content tags: contemporary, celebrity, single mom, first-time, coming out, older protagonist, enemies to lovers, workplace romance.
TURNING POINT, first published in 2007, immerses the reader in the struggles on-set and off between Brenna Lanigan and Cassidy Hyland, costars on a popular science fiction television series.
The first edition was a finalist for the Golden Crown Literary Society’s Debut Author award in 2008 and a winner of the Reader’s Choice Lesbian Fiction Award as Favorite Lesbian Romance book in 2007. While Brenna and Cassidy reached a HFN, the story of their love was not yet over and would continue in 2011’s TURN FOR HOME. PD Publishing was the first edition publisher but went out of business in 2012.
In 2013, TURNING POINT was re-released as a 2nd edition (some slight editing and a new cover). It is available as an ebook for Kindle, Kobo, Smashwords, nook, and as a hardcover.
Publisher: Acquitted Books (Supposed Crimes LLC)
eBook ISBN: 978-1-938108-32-7
print ISBN: 978-1-944591-17-5
It’s Hollywood. Actresses hate getting passed over for roles and cold shoulders are common. Petty sniping is part of the fabric of the place, but it takes two to fight.
Actress Cassidy Hyland is throwing a birthday party for her son which she hopes will spark a truce with her cold co-star Brenna Lanigan. Instead the encounter becomes the first step of a journey neither woman ever imagined her heart could take: to love another woman.
TURNING POINT explores the struggle of these women caught between what is safe and sure, and what the heart truly wants even if it doesn’t understand.
Character profiles:
Brenna is “just over the hill” by Hollywood standards. She’s 41, with two teenage sons, and a second husband back in her Midwest hometown. She has spent from age 18 onward working in theaters, movies, and television, living out roles that other people write.
Cassidy is relatively new to the industry. At 32, she came to California after majoring in Literature and Drama in college. She did a little modeling, got small parts, had a child, and escaped her abusive marriage when she landed on “Time Trails.”
FIRST PAGE
Parking Her Mercury Mountaineer beside the mailbox at 134 Alaca Drive in Altadena, Brenna Lanigan pensively studied the cream-colored brick home trimmed in earthy dark brown. Nothing special indicated that one of television’s most popular stars lived there. Set on a large corner lot, it was typical of the surrounding homes. Six-foot-high privacy fencing enclosed the back yard. The red and white “Beware of Dog” sign nailed to the fencing gave her pause. Tidy beds of annuals lined the stepping stone walk to the front stoop. Somebody in the house obviously gardened. Brenna thought of her own gardens. She could be pulling the weeds on her dahlias.
She realigned her hands on the driving wheel and considered leaving. She could forget about putting herself in this awkward situation entirely. It was Saturday afternoon. She should be grocery shopping. She could be visiting Kevin in Michigan.
She wished her sons had not had dates last night.
She wished…for an excuse.
There was none. One by one, her castmates had accepted their invitations to this party for the son of another member of their ensemble. As the “lead” on the television series Time Trails, she could not be the only absent figure.
She sighed and checked her appearance once more in the rear-view mirror, not sure what to expect of a party at the home of Cassidy Hyland. She had only appeared with the woman at official Pinnacle public relations events, and even then, she interacted with her as little as possible. She tugged nervously at the short blue ribbon holding her auburn hair away from her face, her frown deepening. What if I took “Dress: casual” wrong? She looked critically over her short-sleeved jersey, dark blue jeans, and cross-trainers.
Looking again at the handwritten script on the party invitation, Brenna recalled her frustration at learning the woman had a son, much less one turning five on this early autumn day. She could not picture Cassidy Hyland tending a bloody knee or wiping a child’s runny nose. The image did not fit with her first impression. Since Cassidy’s arrival, Brenna had tried to learn as little about the woman as possible. Clearly she had succeeded.
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On to TURN FOR HOME
Lara Zielinsky 