The Shopkeeper & Spoon anthology, by Renée Gendron, Helga R. Paxton, Leslie Ann Brown, and G.B. Gordon; May 2022.

In May 2021, Renée Gendron asked members of the Ottawa Romance Writers if they would like to participate in an anthology. The parameters were the story needed to involve a shop keeper, a silver spoon, and a romantic element. This anthology contains stories of the following genres: LGBTQ+ contemporary, contemporary fantasy, historical fiction, and fantasy.

Objects of Iniquity: Emmy and Lore grew up in a secret society whose purpose is finding cursed objects and banishing them to another dimension. Their budding love was shattered when Lore became a Searcher, roaming the world, and Emmy was designated a Shopkeeper, tied to one place, receiving and disposing of the cursed objects. Their paths cross again many years later, and Emmy finds her feelings for Lore have not changed. But she hides a forbidden secret: that their lives have been dedicated to a terrible lie.

Hearty Spoon:  Areatha works though day after day running the Hearty Spoon soup shop, with her Daughter Tareasa. The changes in their world lead to Areatha finally accepting her long time friend Walter’s boat to watch the royal double wedding on the lake. In the days after the outsiders are buying up all the fish causing Areatha difficulty in making her fish soup. Walter sails off into the high mountain lake of the capital day after day to catch fish, for the last two decades. Having Areatha on his boat fills his dull life with some joy again. A sudden huge demand for fish changes Walter’s fortunes, and brings him closer to Areatha.