Wine for Roses

By Emily O’Malley Liu

They say the stolen rose blooms best.

When Ethan Keating Mendoza is hired as a gardener at an old Victorian residence in central Indiana, he has one clear mission: make the roses bloom. Ethan’s life is roses–he’s the son of a hedge witch and a partner in his father’s rose growing business–but he has no magic himself.

The Kilbride estate is wild and overgrown. The roses have not bloomed in decades, and Ethan fears he may be in over his head. Worse still is Louis, the peculiar trustee of the property, who lives under a bloodthirsty curse that ties him to the garden. But Louis gives Ethan a chance, and Ethan is determined to do right by the suffering roses. As Ethan and Louis grow closer, Ethan becomes increasingly desperate to save the man he loves from the garden’s curse.

But the garden isn’t letting them go without a fight.

Book Details

Publisher: Shiraki Press
Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism, LGBTQ+
eBook ISBN: 978-1-970458-03-9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-970458-05-3
Release Date: April 14, 2026
Page Count: 190
Dimensions: 5″ x 8″

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