So This Is Ever After (2022)

Arek's reward for saving the kingdom is a crown with a lethal condition: find a spouse before his eighteenth birthday. His attempts to court his quest companions keep going wrong while his bond with the mage Matt becomes harder to interpret. Lukens's young adult romantic comedy begins with a queer circle of friends already used to doing difficult things together. The magical deadline is real; affectionate confusion and the desire to preserve those friendships give the story its buoyancy.