This book is an absolute delight and exactly what the fantasy romance genre should aspire to do! Wooing the Witch Queen was a super fun story about mistaken identity, personal values, and taking care of the people we love fiercely. I enjoyed it from start to finish and I was so grateful to be able to read an advanced copy!

Wooing the Witch Queen can be summed up in one word: refreshing. This title is poised to stand out in the cozy romantasy in a very positive way. It brought intrigue, laughs, swoons, and inspiration. I had a good time reading! I was buckled in from the start and departed this one with a full heart and smile.

The first book in the Queens of Villainy series, Wooing the Witch Queen is a cozy, romantic fantasy that sets the stage for a world filled with powerful queens, unexpected heroes, and plenty of dazzling magic.

When Felix, Archduke of Estarion, escapes the grasps of those who have molded him into their powerless puppet, he flees straight into the domain of the infamous witch queen, Saskia. Who just so happens to consider the Archduke her political enemy. Felix seeks sanctuary, instead, a misunderstanding labels him a dark wizard and lands him the title of palace librarian. And keeps his identity secret. He’s no wizard nor librarian, but he does love books and organization and before he knows it, he finds himself a home in Saskia's disorderly library-- and finds the so-called wicked witch has a much softer, kinder heart than what's been told.

Felix and Saskia are the absolute heart of this story. They are both on paths where they strive to claim agency, self-empowerment, and confidence. As different as their personalities are, they mirror each other in many ways. Saskia is being told to change her identity to become a more palpable image for the world, and Felix is struggling to find his own identity in order to claim his own agency and power.

There is such a beautiful softness in the burgeoning relationship between Saskia and Felix. In a genre where so many of the male love interests are grumpy, cold, and growl-y, it's so refreshing to have a male love interest who is kind, sweet, soft, and gentle. It's the perfect complement to Saskia's prickliness, brashness, and stubbornness. He softens her, and she, in turn, strengthens him. They continuously build each other up, with Felix encouraging Saskia to be just as she is, and Saskia motivating Felix to realize his own worthwhile purpose. Their mutual, developing trust will become paramount by narrative’s final act.

This is very much a cozy fantasy read, at times the world-building felt a bit more muted than I'd like, but ultimately, it's the coziness that brought me warmth. Just as the characters that brought me love. I left this one very satisfied!

If you're looking for a cozy romantasy, a sweet hero, a brazen anti-heroine, a sweet and spicy slow burn, then be sure to pick up Wooing the Witch Queen!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for this advanced complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.

Wooing the Witch Queen offers a delightful mix of magical intrigue and slow-burn romance. Stephanie Burgis excels in creating a vibrant world of enchantment and political tension, where every character is intricately layered. The romance between the witch queen and her would-be suitor, who begins as an adversary, was a highlight of the novel — their evolving relationship, full of wit and tension, kept me engaged from start to finish. I particularly appreciated the strong, independent female lead and how the narrative balanced personal desires with larger political stakes.

However, there were moments where the pacing felt slower than I anticipated, especially in the middle of the book, as the plot lingered on world-building and character development. Overall, though, Wooing the Witch Queen is a captivating read for fans of high fantasy with strong romantic elements and complex characters.

Tropes:

Enemies to Lovers
Forbidden Romance
Political Intrigue
Slow Burn Romance
Court Drama

An archduke flees his abusive regent to end up mistaken for a sorcerer and becomes the librarian for a powerful witch-queen... who is completely taken in by his strong jawline and tender care. Fighting for their lives and their kingdoms, Queen Saskia and Archduke Felix discover new depths of themselves and their powers in order to care for each other.

Wooing the Witch Queen combines cozy fantasy with political intrigue, wholesome romance, fantastic side characters, and my favorite type of FMC and MMC. Am I low key obsessed with Felix?? Absolutely! This man is essentially my dream person and I want him to come organize my books and fall in love with me. Saskia was such a breath of fresh air as a FMC. She’s intelligent, driven, and has the capability to be savage but is willing to listen and consider others and their opinions. She’s definitely a ride or die for her people and I adore her. Felix and Saskia’s dynamic gave me warm fuzzy feelings and I have zero points of contention with the romance. It was basically perfect. Also, the healthy communication in a romance novel - love to see it! I think basically anyone who enjoys fantasy and/or romance, especially together would love Wooing the Witch Queen as I did!

Thank you to Bramble, NetGalley, and the author for sending me an early copy!

Mysterious mask man shows up at the door of a villainous dark queen? What could be so strange about that?? Totally normal thing to do I'm sure.
I loved that this story is fast-paced and exceptionally entertaining. Can't wait to continue on with this world.

Oh my gosh I adored this book!! The cozy fantasy vibes and the banter were fantastic. I fell hard for our cinnamon roll librarian. I loved how nerdy both main characters were. Their mutual love for knowledge made it really easy to see why they were such a good fit for each other. I also loved how funny this book was. It didn't take itself too seriously and I really enjoyed watching them tease each other. My absolutely favorite part was how loyal they both were. Seeing two characters who had been cast aside and reviled by others finding a person who is going to be firmly in their corner was absolutely adorable. I'm so excited to see more from this author because I love their writing style!

I personally did not care for this book. I got about 30% in and had to DNF. I just wasn’t drawn to the world of this book therefore I couldn’t continue. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Oh my god, this was so good i already want the next book, like STAT right now, you can't make me wait a whole year or more for the next one.

This was such a fun read!

Queen Saskia is a sorceress with a sharp edge who is focused on protecting her people from a neighboring empire. What she doesn’t have time for is her messy, disorganized magical library. Fabian is a mysterious dark wizard who she hires as her new librarian.

BUT - He isn’t a wizard at all. He is an Imperial archduke in disguise, with zero magical ability and secrets that could destroy them both.

Okay, I adored Fabian! He’s got this golden retriever energy.

The contrast between his sunshiney personality and Saskia’s sharp, broody vibe? The best!.

The twists kept me on my toes but the story still had this cozy, magical feel.

Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a cozy Romantasy!

Thank you NetGalley and Bramble for the gifted copy!

Aww the first half of this book was SO lovely. Felix escapes his absolutely horrible royal family by fleeing to the one ruler they fear - Saskia, a queen who had to take back her crown stolen by her murdering uncle. Since Saskia can't know Felix is from an enemy kingdom, he doesn't stop her when she thinks he's shown up because of an ad she placed for a new magical librarian. His duties involve sorting out the books, cataloguing them and definitely not falling in love with the powerful, gorgeous curved Saskia.

This has fountain pens, descriptions of gorgeous foods, a scientifically-minded queen, magical books, a cinnamon roll of a hero and a lovely romance. It could have been absolutely perfect and cosy and charming but I was a bit disappointed in the later half of the book where the stakes become a bit higher and all hell breaks loose. I might still pick up the second book to see where it goes from there though.

My endless thanks to NetGalley and Tor for this ARC!

I went into this expecting a romantasy and ended up with a cute cozy fantasy, which I was not mad about AT ALL. I enjoyed that it didn't take itself too seriously and it felt like the author was having a lot of fun parodying romantasy stereotypes but in a kind and gentle way. Speaking of kind and gentle, our hero was such a breath of fresh air with his sweet nature and journey of self-discovery. Definitely excited for #2 and our chaotic fairy queen!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

I absolutely loved this book and the relationship between Saskia and Felix! Not only does Burgis subvert a lot of tropes placed on women throughout fantasy and romance, but she also creates a story that includes more characters to love than to hate! The self-growth, trust, and love that Saskia and Felix develop over the course of the story are also gloriously beautiful! My little librarian/archivist heart fluttered at Felix finding his place as Saskia’s librarian (ahem, Dark Wizard technically) and learning not only about the collection but also the founders and current heir. If you love fantasy romance that hinges on the storyline more than anything else, this is a great book for you! It was also a quick read that I devoured over the course of 48 hours. 
I can not wait to see more of the world and I am looking forward to the next book in the series if it comes to light (and I truly hope it does)!

This dual perspective fantasy romance novel has Archduke Felix sneak into the neighboring kingdom at odds with his kingdom because his nobles are plotting to kill him to start a war. The neighboring kingdom is ruled by a witch queen in need of a librarian to organize her many magical tomes. A mix-up leads to Felix disguising himself as the librarian and then they start feeling attraction. The events in the last third make the plot go along at a quick speed. Felix is a cinnamon roll hero, and Witch Queen Saskia is a solid heroine. I'm not sure about the other witch queens in the series, because the teaser at the end with Lorelai was weird.

I was absolutely delighted by Stephanie Burgis's series opener "Wooing the Witch Queen". This cozy gaslamp romantasy. After the Witch Queen Saskia overthrows her murderous uncle and usurps the throne of Kitvaria, she’s viewed by her people as a villain. Saskia is far from a power grabbing villain, she's actually trying to protect her kingdom, especially as her kingdom teeters on the brink of war with a neighboring empire. She finds more comfort creating powerful new spells in her laboratory than deal with court politics. When dark wizard Fabian shows up on her doorstep, she assumes he’s come to fill a vacancy in the castle’s messy magical library and hires him without a thought not knowing that Fabian is actually the enemy.

The world and politics of "Wooing the Witch Queen" is very accessible and the plot moves at a brisk pace. The characters are wonderful and supple ample amounts of humor. I also really enjoyed the slow burn romance between Saskia and the cinnamon roll librarian "Fabian". The ending sets up book 2 quite nicely and I'm really looking forward to continuing this series. Definitely pick this one up if you're in the mood for a low stakes low steam fantasy like Travis Baldree and T. Kingfisher.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bramble/Macmillan for an advanced reader's copy of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bramble for this ebook ARC!

If you’re looking for a women-forward fantasy, Wooing The Witch Queen is perfect!

Queen Saskia is a new ruler who defeated her uncle, the usurper, through the use of her incredible powers. However, now that her kingdom is protected by her enchantments, she no longer wants to be in the public eye, but instead desires to return to the experiments she’s begun that will further protect her people.

Felix is a widower who also happens to be the Archduke and ruler of a neighboring land, but his title is in name only, as his father- and brother-in-law rule over him with an iron fist. Overhearing their frustration over not being able to get past the wall of Queen Saskia, Felix manages to escape their clutches, running straight for Queen Saskia’s lands. Through a misunderstanding that works to his advantage, Felix becomes the queen’s librarian. Yet despite his luck, he has to make sure the queen never discovers his true identity because, due to his in-laws, she’s only ever seen him as the enemy.

This book was such a delight! I laughed quite a few times because, as a reader, I very much related to the introverted queen who just wanted to get back to her studies rather than having to deal with society’s interruptions. Saskia is fierce and unapologetic when it comes to her dealings with men with power and I loved this about her. Felix and his care and love of books, reading, and poetry was also such a special touch for us bibliophiles. His sensitivity and his respect for women was such a balm.

The side characters and animal companions closely linked to the main characters were also warm and quirky in all the best ways for a lovely found family atmosphere. I especially loved the Queens of Villainy!

As for the romance, the slow-burn longing between the FMC and the MMC was really sweet. There are two intimate scenes, one of which is more of an open door scene, but they did leave something to be desired because they were interrupted and both felt a bit rushed after waiting so long in the story for them. Overall though, I still enjoyed the lighthearted nature of the love story.

Book Snapshot:
✨ Romantasy verging on cozy fantasy with a hint of intrigue and a dash of spice
✨ Dual POV
✨ Powerful, introverted FMC who doesn’t allow any men to get in her way when it comes to protecting her people
✨ A humble, sweet, academic cinnamon roll of an MMC who respects women and their decisions
✨ A council of female rulers and leaders
✨ Cute, loyal animal companions
✨ Some LGBTQ+ Rep
✨ Slow burn with longing
✨ Found Family
✨ Hidden Identities
✨ Involves a library setting

This book surprised me with a great story and increasing action in the toward the end. The characters were fun and the slow burn was delightful! the pacing was good throughout and absolutely driving in the third act.

The cover and title of this book were mildly off-putting but the description sounded so intriguing I picked it up anyway and I’m so glad I did! I started off hesitantly but the story and characters drew me in and by the end I was giggling and smiling and having a grand time slamming pages as the excitement increased and the story ends so satisfyingly.

I was lucky to try both the ebook and the audiobook version of this title and I switched back and forth. On the audiobook version, it was nice to hear the place names pronounced. The narrator pronounced Gryphon differently than I’ve ever heard, but I got used to it by the end of the book. She did a good variety of voices and inflections so that the characters were distinct.

This was a fun story and I enjoyed it!

Do you like charming low (but actually not that low)stakes cozy paranormal rom coms that are heavily character driven with a soft (hot librarian bookish) MMC and fiesty FMC? Listen, this was fantastic I ate it up, I actually read this twice because I just LOVE sweet and safe romantasies, do you know what I mean? I know what I mean so that's all that matters, slow burn and suspenseful this kept me hooked the plot is fast paced and the world is interesting, I can't wait for the next book! (There is a next one isn't there? ISN'T THERE?!🥹🥹)

*Wooing the Witch Queen* by Stephanie Burgis is a charming and enchanting fantasy filled with romance, magic, and adventure. Set in a captivating world where witches hold immense power, the story follows a determined protagonist who embarks on a quest to win the heart of the elusive and powerful Witch Queen. Burgis’ writing is delightful, with a perfect blend of wit, warmth, and tension. The characters are well-developed, particularly the strong-willed heroine and the enigmatic queen, adding depth to the romance. *Wooing the Witch Queen* is a spellbinding read for fans of whimsical, character-driven fantasy with a touch of magic.

Cute romantasy, very much with a soft MMC love interest, which is a breath of fresh air after the likes of Quicksilver and ACOTAR. Was a bit slow in spots and I wasn't as connected to the characters as I wanted to be, but I am very interested in the sequel set up.