Experimental Voyageby R.J. Blain| Palta is a rare Andean mountain cat, one of the species rescued from Earth after natural disasters made the planet a bad place to live. As a star-venturing feline, purring Palta has opinions, opinions that drive her caretaker, Waldren, to his limits. Palta is happy to contribute DNA to help xeno-botanist Camellia regain her hearing after a near-fatal accident. Palta knows that Waldren and Camellia will need each other as the only humans in an alien crew of an exploration expedition. Besides, Palta needs another adoring subject for when her primary human is busy piloting the ship. |
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Her Cyborg Lumberjackby Susan Hayes| Amun, the psy-hawk, was born to soar. The military created him and a few others to be a weapon, but first they have to figure out how to control them. Amun knows he’ll need help to free himself and the others. Luckily, he’s found the perfect candidate: a powerful cyborg named Axe who needs peace after being an unwilling warrior for so long. Even better, Amun knows that Rin, the gentle human scientist who studies and cares for the psy-hawks, is the perfect match for the lonely cyborg. If only they weren’t so stubborn about it. Why do humans have to make everything so complicated? |
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The Cyborg Wayby Honey Philips| Henry is a small Martian lizard, about the size of a person’s palm. He’s smart, curious, and friendly, and has wings concealed along his sides. He loves keeping frontier colonist Ellie company on her homestead during the long Martian nights. There’s only one problem with Henry: He shouldn’t exist! Is he an actual Martian native, or an illegal experiment by the devious settlement corporation? Ellie and Levi, the cyborg ranger she dreams about on those long nights, search for answers, but all they find are more mysteries. |
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The Alien’s Falconer| Series: Aliens and Animals |
by Skye MacKinnon & Arizona Tape| Aba is an alien parrot who has become a companion and best friend of lonely space pirate Georgia. Despite his four wings, multiple eyes, and scales rather than feathers, his personality is very much like that of an Earth-born parrot. He’s cheeky, playful, and repeats a lot of what Georgia says. It’s not always clear whether he’s an intelligent creature or whether he’s just parroting (excuse the pun) what he hears — but that’s exactly how he likes it. He also knows that Georgia and alien Captain Ellabee would be so good together. If only they hadn’t met because Georgia took Ellabee’s ship hostage. |
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Stellar Drift| Series: Central Galactic Concordance |
by Carol Van Natta| Kyala is a genetically-engineered gargoyle, a creature designed to look like a terrifying bringer of violent death. She was abandoned in the wilderness by her former owner, but luckily found and nursed back to health by the pilot named Sairy. Despite her size, Kyala dreams of being a lap pet. She likes most people, once she gets to know them. She really likes the ranger named Houyen, especially since Sairy rescued him, too. Kyala thinks it would be fantastic to have two humans to adore her. If it takes a wilderness trek to identify the source of a mysterious illness to bring secretive Sairy and driven Houyen together, Kyala is up for the adventure. |
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Rescue| Series: Barbarians of the Sand Planet |
by Tana Stone| Pog is a Lycithian shapeshifting glurkin. He looks like a bright green puff of fur but can shift into any form, including beings much larger than he looks. The all-female bounty hunter crew are always getting into trouble, and unassuming Pog is a valued member of the team, and one most combatants don’t suspect. Midwife-for-hire Tegan is his new favorite crew member, so he decides to go with her and the alien warrior Zaandr on an unscheduled supply run on an outlaw planet. They clearly need his help to stop resisting one another’s charms. And they’ll definitely need his help rescuing a warrior from the vengeful aliens hunting them. |
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Tilli’s Second Chanceby S.J. Pajonas| On the diaspora planet, humans can have a chip implanted so they can talk with pets. But not any pet, just the one who chooses their person. Ivan is a Russian Blue domestic cat who found his pair bond with Tilli, an exceptionally talented human spaceship designer. Ivan waited a long time to find just the right person, and he loves her despite her self-doubts after a cruel betrayal leaves her reputation in tatters. Ivan also quite likes Kaito, the man who wants to help Tilli to win the spaceship design contest that will set her career for life. When trouble from the past rises again, Ivan plans to do his best to give Tilli her best shot at redemption. |
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Shattered Echoes| Series: Telepathic Space Pirates |
by Carysa Locke| Miko is an empathic ferret who knows his favorite human, Iona, is in trouble. He can’t stop her from taking a dangerous corporate theft job that requires her outlawed telepathic talents, so he refuses to let her go alone. When the memory walls protecting Iona from her own horrific past start to crack, Miko knows Iona will need every bit of love he’s got to see her through. He hopes the man called Zephyr can help fix Iona and show her the way to freedom. |
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Devil in the Details| Series: Malebranki Diaspora |
by JC Hay| Bounty hunter Bryony is on a vengeful mission to take down a violent crime lord. Her pet, Rue, is a felyx, an alien, cat-like creature with purple fur and cattitude galore. Rue is certainly capable of helping Bryony in dangerous situations… when it suits her. She’s concerned when Bryony captures Lorcan, one of the crime lord’s enforcers, but he turns out to be much more than he seems. Rue has no intention of letting her two creatures, with clever hands that can open food pouches, enter the crime lord’s lair alone. |
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Small Acts of Intergalactic Rebellionby Elva Birch| An extremely perfect space station maintains perfect harmony by ruthlessly eradicating trouble, including an infestation of paxolii, small destructive pests who damage station internals. To lonely Junior Techncian Tanadara, they look like a cross between furry caterpillars and tiny weasels. They’re also friendly and smart. Instead of reporting them, she names four of them and teaches them tricks. Unfortunately, her attractive supervisor Samath stumbles on her secret. But she discovers he has a secret of his own. Will their growing illicit attraction and trust be enough to save Tanadara’s pets when the station implements a brutal extermination plan? |
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Cosmic Capersby Gail Koger| Hitch can’t help that he was created by a twisted genetic engineer as a white cat with spider legs instead of paws. That demented idiot isn’t worth the trouble to bite him. Luckily, he discovers alien conspirators have thrown a powerful psychic woman named Casey into their prison section. Big mistake. Plus, they’ve put a formidable Coletti commander, Hothar, in the next cell. Even bigger mistake. Hitch figures these two are his ticket to freedom, if they can quit making moon-eyes at each other long enough to save the galaxy. |
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