Mosswood Apothecary: A Cozy Fantasy Romance Adventure
About this ebook
2025 American Writing Awards FINALIST
Literary Titan Book Award
Botanical alchemist Rowan Mosswood didn't expect much when he finally graduated, so a remote research assignment in Frostfern Valley seemed fitting. With his reputation in tatters after a public alchemical mishap, and his discipline of magic considered antiquated, Rowan agrees to the university's terms: fix up an old greenhouse, study the mysterious loss of magic, and send regular reports. If he can manage all that, his student debts will disappear.
The assignment sounded Mundane enough, a wrist slap to be endured—until Rowan discovers the greenhouse is falling apart, the crops refuse to grow, and a wily shadow creature has taken up residence in his new home. As if that weren't complicated enough, there's Jimson: a too-handsome-for-his-own-good carpenter who seems determined to help… and fluster…Rowan.
With strange magic stirring in the forest, stubborn townsfolk to win over, and a year-long deadline ticking down, Rowan must decide whether to focus on the assignment or the life he's beginning to build in Frostfern.
Mosswood Apothecary is a cozy queer fantasy brimming with botanical magic, slow-burn romance, queer found family, cottagecore vibes and small-town charm.
This edition contains the map and three illustrations.
Discover more
About the author
JP Rindfleisch IX (he/they) writes stories where whimsy meets the weird — cozy queer fantasy and strange fiction about grief, transformation, and unapologetic queer joy. Their first solo novel, Mandrake Manor, won the 2025 IPPY Silver Medal in LGBTQ+ Fiction, the 2024 Reader Ready Award TOP PICK, and a 2023 American Writing Awards Finalist nod. Since then, the catalog has kept growing: Mosswood Apothecary (Tales of Valdaes), a complete six-book dark paranormal academy series co-written with A.B. Cohen, the paranormal comedy NRDS: National Recently Deceased Services with Jeff Elkins, and more still coming.
Away from fiction, JP is a Three Story Method Certified Editor and Dialogue Doctor, the author of the craft guide Story Hypothesis: The Missing Piece of Your Fiction Puzzle, and current co-host of Write Wrong Repeat. They also founded Rockford Area Writers — because someone told them writing was a solitary practice, and they disagreed. The community is now 80+ members strong.
JP lives in Rockford, Illinois, with a very chatty African grey parrot and a husky with strong feelings about the walk schedule. When they're not writing, you'll find them cooking something vegan or somewhere on a trail. Represented by Elaine Spencer of The Knight Agency, who has placed five audiobook deals with Tantor Media and Simon Maverick.
