An X-Men and America Chavez Story

What If...Kitty Pryde Stole the Phoenix Force?

Kitty Pryde, Betsy Braddock, and America Chavez race against time itself to save Jean Grey and the X-Men in this epic Multiversal adventure reimagining Marvel origin stories. 
 
So many worlds, so little time. Infinite possibilities, creating infinite realities. Long have I watched generations of mutants live in a world shaped by Jean Grey’s legacy. But what if… that legacy was cut tragically short, dooming the world to a future without the X-Men? 
 
What if… a watcher must do more than watch? 
 
The year is 1990: The X-Men all perished more than a decade ago, and Kitty Pryde is no hero. Emma Frost rescued Kitty from an obscure existence as a mere rebellious teen kicked out of boarding school, terrified of ever being discovered as a mutant. After growing up under the tutelage of the White Queen, Kitty is an apex predator of a superior species, yet she lives alone in a tiny, rundown apartment, preferring isolation to a knife in the back. What is her alternative? The world is what it is. 
 
But sometimes Kitty isn’t so sure of that. Sometimes it feels like she phases right out of her own life. Breathe in: She’s suddenly surrounded by friends she’s never known, living out events that never happened. Breathe out: It’s all back to normal. Kitty always shoves these flashes down, until someone from that other life finds her. This familiar stranger, Betsy Braddock, is a rambling confirmation that something is wrong with their world. 
 
Betsy has a wild theory and if it’s right, Kitty’s only shot at changing the present is to free-fall into the past. The girls follow a tenuous psychic trail back to the glory days of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, where they embed themselves with the X-Men. There they discover the inflection point that will unravel their future revolves around a certain omega-level mutant, destined to become the Phoenix. But little do Kitty and Betsy know, they’re not alone in their search. 
 
The year is 1975: Jean Grey has weeks left to live. The Whisperer is coming. He has recruited an ally and accounted for every foreseeable variable. He will leave nothing to chance. He will lead this reality to its Doom.

Rebecca Podos (she/they) is the Lambda Literary Award-winning and Cybils Award-winning author of YA novels. Her latest releases are the co-edited anthology Fools in Love (Running Press Kids) and the award-winning YA fantasy novel From Dust, a Flame (Balzer + Bray), as well as a story in the YA fairy tale anthology At Midnight. Furious, a contemporary YA co-written with Jamie, is her next release. By day, she’s an agent at the Rees Literary Agency.

Jamie Pacton

Rebecca Podos

S.A. MacLean, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Phoenix Keeper

Yael and Margot’s sizzling spice and adorable charm had me turning pages so fast.

Rebecca Thorne, author of Can’t Spell Treason without Tea

Beautifully written, wildly original, and impossibly charming, Homegrown Magic is the gorgeous queer fantasy I didn't know I needed.

Lana Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Payback’s a Witch

A lovely, queer romance that feels like drinking tea in a cozy cabin. I can’t wait for the next one!

Kimberly Lemming, author of That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

I loved it! I wish I could live in Bloomfield!

Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

At the crossroads of impeccable witchy vibes, high fantasy fashion, and D&D riffs lies a queer, cozy love story sweet as the sweetest of heartbreak-healing strawberry jams. This one is for the TTRPG nerds, the warlock players, the plant witches and the enby icons.

Riley August, author of The Last Gifts of the Universe

Brimming with tender longing and heart, Homegrown Magic is a delightfully queer cosy fantasy with delicious strawberry-scented slow burn romance. I loved it.

'Bewitchingly cozy and deliciously queer' S.A. MACLEAN 
'Wildly original, and impossibly charming' LANA HARPER 
'Brimming with tender longing and heart' NADIA EL-FASSI 
 
__________ 
 
A delightful queer cottagecore romantasy full of friends-to-lovers romance, found family, rival family drama, and cozy garden magic. 
 
Yael is the only heir to one of the wealthiest families in the realm, destined for a life of power and privilege. But that’s not the life they want, and so, chafing at their family’s restrictions and expectations, they flee in search of a grand adventure. 
 
Margot, plant witch, tea lover and stressed greenhouse owner, has never felt further from adventure in her life. Since her grandmother died and her family fortune was stolen she’s been desperately trying to keep what remains of the family business afloat. So, when her childhood friend – and former crush – unexpectedly gallops back into her life, it makes sense to offer them a job and a place to lie low. 
 
In amongst harvesting strawberries for heartbreak jam and some totally, absolutely harmless flirting, they form a plan to take back everything that was stolen from Margot. But can their fragile arrangement survive their swiftly-blooming attraction? Not to mention the machinations of scheming parents determined to get Yael back – no matter the cost. 
 
__________ 
 
‘I wish I could live in Bloomfield.’ 
—Sarah Beth Durst, author of New York Times bestseller, The Spell Shop 
 
'Homegrown Magic lies at the crossroads of impeccable witchy vibes, high fantasy fashion, and D&D riffs.' 
—Riley August, author of The Last Gifts of the Universe 
 
'A lovely, queer romance that feels like drinking tea in a cozy cabin. I can’t wait for the next one!' 
—Kimberly Lemming, author of That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

Rebecca Podos

Praise for Homegrown Magic

Bewitchingly cozy and deliciously queer.

Yael and Margot’s sizzling spice and adorable charm had me turning pages so fast.

Beautifully written, wildly original, and impossibly charming, Homegrown Magic is the gorgeous queer fantasy I didn't know I needed.

Bewitchingly cozy and deliciously queer.

Yael and Margot’s sizzling spice and adorable charm had me turning pages so fast.

Beautifully written, wildly original, and impossibly charming, Homegrown Magic is the gorgeous queer fantasy I didn't know I needed.

Bewitchingly cozy and deliciously queer.

Yael and Margot’s sizzling spice and adorable charm had me turning pages so fast.

Beautifully written, wildly original, and impossibly charming, Homegrown Magic is the gorgeous queer fantasy I didn't know I needed.

Books by Rebecca Podos

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