Timoteo Tong has a new fantasy/sci-fi book out, The Magicals Alliance book 3: The Spellbinding Magic of You and Me.

Magic, monsters, and a boy who never asked to be chosen.

Sixteen-year-old Santangelo Lo Geffo is drowning in grief. After his mother’s sudden death and his father’s emotional disappearance, he’s convinced the world has forgotten him—until his childhood best friend, Joshua “Neeky” Tang, shows up out of nowhere, charming, bold, and full of secrets. Their reunion reignites buried feelings and a bond stronger than fate.

But something darker stirs in the magical underworld known as the Gloom. A cursed sword has chosen Santangelo, and with it, the wrath of the ancient queen Máu Rabetica, who will stop at nothing to reclaim her power. With monsters closing in and war looming, Santangelo must train under the brutal God of War, survive attacks from rival covens, and navigate a tangled web of family secrets.

Worse, his heart’s a mess. He’s caught between his feelings for Neeky—the boy who’s always been there—and Daccio Scala, a flirtatious magical fighter who makes his pulse race. As the walls close in, a glam-pop sorceress with a hidden agenda sets her sights on Santangelo and the blade, forcing him to choose between destiny and desire… or risk losing both.

Warnings: Grief, violence, monsters, emotional trauma, light romantic tension

Universal Buy Link | Amazon

About the Series:

What if your wealthy, glamorous family was secretly saving the world?

Welcome to the world of The Magicals Alliance, a spellbinding YA fantasy series that follows the powerful—and complicated—Delomary family. By day, they’re media moguls, philanthropists, and the faces of a global empire. But behind closed doors, they’re something much more dangerous: the last line of defense against monsters, magic, and total annihilation.

In a hidden war where Vampires, Werewolves, and dark forces threaten to tip the balance between worlds, the Delomarys stand at the center of it all—armed with secrets, ancient power, and a whole lot of emotional baggage.

Dive into a world of romance, rebellion, queer joy, and jaw-dropping magic as each book follows teens on the front lines of a battle that could destroy everything.

Universal Links For All Three Books:

Magic, Monsters & Me | Resurrecting My Magic | The Spellbinding Magic of You and Me

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Excerpt

“Dammit, Bello!” Pops shouted from the front of the house.

I blinked awake. The drapes hung limp. The air in my room was warm and stale. My door stood open a crack. Che was gone.

“You have a visitor! Come downstairs—I’m making breakfast.”

I sat up, rubbed sleep from my eyes. The clock blinked 9:15. Pops was an early riser; I took after Mom and liked to sleep in.

“Coming!” I yelled back in Italian. I hated being woken before eleven.

I threw on a T-shirt and shorts, padded down the hall, and swung around the banister. At the bottom of the stairs, I froze. A shadow stood framed in the screen door to the verandah.

A tall boy with long black hair and glasses shifted from foot to foot, holding a cake like it might explode. He looked anxious and impossibly familiar.

“Open the door!” Pops barked. “Senlàpso!”

I opened the screen and stopped breathing. Joshua Tang—Josh—only not the kid I remembered. Taller now. Stronger. His smile hit me like a hammer.

“Santangelo!” he said. “Guess what? I just moved back to Burbank.”

We weren’t really friends anymore. So why was he acting like we were?

“Bello! Don’t be rude.” Pops’ voice snapped me awake.

“Oh. Hi, Josh.”

“Josh?” He tilted his head, eyes bright through his glasses. “That’s not my name.”

“Neeky,” he said.

The name clanged through me. I looked up—he towered over me now.

“Gosh,” he said, grinning, “you’re short. No growth spurt yet?”

“Yeah, well, you’re a giant.”

“Ah, yes,” Neeky said, blazing like midday sun, “that I am.”

“Come in. Let me take that cake.”

“Mom made it. It’s one of three things she can cook—scrambled eggs, soufflé, and carrot cake. Your favorite, Santy.” He handed it to Pops.

I stared. Three years gone, and suddenly he was here, filling our kitchen with noise and light.

“We moved back to the City of Angels,” Neeky said, sliding onto a stool while Pops poured juice. “Mom got a job at JPL.”

Pops’ eyebrows lifted. “Is that so? I didn’t know Susannah was a scientist.”

“She went back for her degree after… well, anyway. Now she’s a scientist.” Neeky bit into an apple like he’d never left.

He always made himself at home—shoes off, elbows out, comfortable like the world was his.

“That’s great, Josh,” I said automatically.

“Neeky, Mister Lo Geffo.” They shook hands like executives.

“Pops.”

Neeky turned to me. “Aren’t you going to sit?”

I climbed onto a stool across from him. Not too close. Not yet.

“I missed this place,” he said. “Always so homey. Our new house isn’t. Mom hates rugs and knick-knacks. Says they collect dust. She’s clueless.”

He talked like he’d been gone a day, not years. I wasn’t ready to pick up where we’d left off. Too much gnawed at me—things I couldn’t explain. Maybe he’d forgotten. That was like him. Pops and Neeky were both Leos: loud, sunny, terrible memories. I remembered everything—a curse.

“I’m taking Che for a run,” I muttered.

“We have a guest!” Pops shot me a glare sharp enough to petrify.

Neeky stood. “It’s fine, Pops. I have to help Mom decorate. She can’t do that alone.” He grinned, glowing like he carried his own weather. “Let’s hang out. I’m right across the street—the other old house on the block.”

He bounded down the porch steps, taking the golden light and jasmine air with him. Pops tucked the cake in the fridge. I called for Che.

“Time for a walk, Growlvara!”

Paws on wood, then Che trotted up, leash in his mouth. I knelt to rub his fur, grounding myself in his steady warmth.

Outside, a breeze stirred.

“Why did Josh move back?” I asked the air.

The wind ruffled my hair. “Neeky is his name.”

I frowned. “How do you know that?”

“I know everything.”

“You should be friends with him again,” it whispered.

“I don’t need friends. I have my cousins. And you. And Che.”

“Best friends are important,” the wind said. “Human friends.”

“I don’t want a best friend. It’s dangerous.”

“Why?”

“When you love someone, they leave.”

“Your mom didn’t leave you—not intentionally.”

“Shut up.”

“You held Neeky’s hand in kindergarten when he was scared. You were a good friend.”

And suddenly I was there again: first day of school. A small boy clung to his mother, sobbing. She left him, and he collapsed into the seat beside me, eyes red. I reached for his hand.

“You’ll be okay,” I’d said.

“You do?” he’d sniffled when I told him I liked building blocks too.

“Sure. I’ll hold your hand until you feel better.”

He had smiled through tears. “Best friends?”

“Sure,” I said.

Years later, under the olive trees, he kissed my cheek. I’d liked him back, though I had no words for it. Maybe that was why I ended things. Fear.

Now he was across the street again, and I felt a small, stupid happiness I didn’t want to admit.

Stop it, I told myself. I’m a loner. I don’t need friends. I have Che and Pops, even if Pops felt half-ghost most days.

Neeky paused on the sidewalk, looking back. Our eyes met, and the air stretched thin between us.

“Later?” he called.

My throat betrayed me. “Later.”

The wind laughed softly, and the house held its breath.

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Author Bio

Timoteo Tong grew up in Burbank, CA, imagining epic battles against vampires and witches inside creaky old mansions—and hasn’t stopped dreaming since. He wrote his first book at age eight (a chaotic romance between a stuffed cocker spaniel and a duck) and never looked back. Inspired by the magic of L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien, Timoteo now lives in San Francisco with his husband, where he writes stories full of queer magic, found family, and monsters that don’t play fair. When he’s not reading, writing, or daydreaming about flying, you can find him surrounded by houseplants, doing pushups between chapters, and always down for donuts.

Author Website: https://www.magicalsalliance.com

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timoteo.tong

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timoteoktong/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/34837913.Timoteo_Tong

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Timoteo-Tong/author/B0C7JVD1H7

Guest Post

Building Magic in the Real World

By Timoteo Tong, Author of The Magicals Alliance Series

When most people picture Los Angeles, they think of Hollywood, palm trees, and endless sunshine. For me, though, Los Angeles has always shimmered with something more—something unseen, humming just beneath the pavement and echoing through the canyons. When I set out to write *The Magicals Alliance Series*, I wanted to take that “something more” and bring it to life.

Urban fantasy often asks: *What if magic exists right here, in the places we know best?* My answer was to build a universe where freeways double as ley lines, storm drains hide crypts of forgotten gods, and a drizzle of rain in the middle of summer might just signal divine intervention.

But why LA? Because it’s personal. I grew up wandering through Burbank, hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains, and staring out over the Griffith Observatory at the city lights. Those were the places where I daydreamed as a teen, and in my books, they become battlefields, sanctuaries, and portals to other realms. Every landmark holds a secret: MacArthur Park once turned to ink during a magical breach; the Sixth Street Bridge cracked open to reveal a curse-tree; and in *The Spellbinding Magic of You and Me*, Santangelo Lo Geffo finds himself running the very same streets I once did.

Blending real geography with fantasy lore means readers can feel grounded even as they encounter the impossible. It’s one thing to imagine a dragon’s den—but what if that den is hidden beneath downtown? What if your local park is also the site of a forgotten covenant? That interplay between the ordinary and extraordinary creates a world that feels alive, like magic could be hiding just around the corner.

Another key to my worldbuilding is history. *The Last Battle*, fought in Los Angeles 120 years before the events of the books, was my way of giving the city a magical “past life.” I asked myself: what if the clashes of gods and monsters weren’t just myths, but part of modern history erased from memory? That decision means LA isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a character with scars, secrets, and stories of its own.

Of course, worldbuilding is only half the story. It’s the *people* in this magical LA who bring it to life. Characters like Santangelo struggle not just against monsters, but against grief, identity, and the weight of expectation. To me, that’s what makes the magic believable: no matter how dazzling or terrifying, it’s always tied to human emotion. A golden sword forged on Mount Olympus isn’t just a weapon; it’s also a symbol of Santy’s courage, his mother’s love, and his destiny.

In the end, building magic into the real world is about wonder—but it’s also about connection. I want readers to finish my books and look at their own streets, parks, and neighborhoods differently. Maybe the shadows really do stretch too long at dusk. Maybe the rain is whispering secrets. Maybe, just maybe, there’s more to the world than what we see.

That’s the heart of *The Magicals Alliance Series*: ordinary teens navigating extraordinary magic in the places we know best. Because magic, like love and grief, isn’t something far away—it’s right here, waiting to be found.

Timoteo Tong is the author of The Magicals Alliance Series, a YA queer fantasy saga set in modern-day California.
When not writing about magical battles and golden swords, Timoteo enjoys exploring local coffee shops, spending time with family,
and dreaming up new ways to bring enchantment into everyday life.