Top of the World

Contributors: Jodi Payne
Series: Sapphic #1
Genre: , , , ,
Release Date: October 11, 2022

A Summit Springs shared-world Novel.

Top of the World is a second chances Sapphic (lesbian) romance set in the fictional town of Summit Springs, CO, featuring an ice queen artist and her mountain biker, rough and tumble ex.

Frankie Hoffman is excited about her new job with Marmot and Moose Outfitters, developing their mountain biking adventure program. Riding is her passion, and she loves every adrenaline fueled moment of her sport. Sure, she could have gotten a similar seasonal job back in Vermont, but Frankie chose Summit Springs for a reason, and her name is Aspen Young.

Aspen left Vermont after college graduation to pursue her dream of running an art gallery. She’s also a potter and moved home to Summit Springs to surround herself with amazing artists, all of whom are trying to make a living with what they do. Keeping the gallery’s doors open and her co-op of resident artists in business keeps her busy enough that she never thinks about Frankie anymore, and she has completely buried her broken heart.

Aspen’s not impressed when she comes home to find Frankie standing in her kitchen, and she doesn’t mince words when it’s time for Frankie to go home, making it clear she doesn’t want to see Frankie again.

But Frankie has come a long way to win Aspen back and one rejection can’t shake her resolve. Can Frankie make amends and get through Aspen’s walls? And if she can, will it be the forever love she is hoping for or just a summer fling?

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Chapter One 

 

Frankie braked to a stop in the parking lot at the bottom of the bike trail and shared a high five with the pair she’d joined up with at the top of the mountain. “Whoo! That was sweet. She tugged her helmet off and ran her fingers over her blond braid, grinning with the adrenaline rush of a great ride. 

Right? You kicked ass. That slalom bit toward the end is pretty gnarly, huh? You gotta watch that last bend…the one with the boulder on the outside. Patrick and Heather were experienced and pretty hardcore on the trail. Frankie wasn’t sure if they were locals or just came up here a lot, but they were serious terrain riders and had shown her all the best places to trick or get some air along the way. They’d been good people to run into. 

“Totally.” She nodded, still breathing hard from the workout. “I’m glad you were in front of me, man. The only reason I didn’t bite it is because you almost did.” 

They all laughed. Frankie went for her water bottle and took a big swig, washing the dust from the last bit of trail out of her mouth. 

“Are you from around here?” Heather got off her bike and started stretching. 

“No. I’m a seasonal hire up at Marmot and Moose.” She was pretty stoked about it too 

“The outfitters? Oh, dude. Awesome. Are you a guide? I didn’t know they were into biking.” 

“They are this year.” She gave Heather a wink. “They hired me to set up the program and run it as a trial thing for the summer.” And if it worked out, she’d find a way to be useful over the winter too. It paid well, better than anything she’d done before, and she loved biking. “We’ll see how it goes.” 

Well, I hope it goes well. 

“Thanks.” Frankie did too. The job had been hard to landshe’d had two interviews with Liz and Lupe and still hadn’t been officially hired until she’d made it out here and they’d met her in person. She got it, they were putting a lot of trust in her. Mountain biking was a new venture for the M&M this summer, and she knew they wanted to do it right.  

All she had to do now was not fuck it up. That wasn’t an option. She needed the job, sure, and it was a good one, but she hadn’t actually come all the way out here for the work.  

She’d come out here for Aspen. 

Aspen Youngher Penny. 

Named for the tree, not the town. 

Patrick opened the back of a black pickup and started loading their gear. Heather pulled out her phone. “Take my number in case you’re looking for someone to ride with. Riding alone up here’s not a great idea; you were smart to wait for someone to hook up with.” 

She knew. She’d made that mistake once; she wasn’t going to make it again. “Thank you. That would be awesome.” She handed Heather her phone and Heather put in her info. “Heather Booth. Got it.” 

Booth for now. Patrick’s last name is Young. We got married a month ago, and I still haven’t decided yet if I’m taking his name or keeping my own. It’s making him crazy. 

“Patrick Young?” Holy shit. It couldn’t be. She wasn’t ever that lucky. “And you all are local?” 

Patrick has a house just outside of town. We love it. I’m a teacher and Patrick does ski patrol. He’s got family here too, so there’s even more reason to stay.” 

“Oh…very cool.”  

No fucking way 

Patrick turned around, and suddenly Frankie could see the resemblance. She’d missed it when he was wearing his helmet. Patrick and Penny had the same dark eyes, the same wide smile. He had to be the little brother she’d talked about.  

Whoa. 

You got Heather’s number, right? Let’s do this again. We can hook you up with some other riders too.” Patrick stuck out his hand and she shook it. 

“Thanks. It was great to meet you both.” 

Say hi to your sister for me. 

Yeah, no. Not yet. 

Heather put her bike on the rack, and it looked like they were all packed up. “Good luck with M and M; they’re great people.” 

“Thank you. Fingers crossed.” Frankie got out of the way so Patrick could pull his truck out, and gave them a wave as they drove away. 

Okay, that was totally wild.  

Not only had she just had an awesome ride, but of all people, she’d actually run into Penny’s brother on the trail. For a second, she’d considered telling Patrick she knew Penny, but she didn’t want Penny to hear she was in town from anyone but her.  

She didn’t think it was going to go over so well. 

She walked her bike to her Forester and set it on the rack, then tossed all her gear onto the back seat. Waiting for her on the passenger seat was a Luna Bar and a bottle of water, and she opened both. She was hungry after that ride. Maybe she’d head into town to scope out some food. Or maybe she’d see if she could figure out where Penny had landed when she moved home again. 

But as soon as the Luna Bar hit her stomach, she realized there was no way she was going to make it into town today. She was still adjusting to the altitude, and it was hitting her hard after that ride. Burlington was a whopping two hundred feet above sea level. Mount Mansfield was as high as she’d ever been until now at forty-three hundred feet, and she’d only spent a few hours at a time up there. This was her second day in Summit Springs at nearly six thousand feet flat, and she was feeling it.  

Like, whoa 

She’d taken ibuprofen this morning but her headache was returning fast, and this time she was feeling pretty nauseated too. She’d obviously pushed too hard too soon. What she needed now was more water and some rest, or she was going to regret that ride. 

She wanted to explore, but that was just not happening. Maybe tomorrow. For now, it was back to the bunkhouse for a nap.

Title: Top of the World
Published by: Tygerseye Publishing, LLC
ASIN: B0B5JWQP5F

Christmas Bizarre

Contributors: Jodi Payne, BA Tortuga
Series: Sapphic #1
Genre: , , , , , ,
Release Date: December 20, 2022

A Summit Springs shared-world Novel.

Christmas Bizarre is a small town, opposites attract, lesbian romance set in fictional Summit Springs, Colorado.

Charlotte Miller is tired of feeling like a failure. She may have gotten herself fired, her love life has imploded…so when she gets the call that the annual Summit Springs Christmas Bazaar, which helps support her family’s farm, is in trouble, she heads home to try to save the day. Maybe her luck will change and she will be happier for the holidays. Too bad her car decides to break down on the way.

Naomi “Lars” Beckett is too busy with the tree farm she runs and Christmastime to worry about a stranded hottie like Charlotte, but when they get snowed in together at an old cabin, she figures that’s what she gets for trying to help. On the surface these two seem to have nothing in common, but opposites do attract, especially with the magic of the season, and they find they have more in common than they think.

Once they’re back in the crazy mix of family, well-meaning town folk, and trying to make things just right for Christmas though, will they be able to make something together that lasts longer than old wrapping paper and holiday leftovers?

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Chapter 1 

I’ve got this. I’ve totally got this. 

“What the 

Charlotte Miller frowned at the dashboard of her rented mid-size sedan and wondered what the hell she was thinking. The drive from Denver to her hometown of Summit Springs shouldn’t take more than ninety minutes, maybe two hours if she stopped at the Sunset Diner before she hit the mountain pass, but she’d been on the road that long already. 

She should have gotten the hint when she discovered the diner was closed. Not only did she leave hungry, but she left stupid too, without checking the weather to see if the snow got worse up the hill. 

The snow always got worse up the hill. 

It was barely a week after Thanksgiving, and she should have known better. This pass didn’t usually close, but it could be a hairy drive in bad weather. She should have paid the extra money to rent something with four-wheel drive. Or waited two days. Or have been better at her job so she didn’t need to escape Denver under cover of a family emergency. 

A few more snowflakes, and she would be the family emergency. Wouldn’t that be completely in character? 

“What? Shit. No. Wait…” The orange idiot light blinking on the dashboard was a “check engine” warning. Check engine? Okay fine, so she didn’t get the four-wheel drive, but the car wasn’t a total POS. She was cheap but not that cheap. Was this a joke? She was about to crest the mountain in a near-blizzard, but instead of sliding off the road into snowy oblivionas one didshe was going to break down instead? 

She kept her foot on the gas, begging the gods of ugly four-door sedans to be kind. “Fuck. Don’t you die on me, you little fucker. Um. Please-thanks?” 

Charlotte was not going to cry. Not at all. She was sophisticated. Suave. Not single because her fiancée had dumped her for some pediatrician in Seattle. Not in huge trouble at work because she’d called the marketing director of their biggest client a bigot. She totally had this. 

Fuck her life. 

For a second it seemed like it was going to be okay. The light stayed on, but the car was moving along. It even seemed like the snow might be letting up. She took a breath and puffed it out, willing her shoulders to relax. 

And then the second was gone. 

The engine sputtered and made this horrible noise. It felt like the car bucked underneath her and then it was over. She rolled to a stop with a dead engine. 

Goddamn it. 

“Goddamn it!” she shouted, pounding on the steering wheel. When she tried to turn the engine over again the car made an evil screeching sound as if Satan himself were in there playing the electric guitar. 

So, fuck yeah. She lost it. 

“Fuck you, you stupid piece-of-shit-grandpa-mobile!” She pounded on the steering wheel, the window, the dashboard. “Fuck you!” 

Then the tears did comethose fucking tears that she’d held at bay since yesterday morning when her twin brother had called. 

“Lottie, I fell off the barn and broke my arm.” 

“Lottie, Dad had a heart attack and he’s in Grand Junction.” 

“Lottie, Gram and Aunt Deenie aren’t capable of pulling off the Summit Springs Bazaar.” 

“Lottie, I need you. We’re going to lose the farm.” 

That last sentence had been the straw that broke her knock-off Louboutins. 

She would do anything for Jacob, and together, they’d burn the world down for the family farm. But first she had to get off this fucking road and not freeze her tits off. They were perky and she was proud of them. Rosalie had even said how much she’d miss them before she’d taken back her diamond ring and walked out the door. 

Bitch. 

She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She shouldn’t waste all that hydration on tears if she was going to be stuck here, right? Did it even work like that? Whatever, her drama llama act wasn’t helping. She swiped at her eyes, then tried the engine again, but Satan must have won out because the fucking thing was silent. Dead and silent. 

Fine. No problem. She had a cell phone. 

But who to call? Aunt Deenie was adorable but useless in an emergency, Jacob was, oh god…probably in a big cast or something. She should have asked him about that, huh? Hm. And she was still in denial about Dad, period. He was going to be fine. Just fine. 

Fine, damn it. 

So, who did that leave? AAA? The police? Mountain rescue? Oh! Maybe Gerry March was still on that team. Gerry was butchy-beautiful and being rescued by her would make all of this so worth it. 

She pulled out her phone, beaming at the light pouring, all her favorite apps reminding her why she loved Denver. Summit Springs didn’t even have a big box store. She needed Target and… 

Why the hell wasn’t her Safari working? 

Maybe because it’s a fucking snowstorm, and you have no bars, idiot. 

Charlotte hated that goddamn voicethe one that talked to her like she was a moron. Talked to herself. Whatever. The ugly one that convinced her she was the reason her almost-marriage didn’t happen, and that she couldn’t do that job she was about to get fired from anyway. The one that was telling her that she should have rented a four-wheel-drive car. The one that was right about having no bars. 

“Fuck this.” No more tears. That was for people who wanted to deal with their shit. She wanted to bury hers in a deep, deep fucking hole. She put on her hazardsthat was something anywayand got out of the car. 

Jesus, it was cold, and windy, and this was like January bullshit weather not the first week of December. What the hell? At least she had the right coat on and a pair of boots. She never got to wear these fuzzy ones in Denver, and she was happy to be in them now. 

She opened the trunk, ducking under the hatch for cover, and pulled out a bottle of red wine. 

She wasn’t driving. She wasn’t even walking in this crap; she’d freeze. Nope. She was going to drink. 

Assuming she had a corkscrew in the glove compartment, of course. 

Title: Christmas Bizarre
Published by: Tygerseye Publishing, LLC
ASIN: B0B5K7FV9R

Honeymoon in the Cards

Contributors: Jodi Payne, BA Tortuga
Series: Sapphic #2
Genre: , , , , , ,
Release Date: December 19, 2023

A Summit Springs shared-world Novel.

Honeymoon in the Cards is an FF (lesbian) romance featuring opposites attract and second chance romance between a Texas-born tarot card reader and a New York City ad executive, set in the fictional small town of Summit Springs, CO.

When Marissa wins a holiday honeymoon package at a ski resort in small town Colorado, she knows she has to call them and back out of the trip. She's not getting married, after all, since her girlfriend turned down her proposal.

When the ski resort's marketing manager convinces her to come anyway to save his job, though, she can't turn down a well-deserved vacation, even if it means pretending to be engaged for the photo opportunities. What she really doesn't expect is for the other party of the fake engagement to be someone she used to know.

Rebekka shows up in Summit Springs to help her brother out, so it comes as a shock when she has to pretend to be engaged to her old college girlfriend, Marissa. They couldn't be more opposite. Mari is by the book, high dollar, and kind of high maintenance. Bekka is a tarot reading earth goddess type who's a little scatterbrained. Can the two of them learn that they've both matured and changed into people who can really care for each other, or will their relationship end when the fake honeymoon is over?

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Chapter 1 

Marissa listened to the phone ring, still not sure exactly what she was going to say when someone answered. It wasn’t every day one had to cancel a honeymoon, especially not a free one. 

She supposed that the lesson here was not to put the cart before the horse. After three years though, she’d thought it was reasonable to propose. She’d picked out a ring, made dinner reservations, she’d even hired a limo to take them to a hotel after Josie said yes. 

But Josie didn’t say yes. 

How long was this phone going to ring? Shouldn’t she have gone through to voicemail or something by now? 

Finally, a chirpy voice answered. “Pines Peak Resort, how can I direct your call?” 

“Oh. Well, I won a honeymoon package and I need to talk to—” She looked at the business card stapled to the folder full of brochures and information. “To Bryan Harker about it.” 

“Oh, of course. I’ll get him for you. Just a sec!” 

God, was anyone really that happy? 

She wasn’t. 

Even the hold music was cheerful. How annoying was that? 

She was just about ready to drop her cell phone down the garbage disposal when someone finally answered. 

“Marketing.” 

“Bryan Harker, please?” 

“Yep. Hang on.” 

Oh god. She was being put on hold again. 

She was going to bite something. Hard. Hopefully hard enough that her cheating bitch of an ex felt it. 

“This is Bryan. Can I help you?” 

“Yes. Hi, Bryan. This is Marissa Martin. I won a honeymoon package at your resort. We are supposed to come next weekend.” 

“Hello, Ms. Martin. Or I supposed it’s Mrs. Martin by now? Congratulations. We’re looking forward to rolling out the red carpet for you and your wife.” 

Fuck. She was going to throw up. Her cheeks heated and the knot in her stomach started doing somersaults. She needed to get off the phone. “I’m uh—unfortunately I—we—” She forced herself to take a breath. 

Suck it up and get it over with Mari. 

“We didn’t get married. We’re not coming. It’s off. Everything is off.” 

“I—What?” That was utter shock. Just complete blankness, and if it didn’t suck so hard, it would be funny as hell. 

“Yeah. Sorry. Thanks for everything. Just send me a bill for…whatever you need to. It’s fine. It’s all fine.” She sounded like an idiot, which, obviously, she was. 

“Oh. Well, I’m sorry about all of that but…you have to come.” 

What? “Excuse me?” 

“I mean…don’t you still need a vacation? We’d love to have you. There might be a few…logistical matters, but I’m sure we can work something out.” 

Had this guy lost his mind? 

“You heard me, right? I’m not taking a vacation with the bitch who didn’t marry me. Excuse my French.” Did she need to spell out how Josie had just flatly explained that she was in love with someone else? Mari wasn’t going away with that bitch. She didn’t intend on seeing her ever again. She was already packing her shit to go…somewhere. She’d figure that out tomorrow. 

“I—Okay. Okay, but… Shit. My job is on the line here. Surely there’s something we can do. 

Do? What the hell were they supposed to do? 

“Well you can’t make her not have cheated on me, right? I’m sorry, but I’m not coming.” 

“I…wait. I know. I’ve got it.” Bryan paused, and she was about to say no again when he started taking a hundred miles an hour. “Yes. Come anyway. Just you, okay? Come have a wonderful resort vacation on us like you planned. You can ski, you can relax in the hot tub, all your meals are paid for. Free wine. Spa treatments. All I ask is that you let me take a few pictures like we’d talked about when you won the trip. Some promotional photos, that kind of thing. That’s all. You can do that, right? Just some PR?” 

She wanted to say no, but he kind of had her at free wine. She needed to get out of New York, clear her head, figure out what her next move should be. Why not do it at a fucking spa resort and get pampered while she was at it? She could handle a few pictures. No problem. 

She took a deep breath. “This will keep you from losing your job?” It made no sense, but whatever. 

“Yes. Yes, please say yes.” He couldn’t fake that sort of desperation. 

“Okay. Yes. I’ll come.” 

“Next weekend, as planned?” 

“Next weekend. Friday. Like the paperwork says.” 

“Perfect. You rock. I’ll have a car pick you up at the airport. You’ve saved me. Thank you.” 

And then there was a click. 

She stared at her phone where it sat on her desk, completely baffled by that entire conversation. She didn’t understand. But then, she didn’t understand a lot of things. Like how you sleep with someone for three years while you’re in love with someone else. 

Well, fuck Josie. She was going to soak in a hot tub, drink free wine, get a facial and take some hot woman back to her hotel room. A different one every night. That would show that cheating bitch. 

Sure, she should have maybe planned things a little better. Like, maybe proposed earlier. But she’d assumed…well she’d assumed wrong. But she hadn’t expected to win the damn “Honeymoon in Heaven” contest anyway. 

Lesson learned. No more honeymoons. 

She’d take a few days in heaven though. She could use them. She pulled out her phone to let her bestie know. <I called and talked to the Summit Springs people and decided to go alone. Don’t make it weird. I need some time by myself.> 

Ginny answered back in less than a second. <WHAT OMG IM CALLING!> 

Then the Macarena started playing. 

“Hey, Macarena!” She smiled at the FaceTime call. “I said don’t make it weird.” 

“I’m not. Are you okay? Are you going to do something stupid? Can I come?” 

“I’m mad and heartbroken and completely fine. What are you wearing? Are you going out? Do you have a date?” She wasn’t fine, but she wasn’t in the mood to deal either. 

“I am. She’s a studa chef. I’m wearing something warm but cute. Low cut, but with a scarf.” 

Ginny was hot and only kind of knew it. What she thought was cute, most people would drool over. “You look amazing. I love your hair. Go make yourself her favorite dish.” 

“I intend to. I need that Christmas Eve girlfriend, girlfriend.” She gasped. “Oh, god. That was tacky.” 

“So tacky.” But she giggled her head off. She missed Ginny. They hadn’t lived in the same place at the same time since college, but they’d always kept in touch. “Girlfriend.” 

“I love you, honey. Call any time except for after nine tonight. I hope to be busy.” 

“Nighty, you. Who needs sleep? Love you.” She gave Ginny a wave and they both hung up. 

Seriously, who needed sleep? She hadn’t slept well in a week. A nice soak in a hot tub should help, right? She went to pour herself a glass of wine and think about what to pack.

Title: Honeymoon in the Cards
Published by: Tygerseye Publishing, LLC
ASIN: B0CPJWP3YK
ISBN13: 978-1-951011-96-3

Rich Girl

Contributors: Jodi Payne
Series: Sapphic #4
Genre: , , , , ,
Release Date: January 30, 2024

A Summit Springs shared-world Novel.

Rich Girl is a secret heir, opposites attract, millionairess and single mom romance set in the fictional universe of Summit Springs Colorado.

Scarlett Lennon died in a skiing accident five years ago, leaving behind secrets she’d been keeping to protect herself, her inheritance and her fiancée, Ella.

Single mom Ella Anderson works as a dispatcher for the mountain rescue squad in Summit Springs, Colorado. She is doing her best to make ends meet while she raises her five year old son on her own. She adores little Theo, and although she would never complain, she doesn’t have time for anyone else.

Natalie Lennon, is the youngest daughter of the Lennon family, who owns Pines Peak ski resort, and whose great wealth is well known in town and beyond. She has no career, no girlfriend, and no direction. What she does have is a lot of money. She’s grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth, not understanding at all what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck.

The two meet by coincidence in the Emergency Room late one night, where Natalie uses her clout to get Ella’s feverish and very sick little boy seen quickly, even insisting that Theo be seen ahead of herself.

Ella remembers Natalie, even though Nalatie doesn’t recognize her. The chance meeting touches off something bigger than either woman is ready for. Not just an unexpected relationship, but a dive into the past that shines a light on Natalie’s big sister Scarlett’s secrets, and the truth about Theo.

 

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Title: Rich Girl
Published by: Tygerseye Publishing, LLC
ASIN: B0CPH5L1XM
ISBN13: 978-1-951011-98-7