“Wooing the Witch Queen” by Stephanie Burgis
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Rating: 3/5 Stars.
A nice first book in a series about three Queens of Villany. This one concerns the first one, the Witch Queen, who wants to protect her kingdom from an invasion from a neighbouring kingdom. She needs time to brew up potions and use her magic for more protection, so she calls for a Dark Wizard to help organise her library. One person unexpectedly answers her call: the Archduke of the kingdom that wants to invade her land. But he’s actually going to her in hiding for protection, for he is a puppet under the thumb of his uncle and brother who plan the invasion in his name. And a series of unexpected coincidences and mis-understandings lands him to job.
Using a mask to hid his identity, he starts on the task and unexpectedly finds himself enjoying himself and the company of the Queen’s household, which includes a friendly crow and two ogres who are the Queen’s butler and household manager. As the story progresses, we learn that the Queen forced her uncle (who killed her parents) from the throne, and he is now plotting with the neighbouring kingdom (the Archduke’s) to get it back. The Queen, unaware of her librarian’s identify, thinks the Archduke is behind the planned invasion.
Romance, of course, starts to blossom between the Queen and the librarian which grows stronger as time passes, and they get to know each other. After overcoming one near-deadly crisis, they consummate their romance: secrets are revealed, and they both learn that they need each other (and the other Queens) if they are to prevent the imminent invasion, and for the Archduke to reclaim his own country.
In the end, the invasion is prevented. But another crisis may be on the way, for the Emperor of a kingdom has plans to enlarge his empire, and the invasion was a part of it. That crisis would be featured in the next book of the series, which would involve the Fae Queen.
Book read from 2026/09/29 to 2026/09/30.