A Cozy F/M Romantasy Novella
Synopsis: Autumn Brightleaf, who works at Acornsfield Library as a grimsguard, allows the Grimoire of Whimsical Fantasies and Unknown Consequences to escape during her shift. Without wasting time, she chases Whims all over town to keep her job, right before he disappears inside Ethan Hawthorn’s stormhaven. And even though the striker chief once told Autumn he never wanted to see her again, she sneaks inside the building to retrieve Whims. What could possibly go wrong?
Keywords: Apple-Tart Milkees, Coffee Shop, Fairy Tale, Fall Season, Grimoires, Leaf Storm, Library, Lil’ Dragons, Magic, Spells, Villains, Wands, Quaint Town, Queer Characters
Genre: Adult Literature, Traditional Romance, Clean Romance, Cozy Fantasy, Fantasy Romance (43,730 words)
Release Date: September 22, 2025
BUY ON AMAZON
CHARACTERS
Autumn Brightleaf
Age: 23 years old
Birthday: Seventeenth Day of the Month when the Woods Hopped into a New Season Every Day and Drove Wicks Crazy Enough to Wear Shorts during Snowstorms, Year 3121, Fall Season (Fall Season, 17 of Hopping Month XI, 3121)
HeartScope: Malori
Occupation: Grimsguard
Favorite Spell: The Spell that Makes People Break into Songs out of Nowhere
Ethan Hawthorn
Age: 30 years old
Birthday: Twenty-Eighth Day of the Month when Witch Poppybloom Wandered into a Veil of Mist and Reappeared in the Cheers Royals’ Private Bathroom, Year 3114, Frogsbog Season (Frogsbog Season, 28 of Wandering Month IX, 3114)
HeartScope: Femori
Occupation: Striker Chief
Favorite Spell: The Spell that Glues People’s Lips Together and Prevents them from Uttering a Sound
THE STORY
Autumn loved thunderstorms. She was fascinated by the way dark clouds gathered in the sky and the air vibrated with electricity before they boomed over the world. She always found beauty in the formidable, and she wondered if it wasn’t the reason why she was attracted to Ethan.
Autumn Brightleaf works at Acornsfield Library as a grimsguard, keeping an eye on the grimoires shelved in the cliffside wing while making sure these mischievous magical beings behave properly, which happens to be a harder task than protecting the Woods of Wonders against jinxes. No kidding.
Yet, despite the fact that grimoires pull enough pranks to drive any normal wick crazy, Autumn loves her job more than A Jinx Hunter in Love, her favorite romance novel. The one she reads whenever she needs a boost of warmth and happiness, the kind she can’t find in a pop’cup of milkee.
And lately, she’s been reading it often enough to recite entire passages by heart, since her own heart has begun to crack under the pressure at work.
Because Autumn’s one mistake away from being fired from Acornsfield Library, and after what happened at her previous workplace, no other libraries will want to hire her. And if she loses her current job, she’ll have to change careers. But what else could she be? A book clerk? Frogs, she hopes not.
To make sure the librarian doesn’t terminate her, Autumn has adopted a more professional approach when dealing with her grimoires, which means no more games of hide-and-seek or performing plays with magical effects. The grimoires love Autumn’s new working method as much as Autumn enjoys casting duds inside her cottagestack that unleash thunderclouds. In other words, they detest it, especially the Grimoire of Whimsical Fantasies and Unknown Consequences.
The most mischievous grimoire in all the Woods of Wonders.
Tranquility reigns in the cliffside wing, right up until Whims decides to escape from the library, forcing Autumn to chase him all over town. The problem isn’t that Autumn doesn’t enjoy the colors of the fall season or the quaint streets of Acornsfield Town, but that Whims decides to soar right inside Ethan Hawthorn’s stormhaven.
The same wizard who told Autumn that he never wanted to see her again.
Autumn doesn’t have many options. And even if she chooses the worst of them, she’s still optimistic about her chances of retrieving Whims and keeping her job at Acornsfield Library. But Autumn has never been more wrong in her life, especially since Ethan isn’t quite pleased to see her.
READ CHAPTER ONE