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Cover of Into the Midnight Wood

Into the Midnight Wood

by Alexandra McCollum

🌶️🌶️🌶️moderate·spoiler

Why Read This?

A warm queer romance wrapped in whimsical fantasy. The grumpy/sunshine dynamic between David and Meredith is irresistible, and the enchanted wood adds genuine stakes to their slow-burn love story.

Synopsis

A whimsical fantasy romance about two mismatched roommates whose fragile—and definitely not romantic at all —balance is upended by an impending family wedding and an otherworldly danger in the nearby enchanted wood. There are at least 100 things wrong with Meredith Schwarzwelder. In fact, keeping track of these things is the only way David Carew has managed to remain living with him for as long as he has. Meredith is an irredeemable eccentric who flirts with everyone in his path (#3 on the list), cries at anything (#35), makes the worst coffee in the world (#70), and talks to mice, or imagines he does (#50). It’s bad enough living with such a person on the edge of the Midnight Wood, but when magic starts to seep from the wood and a dark being emerges with a sinister plan involving Meredith, David decides that it’s time to leave the cottage, and his roommate, behind. Then Meredith’s brother gets engaged to the daughter of David’s boss, and David sees an If he can insert himself into the festivities, maybe he can advance his career and get himself out of a personal rut. With wedding bells sounding and the dangers of the Midnight Wood encroaching, David realizes there’s much more hiding beneath the surface of his roommate’s seemingly carefree charm, and that perhaps his own exasperation carries more fondness than he’d like to admit. Cozy, sharp, steamy, and poignant, Into the Midnight Wood is a contemporary queer fairy tale about the masks we wear, the stories we tell, and the powerful need for true, honest connection to heal old wounds and new.

At a Glance

3.82 ★ Goodreads
Spice Level🌶️🌶️🌶️moderate
Endingspoiler
PairingM/M
Romance Pacingslow burn

Top Tropes

roommates to loversgrumpy sunshineslow burn

Mood

whimsicalcozyheartfeltbittersweet

Book Details

Goodreads Rating

3.82 ★

Page Count

412 pages

Published

2026

Primary Genre

Cozy Fantasy

Pairing

M/M

POV

First Person

Romance Pacing

Slow Burn

Cliffhanger

spoiler

Audiobook

Available

Yes

Format

Unabridged

Tropes

RomanceMagicActionAngstWorld
Theme Constellation

sign in to see all 6 tropes

Mood & Vibe

Mood

sign in to see writing style, pacing & more

Characters

FMC: N/A (M/M) sign in to unlock

Spice Details 🌶️

emotionally-driven intimate scenes with tasteful but present heat

bullying and emotional abusephysical violencetraumahomophobia and slursbrief neo-Nazi subplotself-loathinggender dysphoria themes

World & Setting

contemporary with magic sign in to unlock

Reading Context

high sign in to unlock

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