"LGBTQ READS MOST ANTICIPATED LGBTQ+ ADULT FICTION
The cozy fantasy of TJ Klune meets the creeping horror of T. Kingfisher in this magical novel about a man who enters a deadly enchanted forest expecting it to endanger his life, but not his heart…
Clockmaker Arthur Throckmorton lives a quiet life with his sister and her children, only dreaming of adventure. So when a wealthy client offers him a job that involves traversing Shiftleaf-an enchanted forest that claimed his father decades ago-he reluctantly accepts. The forest is treacherous, but the money will change his family's lives.
The journey quickly turns perilous. Fleeing from monstrous birds, Arthur stumbles upon a hidden vale where he meets the Lord of the Wood-a figure from his father's many stories. Instead of the fairy prince Arthur always imagined, Ira is a morose man, slowly transforming into a beast, his power over a dying forest waning.
Arthur enjoys the safety of the vale, and Ira's company. But he yearns for his family. To safely return home and rescue Ira from a cursed and lonely existence, Arthur and Ira must reach the heart of the wood to heal the forest. Except the further they venture from the vale, the more beastly Ira becomes. If they can't complete their mission before he turns completely, Arthur could lose the man he's falling for-and never see his family again.
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"NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2025 BY LIBRARY JOURNAL AND REACTOR
"Anderson writes a curmudgeonly immortal protagonist and a (literally) haunting story full of heart; a delightful novel." -Library Journal starred review
"This heartwarming, thrilling book cleverly uses horror tropes to achieve a powerful effect, suffusing the reader with warmth and kindness." -The Washington Post
In this mesmerizing, wonderfully moving queer cozy horror fantasy, an immortal ghost hunter must confront his tragic past and solve a centuries-old mystery in order to embrace his found family.
Find an angry spirit. Send it on its way before it causes trouble. Leave before anyone learns his name.
After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o' them folk in his native Ireland, he can't. Instead, he's cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants.
Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he's ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead-until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter's drawn into the townsfolk's lives, homes and troubles. For the first time in over a century, he wants something other than death.
But the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won't.
As Harrington buckles under the weight of the supernatural, the ghost hunt pits Peter's well-being against that of his new friends and the man he's falling for. If he stays, he risks heartbreak. If he leaves, he risks their lives.
Tropes:
- Cozy Horror/Fantasy crossover
- Found family
- Paranormal Mystery
- Irish Mythology
- Immortal hero
- Ghost hunter hero
- Grumpy X Sunshine
- LGBTQIA+ representation"
"You're never too old for adventure.
When you’re a geriatric armed with nothing but gumption and knitting needles, stopping a sorcerer from wiping out an entire dragon-fighting organization is a tall order. No one understands why 83-year-old Edna Fisher is the Chosen One, destined to save the Knights from a dragon-riding sorcerer bent on their destruction. After all, Edna has never handled a magical weapon, faced down a dragon, or cast a spell. And everyone knows the Council of Wizards always chooses a teenager—like the vengeful girl ready to snatch Edna’s destiny from under her nose.
Still, Edna leaps at the chance to leave the nursing home. With her son long dead in the Knights’ service, she’s determined to save dragon-fighters like him and to ensure other mothers don’t suffer the same loss she did. But as Edna learns about the abuse in the ranks and the sorcerer’s history as a Knight, she questions if it’s really the sorcerer that needs stopping—or the Knights she’s trying to save."
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