Penguin Random House Announces New D&D Romantasy Book

Penguin Random House has announced The Feywild Job, a new D&D novel written by World Fantasy Award and Nebula-winning writer CL Polk. The new book is a romantasy novel, a popular and wildly growing book genre. The book features a rogue tasked with stealing a gem called "The Kiss of Enduring Love" and is teamed up with their ex-lover, a bard. The twist to the novel is that the rogue has a magical pact granting them powers in exchange for never falling in love.

The new novel is written by CL Polk, a writer with serious bonafides in the fantasy community. Polk's debut novel Witchmark won the World Fantasy Award in 2019 and their 2022 novella Even Though I Knew The End won the Nebula Award for Best Novella that year. Based on their website, this appears to be Polk's first foray into licensed media.

Below is the full description for The Feywild Job. The book will be released on June 30, 2026.

Sparks fly when bitter exes are forced to team up for an elaborate Feywild heist, in this cozy fantasy romance by the bestselling author of the Kingston Cycle and Even Though I Knew the End.

Saeldian has sworn never to fall in love. That oath isn’t just a personal promise, but rather a magical pact, granting them powerful abilities. The only catch? They must never give their heart away—a deal that Saeldian is perfectly content with. They’ve seen firsthand how messy love can get.

Saeldian prefers their no-strings-attached life as a con artist, pulling off heists and leaving a trail of broken hearts behind them. But when a grift goes horribly wrong, they catch the eye of a mysterious patron with a job offer they can’t refuse.

The mission? Steal a gem called “The Kiss of Enduring Love” and return it to the Feywild. Simple enough, until Saeldian discovers their ex-partner, Kell—a charming bard—is part of the team.
The last time Saeldian saw Kell, things hardly ended on good terms. A kiss became a betrayal, leaving Kell hurt and confused for almost a decade. But Kell can’t just walk away—not when this job might finally be his ticket back to the Feywild.

Forced to work together again, their adventure takes them from high-society parties to Feywild couple’s therapy. But as Saeldian and Kell rekindle their chemistry, they realize the gem is much more than a fey bauble, and their simple heist has summoned powerful enemies. . . .

 

[Mournblade94]

The core of D&D is adventure fantasy, sure. But what's wrong with stretching the genres of fantasy we can play in with D&D?

Do you need the D&D ruleset for that? Most of these cozy situations are just things the players can narrate and the DM make an encounter for.

Ive done "cozy" sessions for the epilogues of adventures and campaigns and PCs talk about whatever topics they want. You don't need a game system for that. They are actually kind of nice because in Cozy situations I can turn my brain off for a session.

I play the cozy part of Elderscrolls all the time and they're fun whether its my 15 year old skyrim character or 10 year old ESO character. But im making sweet rolls sitting around a fire or moving furniture around. Its nice to have crafting rules in those situations that seems about it. The cozy part is kind of just the relaxing reward.

D&Ds rulesysyem is about resolving conflict. When kids are playing house their not exactly ripping out a rulebook to figure out what to do. D&D rules are abstractions. People need those abstractions for combat spells and monsters. If you just want narrative you dont need rules for that. Just take turns.

 

[Mournblade94]

Well...no, actually it is more made up than that. (Well constructed thought out response)

Thanks for that response. Well done. Lots to think about. Orange was an especially useful example.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

If the writer gets paid, he has done his job.

Literally the definition of a professional, and that's all that agents and editors really care about.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Do you need the D&D ruleset for that? Most of these cozy situations are just things the players can narrate and the DM make an encounter for

You completely misunderstand what “cosy” means. It doesn’t mean nothing happens. It just means the threat/sex is presented in a PG fashion. It the difference between “the goblin clutches its chest and falls to the ground” and “the goblin’s head flies through the air and blood pumps from its mutilated body”.

There are times in D&D when the rules aren’t needed because the players are doing things that do not involve threat or conflict. This is not “cosy”, it’s just role playing.

 

[Mournblade94]

So, you are saying that you think a typical D&D game is full of explicit sex? Because that’s not my experience playing with adults. I’ve seen it once with teen boys.

I have no idea how cozy even relates to sex. I never stated that so no idea why that came out of left field.

 

[Mournblade94]

Wild Beyond the Witchlight isn't cozy?

I never read wild beyond the witchlight, radiant citadel, or strixhaven. I heard they were cozy but I have no idea. It made sense because I never generated any interest in any of those.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I have no idea how cozy even relates to sex. I never stated that so no idea why that came out of left field.

It’s explained early in this thread. Much Romantasy, such as Fourth Wing, is sexually explicit/pornographic. This is classed as “spicy”. The PG version of the genre is classed as “cosy”.

 

[Mournblade94]

Post Tashas D&D has absolutely trended towards cozy, twee, soft, lacking in edge, whatever one wants to call it.

5.5 went even further, and...it's only going to continue until sales fall.

I like the 2024 rules set for the most part, but I definitely laugh at alot of the terrible art and assumptions. I don't allow orcs still, they are half orcs. Not sure why they singled out a cooking feat but it has the same effect of Musicianship so I just eliminated the cooking feat entirely. The funniest thing to me was the Proesthetics in forgotten realms that if you need them the people that make them give them to you for free. It is so Blue Sky Platform its hilarious. But I ignore most of the mood of what 2024 is projecting. Lame art aside, and lame suggestions aside, I do quite like the 2024 Book Feel and rules.

 

[Mournblade94]

You completely misunderstand what “cosy” means. It doesn’t mean nothing happens. It just means the threat/sex is presented in a PG fashion. It the difference between “the goblin clutches its chest and falls to the ground” and “the goblin’s head flies through the air and blood pumps from its mutilated body”.

There are times in D&D when the rules aren’t needed because the players are doing things that do not involve threat or conflict. This is not “cosy”, it’s just role playing.

Fair enough I guess. The only things I heard cozy applied to was Legends and Lattes books, wild beyond the witchlight and radiant citadel which involved a bunch of cooking contests and such. Video Games like Stardew Valley, and when I played Skyrim just crafting and moving furniture around my wife told me it was the same thing as Stardew Valley. I really only talk on these forums on the internet, so it rarely comes up in my conversations. When I talk to gamers they tell me cozy means farm games , and games without conflict.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I never read wild beyond the witchlight, radiant citadel, or strixhaven. I heard they were cozy but I have no idea. It made sense because I never generated any interest in any of those.

You have been somewhat mislead. The Radiant Citadel itself is utopian, like Starfleet, but that’s just a linking plot device to connect a wide variety of disparate adventures, drawing on the folklore of different cultures. A couple of them would best fit in the category of horror.

It’s possible to complete Witchlight with minimal combat, but it’s still full of the usual disturbing fairytale imagery, such as witches doing horrible things to children and people having their voices stolen.

Stryxhaven isn’t really complete, so it would be whatever you wanted to make of it. It isn’t any more inherently cosy than the usual WotC stuff, which rarely steps out of PG. Edit: Stryxhaven does include rules for getting NPCs into bed.