As king of the ice giants, I must have heirs. But our customs do not satisfy me. I do not want a giantess who will bear me a child and then leave to be with another. I would much rather pursue a union the human way: find a partner who will share my bed, bear my children, and stay by my side. Until death do us part.

When space pirates attack the exploratory spaceship I work on and I'm forced to evacuate in an escape pod, I never expected to crash land on an alien planet. I have no idea where any of my fellow crew members are or if they even got away. I'm entirely alone. Or so I think. Instead, I'm rescued from a fierce predator by a towering purple alien with a tail and color-changing tattoos who ignites strange feelings inside me.

When my sister is chosen for the Monster Mate Hunt—an annual event where two women must sacrifice themselves to the orcs for the good of us all—I volunteer in her place. The orcs hunt me as I bolt through the forest. I'm captured by the gruff, growly Commander Jaus, who expects me to cook and clean, plus sleep in his quarters with him at night, despite insisting he doesn't want a mate. Then something changes, and his dark, brooding gaze turns my way . . .

The blue alien warrior pacing in his cage terrifies me. His long dark hair is wild and messy, and his scarred body looks made for murder. I deliver food to him every day, and I'm sure by the way he stares at me that he'd rather eat me. Yet there's something about him that captivates me, and I can't stop watching him. When he lets the snarling, fearsome mask slip, I start to see there's a cool calculation to his actions. I would be risking everything to help him escape, but do I dare let this monster free from his cage?

Abducted off the space station where I teach the standard galactic language, I'm imprisoned with two other women in a cold, dirty cell on an alien ship. We're destined for something worse than death until a fierce, blue-haired alien male rescues us. We recover on his ship with his group of Heveian pirates. There, the attraction that formed when he first carried me in his arms grows into a force neither of us can deny. But something else has taken up residence on the ship. Something that will stop at nothing to destroy us all.

Jorok saved my life after being trapped in a filthy cell. He's gorgeous and way too serious for his own good. To get to know him better, I tag along on an errand, but we're kidnapped and forced to nurse an alien captain's sick crew. To avoid being sold, I pretend to be Jorok's mate (which isn't difficult). I thought things couldn't get worse from there. I was wrong.

Many generations ago, humans fled Earth and sought refuge on the planet Thyre, a world ruled by formidable warlords. In exchange for protection and the right to inhabit Thyre's lands, each year our outposts pay tribute to the warlords. This year, we fall short on our tythes, and the village mayor decides to pay the missing taxes in the form of four women. I'm chosen to be part of the tribute given to Brogan, the Warlord of Grymburg. I don't know what awaits me, but I wasn't prepared for the warlord to take my breath away and claim me.

As a prisoner in the arena, my greatest battle won't be for my life. It'll be for the heart of a woman. As a prisoner in the arena, my greatest battle won't be for my life. It'll be for the heart of a woman. Once I scented the human, she was mine. Every part of me hungered for her. To touch. To taste. To take. But she belongs to my enemy. Claiming her will cost me. I may sacrifice everything. My revenge. My life. My very soul.

I went to space looking for adventure, my job to protect the other women of the expedition. When gray aliens wake me from cryo in the middle of a market, it turns out I'm what's on sale. This sure isn't the fun I dreamed of!

The alien lord holding me prisoner is the most powerful being I've ever encountered. A winged immortal who can kill with a mere wave of his hand. He's arrogant and alien. Demanding and dangerous. Brutal, even beautiful, though I hate him too much to admit it. He hates me, too. But even though my captor despises me, he needs me. He requires a bride for political reasons, and he makes me an offer I have no choice but to accept. Marry him, play the part of his happy wife, and he'll give me the one thing I want most—my freedom.

I accidentally launched an escape pod on my miserable honeymoon—with me on it—and crash-landed in the middle of an alien jungle on a forbidden "emerging civilization" planet, breaking about a hundred Cosmic Syndicate laws. Oh, and I robbed a hot lizard guy with sexy black eyes, the most colorful scales I've ever seen, and a powerful prehensile tail that curls up like a cinnamon roll. Even though I can't understand anything he's saying, my new reptilian friend turns out to be as sweet as honey and spicier than the seasoning he used on the meat I stole from his camp.

Scoring a job at the exclusive and secretive Hotel Castle Verna is exactly what I need to pay off my debt and avoid a punishment I might not survive. The guests are a little eccentric, but they are great tippers. All I have to do is ignore the strange sights, smells, and sounds coming from the guest rooms, and I can remain gainfully employed. Simple, right? Except there's one guest at the hotel who's always watching me with his mismatched black and white eyes.

The rundown human worldship is a bleak place, but it's my home, and it's where all the people I care about live. My mother, my sister, my students, and my sweet fiancé, Nathan. I never imagined I'd be forced to leave...forced to become the mate of a barbaric Darrvason admiral.

When there's no safe place to hide you on Earth, witness protection sends you to another planet. That's how divorcing a crime boss landed me across the galaxy. Unlike the other women here, I don't want to marry one of the . . . okay, fine—gorgeous—Mitran males. After I'm called to testify at my ex's trial, I'm getting back my life on Earth. But Ruzak, the aloof warlord who holds himself apart from the throng of males hoping for a bride, needs my help identifying a spy who may not be as human as she appears. One wrinkle: Ruzak is much more interesting than he appears.

Penelope: One minute I'm conducting important research on a distant planet, and the next, I've fallen through a crack in the surface and am transported to an underground world with terrifying fanged creatures who want to eat me, an army of feathered warriors who rescue me, and a massive horned demon leader who gains power through pain . . . except he's only giving me pleasure.