Lydia Hope

Earth is in decline, and the wealthy have fled it leaving only the destitute citizens behind. And aliens. Gemma McKinley works at a prison cleaning goop off the floors and serving food to inmates. When she is reassigned to the alien ward, Gemma is nervous. Aliens are dangerous and ruthless. They bite. But there is one that isn’t like them. Simon is damaged, starved, and wasting away in complete isolation. Touched by his loneliness, Gemma starts nursing him back to health, dismissing rumors that he’s high-risk, ignoring the advice to let him croak. Simon despises humans. His only goal is to get off this miserable planet fast, for he is hunted by a scientist obsessed with perfecting the human race. Simon’s rare alien genes are just the ingredient that’s missing for breakthrough research. Thanks to Gemma, for the first time in years he can escape. And he will. He will… As the hunt for Simon heats up, Gemma becomes an unintended target. Is she a fool to help him get away? And will he risk another captivity to protect her?

A spaceship crash survivor, Addie Rye is lucky to be alive. But being stuck on a primitive planet isn’t exactly the epitome of luck. With no way home, Addie has no choice but learn how to use stone tools and catch her dinner before cooking it while attempting to befriend a tribe of wild nomads who inhabit this planet. His injuries rendering him useless in the eyes of his tribe, embattled Zoark is content to occupy the lowest rung of the social ladder. When Addie ingratiates herself into his tribe, he doesn’t trust her and goes out of his way to make her feel unwelcome. But soon, he is captivated by her grit and resilience and enchanted by her human spirit. Against his will, his long-dormant protective instincts come to life. As the tribe moves around this vast alien steppe, tensions mount among its people, augmented by dwindling resources, violent predators, and marauding rivals. Only the strongest will survive, and Zoark needs Addie to keep him going. Knowing the fate of the tribe may one day depend on this man, Addie agrees to his impersonal proposition. But can her human heart remain detached?

After a dismal upbringing on decaying, alien-infested Earth, Emmaline “Cricket” Beatty now lives a charmed life on humanity’s new and improved home planet Meeus. A constant vulnerability of the before has given way to an ironclad security of the present. Everything is pretty, organized, predictable. There are no flaws in this new world. When the hospital where Cricket works hosts an intergalactic symposium, she is called upon to translate for the alien guests. She is intrigued to see that a secretive Rix nation has sent a delegate. Lyle is far from a cold-hearted, humorless killing machine like the Rix Cricket has heard about. When Lyle gets stranded on Meeus, Cricket shelters him, violating Meeus’ anti-alien laws. She’s drawn to this vulnerable male by a combination of compassion, curiosity, and her own loneliness. They develop a friendship that teeters on the verge of becoming something more, except Lyle’s persistent questions about the hospital and medical research conducted there make her increasingly suspicious. Before too long, a string of seemingly unrelated events happening around Cricket begins to pierce the cocoon of idyllic perfection she built for herself on Meeus. Nothing is what it seems, least of all her new friend Lyle who is using her to search for answers. His quest makes her doubt her own sanity as it puts her in mortal danger, and he is the only one who can keep her safe.