Thank you so much PanMacmillan, Tor Bramble and Netgalley for the arc of Wooing the Witch Queen (Queens of Villainy) by Stephanie Burgis in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. As you’ve probably guessed I’ve got a total soft spot for romantasy, and right now when my life is chaotically busy, caring for my recuperating husband, singlehandedly managing life, work, home & daughter, I am definitely in need of some light reading escape…in those few moments I grab before I fall asleep on whatever book I’m reading.

Wooing the Witch Queen reverses the grumpy/sunshine trope completely, swapping the grumpy hero for a totally soft, gentle, cinnamon role of a hero and a defensive, driven, caffeine fuelled, grumpy heroine, who terrifies absolutely everyone.

‘Queen of Villainy’ Saskia is a wicked sorceress, feared by all after she successfully ousted her evil uncle from the throne, driven by her objective to save her people from the neighbouring empire, she spends day and night experimenting with her spells to defend her country. Felix/Fabian is an Imperial Archduke with no magic, and desperate to escape his realm. He travels to Saskia’s kingdom in the hope that she will take him hostage but, finds himself employed as a magical sorcerer to organise the chaos of Saskia’s library, free to explore his love of poetry, stationery and books.

Thus begins the most delightful slow-burn romance between Saskia and Felix/Fabian, emerging from a search for the strange contraption called a fountain pen, to the comfortable silence of reading together, and sharing notes on book cataloguing and more. Felix/Fabian gradually lowers Saskia’s walls of defence through gentle consideration, thoughtfulness, care and simple acts of service, not overwhelming wooing and romance.
In parallel to the development of their relationship, Saskia is continuing to defend her country, definitely not sleep, and live up to the traditional expectations of a queen, including the terrible and awful demands to socialise and meet societal expectations! Particularly those of her demanding First Minister. Saskia is partially meeting those, finding allies with her neighbouring Queens of Villainy, who are also doing their damnedest to defend their realms from the empire…even if their idea of doing so involves regular catch ups over tea, a healthy dose of magic, sarcasm and most definitely inappropriate behaviour!

The dynamic of three strong women defending their realms in a very male dominated society of rule is particularly prevalent right now, and I absolutely adored the mutual support and guidance they provide to each other, even if at times that did exacerbate Saskia’s definitely need for caffeine, which could almost be considered her downfall!

Burgiss definitely delivers a cosy romantasy, that has a solid plot that provides a chance for the main and sub-characters to shine. Trust me, you will absolutely fall in love with a couple of the smaller members of Saskia’s cast, and there’s no question that her house staff are just amazing! This gentle romance doesn’t load all the spice but, it flows in a wonderful way that is so easy to read and fall in love with. The only downside for me is that I know how long I’m going to have to wait now for book 2, and that promises to be an absolute doozy!
4.5 stars!

This was a fun and easy read ☺️

I enjoyed the story and the characters, I especially loved the little snippets about what the Archduke was up to while Fabian listened.

Felix and Saskia were a delight to read ❤️ I loved Lorelei and I hope the next book in the series follows her.

Overall a great pallet cleanser for in between heavy fantasy books. I had fun and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! Saskia and Felix are brilliant characters, very easy to love with amazing chemistry. The world building is great and I can't wait to see how this progresses. Three wicked witches to rule the world! What is not to love.

Oh this was so cute! It was like reading a warm hug all the way through. I loved the role reversal, the fierce heroine, the gentle hero, the found family, all just so lovely. I really loved how he loved how powerful she was and never saw it as a negative. I was so happy when we got towards the end and there was a particular interaction between two other characters, because I thought that maybe that signified a companion novel later and it does! I'm giving this book a rating of 4.25, which doesn't quite match my glowing review above, but I don't ever really give really high stars to cozy fantasy. This is one of my favourite ones I've read and I would recommend it for sure. I think this is one I could see myself re-reading and I will definitely want to read the (I assume) other two books in the series when they come out in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and author Stephanie Burgis for this eARC

I Loved This!

Wooing the Witch was an absolute delight to read.
This to me is peak romantasy. The plot was well though out and well executed but where this book shines is it’s characters.
Saskia is strong-willed and protective of her people while trying to live up to everyones expectations of her as Queen.
And the we have Felix. Felix, who has my whole heart! He is so strong without realising it yet so, so gentle and geeks out over fountain pens and he just deserves the world.
I loved how their romance developed - it felt very real and organic. I also loved our side characters, especially Lorelai!
Just overall a great book, one of my favourite reads this year!

Overall this was a very sweet and cosy fantasy romance with a hint of magical political intrigue!

I felt that the story moved a little too fast for my liking at the beginning and wished there was more time spent exploring the main characters before they meet. Kind of instant attraction but the romance itself was cute and definitely a slow burn with the hidden identity. I really appreciated the FMC being the more assertive one in the relationship and the MMC playing the more gentle role - I often find that in Romantasy books, relationship dynamics become a bit too same-y but this was refreshing! Bisexual queen and sensitive librarian boy? Love it x

Took me a little while to get hooked but once I was invested I never wanted to put it down! And it’s all set up for the sequel hehe…

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

A very pleasant book! I liked how the author reversed the grumpy/sunshine trope by giving us a soft, cinnamon roll hero and a somewhat grumpy heroine whom everyone is afraid of. Felix is truly a wonderful MMC. He’s a stationary enthusiast, befriends a raven, and works in a library. Can it get any better? Probably not. I love his banter with Saskia, who is also a fantastic character. The slow-burn romance is one of the best aspects of this novel. I also enjoyed the dynamics between the three queens of villainy, and I would happily read the next installments featuring the other two heroines.
The book isn't officially categorized as cozy fantasy, but it gives off exactly that vibe. I enjoy this subgenre, and overall, I found it an enjoyable read. However, I believe this story would have resonated even better—and perhaps been less predictable—in a slightly less cozy, more "adult fantasy" form. That said, it is still a lovely read for the autumn-winter months.

My opinion on the book is average: it did not particularly impress me, neither for a particularly brilliant plot nor for the characters, that remain quite anonymous during the reading, but it is an enjoyable book with a fun style, very light and not to be taken too seriously.
I found the resolutions quite banal and in general I noticed a basic superficiality that prevented me from fully appreciating the book. As a reader, for personal taste, I would not be interested in reading other books in the series.
Pros: fun style, light book
Cons: little depth, too simple plot, based a lot on the relationship and little on the facts

thanks for the ARC opportunity :)