Sophie is English, divorced, living in Singapore…and bored, Bored, BORED! But is she ready for handsome, exotic, young Adrian Pereira? Several years ago, Sophie Ogden moved to Singapore with her banker husband, Tim. However, when they divorce, Tim moves back to the UK and Sophie decides to craft a new life in the modern Asian metropolis. But things haven’t turned out the way she hoped. Although she has a rewarding career, she’s restless, wondering if this is as good as life gets. Cajoled into attending a masquerade ball for charity, Sophie meets a charming stranger and spends the night with him, indulging in hot steamy sex. The problem comes when he wants to see more of her, and Sophie has to confront her own insecurities. After all, she’s more than ten years his senior. Is there any hope for a relationship between them? Or was the sizzle a mere flash in the pan?

Whatever happened to Vigo Halan? After helping them successfully free a group of Transitionals held at the secret Rannler facility, the best bounty hunter in the galaxy suddenly disappeared. A year and a half later, Quinten still doesn’t know what happened to her. Then he gets a message from the Telaris system that raises more questions than it answers. Is it Vigo? If so, what is she doing at the edge of Republic space? If it isn’t, who are they, what do they want, and why are they using her name?

From the autobiography of Itan Refett Benaltep, from his youth in 2523 to his death in 2860 Of all the Naplian emperors, Refett Benaltep was the most cursed. Brought up in a time of ethnic violence and forced into coregentship with a Ffawe rebel who would be praised above him, it seemed there was little Benaltep could do right. Married to the niece of his despised co-ruler, sidelined by the emerging Ffawe power bloc, Benaltep is a joke in his own empire, and he knows it. Yet beneath his bland grey skull is the brain of a ruler, and even if he can’t change the direction of his beloved empire single-handedly, at least he has seen more of its intrigues and dealings than others more favoured than him. From the rise of Ronal Bonate to the sly scheming that led to the massacre of the Gypsy naplians; from his surprisingly hopeful wedding to the unpalatable decision that led to the attack on Terran-held Baedecker, Benaltep has participated in changes that will transform, strengthen and eventually destroy the Naplian Empire. This is his story.

A long time ago, a determined young woman escaped the despair of her homeworld, turning herself into one of the galaxy’s best martial artists, Ebony Strike. Decades later, the people of her homeworld have tracked her down. They need money and, in order to get that money, they need the old Ebony Strike back. But Ebony has moved on since that time. She is now Xin Dell, a respected government security trainer. And what her people are asking of her is insane: to participate in a corrupt official’s underground fight tournament…and win. Nothing less will do. To Ebony, it means training a body that’s out of shape, honing disused skills, spending her own time, effort and money, for a planet she’s all but forgotten. But, faced with the alternative–the death of thousands on her world–does she have a choice? Ebony needs to be focused and ruthless. She needs to win the tournament. Little does she know that she’ll end up losing her heart.

Can a manufactured being mutiny against her creators? Dare she? Salvia is a being like no other, crafted from the genes of several Earth species. She is on Jupiter’s moon, Europa, to work for “the company”, finding new materials that will be used for commercial applications. She is young, intelligent…and lonely; so much so that she demands that her employer send her a companion, or she’ll never work for them again. Rhus is the brash male that the company sends from Mars, and he stirs something deep within Salvia. But Rhus has been crafted with another objective in mind. Working closely together, they begin falling in love, but what Salvia doesn’t know is that the company wants her head, preferably on a platter, and they’re going to use Rhus to get it.

A tale of age, culture and forbidden love. (Winner, 2015 SFR Galaxy Award) Van Motaff, renowned philosopher and Rahfonist, is looking ahead to Retirement, but the planetary government has other plans. Something unprecedented has happened—a young, male Rahfoni has been raised by aliens for the past thirty years—and Van has been chosen to restore him to Rahfon society. Even though the eyes of two worlds are on her, Van thinks the job will be straightforward enough. But when her charge, Eton Abless, is injured, an irate governor interferes, demanding that the young man be neutralised as a potential political threat. Van resists and finds herself falling into a forbidden romance with her student…a romance that may mean the end of her reputation and career, and his permanent exile. As her options narrow, Van is forced to face the conclusion that the only way to save Eton may be to lose him completely.

Quinten Tamlan was once the scourge of the Republic. Then he disappeared… It’s been seven long years for Quinten Tamlan. Scarred and bitter, he has lost direction and the spark of idealism that once fired his resolve. But when he is forced to take on a new crewmember, he is once more pulled back into a past that refuses to let go. Quinten believes he has his own problems. He believes he is alone and forgotten. He is wrong. Quite wrong. Series: Quinten Tamlan #1

A lonely being in a lonely galaxy… (2008 Gaylactic Spectrum Award Recommended Short List - Short Fiction) Heron Meed has two strikes against it. It is a hemaphrodite in a galaxy dominated by two-gendered beings. And it’s a convicted criminal. After six years of incarceration, Heron is trying to start a new life, but that isn’t easy when so many avenues are closed to it. It finally finds a refuge of sorts on the Castor Xeni Orbital and a surcease from its pain in the arms of voluptuous Subah Doisson, but then various systems on the Orbital start getting sabotaged. With a small engineering population, and Heron the only newcomer to the station, how can the hermaphrodite prove its innocence amid a sea of entrenched prejudice?

A Republic “future historical” Gilthen Ahn is captain of the Darck Banks cartel, a pirate band working deep in Republic space. He has six ships under his command and, unless he finds money to pay off his substantial debts, he’ll lose everything. Tera d’Olzon is a privileged member of Republic high society, trying to make a difference by thumbing her nose at everything her family stands for. Unfortunately, things haven’t quite turned out the way she anticipated and, while running from Security Forces, she is “rescued” by Gil’s cartel. The reasonable thing for the cartel to do is to ransom her. But that won’t bring in enough money. So Gil hatches a plan…

Hoara has fallen in love with a man…who’s not a man Junior Commander Hoara Felin of the Republic Space Fleet has crash-landed on a planet. Her ship is inoperable, her shipmates are dead. The only thing that can make a bad situation worse is finding she has crashed on the notorious prison-planet of Bliss–a place where condemned criminals are sent, but never leave. She finds an unexpected ally in Toh, a and caring man who treats her injuries and hides her from those who would hold an officer of the Space Fleet for ransom. But, as Hoara is about to find out, Toh is keeping a terrifying secret of his own.

What can you do when you start falling in love with the woman you’re meant to kill? Laisen Carros is an agent of the Fusion sent undercover to infiltrate the Perlim Empire. However the years she’s spent impersonating military commander Cheloi Sie are starting to wear her down. She’s sick of the manipulation and duplicity and, after twenty years of being an agent, she wants to live her own life. To Lith Yinalña, a former Perlim subject now returned to a place she dreads, Cheloi Sie is nothing but a war criminal and Lith considers it her personal mission to kill the Colonel. Unfortunately for Laisen/Cheloi, the Empire and an idealistic assassin aren’t her only enemies. When Laisen and Lith start falling in love, it’s only a matter of time before someone else in the Empire notices. And acts.

Yves Nerin has a problem. A bad business decision has serious repercussions and the only way Yves can get some breathing space is to run away to the end of the world–Australia. He doesn’t like it, but if it means keeping his sister and her family safe, he has no choice. It isn’t such a penance. He has business in Australia and, as a contingency, has requested a bodyguard. He expects someone dangerous, discreet…male. Instead, who he gets is decidedly female. Helen Collier may not be built like a brick outhouse, but she’s fast and capable. And she needs this job. After the recent death of a very close friend, she’s not after romantic entanglements. She just wants to start anew somewhere else, leaving her bad memories behind. But fate has other things in store for the imperious Frenchman and his spirited Australian bodyguard.

Quinten goes after the man who killed his wife… After seven years of enforced isolation, Quinten Tamlan is back on his game and he wants the head of Faks Somen, now leader of the Mitres Raygun pirate cartel, on a platter. There’s only one problem: he only has one ship and two other crewmembers, and that’s not good enough to go up against a well-protected gang of cutthroats. Knowing he needs allies, Quinten attempts to track down the old members of the ST Alliance, but they’re all dead. The only people willing to assist him are an old pirate and the son of someone he once had a lot of respect for. But the old pirate is the mother of the man who last betrayed him, and there’s something very mysterious about Delee’s son. Meanwhile, Faks is holed up somewhere, laughing at him. But, Quinten vows, not for much longer. Series: Quinten Tamlan #2

Save one man? Or save billions? It’s Moon’s choice. (Winner of two 2012 SFR Galaxy Awards) Stellar physicist Moon Thadin and amnesiac savant Srin Flerovs are on their way to possible sanctuary with an old research partner of Moon’s. But between them and safety lie a cunning arms dealer, a suspicious pirate captain, and a universe of unfamiliarity. Refusing to turn her research into a weapon, Moon and Srin outran the Republic in IN ENEMY HANDS, only to find that the anti-Republic rebels they’re heading for want her knowledge for the same reason, and they’re willing to trade critical gene therapy for it. Withhold the therapy and Srin will die. Share the research and billions will die. Can the needs of one ever truly outweigh the needs of many?