Rachel

It started out like any other Tuesday. I spent 12 hours writing algorithms for one of the largest companies in the world and then came home to work on a pet project of mine—feeding facts about the men I knew into a formula to find my perfect match before my twenties came barreling to a close.

Alejandra is a survivor. So far, she's lived through abduction, a near drowning, and being lost in an alien forest. She thought things were finally starting to go her way when the most intense, grumpy, and insanely tempting man she's ever seen rescues her from a monster. But sadly, that's just when everything gets even more complicated. Auzed has his orders. He is to find the missing human and deliver her to Tremanta. Getting caught trespassing in Sauven territory was not part of the plan. Neither was pretending to be the sexy beauty's fiancé.

Stirringly evocative, thought provoking, and often jaw dropping, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O'Neill's awe-inspiring 400-mission career that included his involvement in attempts to rescue "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips and culminated in those famous three shots that dispatched the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden.

I don’t do complicated. I sure as hell don’t do love. With graduation in sight, I’ve made it almost four years at Wolf Hall without getting tangled up in BS with girls. I especially want nothing to do with her: Presley. Maria. Witton. Chase. The timid little mouse with the red hair, who can’t even look my way without hyperventilating. She’s nothing to me. Beautiful, sure, but I’ve had plenty of beautiful women. I’m perfectly content ignoring her.

After four months of unemployment, former book editor Clara Montgomery is still stuck sleeping on her little brother's ugly couch in Queens. Determined to keep her minuscule savings account intact, she takes a job clearing out abandoned storage units. When Clara comes across a unit that was once owned by an escort service, she finds the brothel "resume" of a younger Caspian Tiddleswich...an astonishingly famous British actor. Clara manages to track down Caspian's contact info, intending to reassure him that her lips are sealed.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally - a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided. Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead - all except for one strange, new alien being.

Mallory Sullivan is ready to start her new life. After graduating at the top of her class, she's landed one of the most coveted internships in the United States. Hard work and determination have gotten her to this moment of living the life she only dreamed of while growing up in foster care. She never expected Oz to be the greatest culmination of those dreams. But sometimes fate determines who you fall in love with. Who makes you lose control. Who owns your soul. And then you realize it wasn't fate at all.

Dear Mr. Vega: I felt it necessary to follow up on today’s meeting, since we weren’t able to speak candidly in front of your son. I was shocked to discover that you are Ryder’s dad. I think it would be best if we just pretend that we met in person for the first time today. Your son is a very bright (flirtatious and talkative) student and since his education is a top priority for both of us, I hope I can count on you to respectfully refrain from grinning at me, using that sexy tone of voice, and undressing me with your annoyingly beautiful brown eyes....

They say the mistakes of our past shape our future. That we’re molded from experience, from heartache, and from pain. What happens when your past is riddled with regrets? How do you see through the fog, to navigate the path to your future? One breath. One second. One minute. One hour. One day at a time, you learn to live with your unexpected odds.

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, the universe decides to tilt your world on its axis. I had a plan, and I was moving forward until the day my world was flipped upside down. It’s a challenge I wasn’t prepared for, but one I had to face. How do you combine the life you thought you had to the one you’re living? One breath. One second. One minute. One hour. One day at a time, you learn to live with your unexpected bond.