Legend has it that on a winter night in 1839 (or 1849 or 1829, depends on whose pamphlet you pick up), a young girl was lost in the forest just up the road from here. She was cold and scared and starving, with no idea how to get home or even which way it was.
Shivering and frightened, she huddled against a large live oak,
convinced she would never be found. But just before she fell asleep,
a man appeared, dressed in regal robes of moss and leaves. He created
a warm cloak for the girl from the leaves of the live oak, wrapped
her in it, and carried her safely to the edge of the forest. Before
she ran home, she turned back to thank him … but he had
disappeared.
The legend of the forest king brings locals and tourists the live
oak in the middle of William's Grove Forest Park on a regular basis.
There they leave him gifts for good luck: food, small trinkets, even
souvenirs from places abroad. Gifts normally stay under the tree for
a few days before disappearing. It's generally assumed that they're
stolen by kids wandering through the forest, though some more
optimistic people choose to believe the goods go to local shelters or
thrift stores.
But the owl-shaped cookie in the small paper bag emblazoned with
the logo of a local coffee shop had been taken from its spot within
moments of being placed there… and was eaten soon after.
Iris Faulkner is the owner of Owl's Flower, a small cafe in the center of William's Grove. Her life is a mix of work, marathoning cooking shows, and caring for a neighbor's three cats... until the day Herne walks into her shop.
As far as she knows, Herne is an eccentric local. As far as Iris's one employee Stormy is concerned, he's an amnesiac drifter. But in actuality, Herne is the guardian deity of William's Grove — the "Forest King" of local legend. And, rather disconcertingly for him, he and Iris have hit it off.
But not everyone is happy with the idea of a human and an immortal falling in love, and strange forces begin to move around the cafe. Will Iris and Owl's Flower survive the mysterious attacks? Will Herne make the whole thing moot? And who left that cookie under Herne's tree?
Owl's Flower is the first in a new series of light novels exploring the relationship between a human and an immortal, and what happens when they both actually want it to work. It is followed directly by Ghost Fall.
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