His name is Taylor McFadden, survivor of eighty-three trips into the ZOO. Now he's retired, and yet his country still needs his skills to save people in the country he calls home.

Meet Kris Kringle. Behind the cheerful facade lies a skilled warrior with a mission: to protect the joy and spirit of Christmas from those who seek to destroy it. When a sinister organization known as The Shadow Collective threatens to manipulate the stock market and bring global chaos, Kris must step out of the workshop and into the fray. The Collective's schemes threaten to unravel the very fabric of the holiday season. He must infiltrate the shadows, outsmart his enemies, and stop the Collective before they can execute their final, devastating attack.

Jack Bennet returns from the war to find the life he left behind has moved on without him. The only option he has to make ends meet lies in a military surplus junkyard starship. What’s a former Combat Search and Rescue soldier to do? Fix up the ship, hire the cheapest pilot—a notorious drunk—and take the first contract that comes up: collect a bounty on one of the most ruthless killers in the Pirate Worlds, a place crawling with thieves, cutthroats and con artists whose primary language is violence. Jack must abandon his nice guy persona, or exploit it, if he is to survive.

He was in a gang but was trying to change his future, when a board member of the elite advanced academy NEXUS made a snap decision and offered him a chance. Then fate, or an unbalanced genius, offered him another. The Nexus Academy is for the elite trainees from Earth, and now trials from our alien allies, as they teach the future generation how to fight, lead, hack, spy, and many other talents and tactics. Hired by companies, governments, and NGOs, these graduates work to pay off the massive debt their training at the academy accumulates.

When three local bullies pick on Iron Hills dwarf Eiravel (Val) Stonehold, she naturally defends herself. Why is she the only one who gets thrown out of the tavern after the brawl? On her way home, two bumbling dragons in human form, Axl and Livius, accost her and hand her a letter. What can the new Eternal Queen Julie possibly want with her? As it turns out, the queen wants her body.