The Bugbear & the Bard
Coming Spring 2027 to Kindle+ & Paperback
A love story on the cozy side of adventure.
A cushy job as a court musician is Wynn’s perfect next step. After twenty years of adventures, the half-elf is more than ready to retire their rapier. (Even if it means returning to the snobbish elven nobility in which they were raised.) Now they just need to go on one last quest: to traverse the hazardous route that leads to the capital.
For the journey, Wynn hires a bugbear bodyguard with a heart as big as his greataxe. Bugbears are large, hairy goblins, feared and despised throughout the realm. But as a protector of everyday people, Hern has worked all his life to defy those expectations. He’s a good man guided by kindness, laughter, and light, even while shadows from his past loom in the woods.
Wynn and Hern escape bandits and aid fellow travelers on an adventure that stokes the embers of their unlikely attraction into a blazing heat. But to find the love and belonging they both yearn for, they must transform beliefs they carry about themselves — and turn from the paths they expect to follow.
Perfect for fans of Baldur’s Gate, this sweet and spicy achillean M/X romance offers splashes of high fantasy adventure in a cozy, heartwarming story. You can expect a cinnamon roll monster, size difference, forced proximity, dual POV, and a guaranteed HEA. A queer-positive story with a nonbinary MC and a bi, plus-size MMC.
Follow for updates!
About the Author
Nyx Maverick (they/them) is an indie author of queer, cozy fantasy romances with lovable monsters. They live in the Northeast U.S. with their favorite beta reader (their partner) and writing assistant (their cat). The Bugbear & the Bard is Nyx's debut novel.