This FAR exceeded my expectations!!!

I was expecting a cute, fun, silly little romance about wizards, and while it was that it was also so much more!!

This book is so deeply heartfelt and sincere and human in all the best ways!! Both Sebastian and Thio are such genuine well rounded characters and i loved watching them develop.

While the author shouts out Critcal Role (an amazing DnD ttrpg show) for me this book felt like it came right out of Dimension 20s Fantasy High, which is the ttrpg show that got me into DnD. If you’ve watched either of these shows you NEED to pick up this book.

All in all, I absolutely loved and I can’t wait to read Orok’s story!!

I love Sara Raasch's adult romances. Her characters leap off the page, and I love how she writes not only romantic relationships, but familial and platonic as well.

Like Kissmas, Rival Wizards uses a silly premise to deal with serious issues. Sebastian suffers from PTSD resulting from a camp Elethior’s family owns, and unbeknownst to Sebastian, Elethior has his own problems. Raasch does an excellent job of balancing depth and frivolity, and the result is a book that lingers with you long after you put it down. Also like Kissmas, this is the first book in a planned series, so if you love it, keep an eye out for book 2!

I absolutely loved how well written this was. It's sent me into an obsessive spiral, and the result is that the preorders for this book at my store are growing exponentially. Can't wait to put this in the hands of more readers.

This was such a cute read. I love the tropes, I love the flow of the prose, and I love the cover!! The cover is what really drew me in, and I was not at all disappointed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it really gave me D&D vibes and apparently that's something I've been really into recently. Add in that enemies to lovers element and I was sold! Sara Raasch is quickly becoming a favorite and I shall add this to the ever-growing list of books I've enjoyed from her.

Adored this! DnD meets ZA meets cosy romcom vibes, definitely for fans of fantasy romance who want a light hearted adventure, writing is easy to digest without being too simplistic, want to read more by this author!

This is my first eARC read, from NetGalley anyway, so special thanks to them and Tor Publishing. I will preface this review by saying that contemporary fantasy or urban fantasy is not usually my jam. Unless you are named Cassandra Clare. All that being said, I was more than pleasantly surprised by this book. It really felt like a cozy D&D campaign where the conflict is just the drama of having to interact with other player characters and you know, corporations being evil. And the characters, oh the characters. The overall story is simple enough, wizard rivals being forced to work alongside one another in a joint grant, leading to forced proximity, enemies to lovers, the works. I love a trope but really it’s the characters that make this such a good read. Sebastian and Orok have the most beautiful friend dynamic EVER. The platonic gentleness they have with one another is honestly goals. As for Elethior, he starts as a typical brooding dickhead but you quickly learn appearances and family relations can be deceiving. There are various other side characters but these three really knit the story together in a meaningful way. The tension between Sebastian and Elethior left a knot in my stomach in a good way. And I wont lie, I almost cried several times which is hard to do. I’ll end my rambling here with a bit more concise thoughts: This has everything you want in a cozy romance: Good drama, great humor, well-rounded characters, occasional heart-wrenching moments, and of course, swoooning. So yes, I cannot recommend this book enough and I have just now discovered, after finishing it, that it’s a series. Well, at least there’s more to look forward to from Sara Raasch.

Once again, Sara Raasch delivered a spectacular romantasy. After A Nightmare Before Christmas and Go Luck Yourself, she is quickly becoming one of my all time favourite authors and I am so excited for the next books in both series!

The magic system in The Entanglement of Rival Wizards was simple enough to navigate the narrative around but still super interesting. I mostly followed along with what was happening in the magic system and why. I adore Sebastions familiar and would love to see more!

The main characters have a super fun enemies to lovers thing going on, with a bit of fun spice in the mix. Everything is negotiated ahead of time and there were no questionable moments, which is a huge step above several other books that I’ve read recently.

All around this was a super fun read and I am looking forward to getting my hands on the hard copy when it’s released!

**This review is based on an e-ARC generously provided to me through Netgalley**

I ADORED this book. Between this and The Nightmare Before Kissmas, Sara Raasch just became an auto-buy author for me.

Sebastian and Orok were immediately lovable, the banter was top-notch, I love that there was an actual "enemies" period before attraction was acknowledged (so many books I've read lately dive straight into ogling), and the magic school setting was such fun. I want to go to a rawball game!

I also love that Thio contained multitudes, and was allowed to be both an awkward doofus and a hot pseudo-Dom. He and Sebastian were a chef-kiss pair.

Truly my only critique is that I felt the second half wasn't as strong as the first half, but I also recognize that's a typical pattern with romance novels, in the sense that once the couple gets together, the plot often stagnates for a while in favor of sex scenes. So I'm going to put that down as "not my personal preference" rather than "true criticism."

If I could give half-stars this would be a solid 4.5 for me, so I'm rounding up to 5. Great fun, loved it, and people who especially gravitate towards the sexy parts of sexy romance novels should love the second half just as much as the first!

What an absolute treat it was to read a book about academic rivals with not only actual stakes but a cohesive backstory that equates to more than “you looked at me funny at orientation so I decided I hate you”. Plus it’s hoootttttttttttt.

Thanks Tor Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. A very enjoyable story! Sebastian is about to start his last semester of grad school and is up for a prestigious grant that he needs to secure his job. He wants to help magic users everywhere. His only real competition is Elethior, whose family is everything that’s wrong with magic. They have their hands in weapons and destruction. Sebastian also has a complicated past with Elethior’s family. And it doesn’t help that Elethior is a pretentious jerk. When the worst happens and they are forced to work together they both feel they’ve been set up for disaster. But the more time they spend together the more the tension builds. And it releases sexually. But Sebastian can’t allow it to be anything more than physical. But the more they get to know each other the more he’ll have to fight what he’s feeling. Will they be able to fight their feelings? Can they work together? I really liked the magical world that Sara Raasch created! I also loved the relationship between Orok and Sebastian their friendship is so cute! A sweet, charming, and magical rivals to lovers rom com that was fast paced and unputdownable!

Oh hey, do you want to fall in love with romance again? Read this book. Are you into enemies to lovers? Read this book. Tired of straight plots? Love magic? Know a lot about sports but you kind of hate it? Read this book. I loved it so so much, and you will too.

This is perfect fog Ali Hazelwood fans! A wonderful mix of science and magic problem solving. A pretty easy going plot but so much character growth and healing.
All the characters have some form of trauma they need to work through and each has a different form of coping and healing that is explored so beautifully.
The rivalry went on just long enough without becoming too tedious or drawn out!
This is a very spicy book as well!!

Perfect if you love romance and want to try some with more fantasy elements, or if you just need a lighter story with some really cool magic and some sassy wizards (with lots of spice!)

I'm not sure I can quite put into words how much I LOVED THIS BOOK!! I am not a huge romance reader, in that I probably read a scattering each year and whilst I enjoy them, they never quite hit five stars.

But OH MY GOSH, this was perfect... I think it's the only romcom I have ever rated five stars, so if that isn't high praise I don't know what is.

What a delicious amalgamation of tender and touching, spicy, hilarious and meaningful. This story was just so wonderful and the chemistry Sebastian and Thio had was OFF THE SCALE!! I cannot wait to continue this series when future books come out.

(Video on my TikTok to follow)

Oh, I LOOOOVED this.

The perfect combination of romance, comedy, and fantastical elements wrapped into a steamy package all tied up with a ribbon of trauma. I feel like I’ve been consistently disappointed by romances recently, and this made me love the genre again.

Raasch created a modern fantasy world that was so fun, with characters that were well written and humor that actually made me laugh. The intimacy and friendship that this book served up on a platter of inner healing made it impossible to put down.

And I’m SO excited about this being a series! I could honestly read books from this world for the rest of my days.