3.5-3.75 ⭐️s

This is the perfect book if you’re looking for a fun, quick read (and you also love werewolves). <33

This story is such a cute paranormal rom-com, and the ending makes me excited for the book 2.

I would recommend for readers that just want to turn their brain off and have a good time. (Fans of Zodiac Academy or Fake Mate comes to mind)

For readers seeking literary admiration or profound messages/characters, I’d point elsewhere.

What I loved:
1. The Humor
This book made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions. The author writes with such wit, and I love it.

2. The Lore
I love the supernatural elements in this book. All things werewolf, vampire, witch, etc is an automatic YES for me.

3. The slow burn, enemies-to-lovers trope done well
I loved how these two MCs felt like true enemies. It makes them becoming lovers pay off in the best way. The slow-burn was the perfect pace.

What didn’t work for me:
1. The barbaric sexual violence
This book was very explicit at times and it was disturbing for me, personally, to read. I don’t like “spice” like this at all.

I received in ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you NetGalley for providing the digital eARC for an honest review.

The story had me hooked from the beginning and I found the similarities to Wizard of Oz very fun. I enjoyed seeing the main FMC finding herself over the course of the story. However, there were points where I struggled getting through. I had a hard time connecting with the MMC and trying to understand the choices he made. Around 80% of the way through I was fully into the story. I liked the plot twists and it had a really good cliffhanger. I do look forward to reading the next book as I would love to see where the adventure takes Winter next.

I'm a little torn because there are parts that I enjoyed, and parts I didn't,
I love the theme, the whole fantasy - time travelling world, the feud against evil queen and all the twist. I also quite taken with the romance, there was clearly something between Winter and Westley, and I want to know how things would work out for them in future books. However, I think some of the "spicy" elements were misplaced and messing the story / world building.
Overall, enjoyable read.

This dark retelling of The Wizard of Oz was an extremely fun and easy read. Winter - who is a feisty witch who wears blood as a lip tint - gets accidentally sent back 700 years into the past. Here, she ends up meeting Westley, a big mean alpha wolf shifter (see: “werehole”) who is determined to delete her off the earth after their first meeting. They reluctantly end up working together as Winter tries to escape back home to the future, but I can’t go further into the plot without spoiling it so you’re just going to have to trust me on this, you won’t see the twists coming and you’ll be waiting at the edge of your seat for book 2 (like I will be now).

You’ll love this if you’re a fan of:
-dual pov
-books with witches, vampires, and wolf shifters (omegaverse also)
-enemies to reluctant allies (not lovers YET)
-an actual slow burn
-retellings of classic stories/Wizard of Oz

I found it diplodocus to truly invest in this book until about 80% of the way through. I enjoyed the premise of Wizard of Oz and the many fun various movies references as the chapter headers because those aspects were ultimately what kept me reading.

I couldn't relate to the characters very well as I didn't feel that there was much depth to them. Winter is supposed to be a determined, self sufficient and focused women, but for me she just read as whiny and bratty most of the time. Wes is too stubborn to move effectively throughout his life as a also seems very dense.

I appreciated the last 15-20% of the book because that's when the plot picked up and I enjoyed the great cliffhanger.

I will love this book forever and ever ♾️

When the blurb says The Magicless Mage is a DARK and TWISTED Wizard of Oz retelling, believe it. And after you’ve read the gratuitous trigger warnings have a seat because you’re going on the ride of a lifetime! Completely unhinged in the absolute best way (DIY spin art anyone? 👀), leaving me feeling like I walked through a fever dream, I genuinely had the best time reading this book. While this is a true slow-burn with our MCs there is plenty of 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ cooking throughout the story. Speaking of our MCs……

Winter Leroux: she’s a witch working at a magical library guarding ancient books from thieving vampires. While working a night shift a series of events happens that unlocks a sentient spell landing her 700 years in the past! She’s a bombshell who has a very *specific* favorite color. She’s strong and has the wittiest remarks that I ate up every. single. time. they came across the page. Her banter with Westley was such a treat. Winter really goes through it in this book and we get a lot of heavy scenes and life-altering realizations.

Westley Sterling: he’s an alpha werewolf with a pack to protect. He has a hard exterior and believes he doesn’t the capacity to love. He’s vicious when an unknown witch stumbles into his woods and doesn’t shy away from his plan to un-alive her. We get to see him at war with himself for his growing attraction to the mysterious witch he can’t shake. Westley has gone through is own trauma inducing events and his character growth is phenomenally done.

B. L. Lewis didn’t miss on cooking up her plot. The descriptive writing had me feeling like I was in a snow globe with the characters. With the perfect pacing and enriching side characters I cannot wait for this to be released and read the rest of the series!! I mentioned Westley’s character growth, but Winter had satisfying growth as well that led me to tears a few times. If you love pop culture references you are going to love finding the myriad of them mentioned in The Magicless Mage. Time travel is a favored trope of mine, seeing Winter struggle with what she can and cannot say to those she meets in 1917 was as hilarious as it was intriguing.

I 100% think you should preorder/add this to the tbr if you love paranormal lore, cat & mouse MC’s, time travel, slow-burn, YEARNING, well-paced stories with the perfect balance of “wtf did I just read” unhinged scenes and plot.


**Thank you NetGalley, author B.L. Lewis and publisher for the eARC of The Magicless Mage in exchange for my honest review. all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.**

This is a time travelling romantasy with shifters and mages and is a fast paced, fun and completely unique read. I went into it blind, knowing nothing except what the author had told me - that it was unhinged and that the 'what the f*ck' moments were completely intentional. Between that and the characters art I've seen, I was sold 😂

This started out as a refreshing take on witches, wizards and werewolves and I liked how the magic, spells and lore were worked into the story. Evolutionary and climate changes to the planet were seamlessly uncovered throughout, due to the time travelling element, and I loved the lessons on how wolf anatomy differed to that of mages or humans.

Winter is a mage born without magic, due to cross species breeding and poor environmental conditions. She's sassy AF and the perfect match for Westley, a broody, grumpy werewolf. Their relationship kicks off with some pretty harsh miscommunication but slowly develops via forced proximity (a favourite trope 😏) and the banter between them was excellent.

Expect the plot to jump around a fair bit and to have elements where you really are left wondering what on earth just happened. I felt as though everything got more and more chaotic the further into the book I got, and yes, it was completely unhinged, but I also wanted to keep reading at the same time just to see what was going to happen 😂

Some of the plot twists were completely unexpected and the way the past linked with the future was executed really well. I would have liked to see just a little more character development and I found some of the darker themes lacked the emotional depth they needed to really hit hard.

Check your content warnings for this one, your mental health matters and there are some scenes of non-consent that may be a bit much for some readers.

The story has such a good heart - If you enjoy a fast paced, completely chaotic read with a grumpy MMC who falls first (and kneels 😏), plenty of plot twists and shock value, and a sprinkling of unhinged spice, give this one a go!

UM, WHAT?! I ATE this book up. From the first chapter, I was completely invested. It was fast paced, wildly entertaining, and most of all, refreshingly unique.

The way time travel is woven in with the dynamics between the immortals and what was going on with magic felt so original and unexpected, it all just worked. I found myself flying through the chapters. (it was 4:35am when I wrote this review if that says anything, I literally could not put this book down )

Even the chapter titles deserve a shoutout, they were cheeky, quirky, and unlike anything l've seen before. Each one felt like a statement while giving you just the right taste of dramatic flair.

This was a true enemies to reluctant allies, to budding lovers done right! Winter? | ADORE her. She's fierce, sassy, smart, and totally her own person. The MMC is perfectly matched for her, and the banter between the two definitely kept me fed! But let's talk about the plot twists. Layer after layer, twist after twist, my jaw was on the floor. I had a few theories, sure but even then, I was still caught off guard.

& THE LIBRARY SCENE?! WITH ______ ?! PAIN.

This book is brilliant, and just the right amount of diabolical. I genuinely cannot wait for book two!

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This book started out a little rough for me. The writing style is a bit jarring, and took a little bit of time to adjust to. That said, the overarching plot drew me in and made me get over my initial complaints over the writing. I will be honest, I considered DNF'ing this book on multiple occasions, but I persevered and ended up enjoying the book more than initially expected.

The magic system was interesting, the characters complex, and the worldbuilding enough to set the stage, but left me desiring more. The more, assumedly, to be in the next book, and the mentioned prequel.

I enjoyed Winter's self-discovery journey amidst the reluctant allies-by-forced-proximity situation with Westley. The dynamics between the different types of immortals were done fairly well, too.

While I feel there was a bit of a rocky start, the story was solid overall.

This was great! The plot was fantastic! The cliffhanger will definitely set up the next book nicely. I will say the pacing was a bit wonky at first, and I felt like it was dragging. Once we got past 50%, though, that plot took over, and BAM!!! The characters were meh. I wasn't really a fan of either of them, to be honest.

If you enjoy a plot driven book, fantasy, banter, yearning, and hints of spice....this is the book for you.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley for an honest review.

Thank you for the ARC!

When I requested this, I didn’t realize it had as many trigger warnings as it did! It ended up being a bit much in some areas but was still good. 3.5 stars.

Winter accidentally ends up time traveling back 700 years and finds herself in a much older version of her world. She discovers a lot about herself, and the past from a first hand perspective. She meets Wesley and they truly hate each other. Winter goes through many traumatic moments in this book; I hope she can navigate through them more in book 2 because it was about to unpack!

I always enjoy when an author has really well developed side characters, and that was definitely the case with this book. Felix and Mel I thought were great!

A lot more will need to be unpacked in book 2 and I’m intrigued, depending on what the themes are.

Despite everything going on somehow the FMC finds a way to make things unserious and I love her for it. So much of the stress I could have felt was subsided by this which was a nice break! There was a nice and easy pace for most of the book up until the end where it felt like a lot happened at once. Personally I dont mind this with it being the first book in the series. I am super excited to see where book 2 will take us. I was honestly so upset when I realized I was on the last page as I wasn't ready to let go yet. A super fun read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley & the author for providing me with this eARC!

Slight spoilers are included.

What a story. I had been on the hunt for a Wizard of Oz retelling right as this came on my radar and boy did it deliver! This book had me hooked and I devoured it from beginning to end. I loved both the intricate world and the twists throughout this story. Nothing gets me riled up more than a good time traveling tale with a twist ending that will shock you, rip your heart out, and leave you wanting more.

I do have a few constructive criticisms I wanted to give that I took note of during my reading journey.

The beginning felt very rushed. While I know there was world building to be done and establishing the setting for the plot, it felt like A LOT happened in the first few chapters. Our FMC goes directly from time traveling, to being sexually assaulted, to then being immediately physical assaulted by more than one person in such a short span of time that it almost felt unnecessary. We (and the FMC) weren’t even really given time to process any of it either. It jumped from one thing to the next so quickly that it was easy to lose sight of those moments. Her being assaulted outside the bar by the mortal didn’t feel like it truly served a purpose in the story other than to add a dark edge to things. The book still carries itself rather well in the genre and that particular scene felt like too much. It’s only really mentioned once or twice more in the book in passing and that’s it. I genuinely thought there was a plot point that was going to bring that back around in more detail and was confused when it never happened. The shock value of it didn’t really add to the story.

The interactions and writing in the very beginning felt a tad juvenile. Given the rather long list of trigger warnings in the beginning of the book I was expecting both the main characters to act a little more adult, but they both felt like angry kids throwing insults at one another and pouting about it. This gets better towards the end of the book and the conversations begin to feel more genuine and mature, but it was a big note for me when starting the book.

Other than those two things, I really enjoyed this book. Even with lack of knowledge about the omega verse, the author did a brilliant job of making the world easy to understand and fun to learn about. I felt myself getting lost in the actual story without any confusion about the magic system or the lore behind species and I LOVE that in fantasy books.

Major kudos to B.L. Lewis! I cannot wait to see what else they come up with.

The Magicless Mage has a cool mix of time travel, witches, werewolves, and vampires. The premise drew me in, and there were some fun twists. But the pacing felt off, and the romance and character depth didn’t fully click for me. Still, a decent read for fans of paranormal fantasy.

This was my first Wizard of Oz inspired book and it was so unique!! And absolutely wild and unhinged at times 🤣 I could not put it down.
B.L.'s writing style and world building was *chef’s kiss*, making The Magicless Mage play out like a movie in my head. The chapter titles were also such a cute detail.

OH! And it’s an actual enemies to lovers. And I mean Winter and Westley LOOOATHE each other at first, which produced the best snarky banter. 😏

“𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙣𝙖𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙖𝙬 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛.”

The ending had me SHOOK & I can’t wait for the next book!!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭:
🤍 Witch x wolf shifter
🪄 Enemies to lovers
🤍 Cat & mouse
🪄 Magical library
🤍 Time travel
🪄 Slow burn
🤍 Omegaverse themes

Thank you, B.L. Lewis and Netgalley, for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

What a fun read, and the pages just flow. You can't put it down. Wizard of Oz adult retelling. I just loved Westley and Winters story because of the banter with the slow burn, enemies to lovers in the works! The evil queen was definitely different, to say the least! Twist and turns, you will not believe and a cliffhanger at the end this was such a magical read the author did a fantastic job I was truly immersed in this world! What's not to love if you enjoy witches, werewolves, vampires, wizards, a magical library, and time travel it has it all! It's a magical place of shifting, and time hopping is definitely a must-read. Don't miss out!

- Actual enemies to lovers with so much hate
- Slow burn (like this is book 1 and they don't even kiss)
- Wolf Shifter x Snarky Witch
- Magic Library
- Time Travel from a future where snow doesn't exist
- Unhinged MCs
- Wound tending
- Fast-paced
- Wizard of Oz inspired
- Floofy familiars

The Magicless Mage is dripping in darkness and is certainly NOT a book for every fantasy reader out there, so err on the side of caution and make sure you read the TWs. Now, there's a bit of miscommunication between the main characters — as it often does with true enemies to lovers' plots, and generally I don't fluff around with miscommunication however it is so realistically penned that I was screeching. The fast pace and the writing style is brilliance, and the uniqueness of this book is such that it deserves a spot in bestselling paranormal/romantasy lists.

If you don't hate the main characters, you aren't reading into it right. Winter and West are flawed, unhinged, and unlikable; however, B. L. Lewis's genius is that she makes them develop slowly, subtly, carving their characters by etching the right brushstroke at the right time. She is a master at plotting, you couldn't spot that plot twist in a cat's nine lives. It is the way she ties the current sociopolitical environment into the book, the way she weaves climate change and propaganda and female rage and adds a layer of slight nods to her debut -- if you are looking for a dark, gritty, salacious fantasy with vampires, werewolves, witches, time travel and libraries that isn't at all as cosy as it might sound: The Magicless Mage.

Thank you so much to the author for letting me read an early copy of your fantastic book!

I devoured this book. I really enjoyed the true enemies to lovers dynamic that was so raw and intense, along with the high tension between our two MCs and their individual growth as flawed characters. Despite starting out as natural and somewhat deserved enemies, they find they have so much in common, and I love how their relationship develops and challenges their own views on the world and themselves. The slow burn is delicious... and just beginning to simmer!

The plot compelled me since the very first chapter and didn't let go, not even at the end! I didn't know where the story was going and was very surprised by one character's plot twist reveal. I also LOVED our side characters, especially when we got a bit of a peek into Mel's POV too.

Can't wait to see what happens in the next book!!!

What a book!

Winter's journey was filled with adventure, action, pain, love, loss, and such fire that I couldn't put it down! I loved the dynamic between Westley and Winter and the concept of the wind talking to them was genius! I loved to hate The Witch Queen and the squeal I let out when I learned a certain secret!! I laughed, I cried, I hurt, but I still loved this book! I can't wait for book 2!

The Magicless Mage✨️

This story took me by surprise and kept me hooked through out. It's fast paced and truly magical.

Winter belongs in the year 2617 but when she accidentally travels back 700 years the story well and truly takes off.

I really loved Winters character. She is feisty, has a lot of sass and her journey of learning more about herself is perfection.
Westley is a broody alpha, fierce and his emotional growth is just amazing. Their dynamic was electric, starting off with hatred but slowly started to sizzle into wanting to know more about eachother. They taunt eachother to no end whilst also helping eachother in search for the answers they need.
A dark and twisted retelling of The Wizard of Oz, it truly is a unique plot and a journey everyone should go on.

✨️Magic
🧙🏻‍♀️Witches
🐺Werewolves
📚Magical library
🕰Time Travel
❤️‍🔥Slow burn
🔥Spice

Releasing 3rd October 2025 you can preorder it now!