Donna L. Balser

Too many years of hunting psychotic vampires night after night have left Rachel with a need for change. So when the opportunity to travel across the galaxy aboard a Lasaran warship to a utopian planet arises, the powerful Immortal Guardian jumps at the chance. Rachel eagerly looks forward to making a fresh start . . . until an enemy attacks and she ends up alone in an escape pod so far from alliance-occupied space that no one can hear her communications. No one except a renegade cyborg who shouldn't exist.

It's a week before Christmas, and my quaint holiday town, Marshmallow Hollow, is chock-a-block with seasonal activities. Some less fun than others...like the ice sculpting competition my bestie, Stiles, has talked me into. Let's just say, as a pair, Michelangelo we ain't. I'm secretly relieved when our epically awful ice display gets damaged. It gives me a chance to watch my new beau, Hobbs, compete in the sled race. But not five seconds in, and Hobbs' sled-loving dog, Stephen King, escapes my grip to get in on the action - and boy, does he.

Although Raia Glossman is human, she only remembers one world - the alien one where she was raised by her Tearnat Guardian, Ander Rays. Her love for exploration and new discoveries comes from Ander. While on a quest to find the perfect birthday gift, she instead finds two very unusual, and powerful, furry friends. Now all she has to do is explain to her Tearnat guardian why they should be allowed to stay despite his “no pets” policy!

When the topic of grandchildren comes up during a weekly sewing circle, the matriarchs of the founding families seek out the witch Elder to scry to see if their sons have mates. They are shocked to discover that many of their son's mates are out in the world and are human! Fearing that their future daughter in laws will end up dead before being claimed and providing them with grandchildren to spoil, they convince their own mates that something must be done.

Gianna Harris doesn't think twice when joining a program seeking surrogates for an alien shifter planet whose female population was decimated during war. It's better than grieving a mother who doesn't remember her. With tears, Gianna says her good-byes and then travels to planet Daeria, where she meets not one, but two sexy dragons who claim she's their mate.

Nell is a rookie PsyLED agent, using the powers she can channel from deep within the earth to solve paranormal crimes. Nell is called to the Tennessee mansion of a country music star and finds a disturbing scene - dead bodies rapidly decaying before everyone's eyes. The witch on her team, T. Laine, has never seen magic that can steal life forces like this. PsyLED needs to find this lethal killer fast. But when a paranormal-hating FBI agent tries to derail the investigation and the dark magics begin to spiral out of control, they find themselves under attack from all sides.

This is simply not my week. Finding out I can’t cook is appalling. My luncheon with the big-boned Immortal socialites went to Hell in a handbasket. I’ve been hoping to join the Fearsome Five and make it the Psycho Six. However, the chances of that happening now are looking slim. Of course, I could force my way in since I’m Mother freakin’ Nature, but I want to be accepted for being me - and because I’m fabulous. It’s bad enough my two sons, God and Satan, are driving me to crazy town while my best friend, Mr. Rogers, is riding in the backseat having a breakdown....

Cordelia Canton is on a top-secret assignment: travel to Mystic Bayou and use her powers as a touch-know psychic to learn more about the mysterious artifact that’s been pulled from the rift site. She’s partnered with Brendan O’Connor, a rare male banshee whose tall, dark, and broody good looks are a major distraction. Before long, it becomes clear that the artifact they’re studying is sentient - and brimming with supernatural power. Can they harness its magic in time to stop the secret forces conspiring to steal it?

When her brother goes missing, Ruth Hallbrook follows the only lead that she has - a "magical" shell that will supposedly guide her, all she has to do is repeat the words she hears when she puts it to her ear. That would have been fine if she could have understood what it was saying! One wrong word lands her in a kingdom filled with giants, including one very large, irritating one who thinks she belongs in his gilded cage!

Nell can draw magic from the land around her, and lately she's been using it to help the Psy-Law Enforcement Division, which solves paranormal crimes. Joining the team at PsyLED has allowed her to learn more about her powers and the world she always shunned - and to find true friends. Head agent Rick LaFleur shifts into a panther when the moon calls him, but this time, something has gone wrong.