I'm the next in line for Fyrifirar Tribe Jarl, a skilled warrior, and definitely not good at chopping down trees. But I can't stop thinking about the tiny human female who we'd found near our village with eleven other human females. She's so small, barely larger than an orkin child, and so lovely I can't get her out of my mind. And then I went and nearly killed her while felling a tree to distract myself. Yet somehow, she still ended up in my arms.

When my sister is chosen for the Monster Mate Hunt—an annual event where two women must sacrifice themselves to the orcs for the good of us all—I volunteer in her place. The orcs hunt me as I bolt through the forest. I'm captured by the gruff, growly Commander Jaus, who expects me to cook and clean, plus sleep in his quarters with him at night, despite insisting he doesn't want a mate. Then something changes, and his dark, brooding gaze turns my way . . .

Stuck slinging pizzas in the deadest of dead-end jobs, I make a wish. In a blink, I'm teetering on top of a standing stone in Faerie, where I have magical powers! And monsters fighting over me! Thank god, the orc wins. A fierce and deadly warrior, Rovann's nothing but gentle with me.

I accidentally launched an escape pod on my miserable honeymoon—with me on it—and crash-landed in the middle of an alien jungle on a forbidden "emerging civilization" planet, breaking about a hundred Cosmic Syndicate laws. Oh, and I robbed a hot lizard guy with sexy black eyes, the most colorful scales I've ever seen, and a powerful prehensile tail that curls up like a cinnamon roll. Even though I can't understand anything he's saying, my new reptilian friend turns out to be as sweet as honey and spicier than the seasoning he used on the meat I stole from his camp.

In the blink of an eye, my whole world has collapsed around me. Headed towards my dream vacation, I was snatched right out of the air. My husband, the love of my life, was destroyed right in front of my eyes. He fought bravely trying to protect me from a horror neither one of us could have ever imagined. I find myself standing in the spotlight on a stage.

R'jaal has waited many turns of the seasons for his khui to resonate, only to be disappointed time and time again. But when he is taken captive by strange beings hiding in the very tunnels of the fruit caves, he wakes up to find himself in a strange underground cage. Also in the cage? A very pretty unfamiliar human female. She says her name is Rosalind. She makes his khui sing. It's finally his time. There's a big problem, though—Rosalind has no khui of her own. And if she doesn't get one soon, she could die.

I went to space looking for adventure, my job to protect the other women of the expedition. When gray aliens wake me from cryo in the middle of a market, it turns out I'm what's on sale. This sure isn't the fun I dreamed of!

Tour guide Ivy has always secretly fantasized about minotaurs. So when a Beast Hunters tour to Motham City goes horribly wrong, she's thrilled to be rescued by wickedly handsome minotaur, Bryn. Until she finds out that he runs a male escort agency with the sole purpose of pleasuring humans. And Ivy just isn't that sort of girl . . . Bryn isn't looking for love. He sells it. Besides he's too busy caring for his disabled mom and four brothers and sisters to have time for romance.

Abducted off the space station where I teach the standard galactic language, I'm imprisoned with two other women in a cold, dirty cell on an alien ship. We're destined for something worse than death until a fierce, blue-haired alien male rescues us. We recover on his ship with his group of Heveian pirates. There, the attraction that formed when he first carried me in his arms grows into a force neither of us can deny. But something else has taken up residence on the ship. Something that will stop at nothing to destroy us all.

For eons, the Zodiac Warriors have fought in secret the evils that threaten Earth: aliens, monsters, even depraved humans. So when their seer predicts a coming calamity these fighters are more than ready to protect humanity. First up is Scorpio who is tasked with locating an artifact in Antarctica. A simple mission, except the doctor who's supposed to help him find it has no idea what he's talking about.

Pawning my grandma's bracelet was supposed to be temporary—not contractually bind me to a breathtaking naga. Now I'm working off my debt at Sundar’s pawn shop, trying not to stare at his powerful tail, or imagine all the wicked ways he could pin me down with it... But Sundar isn’t just hard to resist—he’s impossible to read. One moment he’s cold-blooded and controlled. The next, his possessive instincts are wrapping tighter than his coiled tail. I know better than to fall for my boss. But the more time I spend under his golden gaze, the more I wonder...

When my brother steals a treasure from a dragon’s precious hoard, I find myself facing down the monster sent to retrieve the locket. Mateo gives me three days to produce the stolen goods, or he’ll lock me in the dungeon and throw away the key. The catch? He’s not letting me out of his sight. What starts out as a hunt for my wayward brother ends up with me in the sights of a ruthless wizard. My manticore captor-turn-protector is more than the sum of his parts, and I soon realize I’m falling for him. But love means nothing if I can’t get out of this alive.

One minute, I'm working as a cook, the next, I've been abducted by robocops and sent to a distant planet where I'm attacked by a ferocious beast. Then a seven-foot-tall, blue-skinned alien rescues me with crystal spears slashing. He cuddles me in his arms, and I feel safe for the first time since fleeing my stalker ex. Until he tosses me over his shoulder and takes me back to his clan where he announces I'm his new bride. I'm determined to return home, but there's something about Aizor I can't resist. Am I falling for this musclebound alien with a killer smile?

Scoring a job at the exclusive and secretive Hotel Castle Verna is exactly what I need to pay off my debt and avoid a punishment I might not survive. The guests are a little eccentric, but they are great tippers. All I have to do is ignore the strange sights, smells, and sounds coming from the guest rooms, and I can remain gainfully employed. Simple, right? Except there's one guest at the hotel who's always watching me with his mismatched black and white eyes.

For fans of determined plus-sized heroines and cinnamon-roll bear shifters, A Polar Expedition is the first standalone novella in the Shades of Sanctuary series, where the vibes are cozy, the heat is high, and the mates are monstrous. Grab a cup of tea and snuggle in because while the burn might be slow, the HEA is only a few hours away!