Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

Pros:
-I love love love Sebastian and Orok's bromance. Their friendship made the book, and I'm excited Orok is getting his own book.

Mehs:
-Sebastian and Thio's enemies-to-fuck buddies-to-lovers is just meh.
-This is giving Drarry fanfic to me, but I guess it's Critical Role fanfic.

Cons:
-The way the author writes sex scenes (and there are A LOT) is not my thing. Plus, no thank you to anal (and there's a lot).

I don't think this is a bad book, but it just isn't for me. There are funny moments and an interesting magic system, but I don't enjoy Seb and Thio as a couple.

So, I went into this book, thinking that it was going to be much more lighthearted, and a little bit more of an enemies to lovers college romance. I didn’t expect to find such depth about trauma and family and processing the things that we don’t have any say over that happened to us. I loved the story between Seb and Theo, I felt that the middle was a little bit uneven until it found its feet and I really appreciated the organic growth that happened in both of them. Overall, this is definitely a title that I would hand sell, but probably not for folks who were looking for something lighter, but definitely for people who were looking for a romance that does the work

I love Sara Raasch’s writing and while I don’t play, I watch a lot of D&D content, so I was so excited for The Entanglement of Rival Wizards and it did not disappoint! Sebastian and Elethior have been rivals through college but when they both win a prestigious grant, they’re forced to put their differences aside and it turns out Elethior is nothing like Sebastian imagined. I loved this! There is angst, there is growth, there is steam, and there’s banter. Sebastian and Elethior go through so much and I just love how they work through their past together and work through their differences. This one was heavy on the steam, but also I loved the intimacy of these two. The magic portion was heavy, but it felt like a part of a D&D world. There was angst and friendship and so much love, it had my heart just so full at how these characters show up for each other. It was fun, it was emotional, and it just had all the things. Definitely recommend!

Thank you to Net Galley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it lived up to all the hype I put on it!

We’ve got Sebastian, a human wizard with a trunk load of past trauma from growing up in a military family. So he’s trying to get chosen for a grant for his final college project that will help him develop spells to protect wizards using dangerous spells.. Receiving the grant would change everything for him even if he does have a job lined up for after graduation. He doesn’t have money or the resources to develop his spells on his own. Unlike his rival, Elethior a half elven wizard and the youngest from a very rich and prominent family in the wizard community. Who also wants this grant. But why though? His family is made of money. He’s just another spoiled kid who’s trying to push his family even higher in the ranks. Of course Elethior isn’t who seems to be and Sebastian slowly realizes that when they are forced to work together after both being chosen to receive the grant for their final projects.

Ok first, love Sarah’s writing, it’s simple and her characters always feel real and so do their interactions with each other. I love her characters in general. Sebastian’s tendency toward immature pranks and being a constant smart ass sometimes had me cringing but I really did love him. Thio was broody and grumpy and the black sheep of his family. Loved him too. And loved Orok. He’s a big lovable himbo. (I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a book with him as the MC and I’m excited!) Sebastian and Orok’s bond is intense but when you learn what happened to them? It makes total sense. I was not expecting the level of horribleness that happened.

The tension between Thio and Sebastian was amazing. I always love rivals to lovers because they usually misunderstand something significant about one another, so a good portion of their dynamic is learning about each other. And then if you throw forced proximity? Good grief, that’s the good stuff. Sebastian spends a lot of time trying to convince himself he doesn’t actually like Thio at all. Even after they become physically intimate Sebatian tries so hard to sabotage and tell himself there’s nothing there besides physical attraction. Very much one of those times you are yelling at the characters in your head. There was a good amount of drama but also wasn’t so over the top that you were annoyed by the end.

There were more serious things going on with these characters than in her holiday romance novels. Check the trigger warnings before diving into this one. But these two sad boys get their happily ever after and thank lort because my heart broke for these two more than once while reading this book. If you're a Sarah Raasch fan you’re probably going to enjoy this one too. It’s one of my favorites of the year and I’m impatiently waiting for her next novel to drop!
Thank you to Net Galley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it lived up to all the hype I put on it!

We’ve got Sebastian, a human wizard with a trunk load of past trauma from growing up in a military family. So he’s trying to get chosen for a grant for his final college project that will help him develop spells to protect wizards using dangerous spells.. Receiving the grant would change everything for him even if he does have a job lined up for after graduation. He doesn’t have money or the resources to develop his spells on his own. Unlike his rival, Elethior a half elven wizard and the youngest from a very rich and prominent family in the wizard community. Who also wants this grant. But why though? His family is made of money. He’s just another spoiled kid who’s trying to push his family even higher in the ranks. Of course Elethior isn’t who seems to be and Sebastian slowly realizes that when they are forced to work together after both being chosen to receive the grant for their final projects.

Ok first, love Sarah’s writing, it’s simple and her characters always feel real and so do their interactions with each other. I love her characters in general. Sebastian’s tendency toward immature pranks and being a constant smart ass sometimes had me cringing but I really did love him. Thio was broody and grumpy and the black sheep of his family. Loved him too. And loved Orok. He’s a big lovable himbo. (I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a book with him as the MC and I’m excited!) Sebastian and Orok’s bond is intense but when you learn what happened to them? It makes total sense. I was not expecting the level of horribleness that happened.

The tension between Thio and Sebastian was amazing. I always love rivals to lovers because they usually misunderstand something significant about one another, so a good portion of their dynamic is learning about each other. And then if you throw forced proximity? Good grief, that’s the good stuff. Sebastian spends a lot of time trying to convince himself he doesn’t actually like Thio at all. Even after they become physically intimate Sebatian tries so hard to sabotage and tell himself there’s nothing there besides physical attraction. Very much one of those times you are yelling at the characters in your head. There was a good amount of drama but also wasn’t so over the top that you were annoyed by the end.

There were more serious things going on with these characters than in her holiday romance novels. Check the trigger warnings before diving into this one. But these two sad boys get their happily ever after and thank lort because my heart broke for these two more than once while reading this book. If you're a Sarah Raasch fan you’re probably going to enjoy this one too. It’s one of my favorites of the year and I’m impatiently waiting for her next novel to drop!

Overall

I have absolutely loved Sara Raasch’s Royals and Romance series, so when I saw they had a new enemies-to-lovers romantasy that was gloriously nerdy, I knew I had to read it, right off the bat. Before I even fully read the synopsis. The cover looks cheery and cute, and everything about it sounded like the sort of book I really needed in my life. But let’s be honest . . . even if it didn’t sound like my thing, I was absolutely going to give it a chance!

The Entanglement of Rival Wizards is an enemies-to-lovers romcom that brings the nerdy academia scientist into romance, with lots of snark and banter, healing from trauma, a lovable squad, and cinnamon roll men supporting each other.

The banter and snark was everything I hoped it would be and then some! I immediately fell in love with these characters, and I enjoyed the whole journey. While I wish the world was fleshed out more, I appreciated the glimpses of worldbuilding that we get. The romance is pretty straightforward and cuddly, and the friendships between the characters are heartwarming and refreshing.

I will be entirely honest: I only briefly skimmed over the sex scenes, because they’re really not my thing, so while there is some spice in this book, I won’t comment on how that’s done. I’ve been told by a colleague that the sex scenes can totally change their rating for a book, so just a warning that your mileage may vary in that regard.

My Thoughts

✿ Right out of the gate, Raasch is out here proving nerds can be sexy, too, with this queer, enemies-to-lovers, academia romcom where the whole point of the main plot is research. Magical research, but still, it’s research. Enemies-to-lovers is my favorite trope, because I am a huge fan of banter and snark, and boy does Raasch deliver on that. Sebastian—a.k.a. Seb—is counting on a research grant to fund his graduate research and land his coveted job at a nonprofit following graduation. What he’s not expecting is to be a co-finalist with his archnemesis, Elethior Tourael, who stands for everything he hates.

Magical STEM in fantasy books isn’t something I realized I wanted more of until I read this, but if you thought research couldn’t be sexy, think again! Forced proximity isn’t a trope I’ve ever particularly given much thought to, but there’s something so satisfying in forcing two brilliant brains to work together, despite their reservations. Especially when they get in a flow and start actually playing off each other’s ideas!

The romance comes on pretty quickly, but it does still feel earned all the same. It’s not lust at first sight, mostly because they absolutely hate each other and have a well-known rivalry. However, the one thing forced proximity has going for it is that the characters are very quickly forced to face an uncomfortable truth: they maybe have more in common than they originally assumed. Which is, of course, a very dangerous thought when you’re trying to hate someone else’s guts (and all the other bits of them, too).

✿ One of my favorite things about this book is the sweet, emotional relationship between Seb and his best friend, Orok. While it may have been forced in trauma (and slightly codependent), it’s so refreshing seeing two men being vulnerable and emotional while supporting each other! These boys are absolutely the definition of cinnamon rolls. They’ve been together through thick and thin for many years, but they’ve slowly been working on helping each other heal. The trauma the boys are running from is revealed little by little in the story, so I don’t want to delve too deep into that. Needless to say, they’ve seen some things, and learning how to move on from them is anything but easy.

Both boys still suffer from PTSD, with occasional self-destructive tendencies and panic attacks, but they’re always there to pull the other through it. Is their co-dependence probably unhealthy? Sure, and that’s something they’ll eventually have to work through, as well. But it’s so refreshing seeing men in fiction being emotionally vulnerable and supportive with each other! We should all be so lucky to find a friendship like Seb and Orok have (though, hopefully, we don’t have to suffer through the same things to make it so!).

✿ While the general tone of this book is light and humorous, these characters are all coming of age, under a ridiculous amount of pressure, and are still developing into the people they ultimately hope to become. I enjoyed the fact that this book is actually set during graduate school, so the characters are a little bit older, but they still haven’t quite figured out who they want to be. There are a lot of the normal college antics happening: sports, parties, dances, stress over classes, anxiety over graduating. But these characters are under even more pressure.

Seb is on the outs with his parents, due to some trauma in the past. While he still interacts with his mother—albeit mostly unwillingly on his part, and as little as possible—he hasn’t had a real relationship with his father in years. Which is fine, because that’s how he prefers it.

Orok has an extremely religious mother, who is pressuring him to follow in things the family deems “acceptable”. Namely, anything involving exhibiting strength or honoring their religion. It would be blasphemy to consider doing anything else.

I enjoyed getting to see the characters come to grips with who they wanted to become and mature, even as things weren’t going the way they imagined it would. Growing up is hard, especially when your childhood wasn’t a great one to start with. This book is filled with traumatized characters who all deserve the happily ever after they’re so desperately trying to eke out for themselves.

✿ Though Seb is delightfully snarky, that’s really more of a defense mechanism to cover all the trauma and PTSD that he’s still trying to work through over the course of this book. There’s a lot of mental health rep in this book, as Seb battles with panic attacks and PTSD and healing from a childhood worth of trauma. And he’s not the only one. There are some pretty heavy moments in this book as the characters get to know each other and start working towards unpacking some of the baggage they’ve been carrying. Everyone’s baggage is different. The things these characters are working through is messy, and the healing is obviously going to be anything but pretty. But I did enjoy seeing them try. Sure, mistakes are made, but that’s true of all of us. They felt relatable, just out here doing their best.

✿ The little glimpses that we get of the wider fantasy world is fascinating, and I’d love to be able to explore it more! As I’ve said, I really wanted it to be more fleshed out. Obviously, this is a fantasy world with magic. Things are kind of name dropped like the reader should know and understand them. While it’s easy to keep up with and understand from context clues, I wanted more, because it was utterly fascinating! This includes the academic world of the college, too, where there are normal rivalries and competitions between the departments. Some chapters have little snippets of the campus alert system, which is hilarious and obviously dangerous. I would absolutely love to visit this world, even though I’m convinced the trip would be fatal. Still . . . worth it!

5.5/5 ⭐
3/5 🌶️

The Entanglement of Rival Wizards is the perfect urban fantasy if you want equal parts plot and spice. Because boy is it spicy. The main characters have undeniable tension and chemistry right from the first chapter. It translates into really hot spicy scenes when they do give into temptation. Both main characters have unfair negative opinions of each other based off of the limited information they know about one another at the beginning of the book. When they are forced to work together on a school project, those misconceptions clear up very quickly and both are left in awe of each other. Their working relationship soon turns into a romantic one. Their love story is equal parts heartbreaking & heartwarming. It's not ever easy or simple and that gives it a high tension level throughout the whole story that has you holding your breath while begging for them to end up together. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves MM romance &/or urban fantasy because it's a wonderful representation of both. I cannot wait for the audiobook to come out because I will be rereading and listening to it immediately.

Features:

- Enemies to Lovers
- Academic Rivals
- Urban Fantasy
- Dark Academia
- Forced Proximity
- Magic
- Life is a D&D campaign
- Trauma Bonded Best Friends
- Serious Childhood/Teenage/Young Adult Trauma/Abuse
- Big Bad Billionaire Family
- Hurt/Comfort
- Opposites Attract
- Estranged Family
- Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
- Beloved Parent in a Care Facility
- The Spice is Extra Spicy (magic occasionally used)
- Wizard & Half-Elf Couple
-.Super Cool Familiars
- Found Family & Reconciliation

Seb and Thio were so freaking cute! I cannot wait for Orok’s story to come next. I think this book dealt with a trauma bond and codependency so well without it being the main plot line of the book. Rivals to lovers progressed very quickly, but I wasn’t mad about it. I am literally in love with Thio and his looks like he could kill you, but is really a cinnamon roll vibe.

Just finished my ARC of The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch—slow in spots, but overall a magical, well-plotted rivals-to-lovers story with deep, lovable characters. Highly recommend for anyone who likes their romance with a dash of spellcasting!

I think my expectations played a lot in the rating of this book. After how much I loved the Royals and Romance books this one was supposed to be the cherry on top.

We have two guys that hate each other forced to work together on a research project. You have magic, research, and tension. What else can I ask for? This is the plot for the perfect enemies-to-lovers but it felt a bit flat for me.

Raasch has a very distinct style, or formula, that she uses. Introduce characters, show us the issue, two big events, conflicts and resolution. And this book had that familiarity. Which was what made me kept on reading. She has a way of taking the reader by the hands and have us following the character as if we were right there with them. And that’s great. But there were times where the characters felt like they lacked depth. Yes they’re golden retriever and black cat but that’s more than just an aesthetic. It’s a feeling, and I wasn’t catching it. And the smut in her other books was SO good. It felt natural and it flowed. This one felt forced, like because it’s an adult book she had to write smut and it was… a bit disturbing. There’s a specific scene I wish I could delete from my mind but lo and behold it’s part of my memory now.

I do believe there’s people out there that will enjoy this book. Maybe my expectations were too high but I’m grateful to have gotten the opportunity to read the ARC by NetGalley.

I really liked the world building in this story, with the university setting and the class divisions being central to the plot. I did not love the main characters, so I found it hard to care enough about their rivalry turned romance. I would recommend this to readers of LGBTQIA+ plus romance but I personally enjoyed the author's two previous books more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you @macmillan.audio @brambleromance #macaudio2025 #partner for the gifted copies of this book!

I’ve read (and loved!) Sara Raasch’s other books, so I was ecstatic to get my hands on Entanglement of Rival Wizards! Once again, Sara delivers a fun, lighthearted story in a whimsical world with characters you can’t help but root for. She’s a master at creating settings that feel alive and characters that feel super addictive! I just love her books!

I will say, this setting wasn’t quite as memorable for me as her other holiday books but that’s probably because my obsession with those was borderline unhealthy. 😂

Now… let’s talk spice. Whewie. This one brings the heat. Like ghost pepper heat (for me). HAHA. If you enjoy detailed bedroom scenes then this one is for you. If you love rivals-to-lovers and opposites-attract with banter of epic proportions, you are in for a treat.

What I really loved most was the mix of humor, healing, sweet found family moments, and genuine character growth. Watching these two work through past trauma to find their way forward made the romance all the more satisfying.

Sara Raasch has officially cemented her spot on my “must-read” list, and I’m already counting down to whatever she writes next!

this book was so stinking cute. i love that the books that this author writes uses humor to tackle serious issues in the best way. she writes relatable characters and they are so fun to connect with. i really enjoyed this one!

Omg this is an amazing story!! I loved it from beginning to end. This was darker than the previous Sara Raasch books I’ve read (Royals and Romance duo). There were parts that broke my heart. Luckily there is enough sweet moments to balance it out. I definitely want to read this again in the future. I can’t wait for the sequel!

As always with Raasch’s writing, I came for the outrageously cheesy premise, and I stayed for the characters. I was hooked before I knew it.

A delightful STEM Romatacy that had me laughing the whole time.

Sara Raasch did an amazing job of creating an academic world that is rooted in a fantasy land. Sebastian and Elethior are academic rivals who just got awarded the same grant, which means they have their last term in close proximity to one another. They had such a delightful enemies-to-lovers dynamic that built up through the novel, and the twists and turns had me finishing this book in a day. With the strong secondary characters, readers are sure to love this silly and delightful academic romance set in a DnD world.

<b>A fun, romantic 4.5⭐ rounded up</b>

This was a great read! Very funny, hit the right emotional notes, and everything that needed resolving got resolved—and resolved well.

Real talk? I do slash the MC and his best friend. But what are you gonna do? They’re just not into each other like that. *sigh* (At one point a character said that two men can’t be physically affectionate without people assuming they’re a couple, which I appreciate as a concept… but what can I say, friendship is sweet?)

So what did I enjoy about the canon couple? (Because obviously yes, I did enjoy them!) While the romance was developed at a good pace, with room for the romance to breathe, and they had good banter (a genre staple), the thing that really sealed it for me was that once they were on the same side, they were never really NOT on the same side. That is an absolute rarity and something I appreciate.

At one point it did get a little sex-heavy—which could be either a mild critique or a glowing recommendation, depending on how spicy you like it! 🔥

The magic system is more 'just vibes' than strict rules, but for this kind of book, it works. The level of detail hits right, especially since they are two college students studying magic and a big part of it is their projects.

The only reason this one isn't a full five stars is the pacing was a bit weird at times. Nothing major, but just enough to notice.

<b>🎧 AUDIO-SPECIFIC</b> — Really good. I appreciate that narrator Sam Stark sounded age appropriate, —something that’s surprisingly easy to mess up. It was an engaging and natural performance.

<b>TL;DR</b> — A charming magic college romance for readers who like when their boys like boys!

I read this in one sitting. I love the world, I love the characters, I love the family drama and trauma bonding that made them so real. I also love seeing STEM in fantasy.

The Entanglement of Rival Wizards was such a fun story to read. I have read other Sara Raasch books on recommendation and knew that this would be an interesting ride. I was not disappointed in the slightest. Sebastian is a character with a deep hatred of the Tourael family due to their current hand in magical military as well as an experience that Sebastian experienced when he was younger. The anger he feels is hard to ignore as he is forced to work with Elethior Tourael on a grant project. Their coming together is a tidal wave of emotions and both have difficulties trusting one another, but the more time they spend in each others company, the more they are drawn to each other. Turns out neither is what the other expected and their relationship flourishes in awkward misunderstandings and soft comforting moments. I loved these two and found the enemies to lovers a lot of fun. I also really thought it was interesting to learn exactly what each of them was going through and how they learned to cope with the pain caused by both of their families. I also loved how Raasch depicts platonic relationships as well. Orok was such an amazing character and I loved how he and Seb grew throughout the story together as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Thank you Tor and NetGalley for the review copy of this book.

Sara Raasch is the queen of writing cozy queer fantastic rom-coms and this book just cemented that fact. Dare I say I enjoyed this even more than her Holidays series?

I don't even know where to begin with this review, I loved this book. I felt so warm and fuzzy while reading the development of this relationship between these 2 emotionally traumatized men. The banter between them is fantastic, and the fact they both actually (for the most part anyways) COMMUNICATE with each other?? drooling.

Speaking of relationship, this may be Sara's steamiest book yet. WOOOOH BOY I was fanning myself at some parts. Kicking my feet, giggling, and making high pitched squeal noises similar to those of a screaming cat.
The dynamic between the two of these men is one that goes deep, physical and emotional. They both come from damaged backgrounds, with familial problems that hold both of them back from relationships. The way that they come together despite their differences and the trauma they both carry was so beautifully well done, and I could tell Sara put a lot of thought and care into the handling of mental health in this book, as she did in her previous rom-com series as well.

The side characters were great as well. Orok was such a fun character and provided some great comedic relief while we also see the ramifications of the trauma that he went through in his past as well. I cannot wait to read his book next!

First off, I want to thank Netgalley for giving me access to an early copy of this amazing book! Raasch always delights me with her storytelling and characters that feel as real as you and me!

Sebastian and Elthior are rivals forced to work together to solve similar problems for their graduate work involving magic consumption theory, and neither of them is happy about it. While Sebastian copes with his past trauma and anxiety from things that Elthior's family did to him, we get to see him develop a relationship with a man he once thought wanted to destroy him.

Elthior just wants to escape from his family and prove them all wrong about what they've said about him and his family. And during this time, he falls for his sassy lab partner while they juggle magical science and an FWB relationship. But let's be honest, they are both head over heels from the beginning!

These two are unique characters with real problems that made me fall in love with them while they fell in love with each other! I cannot wait for the next book!