Since I released Impossibly Fond, I’ve been looking around at what other M/M fantasies are out there, especially ones that have a humorous slant like Impossibly Fond does.
By Fairy Means or Foul by Meghan Maslow
I have to start with By Fairy Means or Foul by Meghan Maslow, which for me is the gold standard and the one that got me interested in writing a fantasy myself. This book has everything, including a hero who’s half fairy, half dragon—a pretty compelling combination, but one that Twig is struggling with.
He and Quinn, his love interest, don’t start out as friendly co-workers, but their partnership grows as they attempt to retrieve a stolen unicorn horn for Twig’s client. Of course, nothing is quite what it seems, but I won’t spoil it.
What I liked best about this book was the way it combined humor with emotion, so that I laughed as I went but felt totally emotionally satisfied at the end. And it’s the first in a series! So if it leaves you wanting more Twig and Quinn—and it will—you’ve got two other books to read.
Deven & the Dragon by Eliot Grayson
Eliot Grayson writes some of my favorite omegaverse books, so when I learned she had a fantasy, I had to check it out. Deven & the Dragon didn’t disappoint. It’s a cheeky Beauty and the Beast retelling about a dragon and his peasant love interest.
Fiora is the beast—cursed to be alone unless he can find true love—and Deven is the sacrificial villager who gets thrust into his hideaway home. Books even come into the retelling because Deven loves them and guess what? Books are what Fiora hoards. How cute is that?
What I especially loved about Deven & the Dragon is that the dragon is an emo bottom instead of the burly top you’d expect. Fiora’s antics are both adorable and humorous, and Devin is a good-hearted peasant with a randy past who’s down to fuck almost anyone but finds something more when it comes to Fiora. Good thing too, or Fiora would be dead!
Family of Lies: Sebastian by Sam Argent
I have to admit I haven’t read Family of Lies: Sebastian by Sam Argent because it’s not currently out on ebook, thanks to the Dreamspinner debacle. But it got recommended to me by multiple people whose opinions I trust, so I’ve got to believe it’s good.
It’s a story about a wizard and a prince and sounds a little similar to Impossibly Fond in that we have one thoroughly smitten partner and another who’d just like to get rid of him.
Family of Lies: Sebastian is currently available on Audible (from Dreamspinner), and I assume the author will republish the ebook again at some point, so I’m including it both as a reminder to myself and a suggestion to you.
Pilgrimage by Kim Fielding
There’s a reason the cover of Pilgrimage by Kim Fielding features a guy in his very modern undershorts. Mike lives in our world where the story starts, but he’s shortly whisked away to an alternate reality and he happens to be in his blue boxer briefs when it happens. Thus the cover is 100% appropriate!
Mike goes on a pilgrimage, making this a quest book as so many fantasies are, and Goran comes along to keep him safe. Mike mainly wants to get back home, but of course that changes along the way.
The story is told with all the humor you would expect when a modern guy who doesn’t believe in fairy tales suddenly finding himself in the middle of one, but like all good comedies, it has a heart of gold and a sweet resolution.
Red Heir by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey
The best part of Red Heir by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey is the wee dragon. Who doesn’t want a pocket dragon?
All right, there’s a lot more to it than that. I loved this not-so-merry band of travelers comprised of Loth, a pickpocket who’s masquerading as a prince, Grub, a prince who’s masquerading as your standard political prisoner, an incompetent leader, an enthusiastic orc, and a dwarf who’s sick of your shit.
As they travel to deliver Loth, the supposed prince, to the person who paid to have him rescued, they encounter all kinds of interesting challenges and people. It’s fun the whole way. Loth as the narrator has a great voice and a lot to learn, and Grub is everything you could want from a prince.
Impossibly Fond by Tanya Chris
And then there’s my book, Impossibly Fond, which has a lot in common with the recs above. There’s a lead character who needs to find his way both physically, in terms of a quest, and emotionally, in terms of growing up. There’s a love interest who’s pure gold and a sidekick who’s pure trouble. There are fanciful creatures, adorable pets, and a mission to be accomplished.
Waltham, a fledgling wizard, needs to assemble the ingredients to cast an anti-spell so he can undo the Impossibly Fond spell he accidentally put Ian under. Ian is happy to be fond of Waltham, but that’s only the spell talking, as Mindy the half-leprechaun, half-fairy troublemaker Waltham is trying to wring a pot of gold out of keeps reminding him. Waltham only wants his gold, but as with all of the stories above, he finds something even better along the way.