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A.M. Weald writes emotional, character-driven fiction in a mix of genres from the romantic to the speculative. She is a freelance editor, a semi-retired archaeologist, and a neurodivergent xennial who thinks about cats way too often.
Unburnt: a speculative firefighter novella
E-book Price: 0.99
Paperback Price: 7.99
Blurb: A middle-aged firefighter impervious to the flames he battles questions his future and his past as he faces retirement and makes a shocking discovery.
E-Book Price: 0.99
Paperback Price: 7.99
A different kind of superhero story... After emerging unscathed from the house fire that killed his father, Ed Stoneman had recurring dreams about rescuing himself as a boy, sitting amongst the flames, unburnt. The dream stopped once he became a firefighter, later earning the nickname of “Dodge” by surviving a lethal flashover fire. Dodge embraced his supernatural imperviousness to the heat of fire by going in when no one should, breaking the rules of rescue because he had to, because he could. With the Wyoming steppe becoming increasingly arid and fires igniting every few days, his ‘talent’ is needed now more than ever. On his 50th birthday, Dodge dreams of the boy not on fire for the first time in over 30 years. Chalking it up to stress, he thinks nothing of it. With retirement from active fire duty in his near future, he’s depressed and aimless. Other than firefighting, what purpose does he have? Twice divorced and childless, believing himself to be infertile in exchange for his superpower of unknown origin, he has no one to confide in but his cat, and he daydreams of walking into a wildfire just to see if he’d finally burn. But when he answers an emergency call about a local house fire, renewed purpose greets him in the flames, making him question everything he once believed.
Fimbulvinter's Fires: a queer apocalyptic sci-fi horrormance
E-book Price: 2.99
Paperback Price: 12.99
Blurb: A heart-pounding yet tender tale of compassion, survival, and the lengths we’ll go to protect those we love.
E-Book Price: 2.99
Paperback Price: 12.99
Worlds and hearts will be set aflame… Within moments of his escape pod crash-landing in a night-clad frozen forest, musician Asher Hollin is frostbitten, bleeding, a thief, and a killer. If not for technology looted from a dead prison guard, he’d be long dead, either from hypothermia or from being attacked by battleaxe-wielding not-quite-human marauders. Without hope of rescue from those he’d fled, there’s only one choice: keep going. Fight. Survive for those who didn’t. Somewhere out there is food, shelter, civilization. Indeed, just as the darkness threatens to consume him, help comes from an initially unwilling source. Compassion and a yearning for companionship spark an unlikely relationship, but a lack of understanding of language and culture endangers Ash and everyone around him. Inspired by the tale of Ragnarök and its harbinger, Fimbulvinter’s Fires combines achillean love stories with first-contact sci-fi, survival horror, and apocalyptic tragedy: a heart-pounding yet tender tale of empathy, survival, and the lengths we'll go to protect those we love. This snowpocalypse contains violence and death, steamy scenes, strong language, deep snow, and high heat. Tread carefully.
Emergence: a short postapocalyptic queer cozy romance
E-book Price: FREE
Blurb: A cozy post-apocalyptic queer romance where friends separated by sealed underground pods finally get the chance to meet.
E-Book Price: FREE
Paperback Price:
Kelle and Arjun are best friends. Kelle and Arjun have never met. They live in different pods: underground settlements separated by long stretches of strictly regulated tunnels, each pod sealed off to avoid viruses and other plagues devastating what remains of humanity and its food sources. Even romances, to an extent, are regulated. But people can still communicate via landline telephones, and people can still fall in love, even from afar. So when the government in control of the North American pod system has determined it's time to make a trade of goods between Pod North and Pod West, the human inhabitants of each pod are also welcome to petition for a transfer. It's time for Kelle and Arjun to meet.
Hunt Monsters, Do Magic, and Fall in Love: a contemporary fantasy triptych
E-book Price: 0.99
Paperback Price: 8.99
Blurb: Interrelated stories with myths and demons and ghosts (oh my), and with romance and secrets and lies (and someone dies).
E-Book Price: 0.99
Paperback Price: 8.99
A little spooky, a little sparkly... Father Winter is a malevolent ancient spirit. The veil between worlds really is thinnest on Halloween. Dragons exist, but they’re just demons. And demigods walk the earth, protecting humanity from it all. The Hunter & Her Girlfriend: 2020. When Margot invited her new girlfriend Emili to meet her parents over Christmas, she should have realized that Father Winter might show up… and try to kill her. The Maiden & The Liar: 1990. When a hunter fails to slay Father Winter, Poe’s family holiday road trip is waylaid by the ensuing dangerous blizzard, and they’re forced to take shelter in a highway rest stop. Thank goodness other teens are there, including a cute boy and his high school hockey team. The Healer & The Hammer: 1989. Nora’s on the run for murder, hiding out at a hunter academy where famous Thom “The Hammer” is currently contracted to hunt and kill the Jersey Devil. A rare healer, she’s assigned to his detail because the guy is a f*ckin’ demon magnet. Great. Hunt Monsters, Do Magic, and Fall in Love is a collection of modern fantasy stories interrelated by family—stories with myths and demons and ghosts (oh my), and with romance and secrets and lies (and someone dies).
Even If We're Broken: a novel
E-book Price: 2.99
Paperback Price: 17.99
Blurb: Two over-40 millennials each fighting their own mental health battles reunite for a summer archaeology job after 12 years and an ocean apart in this emotional own-voice debut novel for readers who enjoy slow-burn friends-to-lovers romances.
E-Book Price: 2.99
Paperback Price: 17.99
Love, like archaeology, is a lot of trowel and error. Still reeling from being dumped by her girlfriend, bioarchaeologist Kate Roth agrees to join an estranged colleague to teach at his field school at a Viking-age archaeology site in the wilds of Newfoundland. While welcoming the escape from Colorado where she’s been medicating resurfaced anxieties with wine and angry rock music, she’s wary of three important facts: 1) she’s had a crush on Viking Cowboy Ben for half her life, 2) Ben is a family man who lives in Norway, and 3) all her romantic relationships, and most friendships, seem to have an expiration date. For archaeologist Esben “Ben” Veholt, inviting the woman he’s been in love with since digging alongside her 23 years ago was, of course, the worst possible thing he could have done for himself. This summer was supposed to be his escape from reality: a love life in ruins, worsening body image issues, and a teenage daughter who suddenly wants nothing to do with him. When Kate accepts his offer, he intends to retain a professional relationship with her. A woman like Kate could never love him anyway—not with how much he’s changed inside and out. All seems fine on the surface as Kate and Esben’s friendship rebuilds, but as they dig deeper, they realize just how broken they both are. To heal from their painful pasts and reclaim their crumbling presents, they each need a friend who accepts them, mess and all. But summer won’t last forever, and a third chance at romance threatens to drift across the ocean yet again. Even If We’re Broken is an own-voice debut novel—an emotional, slow-burn friends-to-lovers open-door romance about self-acceptance, mental health, and the scars we carry. See why Book Riot named it one of the best romances of 2024!