Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from A Treason of Magic by Melissa Marr, which releases on June 23rd 2026.

Two young women. Heirs to altogether different hereditary burdens. Yet bound by a monstrous threat to their village.

Gabrielle is the first woman in Alveus to carry the mantle of Hunter, which comes with an obligation to kill the faery beasts murdering travelers in Brimmond Wood. Wary of the power she wields as guardian of her people, Gabrielle is summoned by her first love, a seductress who shattered her heart into pieces a decade ago.

Isabeau is the rarest of nobility―a lady duke. She is also afflicted by a curse that leaves her in a deep sleep between the gloaming and daylight. How can she begin her tenure as protector when she can’t keep her village safe from whatever stalks its darkest hours? For that, she needs the help of the Hunter.

Against her will, Gabrielle is falling in love all over again. But what new threats will arise when Gabrielle and Isabeau’s star-crossed destinies collide with the beast of Brimmond Wood?

EXCERPT

Her raven-wing-dark hair is cut short enough that the unruly curls threaten to rebel; one seems to be wrapping around the curve of her ear, not unlike the feathers of the raven that comes to mind every time I see her.

Her beauty is the only excuse I have for sounding so cutting as I say, “No, Isabeau, most people find your future title and your proximity to the queen charming.” I pull off my sodden-wet hat. My two thick braids drop like serpents, heavy and twisting down my back. “I am not impressed by either title or lineage, unlike most of your paramours.”

At first, I fear she’s changed too much as she simply stares at me. Then the quick temper I remember fills her charcoal-dark eyes, and she drawls, “Most of my paramours?”

I swallow several replies. I was not intending to imply that I was still in their number, and according to court gossip, her sheets are never cold. Once, I thought she was mine. Now, I have been replaced by countless lovers.

Isabeau’s eyes are fixed on me as she lowers her voice and asks, “So you agree to be my paramour again, then? I would certainly be willing to resume kissing you.”

“That is your reply to me?” I force a scoffing noise to hide the laugh that threatens to escape. Verbally sparring with her does good things for my mood.

I bet exchanging sword strikes would be better, temptation whispers.

Isabeau steps closer than I am prepared to accept, and I stumble away hastily, awkwardly, embarrassingly all but falling until she grips my wrists to steady me.

In a low voice she demands, “Is that blood?”

“Probably.” I look down, hoping upon hope that it’s not faery blood. I could swear there was none. The dead man was mostly drained of his own blood. There was a little, though, in the pool on the ground.

I spot the wet mark; thankfully it’s human blood.

I hike up my skirt’s hem and pull out a dagger. Without a word, I sever the fabric above the blood. Trying to not seem as incredibly bizarre as I’m sure I must, I scour it with my eyes, trying to assure that no faery blood is there.

Contaminants!

I fumble around in a pocket for salt, fill my hand with it, and turn my back to her as if I’m embarrassed. Quickly, I toss salt on the marble floor, but not so quickly that she doesn’t notice.

“Did you salt my floor?”

“Never too careful,” I say, as if that answer is anywhere near truth.

She looks at me again, but this time her gaze rakes over me as if I’m vulnerable and precious to her. “Are you injured?”

“No,” I whisper. I forgot how much I liked her protective side, perhaps because it was coupled with a possessive streak that was sometimes less alluring.

“Not your blood?” she presses.

“Not mine.” Carefully, I fold the blood into the fabric and transfer it to the hand still coated with coarse salt. “Would you escort me to a fireplace?”

Isabeau offers her arm to me as if we are at a ball or something, as if I am not dressed in attire that will be sentenced to a fire when I return home, as if she did not shatter my heart into pieces a decade ago. A lump that might be my heart chokes me, and I sound like a weathered old woman as I manage to scratch out, “I’d rather not ruin your hem if there are other . . . fluids on my dress.”

Isabeau removes her houppelande, tosses the extravagant garment onto a table, and again offers her arm. I try not to stare at the shape of her revealed without the massive houppelande. I fail instantly. Debauched and drunk are the rumors I hear, but what I see is strength and beauty. If she were intoxicated as often as society swears, her face would not be so bright and beautiful. Alcohol poisons health, and Isabeau looks healthy.

The pause has stretched too long. Seeing no other option, I rest my hand on her elbow, tentatively, as if she might sear me.

From A TREASON OF MAGIC by Melissa Marr, Text copyright © 2026 by Melissa Marr, Published by 47 North

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘A Treason of Magic’ by Melissa Marr appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Melissa Marr’s Toni and Addie Go Viral, which releases on August 12th 2025.

Hot new author and her lead actress stun fans in a secret wedding—is it all a publicity stunt? Or something more…

On a whim—and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind—Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show.

Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart … and her historically accurate underthings.

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘Toni and Addie Go Viral’ by Melissa Marr appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hi, Melissa! Welcome back! How have the past two years been since we last spoke?

Good! I wrote a few books, took silversmithing classes, had a wedding, and tried to get my son to football/basketball/skateboarding practice more or less on time.

The three books I mentioned last time we spoke–a picture book (Family is Family), a graphic novel for DC Comics (The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley), a fantasy novel (Remedial Magic)—are all out. Plus, HarperFire decided to re-issue a trade paperback set of my 6 Wicked Lovely books and Illumicrate has a special edition set of the same 6 books (with gorgeous case, cover, edge, and interior art) that just went on sale. I spent a few months signing all of those.

Reluctant Witch is the sequel to Remedial Magic and it’s out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Magic college, romance, deceit, badgers.

For those who haven’t picked up Remedial Magic, what can readers expect?

True love on a crooked path. A queer-normative magical college with a diverse population. In these two books, I wanted a magical world where all people would feel at home—and then a drop of venom in the middle to threaten all of it. So, there’s love, lies, and lots of worldbuilding.

And for those who have, what’s to come in Reluctant Witch?

Magic spilling into our world with deadly consequences. Mummification. Rage against corrupt government. And the badgers.

While there’s my usual attention to world and character and serious things, I think my quirks might be on more obvious display that I usually allow. (Booklist said lovely things and also noted that there were “a rather surprising number of badgers.” They aren’t wrong.)

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?

Honestly, the badgers! They are my “criminal justice” plan. If there’s a limited physical space, you don’t want to waste it building prisons. If you can’t expel some witches without it causing their death, you can’t exile people without embracing a death penalty for all infractions. So, I decided that “badgering” rule breakers was the answer. Space efficient, humane, and possibly a learning lesson.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

Giving myself permission to not think about how far outside brand I was wandering. I loved building a magic system, a society with longevity and a political history, and characters who thrive or falter in it. Part of that was a case of accepting that this book is really not as clearly in a genre as it could have been. It IS fantasy. It IS romance.  There’s a lesbian couple, a gay couple, and a hetero couple. Three primary romances. Plus, family dynamics, friendships, loyalty and lies.

If I step back, I think these two books are a cousin to a lot of things rather than being a clear and exclusive-to-one-genre-or-category book. Some readers (me) will like that, and others will not.

Can you tell us a bit about your process when it comes to working on a new book?

I read nonfiction and watch documentaries and visit museums for leisure, so I jot down ideas that strike me. This pair of books grew in part from reading Chris Gosden’s brilliant Magic: A History (FSG, 2020) right after re-reading Ronald Hutton’s The Witch (Yale UP, 2017).

While whatever I fed my brain percolates, I find a character who intrigues me. Then A second one. Once I have two voices, I start to draft a pitch, synopsis, and pages. The synopsis is a “living synopsis” that will evolve and refine as I draft more pages. Most of my books start like this, sparked by nonfiction (journal articles, book, documentary, or museum visits).

What’s next for you?

In drafting a book that I’m reading aloud to my wife as I write. That’s a new experimental process I’m smitten by right now.

In releases, I have a re-issue (tradepaper) of two of my earliest books (Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange) in May by Harper US, and then my contemporary lesbian romance (Toni and Addie Go Viral) releases from Bramble in August.

In travels, I have a few book signings (Powell’s in Portland, Poisoned Pen in Phoenix, Murder by the Book in Houston), a couple cons (Fan Fusion in Phoenix and RomanceCon in Milwaukee), and in refilling the well, I have a few weeks hiking in Sequoia National Park.

Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?

I have an evolving list, but my current “to check out” fantasy-adjacent list includes Elves and Fairies: A Short History of the Otherworld by Matthias Egeler (Yale UP), Swordheart  by T Kingfisher (Bramble), The Incandescent by Emily Tesh (Macmillan), The Maiden and her Monster by Maddie Martinez (Tor), Hungerstone by Kat Dunn (Zando), and  Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi (Harper).

I’m sure there are others, but those are on my list.

Will you be picking up Reluctant Witch? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Melissa Marr, Author of ‘Reluctant Witch’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

PLUS you can read the first two chapters of The Hidden Dragon at the end of the interview!

Hi, Melissa! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I write fiction for adults, teens, and children. I’m probably best known for my fantasy novels (Wicked Lovely for teens and Graveminder for adults) and my Bunny Roo, I Love You picturebook. My most recent book (Wild Horses) was a collection of my photography; it was just selected for inclusion in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. On the not-work side, I was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains, went to graduate school in North Carolina, and currently live in Arizona with my wife and sons. In my free time, I periodically teach for an MFA program, go to the gym, and hike with my cameras when my health allows.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I grew up in the mountains where everything is story—your day, why you blew curfew, the weird thing in the woods. Story is simply a way of life, but I was also one of those children who started to read early. I was reading Milton by middle school—along with steamy romances and fantasy and philosophy. I can’t say I understood it all, but I would read and reread things until I got the heart of it. Add bookishness to a culture of story, and I think my path was predetermined.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

Alice in Wonderland.

Your new novel, The Hidden Dragon, is out February 14^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Seafaring, fantasy creatures, found family.

What can readers expect?

Highseas adventures, a chimera, dragons, and pirates are the obvious things. However, the kids are also dealing with figuring out family, facing hunger, and realizing that adults aren’t always right.  Those are harder “monsters” to face than a classic Big Bad, in my opinion. Poverty, hunger, not knowing where you fit—these are real monsters. They were monsters I faced as a child, so I think that the book is both adventures and finding out how to overcome real-world peril.

Where did the inspiration for The Hidden Dragon come from?

This was partly the book 10 year old Melissa couldn’t find on the shelves. Ocean, dragons, and thrills! But I also read a lot of folklore and nonfiction. The final concept sparked from a publisher letter in the 1800s in which a naval captain swore he saw a sea dragon. He was reputable. . . and I thought “what if ours was a world where there were actually dragons, and the government was hiding the truth?”

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

The serious side was the challenge of writing a book without a physical manifestation of an antagonist. “Destroy this one enemy” is . . . easier to write. It’s expected. What if the enemy was homelessness? Poverty? Hunger? Governmental fail? Those are harder to tackle, harder to write without being lecture-y. They’re also real monsters, so I wanted to weave those into the story.

On the lighter side, if I had to pick one moment out of all the fun stuff with dragons and pirates and sea storms and tricking the queen, it was the pirate battle. I sat around the table with my kids (24, 29, & 10 now) and asked “what could be in the belly of the ship that we could use to attack the pirates.” We found an answer, and I could not have loved the solution more. I chortled.

With your first novel published 16 years ago, what are some of the key lessons you have learned as a writer since then?

I might sound harsh, but I’m going to share more “business of writing” not craft notes here.

1. Write with passion/excitement, and readers will feel it.
2. Work with your publishing team. No matter how much readers might love your book, it only matters if they can find your book in the first place.
3. Put business matters in writing. If you have a call, send the follow-up email saying, “Please confirm that these are the things discussed, dates, plan.” Record keeping helps.
4. Only read reviews when you are braced for them. And then remember that you are not as good OR as bad as reviewers think.
5. Retreats are golden. (I do 3-4 a year.) They don’t need to be fancy, but losing yourself in the words is magical.
6. Some people pick a lane; some diversify. I prefer the latter enough that the pressure to do the former made me consider quitting entirely. There’s no One Way to do it, despite what many people think.

What’s next for you?

On the diversifying topic, I have a mix of things: a YA graphic novel for D.C. Comics (The Strange Case of Harleen & Harley) coming out in 2024, a picturebook Family is Family (via Penguin), and an adult fantasy novel (Remedial Magic) that ought to be officially announced any day.  So I have a number of things completed that are in the pipeline.  I’m toying with a few project currently, since those three are all written and submitted.

Lastly, are there any 2023 book releases our readers should look out for?

I’m really looking forward to Opinions and Opossums by Ann Braden. It sounds like a smart and funny MG book.

In adult, there’s Hemlock Island (Kelley Armstrong), which is actually in my hands now to read. It’s Kelley’s first full-length horror novel. Plus, there’s her second Rip in Time Victorian, time travel, thriller with a romance thread. That one is called The Poisoners Ring, I think. (I adored the first one!)

Also N.E. Davenport’s sequel to Blood Trials (which I love) is coming out.

I’m sure there are a stack out there I have yet to discover but will love, but I was finishing writing my next novel, so I haven’t really looked too far into the new year’s offerings yet.

Will you be picking up The Hidden Dragon? Tell us in the comments below!

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

The post Q&A: Melissa Marr, Author of ‘The Hidden Dragon’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Melissa Marr’s Of Maidens and Swords is a collection of eight fantasy short stories, four of which are standalone. The other four take place as part of book series she has written, including a return to the Wicked Lovely series she’s best known for. Of the first four, three are inspired by fairytales.

“Of Roses and Kings” is inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Beatrice falls to Wonderland, taking pleasure in entertaining and challenging Alice, the new Red Queen. She triumphs in freeing Alice from her required king, assuming the role herself to be Alice’s official and chosen lover. “The Nameless” inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, takes place in a village of women defending themselves from wolves, a specific group of men from an enemy village. One woman was taken and assaulted by the wolves, returned pregnant, and disappeared again after giving birth to her daughter, Victorie, who the protagonist now trains. The protagonist experiences a similar experience but lives to raise her own daughter and plots to attack the wolves rather than just defending against them. “Knee Deep in the Sea” follows Isabel, personal assistant to a perverse filmmaker, on Orkney to make a documentary on seals, only to find bodies of murdered men on the beach. When her boss prompts her to find a local to film for the documentary, Isabel finds Margaret, who reveals herself as a hybrid of selchie and finman. Margaret has been killing distasteful men from off the island. The final stand-alone tale is “The Devil’s Due,” a retelling of Bluebeard. Adelaide works as a pirate to take care of her mother and sisters, until her mother dies and her sisters disappear after marrying, only to find their husbands were the same man, Captain Hayes. She plans to marry him, learn what happened to her sisters and the other missing girls, and then murder him. This captain’s preference is for girls without wealth or brothers to make it harder for loved ones to seek him. She and her crew defeat Captain Hayes. They discover most of the missing women are kept locked away, alive.

The next four are primarily part of Marr’s Wicked Lovely series, and the other a Graveminder prequel. The Graveminder prequel, “Changing Guards,” sets up the events that lead to the first novel. The three Wicked Lovely stories fill in details of a few main characters’ pasts across a prequel and two sequels. “Love Hurts” takes place after the initial Wicked Lovely series, and reveals that Irial, a fairy who is the former Dark King and the current representation of Chaos, had children with a human lover a long time ago. Ashlinn, the Summer Queen who was once human and ended a curse on many fairies, is Irial’s great granddaughter through his daughter. Irial reveals this relationship to Aislinn and expands on it in “Summer Bound,” while focusing on the happiness of Aislinn’s court and the revelation of Irial’s antagonistic son appearing. “Winter Dreams” is the prequel, focusing on Irial’s past while he was the Dark King and loved before, and Keenan’s romances in attempt to free himself and his Summer court from a curse and restore his power as Summer King. Ash and Irial’s stories set up for a future continuation: Irial had children, and Aislinn descended from one of them. She now faces a new enemy: her great uncle, and that conflict will expand in future stories.

Marr’s writing enchants, both managing to surprise readers with certain twists while adding foreshadowing for what’s to come with others. Despite Wicked Lovely’s initial end ten years ago, the new stories neatly connect within the histories already constructed for the series and manage to continue its many complex relationships, including the surprise of Aislinn being descended from Irial. The book succeeds in doing so without adding additional love triangles or new love interests interrupting existing relationships as others are prone to do. These stories are faithful and well thought out, made for the Wicked Lovely fans rather than a new readership.

Many of her stories include environmental messages: “The Nameless” shows characters worrying about sustainability practices. “Knee Deep in the Sea” shows Isabel worrying about polluting the ocean and apologising to the local seals when she throws a man’s wallet to the sea while Margaret is an embodiment of nature. The Fairy courts in Wicked Lovely function as embodiments of nature and the cycle of seasons. Each ruler exerts powerful control over what their court embodies: Aislinn as the Summer Queen with heat and encouraging plants to grow, with Winter summoning frost and storms. Marr’s fairies have the common trait of weakening in the presence of iron. This expands into many man-made things shown at odds with the stone, wood, plants, and animals that the courts surround themselves with in their dwellings.

If one thing is certain, Marr’s writing is empowering and inclusive ample with representation. Many of her characters are LGBT+, such as Beatrice and Alice, many women in “The Nameless,” Irial and Nial. Irial finds happiness in a polyamorous relationship with Nial, his old lover and the new Dark King, and Leslie, a human girl who became entangled in the Dark Court and became consort. Adelaide and Nox in “The Devil’s Due” are a mixed-race couple written in a setting where mixed race marriage was illegal. Nox remains part of Adelaide’s scheme from beginning to end and as Adelaide’s equal. Marr doesn’t shy away from discussing sex and sexual encounters. She encourages exploration and normality of the subject.

On top of this, Marr also writes about sexual assault and harassment. It’s a difficult subject to write about, and she doesn’t make any of the assaults mentioned explicit, but does focus on the recovery, healing, and empowerment of characters who have experienced sexual assault, including showing her characters in happy relationships where boundaries are addressed and matter.

Worthy of note is that Marr includes two author’s notes. One follows “The Devil’s Due” on the matter of women’s suffering and deaths existing in works as a popular trope for the development of male characters, in which Marr emphasises the need and power in female characters being written alive and speaking. As people, not plot devices. The other follows “Winter Dreams,” as a note to encourage seeking help and having a community to support any reader with suicidal thoughts. While suicide doesn’t occur in the story in question, readers of the Wicked Lovely series learn in other books that Moira, Aislinn’s mother, committed suicide to escape being pursued by the fairy courts who saw her as a solution to break the curse placed on most of them.

While this collection has some original works, half the stories are related to Marr’s other series and are dependent on the readers’ familiarity with them. Graveminder wouldn’t be such trouble with only one book out so far. However, the three Wicked Lovely stories are certainly meant for those who have read the five main Wicked Lovely novels. They function as an expansion of that world and to sow the seeds of a sequel series and new conflicts for these characters. These four stories may gain both series more interest, and the book will still have something to offer in the first half that doesn’t require previous familiarity with Marr’s works.

Of Maidens and Swords is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 21st 2021.

Will you be picking up Of Maidens and Swords? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis

This novel-length (80,000 word) story collection includes Marr’s 2019 & 2020 short fiction (all previously published in magazines, anthology, or ebook), including the new Wicked Lovely Stories “Love Hurts,” “Summer Bound,” and “Winter Dreams,” as well as “Nameless,” “Changing Guards,” “The Devil’s Due,” and “Knee Deep in the Sea” and “Of Roses and Kings.”

The post Review: Of Maidens and Swords by Melissa Marr appeared first on The Nerd Daily.