On July fifteenth, a guest asks Marta for a shovel.

Outside, it’s summer. Inside, Room Seven at her inn is filling with snow. She needs to rescue her guest, stop the blizzard, and call a weatherwright. His name is Erik. They once went on a date—after which each decided the other wasn’t particularly interested in another.

So begins The House with Spring to Spare: Summer Under One Roof—a collection of eight connected stories set in Velsa, a town where weather is stored in vessels, but matters of the heart still have to be worked out without magic.

There are rooms to look after, unusual requests to fulfill, neighbors with worries of their own, and two adults gradually learning to make time for each other.

I’m sharing the first story, “A Blizzard in Room Seven,” for free. You can read it in full below or download it in EPUB, PDF, or FB2. The rest of the season is available in the complete paid collection.

Welcome to Velsa.