This novel was previously published and has now been extensively revised to enhance the reading experience and series flow. Please note that earlier reviews may reflect a previous version.

She came to the mountains to disappear. He's spent forty years healing everyone but himself.

Zoe Martinez is done. Ten years as an ER nurse has left her hollow -- burned out from holding too many hands as the light faded from too many eyes. When she sets out alone into the Cascade wilderness, she's not looking for adventure. She's looking for silence. For peace. For a way to stop feeling like she's already a ghost.
Then she falls off a cliff and wakes up in the arms of an orc.

Throk has always been the one who fixes things. As the settlement's healer, he's spent decades mending broken bones and broken spirits -- everyone's but his own. He never expected to find a mate. He certainly never expected to find her half-dead in a ravine, radiating the kind of soul-deep exhaustion he recognizes all too well.
The mate bond ignites the moment he touches her. And for the first time in forty years, Throk wants something for himself.

But their hidden settlement is on borrowed time. A hostile researcher is hunting for proof that orcs exist, and Zoe's disappearance has attracted dangerous attention. With enemies closing in and the world about to discover their secret, Throk and Zoe face an impossible choice: hide in the shadows forever, or step into the light and fight for a future where two worlds can finally coexist.

She learned to survive by not feeling anything. He learned to survive by feeling everything.
Together, they might just learn to live.

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SERIES: Book 3 in the Ironpeak Orcs series. Each book features a different couple with a complete happily ever after, but the overarching story builds across the series. Can be read as a standalone, but best enjoyed in order.

?? SPICE LEVEL: 4/5 Peppers -- Explicit steam including orc-specific anatomy, knotting, and detailed intimate scenes. This book knows exactly what it is and delivers.

? AGE RECOMMENDATION: 18+ only. Contains mature content, explicit sexual situations, and themes of burnout, emotional healing, and trauma recovery.

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CONTENT NOTES: This book contains themes of professional burnout, emotional exhaustion, and healing from trauma. Our heroine begins the story in a very dark place, though she is not actively suicidal. The narrative focuses on recovery, hope, and finding connection. Also contains: size difference (he's 7 feet tall), possessive hero, enthusiastic consent, and an orc who will absolutely destroy anyone who threatens his mate.

If you love Ruby Dixon, Finley Fenn, and Opal Reyne, you'll devour this monster romance.

THE IRONPEAK ORCS SERIES
Book 1: Claimed by the Orc Chief (Drak & Emma)
Book 2: Mated to the Orc Warrior (Krag & Maya)
Book 3: Bound to the Orc Healer (Throk & Zoe) ? YOU ARE HERE
Book 4: Taken by the Orc Scout (Gorm & Riley)
Book 5: Loved by the Orc Blacksmith (Brek & Sophie)

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• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
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• Print Length: 177 Pages
• File Size: 537 KB