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. . . .

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I mean... I LIKE romanticy... but, that's some seriously crossed genre wires? Maybe they're trying to bridge some player bases?

I can say without Wizards backing, most agents and publishers would likely skip it due to that mixture. They like sure things that stay in their literary lane.

Dawg I'm literally going to a meeting of queer sci-fi/fantasy publishing professionals in a few hours; you wanna say to my face what "literary lane" you want me to stay in?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Two of my players (both women) immediately asked if we could add this to our fantasy book club we do on the side.

Women and LGBTQ+ D&D players are the target demo.

The sad thing is, straight males are not allowed to have emotions (aside from anger and hubris).

 

[kenmarable]

Link?!

Here ya go!

I'd go with the PDF. There is a web page version but it's on a painful 90's-style tiling background like we loved to use back then.

(I really should try to track down who owns Planewalker.com and see if we could restart it. It's still maintained as a great archive, but it was so much fun running it back in the day.)

Edit: I just noticed that the normal PDF has a couple pages that are blank and missing the text. Checking around, it seems like it's been that way for a looong time. The double-spread PDF has those pages so I'll see if I can do a quick edit today or tomorrow and post a fixed copy somewhere.

 

[slobster]

Huh? What genre wires are being mixed? D&D is fantasy. Romance and fantasy are a combination proven to sell incredibly well. WotC wants some of that BookTok money.

What mixture? This seems to entirely fit within an extremely marketable lane.

I assume that the crossed wires they are referring to might be "cozy romantasy" and "Heist". That being said, cozy fantasy romantasy typically crosses over with some kind of other lane as a baseline; I've read necromancer fighting romantasy, dungeon crawl romantasy, horror romantasy, political intrigue epic war romantasy, noir murder mystery romantasy, etc. It's a genre that does a lot of mishmashing, so I doubt many people who might be interested in the romance and fantasy parts will be put off by the heist plot.

 

[Parmandur]

I assume that the crossed wires they are referring to might be "cozy romantasy" and "Heist". That being said, cozy fantasy romantasy typically crosses over with some kind of other lane as a baseline; I've read necromancer fighting romantasy, dungeon crawl romantasy, horror romantasy, political intrigue epic war romantasy, noir murder mystery romantasy, etc. It's a genre that does a lot of mishmashing, so I doubt many people who might be interested in the romance and fantasy parts will be put off by the heist plot.

Hybridizing concepts is a great literary move, anyways.

 

[Azzy]

Agreed; however, tie-in novels from publishers like Disney or WOTC seem to have a lot of drawbacks in terms of royalties etc. There have been a lot of horror stories there. Some of my favorite authors ended up destitute because their work in established properties did not pay a proper wage.

That's because society as a whole doesn't appreciate creatives or even feel that creatives should be paid well.

 

[Scribe]

That's because society as a whole doesn't appreciate creatives or even feel that creatives should be paid well.

Society? Market Forces? Are they the same?

I dont know. I threw as much money at the last Shadowdark Kickstarter as they asked for, but look at all the wailing when the D&D books went up in cost a bit.

On the other hand, hows the food cost inflation in your neck of the woods?

I dont know, not a simple problem.

 

[Azzy]

Society? Market Forces? Are they the same?

I dont know. I threw as much money at the last Shadowdark Kickstarter as they asked for, but look at all the wailing when the D&D books went up in cost a bit.

On the other hand, hows the food cost inflation in your neck of the woods?

I dont know, not a simple problem.

I was trying hard to be "unpolitical" Nobody wants me to go on a rant.

 

[TwoSix]

The sad thing is, straight males are not allowed to have emotions (aside from anger and hubris).

There are other emotions?

 

[Parmandur]

There are other emotions?

The very idea makes me angry for some reason.