What happens when you fall and hit the webtoons trope tree? You get killed by Truck-kun, get transported to a fantasy world by a sentient Fae coin, and become the first gay holy maiden. Jake Alexander is Not Happy to be sure. Fortunately in Jake's case, part of the trope tree includes the gorgeous Duke of the North, Theon. And starting a business from scratch, which he's always wanted to do. And revitalizing his new country which is on the verge of collapse.

Mongrel, a creature more wolf than man, leads a lonely life on the fringes of pack society—until the night a handsome vampire shows up with a mysterious request. Bowie, a vampire cursed to a life of endless nights, maintains close ties with his human family. When young girls in their village go missing, he must act quickly. But to find them, he’ll need to convince the local werewolf pack to loan him their best tracker—a wolf known as the Mongrel.

Adam is not having a good day. First, he finds out his very long-time boyfriend has been having an affair. Then, his dramatic exit becomes a little too dramatic when he ends up dead. To top it off, he finds out that the afterlife isn't at all what he expected (he has no desire to learn to play the harp, thank you very much). Fortunately for him, some afterlife bureaucratic screw-up ends him up with the most smoking-hot demon he's ever seen, and he decides he's keeping him. Maybe the afterlife won't be so bad after all.

Lake Forrester III entered my life like a wrecking ball. Drake Security, my firm with my brothers, was hired to protect him from a stalker ex, but what Lake doesn’t know is that he’s not dealing with your average unhinged human. The unhinged wolf shifter he unknowingly dated will stop at nothing to get Lake in his clutches. Just another day in the life of a dragon body guard.

My standard issued lab badge reads "Simon", but it really should say "unexciting nerd with no social life". Don't get me wrong - I love what I do with a passion, but it doesn't leave a lot of time for much else. Especially romance. While chipping away at my work, I'm suddenly the person between hired cartel muscle and the fossil that will define my career. Which isn't the most insane part of the story. My savior is a chaotic, bat-wielding punk with a bubble-gum pink mohawk and a killer smile.

When musclebound frat bro Brad gets run off the road by a reckless driver, he thinks it's game over. When he wakes up inside his twin brother's favorite corny shifter romance novel, he realizes the real game is just beginning. Desperate to get back to a world where he's top dog, Brad finds himself in the crosshairs of Raul, the menacingly hot hero of The Wolf's Mate, who's intent on teaching Brad a whole new meaning to the word alpha.

Threatened with an arranged marriage to a cruel lord who despises him, Aster claims the protection of the one man no one will dare to challenge: Sir Corin, disgraced dragon knight…and the man Aster’s sister betrayed so publicly that he fled the court for a gloomy, isolated mountain hideaway. But Aster didn’t plan to be stranded there with one bed between them—or to give in to years of longing and beg for the monster’s forbidden touch.

The streets have been my home for as long as I can remember. To get by, I use my magic tricks, bringing smiles to the faces of adults and children alike. As a warlock, my powers are limited. Nothing like a witch's magical skills. Basically, I'm a glorified magician as well as a second-class citizen. Fine. It doesn't get me down. I have my cat Fizz and Kylie Minogue's music to keep me going as I dream big. I know there's a better life out there for me.

On my first day in the town, I get caught up in a strange murder case, and Death saves my life. Yes, the Death. The delectable, mysterious Death. Goodness, he is hotness personified. But what happened to make him walk away from his responsibilities? And why is he so deliciously tempting, my desire a raging inferno every time he looks at me with those incredible eyes? I shouldn't be thinking of an immortal being like this, but with every passing hour I can't stop myself from falling deeper into infatuation.

Evan just wants a quiet life where he escapes into books, drinks a ridiculous amount of coffee, and devours every muffin in sight. But then he's transported to another world with magic, sword-wielding knights with big... hearts, and men who find him too adorable to resist.

When Taylor is tricked into entering his name into what he thinks is a quilting sweepstakes, he's thrown into a ridiculous dating show. Taylor nearly walks off—until he locks gazes with a particular ruby-eyed dragon that changes his life forever. Alpha Dragon's Tiger is a fun, sweet mpreg novel with low angst and high stakes! Fluffy HEA guaranteed.

Symon Parador is a prince in name only until the day he's bartered away to the neighboring kingdom, to marry their queen's brother, Petur. A mage in a nation full of shifters who distrust his magic is bad enough, but even worse is the fact that Petur is already as good as married to an assassin from the north named Deyvid, who's immune to all magic.

Seven years ago, Logan Conner and his legend tripper college roommate stumbled into the middle of a ghost war. Logan escaped. Trent did not. Guilt has driven Logan to hunt for answers ever since—not only for why Trent was trapped, but how to return and save him. On the verge of abandoning the search as hopeless, Logan discovers the solution at last thanks to folklorist Riley Morrel, the man he never expected to fall in love with, and the man he’d do anything to keep safe, including leaving him behind.

When my grandmother, the leader of the Rathmore Coven, summons me, I have no choice but to answer her call. To reach her, I must cross the Wood, the realm of Wotan, lord of the hunt. Rumors of his cruelty and brutality precede him, but nothing prepares me to meet the monster face to face. Because Wotan is more than a monster. He's a predator, a bully, and now he's claimed me as his pawn in his war against my grandmother. A master of torture, he's determined to master me, stripping me bare of all my secrets.

A thousand years ago, my great-something uncle founded the Collective, a secret organization dedicated to protecting humanity from demons. The hunter tradition has been passed down over the generations, from parent to child, secure in the knowledge that the Collective is a community of safety and knowledge. But betrayal sucks, and six years ago, it turned my world—and the Collective—upside down. After generations of deception, the hunters left behind are picking up the pieces and trying something we’ve never done before—working side by side with our enemy.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.

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.

Rory is an omega prince, heir to the throne of the magical kingdom of Igella. His country's laws dictate that omegas must have a Regent to rule in their stead-and that the Regent must be an Alpha. Rory's wicked stepmother, Queen Berenda, needs to find an unscrupulous Alpha, because she has nefarious plans for her stepson.

When Taylor is tricked into entering his name into what he thinks is a quilting sweepstakes, he's thrown into a ridiculous dating show. Taylor nearly walks off—until he locks gazes with a particular ruby-eyed dragon that changes his life forever. Alpha Dragon's Tiger is a fun, sweet mpreg novel with low angst and high stakes! Fluffy HEA guaranteed.

When the aliens welcome them with open arms—and tentacles—Levi is wary. No strangers are that nice. Especially not seven-foot-tall teal dudes with more "feelers" than you can shake a stick at. But Levi's suspicion fades when the smoldering alien Zat'tor takes an unusual interest in him. He never got this much attention back on his own planet, and no human man ever made his heart flutter the way Zat'tor does. Amid their budding relationship, Levi discovers the shock of his life. Can he ever return to Earth? But more importantly, does he even want to?

When musclebound frat bro Brad gets run off the road by a reckless driver, he thinks it's game over. When he wakes up inside his twin brother's favorite corny shifter romance novel, he realizes the real game is just beginning. Desperate to get back to a world where he's top dog, Brad finds himself in the crosshairs of Raul, the menacingly hot hero of The Wolf's Mate, who's intent on teaching Brad a whole new meaning to the word alpha.

Seven years ago, Logan Conner and his legend tripper college roommate stumbled into the middle of a ghost war. Logan escaped. Trent did not. Guilt has driven Logan to hunt for answers ever since—not only for why Trent was trapped, but how to return and save him. On the verge of abandoning the search as hopeless, Logan discovers the solution at last thanks to folklorist Riley Morrel, the man he never expected to fall in love with, and the man he’d do anything to keep safe, including leaving him behind.

On my first day in the town, I get caught up in a strange murder case, and Death saves my life. Yes, the Death. The delectable, mysterious Death. Goodness, he is hotness personified. But what happened to make him walk away from his responsibilities? And why is he so deliciously tempting, my desire a raging inferno every time he looks at me with those incredible eyes? I shouldn't be thinking of an immortal being like this, but with every passing hour I can't stop myself from falling deeper into infatuation.

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?

Evan just wants a quiet life where he escapes into books, drinks a ridiculous amount of coffee, and devours every muffin in sight. But then he's transported to another world with magic, sword-wielding knights with big... hearts, and men who find him too adorable to resist.

Threatened with an arranged marriage to a cruel lord who despises him, Aster claims the protection of the one man no one will dare to challenge: Sir Corin, disgraced dragon knight…and the man Aster’s sister betrayed so publicly that he fled the court for a gloomy, isolated mountain hideaway. But Aster didn’t plan to be stranded there with one bed between them—or to give in to years of longing and beg for the monster’s forbidden touch.

Lake Forrester III entered my life like a wrecking ball. Drake Security, my firm with my brothers, was hired to protect him from a stalker ex, but what Lake doesn’t know is that he’s not dealing with your average unhinged human. The unhinged wolf shifter he unknowingly dated will stop at nothing to get Lake in his clutches. Just another day in the life of a dragon body guard.

These 12 stories - published over the last five years in Harper's, The Best American Short Stories, McSweeney's, Playboy, and other publications - veer from comic tales of love to social satire to suspenseful crime fiction, from hip Portland to once-hip Seattle to never-hip Spokane, from a condemned casino in Las Vegas to a bottomless lake in the dark woods of Idaho. This is a world of lost fathers and redemptive conmen, of meth tweakers on desperate odysseys and men committing suicide by fishing.

One thing he's not is a jerk. So when a shy guy at a wedding gives Archer his number, Archer is impressed by his courage in putting himself out there. What starts as a courtesy call to the guy turns into friendship. Eli is awesome, and Archer can't understand why he's single. With the help of his fraternity brothers at Alpha Tau, Archer comes up with the perfect project for the semester: Get Eli Fuller the perfect boyfriend or die trying.

For Lord Everett Stanley, escaping his fate seemed impossible. As the second son, he’s destined for ordination and the life of a Reverend, but he’s hiding a dangerous secret. The laws punishing homosexuality by hanging may have been repealed but he and others of his kind are far from safe. Given no other choice, they take solace in the underground molly houses of London. Now that fragile world is threatened when the East End is rocked by a series of gruesome murders.

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?

Working with kids is totally my jam, and I'm damn good at what I do. Just call me Maxy Frickin' Poppins! When a new job prospect comes my way, I'm intrigued. A chance to move to Mystic Hollow (aka Monsters Hollow) to be a well-paid manny for two adorable orclings? Talk about a dream position. Sold! But when I lock eyes with the seriously sexy orc who's their guardian—and my new de facto boss—for the first time, I'm a goner. Big, muscular, and green all over–he's giving me full-on Hulk meets stern professor vibes—and I like it.