The Pumpkin Spiced Café meets Good Omens in the YA cosy romance/supernatural mash-up you didn’t know you needed.
Lydie loves her cosy life in the picturesque town of Pont-on-Wye, helping her mum run the family café, The Snug, and bringing lattes, croissants and joy to the locals. Never mind that her father is a retired Horse Rider of the Apocalypse (Death, to be precise) and they have a door to the afterlife next to the milk fridge in the basement. That side of her heritage is firmly walled off, and her only ambition is to finish school and take over the family business.
All that changes when a handsome stranger shows up at the Snug, asking about the enormous, telepathic horse wandering the streets (Dad’s former apocalyptic steed, Pal - oops.) Lydie is determined to get rid of Kai and any supernatural trouble he may be bringing with him – despite how nice his arms are, and her best friend Jane’s (rich kid, daughter of Pestilence) curiosity about his designs in Pont-on-Wye.
But many things in life have expiration dates: milk, pastries, lives – and now, ignorant bliss. With quite possibly the world at stake, soon Lydie is going to have to make a choice: protect her peace as Lydie ‘The Snug’ Mortimer, or find a way to embrace Lydie ‘Daughter of Death’ and all the power and danger that comes with it. Can she find a way to have her caramel toffee cake – and eat it too?
Helen Comerford is a Black mixed-race British author and is passionate about Black British and mixed heritage representation. She centres her diverse cast of characters in narratives they have historically been excluded from and celebrates their joys, strengths and everyday teenage experiences. She is fuelled by a love of all things super-powered, feminism, and chocolate raisins. When she’s not writing, you can find Helen hiking around the Welsh countryside with her dog, Cocoa. Her debut novel The Love Interest was longlisted for the Branford Boase and nominated for the Carnegie.
UK Publisher: Bloomsbury, July 2026
UK Editor: Katie Ager
Primary Agent: Christabel McKinley
Film/ TV agent: DHA (Georgie Smith)
Extent: 80,000 words
Co-agents: Chinese Andrew Nurnberg Associates; Japanese Japan Uni
All rights available