New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday February 7

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL).

By the way, yes, sometimes I do truncate the book blurb, but if you click on the buy link you can read the rest of it on the ebook seller’s site.

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DARK STRENGTH (REFUGE BOOK 3) by Cynthia Sax

VS Note: An immediate one click for me! I love her books and the Refuge series has been really interesting (dark like all her stories but oh so good!).

Balvan, the Refuge’s Gatekeeper, is huge, green, and has a reputation for crushing skulls. He’s a modified humanoid, genetically designed to be the ultimate warrior. One of a kind and considered monstrous by many, he never expects to find his mate, the one female meant for him.

Elyce, snatched from her home half a solar cycle ago, has finally escaped her brutal captors. She arrives at the Refuge barely alive. Only a blood transfusion from the largest male she has ever seen will save her life. But it will also bind her to him forever. Staring up, up, up at him, she wonders why she wants to be free. His gentle touch revives yearnings she thought dead. His lips set her skin ablaze. His massive muscles make her feel safe.

That feeling could be an illusion. Elyce’s captors want their slave back and they won’t stop until they have her. To give his mate her freedom, Balvan might be forced to give up everything he has – his role as the Gatekeeper, Elyce’s love, and his life.

WICKED ATTRACTION (THE PROTECTOR) by Megan Hart

Ewan Donahue has made a lot of mistakes, but making Nina Bronson want to leave him has been the worst. With the initial threats on his life out of the way, he doesn’t really need her protection, but hiring her to take care of him again is the only way to get her back in his life. When Nina shows up ready to work —and nothing else — Ewan’s determined to win her back. If he can break through the walls his earlier betrayal built, maybe they can have another shot at love. When it turns out that this time, it’s Nina who’s being targeted for danger and possibly death, Ewan’s the one who has to keep her safe.

DESTINATION TITAN (LEAVING EARTH BOOK 1) by Liza O’Connor

With Earth destined for a new ice-age, seven scientists and twenty-two brilliant teenagers are gathered in a compound deep within a mountain. There they struggle to come together as a group and complete the projects needed for their survival in the inhospitable environment of Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. However, certain factions on Earth have no intention of letting Project Einstein succeed. Keeping the group alive and productive is the hardest task Colonel Lancaster and his soldiers have ever had, but they are determined to succeed no matter how well the saboteurs have planned. The continuation of the human race depends upon it.

NOT OF THIS WORLD (WARRIORS OF RISNAR) by Tracy St John

Jeannie Gardner escapes from her captors’ clutches only to find herself trapped on a planet far from Earth. When she is discovered by a muscle-bound warrior, she must prove to him, and the Council of Elders, that she is not a creature set free from a lab, but a sentient being from another planet.

If she succeeds, they will send her home. If she fails, she will be executed.

Risnar warrior Kren Bolep is duty bound to protect his village from the Monsuda and their creations. But this small pink-skinned female is different, special. As the bond between them grows, Jeannie’s vulnerability invokes Kren’s protective instincts, and he vows to uncover the truth and secure her future.

But there is a bigger threat looming. The Monsuda are coming to get Jeannie, and they’ll use whatever means necessary. When Jeannie is taken, Kren is forced to choose—disobey the Elders and place his people in danger, or lose the only person who makes him feel whole.

THE BREEDER by Lynne Silver

VS Note: OK, I one clicked this.

In a world where fertility is a rare and treasured thing, Jane—the breeder for Windy City—is ready to fulfill her destiny and repopulate the earth, with the help of the one man strong enough to have her. The man she’s dreamed of for as long as she can remember.

One fight. One winner. One month of uninhibited pleasure. For Ethan, losing Jane isn’t an option. He’s spent years preparing for this battle, for his woman, but marriage and family are a thing of the past, and happily-ever-afters don’t come easy.

No matter the temptation, they can’t stay lost in each other’s bodies forever. The clock is ticking, and Ethan means to keep Jane for always. No matter what it takes.

KRAGEN (ALIEN HUNGER BOOK 1) by Chloe Cox

Andromeda Knowles has always been a fighter. But when the ex who ruined her life and his drunken buddies confront her about working for the new Leonid-human Mating Service — the only job she’s been able to get after what her ex did to her — she knows she doesn’t stand a chance. Until a huge, powerful, sexy Leonid Dominant shows up and puts his life on the line to save her.

Kragen is everything Andie said she’d never touch: a criminal, an alien warrior, and too damn Dominant for her own good. But he’s also wounded, and Andie can’t bring herself to leave his side — or disobey his orders.

Which is good, because he’s not letting her go anywhere. Technically, he’s kidnapping her. Because he says they’re mates. Like actual, fated mates. And the more time Andie spends with Kragen, the more he gets under her skin–and her clothes. Andie sees a side of Kragen no one has ever seen before, and she starts to fall for the noble heart underneath Kragen’s rough, Dom exterior…

But when she discovers the secret that Kragen has locked up in his basement, Andie learns that her alien savior has a dark side — and that there’s a freaking reason he’s on the run from both the Leonids and the Earth Alliance. One thing is clear: Kragen is a rebel with no plans to change. And he will never allow anyone to take his mate–even if it means taking on the whole world.
But when the Alliance finds them and takes Andie prisoner, Kragen must decide: will he choose his cause, or his mate?

SAVAGE ALIEN (VITHOHN WARRIORS) by Stella Sky

Trained by a headstrong leader, a robot, and a group of sarcastic gunslingers, Sidney Cunningham thought she’d learned everything there was to know about outsmarting the blindly aggressive Vithohn who took over her planet… Until she met one face to face. Unable to run or fight, Sidney must come up with a new plan, and meeting the sexy, muscular, pierced alien has her willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Tessoul is a warrior of the Vithohn. His race believes the humans have been extinguished and that the Earth belongs to them… until a human woman sneaks into his base and seduces his leader. Now, more than ever, Tessoul believes the human militia must be exterminated. But, when he runs into the sensual, impish redhead named Sidney, he learns that the humans are ready to fight back with every trick in the book.

Sidney believes she has a plan for how to move forward with her newly awakened lust for the brooding alien, but she soon realizes that when she invited Tessoul into her life… he didn’t come alone.

MADNESS UNLEASHED (DRAGONS OF ZALARA BOOK 1) by M L Guida

Damon is in love with the queen of the dragon warriors and the only way to get close to her is to be her personal guard. But the Fates are against him. Instead of wooing the queen, he’s forced to go to Earth to steal his destined human mate.

Three months ago, Hera Athans woke up in a park with no memory of who she is, where she lives, or what she does for a living. Now, she’s in survival mode. Two months behind on her rent she’s one step away from being homeless—again. She didn’t think things could get any worse. But she’s wrong.

Kidnapped by an alien and held captive on board the spaceship Orion only Hera has the power to soothe his savage beast. She must mate with a dragon shifter to save both their worlds and unleash a love that will shake the stars…or lose both Earth and Zalara forever.

INTO THE FIRE by Elizabeth Moon

VS Note: NOT a romance but military scifi with a strong heroine.

Ky beats sabotage, betrayal, and the unforgiving elements to lead a ragtag group of crash survivors to safety on a remote arctic island. And she cheats death after uncovering secrets someone is hell-bent on protecting. But the worst is far from over when Ky discovers the headquarters of a vast conspiracy against her family and the heart of the planet’s government itself.

With their base of operations breached, the plotters have no choice but to gamble everything on an audacious throw of the dice. Even so, the odds are stacked against Ky. When her official report on the crash and its aftermath goes missing—along with the men and women she rescued—Ky realizes that her mysterious enemies are more powerful and dangerous than she imagined.

Now, targeted by faceless assassins, Ky and her family—along with her fiancé, Rafe—must battle to reclaim the upper hand and unmask the lethal cabal closing in on them with murderous intent.

DIRTY SEXY SPACE VOLUMES 1-9 by Mel Teshco, Shona Husk and Denise Rossetti

FORMERLY THE E S SIREN SERIES: the starship Earth Ship Siren, heading off to the colony world Solitaire. An SFR continuity series…

VS Note: I don’t normally cover re-releases but many readers have asked about this series and when it would be available again. As of February 5th all nine books have been re-released. I’m linking to volume 1, YOURS TO UNCOVER. Here’s an interview I did with the 3 authors when the first 3 books originally released: http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2014/10/09/scifi-encounters-veronica-scott-husk-teshco-rossetti/

Blurb for Book #1: He’s a hardened criminal … and her biggest ally.

It’s the year 2202. Earth is grossly overpopulated and seriously polluted. Rita Songworth has spent half her twenty-two years trying to escape the dying planet. It’s taken the last five of those years to realize making it in the hard-ass infantry is her only way out, via space transporter Earth Ship Siren.

But the journey to Unity, the new colony, isn’t easy. Rita has to resist an attraction to hard, brutish prisoner, Tristan MacFallan, whose masterful hands create more than the beautiful art he’s been assigned to make. His forbidden touch affects her profoundly and he sees things in her no man ever has before. But obeying Zane, her ex-lover and malicious lieutenant, who is appointed to keeping the prisoners under guard, comes at a high price.

Is she willing to sacrifice everything to keep her secret and her lover safe?

ARSENIC DRAGON (DRAGON GUARD OF DRAKKARIS BOOK 3) by Terry Bolryder

Arsenic, second in command of the Drakkaris dragon guard and legendary assassin, knows that he’s not worthy of a mate. How could a professional killer possibly find love? And yet, when a dangerous mission to save an imprisoned human leads to the task of being her personal bodyguard, the stand-offish dragon just might have to reconsider everything he knows (or thinks he knows) about love.

Farrah hates shifters. After being captured by wolves, taken to a remote island, and used for horrible experiments, she is ready to give up. But just when she’s about to lose hope, she’s rescued in the nick of time by incredible men with incredible powers. And one in particular, with bright green eyes and an indelible intensity, offers to protect her while she gets back to her normal life at home. But life is anything but normal with a man like Arsenic around.

Despite her reservations, Arsenic ends up being a much kinder (and much sexier) protector than Farrah could have possibly imagined. But with the possibility of having her memory erased, Farrah must weigh if the horror of the past outweighs the possibility of a future with a man she doesn’t think she could ever forget. And time is running out, because there are horrors from Farrah’s past that are more than just a memory.

BORN OF EMBERS: PHOENIX RISING BOOK ONE by Harper Wylde and Quinn Arthurs

I always knew I was different. I’d thought it had to be hidden – to stay a secret. I didn’t know my secret would become the key to my survival. Turning eighteen and getting accepted into college brings me everything I need to escape from the nightmares of my past but I never could have imagined my nightmares – and dreams – were just beginning. Finding myself thrown into a world of fantasy, politics, friendships, and rules that are nearly impossible to understand, I feel like I’m drowning in a world of shifters I never knew existed. As I struggle to find my place and prevent my nightmares from tearing me apart, I find myself surrounded by an unusual group of sexy men. With Hiro, Killian, Theo, Damien, and Ryder I’m trying to become the woman I’ve always wanted to be, if my past, and my future, will let me.

CHASING THUNDERBIRD by J Leigh Bailey

Ornithology professor Simon Coleman’s reputation is at risk, and the only way to save his name is to prove thunderbirds are more than creatures of Native American myth. Grad student and part-time barista Ford Whitney has a lot on his plate, but it’s also his duty to make sure the resident bird nerd doesn’t discover shape-shifters—like himself—live on campus.

When a series of incidents related to Simon’s search put him in harm’s way, Ford’s instincts kick in, and they become closer than is strictly proper for student and teacher. Ford is forced to reveal his secrets to Simon, and their relationship is put to the test—Simon must choose between salvaging his reputation and protecting the man who protected him.

ARCHER by Amelia Hartley

Archer had no plans to return home. Not after the dramatic exit he’d made. An arranged marriage to settle the feud between two packs sounded alright on the surface, but he’d be damned if he were to be mated to someone he didn’t love. When Archer and his brothers left home they didn’t plan on ever going back… That is until he received a call from a familiar voice years later urging him to return home to fix a problem that could destroy them all.

Joanna loved him. When she found out she was going to be mated to Archer, she couldn’t contain her excitement. He was the most kind, generous and sexy man she’d ever met. It was like a dream come true. Until he crushed her heart on the day of the ceremony. She was broken and had never really recovered from the betrayal. And now the bastard had the balls to return to Stonefall all these years later?

Who was she kidding, she couldn’t stay mad at him. If she was honest with herself, she’d admit that Archer was and always will be the only man to occupy her thoughts… and hopefully her bed.

KINGDOM OF STORMS (THE LEGEND OF TARIEL BOOK ONE) by Jasmine Walt

As a half-breed with no family name and illicit magic singing in her veins, Tariel has spent her entire life trying to hide who she is and fighting the forbidden desires in her heart.

But when Tariel’s warden tries to foist her onto a man with a reputation for killing his wives, she realizes that all her efforts have been for naught. If she is to survive, she will have to embrace her magic and fight for her freedom–two things women in Fjordland have always been forbidden from.

Thankfully, Tariel is not alone. With a desert spirit to guide her, a fierce knight to protect her, and a handsome scholar to advise her, she might just have what it takes to escape death and seize her destiny.

That is, if they can find a way to defeat the deadliest witch hunter in history.

CHOSEN: A FANTASY COLLECTION by Various

Four fantasy authors. Four complete novelettes. All new content.

A bard with the power to bring his tales to life. A Victorian-era protectoress of the Lost Ways to Faerieland. A Korean War vet who becomes Mallworld Gatekeeper after dragons attack. A vision walker who is forced into a portal to another world to save her queen.

Four new stories. Four chances to escape to another world.

THAT KILLER SMILE (BITE NIGHTS) by Juliette Lyons

THERE WILL BE HEAT…Vampire Catherine Adair gave up trying to find her perfect match ages ago. But that didn’t stop her from founding London’s super successful vampire dating site. When a smoldering vampire overlord from her past launches an interspecies speed-dating service, Catherine vows to crush the competition….

WHEN THESE TWO COMPETE – Ronin’s new venture is purely about getting Catherine’s attention. He hasn’t stopped thinking about her ever since the night she gave him the cold shoulder. Nobody gets away from Ronin McDermott that easily.

DRAGON FIRE AND PHOENIX ASH (DRAGON’S COUNCIL) by J Thompson and Mina Carter

VS Note: One clicked this.

Alone. Caged. Her only freedom will be in death…Captured as a chick, Sula can barely remember life outside her cage. Her tears, feathers and blood have been stolen until she’s a pale shadow of the Phoenix she’s meant to be. She prays for the sweet release of death, expecting it when her owner’s warehouse is attacked.

What she doesn’t expect is the big male with the midnight eyes who rescues her, taking her home thinking she’s a pet bird, or her reaction to his gentle touch and the scent of his dragon. After so many years, can she trust another… and reveal the truth about herself in the process?

A dragon on a mission, he’ll stop at nothing to destroy the slavers plaguing shifter society…And they don’t come more in need than the little bird Damian discovers huddled in a box on his latest mission. A black dragon, he’s responsible for the protection of dragonkind and by extension, all shifters, and he hates those who trade in paranormal artefacts with a passion.

He’s never taken any of them home, but the wide, golden eyes of the little bird hit him on a soul-deep level. The need to care for her and nurse her back to health overwhelm both him and his dragon, a need he doesn’t understand until he finds a naked woman in his kitchen. A naked woman with very familiar golden eyes…

But Sula’s masters haven’t given up on the profit she’ll bring them and they track her down to Damian’s apartment. When they take her, can he get to her in time, or will he lose his fated mate before they have a chance at their happily ever after?

SNOW by Taige Crenshaw and McKenna Jeffries

Snow T’ylan doesn’t believe in fairy tales or a prince to make your soul whole. She tried the happy ever after before and it failed. Now all she wanted was some peace from her meddling brothers who felt she needed to find a new prince to make her happy. It was an illusion that there was some great love for everyone. She didn’t have time to think of that now. She had to handle her father being taken by the one woman who already tried to kill her. This time Snow knew one of them was not walking away. She should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Fate had a warped sense of humor and she had Snow in her sights. When you run into a man who was gorgeous, determined and set your soul aflame…well you don’t have any choice but to go with what is destined for you.

Kyrian J’lim is really good at what he does. His task to find the missing man wasn’t going to be easy but he was up to it. Finding a woman who was his, was fate. Now he was on two hunts—one to save someone and the other to save himself…(more on ebook seller site)…

MAKING WAVES (LORDS OF THE ABYSS BOOK 5) by Michelle M Pillow

When Demon, a merman tasked with patrolling the ocean for humans in distress, comes across a woman anchored to the bottom of the sea, he’s sure his dreams have come true. After all, she’s stunning, single, and makes his body burn with need. She’s also impetuous, being hunted by his enemies, and seriously conflicted on whether or not he’s a good guy. It’s his duty to not only protect her, but to win her heart—because this lonely merman is sure she’s the one for him. Now he just has to convince her of as much.

SPIRITS, DIAMONDS AND A DRIVE THRU DAIQUIRI STAND (PYPER RAINE BOOK 4) by Deanna Chase

Pyper and Julius are getting married. There’s a wedding to plan, dresses to order, and daiquiris to consume. But when an old curse rears its ugly head and ends in a murder, Pyper’s younger brother Bo is suddenly in danger of being charged with a crime he didn’t commit.

Now Pyper and her friends are racing against time to clear Bo’s name and neutralize the curse before it claims another life. With a little help from the ghosts of New Orleans, Pyper’s determined to save the day… and still find her perfect wedding dress.

CAPTIVATED BY THE SHE-WOLF by Kristal Hollis

Ronni Lyles and her son are just settling into their new pack when her dead husband’s brother comes to claim them. Bodie Gryffon is looking for a safe place to raise his daughter—a raven-shifter, just like him. What begins as a purely practical alliance turns passionate. But Ronni senses that Bodie has a secret—one that could force him to make a painful choice.

THE DARKEST OF DREAMS (THE ANNIKA BRISBY SERIES BOOK 4) by Emigh Cannaday

Darkness has fallen on the Marinossian family, leaving ruined lives in its blood-stained wake and leaving Annika to pick up the pieces. With a deadly doppelgänger still loose and most likely in deadly pursuit, she’s escorted back home to wait out the storm and heal her broken heart…however long that may be. But when she makes a shocking discovery, she’ll do whatever it takes to make things right.

A world away, Talvi has been dragged to the desolate prison on Bleakmoor Island where he awaits trial for murder. His time in solitary confinement has pushed him to the brink of madness. He starts seeing spirits in the shadows and an angel with red hair. The only thing keeping him from completely losing his mind is the mysterious outlaw in the cell across from him. He’s one of the Näkki–the dark elves who were banished from his country for seducing demons to gain their powers…(more on ebook seller sites)…

DEVIL TAKE ME (A DEMON HUNTRESS NOVEL BOOK 4) by Karilyn Bentley

Reeling from a personal tragedy and abandoned by all she loves, the world’s newest demon huntress, Gin Crawford, sinks into a deep despair.
She’s forced back to reality by news of a large number of people committing suicide, all on the same night. Suspecting demon involvement, Gin must work with her sexy but estranged mentor Aidan Smythe to track who, or what, is behind the deaths.

Leads to a new discovery…As they come closer to finding the culprit, they realize their employer, the Agency, is hiding its own secret, one which threatens Gin’s very existence. New discoveries reveal that even those dedicated to eradicating evil can be bought. Can Gin and Smythe forgive each other and work together or will they fall under the demon’s thrall?

THE DEVOURER: A REVERSE HAREM FANTASY (AIRSHAN CHRONICLES BOOK 3) by Nhys Glover

They’d found the key that would return the newly released Devourer back to the underworld. They’d forged a bond of love and respect between five powerful but very different mages. They’d even begun to explore the incredible powers that bond has given them, which would help them defeat the primordial evil intent on drowning the world in another global flood. What they didn’t seem to be able to do was keep that hastily formed bond from unravelling and undermining everything they’d achieved. And not even the Goddess of All Creation could tell Flame if she’d survive long enough to enjoy the love of four very attractive men. That was the problem with being a Champion of the Goddess- no job security!

THE LAST WOLF (THE LEGEND OF ALL WOLVES) by Maria Vale

If she returns to her Pack, the stranger will die.
But if she stays…Silver Nilsdottir is at the bottom of her Pack’s social order, with little chance for a decent mate and a better life. Until the day a stranger stumbles into their territory, wounded and beaten, and Silver decides to risk everything on Tiberius Leveraux. But Tiberius isn’t all he seems, and in the fragile balance of the Pack and wild, he may tip the destiny of all wolves.

DRAGON SOLSTICE: A POWYRWORLD URBAN FANTASY by Anna Morgan

VS Note: From January.

Her future has been decided…As a child, Desrea was sent away from the dragon isle to learn about the world, and maybe find a mate. As an adult, she returns home but with no mate in tow. Winter solstice is the perfect time to fix that, except her mother has other plans—an arranged marriage to a man she’s never met. She needs to take some drastic action to get out of it; even if it means faking a true mating with another dragon.

He’s never allowed fate to rule him…Ryker’s the black sheep of his family. A biker, a bad boy, and the only one of his siblings left a virgin. He’s never felt the mating heat, but he figures winter solstice and the magic of ancestry will fix that. And when the most stunning bachelorette on the island drags him into her own revenge-relationship plot, he’s more than willing to play along.

Now a legacy is at stake…Lorren’s been raised to take over the mantle of leadership in his family and now, with his mother’s health on the decline, and he approaching fifty, it’s time for the next step—an arranged marriage to a suitable bride, chosen from one of the oldest and most respected families on the island. It’s his duty to provide an heir to carry on the family legacy. Except his arranged mate is twenty years younger than him, and carrying on with the most hot-headed fledgling he’s ever met.

And their hearts will guide the way…Lorren needs to scare off his competition, but Desrea is having none of it, and Ryker sees every insult as a challenge. Desrea didn’t intend to pit the two alphas against each other, though. Worse, this fake relationship might be real, and the arranged one might not be such a bad match. How can these three resolve their differences with solstice only four days away?

FALLEN ANGEL (THE WICKEDEST WITCH BOOK 3) by Meg Xuemei X

The Wickedest Witch and her captain rescued me from the supernatural prison of the Vampire Tower. To return the favor and get them off the doomed planet, I made a pact with the Furies, only to be tricked into separating from my mate.

When I finally return to my witch, she’s become the empire’s most desired bachelorette, with an army of suitors outside her royal palace.

I’m Archangel Gabriel. I won’t allow anyone, man or monster, to take my fated mate from me.

THREE’S A CHARM: MAGIC AND MAYHEM BOOK 6 by Robyn Peterman

Just when everything is right in my life, something has to go wrong—times three. Number one: an unknown evil force wants to steal my power. Now, instead of protecting and healing the whacked out inhabitants of Assjacket, my power has wonked out on me and I’ve blasted ginormous holes all over town. Not to mention Roger the Rabbit is now sporting a pentagon of penii thanks to me and is keen on contacting the Guinness Book of World Records.

Unacceptable.

Armed with questionable voodoo skills and seriously frayed nerves, I’m Two: gonna do what any partially-sane, potty-mouthed, witch would do… I’m calling in the semi-evil, butt-ugly Bermangoggleshitz to train me. The warlock’s penchant for push-ups makes me hate him with the fire of a thousand suns, but if I can’t control my dark magic, it will control me.

Way unacceptable.

With Sassy and Cookie Witch by my side, I’ll Three: get a handle on my dark voodoo—or doodoo as I’ve renamed it—so Assjacket won’t end up as one massive crater. And I need all the help I can get. An evil like we’ve never seen is gunning for us—specifically me.

Wildly unacceptable.

We’ll be the Three Amigos. The Three Musketeers. The Three Stooges. Whatever. As the saying goes…three’s a crowd, three’s company, three’s a party.

Nope. Three’s a charm. And I’m gonna turn it on for all I’m worth.

ENCHANTER REDEEMED by Sharon Ashwood

In the last battle for Camelot, Merlin had to make a terrible choice. Now he must pay the price. When a demon from his past reappears, she wants nothing more than to destroy the wizard. Now to reap her vengeance as a lover scorned, the demon occupies the body of Clary—the apprentice who is capturing his heart—and has the innocent behaving in uncharacteristic ways. Ways that push the forbidden desire Clary and Merlin share into heated play.

And finally:

CELTA CATS by Robin D Owens

VS Note: Something different I just came across. These short stories aren’t romances – it’s meant to be a children’s book perhaps, from the categories it was listed in! But apparently these are mostly snippets, vignettes and deleted scenes from various of her CELTA novels. Mixed reviews.

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Book Update from ME: I expect to be releasing MATEER (Sectors New Allies Series Book 2) next week – yay! Here’s a quick quote from Book 1 in case you haven’t happened to grab it yet LOL:

canva scififri lost

Engineered by alien scientists to be Sectors humans’ worst nightmare, can he save the woman he’s claimed for his mate?

Amazon B&N Google Kobo iBooks

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

I don’t ordinarily list re-releases…

Also, I may include only the beginning of the book blurb…(you can always read the entire blurb at your favorite ebook seller.)

New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday January 3

Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best in 2018! Including many new books to read…

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL).

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CRASHED ON AN ICE WORLD: A PHOENIX ADVENTURES SCIFI ROMANCE by Anna Hackett

VS Note: I love this series – well, I love all her series actually! One clicked.

Elana Korra loves her security job as a medic on the convoy ship, the Sky Nomad…except for the fact that she’s in love with her boss. Rynan is tough, loyal, and protective, and she knows he will never cross the line with her despite her deepest fantasies. But one scorching kiss sets up a smoldering tension, and as they head off into uncharted space on a treasure hunt to find an invaluable old Earth treasure, Elana knows it is time to make a change–get Ry to admit how he feels about her or leave. But a deadly attack leaves Ry and Elana on a damaged, out-of-control ship hurtling toward an unforgiving ice world.

Rynan Phoenix lives for his job of keeping the Phoenix Deep-Space Convoy safe. The nightmare of his childhood has taught him to steer well clear of romantic relationships, and he’s forced himself to ignore Elana’s compact body and gorgeous face. But when they find themselves stranded on an ice world with passengers to protect and space pirates hunting them down, Ry is forced to confront just how he feels about the most important woman in his life.

Ry and Elana will need all of their training in order to keep themselves alive. As they find hints to the old Earth treasure, their desire turns hotter and deeper…but then they discover that far more dangerous things call this ice planet home.

ABDUCT MY HEART (LOST SOULS SERIES BOOK 1) by Alexa Winters

Ruby Collins was only trying to make it through the day…She certainly hadn’t planned on getting abducted by a sinister alien race and forced into a fight-to-the-death match. But defeating the beast is just the beginning of her problems. It turns out she has a soul mate in desperate need of her help.

Drake is on the run…Consumed by revenge for so long, he wasn’t expecting a soul mate. Can he choose between vengeance and love, or can he find a way to have both?

BEG FOR MERCY (FATE’S VULTURES) by Jami Gray

The world didn’t end in fire and explosions, instead it collapsed slowly, like falling dominoes, an intensifying panic of disease, food shortages, wild weather and collapsing economies, until what remains of humanity battles for survival in a harsh new reality.

An assassin by trade, a loner by nature, Mercy is sent to infiltrate the Cartels and unmask the identity of their new silent partner. Instead, she discovers a darker plan threatening to crumble the entire Southwest and ends up with a hefty bounty on her head. Still, she’s determined to stop the impending attack at any cost, even if it means partnering up with a member of the notorious Fate’s Vultures.

After enduring a brutal, blood-soaked lesson on the savagery of civilisation’s scavengers, Havoc is well acquainted with the consequences of battling predators. But as a member of the nomadic band of arbitrators known as Fate’s Vultures, he’s determined to cement the necessary alliances to oust the biggest threat looming on the horizon. When an enigmatic woman crosses his path, her secrets and troubling loyalty light the fuse on an unexpected craving and his insatiable curiosity.

In order to trap a common foe and derail an impending threat, Havoc and Mercy must turn the tables to hunt a predator. Can an assassin and a mercenary find their balance on the thin line of loyalty, or will it snap under the weight of their wary hearts?

RAID (KIDNAPPED BRIDES BOOK 1) by Jenny Schwartz

No Nomad can ignore a summons from the Oracle. Their culture demands that they submit to a raiding party to find and mate their one true love.

Imprisoned and mistreated by the infamous information broker Fagan, Alexa Maven lives a life that makes the thought of love a painful lie. If she dared to dream, she’d wish for freedom and anonymity; to be alone forever.

Mikal Fforde is a captain in the United Space Marine Corps. Love is a distraction he definitely doesn’t need right now. He’s a tough fighter, a survivor, and he can’t afford the vulnerability that love brings.

But the Oracle has spoken, and two mismatched strangers are about to find their unlikely perfect match – if they survive Fagan!

WICKED WAYS (HORSE CLAN CHRONICLES 1) by Clarissa Lake

VS Note: The author says it’s very steamy. Listed in erotica.

Wicked Ways is based on the Aledan Series novel Oltarin: The Horse Clans Colony by Christine Myers. Wicked Ways is set on Oltarin, 300 years prior to the events portrayed in Oltarin. The preface and introduction are written by Christine Myers

Darwick “Wick” McKell is looking for revenge for the murder of his brother Camron by Vargan Rode. He slips into the Lake Clans village of Diamond Bay but Vargan is nowhere to be found. Wick finds Vargan’s betrothed Lora Sandgren and decides to kill her instead. However his instant attraction to her quickly changes to lust for her instead of revenge…(more)…

DRAGON LORD’S HOPE (DRAGONS OF MARS BOOK 4) by Juno Wells and Leslie Chase

Gillian Willis isn’t having an easy time running an ice farm at the Martian north pole. Her father’s missing, the bank is breathing down her neck, and now dragons are attacking! If it wasn’t for one gorgeous dragon shifter who puts himself between her and harm, she’d be in real trouble.

He’s the sexiest man she’s ever met, and the bravest. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he claims to own the land her family’s farm is built on. Even though he nearly got himself killed saving her from the other dragons, Gillian isn’t sure she can trust him. But does she have a choice?

Zardan, Dragon Lord of Herendar, has nothing left to live for. All his lands, his family, everything he knew and loved was buried a thousand years ago when the Dragon Empire fell. It’s almost too much to bear – until Gillian drags him off the ice and he realizes that she is his mate.

It should be impossible, it defies his understanding, but it’s true. The feisty human female is his and he won’t allow any harm to come to her. Will that be enough to rekindle the fire in his heart? Can he convince Gillian that they belong together? Or will the gulf between human and dragon shifter be too large for any sacrifice to bridge?

SOLD TO THE ALIEN KING (ALIEN AUCTION HOUSE BOOK 1) by Starr Huntress and Zara Zenia

Betty is a nerd, but trying to break out of her shell. She is studying astronomy, and is fascinated by possible life beyond the galaxy.

Barsork is an alien alpha shifter king but is against the idea of abducting humans, put forth by his brother.

But when Barsork takes Betty from Earth, Betty is repulsed by what his kind are doing. Selling humans off at an auction house is too much for her to take in, and she wants to get back home. Barsork tells her he will help her as he takes a liking to her and doesn’t want her sold off.

Barsork will need to first gain Betty’s trust. It won’t be easy, especially considering he was the one who tricked her and took her away in the first place.

Will Betty get back to Earth? Or will Barsork succumb to his brother’s demands and change his mind?

DANGEROUS PROMISE by Megan Hart

Nina Bronson used to be all human — until the experimental surgeries and internal technology that saved her life and enhanced her as a soldier also forced her to leave the army for private service. Now she and her peers are facing slow, painful deaths unless their technology is upgraded, and the one man keeping those upgrades illegal and unavailable is an obnoxious billionaire. A man too gorgeous for his own good.

A man she’s supposed to guard with her life.

Ewan Donahue is the public voice speaking out against the enhancement procedures of injured soldiers. But when his lobbying leads to death threats, he needs someone to protect him around the clock. He doesn’t want to rely on an enhanced soldier—Nina’s tech goes against everything he stands for. But he really doesn’t want her to be beautiful like she is. Doesn’t want her to suffer like she will.

Doesn’t want to succumb to the searing desire he feels for her.

As a series of attacks on his life send them to a remote cabin, their close proximity brings them together in ways they never imagined. They know they must prevent the need simmering between them, resist each other at all costs. But when tensions are high and danger is close, passion burns hottest of all.

BARRICADE by Lindsey Black

The Barricade is all that separates the Northern Russian Empire from what remains of the world’s plague-decimated population. Snaking 8921 kilometres across Eurasia, the Barricade is crafted from the New World’s nanotechnologies. Breathing, thinking, constantly regenerating, it sustains those charged with defending its districts from those desperate to find refuge in the north.

Atop the battlements of District 666, Sasha Stepanova and his team ruthlessly suppress heavy insurgencies, but at a cost. With the loss of one of his men, Sasha feels isolated and adrift. The bitter snows are a harbinger of winter’s early arrival and the town on his southern perimeter is swelling with foreboding shadows.

Transferred from a black operations testing facility, Jett Ioane is not the replacement Sasha is expecting. He’s short, sheltered and untested in battle—a poor replacement for the friend Sasha has lost. But Sasha finds him impossibly alluring. A lifetime of alienation and scrutiny has hardened Jett to the friendship and camaraderie necessary for survival. Struggling to find his feet while Sasha sweeps them out from under him, Jett hesitates to entrust the team with his truth.

Will Jett’s secrets be the key to their salvation, or annihilation?

RAX (RATHIER WARRIORS) by Stella Sky

Dr. Zina Smith is fearless. She has been on her own on a horrifying prison planet for
longer than she can count. Her survival depends on staying out of sight, but one mistake
lands her under the oppressive claim of a cruel-spirited alien. When another Raither
suddenly intervenes, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the sexy alien, confused by
her desires.

Commander Rax Veda is powerful and wise, and has been given the task of rescuing his
fellow Raithers from the prison planet. The son of the Emperor, Keldon Marcsu, is his
primary concern, so when he finds that the Raither is safe, and has found a female to claim,he is relieved. That is, until he finds himself experiencing an unexpected desire to claim the human for himself.

When Zina is abducted right out from in front of him, Rax has to make a choice. Zina technically belongs to Keldon Marcsu, and this act is grounds for war. Is he willing to fight for his love, to the death, and reform his planet?

DRAGON BLOOD (A NOVEL OF THE LUPI) by Eileen Wilks

VS note: I always enjoyed this series. This is book #14, so you might want to start at the beginning if you haven’t been reading along. I kind of lost track of the series a few books ago, so now I need to catch up!

When a mission to rescue five children stolen by an Old One falls apart under the assault of a demon prince, Lily wakes up in a strange reality—and is immediately taken captive by the dragon spawn who rule there. Jumping worlds has fractured her party, and Cynna is her only companion.

Although the clock is ticking, time works differently, and Lily has miraculously gained a week. That means seven days to free herself, find Rule and the others, rescue the children, and make it home alive. All before the dragon spawn holding her hostage trade her to the Old One. It would almost be doable if this weren’t Lóng Jia—also known as Dragonhome: the birthplace of dragons.

TO SEIZE A WAYWARD SPIRIT (DJINN HAVEN) by R L Naquin

Sometimes monsters like to pretend to be humans dressing up as monsters…After a major goof turned their last mission into chaos, Hidden Government chaser Kam and her friends must hunt and recapture a crapton of souls. Seventeen, to be precise. But by the time they chase down the first one—a goblin en route back home to Oklahoma—a banshee ups and gets assassinated, leaving their progress at exactly negative one.

The connection between Kam’s goblin and her banshee? A cosplay club, natch. Because sometimes monsters like to pretend to be humans dressing up as monsters.

As the body count rises and the Hidden cosplayers point fingers at each other, it’s up to Kam and her team to stop the insanity. One costumed faction has a secret they’re not sharing—even with each other—and if the bad seed isn’t found soon, the others are likely to be murdered…or worse.

DAMON’S ENCHANTRESS (CARDINAL WITCHES BOOK 3) by Alyssa Day

When lion shifter and FBI Paranormal Ops Division agent Damon Jones gets sent to Garden City, Ohio, to investigate a garden witch family’s ties to an international drug smuggler, he’s not happy about it. After all, garden witches are fragile and delicate, and he’s more of the lion in the china shop type.

But then he meets fire mage Lily Cardinal, and from the first moment her parrots tell him to “Get to the Chopper” he knows his life will never be the same…

Lily Cardinal is done with interesting men. The last one she dated turned out to be an infamous criminal with control-freak, sociopathic tendencies. She had to set his house on fire — literally — to escape.

Now deliciously sexy and Very Special Agent Damon Jones is moving into her house, and she can’t do anything to stop him. The problem is…she’s not sure she even wants to try.

CRIMSON ILLUSION by Rae B Lake

VS Note: Apparently about vampires.

Kate – I should have known, I was told not to trust the Palaens, but still I did. Now even after the broken bones and the bruises have healed, I am still left in pieces. No matter how hard I try to erase him from my memory, my heart always reminds me of one fact. I am in love with a killer.

Lucas – She is gone…just gone. Right when I thought maybe we would start a life together, she leaves me, or at least I hope she did. There was so much blood, and explanations why. I need to find her, even if its just to let her go.

Crimson Illusion is part 2 of the 7 Kingdoms Novels, Join Kate and Lucas as they find out just how much havoc the Phantoms can do to the Wolfe and Fields families. Will they be able to move past what happened in New Hampshire and fight this new demon together or will they have to admit defeat.

CROWN OF DEATH: BLOOD DESCENDANTS UNIVERSE by Keary Taylor

Years of bad luck have made Logan Pierce a little bitter, but it all goes from bad to worse the night she witnesses two immortal beings rip a man’s head off with their bare hands.

Her life is wrecked overnight by a single man—Cyrus, who seems to think she’s someone important in his bloody world. But they won’t know the truth until she’s dead, and he’s very anxious to help her get there.

But Logan isn’t going down without a fight. She makes him a deal. She will die, but first he must spend a month getting to know her, a month to change his mind. What she doesn’t expect is a month filled with displays of incredible wealth, spontaneous trips across the country, and unbelievable acts of immortal power. And as Logan spends her last days with Cyrus, she stops seeing the monster and begins to see a lonely, broken man she can’t walk away from. If she isn’t careful, it won’t just be her life she loses at the end of the month, but her heart as well.

WILD CARD (WILDCATS BOOK 3) by Rachel Vincent

Kaci Dillon is a man-eater.

She’s grown up on the fringes of shifter society, hearing the whispers. One desperate act as a starving, terrified child has made her the first tabby in history with no romantic prospects. But whatever. Eighteen is too young to get married anyway. Still, when she stumbles upon an opportunity to get away for a few days, who could blame her for seizing it?

Justus Alexander is screwed.

Confined to the South-Central territory, awaiting trial for crimes he committed as a traumatized, newly infected stray, Justus has discovered that the tribunal already intends to vote for the death penalty. He has no choice but to run. Too young to touch the trust fund that could finance his escape, he’s betting on a big win at the poker tables—until Kaci, his secret crush, catches him sneaking out and demands that he take her with him to Las Vegas…

After a wild night she can’t remember, Kaci wakes up with a ring on her finger, next to a young billionaire who can’t access his fortune until he turns twenty-five—or ties the knot. If she can keep her hands off her hot, charismatic new groom, she can have their unconsummated marriage annulled. But can she really abandon Justus to his death sentence, just to undo her own mistake?

CALLED BY THE VAMPIRE PART 7 by V Vaughn

Maggie was supposed to be dead. But Sebastian stepped in at the last minute to change her life forever, and now Maggie has to face instincts and handle evils she never wanted. Sebastian thought he was saving her, but the reality may be that he’s thrust her into a world she feels is worse than hell.

Lyndsey publicly steps into her role as a Princess and discovers it’s no fairy tale. She’s faced with a challenge that defies all the rules she used to know. In an instant, her moral compass has to change because her first act as Princess sets the course for centuries as the future Queen of the O’Kelly kingdom.

HEART ON FIRE (THE KINGMAKER CHRONICLES BOOK 3) by Amanda Bouchet

GODS. I’M AN IDIOT.
Without Griffin—and apparently a few meddling Gods—to push me along, I’d still be telling fortunes at the circus, lying about my past, ignoring my future, and living as far away from my tyrant mother as humanly possible.

True understanding thuds into place. Hope isn’t just an abstract concept; it’s me. Flesh and blood me. Griffin knew it all along. Probably everyone did. I’m an idea in human form.

SAVING RED (A NAUGHTY BEASTS AND FILTHY PRINCES ROMANCE BOOK 1) by Carter Blake

Ella Redmond is sweet, innocent, and completely off limits.
She belongs to a different world. One that I’ll never be a part of.
I’m a Hunter – Ash Hunter. I’m everything her grandmother warned her about. I’m fierce. Dominant. A beast of a man.
But there are far more dangerous animals than me.
Jared Wolfe lurks in the shadows. And I know what he wants. The same thing I do – to devour her.
I may not be the Prince Charming she’s been waiting for, but I will protect her. And in the end, she will be mine.

ELIZABETH AND THE CALL OF DRAGONS (Reverse Harem Fated Alpha Book 2) by Ava Mason

Elizabeth is finally safe, tucked away in the lair of her four dragon protectors. Now, she must learn to cope with the grief of losing her parents, her home, and the Southeastern White Tooth Pack, including a wolf her heart still yearns for.

Her four dragon protectors might keep their distance while she mourns, but they make it clear they desire her completely. Body, heart and soul. Despite her grief and the guilt clawing at her heart, Elizabeth’s feelings for the four men grow. She can see the future they are offering her. A fresh start… with them.

But a new challenge arises when the Shifter Authority forbids their relationship. The Authority claims wolves can’t mate with dragons, and certainly can’t conceive dragon babies.

Refusing to give Elizabeth up, each man is prepared to fight any battle to keep her and to prove that she’s their fated mate. ..(more)..

IVORY’S FAMILIARS by Montana Ash

Ronan, Vaughn, and Seth are witches’ familiars – sharing their souls with the black panther. The three of them are predators, born to be companion and protector to their witches. Over the generations, their coven’s numbers have dwindled to the brink of extinction. With no witch left to serve, they now work as bodyguards. None of them are prepared for the powerful connection they have with their newest client. She isn’t a witch – they sense no magic in her. But could she be something else entirely? Something none of them believed was even possible? Their mate.

Ivory is used to taking care of herself – she’s been alone for a long time. But when gifts from a secret admirer take a sinister turn, she admits she may need a little help. She isn’t counting on a trio of sexy men showing up on her doorstep after hiring private security. And she definitely isn’t expecting the instantaneous attraction she has to not just one, but all three of them. Her instincts urge her to trust, even as her head warns her to be cautious. For one tiny slip could expose her for what she truly is; a witch.

FREEING HIS MATE by Nancy Corrigan

I swore I’d never rejoin Shifter Affairs. I was done with the bureaucracy and the rules that stopped me from exacting my own brand of justice. Then a promise to solve a cold murder pulls me right back in.

I shouldn’t complain. The case leads me to a skittish female who triggers every primitive instinct I possess. We click. Instantly. Just like it’s supposed to be between true mates.

The only problem? Mya’s already taken. She’s also already a mother. And she’s pregnant again.

I’m too late.

I should walk away. Getting involved with Mya could cost me my head. My instincts won’t let me. Mya’s in trouble, forced into an abusive relationship for the babies she can conceive.

Not any longer. My true mate has a choice, even if the law says she doesn’t. And if it takes my death to free Mya, so be it.

PULSE by Danielle Koste

VS Note: Evidently this was a much enjoyed Wattpad story.

Rowan Platts is addicted to success.

When she’s presented with the chance to work on a top secret project fronted by her idol, renowned virologist Dr. Margot Miller, Rowan signs her life away without second thought. The realization she’s gotten in over her head comes only after the subject of their study is revealed: a boy with a bad attitude and an uninhibited taste for human blood.

He’s a medical anomaly. Having the ability to crush metal with his bare hands and hear a heartbeat from across the room, it would make Rowan’s career if she was the one to discover what made him so unusual.

Easier said than done, with a subject who prefers snapping necks over answering questions.

THE FORGOTTEN BOOK by Mechthild Glaser

VS Note: Teen and YA but sounded interesting. Translated from the German.

Emma is used to things going her way. Her father is headmaster of her prestigious boarding school, her friends take her advice as gospel, and she’s convinced that a relationship with her long-time crush is on the horizon.

As it turns out, Emma hasn’t seen anything yet. When she finds an old book in an abandoned library, things really start going Emma’s way: anything she writes in the book comes true.

But the power of the book is not without consequences, and Emma soon realizes that she isn’t the only one who knows about it. Someone is determined to take it from her—and they’ll stop at nothing to succeed.

A new boy in school—the arrogant, aloof, and irritatingly handsome Darcy de Winter—becomes Emma’s unlikely ally as secrets are revealed and danger creeps ever closer.

SOMETHING TO HOWL ABOUT (AN ALPHAVILLE STORY) by Christine Warren

Dr. Annie Cryer has been called many things: Genius. Child prodigy. Scientific wonder.

Wolf Shifter.

Banished from her pack years ago, Annie’s lone wolf wandering has brought her to Alpha, Washington, home to all shifters who don’t quite fit in in the “normal” shifter word. Now Annie has the chance to go back home…if only she can make good on a favor her alpha owes the mayor of “Alphaville.” But it’s not much of a favor when you’re helping the hottest shifter in town…

Grizzly shifter Jonas Browning has a clan in trouble. They haven’t had a child born in over a hundred years…and their clan faces going completely extinct. Genetic scientist Anne Cryer has been sent to help save them. But what Jonas doesn’t count on is being irresistibly drawn to the small wolf shifter, and his bear isn’t about to let her go.

ALL THE WORLD’S AN UNDEAD STAGE (OFFBEAT CRIMES BOOK 6) by Angel Martinez

Carrington Loveless III, skim-blood vampire and senior officer of Philly’s paranormal police department, has long suspected that someone’s targeting his squad. The increasingly bizarre and dangerous entities invading their city can’t be a coincidence. So when a walking corpse spouting Oscar Wilde attacks one of his officers, Carrington’s determined to uncover the evil mind behind it all.

DON’T COSPLAY WITH MY HEART by Cecil Castellucci

VS Note: OK, teen and maybe not even a romance but who can resist that title?

When Edan Kupferman dresses up like her favorite character, Gargantua, she feels tall and powerful. That’s important right now, because her family is a mess, her best friend is gone for the summer, her crush is confusing, and Edan’s feeling small and not sure which end is up. When Edan’s cosplaying, she can be angry, loud, and not the good girl everyone thinks she is. And when she’s at conventions, she feels like she’s found her own Team Tomorrow. But when her personal life starts to spiral out of control, Edan has to figure out whether she needs a sidekick, or if she has the strength to be the hero of her own story.

ELIZABETH’S WOLF (A NOVEL OF THE BREEDS) by Lora Leigh

VS Note: Normally I don’t cover re-releases here but this is my all time favorite of the Breeds’ series and I decided to buy this revised version to compare it to my original favorite. I know she’s also planning to (finally) release a new book in September with Cassie’s mate revealed after all these years of the series going on…

Special-Forces solider Dash has all but given up his will to live until an innocent letter from a little girl brings him back to life. Cassie writes to him every week, strengthening his resolve to recover from the devastating loss of his unit. But when the letters suddenly stop arriving, Dash instinctively knows Cassie and her mother are in critical danger.

Elizabeth and her daughter are on the run from a dark and bloody past that refuses to let them go. The stakes are too high for her to fall for this dangerous man who’s just walked into her life, but now more than ever she needs help.

Saving his mate and her daughter calls Dash’s beast to the forefront and transforms the lone wolf into an alpha protector—he becomes Elizabeth’s wolf.

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A snippet from AYDARR, my most recent release, which I’m proud to say is holding steady on the Amazon SFR Hot New releases list! Thanks, everyone, for the support!!!

As this snippet begins, Jill is speaking…

Buy Links: Amazon B&N Google Kobo iBooks

canva quote

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

I don’t ordinarily list re-releases…

Also, I may include only the beginning of the book blurb…

New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday December 20

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL).

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DESTROYER (HIDDEN PLANET BOOK 1) by Anna Carven

VS Note: Yup, I promptly one-clicked!

A hair-raising ambush.
A malfunctioning ship.
A distant, uncharted part of the Universe.

Calexa Acura and her crew of misfits are lost, and their ship is in desperate need of repairs. When a massive spacecraft appears in their radius, they’re helpless to resist its magnetic pull.

The terrifying ship is bigger than any craft she’s seen in her life, and somehow, she doubts its occupants will turn out to be the friendly sort.

First Encounters are always better when they’re amicable, but if necessary, Calexa and her crew will fight.

It’s what they’ve always done.

ZERN (RATHIER WARRIORS) by Stella Sky

Dr. Lila Andrews is a survivor. Separated from the other humans on a terrible prison
planet, she has found that the best way to survive is to keep out of sight. It’s not that
she likes to be alone. She just tends to be uprooted or left behind. So it’s no surprise
when the huge, sexy Raither comes to the ship she is using for shelter and demands
that she leave.

Captain Zern Krechan is the strongest Raither in the army. Despite being fierce and
brave, he has always been a target, and is sent to the prison planet to retrieve the Raither
ship as a punishment. He takes the mission seriously…until an urgent desire is awakened
within him by the human female squatting on his ship. He knows immediately that he
wants to claim her, but what about his mission?

When Zern forces Lila to leave once and for all, she is abducted by a group of Raithers
gone bad. Zern is the only one who can save her, and he has to make a choice. Desert
his mission to save the human, or go home a hero?

KNOWING ZIP (CYBORG SIZZLE BOOK 11) by Cynthia Sax

VS Note: Not sure how I missed this on December 5th – a short in her terrific series – because I am sucxh a huge fan of her books!

Abducted by the warrior of her dreams.

Zip is the last of his friends to find his female, the one being meant for him. He isn’t certain she exists until he hears her voice over a transmission. A self-proclaimed systems deity, he researches his curvy little human and discovers she dreams of being abducted by a big, strong warrior. Zip plans to make his female’s fantasies come true.

Ryssa wants one gift for her birthing planet rotation—to be captured by a warrior, preferably a tall, muscular cyborg with black hair, gray skin, and brilliant blue eyes. When Zip arrives on her planet, claiming to be her male, Ryssa assumes one of her friends has ordered the experience for her, and throws herself into the encounter, losing herself in Zip’s hot kisses, sensual touch, dominant embrace.

When the fantasy fades, will their love survive?

Knowing Zip is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Seeking Vector.

$mind the fracture$ MIND: THE FRACTURE (THE MIND SERIES BOOK 6) by Jenn Nixon

Sanjeeta Desai never thought anything would come of her promise to monitor the psychic population around town. Then two members of an online chat group go missing and one of her employees doesn’t show up for work. Using her unique gifts to investigate, Sanjeeta is shocked to learn the employee is missing and a psychic, too. When she contacts her mysterious benefactor to report the findings, she’s thrust into a dangerously complicated situation she may be key to solving.

Caelum has spent the last two thousand years watching and protecting the Earth and all its inhabitants. Since saving the planet and the MIND team during the Reckoning, Caelum has kept his distance until Dina Ranger’s dream infects a majority of the group. While tracing the source of the dream and the consequences it brings, Caelum meets Sanjeeta, the most powerful psychic he’d ever encountered and possibly the only person who can quiet his mind so he can stay focused and assist the team.

As pieces of the dream unravel and MIND begins to fall apart, Caelum and Sanjeeta grow closer despite the chaos surrounding them while the past, present, and future collide with deadly and cosmic implications that will alter the course of Human history forever.

BABY BUTTERFLY KISSES (PURPLE PEOPLE BOOK 3) by Rena Marks

The mates of Helian Six are protecting the refugee Puritans hiding on the planet Hesprii by pretending they are their visiting human cousins.

The males of Helian Six have welcomed a bounty hunter crew from their home planet of Freijia who have a mission to either return, or destroy those same Puritans.

Conflict wreaks havoc on the planet unless the males and females of Hesprii can keep the predators and prey separated. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of room for separation when the snipers fall for the ladies hook, line, and sinker.

Nor when the ladies decide to find poor fools to lose their virginity to.

IN THE BLOOD (METAHUMAN FILES BOOK 4) by Hailey Turner

VS note: Author states there is an HFN bordering on an HEA.

Captain Jamie Callahan is frustrated with his team constantly being at the mercy of the enemy in order to further the MDF’s goals. To make matters worse, his father’s political campaign is ramping up and Jamie’s every move is being watched by the media. He is acutely aware of all the eyes trained on him, his team, and Staff Sergeant Kyle Brannigan in particular. Meanwhile, Kyle would give anything to stay in the shadows, but he refuses to leave Jamie’s side, no matter the scrutiny. Staying out of the spotlight becomes impossible when their families are threatened and vital choices about their future together can no longer be ignored.

Staff Sergeant Alexei Dvorkin and Agent Sean Delaney are enjoying their time together as a couple when Sean’s past catches up with him. As Alpha Team’s long-running mission gets derailed in the worst way possible, Alexei discovers the enemy is playing for keeps, and neither he nor Sean are in any position to beat the odds and win the game. As for Sean, he’s worried that even if they make it out alive, Alexei may never forgive him for giving into the enemy’s demands.

Manipulation is the name of the game, but Jamie is done playing by everybody else’s rules. So is the rest of Alpha Team, because if there’s one thing Jamie’s team knows? It’s that they’re a family—and you don’t mess with family unless you want to get hurt.

ARKVAR (NEW EARTH FLAMES BOOK 1) by Cara Wylde and Starr Huntress

When curvy, sexy, and happily-single Alison Page went out for a nice Friday evening in town, the last thing she expected was to be kidnapped by aliens. Now, she’s the only human on board of the spaceship Hesperia, and her only concern is… well, she has no clue, actually! Earth is gone. The only food available is blue. Oh, and the hot ship Captain, whose skin is just as blue as the food, is telling her crazy stories about how she’s special and can manifest anything she wants. With the power of her mind. Yeah, right!

Captain Arkvar had one job: wipe planet Earth off the face of the galaxy and move on. He failed. Saving the feisty, intriguing Alison Page from certain death will probably cost him his career, but he doesn’t care. She is his twin flame. And he’s determined to win her heart. All he has to do is study the mating rituals of Terra, use them to woo Allie, and then claim her as his own. The perfect plan. Except…

As an Unxendi, Ark has no chance of understanding the culture and traditions of Allie’s species. He’ll find out the hard way, while giving Allie countless reasons to laugh her head off. At least, she’s not depressed over the loss of her home anymore.

ASSASSIN’S BRIDE (CELESTIAL MATES BOOK 9) BY C J Scarlett

Having been on her own from an early age, Venice knew quite a bit about blending in and going unnoticed. Being homeless on a post-apocalyptic Earth was a difficult and dangerous way to live. She’s survived by flying under the radar, scoping out her surroundings and being careful who she trusted. Her best chance at a better life was relocating to the Maruvian home world. The insectoid warriors were hot, respectful to females and offering an all-expense paid ride aboard their battle cruiser.
Hitching a ride seemed like a no-brainer. Her talent for spinning an interesting story gained her quick popularity among the drones aboard the Maruvian vessel. Unfortunately, the only drone who really piqued her interest seemed too emotionally scarred to pursue a relationship.

After being controlled and abused by their vicious former queen, Haden no longer trusted his instincts and abilities as a warrior. Their former queen fitted him with a transponder that robbed him of his own free will. He became a pawn in her quest to defeat the human queens who had freed him and his brethren. Forcing him to kill fellow warriors he thought of as brothers left him feeling helpless and dispirited.
Haden had problems even a bright, beautiful storyteller could not fix. This queen was not like all the rest. Her short spikey hair and large blue eyes warmed his soul. With her his awkwardness evaporated and he felt like a male falling in love.
A tragic accident leaves him more convinced than ever that those he around him are destined for destruction. However, when the human queens begin to fall sick with a virus that causes them to act like the evil queens of old, can he save them and in doing so save himself?

BARBARIAN’S PRISONER by Abella Ward

Life isn’t easy on Planet Tirron, especially when the paranoid psychopath of a king happens to be your brother. Luckily for Arana, the new prisoner that her brother has locked up in the dungeons is the most gorgeous guy she’s ever seen.

So when her brother’s paranoia and harsh punishments become unbearable, Arana knows exactly what to do: make a deal with the gorgeous prisoner. If she sets him free, he’ll take her away.

But like most things in life, not all goes according to plan…

And suddenly, Arana’s gone…

Arathor is a trained assassin who fights in the Death Pit during the day and is healed by Arana at night. He knows she’s his mate, but she can never be his. Arana has a gift that she doesn’t know about and that prevents them from ever being together.

But when the King offers Arathor his freedom in return for Arana’s head, Arathor must make a decision.

Will he betray Arana to set himself free? Will he give up his freedom for the only woman he loves?

CHALDOR by Thayer King

As the illegitimate daughter to the queen of Colony 15, Kiana has no interest in power or politics, yet she’s horrified by her mother’s cruelty. When her mother orders an injured warrior from another colony to be thrown out with the trash, Kiana implores her for the opportunity to heal him. Kiana does everything she can to save him—including pretending to take him as a lover.

Chaldor wakes up in the arms of a dark chocolate angel with addictive kisses. He’s willing to play the part of her pet. Kiana is the only good thing on C15 and he will take her with him when he escapes. She’ll be his forever—even if there are people dead set against them being together.

WITCHES WILD (BEWITCHING BEDLAM BOOK 4) by Yasmine Galenorn

Can you ever really trust ghosts from your past?

As the mist rolls off the ocean and into Bedlam, October brings with it all manner of haunts and spooks. But the mist doesn’t arrive alone. Fata Morgana returns from the depths of the ocean, bringing with her a message. One of the ancient vampires has risen. He’s coming for Maddy, and he’ll eliminate anybody who stands in his way. Now, the witches wild must band together one more time, if they can keep from destroying each other first.

THE SEA KING’S LADY: A SEVEN KINGDOMS TALE 2 by S E Smith

Jenny Ackerly is devastated when her best friend disappears without a trace, and she vows to continue looking for Carly until she can bring her friend home once and for all. During her latest search, her determination turns to horror when she sees a young boy running from an empty beach into the freezing sea. When the boy doesn’t resurface, Jenny’s protective instincts ignite and she rushes to save the child from certain death, swimming farther and deeper than she ever would have on her own, until she is caught in a powerful undertow. When Jenny resurfaces, she is in a magical, underwater world.
Orion is the powerful ruler of the Isle of the Sea Serpent and protector of the oceans, but time is running out for him. For hundreds of years, the Eyes of the Sea Serpent have been in his family’s possession, giving them power over the oceans, and now they have been stolen! Meanwhile, his oldest son’s bargain with the Sea Witch threatens to seal the fate of the merpeople—and possibly that of the Seven Kingdoms. The situation seems hopeless—until a fiery female from another world appears.
Can an unlikely alliance between Jenny and Orion save not only the life of a young boy, but the future of an entire kingdom? It will take their combined wits and strengths to survive the evil lurking in the depths of the ocean.

TANGLED IN TINSEL (DRAGON GUARD SERIES BOOK 27) by Julia Mills

It’s over the river and through the woods, and straight to Christmas hell for Chance Nichols. His twin has taken off on a mission to the Frozen North and most of the other Guardsman are cuddled up with their mates, so it’s up to Chance to get the Lair decorated before the snow begins to fall.

One trip to town for decorations and Happy Holidays has turned into Scary Grinchmas. According to the latest report, the North Pole is completely shut down. The elves have revolted, the reindeer have flown the coop, and Mrs. Claus is on strike – talk about up the proverbial tree without an extension cord.

Visions of sugarplums can’t fix this one. It’ll take a whole lot of dragon magic, sprinkled with fairy dust and tied together with yards of tinsel and garland.

BECOMING ELEMENTAL (THE FIVE ELEMENTS SERIES BOOK 1) by Ryann Elizabeth

Eighteen year old Breanna Hunter has always seen herself as just an awkward teenager with the unfortunate aptitude for winding up in crazy and unexplainable situations.

After tragedy strikes, she ends up on a path she never knew was possible. Bre hoped her first year of college would be a life-changing experience and a new start. She will soon discover just how transformative college can be.

After another dangerous encounter, she meets five alluring strangers who are not as they seem. Together they uncover the truth, she is like them. She is an Elemental. Through them she learns that the Elemental world is not only filled with magical gifts and bonding, but also demons and danger.

Bre and the guys need to work together to figure out where she came from while keeping her safe from those who want her dead.

THE BEAST WITHIN (CONVERSION BOOK 5) by S C Stephens

VS note: Vampires

Nika Adams has had a challenging year. She gave her heart to Hunter Evans, only to have him break it. But Nika refuses to give up hope. Not when there’s a chance she can save her true-love—even if she must save him from himself.

Julian Adams finally knows what he wants, and is truly happy. But when he gets mixed up in Nika’s suicide mission to save her wayward boyfriend, he begins to wonder if his dream girl can handle the dangerous life that comes with being an Adams.

SAVAGE KISS (SAVAGE SHIFTERS BOOK 2) by Milly Taiden

Sage Primrose dreams of the day she meets the man who will sweep her off her feet. She didn’t expect him to abduct her while she wore nothing but a towel. Why did bad men have to look oh, so good?

Feral Kincaid will do anything to protect his family. When a human female supposedly kidnaps his niece, he goes to get her, claws blazing. But the abductor turns into the abductee and suddenly he has to figure out how to apologize to the one woman he needs to forgive him: his mate.

This tiger isn’t used to romance in his life; he’s too busy protecting his pride from a rival determined to take his land. But Feral would gladly take on bad guys instead of trying to figure out how to romance a human female. Sage needs to watch out. Feral is hellbent on romance and his target is her.

CURSES AND CUPCAKES (THE HAPPILY EVERLASTING SERIES BOOK 6) by Michelle M Pillow

Marcy Lewis is cursed (honestly and truly) which makes dating very interesting. With a string of loser boyfriends behind her, she’s done looking for love in all the wrong places. That is until the new firefighter arrives in the sleepy seaside town of Everlasting. Nicholas Logan is unlike any other man she’s ever had in her life. When someone starts sending her photographs that raise a red flag it soon becomes apparent that she’s not just cursed, she’s in serious danger.

Nicholas doesn’t know what to make of the charismatic young woman managing the local coffee shop. As a string of mysterious fires begin popping up around town, the two unite in search of clues as to who or what is responsible, discovering along the way that things are very rarely what they seem to be.

GREENSLEEVES CHRISTMAS MAGIC by Stephanie Burke

Crown Prince Marcos Enric Sicilla just met the woman of his dreams… right before he was exploded and thrown out of a castle. Not the fairy-tale romance he was expecting this wintry Christmas Eve, but he can’t complain when his Lady of the Greensleeves herself is the one to rescue him.

There are plots following him, people out to kill him, and his lady is keeping a secret that is the stuff of fantasies and fiction. But in the end, every trap he faces will be worth it if it means he can keep his Lady of the Greensleeves.

SECRET JAGUAR (CURSE OF THE MOON BOOK 6) by Stacy Claflin

A cat has nine lives, but that doesn’t mean she should forfeit one of them.

Katya Pelletier is the practical, no-nonsense twin. She loves life as much as her sister, she just doesn’t seem able to enjoy it as much. While Alley is the life of the party and has boyfriends to spare, Katya can’t seem to attract anyone’s attention.

Until she meets Carter Jag.

Carter is the perfect male specimen. By all rights, he should be chasing after Alley. But to Katya’s surprise—and confusion—he’s only interested in her.

As their relationship progresses, something primal and passionate awakens in Katya. She’s introduced to and immersed in a whole world she never knew existed. A paranormal world. A world of antiquated ideas and imminent danger. Katya is a jaguar shifter, and her former “family” has come to claim their prize—her.

Katya joins Carter and his supernatural allies in the fight of her life—a battle to free her from her former family and their outdated ways. But will their power and magic be enough to save her from the life of violence and servitude the jaguars are determined to force on her?

DARK VAMPIRE: A POST APOCALYPTIC VAMPIRE ROMANCE (THE WICKEDEST WITCH BOOK 2) by Meg Xuemai X

I’m Archangel Gabriel. I won’t let my mate, the only female who matters to me, be doomed.

For my witch, I venture into the vampires’ lair and charm the wild princess who wants to make me hers.

But I soon learned the Wicked Witch isn’t one to tamper with. She doesn’t recognize me. Doesn’t know I’m her fated mate, but her eyes fall upon me and she allows no one else to touch me.

FORGOTTEN SILENCE (GREY WOLVES NOVELLA) by Quinn Loftis

This book needs to be read after book 10, The Burning Claw, in the Grey Wolves Series in order for the story to make sense.

Filthy. Disgusting. Unworthy trash. The same thoughts keep swirling in Sally’s mind. She’s broken and no one can fix her–not her friends, try as they might, and not her beautiful mate. She’d thought when Costin had rescued her from Jericho’s clutches, broken the spell the rogue werewolf had cast on her, and left the cur lying in bloody pieces on the floor of an Ocean Side bar, that one day she might find some peace. Perhaps, with time, she could forget the horrible things she’d done. Perhaps she could forget how she had betrayed her one true mate. Now, several weeks later, the memories and the nightmares have only grown stronger. Unbeknownst to Sally, though the magical bracelet that erased her memories was destroyed, the magical device deposited something sinister within the girl’s mind. Now, in a last ditch effort to find some sort of healing, Sally is being shipped off to her hometown–Coldspring, TX. Little does she know that surprises are awaiting her there that will shake the foundations of all she’s ever known. Will these new revelations be the key to eradicating the darkness that has taken root in the healer? Or will the secrets that are uncovered be too much for Sally to bear?

HER GUARDIANS by Piper Phoenix

Eve is a witch. Unfortunately, she’s a terrible witch. To make matters worse, she just happens to be the daughter of the most powerful witch on the planet, and she feels as though she’s failing to live up to her mom’s expectations.

When Eve needs a break from her controlling mother, she decides to move out, but she quickly finds out that life on her own isn’t at all how she’d imagined. Someone is after her, and she doesn’t know who or why.

Her four new guardians will have to do whatever it takes to protect her from the evil forces that are after her. But without Eve’s magic, will they be able to fight off the powerful magic that is threatening her life?

THE DRAGON’S SECRET BRIDE (DRAGON SECRETS BOOK 2) by Jasmine Wylder

Sizzling hot dragon shifter Bryant Chandler knows his determination. His mate is long gone and he has no plans to find another. Now he has sworn to protect the baby who will one day rule them all. No questions asked. But the day luscious Esther put her bounteous virgin curves in close proximity to him, all bets were off.

Esther Doran, an archeologist, has her own problems. She can’t find anybody to fund her dream dig, and is starting to think that life just doesn’t want to see her happy. Until she meets that hot dragon guard Bryant Chandler and sparks fly immediately.

And then, one drunken night ends with them being married.

Who cares if he’s the most delicious, gorgeous man she’d ever set eyes on? Love wasn’t in the plan.

But when Bryant’s rival finds out about Esther and decides that she’s the best way to take Bryant down, the two are forced together once more. And when a sexy dragon is the only thing standing between her and death, passions might just reach the boiling point.

DRAGON QUEEN’S CHRISTMAS WEDDING by Mina Carter

**Companion / slice of life story to “The Dragon Queen’s Fake Fiancé”**

She’s made the list, and checked it twice…

Cadeyra the White has finally found her soulmate in Sawyer Stone. The guests are invited, the chapel prepared for the Dragon Queen’s Christmas Wedding, because sometimes the best Christmas presents aren’t under the tree.

SNOW LEOPARD’S LADY (VETERAN SHIFTERS BOOK 1) by Zoe Chant

Mavis Williams is destined to be alone. Years ago, her ex kicked their daughter Nina out for being a shifter, and Mavis’ heart was broken. Now, she’s finally been reunited with Nina, and moved to beautiful Glacier Park…but she can’t let go of her guilt and grief. And there’s no one in her life to help.

Colonel Wilson Hanes, Marine and snow leopard shifter, has dedicated his life to the military, served in combat, and been promoted to a high-level job in Washington. After decades of service, he’s realized that when he retires, he has nothing to look forward to. He’s married to his job, and it’s too late for him to find a mate, let alone a family.

But when Wilson comes to Glacier Park for a wedding, he’s captivated not only by the rugged wilderness, but also by the quiet, graceful woman he meets there. And Mavis is shocked to feel a connection that she’d thought would never happen–with a man who understands the tragedies life can bring. Can Wilson show Mavis that love is nothing to fear? And what happens when Mavis’ ex starts to stir up trouble?

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And a reminder that I had a New Release earlier this month!

canva 3 photo ad

Buy Links: Amazon B&N Google Kobo iBooks

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

I don’t ordinarily list re-releases…

Also, I may include only the beginning of the book blurb…

New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday December 6

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL).

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I HAVE A NEW RELEASE! AND IT’S THE START OF A NEW SERIES! OK, sorry to shout LOL, but I’m excited.

AYDARR (A BADARI WARRIORS SCIFI ROMANCE NOVEL): Sectors New Allies Series Book 1 by Veronica Scott

Jill Garrison, a maintenance tech at the Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in her nightgown stranded in the middle of a forest on an unknown world. There’s no time to think as she’s stalked by carnivorous predators and rescued by genetically engineered warriors calling themselves the Badari. Turns out they and she, along with her whole colony, are now prisoners of the Khagrish, a ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the Sectors, the Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.

Aydarr, the Badari alpha, isn’t sure he can trust Jill but his attraction to her is undeniable. He impulsively claims her as his mate to prevent her death at the hands of the Khagrish.

Can he continue to protect her from the experiments already underway? Will his claiming her put his pack in jeopardy from their alien masters?

As Jill searches for a way to rescue her fellow humans and get them all to safety, she finds herself falling for Aydarr, despite the secrets he’s keeping. She has a few of her own.

The situation becomes dire when Aydarr and his pack are sent offplanet on a mission, leaving Jill unprotected, prey for the senior scientist. Can she escape the experiments he has in mind for her? Will she be able to thwart the Khagrish plans and liberate humans and Badari alike? How will she and Aydarr reunite?

Amazon B&N Google Kobo iBooks

HEART SIGHT (A CELTA NOVEL) by Robin D Owens

VS Note: OMG, I LOVE her Celta novels. They are not like anything else…lots of cool aspects, including the ‘fams’ – animal companions. Did an instant one click on this one.

Muin “Vinni” T’Vine has been the prophet of Celta since he was six years old. A unique and lonely child, his strong psi power made most people wary of him. But now that he’s older, he’s ready to marry and protect the girl he’s known was his HeartMate for years.

Avellana isn’t as fragile as Vinni believes…nor as compliant. She fights to be considered Vinni’s equal and a strong member of her Family and community. Both of them have kept Avellana’s main power secret for over a decade.

But rumors of her strange psi talent are spreading, and Vinni is experiencing premonitions of danger to Avellana—even from the highest people of the land. When the whispers become threats, Vinni and Avellana must discover and defeat their secret enemies before they can finally claim happiness together.

JINGLE STARS (SHAMANS AND SHIFTERS SPACE OPERA BOOK 4) BY Jenny Schwartz

Ahab is a mLa’an artificial intelligence embedded in the starship, Orion.

The campaign for AIs to be recognized as full citizens of Galaxy Proper is within reach of its extraordinary goal. The only thing that could stop it now is if an AI did something foolish…like take a space station hostage to save eight orphaned children.

***
And this is the letter to Santa that starts it all:

Dear Santa

I don’t know if your reindeers work in space. ..(more)…

RESCUING PRINCE CHARMING by Ed Hoornaert

VS Note: I’ve been enjoying the snippets that Ed has been sharing from this on the Weekend Writing Warrior blog hop.

She’s no heroine. He’s no Prince Charming.

Dusty Johnson, a self-styled ordinary, everyday woman, responds with extraordinary heroism to saboteurs trying to bomb Earth’s first starship. She wants only to return to anonymity, but her moment of courage propels her ever deeper into danger that tears the scabs off her dark past—and thrusts her into the arms of the unattainable man of her dreams.

Reese Eaglesbrood, an alien prince, yearns to restore his tattered reputation by guiding the starship project to completion, but his fascination with the shy heroine threatens to undermine his fragile authority. Shunning Dusty is necessary, yet unthinkable—and when the saboteurs strike again, she may be his only ally against Earth’s greatest enemies.

GOING GREEN (VIALEA BOOK 2) by Celia Kyle and Erin Tate

Rhea is leaving Earth and nothing will stop her. Not her controlling governor father, her asshole ex-fiancé, or the Department of Population who want to impregnate her. Which is why she contacts the one organization out of their reach—Celestial Mates. A questionnaire and blood sample later and Rhea is matched to a hunky, deliciously tempting, and alluring alien.

Erudan—once known as Teon, brother to the High Warlord of Vialea—did not register with Celestial Mates. Or rather, he’d never submitted his application. Yet a curvaceous, dark haired, green eyed human stands before him and demands they mate. Immediately. He lost his honor long ago and doesn’t deserve a female like the seductive Rhea, but that does not stop the wanting.

Unfortunately, others from Earth want her returned and Erudan is happy to show them the error of their ways. No one challenges a Vian warrior… and lives.

BLADE (REVANT WARRIORS) by Celeste Raye

Blade’s a rebel, an outlaw and a man who can kill swiftly and silently. He has no intention of living, because he has no reason to, and when the Revant brothers come to him with a pact to finally begin open warfare against the Federation, Blade eagerly agrees. He doesn’t plan on rescuing a beautiful woman sold into slavery. He doesn’t plan on falling in love.

But plans go awry and when war starts, love might be the only thing that is worth dying,
and living for.

THE STOLEN SKY (SPLIT CITY BOOK 2) by Heather Hansen

Arden and Dade are running for their lives from a city on fire; they’re wounded, desperate, and shadowed by two families who want them dead. But it’s Dade’s debt to a devious crime lord that plunges them further into danger—especially with their mining planet in chaos…

The ruling Solizen have grown more calculating, while the Undercity population remains trapped in the darkness below. With the supply of life-saving VitD wiped out, the rebellion is ready to erupt at any moment.

Now, Arden and Dade reluctantly join a new team on a hazardous operation to infiltrate the Solizen’s most protected facility. Caught up in the uncertainty of shifting allegiances and suspicious allies, their relationship will be put to the test. But to carry out their dangerous mission, the teens must rely on their love more than ever—will it be enough to keep them alive?

LAZAN (RAITHER WARRIORS) by Stella Sky

Dr. Mila Voss has lost the rest of her group…but that’s nothing new. She is used to
ridiculous things happening to her. So it’s hardly surprising when she is dumped on a
dangerous prison planet full of the cruelest monsters in the galaxy. Mila is rescued by a
pair of sexy alien brothers; which might not have been so bad…except the eldest claims
her, when it is actually his burly, intelligent brother who catches her eye…

Lazan Kylad is strong, independent, and brave. While separated from his crew, he takes
on a monster single handedly to save a human female. from mortal danger. When his
brother stakes his claim first, the tables turn, and Lazan’s temptations suddenly become
akin to adultery. A punishable offense.

Things go from bad to worse when Mila finds herself pregnant with Lazan’s child. She
knows Lazan’s life is at stake, and to save the life of the man she loves, she hides her
pregnancy. She may be able to hide her love for him, but her pregnancy is a different
story.

HIDDEN (WARRIORS OF HIR BOOK 4) by Willow Danes

Her family’s fortune can buy Tara Douglas anything—except more time. Determined to make peace with her fate, she’s come to the house her great-grandfather built in the Smoky Mountains to spend the time she has left in peace. But for once Tara becomes the healer when she finds wreckage of an otherworldly vessel, and a badly injured man whose glowing eyes see right into her soul . . .

When Ki’san volunteered to journey to Earth he never imagined he would find himself dying there. A physician from a vanishing race, he knows his people’s law allows only a chosen few to hunt the females of this planet as mates. Ki’san’s mere presence on Tara’s world endangers them both but the crash that leaves him clinging to life also brings him a female like none he could have imagined, one he cannot help but love.

JABARI (THE BROKEN BOOK 2) by Serena Simpson

Brandi thought her life was over the day the doctor told her she was dying; nothing mattered now. That’s when she met Jabari. He walked into her life taking care of her and treating her like a queen. Before she knew it, they were running from a creature that he called a firebird. Now there was no telling what would happen, but she was going to hold on with both hands and enjoy the ride.

Jabari was never supposed to meet his mate, but if he did; she shouldn’t die before him. All bets were off because Brandi was dying, and he was too broken to save her. That meant all he could do was show her the world while they were together because one day he would wake up too broken to move again.

When the firebird attacked, Jabari realized that someone was targeting Brandi. Now he had two clear orders. One, protect and love his mate until she took her final breath. Two, kill whoever was after her and take his last breath. Love was never meant to be forever… or was it?

COLD FIRE A PRE-APOCALYPTIC DRAGON ROMANCE (ICE DRAKE SERIES BOOK 1) by Emma Layne

The Earth’s days are numbered, and aliens are looting the planet.

Faro is a Drakeborne Knight, a product of dragon and human DNA. He came to Earth on a mission to save his people and Faro thought he’d return to Iradia as a conquering hero, but then he meets Amy. Inexplicably, he’s drawn to her. Faro fears he inherited more than enhanced abilities. Dragons have fierce, unbreakable bonds with their mates. And now, Faro is torn between love and loyalty.

Since her father’s untimely death, Amy has been grief stricken, and every day is a struggle, until she meets Faro, a stranger staying at her inn. He’s not like other men, and eventually, she discovers Faro is an empath from another world. He lifts her burdens, brings her joy, but the secrets he’s keeping threaten to tear them apart.

Can Amy forgive him? And will they save both their planets?

UNDONE (UNKNOWN TRILOGY BOOK 3) by Wendy Higgins

Amber Tate never dreamed their heart-wrenching escape from the enemy’s attack would lead them to the most beautiful place she’s ever seen, marred by one ugly fact; it’s under enemy control. Like everywhere else in the world, Elmendorf military base in Alaska has been captured, and it’s time to take it back—all of it—one base, one city at a time. After losing so much, Amber clings to the only precious person she has left, and vows to sacrifice everything to help save the Earth.

Remy Haines is a lover, not a fighter, so when she finds herself in enemy territory, expected to feign allegiance while gathering intel for the rebel cause, she’s never been more out of her element. Tensions only increase when her feelings for Jacob “Tater” Tate won’t go away, and the enemy’s leader takes an interest in her. She’s torn between what her heart wants, and what she knows she should do. As for what her body needs…well, it’s always had a mind of its own.

ROMULUS (COSMIC CHAMPIONS) by Luna Hunter

Romulus has the body of a Greek God…
The rough, domineering hands of a brute…
And the dirty mind of an animal.
He’s everything I hate.
So why do I crave him?

ACROSS THE STARS (THE DIMENSION SERIES BOOK 3) by C S Wilde

James never imagined he’d be fighting inter-galactic wars. Not long ago, he was only a nerd with a monster crush on his co-worker. All he wants now is to lead a peaceful life with his family.

No such luck.

An old foe has returned with a vengeance, and he won’t stop until he has destroyed everything that James and Miriam love; everything that’s most precious to them.

The Baumans will have to fight for their family, their friends, and for Earth, but the price for freedom might just be too high.

YEAR ONE: CHRONICLES OF THE ONE, YEAR 1 by Nora Roberts

VS Note: I one clicked this one, always fascinated by apocalyptic novels.

It began on New Year’s Eve.

The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed—and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.

Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magick rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river—or in the ones you know and love the most.

As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.

In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.

The end has come. The beginning comes next.

CHRISTMAS IN ATLANTIS with a bonus annotated copy of THE GIFT OF THE MAGI : A POSEIDON WARRIORS PARANORMAL ROMANCE by Alyssa Day

The Gift of the Magi…in Atlantis – A tortured warrior…Warrior-turned-pirate Dare is the black sheep of all Atlantis. He enraged Poseidon, the sea god, so much that Dare had to forfeit his ship and the water spirit who inhabits it. For Dare, being denied the ocean is worse than death…until he comes home to a woman who drowns him in waves of hunger more powerful than the sea. But black sheep and scoundrels can never deserve love, even during the magic of the first Christmas in Atlantis.

An artist who sees the world through song…After the accident that killed her parents and blinded her, Lyric discovered she had a special gift—that of song sight. She now sees the world in her own unique way, and her paintings are full of light and magic. When the Atlantean warrior she’s fallen in love with takes her to his home in Atlantis, she finds a rare magical artifact that could change her world forever. Or it could deliver to Dare the thing he most desires.

Atlantis’s first Christmas is coming…It’s the season of miracles in Atlantis. A chance to make wishes come true. And when Lyric tells her new Atlantean friends O Henry’s story of The Gift of the Magi, the world—and Lyric and Dare—may never be the same.

VOW OF DECEPTION (MINISTRY OF CURIOSITIES BOOK 9) by C J Archer

With the wedding only days away, the Ministry is thrown into turmoil when another murder is committed by a shape-shifter. But this time the newspapers make the connection to werewolves – and the Ministry. Suddenly the attention is focused on Lichfield Towers and its residents as the police investigate and parliament wants to shut the organization down.

It could spell the end of everything Charlie has come to love.

As the authorities close in and ministry secrets are exposed, past allies can no longer be trusted. Can Charlie save her home, her loved ones, and herself? Or will she lose Lincoln and her friends forever?

THE WITCH’S THIRST by Deborah LeBlanc

For Evette Francois, falling in love is the end of the world—literally. A witch from a long and distinguished line, Evee wields power that comes at a devastating price. If she ever loves a human, all of humanity will suffer. Resisting the temptations of men has never been terribly difficult—until she meets Lucien Hyland. One member of a cabal devoted to preventing a race of interdimensional monsters from ruling the universe. Lucien is the most exquisite creature Evee has ever seen. If she succumbs to passion, death and chaos will follow. But she may not be strong enough to fight her desire.

THE WICKED VAMPIRE by Kate Baxter

Sasha Ivanov was born to be wild. A vampire party girl, she stalks the L.A. clubs at night. Dancing. Drinking. Indulging her darkest appetites. Never sated, she’s always looking for more: more danger, more excitement, more blood. But when she enters a supernatural fight club—and is tethered to her mortal enemy—Sasha realizes she’s playing the most dangerous game of all…

Ewan Brún was born to kill vampires. A powerful berserker and unbeaten champion, he doesn’t need a weapon to be deadly. He is the weapon. But when his soul becomes captive to the most beautiful vampire he’s ever seen, he is all but powerless. He cannot resist Sasha—and cannot fight his desires. Is their love strong enough to defeat the gathering forces of darkness that threatens to destroy them both?

THE DREAMER’S SONG (A NOVEL OF THE NINE KINGDOMS)by Lynn Kurland

Acair of Ceangail, still dodging his reputation as a notorious black mage, has undertaken the ultimate quest: ridding the world of a mysterious, terrible dark magic while using no magic of his own. But he never bargained for three maddening complications: attempting to safeguard his beautiful but horse-obsessed companion, Léirsinn; trying not to slay a profoundly irritating prince of Neroche; and slipping in and out of places he knows will spell his doom if he’s caught.

Léirsinn of Sàraichte simply wants to do what needs to be done—find the makers of various spells and rescue her grandfather. But walking side by side with Acair brings a terrible revelation about the magic she needs, and what its price will exact from her soul.

Together, Acair and Léirsinn face danger they never could have imagined, culminating in choices that will alter them and the history of the Nine Kingdoms forever.

SEDUCTION (CURSE OF THE GODS BOOK 3) by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington

Willa has never been a particularly useful dweller: she isn’t very good at chores, she isn’t very good at worshipping, she isn’t very good at not having opinions, and she isn’t very good with rules—but none of that matters anymore.
The rules are changing.
The dwellers are trying to make their own way in the world, and Willa can’t seem to help getting tangled up in their plans.
Luckily, she has the Abcurse brothers to help her out—until she doesn’t, and suddenly she’s alone again in a world on the brink of chaos. With the Abcurses gone, she’ll have to rely on her wits, and her sister Emmy, to stay under the radar and survive.
Because someone wants her dead.

DEMON ASH (RESURRECTION CHRONICLES BOOK 3 by M J Haag and Becca Vincenza

The world is nothing like Mya remembers. While in Ernisi, cities have been bombed and burned in an attempt to stop the hellhounds and the plague. The survivors are doing everything they can to win back their world from the hell that was unleashed with the first quake.

With Drav’s help, Mya reunites with her family, but they are far from safe. Marauders, hellhounds, and the infected are doing their best to destroy what’s left of the world, and it’s up to Mya and Drav to save it.

RAVAGED (VAMPIRE AWAKENINGS BOOK 7) by Brenda K Davies

Since the day he stopped aging, Aiden has struggled against the darkness trying to claim him. He no longer denies he’s fighting a losing battle, he’s just hoping someone kills him before he gives in to the savage nature dwelling within him. Just when he believes he’ll lose the battle, he encounters Maggie, and for the first time in years, he has hope for his future.

Having grown up without a stable home, Maggie enjoys the security she’s worked hard to attain. Everything changes the night Aiden ends up in her ambulance. Now, not only does Maggie stand to lose everything she’s achieved, she’s beginning to think the mother she considered insane might not be.

With everything she knows torn away, Maggie realizes the more she loses, the more she might gain if she gives her trust to Aiden. However, when circumstances force them apart, Aiden is unsure if Maggie will be enough to bring him back from the darkness ravaging his soul.

A FASHIONABLY DEAD DIARY by Robyn Peterman

Getting blackmailed sucks. Getting blackmailed by Satan into ghost writing his autobiography/romance really sucks—hard.

But I’m not a weenie or a welsher. I’m a semi-materialistic, Prada lovin’ Vampyre-Demon with a bad attitude and a serious lack of cheating skills. If I were a good cheater, I wouldn’t be in this heinous position. I lost and now I have to pay. However, the price might deplete the wavering amount of sanity I have left…

So I’m turning to you, Dear Diary, to pour out my inappropriate feelings and murderous inclinations toward a family member who shall remain nameless. Who in the Hell am I kidding? I’m gonna name that butthole over and over on these secret pages. It’s Satan or Lucifer or the Lord of Darkness or the Dark Angel—or, as I like to call him, Uncle F%#ker.

That’s why I have chosen you, Dear Diary. You don’t have a mouth as far as I know and if you do, I’ll remove it—violently. Please keep that in mind as I tell you all my secrets. I’ve dealt with talking books and walls and they’re a real pain in the ass. So if you turn out to be one of those, we’ll have a problem.

Sit back. Relax and get ready for a Hellish ride. xoxo Astrid

BLOOD AND ASHES by Marilyn Peake

With blood and magic, civilization rises from the ash.

Worlds are falling apart in two realms: human and faerie. After the factories close and her father dies of alcoholism, Kaelin helps her family survive by foraging for food. Her world is thrown into chaos as she comes to realize she has incredible power as both blood and hedge witch. When a handsome stranger enters her life, it’s clear that he’s not from her neck of the woods. Although he and his family appear perfect in so many ways, they desperately need her help.

TEMPTATIONS OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE by Lexi Post

Thanks to his shock tactics and pessimistic attitude, Scottish spirit guide Malcolm MacLachlan’s job is on the line. What else did they expect from a former Glasgow Watchman? For his final assignment, he chooses his partner based on the probability of success, and Joy Collingwood is the very best. That he can prove to her the future isn’t all puppies and marshmallows is an added bonus.

Joy is thrilled to help Malcolm, but their different methods threaten the success of their collaboration. If they can’t find some common ground, they’ll fail. What she doesn’t expect is that their common ground will be her bed and her deepest secret will be revealed.

Yet her secrets are nothing compared to Malcolm’s and their revelation could jeopardize everything…including her heart.

WOLF HUNGER (SWAT BOOK 7) by Paige Tyler

When SWAT Officer Max Lowry meets Lana Mason, he falls fast and hard. He’s positive she’s The One. And Max’s favorite part? Lana’s a wolf shifter too, so they can skip the awkward reveal and head straight to the happily ever after. There’s just one problem: Lana doesn’t know that she’s a werewolf.

To make matters worse, hunters with intent to kill have tracked Lana to Dallas. Max has to figure out how to keep Lana safe, show her who and what she really is—and just how much she means to him.

THE DRAGON’S HUNT by Jane Kindred

By day, Leo Stršm works as an assistant in a tattoo parlor. By night… Well, he isn’t quite sure what happens at night. He just knows that it’s best if he restrains himself.

Ink is more than just superficial decoration to Rhea Carlisle. Her ability to read her clients’ souls in their tattoos gives her work its special magic—and it allows her to see that there’s more to Leo than his brilliant blue eyes.

The passion that kindles between them might be Leo’s salvation. Or it might be the end of the world.

LEAD DRAGON (DRAGON GUARD OF DRAKKARIS) by Terry Bolryder

Lead, captain of an elite team of powerful dragons, is about to embark on the most difficult mission he’s ever undertaken: trying not to fall in love with the cute, curvy woman he saved and is now tasked with protecting. But how is he supposed to do that when everything inside the honor-obsessed dragon roars “mate” whenever he sees her?

Brittany is just a regular human. She never expected to be kidnapped by wolves or for six ridiculously hot dragon shifters to rescue her. But there’s one dragon, with bright golden eyes, dark hair and the composure of a warrior that she can’t seem to stop thinking about. Especially while she’s living in a mansion with him and his sexy friends.

As the sexual tension between them rises like dragon flame, Lead and Brittany will have to navigate the blurred lines of duty and integrity in a world that is only getting more confusing with each passing day. And with a sinister new evil on the horizon, Lead may need to reconsider what honor really means if he wants to protect his mate.

THREE TRIALS (THE DARK SIDE BOOK 2) by Kristy Cunning

So, I’ve checked off some life goals and added a few new ones to my list.
Goal #5: Get out of hell’s belly without letting my ungrateful charges die.
Goal #6: Get a new name that’s more badass.
Goal #7: Stop wasting my breath on lectures and start annoying the quad hell squad every time they annoy me. Fight fire with fire. Ha! Another hell pun.
Goal 8: Find out who the hell killed me.
I’ll add more. I don’t want to overwhelm myself before I even finish checking off my old goals. But seriously, I really do need a more badass name, considering how much I have to keep saving my damsels in distress.
I probably shouldn’t call them damsels, since they’re a little murderous and all.
Maybe I should add seeing a hell-certified psychologist to my list of goals.

A WITCHMAS CAROL: A WICKED WITCHES OF THE MIDWEST FANTASY by Amanda M Lee

Christmas is here but the Winchester witches aren’t exactly teeming with good cheer.
Well, they are, but it’s not the sort of Christmas cheer Aunt Tillie wants waiting for her under this year’s tree.
When Aunt Tillie finds out her great-nieces want to separate for Christmas Day – forgoing the family’s annual tradition – she decides to teach them a little lesson. Of course, since she’s Aunt Tillie, her dose of retribution comes in the form of her favorite holiday Christmas stories.
For Bay and Landon, that means they’re shoved into A Witchmas Carol, one of Aunt Tillie’s favorite tales. That should mean hugs and happiness, right? Yeah, try toil and trouble instead.
Bay and Landon have to work their way through memories of the past, guilt over the present and absolute terror when facing their future if they expect to come out the other side. To escape, they have to figure out exactly what Aunt Tillie wants … and she’s got a few tricks up her sleeve.
So, it’s that time of the year. Things are about to get merry … and maybe a little messy … for the Winchesters. There’s no better time to hitch a ride on the mayhem sleigh.

FIREFIGHTER UNICORN (FIRE AND RESCUE SHIFTERS BOOK 6) by Zoe Chant

Sarcastic. Short-tempered. Definitely not sparkly. Paramedic and firefighter Hugh Argent is no one’s idea of a unicorn, and he’s careful to keep it that way. His life depends on hiding his secrets…and on never meeting his true mate.

Outcast. Unwanted. Untouchable. Wyvern shifter Ivy has been shunned her whole life due to her uncontrollably venomous skin. Now finally there’s someone who can touch her…and he doesn’t want anything to do with her.

No matter how much Ivy craves to be touched at last, there’s one thing that can make her give up her only chance at love—a cure for her terminally ill younger sister. So Ivy offers Hugh a deal: Heal her sister, and she’ll get out of his life forever.

The more Hugh gets to know Ivy, the more he longs to claim this brave, fierce, infuriating woman. But a unicorn can only take a mate at a terrible cost…

More than hearts are at stake.

And every secret is about to be revealed at last.

THE SNOW LEOPARD’S CHRISTMAS SURPRISE by Emilia Hartley

Ellie was just looking for a normal holiday. She had planned to spend it with her family. Her mother, father and her baby boy, Casper. When Nolan showed up, things took a turn for the worst. She couldn’t believe him. Why would he return after all these years? She didn’t need him then, and she doesn’t need him now. Though, she had to admit. Casper and Nolan seemed to get along together really well.

HER WINTER WOLVES by Milly Taiden and Marianne Morea

This very modern take on the tale of Snow White isn’t for the faint of heart.

Grace Snow is a marketing genius and the heir to Snow Industries, a cosmetics conglomerate. Looking to bring the company into the 21st century isn’t as simple as she wishes. Not with her stepmother making every move a tug-of-war. Grace’s new app, Mirror-Mirror, can rebrand them as fresh and new for a younger generation. That’s only if she can keep her stepmother and her vindictiveness away from her plans. Good luck with that!

Wolf shifter, Adam Hunt, has been the company’s Head of Security since Grace was a teen. Hired to look after Gracie’s well-being, he’s crossed the evil stepmother one too many times and now she’s blackmailing him to do her bidding. What she doesn’t know is he’s the Omega of his pack, and together he and their Alpha, Zach Cassidy, will protect and defend Grace even at the cost of their own lives.

Grace is their mate. The one destined to complete their Triad. She has no idea that she’s about to become part of the sexiest relationship of her life. Jealousy and greed push her stepmother to get rid of Grace. Gracie might not be ready for what’s coming her way—not the two sexiest men she’ll ever want or the poison conjured by her stepmother, but she knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to fight.

FURY OF DENIAL by Coreene Callahan

He’s an antisocial dragon shifter with a serious sweet tooth. She’s a pastry chef who won’t give him any sugar.

Blinded in an ambush, dragon warrior Wallaig has spent half a century in the dark with one thing on his mind—vengeance. When the rogue faction responsible returns to Scotland and targets a human female, he saves her life, determined to exact his revenge—even if it means using her as bait.

Smart-mouthed Amantha Leblanc is pastry chef with dreams of opening her own shop. The money is in the bank. Her mission is clear. The plan goes to hell the second Wallaig breaks into her apartment and she defends herself with a rolling pin. With a rogue pack of dragons circling, she is forced to rely on a man she doesn’t like—but isn’t able to resist.

BEAR WITH ME by Everleigh Clark

Bo Alexander has his hands full as temporary alpha of his little clan in Bear Paw River.
But then she shows up.
A gorgeous, curvy—human—single mother with a shifter son in tow. Between the kid’s bodily function jokes and the mating heat sizzling from Jane, Bo doesn’t know which way is up. But he knows she’s hiding something. And he’s just the man to help her.

Jane has been running with Liam for too long now. She’s exhausted, scared, waiting for the day Seth finds her and drags them back to his pack. But Bear Paw River promises sanctuary…and love? No, she doesn’t have the freedom to open her heart. Besides, love is deadly.

It’s time for Bo to bear-up and save this woman and cub. But can he let her go when the danger has passed? Humans and grizzly shifters aren’t meant to be. Right?
Then again, crazier things have happened. Look at his sister. She married a wolf.

ENDLESS CHASE (DALAKIS PASSION BOOK 5) by N J Walters

Since the night her parents were brutally murdered, Katya Markova has been driven by a dark quest for vengeance. When her search for the killers leads her to the heart of Transylvania and the ancestral home of the Dalakis, she hopes to finally take her revenge and put her horrific memories and the souls of her parents to rest. Then she meets the mesmerizing Chase Deveraux, and his intensely passionate touch threatens to weaken her resolve as she surrenders to his sensual promise.

With his life in disarray, Chase has retreated to the remote castle of the Dalakis clan to sort things out in isolation, but instead is inexplicably drawn to the mysterious Katya. Instantly spellbound by her tough warrior exterior and compelling beauty, Chase finds that Katya captivates him like no other woman has before—until he learns of her dark intent and is torn between his own needs and those of his family.

Because Katya is enmeshed in a world of lies and deceptions, and has brought that world to the Dalakis doorstep. As their unquenchable passion spirals to incredible sensual heights, Chase and Katya will be forced to make a choice, one that could destroy the Dalakis clan for all time or unite the desperate young lovers for eternity.

FLAME IN THE DARK (A SOULWOOD NOVEL) by Faith Hunter

VS Notes: Seems as if this has romantic elements rather than romance but I haven’t read the series.

Nell Ingram has always known she was different. Since she was a child, she’s been able to feel and channel ancient powers from deep within the earth. When she met Jane Yellowrock, her entire life changed, and she was recruited into PsyLED—the Homeland Security division that polices paranormals. But now her newly formed unit is about to take on its toughest case yet.

A powerful senator barely survives an assassination attempt that leaves many others dead—and the house he was visiting burns to the ground. Invisible to security cameras, the assassin literally disappears, and Nell’s team is called in. As they track a killer they know is more—or less—than human, they unravel a web of dark intrigue and malevolent motives that tests them to their limits and beyond.

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

I don’t ordinarily list re-releases…

(NOTE: If the author provides me with buy links I insert those; otherwise I default to Amazon and iBooks. Pricing and availability are current as of the day I prepare the post – things can change fast in the ebook world LOL.)

Also, I often include only the beginning of the book blurb…

New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday November 15

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL).

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I have a New Release! The 4th in my alien empath series, set in the Sectors, can be read as a standalone:

THE FATED STARS by Veronica Scott

Larissa Channer, a tough no-nonsense mercenary in the Sectors, is celebrating success on her last job and a big bonus, with no slightest thought of taking on another assignment anytime soon. Out for a night of carousing with her friends at a third rate carnival on a backwater planet, she walks into the tent of a fake fortune teller and finds herself confronting the most intriguing man she’s ever seen. But something’s wrong, ominous currents lie beneath the surface of their encounter and Larissa can’t leave well enough alone.

Samell, a powerful, high born empathic priest, has been kidnapped from his own primitive planet along with a number of his people, and sold to the shady operator of an interstellar carnival. Kept enslaved, pretending to be a fortune teller while forced by his captor to steal information from the minds of all who come before him, Samell despairs of every breaking free.

Until Larissa walks into his tent and he recognizes the warrior who might mean the difference between life and death.

The situation becomes dire when Larissa and Samell come to the attention of the Shemdylann pirates who kidnapped him in the first place and the deadly Mawreg, aliens who threaten the Sectors. Can she save herself and the empathic alien noble, and derail the Mawreg plot against the Sectors? And will the soldier end up with her prince when all’s said and done?

Buy Links: Amazon Kobo B&N iBooks Google

HER CYBORG BEAST (INTERSTELLAR BRIDES THE COLONY BOOK 4) by Grace Goodwin

VS Note: I LOVE these COLONY books! Grace was kind enough to send me an ARC – interviewing her tomorrow for USA Today/HEA and needed to read the book in advance – but otherwise I would have been one clicking today!

Caroline Jane (CJ) Ellison has a gift for analysis. When a Wall Street deal goes bad, the choice between prison or the Interstellar Brides Program is a no-brainer. She’ll go. She’ll leave Earth, her past, and her mistakes behind. The decision is logical, not emotional. Until she wakes up on another world with a huge Atlan Warlord, her matched mate, refusing to claim her.

Warlord Rezzer is contaminated. Weak. The Hive captured him and stole his soul, his very beast. A mate is out of the question when he can’t become what he was born to be, a beast, her mate, her protector. Forced into the Brides Program testing against his will, Rezzer has no intention of claiming the beautiful, sassy female who arrives on the Colony. The Hive stole his beast, but not his honor. He vows to give her to another, a worthy male, a beast who is whole — one not hunted by the Hive as part of a dangerous new experiment to win the war.

CJ takes one look at the wounded warrior before her and knows she will never be able to let him walk away. He’s hers now, her perfect match. And if that means she has to seduce the beast or face off with the Hive to save him…that’s exactly what she’s going to do. She lived her life following the rules. With everything on the line, it’s time to break them.

EUROPA (TAXYON SPACE BOOK 1) by Aurora Springer

VS Note: I’ve been reading the snippets of this on the Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop and have been SO impatient for the book to release. One clicked!

What alien creatures lurk under the icy surface of Europa?

Dr. Nikki Bell’s plan to discover intelligent life hits a rocky start when her spaceship crashes on the icy surface of Europa. Seconds before she blacks out, she spies a man’s face in the water beneath the ice. When she wakes on the submarine Station, nobody believes her story. Convinced the mysterious stranger saved her life, Nikki searches for him while she explores the ocean and its alien inhabitants.

Kiron Arqin Ramis chose exile as a Watcher on a remote outpost to redeem his family’s honor. He never expected to find an attractive Earther woman close to death. He violates the prime policy by rescuing her. Despite suffering the penalty, he strives to warn her about his hostile leaders.

Nikki’s unexpected meeting with Kiron triggers a chain of disasters in Europa’s perilous oceans. Can the daredevil scientist and scarred Watcher forge a new alliance despite their people’s antagonism?

Amazon iBooks Amazon International B&N Kobo

RYDAK’S FALL (A WORLD BEYOND BOOK 5) by Michelle Howard

Rydak knew he’d never have a Chosen. His empathic touch blessed and cursed him with the ability to read and sense the emotions of everyone he came in contact with. Until her. Lissi Alonson, sister to the Unit Leader of the Jutak warriors he respected and a woman he’d be a fool to fall for.

For years, Lissi had a crush on the elite soldier in her brother’s Unit but the proud Jutak ignored her every attempt to get his attention. Then one night changes everything and he’ll defy his personal rules to spend his life with her by his side.

How far will Rydak fall?

VYCON (ZENKIAN WARRIORS) by Maia Starr

Nicole has a job, defuse the tensions between the earth army and the Zenkian Grantsion
alien army that is attempting to help them fight the invading aliens known as the
Waysaw. When she is assigned to escort Commander Vycon Dase during his mission to
help the earth army defend the copper mines against the invading aliens, she knows that
she can’t resist him. But it’s against the rules for both of them to be intimate, she is human and he is alien – but breaking the rules is just too damn hot…

Commander Vycon Dase hates humans, but the humans and his own race have a common enemy known as the Waysaw. He is appalled that his leader has asked him to journey to earth to help him deliver a message of an oncoming invasion by their common enemy and to help the weak humans toughen their defenses, but that is before he meets her. When he is asked to guard the important human female Nicole Plimoc, he finds himself conflicted between his loyalties to obey the rules of never being intimate with humans, and his desire for her.

When she tells him her secret, he abandons her only to discover the error of his ways.

Will he reunite with her before the invasion? Or will he lose her… forever.

KEECHA (RATHIER WARRIORS) by Stella Sky

Dr. Alice Tanner is used to being ostracized. Sure, she’s smart, but would it kill the
universe to let things go her way for once? The other scientists in her elite research
group never hesitate to give her a hard time. It’s a pretty typical day then, when Alice
and her group are abducted and dumped on a terrifying prison planet. Even that
might not have been so bad, until she’s found by a sexy but cocky alien who practically
makes her his prisoner…

Commander Kecha Thornax is fierce, strong, and brave, but his animalistic desires are
awakened by the peculiar human female. Everything about her is different, from her
personality to her slight, fragile, arousing body… Kecha vows to protect her from the
dangers of the prison planet and makes up his mind to claim Alice once and for all…

Their temptations on the prison planet risk their lives, so Kecha swears off his desires
until they are in a safe place. He promises to take her to Earth, but now that she has
been claimed, there is no way he will let her go…even if that means stooping to
deception and risking everything.

PSION’S CHILDREN: ALEDAN SERIES BOOK 5 by Christine Myers

Jamerin Narcaza was the strongest human psion alive. They called him the Promised One; his mission is to free the Psions of Aledus. Only the Wholaskans of Velran were strong enough to control him, so they taught him to control himself by following the strict Psion Code of Ethics.

Because he revered the Wholaskans Jamerin adhered to those principals until he met her. Parei was his psi-mate, and they were going to take her away. That’s when he went against everything he had been taught to control his parents’ minds and make them let Parei stay.

How could a boy so bad be destined to perform a task so honorable? Can the Wholaskan’s reform him where his parents can’t? Will he destroy their minds like his grandmother nearly had years before he was born.

Can he really free the minds of Aledus?

SNOWED IN WITH THE ALIEN BEAST by Starr Huntress and Kate Rudolph

After her space ship crash lands on an alien planet, Stella finds shelter in a nearby cave that is much more than it appears. But when a hidden door closes, she’s trapped inside… and she isn’t alone. Monsters lurk in the shadows and another survivor, mysterious and beastly, takes her under his protection. He promises to keep her body safe, but her heart is another matter.

Arest knows nothing but blood and death. Yet, when he sees Stella, his only thought is to keep her from harm. ..(much more)…

SNOWED IN WITH THE ALIEN WARLORD by Nancey Cummings and Starr Huntress

Penny is having the worst year. First the pretty lizard aliens show up and start murdering people. Then the “good aliens” arrive and claim they’ll defend Earth and save humanity… for a price. She knows a protection racket when she sees one. And the price? Married to an alien? No thank you.

Kol has one mission: destroy the Suhlik. He’s not interested in this new planet, Earth, or the strange soft-skinned inhabitants. On a scouting mission, he catches the luscious scent of his mate and must find her in the rubble of a ruined city and bring her to the safe zone…(much more)…

LIEUTENANT’S MATE (FARSEEK MERCENARIES BOOK 2) by Clarissa Lake

Lieutenant Commander Pyrron Advantu, right hand man and friend to Commander General Maktu of the Farseek Brigade is a man used to getting what he wants as are the men and women of the Farseek Brigade. Until their world was left in ruin they were the Transtellar Consortium’s most elite and formidable warriors. Each of their ten dreadnaught starships carried a dual force of star warriors and ground fighters.
Outraged that the Consortium knew of the attack on Farseek and kept that knowledge from the Brigade fighting for them on a distant front, the Farseek warriors withdrew from the Consortium to become the Farseek Mercenaries. The high paying rescue of a world governor’s daughter and her companion was their first mission. ..(more)..

RAISING AMALIA (VERIDIAN CHRONICLES BOOK 0) by Regine Abel

Sevina has never known life outside a slave ship… until today. At twenty-two, she’s sent to Eryon Valis, a Korlethean slave with whom she must mate as part of their master’s psi breeding program. When a prophecy sets a target on her, Eryon secretly shields her and their unborn daughter from those who would harm them.

Unbeknownst to Sevina, her mother Maheva faces her own emotional turmoil while playing a dangerous game to protect her children from the crew and the twisted Guldan beliefs of their Master Gruuk.

As one tragedy compounds another, will Fate forsake them or set the path to a better future?

KASH: STAR CROSSED ALIEN MAIL ORDER BRIDES (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) by Susan Hayes

Kash knows he’ll never be allowed to claim a mate. A lifetime of military service has left him too battle-scarred and broken to be considered for the off-world mating project his rulers have created to save their people.

His job is to make sure the more fortunate males get to Earth to retrieve their mates. All he has to do is pilot the ship, stay undetected, and keep an eye on things from orbit. It should be the easiest mission of his career…until he lays eyes on the one thing he never expected to find. His mate.

THE ROSWELL AFFAIR by Anne Bordeaux

Seven feet tall. Dark skin. Blue luminescent tattoos. Do they cover his entire body?

Katharine Leigh Parker’s orders are the last things on her mind when she sees him. She went from fetching coffee to communicating with an honest-to-god alien in barely a day. But this was no little green man.

First contact happens right there with him—Breccon Tallel—still chained to the table, their fated bond overshadowing her analytical mind. Her duty.

Breccon promises Katharine pleasures unlike any she’s experienced if she frees him. The scientist in her weighs the risks. The human fears the unknown. But the desire—the need—in her knows she’ll give in to whatever Breccon asks.

TAKEN BY THE TIGERLORD (SPACE SHIFTER CHRONICLES BOOK 2) by Kara Lockharte

Newly disowned princess Seria is tired of shifters trying to control her destiny. All Seria wants is to return to the orderly librarian life she had before scheming royals got involved in her future. But when she inadvertently becomes a political pawn trapped in marriage to the handsome oversexed tigershifter who betrayed her, it will take all of her resourcefulness to fight her true desires…
Destiny says she’s his.
And that he will be her death.
Tigerlord Kai of the House of Stargazer has always known he was destined to die a hero. But when a power play for his position drops his luscious fated mate into his inner sanctum, Kai realizes Seria’s crucial role in his doomed destiny. Saving the universe will require sacrificing not only his life, but also hers. It’s a fate he’ll do anything to change, even if it costs him her love.

ABBIE AND THE ALIEN OFFICIAL by Jessica Coulter Smith

Abbie prides herself on being a strong, independent woman. Having been on her own since she was seventeen, she’s taken care of herself, doing whatever was necessary to keep a roof over her head and food on the table. But when she loses her job, her car, and her apartment, she begins to think maybe it’s time to admit defeat and ask for a little help. Even if it means becoming the bride of an alien and living on another world.

Councilman Larimar has only wanted one thing since he reached adulthood. A mate. But his duties have kept him from seeking a wife, no matter how many tempting humans enter the bride program…(more)..

ZYEN (ENIGMA SERIES BOOK 10) by Ditter Kellen

Zyen, the biggest Bracadyte in history, has been conditioned since birth to hate the land walkers. They poison the sky, sea and land. And their greed knows no bounds. Zyen has sworn to kill every land walker before allowing them to destroy the Bracadyte way of life. Until he crosses paths with a tiny human named Carmen.Innocent and pure, Carmen melts his icy heart. He’ll do anything to protect her, even though he can never have her.

Carmen Mendoza lives her life in a constant state of anxiety. Plagued by panic attacks, she can’t seem to move beyond her horrific past and allow herself the one thing she desires most…the giant Arkadian, Zyen. When the human government discovers the healing power of the Bracadyte blood, Carmen and Zyen are thrown together in a deadly game of betrayal and greed that just might cost them their lives…

REDEMPTION by KD Jones

VS note: The cover was a bit hot for my blog…well done but lots of nakedness.

Lieutenant Nix Saber has worked hard to earn her position with the Drastan fleet. Her talents have been wasted training warriors, but now she’s finally getting the opportunity to help rebuild Earth’s substructure underground. Not all the humans are happy with her people’s help, but her real problem is with a human male who always seems to get under her skin.

Corey Nash is a survivor. Years in the tunnels after the nuclear disaster taught him that the only person he could really count on was himself. Given the opportunity to train with the Drastan warriors, he jumped at the challenge. Now his people need him to return to the tunnels to help build a city below where they can thrive. If only he didn’t find that bossy Drastan female warrior so distracting.

FLASHTIDE by Jenny Moyer

VS Note: YA as far as I can tell but I do enjoy post apocalyptic books so here it is…it’s on my TBR but way down there…

Orion has survived the tunnels of Outpost Five, filled with mutant creatures and dangers around every bend. She has traversed the cordons, exposed to the radiation of the flash curtain and hunted by forces that want her stopped, dead or alive. Now, with Dram by her side, she has made it to the safety of the mountain provinces, where free Conjurors live and practice their craft of manipulating matter.

But Orion’s story is far from over.

With the effects of the flashfall spreading and the might of the protected city of Alara looming, Orion must travel into the hands of her enemies once again.

THE MENTOR (MEN OF THE NORTH BOOK 3) by Elin Peer

The Men of the North have been living in exile for centuries, raising their boys without the influence of women. Now an experiment will bring girls and boys together in a new school with children and teachers from each side of the border. But how can two teachers work together when they don’t agree on anything?

Sparks fly in this clash of cultures when Archer Rex objects to Kya Rae’s meditation “shit” that will surely turn his Nboys into wusses. He wants the kids to learn how to hunt and fight instead.

MR. PEABODY’S HOUSE (WEREWOLVES, VAMPIRES AND DEMONS, OH MY BOOK 2) by Eve Langlais

A haunted house becomes the focus of a demonic investigation so Brenda teams up with a trio of werewolves to solve the mystery. But when the house eats her, can they find a way to save her?

I met a trio of furballs when my BFF was dealing with a demon issue and since then, I can’t stop thinking about them.

When the chance to investigate a possessed house appears on my desk—after I filch it from someone else’s—I know it’s fate we team up again.

However, I might have bitten off more than I can chew because suddenly my hunky puppies are demanding I become their permanent chew toy.

Me, mated? Eek, but also yum.  Did I mention they totally make my body purr?

Before we can indulge in a sweatily-ever-after, though, they’ll need to save me from Mr. Peabody’s house, because I do believe it ate me.

MARKED BY POWER by CeCe Rose and G Bailey

When Mackenzie’s seventeenth birthday comes around, she planned to spend a few years at the school for the marked learning about her new powers, and then leaving and living her life. But nothing goes as planned when she attends the marking ceremony and all twelve marks appear.

Kenzie lives in a world where being marked with six powers is normal, being marked with seven or more is rare. But being marked with twelve? Well, that’s unheard of.

With learning about her new powers, the last thing Kenzie needs to worry about is falling for her hot teacher. Not to mention the unneeded distractions of the sexy twins, the jerk in all her classes, and her older brother’s best friend who finally seems to notice her.

Romance and marked powers are never a good mix, not when there are people who desire her for more than her heart.

Kenzie may not know, understand or want her twelfth power, but someone does.

THE MID WINTER MAIL-ORDER BRIDE by Kati Wilde

Some might call Princess Anja of Ivermere brave for offering herself up as a bride to Kael the Conqueror, a barbarian warlord who’d won his crown by the bloodied edge of his sword. It was not courage that drove Anja from her magic-wielding family’s enchanted palace, however, but a desperate attempt to secure a kingdom of her own—even if she has to kill the Conqueror to do it. She expects pain beneath his brutal touch as she awaits her chance. She expects death if he discovers the truth of her intentions.

She didn’t expect Kael to reject her and send her back to Ivermere.

Raised in the ashes of the Dead Lands, Kael fears nothing—certainly not the beautiful sorceress who arrives at his mountain stronghold. But no matter how painful his need for her, Kael has no use for a bride who would only tolerate his kiss. Yet the more of Anja’s secrets he uncovers during their journey to return her home, the more determined he becomes to win the princess’s wary heart.

And Kael the Conqueror has never been defeated.

MATEO SANTIAGO by Katlego Moncho

Juniper Evigan is the daughter of one of the strongest Alphas alive, and that comes with a lot of pressure. When she brought shame to her family 5 years ago she was shunned. Now, at eighteen, she must decide to stay with her pack and live as an outcast, or be run off the land and never return.

Mateo Santiago hates life and everything in it. Living with a curse bestowed upon his ancestors has hardened him, and at the age of 23 he is the most feared Alpha in the world. When a rogue is brave enough to cross his lands, he plans to confront her – but is surprised by their intense connection. A connection he never believed possible and was told he could never have.

COLWOOD FIREHOUSE: ZANE (SHIFTERS OF COLWOOD FIREHOUSE BOOK 1) by Kit Fox

Gwen thought that opening up a muffin shop next to a firehouse was going to be a dream come true. Especially next to the hot fireman of Colwood, Montana who like to walk around half-naked. Boy, was she wrong. Because every time she walks outside, she ends up fighting with Zane, the frustratingly handsome firefighter who always gets her heart pumping, her palms sweating, and her pulse racing.

Zane, the Kodiak bear shifter, can’t stop fighting with the girl next door. But his inner bear has other plans for his curvy neighbor and he doesn’t seem to care what Zane has to say about it.

When the two enemies are forced together for a night will they be at each other’s throats, or be at each other’s clothes?

DISTANT LIGHT (TALES FROM THE EDGE BOOK 1) by Chloe Adler

Iphigenia Holt is a good little witch who grew up under the thumb of a wicked mother and two powerful sisters. Pegged as a caretaker, Iphi hides a secret that would change the way everyone around her views her: she’s an empath. And yet she doesn’t let that stand in her way. A soaring circus performer with a fierce love for animals and the downtrodden, Iphi tumbles her way through life, hiding the hurt just being around others can inflict…

…Until she meets an enigmatic vampire and his three hot shapeshifting cousins. ..(more)..

SKY BREAKING 301 (HELLKITTEN CHRONICLES) by Viola Grace

VS Note: Not sure there’s romance, might even be YA. I just liked the cover LOL.

Her magic is coming along, her kitten is still deadly, and she is about to make an actual friend. Controlling weather is simple by comparison.

Sky Breaking seemed like a useful course, but its usefulness lay in the amount of credits that would count toward Imara’s degree. Once she is in the course, she meets the only other student, and they strike an unlikely friendship. Kitigan is a seer who has an interest in farming and apiculture, weather magic is part of that peculiar parcel …(more)…

REALM OF DARKNESS (INFERNAL THREE BOOK 1) by May Sage

Tria Winters plays the part of the loyal agent well, but she’s nothing short of a prisoner. When the Agency is brutally attacked, she and her cousins should have taken their chance to run, but to her surprise, there are people she isn’t quite willing to turn her back on.

It’s obvious to Gray that Tria and her family are trouble, but they’re the only ones able fight off those who destroyed the Agency. He needs to stay with them.

Even though their plan may land him in Hell.

DANGEROUSLY DARK (THE DREAMCASTER SERIES) by C J Burright

A master of dreams, a failure at life…

After another botched career attempt, Quinn Carmichael escapes to a remote lodge for a weekend recharge, needing respite…especially from the nightmares that haunt even her days. When a wounded, sexy-as-sin stranger faceplants unconscious on her kitchen floor, there’s something disturbingly familiar about him—as in he’s the boy from her childhood dreams. Mr. Dark, Dangerous, and Diabolical may be the key to unlocking the mysteries of her past and future, and Quinn isn’t about to let the opportunity—or him—escape without a fight.

His time is running out…

Known as Purgatory’s Missing Prince, Zaire’s existence has been one of endless pain, torture, and loss. Resigned to his fate, his final goal is simple—rescue his nephew before succumbing to the deadly darkness inside him. But when a fateful misstep brings him face-to-face with the one woman who could have saved him once upon a dream—the one woman he treasures above all else—he battles to keep his distance before he destroys her, too. But he would gladly sell his soul for just one taste.

Love draws them together, destiny will tear them apart

With ruthless enemies closing in, Quinn and Zaire must fight to save each other and those they care for before it’s too late—even if it means they’re doomed to live apart forever.

Amazon iBooks Barnes & Noble * Googleplay * Goodreads

PLEASURES OF CHRISTMAS PAST (A CHRISTMAS CAROL BOOK 1) by Lexi Post

When present day American social worker Jessica Thomas is assigned her first case as a spirit guide, she’s excited to serve as the Spirit of Christmas Past for her client and prove she knows her profession well. Unfortunately, her mentor, the very hot, very single, and very Scottish Duncan Montgomerie has little faith in her ability and plans to catch her when she falls. As far as she’s concerned, he’s going to be waiting a very long time.

Bachelor Duncan Montgomerie hails from late 18th century Scotland where he enjoyed life to its fullest, something he continues in death. Having been dead a while, he is well equipped to handle the afterlife where time doesn’t exist and phasing is the norm. What has him stymied is his connection to the uptight Jessica and the strange feelings he’s experiencing being around her, even though she refuses to listen to his advice. Duncan needs to figure out what it all means and fast because the rules change after death and the path Jessica is headed down could cost her her soul.

WALKING ON WATER by Matthew J Metzger

When a cloud falls to earth, Calla sets out to find what lies beyond the sky. Father says there’s nothing, but Calla knows better. Something killed that cloud; someone brought it down.

Raised on legends of fabled skymen, Calla never expected them to be real, much less save one from drowning—and lose her heart to him. Who are the men who walk on water? And how can such strange creatures be so beautiful?

Infatuated and intrigued, Calla rises out of her world in pursuit of a skyman who doesn’t even speak her language. Above the waves lies more than princes and politics. Above the sky awaits the discovery of who Calla was always meant to be. But what if it also means never going home again?

LICKING FIRE: A HOWLS ROMANCE (STOP DRAGON MY HEART AROUND) by Mandy M Roth

Dragon shifter Rayer Drackos of the Dracodomus clan is happy to hide out in his penthouse, away from the world. It beats hoarding treasure in a cave like some of his extended family members have been known to do. The problem is, being a billionaire recluse isn’t helping him find his one true mate. And if he doesn’t mate soon, he’ll succumb to an ancient curse, forever stealing his chance at happiness, ensuring he’ll be forever alone.

Can he find true love before the clock runs out? Are the scales of fate tipped in his favor?

SEMI SANE (HARPER HALL INVESTIGATIONS BOOK 5) by Isabel Jordan

No one knows crazy quite like Dr. Violet Marchand. As the preeminent psychologist to Whispering Hope’s supernatural population, staying calm, cool, and collected in the face of crazy is sorta part of the gig. So, when she starts receiving death threats, Violet isn’t all that rattled. But when her new bodyguard turns out to be the man who betrayed her—the only man who ever came close to breaching the carefully constructed walls around her heart…well, trusting him again might just be a little too crazy, even for a pro like Violet.

Nikolai Aleyev has a lifetime of sins to atone for—not the least of which is betraying Violet’s trust. She’s made it clear she wants nothing more to do with him, and he understands. She’s better off without him. It doesn’t matter that he’s broken and only semi-sane without her. But when he’s assigned to act as Violet’s bodyguard, Nikolai knows he can’t stay away. Protecting her? That’ll be easy for a dhampyre like him. Keeping his hands off her and controlling the attraction that sizzles between them with every touch? That just might be more than he can manage.

When bullets—and sparks—start flying, Nikolai will put everything on the line to save Violet—his freedom, his heart, his life. Because sometimes, the line between crazy and happily ever after is razor thin, and the reward just might be worth crossing it.

TO ENTHRALL THE DEMON LORD by Nadine Mutas

To keep an ill-fated bargain, witch Maeve MacKenna surrenders herself to the scheming Demon Lord Arawn. He’s dangerous, arrogant, ruthless, and dominant–everything she should despise in a male, especially after the torture by another demon left scars on her body and soul. She should tremble with terror in Arawn’s presence. So why does he make her shiver for entirely different reasons? And awaken parts of her body she believed numb after her assault?

Arawn gets what Arawn wants. But when the witch he’s been coveting–for the ancient magic bound inside her–walks into his lair, what should have been simple and straightforward becomes uncomfortably complicated as his interest in her…shifts. A dance of power and attraction begins amid a looming outside threat–because Maeve is not the only one with an age-old force stirring inside her, and the Demon Lord’s rivals are all-too eager to seize that kind of power.

EVERY ANGELIC MOMENT (HYENA HEAT BOOK 7) by R E Butler

VS Note: I interviewed RE (and Linda Mooney) about unusual shifters for USA Today/HEA in October.

Angel Cooper didn’t expect to love working at a campground run by hyena shifters in Pennsylvania, but she feels like she’s finally found the place she belongs. She’s happier than she’s ever been, even if she wouldn’t mind meeting Mr. Right sometime soon. Her sort-of adopted sister, Brierley, is certain that Angel is meant to be the special mate to a hyena clan, but Angel’s not so sure.

Brin, Ian, and Quill Mercer left home with their father’s ashes and their tails between their legs. They’d spent the better part of their lives believing that their father had found the perfect mate for them, but it had all been a terrible lie. ..(much more)…

LEAP OF THE LION (THE WILD HUNT LEGACY BOOK 4) by Cherise Sinclair

After a decade of captivity, Darcy MacCormac escapes the corrupt, clandestine organization called the Scythe, leaving family and friends behind. She must find a way to rescue them. Discovered by other shifters, the brand-new cougar gets two mentors. Blademage Gawain is an easy-going blacksmith with a steel-hard core. His brother Owen is a deadly warrior. Grumpy. Rude. And he doesn’t like her.

Powerful, dominating Owen protects the clan—especially the weak—and the only remnant of an abused childhood is his avoidance of females. Now he has to mentor one? Although Gawain soon falls for the dauntless little cat, Owen knows better than to lose his head. But Darcy has a gift for repairing everything…including damaged hearts.

In the brothers’ arms, Darcy finds safety. Comfort. And love. But however much she longs for a future with Owen and Gawain, her people need her. Somehow, she must find the courage and skills to save them, even if the attempt demands her life.

TO HAVE AND TO HOWL (PARANORMAL WEDDING PLANNERS BOOK 3) by AE Jones

Julia Cole is a lawyer on a mission. After three long years, her husband’s murderers have been convicted. Until their leader breaks out of magically-strengthened, impossible-to-break-handcuffs in the courtroom, that is. Someone is helping them. And that someone is threatening Julia. But she will not back down from them or the man tasked to protect her…a man who scrambles her long-buried emotions.

Jack Dawson is a werewolf with a secret. One that could change his life forever. But his problems have to take a back seat while he protects Julia. He can’t afford to let down his guard—against the evil forces threatening Julia, against his growing feelings for her, fighting to be heard, and against his secret—which could destroy everything.

Can Julia and Jack finally let go of their pasts and begin a new happy ever after together?

VS Note: You know I LOVE Nalini Singh and she has a new one, not SFR or PNR, but hey, it’s Nalini so I’m mentioning it! And yes, I did one click!

CHERISH HARD (HARD PLAY BOOK 1) by Nalini Singh

Sailor Bishop has only one goal for his future – to create a successful landscaping business. No distractions allowed. Then he comes face-to-face and lips-to-lips with a woman who blushes like an innocent… and kisses like pure sin.

Ísa Rain craves a man who will cherish her, aches to create a loving family of her own. Trading steamy kisses with a hot gardener in a parking lot? Not the way to true love. Then a deal with the devil (aka her CEO-mother) makes Ísa a corporate VP for the summer. Her main task? Working closely with a certain hot gardener.

And Sailor Bishop has wickedness on his mind.

As Ísa starts to fall for a man who makes her want to throttle and pounce on him at the same time, she knows she has to choose – play it safe and steady, or risk all her dreams and hope Sailor doesn’t destroy her heart.

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Buy Links: Amazon Kobo B&N iBooks Google

canva alien empath series 4 books

canva boat and cover and quote

Buy Links: Amazon iBooks Kobo B&N Google

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

I don’t ordinarily list re-releases…

(NOTE: If the author provides me with buy links I insert those; otherwise I default to Amazon and iBooks. Pricing and availability are current as of the day I prepare the post – things can change fast in the ebook world LOL.)

Also, I often include only the beginning of the book blurb…

New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday October 25

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL).

ARISTON (STAR GUARDIANS) by Ruby Lionsdrake

VS Note: Always great to have a new one from Ruby! I’m also happy to see her continue to write books in this series. One clicked promptly LOL.

An undercover Star Guardian agent sworn to enforce the law.
A US marine turned galactic pilot, inadvertently breaking the law.
Trapped on a mysterious planet full of dangerous ruins, these two enemies must work together—and deal with their growing attraction—as they struggle to survive.

It’s been two years since delegates from the Confederation visited our solar system, pointing out a wormhole that leads into the rest of the galaxy. Former Marine Michelle “Mick” Saunders was one of the first people from Earth to acquire a spaceship and venture out among the stars. Still haunted by the devastating event that prompted her to leave the military, she’s led a lonely life of late, and longs to find something greater out there.

But for now, she has a spaceship to pay off…(more)…

LAUREN’S BARBARIAN by Ruby Dixon

A lush, tropical island on an icy planet makes no sense.

Then again, not much makes sense anymore after waking up and finding myself not in bed but on a strange world populated by aliens. Since that moment, I’ve learned that nothing is normal anymore and I’ve got to roll with the punches. I can handle this, though. I’m strong and capable.

So… washed up on a tropical island? Got it handled.

Separated from the others in my group? Handled.

Stranded alone with a brutal but delicious alien man that can’t speak English but has great…ahem…body language? Yup, handled.

Add in the fact that my cootie – a symbiont I need to survive – has chosen my big, hulking alien friend as my fated mate? Let’s just say that the situation isn’t the only thing that’s going to be handled.

But it isn’t long before I learn that the tropical island paradise is a death trap and we’re all in grave danger, aliens and humans alike. To survive this, I’ll need my tempting guy to give me a hand with the situation…good thing he’s got four of them.

BATTALION’S BRIDE (CELESTIAL MATES SERIES BOOK 8) BY C J SCARLETT

Being trapped on a dying Earth was quickly becoming a daily fight to stay alive. Ember and her brother Dark are losing the battle and her big brother is willing to give his life to give her a chance to survive. After researching all the aliens, he selects the insectoids. They are the only ones who don’t buy or trade for brides. They simply accept all who wish to come. Dark senses she might not be considered property on the new Maruvian home world.

After his sacrifice, Ember feels compelled to do as she’s told to get along. Unfortunately, she’s never been the docile type. Feeling like a she’s been forged in crucible of pain and suffering, Ember hopes to finally get some peace on her new home world. When an insectoid training ship attacks their vessel, it looks like peace might not be in the cards after all.

Haroc and Valic: These two Maruvian warriors compose an elite fighting unit. Their assignment is to retrieve a large group of human queens from Earth…(more)…

TALON (REVANT WARRIORS) by Celeste Raye

Talon is a Revant, one of the few left of his race. He’s been at war with the Gorlites
and the Federation for centuries and he doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.

Jessica’s a human Talon saved from a slaver ship. She’s also a fierce warrior and a
former Federation Capo with a shadowy past and a closely guarded secret that she can’t
remember.

The attraction between them is strong but they both fight it as hard as they fight
against the impossible decision that must be made. Stand with the Federation or see
the universe taken over by something even more sinister.

AEON CAPTIVE ( SENSUAL ABDUCTION SERIES BOOK 1) by Amelia Wilson

Sarah is a young woman adrift: she’s recently left school, she lives back home with her geologist father, and she’s avoiding her recently deceased best friend’s mother without really knowing why. When a crystal her father gave her begins to glow and make sounds, Sarah’s world is turned upside down. The crystal is a beacon, and aliens are here to take her away from her home. Far away.

Aboard the alien ship Sarah meets a telepathic alien she names Henry. They share their stories and begin to fall for one another. Though, perhaps Henry isn’t what he seems. That’s what Gar, an alien whose species is at war with Henry’s tells Sarah when he saves her. ..(more)…

PAX (VERIAN MATES) by Stella Sky

Dr. Ali Monroe hates the condescending attitude of her superiors at the lab, and the war-torn world she was born into. The last thing she expects is to find an attractive alien warrior in distress.

When she is abducted by the Verian alien and brought to the planet Helna, she is introduced to perspectives and desires she has never even dreamed of. But just when she is starting to see the beauty of the Verian way of life and their world, things take a dramatic turn and she finds herself in the sensual arms of the fierce alien warrior.

Pax Curad is the Second-in-Command to his corrupt brother, leader of the Verian race. When he begins to unravel a plot to overtake humans and Verians alike, Pax realizes that the only way out of this catastrophe is collaboration. He has been fighting against his attraction to the human female for so long that working with her seems almost like a trap. Will he be able to focus on victory?

Or will his passion win out and cost him the thing he holds most dear; a chance for a better life for his race?

TANGLED IN TIME (McCARTHY SISTERS) by Barbara Longley

VS Note: I’ve known Barbara since we both wrote for Carina Press back in the day. I always enjoy her stories…

Regan MacCarthy’s ability to see ghosts is a gift inherited from her Irish ancestors, but it’s one she’d dearly like to give back. In an attempt to return her powers to their source, she travels to Ireland to harness the ancient magic that still permeates the mystical site of Newgrange. Instead, something far more unexpected awaits her: a strapping, gorgeous stranger who insists he’s a centuries-old Celtic warrior.

Fáelán was one of Fionn MacCumhaill’s elite soldiers before being cursed by a resentful fae princess. The only way to free himself is to fall so deeply in love that he’d sacrifice his life. Not an easy matter when he’s invisible to most. Yet Regan sees him—not just the proud, handsome warrior on the surface, but the complex man beneath. Only when it’s too late does Fáelán realize that drawing this beautiful mortal into his world has endangered them both, and may destroy the happiness he’s waited an eternity to claim.

LONDON CALLING: 3 SCINTILLATING VICTORIAN STEAMPUNK TALES by Sorcha Mowbray, TL Reeve, Michele Ryan and Dena Garson

Journey to Victorian London where an assassin meets her match, zombies invade, and top scientists go missing.

Four talented authors come together to bring you three BRAND NEW, full length Victorian steampunk novels of seduction, adventure, and mystery.

7% AND RISING BY Kim Knox

For Level Seven Observer Cahn Dal, her mission is simple—on the surface.
Travel 700 years into the past, alter a complicated equation that will assure the continuation of her timeline, and slip out unnoticed.
Except someone else got there first, and he’s waiting for her.
Alexander Roen. The man she’s loved since she was a teenager, and, to her disgust, she finds she still desires…(more)…

COSMIC CATALYST (SHAMANS AND SHIFTERS SPACE OPERA Book 2) by Jenny Schwartz

When starship shaman Jaya Romanov and her new mate partner, galactic bounty hunter and robot wolf shifter, Vulf Trent, saved the galaxy from the deadly actions of a determined geriatric terrorist, they forgot that old Earth truism: no good deed goes unpunished.

Now, the galaxy is exploding with unexpected aliens, greedy politicians—well, that’s normal enough, it’s what the politicians will attempt that is worrying—and a radically new aspect to sha energy that has the potential to change everything.

And then there’s the mystery of Jaya’s father…who is he? Some big secrets are lurking in Jaya’s past, and to save those she loves, she’ll be forced to risk the galaxy in a shoot ’em up, take-no-prisoners rescue because sometimes there’s no fighting your destiny.

Fortunately, Vulf is always ready for a fight!

BEYOND FOREVER (O’KANE FOR LIFE #2) by Kit Rocha

Before they were the King and Queen…

Six years before the Beyond series started, an ambitious bootlegger named Dallas O’Kane caught a very pretty thief named Lex with her hand in his safe.

The rest is very sexy history.

In Beyond Forever, follow Dallas and Lex through the turning points in their relationship, from the night he caught her trying to rob him, through his rise to successful bootlegger, to legend, to Sector Leader–with Lex always there, willing to give him the push he needs.

TAG TEAM (GEMINI PROJECT BOOK 1) by Bianca D’Arc

VS Note: Listed in PNR/Psychics…a short read apparently.

Peter and Mike are back from their latest overseas mission and this time, nothing will stop them from claiming the woman they love. Lilly isn’t too sure about their motives, but when both of her dream guys put the move on her, she’s powerless to resist one of her dearest fantasies coming true. But can it last long term? Dare she take a chance and find out?

A SECOND CHANCE LOVE (LOVE THROUGH TIME BOOK 1) by Augustina Van Hoven

Can a person learn to live and love again?

A single moment changed Jessica Winters’s life forever… a drunken driver crossed over the centerline and stole the lives of her husband and her little boy. Now, she is trying to find meaning in her life, and she has immersed herself in the world of journalism. While on her way to cover a story, she swerves to miss a deer and loses control of her car.

When she awakens, everything has changed—even the century.

Captain Harlan Jefferson Baylor had found Jessica, unconscious and, to his eye, half-dressed, and he had taken her to the only person he thought would offer help: the local madam…(more)…

SAVING THEM (WINGS OF ARTEMIS BOOK 6) by Rebecca Royce

Paloma McQueen is a woman on a mission.

Loving the Sandler brothers in the midst of a war tearing their galaxy apart never promised to be easy but Paloma swore an oath to her husbands. Their challenges are hers, their war hers, their happiness… Everything she is and will be, she plans to be with them no matter what changes the conflicts wrought on the map.

When a battle gone wrong rips her away from her loves, she will tear the galaxy apart to get them.

She made a promise to love them for better or worse and nothing—not war, cartel, or corporation will keep her from those she loves.

Nothing. Amazon

LEOPARD’S BLOOD by Christine Feehan

Though he was born into a leopard’s lair in the bayou, Joshua Tregre’s fighting skills were honed in the rain forests of Borneo. Sleek and deadly, he’s the perfect man to take over a crime syndicate back home in Louisiana’s lush swamplands. His razor-sharp instincts give him an edge in the violent underworld he knows so well, but even the watchful leopard inside him isn’t prepared for the threat that comes from the girl next door…

She is a woman who can create beauty out of thin air—and out of the ruins of her own life. The games that dangerous men play have taken their toll on her, but she is bent, not broken. And it’s her fierce spirit that’s like a lure to Joshua, a temptation he can’t resist—even if it means bringing his true nature into the light.

KEEP ME CLOSE (LAZARUS RISING BOOK 2) by Cynthia Eden

Flynn Haddox is a dead man. Literally.

As a highly trained Navy SEAL, Flynn once worked covert missions for the U.S. government, but then his life was stolen away. Killed and placed in the secretive “Lazarus” program, Flynn was brought back from the dead and turned into a super-soldier. Now he has increased strength, enhanced senses, and a few psychic bonuses that he fights hard to keep hidden from the rest of the world. He also has no memory of his past…and a new, twisting darkness seems to be growing inside of Flynn.

Cecelia Gregory escaped death once. Can she do it again?

Dr. Cecelia Gregory was supposed to help the Lazarus test subjects…(much more)…

PRINCE OF FOOLS (HOUSE OF TERIOT BOOK 3) by Nancy Gideon

VS note: I’ve been reading snippets of this on the Weekend Writing Warriors hop and really enjoying the story. One-clicked.

Reckless, hotheaded Rico Terriot seeks purpose and a sense of pride training the resentful guardians of New Orleans to defend a city besieged by a deadly outside force. Torn between his desire for his brother’s mate and the woman tied to the child of another, protecting their future happiness means denying his own on a dangerous path to redemption.

Amber . . . a single mother hiding a terrible past: Rico Terriot was the stuff of dreams . . . lately all of hers. But there’s no happily-ever-after for someone living in the shadows, protecting dangerous secrets that threaten her and her daughter. Dare she believe in a fairytale prince when he comes to her rescue, not knowing the price he’ll pay for making her troubles his own? From world’s so far apart, is love strong enough to hold them together . . . and keep them alive?

DEVLIN (WERE ZOO BOOK 5) by R E Butler

VS Note: Interviewed REB last week for USA Today/HEA

Lion shifter, Jenni Brisban, is beginning to think that the VIP tours hosted by the Amazing Adventures Safari Park aren’t going to help her find her soulmate. Hardly any human males come on the tour, and she spends her weekends in her shift, feeling like her life is passing before her eyes. When she’s offered a job in the new sweets shop at the park, she decides that standing behind the counter, talking to customers, and sneaking candy is just what she needs to get her mind off her singleness.

Human, Devlin Potter, is poised to get a promotion at work that will change his life dramatically. Finally, all his hard work will be worth it. The job he wants is just within reach, and his five-year plan is right on track. But when he sees a beautiful blonde woman at his cousin’s sweets shop, everything he ever thought he wanted disappears… (more)…

THE WHITE LILY (VAMPIRE BLOOD) by Juliette Cross

To the north of the Varis empire, a mysterious faction spreads propaganda against the vampire monarchy. Friedrich Volya, the Duke of Winter Hill, seeks to discover who they are before his uncle finds them first. King Dominik will punish the traitors with brutal force.

Local schoolteacher, the raven-haired Brennalyn, is on her own mission—to spy on the duke and discover what she can for the Black Lily…(more)…

ALL HALLOWS EVER By Kaye Manro

When rock musician Nick Zelmenis finds out his band must dress in costume to perform at the All Hallows Eve music gig he is in a quandary over what to wear. His lover ballet dancer Krista McBaine and a few good friends come up with a groovy sci-fi costume idea for the band’s big night. But a devastating incident occurs just before the show and everything falls apart. Nick must pull out all the stops and call upon his innate psychic abilities. He knows beyond doubt if he can’t figure it out fast something tragic is going to happen to the one he loves.

END OF THE ROAD by Karen Michelle Nutt

VS Note: Been reading the snippets from this book on the Weekend Writing Warriors too, and enjoying them. On my TBR List.

Lars Gunner, the frontman for Silent Plaids, died 23 years ago and his death was ruled an unfortunate accident. Despite the fact he can’t recall what happened to him in his last moments of life, he is convinced he was murdered. He has been trapped in limbo until his daughter, Cecilia, unearths his journal and is able to see him. She seeks help from Kaleb, a psychic, but as they resurrect the past, the secrets and lies surrounding Lars’ rock and roll life just may be the death of them too.

SOUL BOUND (DARK ARTS BOOK 3) by Bec McMaster

VS Note: I love her SFR books, I’ll have to try this one!

Sebastian Montcalm knows freedom for the first time in his life, but it has come at the cost of his father’s soul. If he can learn to harness his uncontrollable sorcery then he might be able to save his father from a demon’s grip, but every move he makes leads to failure. The only thing that gives him hope is the innocent touch of Cleo Sinclair, the woman he was forced to marry. But will his darkness drown out her light?

He could be her destruction…

Cleo knew her father only ever loved her for the power of her visions, but when he bartered her away in marriage to a man she’d never met, she realized how little value she truly had. Her husband, Sebastian, was nothing more than a dark warmth in her bed, a stranger who refused to touch her. But together, the two tortured souls found friendship. And now, when he needs her the most, he won’t even look at her.

…Or she could be his salvation…

When Cleo receives a powerful vision of a darkness that threatens London, she knows she is the key to defeating it. Only by working together can she and Sebastian prevail. But is Sebastian the one who can end this prophetic doom, or the one bound to begin it?

DRUID WARRIOR PRINCE (CELTIC REWARDS CHRONICLES BOOK 3) by Juli D Revezzo

Gwenevieve Macken’s well-ordered world falls into chaos as encroaching interlopers scheme to possess both her and her land. Although she’s been trained to spot the signs of inhuman evil in men, the amassing armies take on guises she never expected.

When a foreign guardian presents himself as her only option for salvation, Gwenevieve must make a choice between her desires, and fulfilling the mythic fate to which she was born. A forced marriage to a Tuatha dé Danann warrior isn’t part of her plan. Amazon

THE DARK SWAN (THE SHADOW REALMS 0.5) by Regine Abel

Elianna is the ugly duckling of the Swan family, the youngest daughter amidst her three gorgeous and loving sisters. She’s used to be overlooked until the day the circus rolls into their quiet little town of Willow Grove. The crew only has eyes for her while she can’t get hers off their boss.

Thoryn feels her presence before he sees her. The others have too, especially Ken. Thoryn must move quickly and bind her to him before another claim what was always meant to be his. And his she will be, for eternity.

OVERSEER (THE HORN BOOK 3) by J Kathleen Cheney

VS Note: I was a HUGE fan of her Golden City series and the only thing holding me back from immersing myself in this series is that I gotta write my own books! And I’d probably binge read all of these. Sigh. So, added the series to my TBR List. She can get pretty dark with some of her plot elements but really good at world building.

Those who hold the secrets of the Fortresses can remake the world…
A new player has arrived at Horn Keep, and it’s up to Amal to decide whether he’s the key to keeping her people safe, or the threat they’ve feared the most. Aulis is, like Dalyan, a version of the same long-dead engineer, a Founder of the Salonen Fortress. That alone should make him worth keeping alive.

But he’s served the Cince Empire for almost two decades, the very people who want to steal Salonen Fortress. Now Amal is faced with the task of deciding whether he’s even capable of telling the truth, whether he can lie to Dalyan. The question is…are they the same man or not?

And is buying Aulis’ loyalty worth the risk of giving him the one thing he wants more than life itself? It’s within Amal’s power, but she knows that doing so will forever change her people’s world.

THE DRAGON PRINCE’S BABY BARGAIN by Zoe Chant

Prince Victor can’t inherit the crown until he fathers a child on a woman of royal blood. For the sake of his kingdom, he agrees to an arranged marriage to a princess… who up and vanishes the day before the wedding.

Debbie Jameson, a virgin 7-11 clerk from Tennessee, was thrilled to win an all-expenses paid vacation abroad. But much bigger thrills are in store for her when the alpha dragon shifter Victor sweeps her off her feet with an offer she can’t refuse: impersonate the missing princess, marry him, and have his baby!

It’s a fairytale romance… until someone who definitely isn’t a noble knight tries to slay the dragon’s mate. Can Victor protect his beloved Debbie from mysterious assassins? And what happens if the real princess returns?

FOOLED AROUND AND SPELLED IN LOVE (THE HAPPILY EVERLASTING SERIES BOOK 3) by Michelle M Pillow

Welcome to Everlasting, Maine, where there’s no such thing as normal.

Anna Crawford is well aware her town is filled with supernaturals, but she isn’t exactly willing to embrace her paranormal gifts. Her aunt says she’s a witch-in-denial. All Anna wants is to live a quiet “normal” life and run her business, Witch’s Brew Coffee Shop and Bakery. But everything is about to be turned upside down the moment Jackson Argent walks into her life.

Jackson isn’t sure why he agreed to come back to his boyhood home of Everlasting. It’s like a spell was cast and he couldn’t say no. Covering the Cranberry Festival isn’t exactly the hard-hitting news this reporter is used to. But when a local death is ruled an accident, and the police aren’t interested in investigating, he takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of the mystery. To do that, he’ll need to enlist the help of the beautiful coffee shop owner.

It soon becomes apparent things are not what they seem and more than coffee is brewing in Everlasting.

WRAITH OF THE ANCIENTS by Catherine Cavendish

VS Note: No idea if there’s any romance but I’m always fascinated by things touching on ancient Egypt. Put it on my TBR.

Egypt, 1908

Eminent archeologist Dr. Emeryk Quintillus has unearthed the burial chamber of Cleopatra. But this tomb raider’s obsession with the Queen of the Nile has nothing to do with preserving history. Stealing sacred and priceless relics, he murders his expedition crew, and flees—escaping the quake that swallows the site beneath the desert sands . . .

Vienna, 1913

Young widow Adeline Ogilvy has accepted employment at the mansion of Dr. Quintillus, transcribing the late professor’s memoirs. Within the pages of his journals, she discovers the ravings of a madman convinced he possessed the ability to reincarnate Cleopatra. Within the walls of his home, she is assailed by unexplained phenomena: strange sounds, shadowy figures, and apparitions of hieroglyphics.

Something pursued Dr. Quintillus from Egypt. Something dark, something hungry. Something tied to the fate and future of Adeline Ogilvy.

MY SECRET TO BEAR by Becca Fanning

Cole Patton never knew who his parents were, but he knew his role in life. As a child he was an outcast, running away from foster homes in search of some kind of family. In the Marines he was a secret weapon, an eight hundred pound Grizzly Bear Shifter capable of breaching any bunker. And now that he was back home, he was a pity case, forgotten and living on the street. Struggling to balance his humanity with his bestial side, he knew that anyone he let close would be in danger. But what if a greater danger is looming from his past?

THE MATING FRENZY (WEREWOLVES OF MONTANA BOOK 10) by Bonnie Vanak

Strong-willed, curvy Ella Princeton doesn’t have time for dating or dreams of fantasy. Practical to the core, she’s working three jobs to support her family. But everything changes when Ella meets a handsome naked man while searching for a lost cat. Exuding male strength and pure sex, he makes her heart race and her hormones fire. She wants to crawl all over him and lick him from head to toe. Too bad he’s crazy and talks as if he’s a shapeshifter from another world where the sharp snows of winter hold power and magick.

Kieran of the Winter Kingdom may be a tomcat when it comes to sex, but he is equally smitten with Ella, his new assignment. He must convince fiery, lovely Ella that she is a werewolf, and coax her into joining him on a quest to find a rare crystal. The hidden gem will turn her into a powerful warrior to fight the gathering darkness in the world. Only Ella can help stop a growing threat to Xavier, the Crystal Wizard, and save him and perhaps the entire human race.

GRAY WOLF MATE: LEAGUE OF GALLIZE SHIFTERS by Dianna Love

Shifters came out to the public eight years ago and, since then, the world has never been the same for many.

Tess Janver and Cole Cavanaugh fell deeply in love in college … then he disappeared without a word. She feared the worst, or thought she had. After seven years, he returns as a beefed up version of his former self. That’s not the only thing different. As someone working in a preternatural criminal investigation unit and the daughter of a senator determined to rid the world of dangerous shifters, Tess is caught between performing her duty to humans, protecting the only family she has left and risking her heart to a man who once destroyed it.

Cole had no choice in becoming a Gallize shifter, a secret group of apex predators at the top of the food chain for their kind, and now faces a deadline from a fatal mating curse he can’t stop. The only woman he’s ever loved is human and wouldn’t survive bonding with him. He never planned on Tess finding out he was a wolf shifter, but she’s in danger from a rogue pack. He’s not leaving until she’s safe … and he has a chance to redeem himself in her eyes before his time is up.

HALLOW BE THE HAUNT: A KREWE OF HUNTERS NOVELLA by Heather Graham

Years ago, Jake Mallory fell in love all over again with Ashley Donegal—while he and the Krewe were investigating a murder that replicated a horrible Civil War death at her family’s Donegal Plantation.

Now, Ashley and Jake are back—planning for their wedding, which will take place the following month at Donegal Plantation, her beautiful old antebellum home.

But Halloween is approaching and Ashley is haunted by a ghost warning her of deaths about to come in the city of New Orleans … (more)…

HAPPILY EVER AFTER COLLECTION

Six brand new fairy tale romance novellas by New York Times bestseller Jessica Day George, and bestselling authors Julie Wright, Sarah M. Eden, Julie Daines, Heather B. Moore, and Annette Lyon.

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EMBRACE THE ROMANCE: PETS IN SPACE 2 made the US Today Best Seller list last week!!!! Thank you to all the readers, blogger and reviewers for the support! Still time to get your copy of these 12 original scifi romance stories featuring heroic pets, and have us make a donation to Hero Dogs, Inc.

Buy Links: Amazon iBooks Kobo B&N

canva new favorite review

LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

(NOTE: If the author provides me with buy links I insert those; otherwise I default to Amazon and iBooks. Pricing and availability are current as of the day I prepare the post – things can change fast in the ebook world LOL.)

Also, I often include only the beginning of the book blurb…

New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday October 4

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL)

ASH (HELL SQUAD BOOK 14) by Anna Hackett

VS Note: Readers – including me! – never get enough of this kickass series. One-clicked of course.

Computer genius Marin Mitchell is doing her part to help humanity survive the raptor invasion, working tirelessly to decrypt alien data. She spends her days working and drooling over a certain tattooed, biker berserker from Squad Three. But Marin knows the rules: geeks do not snag sexy bad boys. She spends her nights playing her favorite computer game where she is a kick-butt badass, and a match for her mysterious online fight partner, SuperSoldier3.

A member of the Squad Three berserkers, Ash Connors knows that whenever he reaches for something good, life slaps him back down. He gave up on his dreams a long time ago, and instead, focused on running his motorcycle club with his best friend. But after the alien invasion, he does what he does best, fight and take down the aliens. When cute, smart, and sweet Marin catches his eye, he tries to steer clear, but can’t seem to stay away…online or in real life.

When Marin discovers information about a central alien data hub, her skills are needed to hack into the system. That means a deadly mission deep underground, right into the heart of alien territory. That throws her right into Ash’s tattooed arms. As the sexy berserker fights to keep her safe, he also vows to show Marin that while she might follow the rules, he likes to break them.

SEEKING VECTOR (CYBORG SIZZLE BOOK 10) by Cynthia Sax

VS Note: Another autobuy for me! Been waiting for this one…

A cyborg with a secret… A female seeking the truth…

Vector, the C Model captain of the Freedom, is a cyborg many warriors wish to emulate. He fights fiercely, leads with honor, has earned the respect and loyalty of his crew. But no being, not even a cyborg, is perfect. Since arriving at the Homeland, Vector has been hiding a dark truth about his past. If his secret is exposed, he could lose everything – his position, his ship, and his life.

Kasia excels at uncovering secrets. Half a lifespan ago, her curiosity placed her on the Humanoid Alliance’s kill list. Now she has accessed information the cyborg council would prefer remain hidden. Their warriors are hunting her and won’t rest until she’s dead.

When Vector arrives on her battle station, all grim determination, gray skin, and bulging muscles, Kasia knows he has been sent to kill her. That doesn’t stop her from wanting the dominant cyborg. She senses the savage nature under the male’s controlled exterior, sees the mysteries in his brilliant blue eyes, craves the roughness of his touch. She will risk all she has to experience his embrace.

Kasia braved the cyborg council’s ire for a reason. If she doesn’t convince Vector to act on the information she uncovered, the enemy could destroy his home planet and render every cyborg in the universe immobile.

Can a doubting C Model warrior learn to trust and to love before it is too late?

THE ACE OF CLUBS: PART 3 OF THE RED DOG CONSPIRACY by Patricia Loofbourrow

After financial disaster and the zeppelin bombing, the far future domed neo-Victorian city of Bridges is reeling. Three of the four Families are implicated, and an inquest is called to investigate.

After her failure to prove Jack Diamond’s guilt in David Bryce’s kidnapping and the murders of her informants, private eye and mobster’s moll Jacqueline Spadros has had enough. While she and her former lover Joseph Kerr try to learn who killed their family friend, they also begin making plans to leave the city.

Her tormentors, however, are just getting started. As their web of lies and forgery draws ever tighter, Jacqui begins to see how deep the conspiracy against her and the Spadros Family really goes.

When she’s called as a witness in the inquest, the secrets Jacqui has kept over the years come back to cause her serious trouble. Will she be able to escape Bridges? Or will she be forced to face the terrible consequences of her lies and trickery once and for all?

FAWKS (DRAGONS OF KRATAK) by Ruth Anne Scott

VS Note: From September

Team 2 of the Allies research mission flies over Planet Kratak on their way to Assan Keep for their year-long stay studying these rugged and unknown people. Sheena pilots the shuttle in to land when a huge white dragon swoops over the landscape and collides with their shuttle. Disabled and plummeting toward the planet’s surface at terminal velocity, Sheena struggles to make an emergency landing in the forgotten reaches of an uncharted forest.

Little does Sheena know she’s about to get sucked into an overpowering vortex of passion, self-discovery, and insatiable desire. Fawks Ulasso steps out of the forest to save the team from certain death… (more)…

APOLLO DRAGON WARRIOR by Jamie Phoenix

VS Note: Another one with a really short, to the point blurb! Also from September. Love the purple in the cover…

A Standalone Scifi Alien Dragon Shifter Romance

PROVENANCE by Ann Leckie

VS Note: Hard scifi so I’m guessing the romance either isn’t there or…

A power-driven young woman has just one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artifacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.

Ingray and her charge will return to her home world to find their planet in political turmoil, at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. Together, they must make a new plan to salvage Ingray’s future, her family, and her world, before they are lost to her for good.

ATONE BY TREATY (QUI TREATY COLLECTION BOOK 8) by Kayla Stonor

Oltu’s a sadistic son of a bitch. You should—” Stay away. Gabrielle guessed the unspoken words, heeded the warning, until the shapeshifting First Lord of the Qui swooped in and rescued her from enemy territory. Running is not only dangerous, it’s provocative. Oltu wants her, craves her, and his seductive pheromones are near impossible to resist. He also desires her submission.

No way.

Skal. Save her, seduce, ravish, master—whatever works to quench his lust for this human female. Oltu’s mission had clarity until the moment he learns Gabrielle cannot enjoy intimacy without control. Now he has a problem. His ferocious mating instinct inspires a need to protect and the president’s daughter arouses savage lust and noble instincts in equal measure. To win Gabrielle’s heart, he needs a new strategy.

One major obstacle; she despises everything he stands for.

ALIEN CONVICT (BUREAU OF TALON ALIEN AFFAIRS BOOK 1) by T J Quinn and A J Daniels

VS Note: Amazon does list TJ Quinn as the co-author.

Alone in the world with his two small daughters, Andrew never thought he would face prosecution for something that is considered commonplace for his kind on every world spinning. Every world, except Earth, that is. Only when law enforcement forced the door of his private residence open and unthinkable happens does it become real for him. Locked behind bars in a human jail for a crime he didn’t commit is nothing short of infuriating. Seeing no way out, the fury slowly turns to hopelessness.

All young, hungry attorneys are looking to make a name for themselves. None more fiercely than the woman who’s thrown herself, full force into the alien rights movement. ..(more)..

SEERAN (WARRIORS OF SANGRIN BOOK 6) by Nancey Cummings and Starr Huntress

Responsible for the security of his clan and warlord, he couldn’t afford distraction or attachment. Then, on a Terran beach, he stumbled upon a male assaulting a female. The ice that ran through his veins turned to fire. The frightened female is his mate.

Whatever control he’d possessed snapped in a moment of recklessness, and he hoped that was all he’d lost.

Hazel shouldn’t desire the terrifying alien. She’d just escaped a disastrous marriage with a violent man, so how could she fall for a growling soldier who punched first and asked questions later? Why did his arms feel like the safest place in the universe?

THE APOLLO ACADEMY by Kimberly P Chase

As the heiress to Titon Technologies, eighteen-year-old Aurora Titon can have whatever she wants — clothes, expensive gadgets, anything money can buy. But all she really wants is to escape her pampered, paparazzi-infested life for the stars. Becoming the first female pilot to train as an astronaut for the exclusive Apollo Academy is exactly the chance for which she has been waiting.

Flying is everything she ever dreamed, her best friend also got into the Academy and the paparazzi are banned from campus. Everything would be perfect, except for her unreciprocated crush on a fellow student, the sexy astronaut bent on making her life hell, and the fact that someone keeps trying to kill her.

The most important education doesn’t happen in the classroom.

SHARK BITE (CYBORG SHIFTERS BOOK 3) by Naomi Lucas

Netto was a Cyborg, a protector, and a contracted mercenary. His specialty was the water: shallows, salt water, and open oceans across the universe. He was also a freak forged from the DNA of a bull shark—blue-grey skin, a body built with power, and a double-set of razor-sharp teeth. His nomadic lifestyle came to a halt when his old employer, the Earthian Planetary Exploration Division, offered him his old job back.

Rylie was born and raised on the planet Kepler, on an agri-lot that farmed jewels from the sea. But something was happening to her family’s lots and people were disappearing.

When a giant Cyborg showed up at her settlement and struck a deal with her father, she was forced to follow the stranger out onto the water, into the dangers of the alien deep, and far beyond the sight of land.

She feared the Cyborg.
She feared his teeth.
But she feared the monsters in the water more.

RED SKY IN THE MORNING (THE COVENANT OF THE RAINBOW BOOK 1) by Elana Brooks

Psychics battle aliens for the future of Earth—and love will determine the victor.

Adrian Marshall is a recruiter for the Covenant of the Rainbow, a millennia-old secret society dedicated to defending Earth against hostile aliens. He runs covert screening sessions, seeking people with psychic abilities. They’ll be trained to use their gifts of telepathy, telekinesis, and astral projection to repel the coming invasion. Though his own gifts are modest, he’s deeply committed to the Covenant’s cause and determined to contribute to the best of his ability.

Life has taught Beverly Jones not to believe in anything she can’t see, or to depend on anyone besides herself. When a simple exercise class takes a bizarre turn and the handsome instructor tells her she’s the most powerful psychic he’s ever discovered, she knows it’s only a dream…(more)..

PYRE (VERIAN MATES) by Stella Sky

Dr. Ariel Landon is brave, beautiful, and intelligent, but her search for knowledge gets her into trouble. It means everything to her, so when she is abducted by the Verians, she is more concerned about leaving her work unfinished than she is about herself. That is, until she sets eyes on the sexy, powerful man who abducted her.

As head of the opposition, Commander Pyre Juno has his hands full. He’s strong, strategic, and fearless; coveted by both teams. It is his job to do whatever it takes to succeed, but things get complicated when he abducts the human doctor, who, despite it all, can help him get ahead. She awakens a need in him unlike anything he’s ever known. It’s all he can do to focus on the task at hand.

When Ariel is targeted by Pyre’s allies in the opposition, things go from bad to worse. Pyre has to make a decision. He may be able to save the human, but saving himself and denying his claim may prove to be more difficul

VAMPIRE’S SOUL: A VAMPIRE QUEEN NOVEL by Joey W Hill

VS Note: She’s on my autobuy list and I stopped everything to read this when it hit my kindle. Her Vampire Queen world is dark and very VERY twisty sexy…I’ve reread it once already. I LOVED Rand, the shifter…

Loss left them only rage…Until they found each other…

Cai doesn’t want to be with anyone. He doesn’t want a damn servant, he doesn’t want to be associated with damn vampires. Rand just wants to forget his human side, stay in his wolf form and find a satisfying and hopefully violent, bloody way to bring it all to an end.

But when a young female vampire’s life is at stake, the Vampire Council drafts Cai to enter a dark world he never wanted to visit again. Rand is too honorable to let him go alone, and the only way that can work is if he’s Cai’s fully marked servant, bound to the vampire for all eternity.

So fate decides these two lost souls need each other. Even if they have to tear each other apart to figure it out.

FORSAKEN BY NIGHT (MOON BOUND CLAN VAMPIRES BOOK 3) by Larissa Ione

After accidentally shifting into a wolf—and getting stuck—Tehya, herself a vampire, has spent the last twelve years as the pet of Lobo, another vampire who has the unique gift of communicating with wolves.

When Lobo found Tehya starving and nearly frozen to death, he took her in and nursed her back to health, all the while completely unaware that she was really a fellow vampire. But there was always something special about her, and he finds out exactly how special after she’s injured and returned to her true form. Desire collides with danger as he soon finds that he must protect not only Tehya but also himself.

DREAMING OF A WHITE WOLF CHRISTMAS by Terry Spear

Romance writer Candice Mayfair never missed a deadline in her life—until an accidental bite from a werewolf puppy turns her into an Arctic wolf shifter. She’s forced to isolate herself in the wilderness to cope with her unpredictable shifting while she works on her deadlines. After all, for Candice, Christmas is just another day.

Enter private investigator Owen Nottingham, a wolf shifter hired to find Candice so she can collect her inheritance. They have a real problem: she must arrive home in human form, and that’s not happening during the full moon. Besides, Owen has a new mission: to convince the pretty she-wolf her best move is to join his pack in time for Christmas…and to prove he’s the only wolf for her.

FINNGARICK (ORDER OF THE BLACK SWAN, D.I.T. BOOK 2) by Victoria Danaan

When ex vampire hunting knight, Sir Torrent Finngarick, is hired by D.I.T., he’s partnered with one of a pair of near-feral, New Forest elf twins who also happens to be his mate. Unfortunately Sher O’Malley made a pact with her twin when they were children that they would never accept a mate.

After rigorous training with Black-Swan-friendly demons and Black Swan knights emeritus, they’re assigned to Dublin because there’s an interdimensional stream portal somewhere in the vicinity of Trinity College and Temple Bar that’s been causing havoc for centuries.

Just when Sher is succumbing to the inevitable pull of mating, she and Torn chase a trespasser through the portal underneath St. Patrick’s. The wild redheaded beauty catches the demon’s eye. And disappears.

BEARISTA by Zoe Chant

Tough as nails and hard as steel, Derek Ruger has spent his life in dangerous parts of the world, and has the scars (emotional and physical) to show for it. But this is his most difficult assignment yet: going undercover in a coffee shop to protect a curvy witness, who happens to be his fated mate!

Single mom Gaby Diaz is just trying to make ends meet, working as a coffee shop barista while taking night classes, caring for her 5-year-old son, and supporting her widowed mother. Then she witnesses an armed robbery, and now she’s being hunted by an assassin and protected by a hot, gruff bodyguard who just might be able to coax Gaby into opening up the heart she’s been sheltering for years.

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (BITE NIGHTS BOOK 2) by Juliet Lyons

Mila Hart’s first experience with the hot new vampire dating site is a complete disaster. Turns out, her date is wanted for murder! But things turn around when she’s rescued by dashing vampire cop Vincent Ferrer. Dangerous and drop dead gorgeous, he’s just the vampire hottie Mila was hoping for.

Haunted by his past, Vincent can’t risk falling in love again, even if Mila charms him more than anyone he’s ever met. But when the killer from Mila’s first date seeks her out, Vincent is the only one who can protect her. Protecting his heart is a different story.

THE DARK WOLF (SHAPES OF AUTUMN BOOK 4) by Veronica Blade

Zack and Autumn still don’t know how to deal with being different species. After all, a shape-shifter falling in love with a werewolf is usually a one-way ticket to death. Their only chance for all supernaturals to live in peace is to join forces with a dream team of rebel werewolves, shape-shifters and vampires to take down the werewolf king.

But first, they must get past his number one henchman, an ancient werewolf of almost unimaginable power who has left a trail of dead supernaturals in his wake.

In a secret underground sanctuary they train ferociously for the upcoming battle. When members of their crew disappear or die, they don’t know who in their midst are traitors or if the enemy has breached their fortress. How can Zack and Autumn combat an enemy who’s practically a ghost, and still make it out alive?

JACKALOPES AND WOOFEN-POOFS by Angel Martinez

All Animal Control Officer Jason Shen ever wanted was a quiet life of rescuing lost kittens and helping animals in need. Having a paranormal cop boyfriend guarantees an end to the quiet part. What at first seems like a random encounter with jackalopes in the park might be more than chance and when State Paranormal sends a handsome, charming vampire to consult with the Seventy-Seventh, he finds his relationship with Alex on shaky ground.

Officer Alex Wolf hoped his humaning skills were improving but now he can’t unravel the strange politics at State Paranormal or why Jason’s family seems to hate him. There’s no time to puzzle things out, either. Bizarre animals are loose in the city, Jason’s acting strange—and is the vampire captain from State flirting with him? Wolf’s going to have to keep his head in the game if he’s going to have any chance of putting the pieces together and keeping the city safe from the strange critters terrorizing its streets.

DEATH (THE KEEPER SERIES) by Madhuri Pavamani

am Death. I run this show. I have many at my command, people love and fear me in equal measure. But I am almost out of time.

Juma Landry and Dutch Mathew have a love that is strong and sharp, wild and soothing. They would go to the ends of the earth—and beyond—to save each other from the hell of this world. To put a smile on each others’ face day after day. But danger is coming, dark forces that will push Juma to her capacity, evil that will rip away her lives.

One. By. One.

I know Dutch can’t bear to lose this woman—the darkness that always lives inside him will swallow him whole. But I’ve got plans for Juma. She’s always been my favorite, my sweet, my beautiful, my light. And now, I need her more than ever, one last time.

ALL FOR CONNOR (THE LONE WOLF DEFENDERS BOOK 3) by Alice Montgomery

Connor is the wrongest wrong guy in existence. He’s a Lycan shifter, for one. And he’s rude, anti-social and has never said a kind word to Evie.

Yet, there’s something about him she can’t resist. Maybe it’s the brooding, bad boy vibe. Her feet say run away. …(lots more)…

CATNIP (AGE OF NIGHT BOOK 3) by May Sage

Coveney has been wrongly accused of a crime he’d never commit, and it’s changed him, turning him into a cold, indifferent version of his former self. He lives for his position in the Wyvern Pride: protecting their territory, and serving his Alpha as Head Enforcer. Nothing else matters.
Then, she appears out of nowhere.

Ava is tired of running, but what choice does she have? With her former flock high on her heels, stopping means dying, and her death may not just be her own.

HEXSLAYER (HEXWORLD BOOK 3) by Jordan L Hawk

Horse shifter Nick has one rule: never trust a witch.

Nick has devoted his life to making his saloon a safe haven for the feral familiars of New York. So when a brutal killer slaughters a feral under his protection, Nick has no choice but to try and catch the murderer. Even if that means bonding with a handsome Irish witch.

Officer Jamie MacDougal came back from the war in Cuba missing part of a leg and most of his heart. After his former lover becomes one of the killer’s victims, Jamie will do anything to solve the case.

Nick comes to Jamie with a proposal: after making a temporary bond, they will work together to stop the murders. Once the killer is caught, they walk away and never see one another again.

It sounds simple enough. But the passion that flares between the two men won’t be so easily extinguished. And if Nick can’t learn to trust his witch, he stands to lose everything—including his life.

THE ACCIDENTAL MERMAID (ACCIDENTALLY PARANORMAL SERIES BOOK 16) by Dakota Cassidy

Esther Williams Sanchez is busy living her life the way she’s always done. Spending time with her pets, working as a divorce mediator, and enjoying her newly renovated cottage on the beach.

She’s also decided it’s high time she learn how to swim to prepare for an upcoming cruise. It’s time to let go of a horrible past experience and take some lessons.
So at thirty-two, Esther enrolls in the only class at the Y with a spot left. A Mommy and Me class—which seems quite tame, considering her oldest classmate aside from her is three-years-old.

Learn to swim with a bunch of babies and toddlers? Easy-squeezy, right? Er, no. As Esther leaves the pool after her very first lesson, she sprouts a magnificent tail and fins. Oh, and hair the color of a rainbow. Lots and lots of luscious hair.

Lucky for her, the OOPS girls are on site, and as they set about finding out how this happened to Esther, they run into a hunky Australian merman named Tucker Pearson who happens to be the key to Esther’s problem. But Tucker has problems of his own, and they include being kicked out of his family’s bottled water company, booted from his pod, and accused of embezzling over a million bucks.

Oh, and killing someone… OOPS, here we go again!

BEARLY SHIFTED (MATES OF BEAR PAW RIVER BOOK 1) by Everleigh Clark

Nissa Alexander returns to Bear Paw River ten pounds and one boyfriend lighter with an attitude screaming ‘Leave me the hell alone’. The last thing she needs is her older brother, the Alpha, lecturing her about settling down and true mates. Hell, he doesn’t even have his own mate, so he has no right to talk.

And then, there’s the hunky bad boy, who’s working a missing person’s case in her neck of the woods. ..(more)…

BORDER TOWN (SLICE AGENCY BOOK 1) by Louise Bacio

VS Note: Sounds good…on my TBR List.

A thin line exists between reality and the paranormal, between one country and the next. Lucia grew up stuck between cultures on the border of Texas and Mexico and the wavy lines of reality. With the help of her two sisters, she runs the family ranch, or what’s left of it. A hurricane shifted the river, with land ending up on the other side of the Rio Grande. Mother Nature unleashed more than land wars. A prophecy foretells a supernatural beast slaughtering the livestock every seven years. When the carcasses of goats show up drained of blood, she reaches out for help.

Shaw McDiamond doesn’t want to be stuck in a hick town that’s dry and humid, chasing after the legend of the chupacabra. ..(more)..

LAST CHANCE: ROYAL KAGAN SERIES BOOK 7 by Nancy Corrigan

Xander, alpha of the Royal Winchester pack, has chased his true mate through the centuries. And screwed things up with her each time their paths have crossed. She’s always been too soft, too innocent, too perfect. He’s not. He’s wicked, dominant, and demanding…especially in bed.

The moment he sees Gwen, though, he realizes he’s been given another chance to make things right. That’s exactly what he’s going to do too. He has a plan–earn her forgiveness, unleash her sexuality, win her love. Simple. Or maybe not. His best friend claims Gwen belongs to him too.

Vlad has made a mistake. Instead of claiming his true mate in this lifetime, he slept with Gwen’s sister. Then dozens of women after her. And when Gwen needed him most, he failed her. Now her virginity is being offered up to the best hunter.

Rescuing Gwen is the easy part. Saving her friend from captivity, proving their three-way relationship is worth fighting for, and staying alive long enough to soul-bond are not. But when faced with their last chance at happiness, Xander and Vlad will stop at nothing to win.

HEIRESS OF DARKNESS (REBORN MAGIC BOOK 2) by Ashlyn Allbrook

Charlotte of Capthian has only known hardship. It’s not easy being the only daughter of a widowed healer, but when her mother’s chronic takes a turn for the worse, her mother tells her there’s a tree root five days’ journey south. Eager to cure her mother, Charlotte’s willing to make the journey alone, but then the five sons of Bartow the trapper insist Charlotte let them escort her while checking their traps. It’s the ideal solution, only there’s one problem: she likes all five of brothers. How will she keep her feelings to herself?

Soon they happen upon an abandoned temple in the mountains where a goddess appears and tells Charlotte that she’s the Heiress of Darkness. She has a part to play in the rebirth of magic, and she has five days to get to the temple in Pereta… or she will die.

Oh, and there’s one small catch. She must sleep with all five brothers to bring her five elements of magic to life… or she dies.

GRIGORI (AS ROYAL DRAGON ROMANCE BROTHERS OF ASH AND FIRE) by Lauren Smith

He’s one of the last of a powerful but vanishing bloodline …Grigori Barinov is the eldest in an ancient line of dragon shifters and the guardian of his family’s lands and fortune. Sworn to protect their history and magic, he won’t rest until he neutralizes any threat to their existence. When he discovers an ancient manuscript that exposes his family and their dragon lineage has fallen into a mortal woman’s hands, he knows he must get the book back by any means necessary. If that means seducing a nosy American woman with an intoxicating scent, he is more than willing to carry her off to his palatial home deep in the heart of Russia.

She’s the one woman who could expose him to the world…Madelyn Haynes has never fit in. As an adopted child she grew up in a loving home but never felt as though she belonged. Plagued by mysterious dreams she’s had of a silver scaled beast ever since she was a little girl, she is convinced dragons are real. ..(more)…

THE NEXT GENERATION (CONVERSION BOOK 4) by S C Stephens

Fitting in can be hard for anyone. But for Julian and Nika Adams, it’s especially challenging. Born as partial vampires, a rare offshoot of pureblood vampires, the twins have had to deceive people their entire lives—distancing themselves from their peers.

Nika desperately wants a hero, a soulmate, someone she can trust with every fiber of her soul—someone as amazing as her father. The boys at her high school aren’t impressing her, but, luckily for Nika, Hunter Evans has moved into the neighborhood.

Julian desperately wishes he could sever the empathic bond he has with his sister. While it was fun to experience each other’s emotions when they were kids, now that Julian finds himself pining for a girl he can’t have, sharing his feelings is the last thing he wants to do.

CINDERELLA AND THE WOLF PRINCE (SIREN’S TALES) by Siren Allen

Wulf St. Jamison is a cursed prince who’s finally found his princess. Or, at least, he thought he had. After spending one night in his masked female’s arms, he awakes to find her missing from his bed and from his life. No one seems to know who she is or where she came from. Was she real or just a creature his broken mind conjured up?

Cinderella Dupont only has two more months of servitude before she’s free to claim her inheritance and leave her hateful stepfamily behind. After playing the role of obedient daughter for so long, she craves one night of pleasure. She finds that in the arms of a handsome stranger, only to find out later that he’s the prince.
When he shows up at her door, she assumes he’s figured out that she’s the female behind the mask. That’s not the case. He’s there to hire her, the most powerful tracker witch in the land, to help him find his mate.

Unable to say no to the prince, she pretends to help him search for the female he claims he’s unable to let go. Working by his side, day after day, she finds herself falling for him and toying with the idea of telling him who she really is. As dark forces descend upon them, will he forgive her for her deception? Or will her stepmother’s vile declarations turn him against her forever?

Especially since everything her stepmother says about her is true.

A DROGON’S MEDIEVAL ADVENTURE (CHIMERA DRAK MATES BOOK 1) by T J Quinn

The Drogon homeworld is on the verge of destruction, which forces the whole species into unknown adventures to find a new homeworld. Four vessels depart the dying planet when the wave of a planetary explosion sends all the ships in different directions.
This is the story of Cuyler the drogon’s king and his journey to find a new homeworld, only to discover most of the female population was abroad one of the missing ships.
In their search for women, the drogons arrive in medieval England and after a few adventures, they are able to go back home with their soulmates and the promise of getting more females for their people.

INHERITANCE OF THE BLOOD by Imogene Nix

In the darkness evil waits…

As a young bride Kira was whisked away from everything and everyone she knew, including her new husband and became Christina, an operative of the Displaced Persons Unit.

As the danger grows she sees an opportunity to save her husband Vasya and sister Serina. But nothing is the same. Serina is grown up—married and pregnant.

Vasya too is older and darkly forbidding. Trusting Christina doesn’t come easily until a catastrophic event takes place. Now, knowing the truth everything he thought he knew is changed. But at a very high cost.

The four must work together to defeat the Demon, Zuor and the stakes are higher than they imagined and all could be lost.

And finally a Star Wars book that I found intriguing and fun. always wanted the POV of that trash compactor creature, didn’t you?:

STAR WARS FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW

On May 25, 1977, the world was introduced to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and a galaxy full of possibilities. In honor of the fortieth anniversary, more than forty contributors lend their vision to this retelling of Star Wars. Each of the forty short stories reimagines a moment from the original film, but through the eyes of a supporting character. From a Certain Point of View features contributions by bestselling authors, trendsetting artists, and treasured voices from the literary history of Star Wars:

• Gary Whitta bridges the gap from Rogue One to A New Hope through the eyes of Captain Antilles.
• Aunt Beru finds her voice in an intimate character study by Meg Cabot.
• Nnedi Okorofor brings dignity and depth to a most unlikely character: the monster in the trash compactor.
• Pablo Hidalgo provides a chilling glimpse inside the mind of Grand Moff Tarkin.
• Pierce Brown chronicles Biggs Darklighter’s final flight during the Rebellion’s harrowing attack on the Death Star.
• Wil Wheaton spins a poignant tale of the rebels left behind on Yavin.

And more.

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

(NOTE: If the author provides me with buy links I insert those; otherwise I default to Amazon and iBooks. Pricing and availability are current as of the day I prepare the post – things can change fast in the ebook world LOL.)

Also, I often include only the beginning of the book blurb…

New Releases in #SciFi and #Fantasy Romance for Wednesday September 6

As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL).

Lots of late August releases to add here this week…

ZAKOTA (STAR GUARDIANS BOOK 5) by Ruby Lionsdrake

VS Note: I’ve really enjoyed this series from Ruby so of course I one-clicked.

Katie Saunders isn’t used to sitting on her butt, but she’s been stuck doing exactly that as the Star Guardians fly all over the galaxy, trying to get her and the other kidnapped women back home. Now it looks like they have to engage in a battle against evil aliens before making the final flight to Earth. Since they’ve captured an extra ship and are short on pilots, Katie wants to help.

She flew jets during her time in the Navy, and she’s been training on the spaceship’s flight simulator, so she knows she can be useful. Because the captain won’t listen to her, she turns her focus onto the ship’s helm officer, Zakota. He’s an odd man who apparently believes he’s a shaman, but maybe she can convince him she can fly.

Wheeling and dealing with Zakota reveals a couple of unexpected things. First off, he’s super hot under that uniform, and second, he’s not quite as kooky as she thought. As a fellow pilot, he gets her, far better than she expected anyone out here would, and he’s quick to see her worth in the cockpit.

The problem? There’s not time for them to get to know each other better or much of anything else. They’re headed into a battle against a superior foe with superior numbers, and the odds are against them making it out alive.

ALEXANDRU’S KISS (MAGIC NM BOOK 3) by SE Smith

VS Note: An entry in SE’s Kindle World, more in this KW by other authors will be released later in September.

Alexandru Carson has a major problem and it isn’t with the woman who captured him – it is the fact that he can’t remember anything but his name. Confused by his inability to remember, he doesn’t know where he is or how he ended up in the middle of a forest that feels bizarrely alien to him. If being lost wasn’t bad enough, his fascination with and attraction to his captor is making the situation even more frustrating as he tries to unravel the mystery of what happened.
Ka’ya Stargazer is an outcast among her tribe. Born with the mark of the Huntress, she is feared for her ability as a warrior even while she is a prisoner to the tribe who shuns her. When she discovers an injured man on a scouting trip, she is forced to make a decision that will change her life forever.
Alexandru’s kiss leaves Ka’ya craving for more than her life as a warrior. Yet, even as they grow closer, there are powerful forces threatening to rip them apart. Will Alexandru accept Ka’ya’s claim on him, or will she lose him forever when he regains his memory and discovers he does not belong in her world?

FOR THE GREATER GOOD: PUSS IN SPACE (DRYDEN UNIVERSE) by Greta van der Rol

A Human settlement is destroyed and all signs point to an Yrmak raid as Imperial agents Tian Axmar and Brent Walker scour the site for clues. One thing they never expected to find was a survivor, a rare alien feline with unusual talents.

As tensions between Humans and Yrmaks ratchet to the point of no return, Tian and Brent must bring all their cyborg skills to bear as they follow a dangerous trail of deception and misdirection.

The feline, now dubbed Puss and strongly bonded to Tian, holds the key to many of the questions driving the investigation. Unfortunately, that bond drives a wedge between Brent and Tian’s working relationship, leaving Brent with second thoughts about his decision to become a cyborg…(more)…
Amazon iBooks

SECRETS IN DEATH: AN EVE DALLAS NOVEL (IN DEATH BOOK 45) by J D Robb

The chic Manhattan nightspot Du Vin is not the kind of place Eve Dallas would usually patronize, and it’s not the kind of bar where a lot of blood gets spilled. But that’s exactly what happens one cold February evening.

The mortally wounded woman is Larinda Mars, a self-described “social information reporter,” or as most people would call it, a professional gossip. As it turns out, she was keeping the most shocking stories quiet, for profitable use in her side business as a blackmailer…(more)…

THE YIELDING OF ROSE (TERRAN CAPTIVES BOOK 2) by Trent Evans

Rose had always dreamed of finding the “one.” But she’d never dreamed he’d find her first — and promptly spirit her away from everything she’d ever known. Alone, adrift, and seemingly lost on Earth, the young woman had exchanged a life of youthful rebelliousness for a life of strict, trained obedience, painful consequences, and the dark depths of pleasure unlike any she’d ever imagined. But there was a small problem: she hadn’t chosen that exchange. The muscled, glowering, Alpha male from another planet had chosen it for her — whether she wanted it or not.

The dazzling red-headed beauty with the spitfire personality and the dramatic curves to match was a danger to Lieutenant Kosha, an officer of the Yaanfahr Survey Corps assigned to observe the emerging human civilization on the planet Terra…(more)..

ZAINE (VERIAN MATES) by Stella Sky

Regan Lawrence is fearless, outspoken, and smart, but all of those things just make life during wartime more difficult. She’s used to being unpopular, so when she is abducted by the enemy race, she isn’t sure whether it’s a good or a bad thing. That is, until she lays eyes on the fiercely sexy Verian enemy who abducts her.

As head of the prison, Zaine Volaire is the strongest men left in his race. He’s well-known for his discipline and drive to help his species win the war against humans…(more)…

ALIEN COMMANDER (ZERCONIAN WARRIORS BOOK 11) by Sadie Carter

VS Note: From late August

She’s not searching for a mate, just a place to feel safe…
Sophie came to Zerconia under false pretences. She doesn’t want a mate. She has crap judgement in men. And really, what does she need a man for?
Mind-blowing orgasms? She’ll buy a vibrator.
Someone to take care of any creepy-crawlies? She’ll get a really good buy spray.
The feeling of protection and safety that comes from being held in a man’s strong arms? Okay, that might be a bit harder to find, but Sophie has never known that sort of protection before anyway. Her father abandoned her as a child, and her last boyfriend was an asshole who used her for sex.
Nope, she doesn’t need a man.
Even sexy, gorgeous, oh-so-serious Toriq with his huge muscles and his careful, quiet nature. All right, so she needed someone to fantasize and he was every fantasy come to life.
Toriq lives in the shadow of his father’s memory. He keeps a distance from most people, especially tiny human females, knowing they must fear his size. But staying away from Sophie is more difficult than he anticipated. Particularly when she finds herself in trouble.
Protecting the tiny blonde female suddenly becomes his top priority. Even if that means protecting her from himself.

CERIK (DRAGONS OF KELON) by Maia Starr

VS Note: Another late August entry

Maria feels burned by her boyfriend after she found out he had been cheating on
her. When she goes to the desert with her friend for a girl’s weekend, she finds
herself at the mercy of an attractive alien dragon shifter. But when they are
captured in space she has to rely on him to save her, or her life will change forever.

Cerik is on a mission to save the Draqua race, and that includes using a human
female as bait. But he never thought he would actually fall hard for this bait. Now he
has to save her from the Opposition enemies. But when she learns the truth about
him and his mission, he knows that she will never trust him again, and for her – trust
is everything. Will he be able to win her trust?

ALIEN AND THE WEDDING PLANNER by Lizzie Lynn Lee

VS Note: From August

It was just one of those days…After catering a particularly difficult bridezilla, successful wedding planner Alana Watson can’t wait for the wedding season to be over. Or at least, she hopes to get a reasonable client. That is why she’s excited when a pair of insanely gorgeous men come to her shop for a consultation. But no, they aren’t a couple and they ask weird questions. Things escalate when one of them decides to kidnap her and bring her to his home planet . . .

This alien feeling in the alien’s heart…Lord Ice Silverkiller is a renowned scientist on his home planet, Crimea. His planet is dying and it seems his people don’t want to procreate. His emperor orders him to find a solution. Ice and his crew then embark on the first expedition to Earth. They want to know the secret behind the humans’ explosive population growth. But when he sees Alana, science is the farthest thing in his mind…(more…

SHALIA’S DIARY BOOK 11 by Tracy St. John

VS Note: From August

Shalia’s happily-ever-after is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped.

Shalia has at last found the love she’s risked her life to win. She’s got everything she could wish for—an amazing career and a wonderful home for herself and her baby Anrel. Better still, she’s the Matara to the best possible mates she could wish for in Clan Seot.

Yet desperation spurs someone to commit an unthinkable act. When Anrel is stolen in broad daylight, Shalia and her clan will do anything to get her back. The kidnapping sets Shalia in a direction she never anticipated going—and affects all the Mataras of Kalquor.

THE WHITE QUEEN (QUEENS OF DRAXOS BOOK 1) by Scarlett Grove

VS Note: Here’s the Amazon note from the author: “The White Queen is a reverse harem short read serial. Each installment is 10k words long and will be released once a week.” I would suppose eventually it’ll all be gathered into one book? Personally I’m not patient enough to read serials weekly but that’s just me…also not entirely clear to me if it’s SFR or Fantasy. But undoubtedly HOT – I get that vibe LOL

Ice dragon scientist, Joon D’fray, is desperately searching for a cure for the plague that crippled the female birth rate of the Draxos race. Her life is about to get very complicated, times five, after the tournament to find her fated mate on her twenty-first birthday.

SERVANT OF THE FOREST: A Fairy Tale Retelling by Shona Husk

Remember to be wild,” Orabella’s mother would say.
But her mother is dead and Orabella’s days are taken up with chores for the small estate that barely keeps her stepmother and stepsisters fed.
Then an invitation arrives. The King is throwing a three day party for the Prince, a last attempt to find a cure for the curse that will claim him on his twentieth birthday. The witch who saves Gauthier will get his hand in marriage and will eventually become queen.
Orabella is forbidden from going to the party even though everyone is invited. She wants to see the castle and the Cursed Prince. This time she refuses to obey her stepmother.
As Orabella discovers the secrets of her past and the truth about her mother and the prince’s curse, she learns that no one is to be trusted and not everyone wants the prince to survive.

HIGHLAND DRAGON WARRIOR (DAWN OF THE HIGHLAND DRAGON BOOK 1) by Isabel Cooper

The war may be over, but so long as English magic controls the Highlands, not even a dragon laird can keep his clan safe. What Cathal MacAlasdair needs is a warrior fierce enough to risk everything, yet gifted enough to outwit an enemy more monster than man.

What he needs is Sophia.

Alchemist Sophia Metzger traveled to Loch Arach in search of knowledge. She never dreamed she’d learn to do battle, ride through the stars on the back of a dragon, or catch the eye of a Highland laird. But as her quest turns to sizzling chemistry and inescapable danger, she’ll soon discover the thrill of being caught in a dragon’s claws.

SO I MARRIED A SORCEROR by Kerrelyn Sparks

VS Note: Late August

Growing up on the Isle of Moon, Brigitta knew that she was born with the magical powers of the Embraced—even if she did not know how to wield them. But she has finally learned the truth: Brigitta is the lost princess of the kingdom of Tourin. She was sent into hiding as an infant to escape the wrath of her half-brother, the king. And now he knows just where to find her. . .

Rupert is a notorious pirate and sorcerer. He’s spent most of his life plotting revenge on the evil king—and Rupert believes that Brigitta could be the key to finally destroying his enemy. But what begins as a kidnapping of the innocent beauty escalates into something deeper, and more passionate, than either captor or captive could have imagined. Rupert soon vows to protect Brigitta against the king—but will they survive long enough to find their happily-ever-after. . .or does fate have something else in store?

MY ANGEL by Alanea Alder

Vivian Mercy has been running from the past for so long she doesn’t know any other way of life. When a panicked call comes from one of her only friends she finds herself returning to the city of her nightmares where her dedication as a doctor and resolve to help others is put to the test.

Etain Vi’Aerlin has been watching over Noctem Falls for centuries. Sent by his queen he became a silent sentinel in the shadows helping Magnus whenever he could. While the sickness around him claims more lives he discovers what it feels like to be helpless, as an ancient warrior he doesn’t have the skills to fight this unseen enemy.

At any other time finding a mate would be cause for celebration, but Etain wants Vivian as far from Noctem Falls as possible, unfortunately, as the only doctor with an intimate knowledge of diseases she has to stay in the city, and finds herself working tirelessly to discover a cure in the middle of the deadly chaos sweeping the levels.

As Vivian’s past is revealed she finds herself not only combating the terrible virus but also the rebellious faction of the Founding Families. Etain vows to stand by her, even if it means abandoning the post assigned by his queen.

It’s a race against time to unravel the lethal secrets the virus is hiding before the city itself is lost forever.

FURY: DEVIL’S POINT WOLVES BOOK 6 by Eliza Gayle

Sawyer didn’t make it out of the destruction of Club Diablo without scars. Lots of them. They criss cross his body from head to toe. His pack is trying to help him recover, but between the smothering and the whispers, he’s not interested. Once again his life has been destroyed by hunters and this time he doesn’t want to start over. He wants revenge. He definitely doesn’t want to babysit some Fed, no matter how many of his buttons she pushes.

Penelope Bishop has always wanted to prove herself as one of the top profilers for the FBI, but she’s had to struggle to get out of her father’s infamous shadow. Finally, she’s been given a chance to show she can handle a high-profile case on her own. She’s sent to Devils Point Island to profile the suspect who planted an explosive in a strip club. Except what she finds doesn’t fit any profile she’s ever seen and the local assigned to help her is more interested in the chip on his shoulder and what color panties she wears.

JOHN’S YEARNING (SCANGUARDS VAMPIRES BOOK 12) by Tina Folsom

Emotionally scarred by the death of his blood-bonded mate and unborn child several years earlier, vampire and Scanguards bodyguard John Grant avoids women at all costs, desperate to prevent another heartbreak. But when single mother Savannah Rice begs him for help finding her kidnapped daughter Buffy, he can’t help but feel drawn to her and the passion that lies dormant behind her blue eyes.

As they work to uncover a child trafficking ring leading all the way to Russia, John and Savannah allow themselves to find love and support in each other’s arms. In doing so, they are forced to confront their mutual guilt and fear while fighting to rescue Savannah’s daughter and the other girls who have fallen into the hands of an unscrupulous villain.

But even if they can destroy the trafficking ring, and save the girls, will Savannah be strong enough to love John once he reveals that he is a vampire who craves her blood?

SWITCH OF FATE 1 by Lisa Ladew and Grace Quillen

Jameson Montreat is a lonely wolf shifter who had one job that was essential to the protection of the human species. A job he was unable to do. Now, with more vampires throwing their hat into the political ring every day, he can’t stop it. He can’t kill vampires, none of the shifters can. Only a switch can kill a vampire, and they died out a hundred years ago. But then an impossibly captivating switch walks right into the anti-vampire meeting, turning every shifter head in the place. She is not meant for him, as much as he might need her to be.

Coralie Hamilton is a normal woman, living a normal life, waiting for something big. What that something is, she has no idea, but when some base part of her brain causes her to go temporarily insane and try to stab a politician in the throat with a fountain pen, her future suddenly becomes crystal clear. She’s a natural born killer, and the only thing that can calm her killing instincts in the moment is the love of a shifter male who is strong enough to handle her.

Yesterday, she didn’t believe in shifters. Today, she’s got to choose the one who will keep her sane.

SUNDER (DARK SOUL BOOK 1) by Lexi Ander

If Sūnder Alārd was born female he would have been cherished for being faeborn—born with magick—and his birth celebrated. Instead, his L’fÿn mother insisted on his death. Only his Panthrÿn father’s desperate escape through the forest saved him.

With most Chándariāns uneasy in his presence due to rumors he is doomed to become a darksoul, and unlikely to find a mate because of it, Sūnder has nevertheless carved out an honorable existence as a warrior and commander. Serving as a bodyguard and chaperone, Sūnder accompanies the Chándariān prince to the annual mating festival on Earth, and when the prince is injured, he can’t help but be fascinated by the tongue-tied nurse who attends them at the hospital.

At sixteen years of age, Gabriel St. Baptista came home to discover his parents had taken off into space, leaving him behind to look after himself. Gabe never recovered from the unexpected desertion, and keeps everyone at arm’s length to avoid the pain of being abandoned again. However, after meeting Sūnder, Gabe finds himself unable to resist the bond between them and breaks his carefully crafted rules to spend time with the Chándariāns, regardless of the fact that Sūnder will soon leave. Scared by what he feels for Sūnder, Gabe can only hope his heart won’t be too broken when Sūnder returns to Chándaria.

But deceit and treachery surrounds them both, and when Gabe saves Sūnder’s life, it sets off a chain of events that could either tear Gabe and Sūnder apart… or give them both exactly what they want.

RESCUED BY THE WOLF by Sasha Summers

Mal wants one thing in life—vengeance against those that deserted him and those who tortured him. But rescuing a wounded girl from their captors, one that wreaks of innocence and fear, makes Mal put his plan on hold. Temporarily. He’ll do what he needs to keep her alive and safe, even if it changes both of their lives forever.

Being stabbed and held in a dark cell wasn’t on Olivia’s top ten list. Her savior isn’t exactly hero material. Angry, scarred, and pissed at the world, he seems to resent being saddled with her. But the longer they’re together, the more firmly a connection forms between them. A connection that binds her to him, his pack, and his world. But that connection may just lead to her death.

DRAGON IN DISTRESS (ZODIAC SHIFTERS VIRGO) by Crystal Dawn

Sophie needed to find her fated mate to avoid being forced to mate someone of her Uncle’s choosing. Her cousin spells for her fated one, but an angry dragon shows up. This wasn’t at all what she expected.
Knossos wakes up and he’s not in his lair anymore. Someone has dared to summon him out of his slumber. The guilty party turns out to be his fated mate, so he can’t burn her to a crisp. He wasn’t really ready for this, so what’s a dragon to do?

HER DARK HALF (X-OPS BOOK 7) by Paige Tyler

Coyote shifter Trevor Maxwell is teamed up with CIA agent Alina Bosch to catch a killer. But when the mission becomes much more dangerous than they expected, they’re going to have to ignore the attraction between them and learn how to trust one another to come out on the other side.

CREOLE NIGHTS by Various

Ten original sexy tales from ten bestselling authors. When the sun goes down in New Orleans the heat will rise. Take a sensual exploration of those Creole nights with our hosts of humans, witches, vampires, shifters, wolves, sorcerer, ghost, reapers, voodoo priestess, warlocks, demons, priests and angels. Find out who lives, who dies, who loves for once in a lifetime. Read their sides of the story.

ASHES REBORN (A SOULS OF FIRE NOVEL) by Keri Arthur

The clock is ticking as Emberly—a phoenix capable of taking human form—races to take revenge against the sadistic and mysterious Rinaldo. The elusive rebel leader threatens to keep killing until he is given all of the research about a plaguelike virus derived from vampire blood.

Forced to reach out to the Paranormal Investigations Team for help, Emberly and her partner, Jackson, must decide who to trust as they follow the trail of dead bodies. When classified information is leaked and their safe house is ambushed, Emberly’s suspicions are confirmed—someone at PIT has betrayed them.

A final battle looms and Emberly will need to command all her powers—or watch the world turn to ash.

DARK LEGACY (A CARPATHIAN NOVEL) by Christine Feehan

In a beautiful compound hidden away from the world, Emeline Sanchez tries to blunt the pain that has wracked her body ever since her terrifying ordeal in the labyrinth beneath the city—when she was forced to exchange blood with an evil master vampire.

Now, it’s his voice that haunts her…that calls to her in the dark…that never lets her rest. And while the children that she helped to free from his clutches struggle to heal, watched over by their Carpathian protectors, Emeline knows one thing: She must sacrifice herself to keep them all from harm…

For her beauty is irresistible to the vampires, her psychic ability like a drug. Whipped into a frenzy, they’ll never stop coming for her. And only the taste of one Carpathian warrior—the rush of his blood—can save her.

THE KINGPIN OF CAMELOT ( A KINDA FAIRY TALE BOOK 3) by Cassandra Gannon

VS Note: From the end of July. This sounded so different, I thought I really had to include it!

The Queen: Guinevere must save Camelot. Ever since Arthur died, the evil Scarecrow has been trying to marry her and gain the crown. If she and her daughter are going to survive his mad schemes, Gwen needs to find Merlyn’s wand. Fast. Unfortunately, the only man strong enough to help her on her quest is Kingpin Midas, a flashy, uneducated mobster dealing with a curse. Gwen is a logical, rational woman, though, and she can draft one hell of a contract. She’s pretty sure she can come up with an offer not even the kingdom’s greatest villain can refuse.

The Kingpin: Anything Midas touches turns to gold. Literally. The curse has helped him to rule Camelot’s underworld with an iron fist. He has more money and more power than anyone else in the kingdom. He’s convinced there’s nothing he can’t buy. One look at Gwen and Midas knows that he’s about to make his most brilliant purchase, yet. He’s about to own the one woman in the world he would give anything to possess. All he has to do to claim her is somehow win a war against the smartest man in Camelot, hide his growing feelings from Gwen, deal with his overprotective bodyguard’s paranoia about the queen’s hidden motivations, and adjust to a five year old demanding bedtime stories from a gangster. Simple, right?

The Contract: Gwen’s deal is simple: If Midas marries her, she’ll make him King of Camelot. It’s a fair bargain. Midas will keep her enemies away and she’ll give him the respectability that money can’t buy. She never expects Midas to agree so quickly. Or for their practical business arrangement to feel so… complicated. Midas isn’t the tawdry, feral animal that Arthur railed against. He’s a kind and gentle man, who clearly needs Gwen’s help just as much as she needs his. In fact, the longer she’s around Midas the more Gwen realizes that their “fake marriage” might be more real than she ever imagined.

And finally – I don’t usually cover re-releases but this is Susan Grant! with an expanded version of her Pets In Space 1 story (PETS IN SPACE 2 out October 10th):

STAR HERO: A STAR SERIES NOVELLA

A Marine serving in the galactic frontier, Lieutenant Lukas Frank has a lot in common with a street dog named Bang-Bang; they both started off as scrappy orphans fighting to survive–and beat the odds. Things change when Bang-Bang leads Lukas to starpilot Captain Carlynn Riga. The tough war hero learns what it means to surrender–his heart. Lukas’s struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, threaten to tear the three of them apart, but nothing threatens them more than when Carlynn goes missing in action. Now the rugged, emotionally scarred Marine and his K-9 partner must find Carlynn and bring her home, or risk losing everything he has finally found worth fighting for.

(Expanded from the novella “Stray”, originally published in the Pets in Space 1 Anthology)

And I have an award winning SFR novel on sale – STAR CRUISE: OUTBREAK

Buy Links: Apple iBooks Amazon Kobo Barnes & Noble

canva 99 cent sale

LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:

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My standard Notes and Caveats:

The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.

(NOTE: If the author provides me with buy links I insert those; otherwise I default to Amazon and iBooks. Pricing and availability are current as of the day I prepare the post – things can change fast in the ebook world LOL.)

Also, I often include only the beginning of the book blurb…