There are 100 things wrong with Meredith Schwarzwelder. At least. In fact, keeping track of these things is the only way David Carew has managed to remain living with Meredith, an irredeemable eccentric who flirts with everyone in his path (#3 on the list), cries at anything (#35), makes the worst coffee in the world (#70), and talks to mice, or imagines he does (#52), for as long as he has.

It’s bad enough living with such a person on the edge of the Midnight Wood, but when magic starts to seep  from the wood and a dark being with a sinister plan involving Meredith emerges, David decides that it’s time to leave the cottage, and his roommate, behind. Then Meredith’s brother gets engaged to the daughter of David’s boss, and David sees an opportunity; if he can insert himself into the festivities, maybe he can advance his career and get himself out of a personal rut.

With wedding bells sounding and the dangers of the Midnight Wood encroaching, David realizes there’s much more hiding beneath the surface of his roommate’s seemingly carefree charm, and perhaps his own exasperation carries more fondness than he’d like to admit.