Every human girl growing up on New Terrhan knows one thing...that she will be taken by one or several Xalthurian males when she turns 21. The Xalthurians are rough, domineering, and huge all over, but this is the deal our leaders struck so that they would provide our human colony with desperately needed supplies.

I’m not truly one of the devout, bonneted brides who traveled to my sister’s wedding in Scotland hoping to find a pious mate in her adopted kingdom pack. Honestly, I only signed up for the free plane ticket and a place to lay low until I could sneak off and start the academic life I’ve been secretly planning for years.

I knew as soon as I saw her that she was MINE. It's called The Lightning Strike—the feeling a Brute gets when he finds his Fated Mate. I knew Aurora was my Fated Mate, but how could I get her? She's a Princess but worse, she's Untainted with pure human DNA—they don't want anything to do with my kind. I guess I can't blame her—I'm a criminal after all. A member of the Four Families—Clan Cruel to be exact.

This cruise is the beginning of something amazing, and nothing is going to stop me from going. But when things go wrong shortly after departure, it’s clear I have made a mistake.

First Mistake: Agreeing to my brother’s crazy, horrible scheme to seduce and drug my college’s hockey star, Yom “Yum” Rustanov, to get him disqualified for doping before his big international championship game. In the dictionary under femme fatale, you’ll find me—in the antonyms section.

As a third daughter on the farming colony of Meterion, Susan’s future prospects aren’t too promising. A pretty face, top-notch skills, and hard work mean nothing if your dowry doesn’t include fertile lands. With her 25th birthday approaching, and no suitors, her only way out is to settle for an arranged marriage through the PMA - the Prime Mating Agency. She just never expected to be paired with a grumpy, massive lizardman, and above all not to grow so fond of his scales and quirky ways.

Since aging out of the foster care system and becoming a nurse, all I dreamed of was marrying a nice doctor and moving to a two-story house in the suburbs. So how did a dangerous biker gang criminal end up handcuffed to my bed? And why did I agree to let that animal teach me how to...ahem...do things. Wicked things. In the very same bed he’s been handcuffed to in order to keep me safe? Long story. And I’m truly scared to find out how it will end.

Penelope: One minute I'm conducting important research on a distant planet, and the next, I've fallen through a crack in the surface and am transported to an underground world with terrifying fanged creatures who want to eat me, an army of feathered warriors who rescue me, and a massive horned demon leader who gains power through pain . . . except he's only giving me pleasure.

As king of the ice giants, I must have heirs. But our customs do not satisfy me. I do not want a giantess who will bear me a child and then leave to be with another. I would much rather pursue a union the human way: find a partner who will share my bed, bear my children, and stay by my side. Until death do us part.

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 . . .

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?

My Scottish billionaire boss is arrogant, secretive, demanding, and far too insanely hot for me, his meek assistant, to actually look in the eye. But somehow, I manage to put up with the boss from hell...until I get a terminal cancer diagnosis. Totally valid reason to quit, right? Not for my cruel devil of a boss. You will not believe his response to my resignation...or the secret he's been hiding all along!

Thaddeus Patrick Lourie saw her, wanted her, and declared that he would have her. No person, thing, or beast would stop him from having his rightful mate. As the next in line for the top, there were expectations set. What happens when the set expectations go against his destiny of having her? Will he stick to the expectations or show his teeth and move toward his destiny?

Holt Calson was born with an 11-figure spoon in his mouth to one of the wealthiest families in the world. The night we met, I only had 11 dollars in my purse, and it was all the money I had in the world. We were never supposed to meet, much less be together. But Holt didn't care. He just wanted me.

KAYLA: Raise your hand if you've ever found out your American football player boyfriend of four years was cheating on you... via a scuzzy daily gossip show... right before you two were scheduled to go on an all-expenses-paid vacation to Paris that was supposed to include a marriage proposal! Nobody else? Just me? So maybe you'll understand why I'm crying in first class on the second leg of my flight to the City of Lights.