First contact changed things on Earth. It opened possibilities that were never before possible. In what started as a trip to participate in an cooperative study, Sara found herself a test subject for breeding compatibility by a species known as the Agraak. Determined that she would not submit to be bred and relocated to serve as a breeder for the rest of her life, she escaped into the wilds of a hostile subarctic planet. Not knowing who to trust, and almost dying on the ice flows, she is rescued by a male larger than life whom her body craves.

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

In the future: A united Earth, to deal with the problem of population control, divides its population into classes of citizen and non-gratis. To be born a non-gratis means a life of little freedoms and the constant possibility of being assigned to work on a colony. Lacking citizenship, every aspect of their life is controlled from where they live down to marriage and childbearing regulations. The only possible escape from life as a non-gratis is to qualify for one of the limited slots available for entrance into the military. 

Civilization is failing in a steady decline. In a last-ditch effort to save themselves, humanity has turned to trying to understand their world even as they seek to protect themselves from the monsters within it. This is how Evelyn Willock found herself stationed in the farthest northern reaches of the habitable zone and answering the call to investigate a strange sighting in the mines much farther to the north where all other human settlements had failed.

Sammi is having the worst weekend. When what was supposed to be a secluded romantic getaway turns into a near-death experience when she is stranded alone in the mountains during a snowstorm by her two-timing boyfriend. She doesn't think it could get worse until an accident leaves her unconscious and vulnerable. She awakens to find herself in a warm cabin, and her rescuer a creature of fantasy - an orc. And he thinks that she will be a perfectly obedient pet. Ha! He wishes.

Especially a matchmaker who works at the kind of paranormal bathhouse that would have grandmothers clutching their pearls. A worse look is a matchmaker experiencing a crisis of confidence. I am that matchmaker. 

For my kind, to be without a mate is to be doomed. I know it is too late–all that awaits me is retirement and death, and I’ve embraced it. But when a suicide mission lands on my old boss’s desk, I’m the one he calls. Who better to tackle the mission in the deep, oppressive mines of my own ancestral homeland, if not an Arachnae already slated to die? And it’s not a rescue mission–he wants me to retrieve the corpse of a billionaire’s daughter kidnapped by a terrorist organization. Except our intel was wrong. She’s alive. Tortured and injured–but alive.

I'm determined to turn Quirky Kingdom into the showpiece it used to be. Problem is—more than just the rides need fixing. It's way more than I can handle on my own. I tap my new neighbor to help—Rexin, a hunky orc handyman who's also a single dad extraordinaire. Since it's summer, he brings his twelve-year-old son to the job with him.

Long have we been alone; without brides, without females to warm us during the long nights, without sweet mates. But we see them from afar, the brides that could be ours. Kept away from us by walls and weapons. Females we long for greatly...obsessively. Human females. And the one with red hair? I want her. I saw her first. I will fight to the death for her. She is mine. So, we’ll come together and make an exchange with their men that will benefit us all. After that? To the winner goes the spoil. Let the hunt begin...but the red-headed female is mine.

The people of my planet are under a devastating genetic curse. To treat the disease’s effects, we’ve turned to cultivating a rare flower. That’s my occupation: raising and studying this flower. That’s precisely what I’m doing the daycycle that an alien drops into our research plot, approaches our plant….