This was a fun cozy fantasy romance featuring a bisexual “fearsome” witch queen and an archduke disguised as a dark wizard librarian. The stakes are quite low - this, along with the writing gave it that cozy fantasy feel. I truly had no idea where this story was going which was what made it so fun and it kept me guessing the whole time.

I listened to the ALC of this and really enjoyed the narrator.

I will definitely be continuing this series which seems as though it’ll be some interconnected standalones!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a fun cozy fantasy. It was exactly what I was wanting. Saskia was the perfect FMC...heart of gold but outwardly needing to be an "evil queen".

This story is about romance and family at its heart, but not blood family. It's definitely about the family you choose. Saskia built herself a wonderful family after her uncle was a terrible person.

I loved seeing the relationship between Felix and Saskia grow throughout the book from an almost indifference on her end and fear on his end to love on both their parts.

The side characters were some of the best, especially the castle staff. I loved how much they cared for Saskia, almost as more of a daughter than their queen.

Narration was phenomenal. I felt like the voice actor did a great job bringing the characters and story to life.

Overall, this was a cute book that felt like a warm hug.

Spice level: 🌶️/4

Felix is an arch duke on the run from his wicked father-in-law and brother in law. Saskia is the witch queen of a neighboring land, with a reputation for being wicked. Felix decides running to Saskia is better than being caught by his uncle again, but due to a series of miscommunication leads to Saskia believing Felix is Fabian, a dark wizard here to take care of her library.

Mistaken identities, a disguise, and individuals not living up to their reputations (in a good way). This cozy, lower stakes, fantasy with some romance is so cute. It reminded me of an intersection between Assistant to the Villain and Legends and Lattes. There is political intrigue and an alliance with the other Queens of Villainy, setting up characters for more exploration of their stories in the future. Amanda Leigh Cobb does a great job with narrating, giving texture to the characters voices.

Thank you to Macmillian Audio for an
advanced listening copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This book is due to be published 2/18/25. I will post on Instagram closer to publication.

This was cute and fun, but there wasn't much else to it. Everything was a bit too simple, even the few challenges faced were solved too easily. I also wish there had been more one on one moments with the love interests. I need more chemistry, more yearning. My least favorite part of this though, was the narration. I'm a firm believer that there should be an entire cast for audiobooks. Listening to someone raise their voice an octave for the FMC, to immediately lowering it 3 more octaves for the MMC is extremely difficult to listen to.. This isn't any shade to this particular narrator either, she has a great speaking voice - it just takes me out of the story when only one person is speaking for all characters. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I am too jaded to fully and completely love this one but I liked it. I loved the narration. It is cute! The book is really cute.

This book was such a fun cozy romance. The world building wasn’t huge but enjoyable. This book actually had me laughing out loud. It was also a very quick read…..like a before I knew it the book was done in one sitting kinda book.

• newly crowned queen saskia hires fabian, a mysterious wizard who arrives at her castle, to help organize her magic library. turns out he's actually the imperial archduke in disguise with no magic training at all. when his identity is revealed, it's up to them both to prove if their love can save them.
• this is fun & silly & a quick read that had me laughing & rooting for the main characters.
• it’s camp in the best way, leaning into classic magic tropes, & the romance was one i could believe in.

Meh. I Found myself not drawn to pick this one up much. I think it has fantastic audio narration but overall i was left pretty neutral on the story itself.

A wicked sorceress who overtakes the throne from her evil uncle but would rather work in her laboratory and an archduke on the run, disguise himself as a wizard in order to seek refuge in her kingdom start to fall for each other and secrets begin to unravel... what can go wrong?

I truly enjoyed this Gaslamp- lit world! Such an interesting plot line and I LOVE the reverse role where the FMC is the one to say "who did this to you" and sets out for revenge. I love Saskia's character, a morally grey FMC who needs no man to protect her but is still sensitive and wants to be loved on her terms. Like a black cat. And "Fabian" is a literal German Shepard. He's soft and kind towards her but would absolutely rip your face off if you hurt her. He writes her poetry letters *swoooon*. Together they make the perfect team to run a kingdom. The spice is perfect, it definitely scratches the itch. Great balance between plot and spice.
Highly recommend the audio. Amanda Leigh Cobb did a fantastic job with the narration. You can tell the difference between each character, which to me is huge, especially in a fantasy book.
I'm excited to read book 2 when it comes out!

I was given the arc audio to review and I am so grateful for the opportunity!
Thank you Netgalley, Macmilan Audio and Stephanie Burgis for trusting me with the work.

I really enjoyed this story. It was like Dark Romantasy, but make it cozy. It doesn't start off cozy, and as child abuse is a major part of the backstories for both leads, and there is a scene of dubious consent later in the story, I think that there should be some content warnings addressed in the foreword. I'm not sure if I will read the next book in the series because it centres one of my least favourite characters from this book, but I will definitely be seated when the third Queen gets her story.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy.

Excellently narrated by Amanda Leigh Cobb, WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN is perfect for fans of historical romance, fantasy, and LONG LIVE EVIL. (It is "gaslamp fantasy"). This was both funny and romantic, with a basic magic system that is very easy to understand. Archduke Felix becomes "Fabian" in the wicked Queen Saskia's castle, posing as a dark wizard and her new librarian. The two grow on each other, secrets are kept, and there's political intrigue, but this is a fairly cozy read. This is also a start of a series, Queens of Villainy, and it will be fun to follow the rest of the queens!

The book starts out with a fast and hopeful pace with a lot of intriguing elements that seems to set up for a book that's both adventurous and cozy with a great narration. I mean who hasn't dreamed of owning a pet raven! Unfortunately it doesn't go much past the set up. The characters don't have much development after introduction which leads to a lack of chemistry and believability not only between the main romance but also between the friends and found family too. There is a fun element of gender bending of typical stereotypes and queer casting but overall the story lacks a lot in plot. There's nothing really pushing the story forward other than a poorly hidden identity. It was heavier on the romance than the fantasy which lead the fantasy to feel underdeveloped and lacking. This was especially true because there were more modern elements mixed in with the classic fantasy like mentions of railroads and fountain pens. These elements both seem forced and forgotten due to the under-development of the fantasy world and lack of full commitment to theme of modernizing technology. Despite the overall good voice and rhythm of the narration, A few time I got really thrown out of the book by the narration. For example classic fantasy words oddly pronounced like griffin. Not sure if it was a pronunciation choice or writing choices but I would recommend a change.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

This. Was. EVERYTHING.

After taking back the throne from her evil uncle, Queen Saskia is busy -- busy being the wicked sorceress, and busy experimenting in her laboratory and finding ways to keep her people safe. When a mysterious dark wizard (who, by the way, is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise) arrives at her castle, she hires him to reorganize her library of magic that's been neglected for way too many years. But "Fabian" is sweet, and as the two of them interact, they begin to fall for one another. The question is, will she still have those feelings when his identity is revealed?

This was so dang cute. I loved Felix and Saskia so much. The two of them had amazing chemistry. He totally falls for her first, which I loved, but seeing her walls crumble slowly was also worth the wait. This was cozy and sweet, I loved the rest of the cast of characters and I honestly cannot wait for book two to come out. If you're looking for a sweet and steamy romance, this is it. The evil sorceress and the archduke-disguised-as-a-dark-wizard-slash-librarian ended up being one of my favorite pairings. I think I'll reread soon enough since there was just so much here that I loved. I cannot recommend this enough.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for my ALC of this book!

Wooing The Witch Queen was a cute romance set in a fantasy world. I think it’s important to make the distinction because if you’re looking for a fantasy book, you’ll be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for a cutie lil romance with lots of yearning from the main characters? You’ll find it here! This was not an explicit book but the spicy scenes were hinted at. All in all I thought this was cute and fun, though it wasn’t anything particularly life altering. All the loose ends were tied up with a neat bow at the end and the narration was well done.

3.5⭐️

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!

The audio narration was exceptionallllllllll! There is quite a wide cast of secondary characters with unique personalities, and they were made so much more interesting by the narration. I'd highly recommend anyone interested read this as an audiobook.

Wooing the Witch Queen is a delightful fantasy book that turns a lot of tropes on their heads, while delivering a fairy tale feel and swoony romance that’s just what I wanted! I highly recommend!

In a mythical land, Felix is the imperial archduke but he’s been controlled and manipulated his whole life. The kingdom is run by his evil father in law who he could never hope to overthrow. He hears of an evil witch queen who has managed to resist the empire, so he flees to her territory to ask for sanctuary. But owing to a mix up when he arrives, he ends up being hired as her dark sorcerer/magical librarian, despite not having any magic.

Queen Saskia has recently overthrown her evil uncle and is just trying to hold on to power to protect her people. Both Felix and Saskia appear evil to outsiders but are truly sweet cinnamon roll heroes on the inside. I loved both of them and the way their romance develops is perfection.

The story feels a bit cozy at times, but the stakes stay high enough that I was invested and couldn’t put it down. I listened on audiobook – highly recommended – and finished it in a day!

This was a fun fantasy romance with found family and a case of mistaken identity. I enjoyed the characters and worldbuilding equally and found the main cast engaging and funny. The narrator does a great job with different voices, capturing the characters’ personalities. I will be continuing the series when the next one comes out! If you liked Dreadful by Rozakis but wanted some romance. I think you’ll like this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

💗Wooing the Witch by Stephanie Burgis
Narrated by Amanda Leigh Cobb
Thank you @netgalley for this ALC, this is my honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶️
💭My thoughts: I was expecting this book to be high spice but it was pretty minimal. That didn’t take anything away from the book itself, it was quite entertaining. This book contains the hidden identity trope of the mmc and a pretty fiesty powerful fmc. They were easy to like and their chemistry was electric! Being attracted to someone that wears a mask, learning to care for them for who they are, made their attraction to each other so perfectly written. This audiobook was so enjoyable, I definitely recommend!

Overall, this was just okay! I wanted to enjoy it more but I couldn’t get into it as much. I loved the concept of the MMC being hired to organize the FMC’s library!

I felt the writing could be better as it was kind of bland and mostly telling. There could have been a bit more depth; it felt very surface level and predictable.

The audiobook was well done and arranged! I enjoyed the performances. Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I am delighted to say this was one of the more original fantasy romances I've read in some time. It is always cool to read about a strong capable woman being willingly wooed by a slightly less powerful, but equally clever man of mystery. This is a relatively light and quick read. I would especially recommend this to individuals want low steam, but open door.

Thank you Stephanie Burgis, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my advanced review audio copy! Pub Date Feb 18 2025!

Plot - 4
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 3
Narration - 4
Personal Bias - 4
Final Score - 3.6