Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment, an anthology edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane, which releases on 15 September 2026.

A pair of harried servants try to romance their respective bosses into a universe-saving marriage. Two bitter political rivals discover they have interests in common, and decide not to let a little thing like murder get in the way. After years apart, childhood nemeses come together to resolve their differences, and face down a common foe.

From Regency England to a mysterious Romanian forest, and from a city made of flowers to a sinister faerie train, love conquers all in these 12 beautiful tales, featuring brand-new stories from Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Kelley Armstrong, Rebecca Thorne, Alexis Hall, L. R. Lam, A.Y. Chao, Juliet Marillier, Chloe Neill, Olivia Atwater, Jen Williams, Greer Stothers, and Vida Cruz-Borja.

Rose Bloom, Rose Bud, Rose Blood

By L.R. Lam

The quill is cut. Here is the parchment, the ink, and the blotting sand. The door is locked, the curtains drawn, and the sole candle burns bright. Are you ready to begin? Write down every word I say, no matter what. Do you promise? I can read and write, but my palm is burned, and I want my words clear as a bell. 

Yes, I will tell you all as it happened. I know it by heart, after all.

Hurry, now, before the Black Moon rises.

Let’s begin.

My love bloomed too early.

She wasn’t even one and twenty summers. I thought we would have more time.

Wait, I’m not starting at the beginning.

She was the baker’s daughter, and I was the daughter of a bookkeeper for the merchants at the dock of the nearby town. We met on the rubble of the beach by the harbour, not long after my father had moved us from the capital.

My father had told me the fresh air would do us good, and my mother had scoffed. The air by the pebbly beach was brackish with the smell of seaweed, so I agreed more with her, until I saw my love, bending down to look for sea glass.

I was fifteen, all awkward elbows and sharp edges. My dark hair would never stay tidy. She was sunshine – golden hair, rosy cheeks, and a wide smile. I was mesmerized and surprised that she seemed to find me just as interesting as I found her.

“I heard your mother is a hedge witch,” she said to me once we’d realized we both lived in the same village. “Is it true that she has blood magic?”

“She’s a talent for herbs, is all,” I demurred, knowing better than to admit any differently to someone I’d just met.

We lived on opposite sides of the meadow. I was in a grander house of stone, whereas hers was a ramshackle cottage with old, moss-choked thatching.

I’d fallen for her within months, of course, but I think it took her a little longer to even realize that a girl could love another girl. Over the next five years, we often walked through the woods, fingers entangled, telling ourselves that was just what friends did. We found excuses to brush shoulders. I’d tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, even if a tendril hadn’t truly escaped.

“If you could wish for anything,” she’d ask me. “What would you wish for now?” She trailed her fingers in the stream, the hem of her skirt wet.

A kiss, I’d want to say, but I’d give her some other answer, time and time again.

We spoke of everything. I lent her books from my father’s library, and sometimes we’d argue about what we read. She could be a little stubborn, though I was more so. While I might lash out in frustration, she clammed up and might not come to the meadow for days until my love finally arrived, I grovelled, and she forgave me and apologized, too.

She taught me the magic of turning yeast, flour, water, and heat into something more. I’d burned my first few loaves terribly, but when I finally managed a fluffy one, I tucked it beneath my arm and took a knife and a little ramekin of butter out to the meadow. We ate the whole thing, hot and steaming, until not even crumbs were left.

We were total opposites, but thick as thieves, my father always said of us, fondly. I remained the thundercloud to her sunbeam. I was prone to assume the worst, and she’d cajole me into a smile instead of a scowl.

That second winter, a cough stole first my father’s voice, then later his life. I took over his bookkeeping, for I’d always had a head for numbers, and I was good enough at it that people didn’t seem to mind so much that I wasn’t a man.

“Be careful with that girl,” my mother warned me one day, as she was drying herbs in the kitchen. She, too, had been a village maid until my father had taken one look at her in a market square and fallen head over heels for her, as if he’d taken a love potion. Perhaps he had. My father taught me numbers and ledgers, but my mother had tutored me in more arcane subjects. The prick of a spindle, and the magic that welled up, bright as that bead of blood, and how to use it. I’d taken to that just as easily.

I waved away my mother’s concerns and headed out to the meadow, where my love was waiting for me. Every day I didn’t get my wish, though, the want for it cut me a little deeper.

When she danced with the village boys in the hall during festivals, I’d bite my lip so hard it bled, a burst of magic sparking along my tongue. I’d  turn down any boy who asked me for a whirl beneath the holly boughs, perhaps a little more viciously than necessary. I knew, of course, that my love was nearing the age to be thinking about marriage and babes and all of that would keep her tethered to this village. Would I be able to stand at her side? One day, would I say I’d had enough, and my mother and I would disappear in the middle of the night and head back to the capital and its anonymous bustle?

Finally, on the longest night of the year, when we were eighteen, after yet another dance finished and my love spun around the floorboards with another farmer’s son, I could bear it no longer. I took her hand and led her out to our spot in the meadow.

“If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for now?” she asked, and her lip trembled.

“This,” I said, and pressed my mouth to hers.

For a moment, I feared I’d made a mistake, but then her lips parted, her tongue darted against mine, and I was lost and found in equal measure.

We lay down in the meadow grass, and she said I smelled of gardenia. Our lips brushed, light as a butterfly’s wing, before she crushed me to her. Our fingers intertwined, then our limbs. We peeled off our clothes, reverently, and traced the outlines of each other’s bodies. I quivered as my tongue followed the curve of her breast, or followed that faint line of muscle at the centre of her stomach. She smelled of roses and sea salt. Neither of us knew exactly what to do, drawing on instincts and our own explorations of our wandering hands beneath our covers over the years. And when we cried out, overcome, only a barn owl flying across the moon was our witness.

We stayed out in the meadow, whispering until morning, our secrets and promises catching on the wind. We were inseparable after. Her parents and my mother pretended not to notice the obvious shift, but I’d still see the warning in my mother’s eyes. She’d known, long before me, that this could never last.

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Lost lovers return for a second chance –​ but what are their motives? Academic rivals compete for a prestigious position, but their sizzling chemistry might get in the way. A monster slayer​ posing as an unwitting sacrifice meets an intriguingly moral prince.

From relationships caught ​in disparate timelines to ghostly ballrooms and dragons that need rescuing from princesses, this anthology gives you an inventive new spin on all your favorite tropes, and much more that you’ve never seen before.

Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane (Editors)

To us, romantasy connects to all the most famous love stories in fantasy fiction from the past – we mention the likes of Perseus and Andromeda, and the love triangle of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot in our introduction – whilst still being something fresh, modern and entertaining. It’s a mood and a feeling, primarily; it’s about how the words make you feel. But it should also be a love story of whatever variety set against the backdrop of a fantasy setting or using a fantasy or SF idea (such as time travel, for instance): something that thrills, entertains and engages the reader. If a romantasy story has done all that, then it’s definitely fit for purpose – and thankfully all of our writers rose to the occasion!

Kamilah Cole (Contributing author)

Romantasy, for me, makes me feel the same way that fairy tales did as a child. Even in the Grimm brothers’ brutal originals, good defeats evil, princesses end up with princes, and the horrors of the world have a purpose beyond chaotic despair. In a romantasy, love is the fairy tale, triumphing over wars and betrayal, over enemy lines and power grabs. As a Black woman, society and fiction expects me to be strong, to be the best friend or the comic relief. But in a romantasy—especially the kind of diverse romantasy that I enjoy—I can be soft. I can be a damsel in distress. I can be the main character and the love interest, the center of the love triangle and the princess to be protected. So I’ll always love romantasy for giving me the space to be so much more than a Strong Black Woman.

Angela ‘A.G.’ Slatter (Contributing author)

Generally, for me, romantasy is a good fun read. When I’m writing it – and let’s be honest, this is my first outing! – what I like to do is write relationships that are more equal than those I read about in romantic fiction as a teen, and certainly better than those in Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre! Female characters stand on their own two feet, choose their own paths and relationships, traditional or otherwise, and tell partners what they want instead of taking whatever’s offered. I think romantasy gives a chance to look at fantasy in a new way, to model healthier relationships and examine ideas beyond elves versus dwarfs and the usual quest narrative. And it’s nice to let loose with some spice on the side (and the middle and other side too).

Hannah Nicole Maehrer (Contributing author)

As a child my world was made of magic and whimsy. As an adult, not much has changed. I can remember the moment I fell in love with storytelling and to no one’s surprise, it was a romance. My entire world opened to the possibilities of love in any circumstances and those circumstances always expanded to the fantastical. I spent most of my life in love with love. I adore watching two characters at their most vulnerable, at their most human. Romantasy allows those stories to live within realms of impossible imagination. Love in and of itself is magic; romance is made of it. From our tangible world, something that does exist is the bridge to the fantastical we find in fiction. To bring them together into one genre is combining the things I adore most in storytelling, which for me is priceless, and timeless.

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In these stories, dear student, retribution visits a lothario lecturer; the sinister truth is revealed about a missing professor; a forsaken lover uses a séance for revenge; an obsession blooms about a possible illicit affair; two graduates exhume the secrets of a reclusive scholar; horrors are uncovered in an obscure academic department; five hopeful initiates must complete a murderous task and much more!

In These Hallowed Halls is a brand-new stories from Olivie Blake, M.L. Rio, David Bell, Susie Yang, Layne Fargo, J.T. Ellison, James Tate Hill, Kelly Andrew, Phoebe Wynne, Kate Weinberg, Helen Grant, and Tori Bovalino.

INTRODUCTION
Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane

Dark Academia.

What do those words conjure up for you? Mysterious and dangerous occurrences in various seats of learning? Students, and sometimes their tutors, in peril? Murder? Magic? Ghosts? Dusty books in old libraries? Clandestine cults and secret societies devoted to ancient rituals? All or none of the above?

If you’re new to the subject, you’ve picked the perfect place to start. If you’re already a fan, then we think you’re going to love what we’ve got in store for you within these pages! In the last few years the phenomenon of Dark Academia has, quite literally, exploded. Fuelled by book clubs on social media platforms like Tumblr and Instagram, where people discuss classic and Gothic books, this wave developed into a subculture in its own right that grew even more popular during the pandemic and lockdowns. Let’s face it, there wasn’t much else to do during those times than watch things and read.

Books like Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, the Harry Potter series and classics such as Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and the ghost stories of M. R. James have all been credited as inspiring the trend, as well as films like Love Story, Dead Poets Society and Cruel Intentions, not to mention more recent TV shows like A Discovery of Witches (based on the excellent novels by Deborah Harkness), A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Queen’s Gambit, which all helped to fan the flames.

So, you can imagine our delight when we were asked to edit this anthology and gather together some of the finest exponents of this type of fiction around. Author of The Atlas Six and The Atlas Paradox, Olivie Blake, brings you a timely and unique social commentary – which still connects to the past – in her story “Pythia”, while M. L. Rio (If We Were Villains) reminds us of the pitfalls and potential benefits of being in the wrong place at the right time – or perhaps that should be the right place at the wrong time? – in “Weekend at Bertie’s”.
The author who brought you novels such as Good Girls Lie and Her Dark Lies, J. T. Ellison, and Tori Bovalino – who wrote The Devil Makes Three and Not Good for Maidens – show us the real dark side of Dark Academia in “X House” and “Phobos” respectively. Whereas Helen Grant (Ghost and Too Near the Dead), Layne Fargo (Temper and They Never Learn) and Kelly Andrew (The Whispering Dark) introduce us to the disturbing strangeness of the subject in “The Professor of Ontography”, “The Ravages” and “The Hare and the Hound”.
Both Kate Weinberg and James Tate Hill return us to the worlds of their books (The Truants, and Blind Man’s Buff, Academy Gothic) in their stories “1000 Ships” and “Sabbatical”. Author of Kill All Your Darlings and The Finalists, David Bell, presents us with a thought-provoking tale, “Four Funerals”, that will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading it, as will Phoebe Wynne’s (Madam, The Ruins) story “Playing” and its intriguing insights. All this plus Susie Yang (White Ivy) and her meditation on relationships, secrets and longing, “The Unknowable Pleasures”.

Excellent contributions by authors writing at the top of their game, showing the full range and power of what Dark Academia can do. So, settle back in your favourite reading spot with your favourite tipple, preferably surrounded by books, and let the lessons begin!

Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane
February 2023

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You think you know Alice in Wonderland? Think again. The stories within these pages will take you on journey through all the different facets of Lewis Carroll’s famous creation, from the historical, the horrific, the contemporary to the spiritual. Get ready to fall down the rabbit hole – or step through the looking glass, whichever you prefer – and prepare to see Wonderland, and indeed Alice, as you’ve likely not seen them before.

Originally published in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (known first as Alice’s Adventures Under Ground) and his follow-up, Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice Found There (published 1871), has been inspiring people for over 150 years. The first literary spin-offs began appearing as early as 1895 and have carried on to this day with titles such as Christina Henry’s The Chronicles of Alice. And of course the works inspired by it aren’t confined just to literature. Film adaptations started with the silent films of the early 1900s and have grown to include Disney’s beloved 1951 animated adaptation, Jan Svankmajer’s surrealist masterpiece, Alice (1988), and, most recently, Tim Burton’s interpretations. Alice-inspired media has even moved beyond film and literature, with American McGee’s brilliantly dark and twisted video games, Alice and its sequel Madness Returns, and many other references across the spectrum of pop-culture.

Now Titan Books have released Wonderland, an anthology of 18 never before seen stories inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, brought together by award-winning writer and editors Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan, from some of the best names in fantasy and horror.

We begin with Robert Shearman’s ‘Wonders Never Cease’, a story about change, beginning with the idea that “If Alice wouldn’t change, then something else would have to change in her place” before linking Alice’s journey to the journey we all share. ‘There Were No Birds to Fly’ by M.R. Carey portrays a sci-fi/horror tinged look at two of Wonderland’s more famous residents. ‘The White Queen’s Pawn’ by Genevieve Cogman adds elements of the spy genre before revealing a supernatural sting in the tail. Cavan Scott’s occasionally gory ‘Dream Girl’ sees Wonderland and its residents slowly disappearing. The Dream Girl is apparently to blame, but is everything as it seems?

In Juliet Marillier’s tale, ‘Good Dog, Alice!’, Dorothea’s Great Uncle Bartholomew doesn’t want her to name her new dog Alice as, according to him, all those named Alice are prone to “all manner of wild escapades.” But, for Dorothea, Alice the dog’s curiosity may turn out to be a good thing. Jonathan Green’s ‘The Hunting of the Jabberwock’ sees a knight arrive to hunt the titular beast, only to uncover a nefarious scheme. In George Mann’s ‘About Time’, Lucy found Wonderland as a child and it became her haven. Now she’s a teenager however, she feels it’s time to put childish things behind her but soon finds that this is not as easy as it seems. In ‘Smoke ‘em if You Got ‘em’, Angela Slatter transports Alice to the Wild West.

Rio Youers’ ‘Vanished Summer Glory’ is a poignant tale that looks at grief and its effect on the imagination. Catriona Ward’s ‘Black Kitty’ is a wonderfully peculiar, and surprisingly emotional, “tail” of a pair of twin sisters, a magic mirror and a certain cat. Laura Mauro’s ‘Night Parade’ takes influence from Japanese folklore. L.L. McKinney has already released a contemporary Alice retelling in the form of her debut novel A Blade So Black, and her story, ‘What Makes a Monster’, is set within this same world, bringing an even darker twist to mythology surrounding Jack the Ripper. In ‘The White Queen’s Dictum’ by James Lovegrove, two strangers meet in a motorway service station, one of whom is an investigator of the paranormal, only the paranormal may turn out to be closer than he thinks.

‘Temp Work’ by Lilith Saintcrow adds flavours of science-fiction – particularly cyberpunk – and corporate intrigue. ‘Eat Me, Drink Me’ by Alison Littlewood is an unnervingly woozy tale of a young woman about to be married, who thinks how much easier it would be to be her pet rabbit. ‘How I Comes to be the Treacle Queen’ by Cat Rambo has prose as poetically viscous as the treacle being mined. And ‘Six Impossible Things’ by Mark Chadbourn looks at the creation of imaginary worlds and the effects this can have on those who inspire them. The collection is bookended by Jane Yolen’s two poems, ‘Alice in Armour’ and ‘Revolution in Wonder’, acting as an opening and closing curtain.

As with any short-story collection, particularly those where the stories are all written by different authors, there is a wide variety of genres and styles, and not all of them will have the same impact (though of course your mileage may vary as to which ones). But these are all written by solid names within the genre and the quality is consistently high. An interesting addition to the canon of Alice inspired literature as well as an appealing short story collection in its own right.

Wonderland is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.

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

Synopsis | Goodreads

From the greatest names in fantasy and horror comes an anthology of stories inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Join Alice as she is thrown into the whirlwind of Wonderland, in an anthology that bends the traditional notions of Lewis Carroll’s classic novel. Contributors include the bestselling M.R. Carey, Genevieve Cogman, Catriona Ward, Rio Youers and L.L. McKinney.

Within these pages you’ll find myriad approaches to Alice, from horror to historical. There’s even a Wild West tale from Angela Slatter, poetry, and a story by Laura Mauro which presents us with a Japanese folklore-inspired Wonderland.

Alison Littlewood, Cavan Scott and Catriona Ward make the more outlandish elements their own, while James Lovegrove instead draws on the supernatural. Cat Rambo takes us to a part of Wonderland we haven’t seen before and Lilith Saintcrow gives the legend a science-fiction spin. The nightmarish reaches of the imagination are the breeding ground for M.R. Carey’s visions, while Robert Shearman, George Mann, Rio Youers and Mark Chadbourn’s tales have a deep-seated emotional core which will shock, surprise and tug on the heart-strings.

So, it’s time now to go down the rabbit hole, or through the looking-glass or… But no, wait. By picking up this book and starting to read it you’re already there, can’t you see?

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