It’s always a happy day when Stephanie Burgis comes out with a new book, and this, her first traditionally-published book for adults in many years, is especially exciting. If you’re in the mood for a cozy fantasy romance with crows, fountain pens, griffins, and a magic library, this might just be the book for you. Disclaimer: I sponsor Stephanie Burgis on Patreon.

Wooing the Witch Queen
by Stephanie Burgis

Bramble, 2025

ISBN 9781250359599

Read from a purchased copy. 

Felix, aged 23,  may be the Archduke of Eastarion (easternmost principality of the Serafin Empire), but since he was orphaned as a child, he’s never been allowed near anything resembling government or training to rule.  His only ally in court was his wife, Emmeline, and since her untimely death it’s become increasingly clear that Felix’s father-in-law, his former regent, has every intention of disposing of Felix.  A sudden desire to live, and live outside of his father-in-law’s control, gives Felix the idea of seeking sanctuary with the wicked witch queen who rules Kitvaria, the next kingdom over.

The queen, Saskia, a few years older, is doing the very best she can to keep her kingdom together since her uncle murdered her parents and tried to usurp the throne. That’s part of why she lives in a remote mountain castle surrounded by glowing skulls, and has just formed an alliance with the queens of two other nearby kingdoms to keep their realms safe from the Empire and has no idea that Archduke Felix isn’t behind the brewing attack on Kitvaria. Saskia also spends a large amount of time working on magical defenses – she might not have a large army, but she is a powerful witch. Even though her First Minister and former lover is doing her level best to convince Saskia to become a more conventional and social monarch, Saskia has neither the patience nor the inclination to do such a thing.

When Felix arrives, he learns of Saskia’s hatred for the Archduke before he meets her, and therefore goes along with her assumption that he’s the dark wizard Sinistro that she had asked to come to catalog the extensive but extremely disorganized castle library. Felix does actually have a lot of experience with books, even if he’s not magical, and takes his new assignment very seriously. Still, despite serious past trauma and inexperience with friendship on both sides, Felix and Saskia find themselves quickly and naturally drawn together. But even as their relationship blossoms, the threat of invasion looms ever closer, and we know that Felix’s secret is going to come out eventually.

I’ve been reading Stephanie Burgis for a long time now, and so will note that this is the spiciest romance I’ve ever read of hers – still not super explicit, but we’re definitely in the bedroom instead of closing the door or fading to black. It’s no longer written middle grade crossover readers in mind, but a decided treat for adult readers.

One of the things that other people fear about Saskia is that she horrifyingly treats non-human intelligent creatures as full citizens, including, as Felix discovers, having her castle run by an ogre major domo, Morlokk, and a troll housekeeper, Mrs. Haglitz, and kept up by a number of goblin footmen. Indeed, Felix gets a stern talking-to from Mrs. Haglitz when he disrespects their hospitality by spending all his time working in the library and not eating or sleeping properly. It’s clear that Saskia has built her own family after the collapse of her birth family, something that Felix has never had. I also appreciated that the two of them have very different attitudes towards religion- Saskia is somewhere between agnostic and an atheist, and while Felix doesn’t discuss his beliefs, he frequently offers small prayers to the goddess of his land. The crows that accompany Saskia are delightful, especially the small one that befriends Felix. I really enjoyed meeting the other two Queens of Villainy, who will of course star in the following books. And especially, I so loved watching Saskia and Felix find certainty through becoming more fully who they are instead of who they’ve been told to be. In a time when so many of us are feeling helpless, a message of finding the strength and purpose to be yourself and use that to work towards positive change in the world with those you care about is one we all need.

More books by Stephanie Burgis:

• Kat, Incorrigible
• Renegade Magic
• Stolen Magic
• Courting Magic
• Snowspelled
• Thornbound
• Moontangled
• Masks and Shadows
• The Underwater Ballroom Society
• The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
• The Girl with the Dragon Heart
• The Princess Who Flew with Dragons
• Good Neighbors
• Scales and Sensibility
• Claws & Contrivances
• A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience