Big City is supposedly the place where dreams come true. As someone just trying to live my life, I can tell you it’s more like a recurring nightmare where dreams get c*ckblocked at every turn. Especially if you’re a supervillain like me. The irony is that I have zero powers, despite coming from purebred villain stock, but try telling that to Big City’s beloved hero, Captain Masculine.

One mage: Bel Adams–part demon, gun shy about being rejected by one again, needs a familiar. One familiar: Nico di Rossi–Army Ranger, needs a change of pace and a new purpose in life, is a golden retriever in human form (though not literally). Plus one familiar: Garen Dallarosa–Secret Service, part gargoyle, needs his ex-lover Nico back.

Simon Quigley had no idea what to expect when he agreed to do this for the money, but the eight-foot-tall pink alien isn't what he was expecting. For starters, Simon's straight. And Mohrn isn't a girl. The contract? It's unbreakable. It's going to be a long five years.

Jonah Beecham is a down-on-his-luck cowboy, stuck in Vegas with no money, no job, no friends, and Christmas rapidly approaching. Although he’d been promised a job as a bullfighter, the job falls through, and he’ll be sleeping in his truck for Christmas. In a fit of desperation, he drops a coin in an old-fashioned slot machine and wins enough to put gas in his truck...plus a little something extra. Rather than press his luck, he decides to leave the casino, but the universe isn’t done with him yet.

Since time immemorial the warriors of the Paladin Order have harnessed arcane powers to protect their rulers. For Balen, who has given up his chance at love and fought his way to the top of the Paladin Order, there can be no greater honor than to serve his king. But when assassins annihilate the royal family, Balen suddenly finds himself sworn to serve the very man he abandoned. Now with their nation threatened by enemies both within and outside the kingdom, Balen must fight hidden traitors and unnatural assassins, while also contending with the biting wit and dangerous charm of King Zavrius.

Samuel has one goal in life: fix his broken core. What does he not want? A bossy, overprotective, possessive, teasing dragon sticking his nose in business that is not his. Even if he is sexy and supports Samuel on his quest to find the lost Sousa Mage Clan. Utterly beside the point. He does not need a dragon boyfriend. (Un)fortunately, Dimitri disagrees.

It’s really hard to pretend like life is normal when you’re staring a monster in the eyes, though he’s both tempting and irritating in his human form. I put my days as a hunter behind me, unable to cope with the death and pain anymore, to become an upstanding citizen and for what? To assist Lake, a man who claims he’s not a monster but keeps talking about me like I’m edible and–even worse–wants to woo me?

Whisper doesn’t remember his real name. All he knows is the elite assassin guild that raised him—and controls him with the threat of blood magic. Plagued by nightmares, he doesn’t get to refuse assignments, even when his new job doesn’t make sense: infiltrate Prince Julien’s court, protect him until the signal arrives, then kill him.

I’m not anti-relationship, but my life is good right now, and love is not a priority. Too bad my grandmother disagrees. People say she’s scary, and sure, some of her enemies went missing under mysterious circumstances, but she loves me and wants the best for me…which right now, is marriage.

My job was supposed to be easy: Meet the dominant Alien race of Mukhana, negotiate an alliance, and leave. Being literally carried away into the night changes everything. Kidnapping a human is asking for trouble. Every alien in the galaxy should know that by now, but the nassa are more barbaric than expected. Despite some small similarities with humans, their culture is hard to comprehend. They're kind yet controlling, warm yet stern. Even though he literally kidnapped me and will fight to keep me, Saar seems to respect me and maybe even care for me.

I’ve never wanted a relationship—especially not with a human. With my father demanding my return to Hell and a demon leaving dead bodies in my bookshop, now is not the time to lose my heart. One look in Oscar’s broken eyes, and I know I’m in trouble. Oscar’s been hurt before, and everything in me screams to keep him safe. How can I do that when I know being with me will only put him in more danger? More importantly, am I strong enough to walk away from him?

Xander Corey lives simply, sustainably, on the outskirts of Osprey, a small, quaint town in Upstate New York. He’s a librarian when the town’s budget can afford him, a good friend, kind neighbor, and also, a witch. And while that’s of no concern to anyone around him, there are others, non-humans, who have a vested interest in Xander’s family land. Xander knows something dark and dangerous is brewing. He’s just not quite sure what.

My whole life, I thought dragons were majestic, wise, and fearsome creatures. Not to mention fictional. It's been less than a year since that last belief was debunked. Dragons are real, they're now living among us, and I'm the lucky realtor who gets to sell a house to their leader. I just have to impress his representative first. No problem—I'm a professional. Except the dragon rep turns out to be the guy I hooked up with last night, and he's fast disproving everything I believed about dragons. Unless "wise" actually means "addicted to glitter."

When the light-magic users known as Casters took everything from me, I vowed to make them pay. Little did I know the perfect opportunity would show up in the form of a sweet Caster the moment I took his arrow to the heart…literally. Bastian knows that I’m made of dark magic, the very thing he’s been taught to destroy. But instead of turning away from me, he takes a chance on me, leading me behind the walls of the group out to kill me.

Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.

After aliens invade and conquer Earth, Eva is transported to a distant slave-trading planet. Freedom and escape are her only priorities, but none of her martial arts training could have prepared her for enslavement to the warrior King Taio. Eva finds herself drawn to this sexy alien male who ignites her heart and body. Taio is disgusted with the idea of owning a slave - until now. From the moment he sees her, he knows Eva is his for the taking. Torn between lust and duty, Taio discovers nothing will stop him from protecting his little warrior.

Humans made a deal with the Stryxian males: Help us defend Earth, and when the war is over, we’ll send you women to help rebuild your dying species. Now, the war appears to be over and Trinity Bentzer’s number has been called in the lottery. Only, instead of winning a boatload of money, she’s getting some badass winged alien she’s never met. Trin’s not thrilled to be shipped off and matched up, until she meets Raig. Maybe she hit the jackpot, after all.

Dark. Mysterious. Sensual. When Bronse Chapel, the commander of a specialized unit of the Interplanetary Militia, begins to dream about a beautiful and exotic brunette, he wants to dismiss it as being induced by lack of sleep ... or perhaps lack of sex. But his instincts tell him it's something different, something far more dangerous. Ravenna is the leader of the Chosen Ones, a small group of people from her village born with extraordinary powers.

Carlin is an Alpha Wolf Fighter, one of only three in the top spots at the Souterrain - an underground fighting club, run by the Elite to punish shifters who have gone outside of the laws. He's happy enough, only has to fight exhibition matches, has his own apartment space, food and sex on tap - yep, life is good. So when Martin offers him the chance to fight for his freedom, Carlin turns it down. It's no fun being a lone wolf and Carlin is quite happy where he is. Then Lucas catches his eye.

The deal is simple: spend a month with a mysterious billionaire who is the owner of Louisiana’s La Petite Mort Casino, and he’ll forget my father’s gambling debts. If it means saving our family home and business, I’ll do anything. With his strong, sexy, take charge arrogance, Nicolas Dupont is a mystery to me. But it doesn’t matter how hot he is. This is purely a business arrangement. Nic can have any woman he wants and it makes no sense that he'd be interested in a virgin like me. I’m certainly not about to fall for a guy who thinks he can own me.

When an ally reveals that his younger sister was seized and is being held prisoner on Earth, Taelon descends upon the blue planet, intent on freeing her and exacting vengeance. However, all does not go as planned. Before he can find her, Taelon is captured and becomes the subject of torturous experiments. For what feels like an eternity, all he knows is pain and fury...until a mind tentatively touches his own and a woman's voice forever changes his world.

Mercenary Captain Torin Covell needs a man who knows his way around a cockpit. Ace pilot Rain needs to get the hell off-planet. Thrown together by chance, the two men form a wary partnership. Torin has every intention of dumping Rain at the next moon, despite his intense attraction to the hotshot. In his line of work he can't afford to trust anyone, especially someone as infuriatingly charming and naive as Rain. But first, he's got a mission to complete.

What Rain wants, Rain gets. And what he wants is Torin, any way he can get him.

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome, pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too. With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much.

A human female. A ruthless alien. A dangerous beast she awakens inside of him. His name is Ar'Van. He is the best hunter money can buy. Tall, dangerous, non-human - and the last of his kind. When a new assignment brings him to Earth, he doesn't expect much resistance. The women he is supposed to deliver to the warlord of the Qua'Hathri are easy targets. He could outwit the earth men that protect them, with his eyes closed. But every plan can go wrong. Not because he is careless. He just hadn't expected his worst enemy and best accomplice to feel drawn to one of them.

When Regina's friends insist on setting her up a "Fantasy Fix" to help her get over her cheating ex, she dreams up some kinky out-of-this-world encounters that they could never possibly bring to life. But the next thing Regina knows, her friends have got her laced into a shiny black corset, tight leather pants, and a sexy pair of stilettos. It's time for some downtown vampire-fantasy fun...

In Legal Wolf's Mate, taking on a pro bono murder case isn't a problem for a lawyer who enjoys a challenge. Discovering that his new client is his mate? A tad more complicated. Gavin has no intention of settling down, especially not with a woman accused of murder, but once he sets eyes on Megan, his fate is sealed. In The Alpha's Woman, Kira Radney has no desire to be a subservient mate. When a member of her father's pack attempts to make her his mate by force, Kira has no choice but to flee.

Audra Copeland is among dozens of newly convicted felons dropped off on the prison planet Rhodon, where she discovers that the women of zone four have a long-standing arrangement with the men. If they hand over six of the new arrivals, the men won't raid. And Audra has just been drafted. She can take her chances on her own, or select a guardian. The deal is simple, if barbaric: sex, in exchange for food and safety from the other 200 men in zone four. It's a terrifying proposal. The men are violent, filthy degenerates. Then Audra sees Tyson at the edge of the crowd.

Solara Brooks needs a fresh start, someplace where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. The outer realm may be lawless, but it's not like the law has ever been on her side. Still, off-world travel doesn't come cheap; Solara is left with no choice but to indenture herself in exchange for passage to the outer realm.

Jasmine is sick in bed when a sexy stranger breaks in and reveals she's suffering an irreversible case of vampirism. And because her turning wasn't approved by the Council, he must kill her once the transition is complete. In the meantime, the executioner offers to ease her torment with chocolate, hot peppers or sexual release. Fortunately for them both, Jasmine's kitchen is bare..

A detective who refuses to modify her body teams up with her cyborg rival to track down a burglar who is putting toys into homes. A solitary ice miner finds love and friendship while stranded on the surface of Galileo. And two hardheaded negotiators put their differences aside to evade an assassin and save their planets. Enjoy these visions of Christmases yet to come with three science-fiction novellas from Carina Press.