Chimera for Christmas

You're supposed to spend Christmas with the person you love most. But what if that person turns out to be the biggest, grumpiest alien you've ever met?

SOPHIE

When you find out your boyfriend is cheating on you and you get laid off all in the same week, something's gotta give. I need a change, and a seasonal work contract aboard the bustling Elora Station is just the ticket. I'll spend the holidays on the glittering, festive commerce station, make a little money, and clear my head before returning to my colony planet life. It's a perfect plan.

One thing I'm not accounting for in that plan, though? My coworker. He's not human. In fact, he's one of the deadliest alien soldiers in the universe - a Chimera. Seven feet tall with black horns, heated yellow eyes, and an exceptionally grumpy disposition, I cannot for the life of me figure out why this genetically modified beast of a man is working in a tiny, human-owned coffee shop at Christmas time.

But there's more to X than meets the eye. And the longer I work with him, the more I grow to like him. Soon enough, his taciturn nature begins to charm me. Suddenly, his looks aren't quite so fearsome, but actually kind of... attractive?

As the holidays hurtle on and my work contract on Elora Station draws to a close, I realize that I don't want to go back to my old life in the colony.

And I don't want to leave X.

Can a regular human girl like me find a permanent place on Elora Station and in X's guarded alien heart before Christmas?