Shifters and Sweets

Gale has a problem. A really thorny problem. He can't touch anything made of wood without it bursting into bloom… which is inconvenient, to say the least. Clearly, his unicorn is cranky about something—Gale just wishes he knew what. In the meantime, being cursed with the world's most annoying green thumb is making it pretty much impossible to continue working as a sous chef. Maybe a relaxing trip into the mountains will be enough to soothe his sullen unicorn.

Some people are born under a lucky star. Caleb is not one of them. Dragon shifter Caleb's only hope of breaking his family's devastating bad luck curse is an ancient, badly burned parchment. What he hadn't counted on finding in his search was a beautiful, determined woman… who just happened to be his fated mate. And who has just busted him for committing what might technically be considered trespassing.

Landscape gardener Kieran's unruly shifter side is getting out of hand. Mowing lawns? Griffin time. Grocery shopping? Griffin in the cart. This is definitely not a good time to finally meet his fated mate… especially when she's only in town for a mandatory vacation. Workaholic Natasha never intended to return to her small hometown. And she's definitely not planning to stay. But between the delicious pies and the even more tempting Kieran, it's hard to remember why she ever left. Still, it would be foolish to fall for a guy who keeps disappearing… right?

Henry's used to everyone being afraid of him–being a hellhound has that effect on people. What he's not used to is having every animal within a four-mile radius suddenly wanting to be his best friend. Pigeons roosting on your shoulder: annoying, but mostly harmless. The local moose population stampeding toward you in the hopes of a hug: somewhat more worrying. There's nothing for it but to escape to the mountains, where he can use his hellhound form to intimidate the local wildlife into leaving him alone. But a stop for one last piece of cake leads him straight to his fated mate.

As a chimera shifter whose chimera won't actually let him, well, shift, Levi has always been an outsider. He'll never be able to fully take part in chimera society, and he can kiss his romantic prospects goodbye. Unsurprisingly, the holiday season isn't his favorite time of year. To top it all off, his great aunt has run off with her new man, leaving her old bookshop in Levi's inexperienced hands. Trying to work out how to close down a bookshop that he wants nothing to do with is his idea of a bad time, but on the other hand, it does mean he has an excuse to skip the family Christmas.