The Wandering Hearth Chronicles

Soft Magic. Low Stakes. Found Family. Excellent Muffins.

At twenty-four, Wick Barrow is thoroughly done giving his best years to his father’s laundry business. Hiring on aboard The Moderate Success—a river barge of questionable speed and precarious plumbing—is a chance to build a life of his own: scrub the linens, mind the boiler, and travel the realm. Room and board included.

Then he notices Ember.

Ember is a flame-like Smudge who has matter-of-factly appointed herself to be Wick's personal space heater. As it turns out, Wick is a Hearth: an inconveniently magnetic sanctuary for magical creatures. And Ember isn’t the only resident needing help. The captain is navigating the waterways with no name and a scattered soul. If Wick can't help him fix it, the captain may flicker out of existence entirely. Luckily, fixing things is Wick's specialty.

Traveling the Cardinal Rivers with a crew of misfits, Wick sets out on a journey, wherever the current decides to take him.