Ali Hazelwood meets Dungeons & Dragons in this enemies-to-lovers fantasy academia romcom where rival grad student wizards are forced to work together without killing―or falling for―each other.
Will they conjure love, or evoke chaos? Two rival wizards are about to find out.
Sebastian Walsh: twenty-four. Grad student at Lesiara University in the Mageus of Evocation program. Human. The first of his family to go to college rather than the military (and it goes over at family get-togethers about as well as you’d think).
Elethior Tourael: also twenty-four. Also a grad student, but in the far more inferior Mageus of Conjuration program. Half-elf. The latest in a long line of Touraels to grace the hallowed halls of Lesiara U (what would the world do if the Touraels ran out of rich douches to lead their magical weapons manufacturing empire?).
―and the other finalist for the Mageus Research Grant.
Sebastian needs that grant to fund the last few months of research for his degree, after which he’ll get a job that actually helps people. He isn’t about to let anyone snatch this from him, least of all a snob who doesn’t even need the money because his family is loaded thanks to war profiteering.
But there’s something worse than having a conceited academic nemesis steal grant money from you: you could be forced to work with him. Thio is secretive, broody, and his stunning biceps take up far too much shared lab space―but even as volatile as their partnership is, Sebastian just might find himself falling for his rival―and it could blow up his whole future.
THE FACTS
📕 book one in the Magic and Romance series
📘 Magical school MM romance
📙 Enemies to lovers in the best possible way
📗 big emotions due to past trauma
📒 funny and joyful while still being deep
THE GOOD BITS
There are so many things to love about this book that I’m not entirely sure where to start. First of all the characters are really, really great. Sure, there’s a lot of trauma in this book, but I really like the way the author has dealt with it. It’s not dismissive at all it’s not glossed over. It reads as authentic and really allowed me to get into it and think about what was happening.
I also enjoyed the love interest. I’m not always a fan of enemies to lovers, but this one was not only smoking hot, but it was also completely entertaining and I absolutely loved the snarky banter. Let’s face it if something is gonna be enemies to lovers, there had better be snark. Thio and Seb are both quick and speak their minds, but they’re also wounded by things in their lives.
The authors exploration of the magical systems was great. I’ve been reading a lot of serious books about magic lately and enjoyed the way. Sarah broke down the difference between conjuration and evocation which originally led to the practical jokes that quickly morphed into a full out battle.
Thio and Seb’s relationship was quite something. They begin as enemies who are engaged in a prank war that’s become a bit destructive. But they soon begin to forge a tentative connection despite their perceived differences. This relationship proceeds at a perfect pace… and I really enjoyed the roller coaster ride of emotions these two characters were on.
I also can’t write this review without mentioning the marvellous friendship between Seb and Orok. What an absolute joy it was to read a platonic friendship between two men who are affectionate and caring with one another while still swearing at each other when it works. This was such a special relationship in this book – and I look forward to reading Orok’s story in a future book.
THE LINKS
I bought my own copy of this book and I received a free copy of the audio book from Libro FM via Terrier Books.
Kinzie Things 