Rose Santoriello

Adeib Ali is a man with the personality of a thorn and the lower-body of a snake. As Head of the Botanical Magic Department, he’s busy. Too busy to be dealing with an amateur medicinal mage who doesn’t meet expectations. Or follow protocols. Or do literally anything by the book, and yet… Iris Watson is sure of one thing and one thing she has no idea what she’s doing. After a chaotic and successful start to her career, she’s been assigned to complete a research project at Augury University—the same university where her sister works. Although working at Augury was Iris’ worst nightmare, what really keeps her up at night is her new partner. Adeib might be a constrictor serpentine, but his words spit like venom, breaking down the pieces of Iris’ already fractured sense of self. Can Iris find the beauty blooming beneath Adeib’s prickly exterior? Will Adeib be able to nurture the new growth Iris finds at Augury?

Indigo Watson gets serotonin from sticking to her plans. She has a long list of to-do’s, including grading midterms, and the list only grows longer when she meets a sexy half-orc at the bar. After spending a weekend with the woman, Indigo is beside herself with feelings, and for once, it’s not anxiety: it’s lust. Vega Daelor is an orcling woman with a body of steel and a heart of pure gold. She recently started a new job as Department Chair of Charms at Augury University, but everything goes astray when the submissive, little elfborn she’s been fooling around with turns out to be her subordinate. With the holiday season upon them and a perfect sister to outshine, Indigo gathers up the courage to ask Vega to be her “Holidate.” It’s a foolproof plan. She’ll have a hottie by her side to show off to the family, and she can get Vega out of her system for good. But when the sun sets and the string-lights rise, they find themselves falling for each other instead. Will Indigo follow her job’s zero fraternization policy, or will she be asking for a girlfriend this Christmas?