A local bookshop employee falls hard for her polar opposite–who just happens to be an orc–in the second installment of Isabelle Taylor's Claw Haven monster romance series, perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes and Ruby Dixon. In Claw Haven, Alaska, monsters are real–but fated mates? Bookseller Vi Harper doesn't believe, and it's up to one smitten orc to prove otherwise in this sweet and spicy romance. Vi Harper is good at many things. Fixing problems for everyone in Claw Haven, for one. Keeping Sweethelm Bookstore running smoothly, for another. Above all, Vi is great at pretending she's got her life figured out. The truth is, she's a hot mess inside–especially when cocky, gorgeous orc Nick Wicker goads her in his infuriating way. Nick has found his mate. That's the good news. The bad: he's already blown it. Every time Nick speaks to soft-spoken, overworked bookseller Vi, she seems to hate him even more. What's a lovestruck orc to do but stress-bake and look for some way to redeem himself? Even it means joining the book club. Then a batch of apology brownies sparks one passionate night together and suddenly, sensible Vi is doing something completely out of character: offering her one-time enemy a friends-with-benefits arrangement. It's more than Nick dreamed. Phenomenal. And it won't be enough. Not until he's found a way to show her that sometimes, fate gets it exactly right… Tropes:

• Fated mates/soul mates
• Rivals to lovers
• Bookish
• Opposites attract
• One night only