Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow

All’s fair in love and magic.

Gwendolynne Chan just needs to get through her final year. At Seamere College of Magical Veterinary Sciences, she spends her days using her powers to heal companion animals while her nights are spent studying for exams. As the star pupil of the magical familiars stream, she is on track to graduating top of her class – as long as the pretentious Harrisford Briggs doesn’t beat her to it.

Harrisford Briggs was born into privilege. His father, the Chief Financial Officer of Magecorp, a major global distributor of magic, expects nothing less than the best from him. Harrisford, though, can’t help but notice that his father has been acting odd. Really odd. And there are strange whisperings, too. Rumours of uncontrollable surges of excess magic, which Magecorp has been trying to cover up, as well as rampant corruption within the Magical Ministry itself.

When these magical surges begin to rock their way through London, causing chaos and explosions and familiars going feral, Gwen and Harrisford find themselves without a reliable source of magic, putting both of their academic careers at risk. To fix this, they must put aside their duelling feelings of lust and loathing, and – along with Gwen’s snarky cat familiar – team up to diagnose the problem. If they fail, not only is their education at stake, but also the fate of the magical world.

Strange Familiars is Sunday Times bestselling author Keshe Chow’s adult debut: a dark academia fantasy where two scholars of magical veterinary science must put aside their lust and loathing to save the world in the first installment of this whimsical, romantic, dark academia duology.

About the Author: Keshe Chow is a #1 Sunday Times bestselling author and a specialist feline

medicine veterinarian, which means her life basically revolves around books and

cats. She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband, two kids, one cat, and way too many house plants.

19 May 2026
 

Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow ISBN 9781399750295