A. Whitlock

Malo'i is forty minutes away from his weekend when the penthouse elevator sprouts carnivorous purple vines. The culprit is Vaea, a gorgeous, haughty orchid-fae who sprouted from an imported planter and immediately declared herself supreme empress of the 150-story Aethel-Apex tower. Malo'i does not care about ancient fae dominion; he cares about his union break. Armed with commercial weedkiller and relentless deadpan sarcasm, he sets out to prune her revolution. But when the building's automated defense network misinterprets their feud and locks the entire skyscraper down, the sworn enemies are trapped together in a bio-engineered jungle. To survive, they'll have to negotiate a truce—and ignore the intoxicating pheromones blooming between them.

The neon sign at the Martell Waystation has guided weary continental haulers for thirty years, offering hot showers, homemade peach pie, and bio-magnetic therapy for stiff shoulders. Leda Martell, an upbeat therapist, uses hands-on neurological alignment to dissolve deep exhaustion in freight shifters who drive mega-hauler rigs across three continental trade routes. Her favorite regular is Bram Oster, a massive sun-bear shifter whose cross-country hauls leave him hopelessly knotted and adorably sleepy. When a ruthless tech conglomerate moves to bulldoze their oasis for sterile robotic charging pods, Bram parks his twelve-wheeler across the driveway and refuses to budge. Between defending her roadside haven, working out the stubborn kinks in his broad shoulders, and sharing late-night diner coffee over the jukebox, their quiet friendship shifts into a warm, undeniable romance. Saving this stop means fighting for their future together.