My name is Vinna, and I've been keeping a lot of secrets. You would too if you'd experienced some of the weird shit I have: red-eyed monsters chasing me, markings on my body appearing out of nowhere, a strange power that crackles colorfully over my skin from time to time, and don't get me started on the weapons I can conjure up almost out of nowhere.

I never thought in a million years that the bones would choose me. The power, the magic, was supposed to go to someone else in the family. I was counting on it. But now my Grammy Ruby is gone, and here the bones sit on my kitchen table. I thought bitter relatives would be my biggest problem. But I’ve barely had time to find a familiar before trouble comes a-knocking. The kind that possesses smoldering green eyes and a smile that can turn any woman dumb. His name is Rogan Kendrick, and he’s certain that someone is hunting down and taking my kind. According to him, I’m next.

It’s never a good combo to be broke and desperate. You do stupid things. Like accidentally sign your soul over to hell. When I interviewed for a new security job, I didn’t bat an eye that it was for a literal graveyard shift...headstones and all. I mean, at the hourly rate they were offering, who cares? I got this. Turns out, I’m not guarding a graveyard like I thought. It seems I’ve just walked my broke ass into protecting a gate to hell. Yeah...I don’t got this.

Every beat of my heart is the tick of a time bomb, reminding me to squeeze as many thrills out of life as I can. A horde of nightmarish monsters jumping me in the middle of the night? Nope, that's too much even for me. So when three demonic figures leap out of the shadows to my defense, my choices are trust my unexpected champions... or die. Not exactly a tough decision. The beastly men wrench me away from my home, claiming they'll keep me safe. They say there's something special about me—something the others want to devour and they mean to protect.

Don't get me wrong, waking up to discover my ex-husband finally killed me wasn't fun. Finding out I had to get a job and pay Afterlife taxes about 10 minutes later? Let's just say, this wasn't exactly the eternal reward I was hoping for. But beggars can't be choosers, and being a demon sure as hell beats my last occupation. I’m well on my way to retirement behind the pearly gates when the impossible happens. The Risk Witches have a vision.

When you're a 19-year-old girl who can beat the crap out of every wolf in your pack, suddenly it's not so great. Love isn't everything, I know; but even the most powerful she-wolf submits to her mate. If you can't be dominated, you can't be mated. And an unmated wolf has no place in the pack.

Ten years ago, one bad choice lost me my pack. Since then, I’ve been a rogue wolf, and I’m content to stay that way until the Moon Goddess shows up and tells me to find my mate.

I'm Charisma Carter, tech genius and nerd extraordinaire. I actually used to be Charisma Silverstorm, member of one of the six elite Arcane Families, until my family shunned me when I turned 18 because my magic wasn't strong enough. However, where I lack in magic I more than make up for with the tech I develop, if I do say so myself. Apparently I'm not the only one. From the minute I received my diploma as a magical engineer, it seems like my world has turned upside down. Now, members of all six families are competing to get me to work for them.

When mages slaughter my parents in front of me, I’m allowed no time to mourn. It turns out I’m the long-lost heir to a royal family of dark magic - and the four scorching hot guys I’m meant to rule beside have no patience for my grief. They expect me to fall in line. Learn my lessons at this college of magical villainy. Cultivate a power that feeds off people’s pain. Take my proper place as a vicious queen among ruthless kings.

You know you’re invisible when even your bullies forget to pick on you. That’s me, Bettina Blair, hidden in plain sight. No matter how hard I try, I just never fit in with my classmates. Now I know why. I’m a witch...apparently. One little demon attack and my parents confess their ugly secret…and ship me off to an elite academy of magic—for witches only. I just don't belong here, and Jackson Lancaster keeps reminding me every single chance he gets. This boy is the most insufferable, intolerable, unbearable, judgmental person to ever have the right to be that gorgeous.

Kotah, Brant, Jaxx, and Hawk grew up hearing the legends of how one day, the phoenix would rise and unite the realms. They never thought it would happen, and they certainly never thought the fae universe would choose each of them to be her fated mates.

I’ve spent my entire life running from my past and staying out of trouble. That’s how I’ve kept alive ever since my parents were killed by the Black Dragon, who’s ruled the world under her oppressive talons for as long as anyone can remember. But it’s hard to keep a low profile when four handsome strangers turn up in your village claiming you’re destined to save the world. According to them, they’ve been chosen by the gods to become elemental dragons — and I’m their fated mate.

After my plane was sabotaged and crashed into the jungle, I rescued five male survivors from the wreckage. I could have let them die, but no, I decided to pull their stupid carcasses from the wreckage. I’m immortal, not a monster. Yes, they’re hot; now is not the time to do something about that. The five sexy jaguar-shifters are on a mission to locate someone, a rare phoenix-shifter. Phoenix, the legendary creature, reborn every time it dies. Wait…could they be looking for me? It doesn’t matter since they walked away and left me to die in the Amazon rainforest.

Real wolves bite...I was taught my whole life about the importance of true mates, how when you find that one wolf for you, everything falls into place. Everyone who taught me that was a liar. When I found my true mate, happily ever after sure as hell didn't start, but hell definitely began. I ran away, and now I've been searching for peace for weeks as I drive around the country. I didn't mean to take the wrong road. I didn't mean to make it to that small town. And I didn't mean to meet two men, who set me and my wolf on fire.

"Happily Ever After" wasn't supposed to come with a do-over option. But when my husband of 20 years packs up and heads for greener pastures, and my son heads away to college, that's exactly what my midlife becomes. A do-over. This time, though, I plan to do things differently. Age is just a number, after all, and at 40 I'm ready to carve my own path. Eager for a fresh start, I make a somewhat unorthodox decision and move to a tiny town in the Sierra foothills.