I Know How This Ends

by Imogen Markwell-Tweed

Alone in the woods of West Virginia, Tabbris lives a quiet life. He tends to his garden and communes with the bees and feels the presence of holiness in his every small, humble action. A fallen angel with the ability to see the future, Tabbris tries his best to stay out of humanity’s sight.

In L.A., Daniel is the life of the party. Loud, abrasive, desperate for approval and companionship, Daniel never sits still — and he’s never alone.

When Daniel gets a large research grant to investigate cryptids, he sets off for West Virginia. What he thought would be a good prank and a fun conference paper turns out to be an adventure he never saw coming.

Tabbris’s quiet life is uprooted by a mysterious man falling across the borders of time and into his front yard. Daniel is not supposed to be here! But there’s something intriguing about this man, beyond his surprising appearance and penchant for mythological creatures. When Daniel keeps showing up, Tabbris is plagued by the possibilities that the man ignites in him.

The only problem is that Tabbris can see the future. And he already knows how much pain they have in store. He knows how this ends.

Genres: Audiobook, LGBT, Fantasy, Queer, Romance, M M Romance, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2020

About the author

Imogen Markwell-Tweed is a queer romance writer and editor based in St. Louis. When she's not writing or hanging out with her dog, IMT can be found putting her media degrees to use by binge-watching trashy television. All of her stories promise queer protagonists, healthy relationships, and happily ever afters. @unrealimogen on Twitter and Instagram.view less

Reviews

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for I know How This Ends (audiobook) by Imogen Markwell-Tweed read by Heath Miller produced by Bryant Street Shorts.

This was a fun little story. Even fallen Angels can find true love.

[lauraღ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tabbris feels his grace stretching as far as it can for Daniel, and he knows it’s a lost cause.

Tabbris is a fallen angel. He's lived the past six hundred years in a little cottage in a park, on the other side of the veil, only rarely interacting with humanity. One day, a human somehow crashes past the veil into his space, and upon seeing him, Tabbris sees the future, and he knows how it will end. This is a pretty short story, so I'll keep my comments similarly short: this was so freaking sweet, with gorgeous writing and atmosphere. I'm bowled over by ow much the author made me care about these characters in so few words. I do have a huge thing for angels, but even beyond that, I just loved the poetry of this, the bitter-sweetness, the descriptions of grace. Short stories usually leave me wanting more, but I think this works perfectly as a novelette. I listened to the audiobook as read by Heath Miller, and it was excellently done.

I will say: don't bother reading the synopsis; just read the story if you're interested. IMO the synopsis makes this sound a lot more expansive than it is, and is a little misleading.

I loved this, and I'm immediately off to check out more of this author's writing.

[Marilisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tabbris is a former angel content with tending his garden and cottage. Then, out of nowhere, a human stumbles through his veil and finds him even though he’s not supposed to. However, Tabbris has the power to see the future and knows how this ends, with his broken heart.

Sweet short story that makes me hungry for more!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I Know How This Ends” by Imogen Markwell-Tweed was a short, sweet novella about a fallen Angel and a mortal finding one another in an unlikely encounter. Tabbris and Daniel have to decide whether to pursue this relationship or not, despite Tabbris knowing the future. It’s clearly a bittersweet decision, but also beautiful. I just wish this was a longer story.

[Florence🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 5 out of 5]

So goddamn cute. A short story about a man who crashes into a poor confused angels garden and makes him question everything. My lil gay heart loves it. Also mothman makes a “cameo” which was extremely unexpected and also fucking GREAT

[Mrs Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, I would read a novel length book from this writer! Very promising!

[Victoria M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read, it was adorable. The struggle of being able to see the future and know how something ends but looking past that and enjoying the moment as it is was really nice.

[Ashley Carr, LSoR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first story I have read by this author and it was cute, sweet and a quick read! Tabbris is just minding his business, gardening, because that’s what all fallen angels do when they crash into earth lol. He has created a veil around his cabin and garden so the outside world won’t even know he is there. That has been working for him for 200+ years until Daniel comes crashing through the veil. He turns Tabbris’ life upside down in a good way.

[Kasper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second book by this author, and while Life After Love didn't felt too short for me, this one did. It wasn't rushed, but definitely needs more pages.
Still, the author makes an excellent job at writing, I really love their style. I'll probably keep listening to the audiobooks while I walk home from work.

[Shawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

hmmmm - I did like this, what there was of it. It’s quite short, and basically has an immortal angel living on Earth and who then inadvertently creates the Mothman cryptid legend? And a researcher just sort of stumbles across his . . . angelic forcefield? and the two become involved? It was maybe a little too high-concept for the page length, but I was left with good vibes at the end. I’ll try more by this author, for sure.

(Marking age gap for immortal x human, lol)

[KappaBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid short story about a fallen angel falling in love for a human and being scared that he's falling for a human.

I just really would've liked to see what happened between the last chapter and the epilogue. All parts of the short story were good and beautifully written, but I also wanted to see the stuff that was skipped over.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is absolutely fantastic, I do feel like its kind of limited by its length but I really loved the interactions between the two main characters and the small storyline built between the two. I liked it a lot.

[Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost mystical and reverent in tone, this is a sweet love story between a hermit who enjoys his quiet, solitary life in his cabin in the woods (and also happens to be a fallen angel) and the worldly academic from LA who stumbles into it.

[Mo’ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short cute story. I do feel like it’s kind of limited to its length, because it has so much potential as a long story. I fell in love with Tabbris, and that’s enough for me!

I really love the interaction between the two main characters and the small storyline built between the two.

[Tegan Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly just watch Bill and Franks LoU episode. It’s packs 10 times the emotion and love in an hour than in this short, which roughly reads the same time. There’s just no rising action or climax or resolution. The plot is just the description

[Lydia Hephzibah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute? Would definitely read a full length novel of this. Felt like a mix of Becky Chambers and TJ Klune

[Inaffablejames · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 Stars, it's short cute.
And as a cryptid nerd, really interesting to read.
Really love the characters

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short read as it was only 48 pages.
It could have been so much more

[Ninna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Ida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short and unrealized

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super sweet story. I didn’t realize that this is a short story when I accepted it for review. I just knew it was by Markwell-Tweed and I liked the last book I read by her, so I figured there was a good chance I’d like this one. I was right about that at least.

I was initially disappointed to discover it’s only 48 pages long. But this story doesn’t need any more than that to be told and still feel satisfying and complete. I fell in love with Tabbris in those 48 pages and it was enough. I’ll be looking for more of Markwell-Tweed’s writing, for sure.

[Cara Patel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always impressed how this author sets up these magic systems in such a short amount of time without it feeling rushed.

This has a super interesting concept where someone has the ability to see the possible futures of his decisions, and the heartache that he would endure, and debating whether love is worth the hurt.

[KatlinE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and I liked it, but 3 stars, because this should have really been a full novel. Reading this was like reading a plot summary and I really want more, like why will Daniel cry in twenty years? I need answers.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely short story about a delightful, future-seeing, and apron-collecting angel falling in love with an enthusiastic human, despite knowing how their story ends..
It was all so very bright, comforting, hopeful and, well, a little magical, ha!