I never thought I’d say this, but being kidnapped by a band of pillaging bandits wasn’t the low point of my life. No, that came when a massive, scarred orc king decided I was his mate and refused to let me leave his cave.

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 . . .

Stuck slinging pizzas in the deadest of dead-end jobs, I make a wish. In a blink, I'm teetering on top of a standing stone in Faerie, where I have magical powers! And monsters fighting over me! Thank god, the orc wins. A fierce and deadly warrior, Rovann's nothing but gentle with me.

As a third daughter on the farming colony of Meterion, Susan’s future prospects aren’t too promising. A pretty face, top-notch skills, and hard work mean nothing if your dowry doesn’t include fertile lands. With her 25th birthday approaching, and no suitors, her only way out is to settle for an arranged marriage through the PMA - the Prime Mating Agency. She just never expected to be paired with a grumpy, massive lizardman, and above all not to grow so fond of his scales and quirky ways.

On a ruined world, I fell in love with a monster. And now he's back. Not that it matters. He is an orc warrior. I am a human woman. Amid a blasted Earth ruined by invasion, Yggy was always kind to me. His handsome face caused me to fall in love. Until one night, when I realized his love for me would lead to my death. Against all protests from my heart, I had to leave Yggy. But my orc never stopped searching for me. He never gave up. He always loved me. But when he found me, he found someone else that shocked him to his core. Our child.

In the blink of an eye, my whole world has collapsed around me. Headed towards my dream vacation, I was snatched right out of the air. My husband, the love of my life, was destroyed right in front of my eyes. He fought bravely trying to protect me from a horror neither one of us could have ever imagined. I find myself standing in the spotlight on a stage.

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?

R'jaal has waited many turns of the seasons for his khui to resonate, only to be disappointed time and time again. But when he is taken captive by strange beings hiding in the very tunnels of the fruit caves, he wakes up to find himself in a strange underground cage. Also in the cage? A very pretty unfamiliar human female. She says her name is Rosalind. She makes his khui sing. It's finally his time. There's a big problem, though—Rosalind has no khui of her own. And if she doesn't get one soon, she could die.

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.

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.

Space ship travel when you've been kidnapped sucks. I don't get a pillow, there's no snacks, and worst of all—the whole ship crashes. Except, it doesn't crash on Earth, or even Mars. Nope, I'm in a whole new galaxy on a foreign planet and some body-builder-looking blue horned aliens with lots of piercings have decided I'm their new play thing. And not in a good way. Until one alien decides he's not going to share, and maybe I have a concussion from the crash, because I'm all about the possessive way he protects me. But there's no way he'll fight his whole clan for me . . . right?

Being kidnapped by aliens is one thing. Being kidnapped by aliens and sent to a prison planet is something infinitely worse. Here in Haven’s prison system, I’m stranded among strangers, enemies, and the most ruthless criminals in the galaxy. There’s no safety for a human woman here, especially not one branded as a murderer. I’m doomed to a fate worse than death. Then, he decides I should be his. His name’s Jutari. He’s seven feet tall, blue, and horned.

A must-listen prequel novella in the Stolen Warriors series from USA Today bestselling author Ella Maven. Contains mature themes.

As merchandise heading to an intergalactic auction, Ashe’s future looks grim. So when a too-sexy-for-his-own-good alien outlaw solicits her help to break them out of lockup, she jumps on the chance. Ashe only needs to survive long enough with the known criminal to get her end of the bargain: freedom. She trusts the clawed and fanged Tallean warrior to keep her safe, but who will keep her safe from him?

A year ago, one of the males in my village hurt me. When he tried to do it a second time, I took care of that problem—permanently. Then I'm selected for the annual Monster Mate Hunt where two village women must enter the forest to be claimed as an orc's bride. If an orc tries to take me, I'll handle him just as I did the man in my village. To my dismay, I'm captured by a band of treacherous thieves. I'm planning my escape when an enormous, snarly orc attacks the camp. He slays the thieves and announces I'm his fated mate.