I’m a Nightmare, a creature that feeds on fear, and I’m capable of boundless cruelty—which is why my services come at a steep price: the life of the person who hired me. As such, the only people who hire me on are those brought to me by fate, like Mina, a woman so desperate for revenge that she’s willing to spend her own life to get it. I don’t usually care why I’m hired. Human affairs don’t matter to me. Food is food, and a job is a job. Mina’s enemies will get what they deserve—and I’ll get what’s mine. Her beating heart.

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.

The alien lord holding me prisoner is the most powerful being I've ever encountered. A winged immortal who can kill with a mere wave of his hand. He's arrogant and alien. Demanding and dangerous. Brutal, even beautiful, though I hate him too much to admit it. He hates me, too. But even though my captor despises me, he needs me. He requires a bride for political reasons, and he makes me an offer I have no choice but to accept. Marry him, play the part of his happy wife, and he'll give me the one thing I want most—my freedom.

Being kidnapped by aliens is one thing. Being kidnapped by aliens and sent to a prison planet is something infinitely worse. Here in Haven’s prison system, I’m stranded among strangers, enemies, and the most ruthless criminals in the galaxy. There’s no safety for a human woman here, especially not one branded as a murderer. I’m doomed to a fate worse than death. Then, he decides I should be his. His name’s Jutari. He’s seven feet tall, blue, and horned.

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.

A must-listen prequel novella in the Stolen Warriors series from USA Today bestselling author Ella Maven. Contains mature themes.

A vrisha arrives in Grace's underwater city. He takes over one of the substations, forcing the workers out. At the whim of her job, Grace is unwillingly chosen to go below, maintain the station, and stay with the horned, devilish alien. That is how she comes to encounter Xora. An alien born from a race of dominant fighters and fierce hunters. He is as terrifying as he is mysterious. While also commanding, stubborn, unrelenting...and oddly mesmerizing. As her fear slips away, other emotions begin to take hold. And Grace finds she wants to know more.

Theo the minotaur is shy, gentle, and kind, and wants nothing more than a human wife to spoil. When Celeste agrees to move in and start a trial marriage, he’ll do anything in his power to keep her happy and safe in a world where a human might make a great meal for another monster. The only problem? Theo is huge in more than one way—and he knows Celeste isn’t ready for him yet. It will take trust and time to prepare her as they start to build their new life together, and it might just lead to falling in love.

After a break-in at my apartment, I get my very own security detail. Cool right? Wrong. The big, brooding beast assigned to protect me 24/7 is the very same cocky guard who caught me at the wedding!

It’s the flight before Christmas and Molly just got an unexpected gift: a free first-class upgrade on her plane trip home for the holidays. Bring on the complimentary cocktails! But after one too many, she spills all her secrets to the hot guy seated next to her—only to wake up mortified when her buzz has worn off. At least she never has to see Liam again ... or so she thinks. When Molly arrives at Christmas House, the festive rental home that she and her family are sharing with her sister’s fiancé and his wealthy family, she discovers that Liam is one of the new in-laws. Oops.

When mystery author D. B. Ziegler is late delivering her book, Abi Schore steps in to help. Surely she can give her favorite author moral support over the holiday break and get the manuscript to her boss at Tea & Sympathy Publishing in time for the new year. When Abi shows up on Ms. Ziegler’s doorstep bearing holiday treats, she’s met by the author’s handsome grandson Dov, who reveals a startling plot twist. His grandmother isn’t able to finish the book and Dov promised he’d complete it so fans won’t be disappointed—a task that’s harder than he ever imagined.

Living in a year around Christmas town has its drawbacks. The caroling, the decorations, the insanely cheery spirit, it never disappears. It's why I like to hibernate away in my cave - I mean housekeeping a healthy distance from the holly jolly spirits. And all was going according to plan until my nemesis, Storee Taylor, moved in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Without blinking, she turned my simple world into a real nightmare-before-Christmas, especially when she decided to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest - which she was determined to win.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.

There's no place like home for the holidays ... especially for Lesley Carver. Life in the big city just wasn't her jam and now she's back in Hickory Falls, working at the family diner and helping her mom after she took a tumble. Lesley longs to build a life here, working at the cafe, selling her handmade ornaments and ... er, apparently reviving her high school crush on her best friend’s older brother. Only one problem, her mom wants her to leave Hickory Falls far behind.

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.

Tilly Farriday isn’t feeling very jolly this season. Recently divorced and broke, she’s squatting in one of her rental agency’s properties until her new home is ready. The sprinkles on top of the burnt Christmas cookie that is her life? The new owner shows up early, forcing Tilly to hide in the attic to save her job…and what remains of her dignity.

When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Clark Griswold was onto something...at least with his annual holiday meltdown. And since the last three weeks of my life have been riddled with humbug—another breakup, a broken toe, an office promotion I deserved and didn’t get—I’m not at all in the mood to celebrate nor have the happ, happ, happiest Christmas EVER.

After a snowstorm grounds her flight, Lucy makes a last-ditch effort to get home for Christmas using a rideshare app. She thinks she’ll be taking a road trip with a stranger...but the guy who shows up is someone she knows all too well. He’s the hookup she ghosted a few months ago, and now she’ll be stuck in a car with him for the most awkward road trip of her life.

I’ve been abducted. Twice. My situation with this new group of aliens has gone from bad to worse. I was with a bunch of elf-like aliens who had unparalleled technology, but now I’m in the midst of a group of primitive gargoyle aliens running around in loincloths. Which doesn’t hide much, let me tell you. There’s one gargoyle in particular who watches my every move, but what’s under his loincloth scares me more than his beastly appearance. To be sure we’re worthy to breed with, the savages have us each perform a rite of passage. And by that I mean a test of survival.

I was escaping from my stalker ex when they took me from Earth. Dropped into a hellish alien maze where all I am is potential food. Until I run headlong into a huge, smoking hot alien dragon, covered in golden scales and an ego which could light up a planet. Draco rules the prison maze they call the Kirakos and he says I belong to him.

Paax never wanted to be matched to a mate. The situation in his clan was dangerous for a hardened warrior, let alone a soft human female without fangs or claws to defend herself. Sending her back to Earth was the only way to keep her safe. However, the moment the curvaceous woman stepped off the transporter, his tattoo burned with a passionate intensity he’d never experienced before. Paax knew he would do anything to protect her, to claim her, even challenge the clan’s violent Warlord. No force in the universe would take his mate from him.

I’m a space pirate, and that means I’m used to finding myself in some pretty hairy situations. But getting abducted and imprisoned inside a remote experimental lab? Yeah, I think this takes the cake. Then there’s my neighbor in the cell next door, Xavier. Despite being a smoking hot alien, he’s a brooder with a pronounced contempt for pirates like me. But that distaste can’t hide the look in his eyes when I’m forced to shower in front of him.

Many generations ago, humans fled Earth and sought refuge on the planet Thyre, a world ruled by formidable warlords. In exchange for protection and the right to inhabit Thyre's lands, each year our outposts pay tribute to the warlords. This year, we fall short on our tythes, and the village mayor decides to pay the missing taxes in the form of four women. I'm chosen to be part of the tribute given to Brogan, the Warlord of Grymburg. I don't know what awaits me, but I wasn't prepared for the warlord to take my breath away and claim me.