An evocative dark fairytale of revenge, rebirth, and love forged in both blood and honey.

Kael, the last royal of a long-dead fae kingdom, is ancient, wrathful, and untamed. Shifting fluidly between female and male, wish-maker and monster, Kael hides in the depths of a forest steeped in magic and memory. Here, foolish humans come begging for wishes they don't deserve, and every time, Kael grants them. With a catch.

Always with a catch.

So when Mira trespasses, desperate for a miracle, Kael names a price: one fevered night to quiet the spring heat in their blood?and the promise of her firstborn child. What Mira doesn't know is that Kael never intended salvation. Only a curse spoken into being by her own words.

Kael feels no remorse. At first. They don't expect her to honor the deal. They certainly don't expect to father the child. And least of all, they don't expect her to carry the pregnancy with quiet dignity. But Mira does, embracing her role as surrogate with giddy, reverent excitement?slowly dismantling Kael's hatred, with calm, unearned dedication.

As winter descends and the birth draws near, Kael must choose: return to solitude, or risk becoming what they most fear, loved.Lush, gothic, and unflinchingly intimate, What the Forest Begets is a gender-shifting fantasy-romance full of monstrous intimacy, tender realizations, and the quiet horror of becoming soft despite your scars.

Autorentext

Rowan Houston Laine is a queer author creating romances that encapsulate themes of self-acceptance, diversity, and the transformative power of love.

Best known for their paranormal and fantasy tales?and their unconventional pairings?Rowan draws from myth to explore human nature through decidedly inhuman lenses.

Danger and intimacy, pain and healing, feral and found: their stories reflect their own fascination with the inherently chiral nature of connection. They believe even the steamiest, most otherworldly, and absurd of characters can nurture a beating heart.