Wanted: Brooding Man, Tragic Past

Una has one dream: to fall in love with a tall, dark, and handsome man worthy of her favorite gothic novels. With the war over, men are in short supply—but a mysterious limp, a haunted gaze, and a tragic back story are pluses in her book, so the perfect husband must exist.

Then why does she keep thinking so much about Varrie Lumanar, once the best employee at Beldar's Books? With his overenthusiastic smile, bright yellow scarf, and cheerful demeanor, he's an insult to brooding manhood.

He also went off to fight—gifting her a perfect book before his departure—and never came home.

When the Keeper of the Dead comes to town, using his magic to report on the missing soldiers, Una learns that Varrie is alive. Shouldn't someone go look for him? Must that someone be her? Apparently it must.

But the mission to save Varrie also leads her to take a hard look at herself—the writerly ambitions she abandoned, the friendships she would never sacrifice for romance, and that maybe an overenthusiastic smile is worth more than a tragic past.

This novel takes place in my Hidden Lands world, and has cozy-goth gaslamp vibes with a touch of Northanger Abbey homage. There is some battlefield injury but otherwise it's pretty much just a cozy read all the way through with a sweet romance and friendship.