Into the Midnight Wood, Alexandra McCollum
Into the Midnight Wood, Alexandra McCollum
List: $24.00 | Sale: $16.80
Club: $12.00

Into the Midnight Wood

Author: Alexandra McCollum

Narrator: Will Watt

Unabridged: 13 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 01/13/2026


Synopsis

A whimsical queer romance about two mismatched roommates whose fragile—and definitely not romantic at all—balance is upended by an impending family wedding and an otherworldly danger in the nearby enchanted wood.

There are at least 100 things wrong with Meredith Schwarzwelder. In fact, keeping track of these things is the only way David Carew has managed to remain living with him for as long as he has. Meredith is an irredeemable eccentric who flirts with everyone in his path (#3 on the list), cries at anything (#35), makes the worst coffee in the world (#70), and talks to mice, or imagines he does (#50).

It’s bad enough living with such a person on the edge of the Midnight Wood, but when magic starts to seep from the wood and a dark being emerges with a sinister plan involving Meredith, David decides that it’s time to leave the cottage, and his roommate, behind. Then Meredith’s brother gets engaged to the daughter of David’s boss, and David sees an opportunity: If he can insert himself into the festivities, maybe he can advance his career and get himself out of a personal rut.

With wedding bells sounding and the dangers of the Midnight Wood encroaching, David realizes there’s much more hiding beneath the surface of his roommate’s seemingly carefree charm, and that perhaps his own exasperation carries more fondness than he’d like to admit.

Cozy, sharp, steamy, and poignant, Into the Midnight Wood is a contemporary queer fairy tale about the masks we wear, the stories we tell, and the powerful need for true, honest connection to heal old wounds and new.

About The Author

Alexandra McCollum grew up in rural northeast Ohio and now lives in Nevada with their husband and dog. Among other jobs, they’ve worked in a bakery in Austria, managed a coffee shop in Ohio, and taught high school in Las Vegas. When not writing, they can be found studying languages and exploring local coffeehouses in search of the perfect Americano.


Reviews

Goodreads review by DianaRose on February 02, 2026

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc! 4.5 stars — i’m very confused at the lukewarm reviews for this book, because i really enjoyed it and found myself immersed in the world and the problems each character had. into the midnight woods is a lovely lowstakes, queer cozy fantasy full of social......more

Goodreads review by Natalie on September 02, 2025

Beware - once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop! Here’s a book that kept me up past my bedtime and introduced me to two completely lovable lead characters who are meant to be - if they can figure it out. Taking the Grumpy/Sunshine pairing (my favorite) to exquisite heights with the delicat......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on October 13, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley, Alexandra McCollum, and Dutton for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review. The main reason this didn’t work for me was the characters. I’m a fan of character-driven stories, but these characters were very immature. I don’t remember how old they were supposed to be, but I k......more

Goodreads review by Emily on April 04, 2026

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for providing a copy of this novel! I almost ended up DNFing this book and I am so happy I didn't! I made the mistake of trying this as an audiobook first and it was rough. I don't want to say the narrator did a "bad" job, but he chose the most aggravating voice I ha......more


Quotes

"Absolutely irresistibly charming, with an achingly beautiful heart beneath all the charm! A gorgeous love story!" —Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

"This is the funniest book I've read all year! I would take an arrow for David and Meredith. In between swooning over their sharp-witted and steamy romance, I was absolutely cackling at their banter. Into the Midnight Wood is the romantic, mist-cloaked fairytale of my dreams." —Sydney J. Shields, #1 international and USA Today bestselling author of The Honey Witch

"Alexandra McCollum takes readers Into the Midnight Wood and treats them to a spooky and sizzling romance." —Bookpage

"This quirky, magical, opposites-attract queer romance is given depth as it... portrays closed-off hearts, misunderstandings, and intense emotions in an utterly charming, steamy, and heartfelt story." —Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

"McCollum has conjured some incredibly endearing characters in Into the Midnight Wood... This book is laugh-out-loud funny... Well worth the journey if you’re looking for something enchantingly eccentric." —Hippo Press

"This is a story about love as both wound and remedy, about shattering the categories that make us legible but small. In slow-burning recognition, we find something radical: two queer people learning the real magic is in the terrifying act of being fully seen." —Scene Mag

"Into the Midnight Wood
has a little bit of something for everyone: dark magic a foot, an opposites-attract spicy queer romance, and witty banter aplenty." —Rachel Gilman, Now What

"A queer romantasy that enticingly blends the magical with the mundane....[with] a thoroughly satisfying resolution." Publishers Weekly

"A queer cozy romantasy about a prickly accountant and his eccentric roommate living at the edge of an enchanted wood." —My Geekology