Into the Midnight wood by Alexandra McCollum

There are 100 things wrong with Meredith Schwarzwelder. At least.

#1 He has an absurd name.

#3 He’s an irredeemable eccentric who flirts with everyone in his path.

#35 He cries at anything.

#50 He talks to mice, or imagines he does.

For David Carew, keeping track of these things is the only way he’s managed to remain living with him for as long as he has.

But when magic starts to seep in from the Midnight 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 he sees the perfect opportunity to advance his career and make his escape.

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.