For fans of determined plus-sized heroines and cinnamon-roll bear shifters, A Polar Expedition is the first standalone novella in the Shades of Sanctuary series, where the vibes are cozy, the heat is high, and the mates are monstrous. Grab a cup of tea and snuggle in because while the burn might be slow, the HEA is only a few hours away!

The crew of the Scarlet Gaze are figuring out what they want to do now that Lord Straik sa'Rin is no longer running a corsair ship. Some of the a'ani crew want to run a cantina on Risda III. Kazex just wants Ruthie. Ruthie just wants to have a nervous breakdown. Well, she wants Kazex, too. The delicious a'ani chief of security has been a steady, protective, delicious presence ever since she joined the crew. He's made it clear that he loves Ruthie as she is, nervous wreck and all. But Ruthie's afraid of what will happen to their easy friendship if she asks for more.

In the heart of Adenashire, where elfish enchantments and dwarven delights rule, Arleta Starstone, a human confectionist works twice as hard perfecting her unique blend of baking and apothecary herbs. So when an orc neighbor secretly enters her creations into the prestigious Elven Baking Battle, Arleta faces a dilemma. Being magicless, her participation in the competition could draw more scowls than smiles. And if Arleta wants to prove her talent and establish her culinary reputation, this human will need more than just her pastry craft to sweeten the odds.

One of the many engineers that keep Beta, the city under the sea, running, Mira only wants to make her family proud and to prove herself worthy. She knows the mysterious city better than anyone and it's her dream to help it flourish. Then, on a solo job in an abandoned section of the city, she encounters a monster of legend: an undine, a dangerous merman from an ancient civilization, long forgotten.

Evie Sage didn't mean to become the right-hand woman to the kingdom's most terrifying villain. One minute, she was applying for an entry-level position that promised "light paperwork and occasional beheadings," and the next, she was knee-deep in magical mayhem, murder plots, and an entirely inappropriate crush on her brooding, sharp-jawed, walking disaster of a boss.

Stuck slinging pizzas in the deadest of dead-end jobs, I make a wish. In a blink, I'm teetering on top of a standing stone in Faerie, where I have magical powers! And monsters fighting over me! Thank god, the orc wins. A fierce and deadly warrior, Rovann's nothing but gentle with me.

Henrietta Doryn has never enjoyed fighting. She'd rather be in the kitchen baking cookies. But it's her duty as Warrior Princess to face off against the forces of evil. As such, she's unceremoniously shooed from her kingdom to go eliminate the all-powerful Dark Lord next door. Keith Monfort has never enjoyed ruling with an iron fist. He'd prefer to be in his workroom tinkering with practical magic. But it's his duty to lead the Dark Enchanted Forest and the forces of evil. So when Henrietta shows up at his door, he's only too happy to invite her in for tea to talk it out instead.

When my sister thrifts an aged map with iridescent lettering leading to a town called Ever, I roll my eyes. According to a quick internet search, the town doesn't exist. We only manage to find it with the help of a sexy gas station owner who offers to come for me if I call him. Swoon. I quickly learn that Shepherd isn't actually human; nobody in town is. News flash—he's a gargoyle—a dominant, possessive, crème brûlée-loving monster. That should terrify me, but something about him keeps me coming back.

Antônia is back in London after the passing of her father. Living overseas most her life, without the burden of family affairs, she is accustomed to a life that allows her to do as she pleases without answer to anyone. The missive changes everything, however. She will do as she must, but if her husband thinks he will rule her, he will be sadly mistaken. Hiding behind the guise of a beastly baron, Louis Lockheart, the unseelie king, has little patience for the unsavory human world. He tolerates it for only one purpose: to find the one he was betrothed to long ago.

Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. So it’s out of the mortuary and into the dating scene. Lark Thompson came to Galway, Ireland to embrace life, not be reminded of losing her husband by moving in next to a funeral home. Then, the vivacious Texan animator learns of painfully shy Callum’s dilemma and makes it her mission to help him find The One.

Two years after the Unravelling revealed monsters and their hidden realm to the world, garden designer Ellie Harding seems to have her life together, living out her cottagecore dreams on the picturesque island of Motuwai, New Zealand. What she never expected was for Van Livingston, the wealthy American she grew up with every summer, to walk back into her life nine years after a tragic event destroyed their romantic relationship. What's more, it turns out Van is a wolf—a hybrid werewolf/wolf-shifter, to be exact—with two wolves and two wolf forms.

I'm the next in line for Fyrifirar Tribe Jarl, a skilled warrior, and definitely not good at chopping down trees. But I can't stop thinking about the tiny human female who we'd found near our village with eleven other human females. She's so small, barely larger than an orkin child, and so lovely I can't get her out of my mind. And then I went and nearly killed her while felling a tree to distract myself. Yet somehow, she still ended up in my arms.

The Thief Kingdom is a place hidden within the world of Aadilor. Many whisper of its existence, but few have found this place, where magic and pleasure abound. There, the mysterious Thief King reigns supreme with the help of the Mousai, a trio of revered and feared sorceresses. Larkyra Bassette may be the youngest of the Mousai, but when she sings her voice has the power to slay monsters. When it’s discovered the Duke of Lachlan is siphoning a poisonous drug from the Thief Kingdom and using it to abuse his tenants, Larkyra is offered her first solo mission to stop the duke.

Raised to cut throats, hunt Unseelie monsters, and ride dragons, Berserker-blooded Revna is the best of the best. But she has been assigned the impossible. Her king demands that she kill the ruthless Fae king. With no other options, Revna must glamour herself and hide among the Fae king’s bevy of potential mates. But all of her training will be useless if she can’t figure out how to feign love.

As an elven weaponsmith, Elara is an expert in crafting beautiful, deadly things. When an underwater city known as the Deep sends for her help, she's determined to answer the call . . . but between murderous gangsters and razor-sharp foreign politics, Elara is ill-equipped to handle the situation on her own.

Clara is an Obligate—a human servant at the Court of Dawn. She doesn’t know why. She knows only that she broke the Pledge and must therefore spend her days obliging the every whim of a capricious fae princess. If she can keep her head down and follow the rules, she might survive to the end of her Obligation, spending her days working in the vast palace library.

Dark lord, demon spawn, prophesied realm destroyer. With a demon for a father, Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne’s destiny could be nothing but nefarious, and with the completion of his most vicious spell, Damien is on the cusp of fulfilling the evil inevitability all of his dark machinations have led to. And then, her—bubbly, obnoxious, blonde.

Being sired by a Madrid is supposed to be a blessing, but for Tempest, it's a curse that leaves her orphaned, penniless, and enslaved to a blood thirsty crown on the brink of war. Found too unruly to become a ward of the court, she's thrust into the care of the King's Hounds - the assassins and warriors responsible for protecting the kingdom. Driven by rage and an oath to avenge her mother's memory, Tempest throws herself into training.

Reyna Darragh despises the scheming ways of the fae courts—she'd rather be on the battlefield. But as the daughter of a High King, her hand in marriage can end the war faster than her sword. So, with her realm in tatters, she agrees to marry her enemy, Prince Thane. The very same prince who killed hundreds of her kind during the war. Reyna has a far greater scheme in mind. To save her kingdom from the vicious prince, she plans to marry him, make him king, and then murder him so that she can take the throne herself. But as she grows closer to securing the crown, traitorous desire stirs.

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

Naia, the daughter of the High Sea Goddess, is an embarrassment. She holds no title and no power but is the key to a curse placed centuries ago on her mother: Naia must form a union with a god from an opposing family. When the day arrives for her arranged marriage, she turns to the High God of Death and Curses for help. He assists Naia under one condition—she must accept a curse, blindly. Willing to do whatever it takes to escape her mother’s kingdom beneath the sea, Naia agrees and flees to the Mortal Land.

In the heart of Adenashire, where elfish enchantments and dwarven delights rule, Arleta Starstone, a human confectionist works twice as hard perfecting her unique blend of baking and apothecary herbs. So when an orc neighbor secretly enters her creations into the prestigious Elven Baking Battle, Arleta faces a dilemma. Being magicless, her participation in the competition could draw more scowls than smiles. And if Arleta wants to prove her talent and establish her culinary reputation, this human will need more than just her pastry craft to sweeten the odds.

Bria Radcliffe is Charmed, blessed at birth with the Mark of the fortune goddess. Armed with divine favor, Bria has survived freak storms, unearthed buried treasure, and secured her family's fortune. Now she has no shortage of admirers clamoring to share her magical luck—of her hometown's hundred eligible bachelors, ninety-nine have proposed. Only Weston Wildes, her brother's best friend, remains silent. He's the only man Bria wants, but he bears the Mark of a Null—one whose touch can permanently negate her luck.

Henrietta Doryn has never enjoyed fighting. She'd rather be in the kitchen baking cookies. But it's her duty as Warrior Princess to face off against the forces of evil. As such, she's unceremoniously shooed from her kingdom to go eliminate the all-powerful Dark Lord next door. Keith Monfort has never enjoyed ruling with an iron fist. He'd prefer to be in his workroom tinkering with practical magic. But it's his duty to lead the Dark Enchanted Forest and the forces of evil. So when Henrietta shows up at his door, he's only too happy to invite her in for tea to talk it out instead.

I dream that my mate will give me the home I never had. Will give me the life I never had. One day, my dream comes true. The finding-my-mate part. That's it. Now, I'm stuck with a mate who's already taken. One who views me as worthless, and who never lets me forget it. Every. Single. Day. As an omega, I never had a place in my pack. It doesn't take me long to learn that I don't have one with my mate either. I might just find one in Winter Lake.

Though she is the oldest daughter, Princess Faraine lives in the background, shunned from court and kept out of sight. Her chronic illness makes her a liability to the crown, and she has learned to give place to her beautiful, favored younger sister in all things. When the handsome and enigmatic Shadow King comes seeking a bride, Faraine is not surprised that her sister is his choice. When King Vor meets the lively Princess Ilsevel, he quickly agrees to a marriage arrangement. So why can’t he get the haunting eyes of her older sister out of his head?

Cursed with dark magic, living virtuously has always eluded Celeste, but she’s determined to right the wrongs she wrought in the sleepy village of Briarwyke and maybe even find her ever after, happiness unrequired and, as she sees it, undeserved. But darkness accompanies Celeste as keenly as clumsiness and shame, and when she accidentally releases a new evil on Briarwyke, she must find a divine source of magic to destroy it.

In the dark underbelly of the mob, Tristan Caine has been an anomaly. As the only non-blooded member in the high circle of the Tenebrae Outfit, he is an enigma to all. His skills are unparalleled, his morality is questionable, and his motives are unknown. He is lethal and he knows it. As does Morana Vitalio, the genius extraordinaire daughter of the rival family. What Caine does with weapons, Morana does with computers. When a twenty-year-old mystery resurfaces, Morana infiltrates Caine's house, intent on killing him, unaware of a tie that binds them together.

When Finlay Ashowan joins the staff of the King and Queen of Daxaria, he’s an enigma. No one knows where he comes from or how he came to be where he is, which suits Fin just fine. He’s satisfied simply serving as the royal cook, keeping nosy passersby out of his kitchen, and concocting some truly uncanny meals. But Fin’s secret identity doesn’t stay hidden for long. After all, it’s not every day a house witch and his kitten familiar, Kraken, take to meddling in imperial affairs.

Agenor, Lord Protector of the Fae Isles and right hand of the Mother herself, doesn’t expect anything to still surprise him after twelve centuries of life. Finding a taunting note from an anonymous thief in his wardrobe is enough to rouse his curiosity, though. Enough to do the unthinkable—write back. Then he finds out he’s been exchanging letters with a humble human. Worse, a human challenging him to his face.