Everyone expects the king to rage at the suggestion that he find a new spouse to stand alongside—or better yet, replace—his beloved husband. Some might be planning on it, hoping to incite another conflict like what has plagued the country since the death of the last legitimate ruler. But to everyone's surprise, the infamous Traitor King, Arden Canamorra, reacts to the suggestion with amusement, perhaps even interest.Decades of chaos ended with Arden's ascension to the throne. But many in the oldest noble families want more influence over the crown—noble influence, that is. Not from the king's lower-rank and somewhat rough palace guard husband, Mil. They don't care that Mil is a hero who helped secure peace at Arden's side, and that, at least among the common people, Arden and Mil's love story is legendary.Mattin, however, is outraged. A librarian at the royal library and advisor to the king despite his relatively young age, Mattin deeply admires...

Those who come back from the mysterious place known as the Realm, if they come back, are changed. Some return haunted. Others with knowledge of themselves that they will not share, and the magic of the Realm at their disposal. The peculiari, as these few are called, are tolerated at best, feared at worst.Nicodemus isn't anything like one of the exceptional, adventurous peculiari. For the most part, he's content to keep house for the peculiari of the Arawn Agency and rarely ventures outside of the manor they all call home. As an asterion, one of the unwanted, monstrous children of the Realm, Nicodemus is human in appearance except for the ram's horns growing from his head, and prefers the company of those who don't judge him. There's just one hitch in his otherwise safe and orderly world. One awkward, inconvenient, twice-a-year problem in which Nicodemus goes into what can humiliatingly only be called a rut.It's a secret he keeps from the others. But this year,...

Yule is the start of the new year, the midwinter festival for the solstice and the days afterward. Traditions are to burn logs and light candles to welcome the return of the sun, to celebrate with food and cheer and family, and to remember connections with the past.Robin Blessing never felt much need for that last part; he lives in his family's old farmhouse with the ghosts of his long-dead relatives. Anyway, he has no time for Yule. Alone, overworked, and ill, the holiday and any coven obligations that go with it are the last things on his mind.So he is not pleased to open his door and find Lucas Greysmith on the other side. Lucas is a legendary figure in Ravenscroft; marked by great magic, part of a powerful family, annoyingly tall and good-looking, and yet always asking after Robin when Robin is fine, thank you very much. Someone as important as Lucas should have better things to worry about than one little witch who won't use his Sight, and Robin usually...

For ten anxious years, the country of Ainle has had no chevetein to keep their many lesser cheves in check and maintain peace. Anyone can become the chevetein if it is the will of the Three, as the most powerful of the gods are known. But as the years pass, fewer and fewer people go to the Seat to offer themselves as chevetein. Doubt has crept in among the population, and more than one arrogant cheve has decided that the time has come to abandon the old ways. Only the presence of Prityal of Ters, Knight of the Seat, Tyrant-slayer, the Hope of Ainle, has kept the country from falling into chaos.Soft-spoken but fierce, noble as well as beautiful, Prityal is all that a Knight of the Seat should be. As faith dwindles, so, too, does the number of knights waiting to serve the chevetein, and with no one else available, it is Prityal who volunteers for a risky mission to an unfamiliar place. She cannot go alone. So, Delf, a lower-tier knight, accompanies her.Plain, with...

Sent to take care of his grandmother during lockdown, twenty-eight-year-old Trevor is surprised at how quickly he takes to The Grandma Lifestyle, learning how to manage her household. His world has narrowed down to the tiny street where his grandma and her neighbors live, but Trevor's only real complaints are his stalled career and love life. He has some plans for his career. It's his love life that's the bigger problem.At the start of 2020, Trevor and his boyfriend Sky broke up when Sky got a job offer in another state and moved away. But he and Sky have never stopped talking—and doing a lot more than talking, even if that's all online now. Sky, something of a genius, has a tendency to act bratty to get what he wants without having to ask for it, including Trevor dominating him. But even if Trevor weren't still finding his way when it comes to the kinkier side of their unofficial relationship, he doesn't think he can approach Sky to ask for the relationship he...

Clematis has worked hard to embody every fairy stereotype and be exactly what everyone wants. When a curse prevents him from hiding who he really is, he expects his friends to abandon him. But has happiness been in front of him all along?

For nearly twenty years, noble families have torn the country apart battling for the throne. Until now, the Tialttyrin have avoided the chaos, since no other nobles will risk offending the mysterious, powerful fae by attacking their favorites. But as the violence encroaches into the Tialttyrin's green valley, continued peace might require action. Or so Zelli, the family's youngest and most fae member, believes.Sheltered and inexperienced, Zelli resolves to save the valley and his family even if it means sneaking away to act on his own. He stops only to ask his family's sworn guard Tahlen's opinion on the matter. Thoughtful and reserved despite his young age, Tahlen has experience with the war going on outside the valley, as well as the respect of the other guards and the ear of the leader of the Tialttyrin. He surprises Zelli by agreeing something has to be done and that Zelli is the one to do it, but insists that if Zelli goes, Tahlen must go with him.Tahlen is...

Emery Elward returned to Trinity Creek with no intention of doing anything but repairing the farmhouse he grew up in, starting a business, and tending to the graveyard linked to his family's property. He has no interest in renewing past friendships. But one old friend is determined to get Emery out from behind the cemetery's iron gates.Crafty, delicate Ezra Bell, who tailors his coal-black suits, knits gloves to warm his cold hands, and couldn't make a plant grow if he tried, isn't someone Emery can ignore. Ezra was Emery's best friend all through school, his first crush, and his first kiss. Then Ezra stepped back without ever acknowledging that anything happened between them and Emery left town. But now Ezra is free to tell Emery the secret that kept them apart—the town is steeped in magic, the old families are witches, and some of them, like Ezra, are a little bit more.Amid gray skies, falling leaves, and the paper cutouts of skeletons that decorate the...

Left on her own at a young age, Batch grew up in logging camps as a rough-and-tumble tomboy in men's clothing, and kept all her soft and tender impulses carefully hidden. Even her name is a joke to most, and she used to drink to keep herself from minding. But with the area quieting down into orderly farms and civilized towns, complete with stricter notions of propriety, and her mind finally clear and sober, Batch is starting to wonder, and worry, about who she is, and where her place in the world might be.It's a bit of a shock to encounter Olivia Hooper again in the middle of her worrying. Like Batch, Hooper dresses in pants and does work most women don't. But Hooper is something special. She wears her hair short and carries herself so confidently that few attempt to argue with her on the matter. She befriends everyone Batch cares about, and tells fantastical stories about true love, and destiny, and the town where she grew up; a place where no one cares how she...

Throughout the kingdom of Kaska and into the countries beyond, they gossip about the scandalous Fox, the beautiful commoner who went from singing in taverns to being court musician and the king's lover. But the king has grown distant and now seeks a proper consort, leaving Fox shut out of the king's bedroom and uncertain of his place at court. His worries are compounded by the crowded accommodations during the King's Tournament, as even nobles fight for space within the castle. Fox might have nowhere to go.Then legendary knight Byr Conall, the famed Dragonslayer, steps in to offer Fox a place to stay among the knights competing in the tournament. Conall is the one person at court not intimidated by the king, and therefore the one person Fox has avoided so as not to incur the king's wrath. At least, that's one reason. The other is that something about the thoughtful, crafty mountain of a man makes Fox feel less like the glamorous, clever figure known far and wide as the...

Jamie "Izzy" Islington is an ace, femme, neuroatypical college junior with anxiety, an interest in coding and poetry, and difficulty identifying his own emotions. He's had no interest in romantic love until very recently, when he realizes he has a crush on someone in his circle of friends—although he has no intention of doing anything about it. Izzy thinks every problem through to the correct solution, and he knows that the initial fascination some people have for him quickly fades, and no one is interested in actually dating him. Especially not someone special like Rocco.Rocco Baglieri is a hard-working, reserved student-athlete. He gets especially quiet with Izzy, although he's more comfortable around everyone else, especially their mutual friend, Ronnie. Which would bother Izzy more, except that Izzy is all smiles for Ronnie too. Warm and giving Ronnie Acebedo is sunshine personified. He once had a crush on Izzy during their first year, but got over it and is...

A Being(s) in Love AnthologyVery little is known about seers—those individuals, both human and being, with the power to know both what could have been and what is yet to come. Seers prefer it that way. Some of them run from their visions. Others call themselves artists or authors instead of oracles. But even in the most seemingly innocent of their creations, the truth will out, and lessons will be learned.Two storytellers of different eras and vastly different temperaments weave fantastic tales of magic and romance for their enthralled audiences: A young prince avoids his betrothed and the curse that binds them. A witch uses his magic to help the man he loves court someone else. A warrior betrayed by his lord finds himself in the company of a mysterious stranger. A half-fae is doomed to be sent to the Faery Court unless he can find someone to love him. A lonely outcast finds himself drawn to a forbidden forest. A bookseller at a masked ball wonders if he...

Once a year, the town of Ravenscroft celebrates the winter solstice by watching the Oak King symbolically slay the Holly King to ensure the death of winter. To most people, it's a pagan ritual that has lost all meaning in the modern world, harmless fun during the week of Christmas. To the coven who founded the town, it's a magic so important they entrusted it to the two strongest witches in generations.Will Battle and Chester Sibley are opposites in every way, or so Ravenscroft residents insist. Quiet, polite Will is the town's beloved adopted son, popular and admired. Defiant, outspoken Chester is disliked and avoided despite being a direct descendant of the town's founders. It's no wonder Will is the embodiment of spring and life as the Oak King and Chester was given the cold, dark Season of Holly. No one in town seems to realize their nice, well-mannered Oak King has iron at his core and their fearsome Holly King only wants to make people happy. Perhaps that's also why not even...