Silver in the Wood
I loved everything about this novelette from Emily Tesh, published by Tor.com. Like a lot of the books I'm enjoying right now, it's not easy to describe. I'd call it a story of the green man. It's full of ancient magic and peopled with charming characters. The voice and worldbuilding feel cozy and familiar to me, partly because I'm such a woods dweller and folklore lover myself. But it also has a similar feel to the new, witchy series I'm working on. There's a romance too, between Tobias, the woods spirit, and a young gentleman from the nearby estate, Silver, who discovers him. Silver in the Wood won the 2020 World Fantasy Award.