On Wings, Rising

Second chances are one in a million.

Encounters, Book 2

Kine Raelne and his crew came to Quarn on a desperate, illegal mission to try to save his home planet. Captured and condemned to death for their crime, he and two other mission survivors are offered a chance to redeem themselves—and to go home, if they’re lucky. But it means working with a bunch of Quarnians who have every reason to distrust them.

Suaj qel Gwan knows what it’s like to be the outsider, and he has more cause than most to hate Raelne and his kind for what they did. Suaj’s telepathic ability might mean he has to work with the offworlders, but it doesn’t mean he has to like it.

As they learn to work together to achieve their goals, Raelne and Suaj find within each other a reason to reach beyond their ingrained prejudice. But there are others who would use their fragile trust to achieve their own ends…

The mind may forget, but the heart remembers…

A Forces of Nature novel.

It doesn’t take Hayden Garrett’s college degree to figure out why Officer Josh Peterson is the last man alive he wants to face. Not because of the council’s harebrained idea to broker peace between their clans.

It’s the sweaty palms that prove Hayden never got over his embarrassing attraction to his alpha rival. Mate with him? Nothing fills Hayden with more desire—or dread. Josh doesn’t have a gay hair in his fur. At least not one he owns up to.

Despite Josh’s reputation for being a connoisseur of female flesh, he’s always cared about Hayden. In a different world, they might have been friends. Now, face to face after five years, the bitterness in Hayden’s eyes fills Josh with regret for what could have been—should have been.

As Hayden and Josh journey through rituals—and intimacies—that will knit their souls for life, passion and anger flares, revealing a powerful secret. The truth about a long-ago sharing of hearts, bodies and souls that ended in tragedy…

White knights don’t always come in human form.

Part of the Hearts from the Ashes collection

All Devlin wants to do is find a good new home for his business and his pack. He’s not looking for any complications, but he finds something he never expected—a mate. A mate with a whole lot of energy who attracts trouble like a magnet.

Laine Campbell never means to get himself into hot water, but everything has a way of getting tangled up between his feet. He needs more than just a mate—he needs a savior.

When Dev turns up at a pack get-together, Laine finds both. The two werewolves have an instant attraction, but the pack Alpha is determined to keep Laine for himself. Dev soon learns the only way to protect his mate is to fight, not just for the top spot—but for his life.

Just one small problem. His accident-prone mate is determined to help him…

When the Starfire is struck by a mysterious and deadly plague, the captain and crew have no choice but to throw themselves on the mercy of the healers of a nearby, uncharted planet. First Officer Ryan Nelson accompanies the sickest patients to the planets surface, where he is put under the supervision of Juo-ta-ri, an apprentice to one of the healers who is helping the crew. The two have barely begun to explore the chemistry between them when Ryans body betrays him and he falls ill as well. Now its a race against time to see if Juo can bring the fever down before Ryans hallucinations kill him.

Reprint: This short story was originally published in the Dreamspinner Press anthology Size Matters.

Revisit Ryan and Juo in Hot Cargo by Nicki Bennett and Ariel Tachna.

No trust without truth.

Fleeing his murderous brother-in-law, Vicont Yveni, heir to the Duchy of Sardelsa, seeks safety abroad until he can reclaim his birthright. Instead he ends up shipwrecked, captured and taken to the one country where he dare not reveal his identity. Worse, he’s just been bought by a man with no love for Sardelsa.

Ripped from his family as a child and sold into slavery, Paole’s natural gift for healing made him a valuable asset but did little to shield him from abuse and prejudice. Though he’s now free, for the first time in his life he’s alone—and he hates it. All he wanted was an apprentice and traveling companion in this hostile land. Instead he winds up the unintentional owner of a slave with a mulish attitude…and a suspicious history.

Yveni dares not tell the truth about who he is, and Paole refuses to trust him until he comes clean. The battle of wills only serves to heat up a sizzling attraction that throws a new complication into the mix: love.

Paole wants acceptance. Yveni wants his birthright. Even if they manage to come to an understanding, forces are gathering against them that could tear them apart forever…

Captain Trent Rolston knows his space pirate crew isnt the biggest or the best, but that doesnt keep him from diligently finding new targets to pillage. He also has a more personal mission: to discover whats been haunting his mechanic, Vince, and convince him they could be more than friends.

But Vince is harboring deep secrets. Hes living his life on the run as a human, hiding his alien heritage, hunted by his own tribe for daring to love an enemy. Despite his fidelity to his deceased partner, Vince realizes he's still affected by the mating cycle, and the drive to claim Trent is too powerful to avoid for long… and Trent isnt helping, despite the danger as Vinces tribe tracks him down and marks the lovers for death.