Sleighing In The Midlife

Luke Whitfield is getting pretty sick and dang tired of everyone thinking he can’t handle a few simple human skips. Okay, yeah, he messed up a couple. And that one time an elderly lady got the drop on him, but everyone screws up in the beginning, right? It’s time for Luke to branch out on his own and when Jordan sends a skip to the Bond Girls agency and nobody is there to take it, Luke decides he’s going to prove once and for all that he’s got what it takes. The skip? Oh, no big deal. It’s just Santa. Nicholas Clauson robbed a bank wearing a Santa suit. Hello, Hollywood? Is this the setup for a new Christmas movie, or what? Because this is Luke we’re talking about, nothing is going to be straightforward. He grabs Ransom for some extra muscle and off they go to take down Ol’ Saint Nick. Nicholas’s apartment is not what they expected. Especially when they walk into a closet and step out in Nar—err, The North Pole. Yep. The North Pole. Snow, elves, reindeer, fabulous shopping. Luke’s got this in stride, though. Santa’s being blackmailed by his cousin Krampus? No problem. He’s a Bond Girl now. With Ransom by his side, he can figure out anything and take down anybody. Even evil elves. Except for tights. He’s not wearing tights. Not again.`

Antique store owner and ostracized paranormal hunter, Blair Braden lives a quiet small-town life, running her antique shop and minding her business. The hunter guild gave her the boot thirty years ago when they discovered she was pregnant with a half-shifter baby. Since then, the wolf pack her daughter belongs to has become her extended family, complete with fur, fangs, and claws. Life is good and drama free. Until Lachlan James, her baby-daddy, Alpha of the local wolf pack, and a very good friend comes to her for help. One of his wolves is being haunted, and Blair is just the non-hunter for the job. She's got an affinity for hauntings, despite not technically being a hunter anymore. Of course, she has to help. It’s not like she has a ton of things to do herself, like selling her antiques, keeping an eye out for cursed objects, and trying to figure out if her shop is being haunted. There are strange things happening, that's for sure. She'll drop everything and help the haunted wolf because that's the right thing to do. And Blair always does the right thing.

Despite her endless attempts to pull Blair Braden back into hunter life, Lily Walker and Blaire are fast becoming friends. The only thing they don't see eye-to-eye on is Blair's retirement. And Blair is retired, thanks very much. But when Pearl Walker, aka Granny Ice Queen, aka the matriarch of the hunters, selects Blair to be the new liaison between the shifters and the hunters, Blair's hiatus from hunting is no longer permanent. When Pearl says 'jump', nobody keeps their feet on the ground. Not even the long-retired Blair. As Blair scrambles out of retirement, she finds herself having insanely powerful visions and an irresistible desire to help the objects of them. As soon as she meets the man in her first vision, she can't stop thinking about him. The handsome alpha wolf wants nothing to do with her, but at least she can help save his pack. These are precisely the kinds of complications she has no inclination for. Meanwhile, Lily seems intent on keeping up with Reed, the second-in-command of Lachlan's wolf pack. The chip on his shoulder really ought to deter her, but after attending her first pack shift, Lily is hooked on Reed and the pack. And speaking of the pack, Lachlan's now acting weird. Meggan knows why, but she's not telling. Blair will get to the bottom of it, or else her bestie baby daddy will have to tangle with her new familiar-slash-annoyance. Time to find out if Gil the gnome can do more than just keep Blair on her toes.

Blair Braden was retired. Now that Pearl has succeeded in her efforts to pull Blair back into the hunter folds, Blair can no longer say she’s a retired hunter. She’s the new liaison between the shifters and the hunters. That’s right, folks, the entire shifter community now has to come to Blair for anything they need with the hunters. Or complaints about the hunters. Or questions about the hunters. Or requests for aid. Really the list can go on. Although, none of the shifters want much to do with the hunters. What surprises her is when the hunters start calling her with millions of questions about shifters. Blair just might have to enlist her daughter as her co-liaison. After all, Meggan is half shifter, half hunter. Blair welcomes the distraction away from the hot alpha biker wolf Maddox who happens to be her mate. The big grumpy man-baby is set on ignoring the mating pulling, which is fine with Blair. For now. Because so far her visions have come true. It’s all going to be okay. Blair can handle anything, including unretiring, selling cursed antiques, finding ghosts, a grumpy wolf, a love-struck wolf, and a grumpy-love-struck wolf. After all, she has a genie now, whatever the world that means. Lily Walker’s life is full. Full of monsters, rogues, and family. She can’t ever say it’s boring, right? Fighting paranormal creatures on a daily basis ensured not one whit of boredom. She loves every minute of it. Then an argument and one kiss with a grouchy ginger beta wolf throws her whole world upside down. Instead of dealing with all the emotional junk, Lily throws herself into her business: hunting ghosts with her new bestie Blair. Their first case is a poor woman who refuses to accept she’s dead, plus their social media pages are getting views every day, bringing in more customers for both the antique shop and the ghost-hunting biz. The whole thing provides the perfect distraction from Reed and his stupid kissable lips. Seriously, the struggle. Is. Real. Blair and Lily are going to have to come to terms with what fate is throwing their way sooner or later. There are only so many distractions in the world, even with Gil granting wishes and Grandmother Pearl interfering. All they need now is for Luci to pop in and complicate matters. Oh, wait…

Now that the council has been dealt with, things should be coming up roses for Hailey and Jaxon. Dealing with the corruption within the vampire council was supposed to return their lives to normal, but it turns out nothing is normal in the life of a Bond Girl, and it isn't long before she realizes that downtime isn't in the cards for her or her new extended family. When Jax gets devastating news, he and Hailey will be in the fight of their lives. It turns out hunters know vampires aren't extinct, and witches aren't on their hunting list anymore. And the matriarch of the hunters? She's fierce, not taking any ish, and wants every last vampire dead. Convincing the hunters not to attack, or figuring out how to be stronger, faster, and deadlier than ever, are the only options Hailey and Jax have. When the council puts a bounty on vampire rogues, Hailey's who they'll count on to bring them all in with the help of her trusty friends and brother, who suddenly thinks he's going to be the best bounty hunter the vampire world has ever seen. Yeah, this is going to go well. If that wasn't enough, they still have to figure out what to do about Paige and Claudia, Kendra burning the candle at both ends, and Goldie's missing family. A little shifter has no business being raised by vampires, right? Something clearly has to give, but they're determined that it won't be them. After all, they're a team, and they're going to face everything together because that's exactly what teams do.

Ava Walker: Mom, Bonus Mom, almost-mother-in-law, and soon-to-be grandmother! The entire Howe-Harper-Walker clan is through the roof excited for Michelle and Wallie’s baby. Nobody more so than Lucy-Fur. In the midst of all the last-minute baby preparations, Zoey faces immense familial challenges of her own. After receiving a mysterious message from her cousin, Zoey goes on a journey to learn about her family and pride. Ava is at her side every step of the way. Not all of the news is good. Ava and Drew are determined to help Zoey and Larry find out what happened to Zoey’s parents. Zoey’s uncle, a gigantic man with an easy smile, doesn’t quite seem to be who he says he is. Could he be hiding some big clue that will help solve the mystery of Zoey’s parents’ deaths? Only time will tell. Sam and his new psychic powers would be very helpful in digging to the bottom of this if only they could pull him away from his own family research…With Olivia spending so much time dealing with her family, Ava’s support system is rather scattered at the moment. Oh, well, Ava can always call on her friends to help if push comes to shove. After all, what’s the point of knowing the ruler of hell, ruler of the vampires, ruler of the hunters, and being the most powerful necromancer in the world if Ava doesn’t use those connections?

Bond Girl Head Honcho, Queen Vampire Councilwoman, and now Dragon-Mama Extraordinaire, Hailey Whitfield is exhausted. Having a newborn baby dragon is far more than she bargained for. Little Flint is settling in just fine, though. The little dragon loves anything shiny. Rather like a ferret, except the little booger can fly. They can’t hide anything from him. And he never sleeps. It would help if he’d listen to anyone other than Hailey, but Flint is a one-woman dragon. When Goldie is ready to go to her first day of classes at the new Rune Academy for the supernatural, she wants to wear the brand new bracelet Luke and Ransom bought her. It’s missing, but that’s okay. Hailey knows just where to look for it—in Flint’s hoard. They get Goldie off to school only to have their most shocking news yet. Rogue vampires? Easy. New species of werewolf? Piece of cake. What’s too hard for kick-butt Hailey to handle? Her all-too-human family is on their way for a surprise visit. Everybody hide your fangs! The Whitfield’s looming appearance isn’t the only panic-inducing visit they have to deal with while Goldie is off to her classes. Guess who is back for round two? Only the mother of all vampires, and she’s bringing a mother of a revelation… Now to get to the bottom of the whole dragon thing. As soon as Mommy and Daddy go back home.

Hailey Whitfield is fed up with being told what to do, when to do it, and how she should be going about it. Don’t tell her how to live her life. It’s time for Hailey to stand up and do what needs to be done. First up, saving her brother, if he can be saved. Next, complete the mating bond with Jax, the US vampire leader. After that, who knows? Maybe she’ll take on the world. Or at least the vampire council. While she figures out what she’s going to do next, Hailey’s bond recovery agency, The Bond Girls, is thrown into a skip-trace that pulls at the heartstrings. What are the ladies supposed to do when the skip is being unfairly targeted? They do what’s right, of course. Too bad it’s not so cut and dry. But Hailey is determined now. She’s the master of her destiny, and she’ll figure this out, too.