This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books in which the main character is a business owner.
The character can be the CEO of a big, successful company, or she can own a small business without any employees.
The business she owns could be a major part of the plot, so we see the character at work a lot, or it can play only a minor role.
Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge
If you are only discovering the Sapphic Reading Challenge now, the good news is you can still join! It’s a year-long challenge, so it runs until December 31, 2021. Read up on the rules of the Sapphic Reading Challenge and download your PDF so you can keep track of the books you read this year.
15 sapphic books with a main character who is a business owner
I put together a list of 15 sapphic books that feature characters who are business owners. I hope you find some new favorites!
Not the Marrying Kind by Jae
Small-town florist Ashley Gaines loves her little flower shop and putting together the perfect bouquets for weddings and other happy occasions. Her own love life, however, is far from blossoming. Ash has decided that staying in the closet is safer than risking her heart again.
Local bakery owner Sasha Peterson hasn’t had much luck mixing it up with romance either. Besides, she’s too busy whipping up delicious treats to have time for a relationship.
But when their town’s first lesbian wedding forces them to work together, Ashley and Sasha discover they have more in common than they imagined.
During food fights, cake tastings, and slow waltzes, they begin to see each other in a new light. Soon Ashley has to admit to herself that Sasha is tempting more than just her sweet tooth.
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The Last Days of Autumn by Donna K Ford
Autumn Landers, a beautiful, successful business owner, thought she had life figured out until one little word, cancer, changed everything. When Caroline Cross answers Autumn’s ad for a live-in caregiver, Autumn is instantly drawn to her. But Caroline has suffered her own losses and isn’t about to risk her heart. Autumn knows the odds are against her. But for the first time in her life she is going to do things her way. The first thing on her bucket list? Falling in love.
Autumn and Caroline question the fairness of life, the cruelty of loss, and what it means to love as they navigate the complicated minefield of relationships, grief, and life-altering illness.
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Finding Family by Jamey Moody
Erin Evans is hoping the fourth time’s the charm in her quest to have a baby. At forty-one she’s out of time and doing this on her own. She knows the odds of finding her happily-ever-after are slim, but she wants to be a mother more than anything.
A semi-flirtatious conversation with a tall, fit, dark-haired woman in the waiting room of her fertility clinic gives Erin pause, which she attributes to hormones until she comes out of her procedure to find the alluring Desi Shaw still waiting.
What Desi does next surprises them both…
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Love’s Divine by Ava Freeman
On a whim, Genesis Malone decides to book a solo trip to the island of Barbados. A sunny beach vacation sounds like the perfect way to renew her spirit after a heartbreaking divorce. The trip takes an unexpected turn when she meets a woman who could be just what she needs to move on. That is if her heart, and the universe, will let her.
Zuri Baker seems to have it all but what she really wants is someone to share her life with. When she meets Genesis, she is intrigued by her quiet nature and longs to get to know her better. Too bad her on-again off-again girlfriend isn’t willing to let her go quite so easily.
When they return to their regular lives and find themselves in the midst of exes, not quite exes, and work drama, will they be able to hold onto what matters most; each other?
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Rhapsody by KG MacGregor
After eleven years on the anchor desk at TV4, Ashley Giraud is one of the most beloved figures in Tampa Bay. That’s how she likes her love—distant and impersonal. Outwardly sociable with her coworkers and viewers, she can’t wait to get back to her gated home and garden.
When her longtime stylist goes out of business, she follows a colleague’s recommendation to Rhapsody, a small salon that serves as a hub for an eclectic group of lesbian friends. Despite Ashley’s efforts to remain aloof, she soon trades her solitude for roller skates, swing dancing and the emotional ups and downs of new friends.
Never before has she felt so contented in the company of other women. Even so, there’s always the whisper from the past. Would any of them, especially Julia Whitethorn, the charismatic, appealing owner of Rhapsody, care about her if they knew the terrible secret she’s kept for twenty years?
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Unbridled by D. Jackson Leigh
After a hard-fought battle to take control of her personal and professional life, mystery writer Lauren Everhart’s star is finally rising. She vows never to give up control of anything in her life until she meets her niece’s sexy horseback-riding instructor and signs up for her own private lessons, and more.
Riding top horses on the show jumping circuit and igniting a woman’s desire are simply games of power, and Marsh Langston is a master player. Only this time, the flame she fans with Lauren Everhart burns too hot and so quickly it threatens to sear through Marsh’s impenetrable control.
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Sleeping Dogs Lie by E.J. Cochrane
Matilda Smithwick (Maddie to her friends) is the proud owner of Little Guys Pet Care, a small but steadily growing dog walking company on Chicago’s North Side. Maddie loves her job and her life. Sure—she doesn’t have a girlfriend. But her best friend Dottie and her grandmother, Granny Doyle, are far more bothered about her lack of a girlfriend than Maddie is. As long as she has her rescued mutt Bart to keep her company, Maddie is perfectly happy.
That is until she returns from a walk to find one of her clients lying in a pool of his own blood. From there she finds herself thrown into a murder investigation filled with cantankerous purebred dog owners, her client’s bitter ex-wife, harassing phone calls and a police detective with no patience for Matilda’s helpful input. Throw in a lengthy hospital stay for Granny Doyle, a growing attraction for a possible murderer, and a depressed and ill-trained foster dog who refuses to eat, and Maddie’s easy, happy life seems to have fallen completely apart.
Fortunately she has Granny Doyle and Dottie to help her figure out how to save her business and her home…and to help keep her out of jail.
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Redemption’s Road by CJ Murphy
My name is Rebekka Deklan, and I’m one of the most unconventional pastors you’ll ever meet. I’m covered in tattoos and frequently can be found on a sawhorse at the local brewery with a 1956 Gibson on my knee. Grandpa taught me to play, and I use those gifts to share God’s grace at my non-denominational church, House of the Rising Son.
From the stage of an old opera house in Thomas West Virginia, this retired rock star turned spiritual leader, tries my best to imitate the pastoral style of my former lover, Naomi Layman. Years ago, when we were together, I broke her heart during a night I can’t remember.
Sometimes, it’s hard to teach lessons of grace when I can’t find a way to forgive myself for the biggest mistake of my life. Until then, my life is helping others find their path, while I wage war inside myself to balance the saint within the sinner as I make my way down Redemption’s Road.
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Following Chance by Baxter Brown
A whirlwind romance…and only the rest of their lives to get over it.
When Kate and Lauren meet in college it’s love at first sight. Unfortunately, the fact that school is almost over is the least of their problems. A roller coaster of emotions and uncertainty causes Kate to leave town, and a heartbroken Lauren, behind.
Fifteen years later, with her ten-year-old daughter in tow, Kate returns to Renfrew hoping to recapture some of the inner peace she found during her college days. She’s stunned when she discovers Lauren has purchased the local coffee shop and has her own ten-year-old surprise.
The two women attempt to avoid one another at all costs. But the incessant pull from the past—and the budding friendship between their daughters—has them on a collision course…to a second chance at love.
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The House of Agnes by Fiona Zedde
Agnes Noble is private, mysterious, and untouchable. She rules House of Agnes, the most exclusive escort agency on the East Coast, with a diamond fist. Crossing her is a mistake no one makes twice.
Investigative reporter Lola Osbourne is not afraid. She’s gunning for the House and its so-called queen. She’ll make sure no other innocent gets dragged into Agnes’s alluring web, to be used and discarded the way Lola’s sister was.
But her plan to get close to the elusive madam shatters the moment her eyes meet the Queen’s. One look and everything’s different. More complicated. Dangerous.
Now, Lola’s not just fighting to topple a queen from her throne, she’s also scrambling to escape their explosive collision with her suddenly vulnerable heart intact.
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No Regrets by Joy Argento
Jodi Michaels has life figured out: she owns her business, has a relationship and two great kids. She just hadn’t counted on someone like Beth Bellamy coming along to shake up her world. When Beth makes Jodi wonder if really loving someone and having someone love you in return is what life is all about, her perfect picture begins to crumble.
Beth has never considered herself anything but straight, and all her focus has been on raising her daughter. When she meets Jodi, she can’t deny her attraction. Now all her ideas about what she should do and who she should love are turned inside out.
Jodi and Beth have a love worth fighting for, but when illness threatens Jodi’s life, the battle might be beyond their control. Beth vows to stand by Jodi’s side, but the biggest problem is, Jodi won’t let her.
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Hopeless Romantic by Georgia Beers
Teddi Baker used to believe in happily ever after. It’s why she became a wedding planner and worked so hard to make her business, Hopeless Romantic, successful. But after the catastrophe of her own marriage, Teddi loses her heart, her hope, and half of her assets. She is officially jaded, but she needs every job she can get to make ends meet. When bride-to-be Kelly Scott walks in, Teddi is ready. Until she comes face-to-face with Kelly’s sister: Leah Scott, her ex-wife’s divorce attorney. The one who helped ruin her life.
Leah Scott wears her heart on her sleeve, an odd characteristic for a divorce attorney. When her father left her stay-at-home mom with barely enough money to survive, she recognized her calling. But Leah still believes in happiness and no one deserves it more than her sister. If only Kelly didn’t insist on using a wedding planner who hates Leah’s guts…despite the unexpected and wholly unwanted chemistry between them.
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Amy’s Rest by S.R. Silcox
Can renovating a run-down cottage mend a broken heart?
Georgia Ballantyne is anxious to move on after an exhausting two-year-long battle over her former partner’s estate. Once she completes the renovations on the quaint country cottage, she’ll finally be free to find her way forward.
If she could only stop being distracted by her builder, Zoe.
Will what’s supposed to be a simple business transaction lead to an unexpected outcome for the broken-hearted homeowner, the pedantic builder, and the cottage that brought them together?
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Twice Shy by Aurora Rey
Sometimes, you get a second chance at love. Sometimes, you hook up with your ex and remember why you broke up in the first place.
Amanda Russo knows better than to give her failed marriage another try, but the brief fling reminds her there’s more to life than work and parenting. When the architect she hires to remodel her bakery turns out to be as charming as she is talented, Amanda finds herself ready to take a chance on new love. The only problem? Her ex-wife didn’t get the memo.
For Quinn Sullivan, the sting of divorce is still fresh. Getting set up by pretty much everyone she knows hasn’t inspired her to give love another shot. Meeting Amanda does. Sure, they’re working together, but that’s not a deal breaker. Amanda’s ex might be another story.
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Entangled by Melissa Brayden
Josephine Wilder’s torrid love affair is with Tangle Valley Vineyard, her family’s legacy. She’s grown up dreaming between the vines. She’s always had secret ideas about how to make the place shine, so when it passes to her, Joey vows to make Tangle Valley everything she knows it can be. Her biggest obstacle? That overly commercial hotel going up, and the uppity manager trying to kill the vineyard’s rustic charm.
Becca Crawford loves to unwind with a good glass of wine. An astute businesswoman who has climbed the hospitality ladder, she’s the perfect person to head up Elite Resorts’ newest property, The Jade Hotel, and give tourists all the luxury they desire. As a bonus, The Jade is not far from the cutest vineyard with the best pinot she’s ever tasted. If only the captivating owner would get on board with her plan and stop badmouthing the hotel to everyone in town.
Is it possible that a nice glass of red could help Becca and Joey see each other in a new and alluring light?
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