Can’t Wait Wednesday: Emily Wilde’s History of Dark Faerie by Heather Fawcett
5 August 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't Wait Wedesday, Emily Wilde's History of Dark Faerie, Heather Fawcett, Wishful Endings
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is: Emily Wilde’s History of Dark Faerie by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde No.4). I confess I’m happily surprised and more than happy to be wrong because I really thought that Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales was the conclusion to this series. And here we are with No.4 on the horizon. Well, colour me happy. Lets take a look at the cover and description:
Curmudgeonly scholar Emily Wilde must brave the beautiful but haunted Black Forest and open a portal to a long-lost, eldritch realm dreaded by the Folk, in this fourth installment of the New York Times bestselling series.
Driven by an insatiable scientific curiosity, Emily Wilde has made a name for herself as the world’s foremost scholar of faeries. Along the way, she’s rescued a faerie kingdom and helped her now-husband—fellow professor Wendell Bambleby, dashing and infuriating in equal measure—regain his throne. And while understanding her fellow mortals has never been her strong suit, she’s also made a small number of friends.
But two years later, one of those friends goes missing in the beautiful but faerie-haunted Black Forest in Germany, a region of picturesque villages and sinister Folk. And if she’s to save him, Emily will have to reckon with the darker side of her own nature, and how ruthless she’s prepared to be to solve the most tantalizing of scholarly mysteries: the history of the ancient and long-lost realm she’s named Dark Faerie, the only place the Folk fear.
But Emily is not alone—she has her beloved Wendell, and her niece Ariadne, who hopes to follow in her footsteps. Told from the perspective of all three characters, this installment of the Emily Wilde series opens a magical portal to the most wondrous and dread faerie realm of all.
Expected publication: January 2027


I’m beyond excited about this, although mildly concerned that it seems to be turning multi-perspective, as I love Emily’s perspective in the previous books…
Yes, it seems like an odd choice at this point but I’m sure she has reasons.
Lynn 😀
I didnt realise this had a cover yet and I have to say its left me even more intrigued. Those clawed hands are haunting. And I oddly love the bone entangled in the flowers. With the others being in journal format I’m surprised to hear that the narrative will be split three ways but I’m very excited to get more of Wendell’s voice on the page. Plus the setting sounds deliciously dark.
I’m quite looking forward to the three way split in narrative tbh to see what it brings. It’s good sometimes to shake things up.
Lynn 😀
Thanks for mentioning this! Wasn’t aware. I am not sure yet if I want to read it, #3 was not as good as the first two books.
I can totally understand if you didn’t enjoy No.3 as much why you might not be so keen. TBH I was surprised as I thought the third was the final book so I am keen to pick this up and maybe the narrative changes will make a difference.
Lynn 😀
It’s always exciting (and scary) when a series that you think is done suddenly gets another chapter! Hope this one meets your expectations in January! 😀
Thanks, that’s my hope too.
Lynn 😀