The Phoenix Keeper

Set in a magical zoo teeming with mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, The Phoenix Keeper is a fierce joy of a cozy fantasy novel with a soul-restoring queer romance at its heart, for fans ofThe House in the Cerulean Sea and Legends and Lattes.

Aila has spent her entire life dreaming of saving phoenixes.

She pulled countless all-nighters at uni just to sneak a toe in the door of the breathtakingly competitive field of conservation, stumbling through failed romance and disastrous class presentations thanks to social anxiety, while also surviving a ferocious class rivalry with the (unbearably beautiful) insufferably hotshot Luciana.

Somehow, she actually did it: landed her dream job as head phoenix keeper at the world-renowned zoo that inspired her as a child, tasked with rescuing the critically endangered Silimalo phoenix from the brink of extinction.

There are just two or three (thousand) impossible problems.

1. She can't act sensibly around the charming dragon keeper, Connor.
2. Her plans to revive the phoenix programme are more precarious than ever, after a poacher attack at a neighbouring zoo.
3. Her best chance at success means teaming up with the star of the zoo, the universally adored griffin keeper, the hotshot showmaster of the most popular exhibit . . .

Yes, of course it's Luciana.

S. A. MacLean is a fantasy romance author from sunny Southern California. Infatuated with magical worlds since her days of brewing mud potions in her childhood garden, she fell in love with the romantasy genre after realizing all her favorite fantasy novels had kisses in them. Her stories invariably feature quirky humor, sassy animal companions, and queer casts who represent her voice as a chaotic bisexual woman. Sarah received her BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and a PhD in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley. She left the research track to teach environmental science at her local community college, inspiring the next generation of students to save the planet.