Love and War (Steffan)

Her survival depends on a dangerous alien fugitive. Skye Chantrell has just escaped a war zone. She's carrying the stolen antidote to a deadly bioweapon. When her damaged shuttle crashes on a remote lunar outpost, she's captured by the leader of a rogue group of barbaric aliens. Now her people's fate-not to mention her own-rests in the hands of the Seven Systems' most feared and hated criminal. A man with the face of a brutal thug, and the eyes of an angel. Hunter Tarthasian has every reason to hate the Regime. He and his comrades have gone rogue, vowing to use every means at their disposal to bring down the evil Premiere. Now, they're wanted and on the run, holed up in an abandoned outpost while they plan their next move. The last thing Hunter needs is a female human civvy with a terrible secret crash-landing on his doorstep. Especially when she starts to awaken feelings in him that have no place in his life as a rebel leader. Feelings that could very easily get all of them killed.

She made a blood vow to save him. But first, she'll have to save herself. Ryder isn't a stupid woman, and she knows better than to volunteer for things. Volunteering always gets you into trouble. So it's really no surprise when her undercover operation to retrieve Temple Akenzua from the belly of a Regime prison goes tits-up in fairly short order. With Ryder stuck on the wrong side of the bars, the rescue mission has now become a mission of survival. Her only hope-and Temple's-lies with her comrades in the Shadow Wing. Ryder just needs to stay alive until they come up with a plan. Of course, that would be quite a bit easier if her former bond mate wasn't dead-set on seeing her, well… dead. And, as a Regime official, he has the clout to make sure she disappears without a trace. When all hell breaks loose, the human Ryder was supposed to rescue suddenly becomes her only ally as they fight to protect each other and make it to freedom. Ryder was supposed to be the one doing the saving in this scenario. It never occurred to her that she and Temple might be able to save each other.

Vithii military cyborgs never go rogue. At least, that's the official line. How could they, when their emotion centers have been ripped out and replaced with tech? No, cyborgs are only good at three things-following orders, destroying whatever target you point them at, and walking calmly into the vaporization chamber when it's time for them to be decommissioned. PX-12-better known to his friends as Pax-adequately performed two of those functions during his stint in the Ilarian military. D-8, his unit-sibling, performed all three exceptionally well. For that reason, when D-8's unique distress beacon activates some seven years after Pax saw him destroyed, it would doubtless be quite surprising if Pax were still capable of being surprised. Someone in the Regime is recycling the minds of decommissioned cyborgs, turning them into weapons even more horrific than they were before. To stop it, Pax will need the help of telepathic Vitharan ambassador-and part time spy-Nahleene Veila'ana, a woman whose motivations are as opaque as her past. Since his escape from his military masters, Pax has operated using a strict self-imposed code based on logic. He never expected to experience emotion again-not even somebody else's emotions. Can a fragile mental connection forged in crisis overcome the damage done by a ruthless military research team? To find out, Pax and Veila'ana will first have to prevent an atrocity born from the sins of the past. Preferably, before it destroys the future. * * *From USA Today bestselling author R. A. Steffan comes a sizzling sci-fi romance series, perfect for fans of J. R. Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon. Strap in tight, because all's fair in LOVE AND WAR.

Ash is dead. Okay, that's a lie. He's not. Not really. Somehow, that doesn't make things any better. After reports of a fatal hovercar accident outside the Capital-complete with a charred body and DNA identification-it seems at first that all is lost in the Shadow Wing's quest to infiltrate the Premiere's inner circle. But one member of the vigilante group refuses to accept the evidence of his human comrade's death. Draven knows Ash. He knows that devious mind, and more importantly, he knows the martyr complex that lies beneath it. He should know. Draven is also a master at hiding. He's done it for most of his life. Now, though, he's done living in the shadows. Can Draven track down a man who is so intent on not being found that he would stage his own death to prevent it? And if he does succeed in finding Ash, what then? No one ever said that emerging from the darkness of the past was easy. No one ever said that forbidden love was painless. Especially when the object of that love is convinced he's damaged goods.

His fate is to save a planet in crisis. Survival comes second to that. That's what Kade of House Shadow Wing has always believed, ever since his parents were executed for their political beliefs and he was jailed for daring to be their son. Just his luck that a female human diplomat with hard eyes and a silver tongue would choose the most inconvenient possible moment to barrel in, upending all of Kade's carefully constructed plans. With the situation on Ilarius descending into chaos, Ambassador Isadora Martinez makes him question all of his assumptions about the future. A former Terra Novan Special Forces Major and current pain in Kade's ass, Martinez seems to think there's a way out of this mess that doesn't involve blood running like a river through the streets of the Capital. But talk is cheap in Kade's world. When the pair become the prime targets of an out-of-control Regime desperate to cling to power, their ability to work together will mean life or death not only for themselves, but also for the besieged human population they're struggling to protect. The war for Ilarius' future just went from cold to hot. Until it's won, Kade can't afford to think about a future beyond the fight for survival.

They're fighting on the same side. They just don't know it yet. Skye Chantrell has just escaped a war zone. She's carrying the stolen antidote to a deadly bioweapon. When her damaged shuttle crashes on a remote lunar outpost, she's captured by the leader of a rogue group of alien vigilantes. Now her people's survival - not to mention her own - rests in the hands of the Seven Systems' most feared and hated fugitives. Hunter Tarthasian and his ragtag band of revolutionaries have every reason to hate the corrupt Ilarian Regime. Branded as criminals, hunted like animals, they've holed up in an abandoned outpost to plan their next move. The last thing they need is a female human civvy with a terrible secret crash-landing on their doorstep. Especially when she starts to awaken feelings in Hunter that have no place in his life as a rebel leader. Feelings that could very easily get all of them killed.