new cohorts to help two women find their Evermore.
Raven, a reclusive but wealthy video game developer, needs more than just a paid caretaker; she needs true healing to melt the cold core of her deeply wounded heart. She’s lived her entire life without love and trusts no one. Only once did Raven allow anyone close, but it wasn’t to be, and she vowed Nevermore!
Lynn, a gifted empath, seeks a safe haven not only for herself but for a little girl that she’s sworn to protect. Like Raven, she experienced an early childhood rejection. Although she didn’t close herself off to others, Lynn has never shared herself entirely with another. It has kept her moving on from one relationship to another.
The advent of a spectral raven starts these women down a path that can potentially redress these old hurts if only they can open their hearts to each other. Join these two women in their quest to discover if the spirits and fate will bring them together or tear them apart.
THIS BOOK CAN BE READ AS A STAND-ALONE NOVEL
Bio: Elle Hyden embarked on a new phase of her life in 2015 when she retired, allowing her to indulge in her favorite pastime, reading. Inspired by the other authors’ stories and using what her mother had called, an overactive imagination, she decided to write a few of her own.
Historical
Once In Berlin
Jo Havens
E-Book: https://bit.ly/3mTYlR2
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3LnpYLO
Self Published
Could you spy on the woman you loved?
It’s 1938 and Europe teeters on the edge of war.
In Berlin, life for Mila Nessian – genius mathematician, billionaire and womaniser – is one long party. A spot of rocket science by day, the Third Reich’s prettiest daughters by night. She knows what they whisper behind their hands – that Germany’s most dazzling mind has nothing but a calculator where her heart should be, a sliver of ice instead of soul. She smirks through yet another boring cocktail party and hopes they’re wrong.
Cecelia Balfour is dragged to Berlin by her socialite mother – and it’s the last place she wants to be. Cecelia has lost a lover and worries that her heart is too bruised to ever properly love again. To distract her, to maybe get her back in the game, her cousin at MI6 sets up a play: flirt with Mila Nessian, capture her secrets, lure her back to London.
Because what Mila is working on could steer the course of the coming war. The Nazis want her brilliance, British Secret Intelligence wants her silence, and Cecelia – once she has laughed with her, slept with her, sipped champagne on a zeppelin with her and lost her heart to her – Cecelia wants her love.
Can she win Mila’s trust and save her from the powers that control both their lives?
Bio: Not every romance is sugar-sweet. Sometimes the path to happily-ever-after is narrow, scary and full of doubts and heartbreak. But it is the grit that makes the pearl. Though it takes time, effort and patience, in Jo Havens’ books, love is always the softly glowing beauty on the final page.
In her lesbian romance novels, Jo’s characters struggle with their shortcomings, deal with the trials of life and, ultimately, listen to their hearts and do what is right. Love always wins.
Jo lives in Australia with her daughter, and a cat named Howl. She loves to hear from readers. Her debut novel, The Blood We Spill, is a sumptuous sapphic romance with an ice queen assassin, the gorgeous girl-next-door and a journey to true love that asks both women to challenge their deepest hopes and fears, risk all and, finally, rest lovingly in each other’s arms.
Mystery
Lady Hawthorne, SFMS, Book 7
Alexi Venice
E-Book: https://bit.ly/3LlOrB2
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3H7DosW
Publisher: Palmer Publishing
Amanda Hawthorne, Dr. Jen Dawson, and Detective Tommy Vietti volunteer to help in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Dr. Jen treats victims in the hospital, including someone once very special to her, but makes a new friend in Nurse Denni Russo.
While on a dark ops mission, Amanda summons her inner strength to avoid falling into old habits as she learns earth-shattering revelations about her Scottish ancestry.
Tommy feels like he’s walking on shifting sands as he transitions from a city detective to an international agent, relying on his gut instincts, drinking abilities, and shooting skills.
Roxy performs a highwire balancing act by revealing something life-changing to Amanda while deftly training Tommy and Amanda to operate in her clandestine world.
Roxy, Tommy, and Amanda might be outgunned and outnumbered on foreign soil, but they’ll never be outsmarted as they attempt to save humanity.
Bio: Award-winning author Alexi Venice’s legal and crime thrillers with sapphic leads serve up deadly appetizers, spicy main dishes, and HEA desserts. Her bestselling legal thriller, Standby Counsel, A Monica Spade Novel, received the 2020 Lesfic Bard Award in Mystery…
New Author
Joi Lansing … A Body To Die For: A Love Story
Alexis Hunter
E-Book: https://bit.ly/3V0Tev5
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3oxDkw2
Publisher: Bear Manor Media
“Joi Lansing: A Body to Die For colorfully chronicles personal and intimate details of the last four years of the talented ‘50’s “blonde bombshell” star’s fascinating life. After three decades of successful TV and movie appearances and Vegas singing stardom, Ms. Lansing died far too young at just 43. Though her funeral was attended by luminaries of the day (Frank Sinatra sent a huge floral display), her light went out relatively unceremoniously. Always just on the verge of “making it big,” Joi packed them in with standing room only in Vegas, but when the curtain came down and the audience was gone, who was she? Sadly, the one relationship where she was loved for the sweet, gentle woman she really was, the friendship that might have given her the strength to finally cross the finish line for that one moment of glory for which she had run since she began in show business as a little girl of 14, was ended at her death from breast Cancer in the arms of her dear friend, “Rachel.” “Author Alexis Hunter (“friend/baby sister”) was the only person who really knew Joi and knew how she struggled with a suicide-obsessed self-image and deadly drug problem after being a child star at MGM where “uppers” were a common way to keep the kids working 20-hour days.
Paranormal
Georgetown Glen: Queermunity Living At Its Finest
Annette Mori
E-Book: https://bit.ly/43RS7lp
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3KWsVBv
Publisher: Affinity Rainbow Publications
Lucy Manetti is positively euphoric over her recent purchase of an old ghost town. Unfortunately, she failed to consult with her wife, Bea, before buying the abandoned village. Predictably, Bea is not as enamored with transforming the ghost town into a sapphic retirement community, but Bea’s love for her wife trumps her displeasure over Lucy’s impulsiveness. The mature couple hires Fiona, an expert at restoring old houses, and Saville, a certified electrician, to bring the ghost town back to its glory days.
According to the adorable real estate agent who recommended the pair, Fiona and Saville have history. Lucy detects a spark between the two young women and decides, against the advice of her wife, to play matchmaker, bringing her beautiful niece into the mix. As the ragtag team begins their work on the old saloon, they discover a lot more than they bargained for, including ghosts, long-buried secrets, an abused golden retriever, and maybe even love.
Bio: Annette is an award-winning author, published by Affinity Rainbow Publications, who lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her wife and their four furry kids. With twenty-nine published novels, four Lesfic Bard Awards, and one Goldie Award for her fourth novel, Locked Inside, she finally feels like a real author. Annette is as much a reader as a writer and always looking for the next lesfic novel to cue up. She came up with the One Fan at a Time tagline because it rolled off the tongue much better than One Reader at a Time. After pondering who she was at her core, it was all about connecting to each reader on a personal level. She would be the first to admit she doesn’t do well with the masses. If someone picks up her book and it touches them she believes she has achieved what she wants with her writing by reaching each reader. It is who she is at her core.
Romance
Broken Beyond Repair
Emily Banting
E-Book: https://bit.ly/40B7L1E
Paperback: https://bit.ly/41L4fTk
Publisher: Sapphfic Publishing
An age-gap, celebrity ice queen romance that will pull at the heart strings — even the icy ones!
Sydney MacKenzie, personal assistant to the rich and famous, is looking forward to a well-earned break to go travelling in her beloved VW camper van, Gertie — that is, until Gertie cries off sick. When her boss calls in a favour, one that will pay Sydney handsomely and put Gertie back on the road, she can’t refuse.
Internationally renowned actress Beatrice Russell — adored by her fans and despised by those that know her — is splashed across the tabloids, all thanks to her broken leg. She limps back to her palatial English country estate to convalesce for the summer, where she finds herself in need of yet another new assistant.
Enter Sydney, who doesn’t take kindly to the star’s demands, attitude, or clicking fingers — much less her body’s own attraction to the gorgeous diva. If not for that, and Gertie’s worn-out engine, she would leave tomorrow. Or so she tells herself.
As the summer heats up, the ice queen begins to thaw, and Sydney glimpses the tormented woman beneath the celebrity bravado, drawing her ever closer to the enigmatic actress — sometimes too close.
Can Sydney reach the real Beatrice and help heal her wounds before the summer ends and she returns to filming in the States, or is the celebrity broken beyond repair?
Bio: Emily Banting became a best-selling author of contemporary sapphic romance when her debut novel ‘Lost in Love’ hit number one on Amazon’s international charts for sapphic romance and fiction. Her first standalone novel Broken Beyond Repair followed suit and went on to win the Queer Indie Awards 2022 Contemporary Romance Category.
Join her Readers’ Club and receive a free sapphic novella www.emilybanting.co.uk/freebook
Hit the “FOLLOW” button for notifications about offers and new releases!
As an author of LGBTQ+ romance featuring sapphic main characters, I’m passionate about increasing the representation of sapphic women over forty in literature and on-screen.
I write about women in their prime, experiencing everything life throws at them — missed opportunities: regret: lost loves: family problems: aching joints: and menopause — with plenty of British humour thrown in.
With a degree in, and a passion for Archaeology and Heritage Management, I never miss an opportunity to sneak a historic building into my books. The Nunswick Abbey Series features a Georgian country house, a quaint historic village setting, and of course, oodles of ruined abbey.
When I’m not glued to the MacBook, I bow to the unreasonable demands of my cat overlord, and walk my starving, velcro Labrador.
Cover
Broken Beyond Repair
Emily Banting
E-Book: https://bit.ly/40B7L1E
Paperback: https://bit.ly/41L4fTk
Publisher: Sapphfic Publishing
Bio: Emily Banting became a best-selling author of contemporary sapphic romance when her debut novel ‘Lost in Love’ hit number one on Amazon’s international charts for sapphic romance and fiction. Her first standalone novel Broken Beyond Repair followed suit and went on to win the Queer Indie Awards 2022 Contemporary Romance Category.
Join her Readers’ Club and receive a free sapphic novella www.emilybanting.co.uk/freebook
Hit the “FOLLOW” button for notifications about offers and new releases!
As an author of LGBTQ+ romance featuring sapphic main characters, I’m passionate about increasing the representation of sapphic women over forty in literature and on-screen.
I write about women in their prime, experiencing everything life throws at them — missed opportunities: regret: lost loves: family problems: aching joints: and menopause — with plenty of British humour thrown in.
With a degree in, and a passion for Archaeology and Heritage Management, I never miss an opportunity to sneak a historic building into my books. The Nunswick Abbey Series features a Georgian country house, a quaint historic village setting, and of course, oodles of ruined abbey.
When I’m not glued to the MacBook, I bow to the unreasonable demands of my cat overlord, and walk my starving, velcro Labrador.
An age-gap, celebrity ice queen romance that will pull at the heart strings — even the icy ones!
Sydney MacKenzie, personal assistant to the rich and famous, is looking forward to a well-earned break to go travelling in her beloved VW camper van, Gertie — that is, until Gertie cries off sick. When her boss calls in a favour, one that will pay Sydney handsomely and put Gertie back on the road, she can’t refuse.
Internationally renowned actress Beatrice Russell — adored by her fans and despised by those that know her — is splashed across the tabloids, all thanks to her broken leg. She limps back to her palatial English country estate to convalesce for the summer, where she finds herself in need of yet another new assistant.
Enter Sydney, who doesn’t take kindly to the star’s demands, attitude, or clicking fingers — much less her body’s own attraction to the gorgeous diva. If not for that, and Gertie’s worn-out engine, she would leave tomorrow. Or so she tells herself.
As the summer heats up, the ice queen begins to thaw, and Sydney glimpses the tormented woman beneath the celebrity bravado, drawing her ever closer to the enigmatic actress — sometimes too close.
Can Sydney reach the real Beatrice and help heal her wounds before the summer ends and she returns to filming in the States, or is the celebrity broken beyond repair?
NOVELLA
Erotica
May I Call You Mistress?
Ruby Scott
E-Book: https://amzn.to/3N2dlXT
Paperback: https://bit.ly/40wacTd
Publisher: D&V Publishing
If the woman that filled your teenage sexual fantasies walks back into your life seventeen years later, more beautiful and bolder than you thought possible, would you be able to resist?
Photographer Abby Mason comes to her friends rescue, stepping in at the last minute to cover a product shoot, but when she meets the client, the stunning redhead, Victoria Fraser, Abby’s world changes forever.
When the power of fantasy consumes reality, Abby has only one question, “May I Call You Mistress?”
The most intoxicating moments in life are ones we earn. But how hard would you work for one of those moments?
Bio: Ruby Scott is a Scottish-based writer of lesbian romance. She is a No1 best seller on lesbian book charts around the world and her books are bursting with strong women, so why not read one today?
She is currently writing numerous books, including but not limited to: The fourth book in An Awakening of Desire Series, following Abby, the devoted sub, and her Mistress Victoria: Evergreen II, following Zoe and Alex as they strive to make the world a better place in their own way: The seventh book in her hugely popular The City General Series, picking up where Emily and Meredith left off in The Healing of The Heart.
When Ruby is not writing, she loves to travel the world with her wife experiencing new adventures and when they aren’t gallivanting to foreign lands, you will find them on a beach or up a hill with Bailey, their furry little girl.
NOVELLA
NEW
Takes and Tales
Penelope Merrell
E-book: https://bit.ly/3KX9wAx
Publisher: D&V Publishing
One day in the life of Nadine Raider. A photographer, she prepares photos for a retrospective during Pride Month. The black and white photos are her seldom seen LGBQT home portraits. Each portrait session required a number of takes. Between the takes, she heard tales of people’s lives. Nadine recalls their stories as she reviews files and selects photos. Memories from her own life surface and intertwine as she looks back to those times.
There were her early days among girl friends and finding herself as a lesbian. There was a wrenching love affair. There was the ongoing work to develop her career and the years of being alone. Now mature, Nadine muses on the years before meeting Marlys. Marlys who likes oatmeal and is a willing assistant handmaid to their Abyssinian cat.
By day’s end Nadine settles on 17 photo groups. Among their stories are a lesbian couple dining with seemingly clueless parents, two house proud gays who spiff up their neighborhood, and a gay man dealing with a death threat at work. The stories range from humor to heartbreak, AIDS to Pride Parades. Whether older or younger, they experience love and loss, acceptance and rejection. But romance also blooms and humor threads their stories as they shape their lives.
Follow as Nadine recalls these defiant, courageous, and colorful people who lived through the cultural struggles and triumphed. And finally Nadine’s story as she finds love in middle age.
Bio: Penelope Merrell is an independent author and illustrator. A lifelong artist, her paintings showed and sold in galleries for more than 20 years. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and near their sons. The family shares a dog, Ringo; Penelope provides the care and feeding.
She grew up on a farm in Montana and is one of nine children. They had no TV, so family members were avid readers, game and card players. When her first-grade teacher introduced arithmetic problems, Penelope announced, “I can add and subtract all those numbers. That is what you do in Blackjack.”
She became interested in the art and story of graphic novels. Penelope took several courses for this book form and SQUAWK! A Story in Fowl Language was a result (available on Amazon). This book received the Sue Alexander Scholarship Award given by the Society of Children’s Books / Writers and Illustrators.
Penelope notes: “My big sisters read books to me and I remember the thrill when I could read those books myself. I love writing and illustrating books. I want the Cecily and Berle stories to be a step to a lifetime of reading.”
Later she wrote with a life stories group. Using these as a basis, she wrote the novel “A Farm Called Someday.” She jots ideas in numerous notebooks and waits for one to germinate. then work begins on another book.
Action Adventure
Lady Hawthorne, SFMS, Book 7
Alexi Venice
E-Book: https://bit.ly/3LlOrB2
Paperback: https://bit.ly/3H7DosW
Publisher: Palmer Publishing
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No News Postbox journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
