THE WEIGHT OF WANTINGA novel of transformation, identity, and magic lost and found.Maren always knew she was different—but not like this.Born to a seamstress in a forgotten village and marked by strange magic from childhood, Maren grew up chasing wind with whispered words and hiding the flicker of power that danced beneath her skin. She was a hedge mage in the making, one of the rare few gifted not through bloodlines or formal schools, but by wild, ancient language—magic older than kingdoms and more stubborn than truth.But when that same magic begins to unravel her from the inside out, what starts as a fever becomes something far more devastating: Soul Rot, a wasting sickness of the spirit that no healer, scholar, or hedge witch can cure. As her body fails and her breath shortens, Maren makes a desperate choice. She leaves behind her closest friend and only home, venturing into the woods to chase an old story, a whispered promise, a door in the trees that isn’t always there.She finds the Fae.And they find her wanting.What they offer is no simple cure. Maren survives—but not as the boy who walked into the forest. In the stillness of their realm, she is remade.She returns to Bramblehold not as a corpse, but a woman reborn—with a new body, new magic, and a voice still learning what it means to speak for herself. But surviving is only the beginning. In a world that won’t understand her, Maren must navigate her old life with a truth that feels both undeniable and unbearable. Her closest companion, Elira, offers unwavering support, but even friendship can’t solve what Maren herself can’t name.And then there’s Thom—a quiet mercenary with haunted eyes, a man from Maren’s past who doesn’t recognize her now, and maybe never truly did. When their paths cross again, something stirs between them. Something tender. Something dangerous.As the seasons turn, Maren must face the cost of what she was, what she’s become, and what she still yearns to be. She must decide if there is room in the world for who she’s becoming—or if she must carve that space herself.The Weight in Wanting is a lyrical, character-driven fantasy about the ache of becoming, the tenderness of chosen bonds, and the magic that lingers in the things we dare not say aloud. It’s a story of quiet power, small rebellions, and the kind of transformations that can’t be undone—even when the world demands they be.