M. J. Gillbright

Dispatches from the Hearth

Official Announcement: Chivalry & Chocolate, Coming March 17, 2026

cozy fantasydragonsChivalry & Chocolate

Chivalry and Chocolate book cover by M. J. Gillbright

Well. We wrote a book. And now we have to tell people about it, which is somehow more terrifying than the book itself.

Chivalry & Chocolate

A Cozy Fantasy of Dragons and Desserts

by M. J. Gillbright

About the Book

A knight hangs up her sword. A dragon makes the perfect shop assistant. And the best chocolate in the realm is about to change everything.

For fans of Legends & Lattes and The House in the Cerulean Sea, a heartwarming cozy fantasy about finding where you truly belong.

Dassia Temperton has a secret. Well, not a secret so much as a bold, ongoing misunderstanding that she refuses to correct. For years, she’s been a woman disguised as a knight, because honestly, have you seen how knights get treated? Hot meals. Personal space. Significantly fewer marriage proposals from balding merchants.

Dassia has been living in borrowed armor and even more borrowed confidence, dodging questions and keeping her feelings locked up tighter than a royal vault. But when her captain sends her on a quest to slay a dragon, Dassia meets Etchling: a chocolate-obsessed dragon with a flair for the dramatic and zero interest in being slain.

What starts as survival becomes something unexpected: a friendship, a business partnership, and a cozy chocolate shop in a village where nobody asks too many questions. Etchling has demands (snacks), opinions (many), and a talent for poking directly at Dassia’s emotional armor.

Add a charming bookshop mage who has the nerve to see right through her, and Dassia’s defenses begin to melt. But some meltdowns are how hearts grow softer, especially when chocolate is involved.

A heartwarming and humorous cozy fantasy about found family, second chances, and discovering that the bravest thing you can do is let yourself be known.

Release Details

  • Release Date: March 17, 2026 (Tuesday)
  • Formats: eBook, Paperback, Hardcover
  • Series: Neapolitan Ice Cream, Book 1
  • Publisher: Positopian Publishing
  • Genre: Cozy Fantasy (the kind that makes you want to bake something immediately)

Pre-Order Now

Chivalry & Chocolate is available for pre-order on all major platforms. We would say “no pressure,” but Etchling is staring at us with those big, expectant eyes, so: some pressure.

About M. J. Gillbright

M. J. Gillbright is the pen name of two theme park designers who spent years building worlds people want to visit and then thought, “What if we also built worlds people want to read about, preferably while eating chocolate?” Their debut cozy fantasy series, Neapolitan Ice Cream, is a celebration of kindness, found family, and chocolate (lots of chocolate). They ate an unreasonable amount of it for research. No regrets.

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Positopian Publishing · Chews Joy 🍫