This was definitely a cozy romance that warms you down to your bones.
From Goodreads:
A skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
It was a pleasant surprise to have the main character of this novel be non-binary! Ellery is they/them and to have a non-binary character take center stage was a delight.
The story itself is lovely, with engaging and vivid characters. The relationships between Ellery and their cousin Charley was wonderfully done and Charley’s girlfriend Zada was a constant source of enjoyment. I rolled my eyes along with Ellery at how cute they were together.
Knox was wonderfully written and you could feel his emotions clearly. As a liminal creature, he lives in the moment but he makes his moments with Ellery shine.
The secondary characters were well written as well and I’d love to explore more of this universe that the author created. Hale, Lorelai, and Bram were wonderfully distinct and lent a great deal to the story.
I won’t spoil it, but there were definitely elements that stood out and Ellery is a brave protagonist and with a big heart. They made a bargain with something unknown and were changed for the better.
10/10 would recommend this book to anyone who wants to see magic in the ordinary world and love defying all odds.
