The BlissVerse Paperback Bundle (PAPERBACK BUNDLE)

About That Kiss

Ida Burton used to be Hollywood’s sweetheart until the best roles started drying up in her forties.

When Ida lands one of the leads in a big-budget lesbian rom-com, it’s not only a chance at reviving her dwindling career. Maybe this movie can be an opportunity to finally burst out of the closet she’s forced herself into.

Faye Fleming has been at the top of her acting game and collecting awards for the past few years. When she’s cast in a huge blockbuster opposite the legendary Ida Burton, she’s over the moon.

Ida and Faye hit it off. The chemistry on set is through the roof… until their characters’ first kiss.

A Family Affair

Kate has been married to Kevin for ten years, but their failed journey to parenthood has left their relationship on the brink.

As Kevin tries to heal by remodeling their home, Kate finds herself living in her mother-in-law’s pool house. And having to spend a lot of time with Kevin’s spoiled sister.

Stella is preparing for a career-defining audition, but is happy to welcome her brother and his wife to the house—even though she thinks Kate doesn’t like her all that much.

With Kevin away, Kate and Stella bond over secret crushes, hot movie stars, and glitzy celebrity parties.

Until one night, after too many shots of tequila, their bonding goes a step too far…

And Then She Kissed Me

TV cop Sadie Ireland needs a break from her Hollywood life. She heads home to the beach town where she grew up to celebrate her 40th birthday with her family.

Devon Douglas can’t believe it when she comes face-to-face with Sadie again. They were inseparable in high school until Devon did something she has regretted for more than twenty years—she ruined their friendship on a love-struck whim.

Sadie is as dazzling as Devon remembers—and she can still hold her own surfing the wild waves of Clearwater Bay.

Devon’s first priority is her five-year-old son, but getting to know Sadie all over again is taking up more and more of her headspace.

Sadie is inexplicably drawn to Devon. It could be nostalgia. It could be remnants of their old friendship flaring up. But what if it’s more than that?

Still the One

Mac and Jamie had their life together all planned out. Until Jamie did the unforgivable and left Mac for another woman.

Twenty years later, they meet again for the first time at a friend’s wedding.

Mac’s pain lingers, while Jamie is still haunted by regret.

Can they let go of their history and open their hearts to the possibility of a second chance?

The Duet

The Lady Kings and their singer, Lana Lynch, have been out of the limelight since Lana’s partner’s sudden death ten years ago. They’re ready for an epic comeback tour, but have to take a young and hip support band with them.

Cleo Palmer and The Other Women are over the moon when they get booked to support their lifelong idols and share the stage with the iconic Lady Kings—especially queer legend Lana Lynch.

But when Lana invites her to sing a sensual duet together every night, Cleo gets way more than she bargained for.

Lana and Cleo’s on-stage chemistry is off the charts, but the differences in their age and life experience, not to mention some dramatic band politics, prove difficult to overcome.

The Love We Make

Nora Levine has everything she dreams of: a leading role on a successful tv show and a quiet life with her best friends, away from the spotlight.

When the new production company CEO takes an unusually hands-on approach to her job, Nora’s hackles go all the way up.

Mimi St James just wants the best for everyone: her large family, her colleagues and employees; even the aloof star of her company’s hit show. And she’ll go the extra mile to make all of them happy.

Nora can’t help but warm to Mimi’s kind nature—and what she first saw as meddling.

Mimi soon discovers there’s so much more to Nora—good and bad—than meets the eye.

Release the Stars

After her girlfriend leaves her for a man, broken-hearted novelist Charlie Cross moves from New York to Los Angeles to work on a TV show based on her books.

Charlie vows to never date any woman who isn’t a hundred percent certain of being a lesbian.

But when she is seduced by gorgeous bisexual cooking show host Ava Castaneda, whom she’s had a celebrity crush on for ages, Charlie is forced to review her belief in percentages because true love could very well be on the line.

A Breathless Place

Isabel ‘Izzy’ Adler used to dominate the world’s stages with her vocal acrobatics. But since she lost her voice ten years ago, Izzy’s been to hell—and hasn’t found her way back.

When journalist Leila Zadeh is brought in to finish her biography, Izzy’s dark plans for her life are challenged by the brilliant and gorgeous new woman in her life.

Will the instant attraction between them be enough to stop Izzy from playing out her final song?

• Toaster oven
• Coming out
• Romance after 40
• Forbidden love
• Celebrity romance
• Single parent
• Second chance
• One true love
• Age gap
• Found family
• Ice queen
• Opposites attract
• Rock stars
• Romance after 50
• Dealing with loss
• Thoughts of self-harm

Chapter 1

Faye

“Tell me again why I’m doing this, darling?” I ask Brandon.

He flicks his long hair behind his shoulder and looks me straight in the eye. “You’re doing it for me, Faye.”

Why this man isn’t an A-list actor yet, I have no idea. He delivers the line with the authenticity of the best in the business.

“That’s right. It’s all for you.” I paint on a smile, which flees my face as the car comes to an abrupt halt.

Brandon waves it off with a flick of his wrist. “Los Angeles traffic.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket. It must be Leslie. She promised she’d call me on the way to the table read. I wonder which of her two top clients she called first—me or Ida Burton?

“Hi, Faye, you’re going to kill it in the read-through. I know it.”

“Thanks, Leslie.”

“I just got off the phone with Ida.” That answers my question then. “She’s looking forward to it a lot.”

“Is she?” Even if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have told the agent we share. She’s probably as nervous as I am. Three Best Actor Oscars on my mantel don’t make any difference to my trepidation on the way to the very first table read, especially for a movie like this one. It doesn’t help that my co-star, Ida Burton, has four golden statuettes to her name.

“Of course, she is. Everyone’s excited about this. The whole of Hollywood is buzzing.”

“Christ, Leslie. What did you have for breakfast this morning?”

“My usual three espressos,” she says with a level tone.

“Okay.” I could barely stomach the nut-and-berry mix Brandon prepares for me every morning. “Good to know.”

“Call me if you need anything,” Leslie says. “I’m always here for you.”

Because there isn’t that much else to say, we end the conversation. I glance at Brandon for comfort. He isn’t just my personal assistant, but also one of the most entertaining people I know, which says a lot when you work in Hollywood. He’s very good at giving pep talks when I need them, but he also, instinctively, knows when it’s best to shut up.

He leans toward me and puts his hand on my knee. “Playing gay is all the rage these days. And the script is hilarious. For once, it’s not one of those bleak movies where the lesbians stomp through their lives looking like they’re never getting any.” He sends me a smile. “Hollywood has finally realized that lesbians can have a sense of humor too.” He follows up with a chuckle.

“It’s not playing a lesbian that’s got me so wound up. It’s playing one opposite Ida Burton.” In the first half of the movie, my character, Mindy, is straight as an arrow.

“Ida Burton hasn’t been in a hit movie in over a decade. If anything, she should be worried about starring in a movie with you.” He shrugs. “She’s practically B-list now.” He brings a hand in front of his mouth, as though suddenly realizing his utter sacrilege.

“We both know Ida Burton will never come close to being B-list, no matter how little her movies gross.”

“You never know,” Brandon says. “This town can be cruel.”

The car comes to a complete stop. We’ve arrived at the hotel where the A New Day table read is taking place. The driver opens the door for us. I take a deep breath and get out. A member of the production staff is waiting for me. I follow her inside, Brandon hot on my heels.

The first person I recognize is Charlie, who’s basically to blame for all of this. Not only did she co-write the script, but me being her wife’s maid of honor at their wedding last year would have made me look like a stone-cold hypocrite if I’d refused to take this part because it’s a lesbian movie.

Charlie’s basically jumping out of her skin with excitement. She hugs me tightly and the nervous tension shimmers in her muscles.

“You look like a million bucks, Faye,” she says.

Before I can thank her, the energy in the room changes. That can only mean one thing. The great Ida Burton has arrived. I turn around and am met with her famously blinding smile. Even I, not exactly a B-lister myself, am momentarily dazed by it. What is it with this woman and her smile?

Admittedly, in one of my lesser moments, I once tried to emulate it in front of the mirror, but a smile of such radiance and assurance is not something that can be taught, nor practiced. Ida Burton was born with it and she’s made a damn good career out of it. Add to that a luxurious mass of copper-colored curly hair, brown Bambi eyes, and a voice to melt the sturdiest of glaciers, and you have the marvelous Ida Burton. It’s hard not to feel as though I’m standing in her shadow.

After saying a few quick hellos, she walks straight toward me.

“Faye. Hiiii!” Ida sounds as though seeing me is the highlight of her year.

“Ida.” We exchange two featherlight cheek kisses. “I’ve been looking forward to this.” It’s not a lie. I have. Maybe not the feeling of having to play second fiddle to Ida, but working on this hot-as-hell movie.

“So have I.” She flashes me that smile again. How can her skin look so impossibly smooth? We’re about the same age, but Ida makes me feel like I’m at least ten years her senior.

“Ladies.” Tamara, the director, has joined us. “It’s so good to see you again. I’m raring to go. You have no idea.” She points at two chairs next to each other. “Those are your seats. We’ll start in fifteen minutes. Refreshments are over there.” She nods in the direction of the buffet. “I’m here if you have any questions.” She takes a step back. “I’ll let you acclimatize first.”

Behind me, Brandon is whispering with Ida’s assistant, Mark, whom he has told me all about because they had a thing once. Brandon likes to keep me apprised of his love life. Maybe he thinks it somehow makes up for the lack of romance I have in my own life.

For the past twenty years, I’ve always been the biggest star in the room at a table read, and it has fallen upon me to put my co-stars at ease. Today, I’m not sure this task is up to me.

“I’m a little nervous.” Ida surprises me. “I think this could be a great movie, but… well, I’ve seen things go horribly wrong before, no matter how promising the screenplay.”

She’s wearing a beige top that accentuates the fiery color of her hair. Even though she’s dressed quite casually in slacks and said top, a glow seems to emanate from her. An effortless star quality. 

“This seems like the kind of project the studio would want to keep a tight grip on.”

“We can only do what’s required of us,” Ida says.

“Play gay,” I lamely joke.

Ida shuffles her weight around. “Correct.” She pins her gaze on me. “I was really thrilled to hear you were on board. Even though it really shouldn’t be, it’s still a risk to play a part like this. Especially for someone like you.”

“Not just me.” I emit a nervous chuckle. “For you as well, no doubt.”

“For both of us then,” she confirms and quirks up the corner of her mouth. “We should have dinner. Discuss our characters and their emotional arcs.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure. We should.”

“I’ll have my guy call your guy.” She eyes our PAs. “I assume you know they have history?”

I nod. “In the greatest detail.” My smile, though wide and generous, feels lacking compared to hers.

“Oh, god. Does he tell you everything as well? Mark does too. The latest is that he’s ready to settle down. Maybe he and his new man will start a family and he won’t have time to be my assistant anymore.”

The things we worry about, I think, although I recognize her attachment to her assistant. I’ve worked with Brandon for almost ten years, which is a lifetime in assistant years. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if he left, even though I would be the first to urge him to try for greater things than being at my beck and call.

“His life—” I say.

“I really—” she starts at the same time.

“You go first.” Despite all the glamour that surrounds her, Ida is refreshingly down-to-earth.

“I really enjoyed your performance in Night Break,” she says. “I see another Oscar in your future.”

I wave her off because that’s what you’re meant to do, even though ever since that movie premiered, all I’ve heard is chatter about winning an Oscar for it. If I could get an actual man called Oscar for it, that would be a million times better than another statue in my living room. A statue doesn’t give me affection, nor does it reply when I address it.

“What was it like working with Silke Meisner?”

“Amazing.” That’s Hollywood-speak for grueling but just rewarding enough in the end. I’m sure Ida has been through the same and if there’s one person in this room who will catch my drift, it’s her.

She nods thoughtfully. “Tell me all about it when you come to dinner.”

“Sure.”

She cocks her head. “Things are going to get quite intimate between us on set.” Her voice does a funny thing.

“Just a bit of mild kissing.” I try to sound casual. Apart from a girl I pecked on the lips decades ago, I have zero experience kissing women, although I can’t imagine it being much different from kissing a male co-star. But the first woman I’m ever going to kiss properly, albeit for the sake of make-believe, is Ida Burton.

She erupts into a chuckle. “Good to know you’re cool with that.”

“I wouldn’t be doing this movie if I weren’t.” And I would be a flaming homophobe, my friend Ava told me in no uncertain terms.

“Ladies,” the director approaches us again. “Ready when you are.”

Chapter 1

Kate

Even though I designed every gorgeous detail of this place, I don’t want to live here. I’m almost forty and I’m moving into my mother-in-law’s pool house. This was not how things were meant to go.

“Do you need a hand?” Stella shouts from her lounge chair by the pool.

When I glance back at her, she hasn’t even looked up from the script she’s studying—lest anyone in this family forget she’s auditioning for a big part alongside Nora Levine in a few days.

“Here you go, babe.” Kevin hands me a bottle of water. “It’s only for a few weeks.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Our house will be ready and beautiful in no time. Trust me.”

I want to trust my husband so very badly. I want to trust him with the same passion I felt when I said ‘I do’ at our wedding. But so much has happened—and hasn’t happened—since that day.

“I’m not asking again,” Stella shouts.

“We’ve barely moved in,” I hiss at Kevin, “and already your sister’s getting on my nerves with her entitled ways.”

“Cut her some slack,” Kevin says, predictably. “She’s preparing for—”

“No need to say it.” I take a deep breath. “And I’m sorry.” None of this is Stella’s fault, although she’s still a spoiled brat, convinced, as she has been since the first day I met her, that her big break is just around the corner.

“I’m going by the house one last time to pick up the rest of our stuff.” Kevin pecks me on the cheek. “Try to get settled in.” He flashes me a grin. “Or hang out with my lovely little sister by the pool.”

I roll my eyes and sigh, but none of that makes any difference to my current situation. I glance at Stella, who is talking to herself, running lines, as though she’s all alone in her mother’s backyard.

“I hope I’m not bothering you too much,” I say, just to vent my frustration.

“You could never bother me, Kate.” Stella puts down the script and pushes herself up. Her smile looks genuine enough. She knows why we’re here. Perhaps she’s not so self-absorbed that she can’t muster a smidgen of compassion for her brother and his barren wife. “It’s great that you and Kev are staying here. The more, the merrier, now that Mom has moved Keanu in.”

I walk over and sink into the chair next to hers. “As long as you don’t expect me to make you dinner.”

Stella shakes her head. She fixes her gaze on me but remains silent. Her shirt has fallen open and all she’s wearing underneath is a skimpy bikini.

“Just a heads-up,” Stella says after a few seconds. “Keanu’s cooking us a big family dinner tonight.” Keanu is not Mary’s boyfriend’s real name, but Stella has taken to calling him that because of his resemblance to Keanu Reeves in his Point Break days, laid-back surfer vibes included. “That should be fun.” To say that Stella doesn’t approve of her mother’s choice of partner is an understatement—probably because she has to share her mom’s attention. But I say, good for Mary. And Keanu—whose real name is Nathan—is very easy on the eye.

“That sounds like fun, actually,” I say.

“Kevin’s not too crazy about him either, you know.”

“I know.” But Kevin’s mature enough to not let it show every time he gets the chance. Kevin respects his mother enough to just let her be happy with whomever she wants to be with. But that’s too much to ask from the likes of Stella, who still lives at home at twenty-eight because she claims she can’t afford her own place until she gets that ‘big break’. While LA rent is steep, Stella could move out if she really wanted to, but she’s too spoiled at Mary’s. Case in point, she’s rehearsing pool-side for her upcoming audition. 

“How’s that going?” I nod at the script because I don’t feel like talking about Nathan behind his back any longer. If that means indulging Stella, then that’s what I’ll do. At least that way, I also don’t have to talk about myself, and the reason Kev and I ended up here.

“I’ve never been so nervous in my life.” Stella sounds pretty confident to me. “Not even when I had to kiss Faye Fleming.”

I try not to roll my eyes and, despite myself, giggle like a teenage girl at the mention of Faye’s name. The urge to giggle wins out because I’ve always had a soft spot for Faye Fleming and my irritating sister-in-law got to play her lesbian lover on screen—a fact she likes to remind me of every chance she gets.

If it was anyone else, I’d offer to run lines with her, but this is Stella, Kevin’s exasperating little sister, and today of all days, I can’t bring myself to do it.

“I’m sure you’ll smash it,” I say on a sigh.

“Hey, Kate.” Stella’s voice goes all mellow. “Are you okay? Today’s pretty rough, I bet.”

I run a hand through my hair and take a deep breath. “Kev just really wants to do this. To create some sort of impossible clean slate. To give us a different house to return to after…” It’s still hard to say, but Stella knows.

“That’s Kev. He needs to be busy. He needs to build something. It’s how he processes.”

I nod.

“How are you… processing?” Stella asks.

I’m not, so I just shrug.

The touch of Stella’s hand on my shoulder startles me. “Faye and Ida are hosting a cast party the day after the movie premieres next week. Would you like to be my plus-one?”

“Faye Fleming and Ida Burton?”

“Yes.” Stella flashes me a big smile. Maybe she’s not as bad as I thought. Maybe I’ve been too caught up in my own struggles to give my sister-in-law the benefit of the doubt.

“You want to take me to their party?” Incredulously, I bring a hand to my chest.

“I sure do.” She looks at me in a way that allows me to see, maybe for the first time since I met her, that Stella Flack could be a movie star in her own right. She has the kind of commercial smile that dazzles Hollywood executives, and the girl-next-door-with-a-little-extra air about her that moviegoers can’t resist.

“Hell, yes!” I shout. “Thank you so much.”

“That’s what family’s for,” Stella says. “To make each other feel better.”