. . The holidays always seem to bring out the best in everyone, with heartfelt hugs for long-missed friends, sincere smiles in the spirit of the season, and a feeling of magic in the air . . .Here, for the first time, is a collection of paranormal romances celebrating the holidays as never before. From a shape-shifting leopardess who wants a pack-mate to be her soulmate to a surprise snowstorm that brings a surprise gift, these all-new tales by Maggie Shayne, Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh, and Jean Johnson will stir your spirit in all the right places.

    She has a beautiful lake house. Power to rival just about anyone. And seven men that cater to her every desire.What she didn't expect was to be asked to perform a binding ceremony in the local were-bear den and tie herself forever to a were-bear as a permanent guard. She didn't like anyone telling her what to do, and giving a man a supernatural tie to her life meant he'd probably want to boss her around, too. Or tell her she couldn't enjoy her casual relationships with the other men in her life. Guilt is a strong motivator, as is the reminder that she was abducted several months earlier, so she goes into the den with the intention of securing a guard and keeping him at arms' length. Too bad no one told her that were-bears don't like to be kept at arms' length.When Elizabeth realizes that more than just her personal protection is up for grabs from the bear she binds herself to, can she go through with it, even if it means losing everything she enjoyed about her life? Will she go back on her word and destroy the alliance between the two groups, or does happiness lay in the underground den in the arms of a were-bear? When more than just the alliance and her own personal protection is on the line, Elizabeth has to make a decision fast. The decision to take a guard has never been so important.* * * * *A Curve of Claw contains a feisty play-girl witch with a sarcastic attitude, some red-hot were-bear loving of the menage variety, jealous lovers, claws and fangs galore, and some roadside nookie hot enough to melt the tires from the truck. Note: This a book for mature audiences only, and contains sexually explicit content including M/F/M interaction. Words: 32,720* * * * *Wiccan-Were-Bear series:Book 01: A Curve of ClawBook 02: A Flash of FangBook 03: A Price for a PrincessBook 04: A Bond of BrothersBook 05: A Bead of BloodBook 06: A Twitch of TailBook 07: A Promise on White Wings Book 08: A Slash of SavageryBook 09: Awaken a WolfBook 10: Daeton's JourneyBook 11: A Dragon for DecemberBook 12: A Muse for MishkaBook 13: A Wish for Their Woman

    One night while visiting her grandmother, she's startled by a wolf and everything changes. In the forest investigating a recent rash of murders and missing shifters, werewolf Alpha Caleb Overstreet doesn't expect to run into a human, let alone a witch. Especially not one whose scent tells him she is his other half…or is she? As the secrets of her ancestry are revealed, Caleb and Hannah are unable to stay away from each other and Hannah finds herself in danger. A rival pack believes her to be at the center of a curse that would enable them to control other shifters. But is Hannah the wolf charmer they believe her to be? Or is she really Caleb's fated mate?

    Her last patient arrives unconscious and naked. She’s lead to believe he’s a psyche patient off his meds. However, once he awakens, Janet is charmed by his million-dollar smile and agrees to give him a ride home. Werewolf, Max Ritter notices the sassy nurse when he wakes after a night under the full moon. Unfortunately, his archrival is drawn to Janet as well. In order to keep her out of harm's way, he opts to keep her close. When the chemistry between them sparks, Max discovers a completely new reason to keep Janet safe.

    One bite, she crosses a line...into forever.Diana Hambre's body is blazing. For days this leopardess shifter has spun through a body-searing heat cycle. Alone. Her senses reel when Shawn Barclay, her boss, walks into her reserved room at the Downtown Den, a stud club for shifters. He gives Diana a choice: spend the evening with him, give into his every desire, and she'll find out what it means to quench her heat-crazed thirst—or try her luck with a stranger, one of the club bangers.Shawn hates when his back is against the wall. One sip of Diana’s pheromone-laced scent is enough to force his alpha hand. The tables have turned and it's Diana's back he wants up against a wall, or any other surface for that matter.As the moon rises toward midnight, Shawn and Diana come to understand the difference between sex and bonding. For a night, neither of them resist their primal instincts, blindly giving into carnal desire. Her wild nature fights being subdued and she risks spontaneously shifting without warning.Now, bearing Shawn's bite marks, she can’t simply walk away from him; not when he has the means to teach her to harness her leopardess nature. Shawn accepts the challenge of training Diana to control her untamed cravings. Employing every method available in and out of the bedroom, he discovers he's on the verge of ensnaring himself in the process.Warning: Erotic scenes hot enough to peel paint

    After he rescues her in the woods from a wild dog, Vivi ends up in his bed, and finally all her erotic fantasies about the rugged carpenter come true.Rex wants nothing more than to spend his time fulfilling all of the luscious Vivi's desires while he teaches her a few new tricks—both in and out of the bedroom. The problem is he knows it wasn't a wild dog that bit her, but a feral werewolf, one of Rex's kind, and he only has a few weeks to explain to the woman he loves why she's changing…and exactly what she's about to become.Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, bondage.

    He's a cop and is willing to use police resources to track her down. So Grace comes up with a plan and tricks his fellow brothers in blue into thinking crying wolf a couple of times when he's reported her missing. Little does she know she'll go running into the arms of a real wolf when she finally makes her escape for real.She just wants to be left alone, but then she meets Hunter Tate - the alpha of the Black River Pack. Grace tries to hold Hunter at arm's length, but there's just no reasoning with an alpha male werewolf who insists she's his mate.This is book one in the Black River Pack series. Each novella will feature a different couple.

    When a crooked fireshaper wants her to steal a ring from the boss of his order, she knows it’s a one-way ticket to sleeping with the fishes. Her answer is to drop off the face of the earth. Safely hidden in a quiet seaside town, she just needs to keep her head down and pretend to be a regular human. Since her only magical ability is the power to control animals, that should be easy, right? Then a new fireshaper shows up in town. He’s hot as hell but oddly hostile. With his suspicious eyes watching her every move, her safe haven starts feeling more like a trap. When her best friend disappears, Lexi knows the time for hiding is over. The fireshapers might be more powerful, but Lexi’s not one to abandon a friend. It will take everything she’s got to save them both from the flames.

    The only woman he could ever want saved him from a watery grave before disappearing from his life forever. But that was a long time ago, too long for a mortal woman to have survived. Though he searched for her, in the end it was in vain.Cursed by the power of the Cancerian crab, Ceana is doomed to spend her eternity in the ocean as a mermaid. Her only relief is on a full moon, when she becomes human and must find shore. Centuries have passed and she's all but given up on the one who could save her. Brief passion is all she has and she's willing to take what she can get—especially if it's with an intriguing lycan who's untamed nature just might be her salvation.

    Though born into one the most powerful blue blood witch families, she wants nothing to do with either her past or her magic.But when she and Belle, her human familiar and best friend, open a small cafe in the Faelan werewolf reservation, she quickly finds herself enmeshed in the hunt for a vampire intent on wreaking bloody havoc. It’s a hunt that soon becomes personal, and one that is going to take all her skills to survive–that’s if the werewolves, who hate all things witch, don’t get her first.

    But she is unstable and damaged. She realizes how broken she is even as she continues to submit to the unspeakable things her lover does to her, craving desperately the strange peace she finds in the aftermath.When she discovers things are not as they seem and a faceless human is torturing the supernatural groups in her city, she and her crew must break the rules and begin to protect the Others from the humans. But as the darkness inside her becomes stronger and she ends up on the wrong side of a battle she must not lose, who will save Rune from herself?

    When Sarina is sent away by her father to endure the breeding cycle alone, she never expects a sexy Alpha to come to her doorstep.When Alpha Vane Kategan stumbles upon Sarina in her breeding cycle, he is determined to help her, if only to ease her pain. However, she denies them both what they so desperately want. But Vane won’t give up on his seduction until they both find bliss. What neither of them count on is falling in love.Right when they need each other the most, they are torn apart by her father’s cruelty. Now Sarina must fight to be with the one she loves and risk losing the only family she has left in the process. Can Sarina escape her father’s grasp for the arms of the man she loves?

    After a series of failed relationships, the last of which left her destitute, she takes advantage of her father’s offer to live rent-free in a property he hasn’t been able to sell. But feeling at home in a house on the edge of a graveyard isn’t easy, especially when things go bump in the night.The only positive is the stunning cemetery caretaker, Rick. Despite her resolve to end her pattern of relationship mistakes, she literally can’t keep her hands off him. The intensity of her attraction seems almost...magical.Once a spirit manifests on her staircase, Grateful can no longer deny that her house is haunted. Rick has a dark secret, and it has everything to do with her personal history, the house, and the spirit who warns her about both.Feisty witches, seductive vampires, and swoon-worthy immortals come together in this page-turning paranormal romance/urban fantasy series.**The Ghost and The Graveyard is a funny, exciting, and sexy read intended for adults. Due to sexual content, language, and violence this book is recommended for ages 18+.**

    She's drawn to him in the worst of ways. Together they create something wild, dangerous and binding. An extraordinary force greater than either of them alone. But it doesn't come without a price.Now Alexa is craving human blood and shying away from sunlight. And she doesn't know how the hell she's going to explain it to Shaz, the pack mate who's always been more than just a friend.When Alexa's ex and pack Alpha is framed for murder, he comes to her for help. She'd like to see him suffer but as the body count rises long buried secrets are revealed. Secrets that force her to face the ugly truth that not everyone is who she thinks they are.Not even her.

    With four new stories, this is a collection packed with more surprises than Christmas morning, and more chills than the snowiest winter night . . .