The charming town of Eastshore Isle is my hiding place, but I need someone strong to keep me safe…

I’m pretty sure there’s rules about an elementary teacher hooking up with a student’s parent, but what if I didn’t know that’s who he was? See, I’ve spent the last few months getting hot and heavy with this guy on the app MonsterSmash, but we haven’t exchanged names. This made our parent-teacher conference a little…awkward.

Sakkara is the town’s mayor, and he has a protective streak a mile wide. I confess, I really like that, and right now, I want nothing more than to let him take care of me. Christmas is approaching, and it would be so nice to allow myself to let down my guard for a few weeks and experience the joy of the season with him and his precious daughter.

But I’ve been hiding here from the threat of my past, and when it rears its ugly head, I know I can’t put Sakkara and his family in danger. Besides, what would a guy like him—successful, strong, and oh-so-delicious—want with a gal who brings nothing but trouble? And why does he seem determined to protect me at all costs?

I thought my one-night stand with a hot older guy was just a rebound, but it left me with a memento that could ruin my life…or perfect it?

My whole life, I've been the perfect daughter: perfect hair, perfect body, perfect grades, perfect career. Of course my mother would choose the perfect fiancé for me! Thank God I wised up in time and dumped the jerk, but maybe I shouldn't have jumped into bed with the first hottie who winked at me.

But how was I supposed to resist? Yeah, he's an orc, and he's muscled and tatted and definitely the take-charge kind of guy…exactly what I love. Little did I realize, when I snuck out of his bed, that he'd left me with a present.

Now I'm pregnant and hiding from my mistakes with my sister on Eastshore Isle, worried that I've ruined my perfect life…and I come face-to-face with Giza again.

When fate—or more accurately, my meddling little sister—throw us together, I'm hard-pressed to maintain the I can do it all myself attitude I've kept up my entire life, especially with the way Giza is so desperate for the chance to know his child. And the more time I spend with him, the more I come to suspect…I don't always have to be perfect.

I'm beginning to think he needs me as much as I need him…

Look, there are plenty of things I just learned about the gorgeous, seven-foot-tall perfect specimen of male living next door to me:

Karnak can scent everything about me, including those times I thought I was alone in my hot tub and I decided to experiment with different water jet settings.

He's really good at finding lost kitties (not a euphemism).

In the four years I've lived next door to him, the orc has known—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that I'm his fated Mate. And apparently it's killing him to stay away.

But our beach town of Eastshore is dying, and I'm the one tasked with saving it. No pressure, right? And the fourth thing I've just learned about Karnak is that despite being the world's largest, greenest recluse, he's also the only one who can help me save our cozy, tightknit community.

Unfortunately, he has this silly idea he deserves to be alone. If I can't convince him this town is perfect for him, then how can I prove I'm perfect for him, too?

He's growly, he's green, and he's no Prince Charming…but he's about to save my butt!

I'm pretty sure there's a rulebook somewhere that says the owner of a successful small-town bakery must be cheerful, friendly, and a little bit curvy, which means I'm nailing it. But my family doesn't see it that way, especially since there's no handsome doctor or lawyer keeping me company. They're visiting Eastshore Isle for our summer celebration, and they're planning to bring me a date to cure my case of singlehood.

Desperate to escape their matchmaking, I make up a story about my own knight in shining armor, and cast the grumpy, seven-foot-tall town mechanic in this role. It's not like Cairo knows I've been crushing on him forever, so he has no reason to step up and help me out. But when my mother demands proof we're actually dating…Cairo delivers.

Oh boy, does he ever.

He's definitely not the kind of guy my family wants me to be with, and he's clearly not really interested in me. But as we spend more time together to sell the story, I realize that we might have the secret ingredient for a perfectly sweet romance. What's it going to take to convince my overbearing family—and Cairo himself—that the pair of us are perfect for Eastshore Isle?

I'm a focused and goal-oriented librarian-in-training, so there's no way I'm falling for my himbo roommate, who gives off major golden retriever vibes, right? Right.

But dang. Since the moment I started renting Luxor's spare bedroom, I've been plagued with these inconvenient urges…so being mature, responsible adults, we've decided to deal with them. One time. Once, to rid Lux of his innocence. Once, to rid me of these distracting desires to lick him.

Should've known once wouldn't be enough.

My roommate (with benefits) might be the kind of guy who is always goofing off and laughing and rescuing puppies, but he's turning out to be a surprisingly deep male… And I'm having a hard time thinking of this as temporary. But soon I'll have to leave the adorable small town of Eastshore permanently (there's not many opportunities for wannabe librarians here), so it's best not to get too close.

But with a category two hurricane bearing down on us, I'm going to learn what's truly important.

I have always known my purpose in life was to marry a powerful laird and bear his sons to cement alliances…I just expected him to be, you know, human.

But I forgot the old legends. The ones about the others who come a'raiding through the stone circles during a full moon. The ones about the beasts who steal maidens and make them do terrible things on their altars to the carnal gods.

The eve before my marriage, I am one of those stolen, and I know I should be terrified of this monster and what he's going to do to me…as a public spectacle. But is this not what I was born—and bred—to do?

My captor had best understand one thing: I am not easy prey.

Being stolen by orcs was bad enough, but now I have been saddled with one who thinks himself charming. Aye, so mayhap he is handsome—for an orc. But he is still a tusked, green, seven-foot-tall barbarian, and I have no intention of staying his prisoner.

However, he is a hunter, and when I escape, he tracks me down and makes me…apologize in the best sort of way. I shouldn't think of this as a game, but I can't deny the way it makes my blood pound to be chased through the forest by such a male, and with such pleasure at stake.

He doesn't realize I am a determined sort of female, and I know what I want. If running from him will obtain it, then I will run. And he will hunt.

I am no stranger to being owned by a male, but my new master is something I never imagined…

In my years in the Tarbert household, I have learned my worthlessness, and I pray that being sent with my distant cousin on her way to her new marriage might grant me a chance at some value. I see that hope disappear when our small party is attacked on the way to the wedding…by orcs.

I never imagined the old legends to be true, but I cannot deny them now; these primitive beasts have stolen me and can do what they wish with my body. But one…one protects me. He takes me as spoils of a wager.

I know what I must do: I must make him value me so he will not share me with the others. I must be bold, brazen, and hope he claims me as his own. Why does such a thought not fill me with dread?

Warning: Another super-spicy, instalove romp featuring the Harlot's Guide's list of positions.

My bruised heart doesn't stand a chance against this charmer!

I hate my greedy stepfather and his multi-million dollar company, but I'm so close to being out from under his thumb. All I have to do is visit this tiny town no-one's heard of and sign over a piece of property to one of his cronies, and I'll finally get access to my inheritance. But when I arrive in Eastshore Isle, I realize it's not going to be that easy.

Because this place might be small, but it's also warm, friendly, and totally desperate to keep me from selling the historic district to that developer. So desperate, in fact, that they've assigned an escort to schmooze me: A tall, charming, and utterly gorgeous orc, who just happens to be the internet celebrity I've been crushing on for a year.

Thebes doesn't realize that I don't need champagne, fine dining, and fast cars to sway my resolve; all it takes is his love. But when my stepfather figures out what's going on in Eastshore Isle, I'm never going to get my independence, am I?