What do you do with a grumpy grimoire? When Sibyl unexpectedly acquired a magical bookshop, she was torn between exhilaration and panic. She landed on her feet on her first venture away from home, as the bookshop comes complete with an apartment above it. But as her would-be customers press her for an opening date, she has to juggle cataloguing the books and trying to keep her new apartment rodent-free - not to mention settling the unruly grimoire her benefactors left her. Plus, there's a vampire intent on gaining entry. With no experience in retail and a grumpy grimoire to keep in check, will she ever succeed in running a bookshop?

Melissa Gunn spent several years pursuing a science career before deciding it would be more fun to write fiction ? though it turns out that there is even more research involved. She enjoys combining facts that seem fantastical with actual fantasy, and creating quirky characters with a sense of humour. When she's not trying to figure out how a volcano demigod would problem-solve, she is feeding her backyard menagerie, chasing chickens out of the garden, or taking photographs of whatever will stand still for long enough (so mostly plants).