Title: The Rules of Enchantment

Author: Wendy Tardieu

Part of a Series: No, Standalone novella

Genre: Fantasy Adventure, Erotica

Plot: In a mythical land, an exiled sorcerer Leith plots to overthrow the restrictions on the use of magic that got him exiled in the first place. The Academy sends Kyler, a young scribe, to be his apprentice. Deemed to have very little magic, Leith suspects a trap and is surprised to learn the power of magic the young mage has within her and no control over.

Leith is trying to recover a magical gauntlet that will let him rule, and Kyler is trying to follow her Master’s orders and please him. Meanwhile, at the Academy, Kyler’s friend Rowan, who is in love with her, is having visions of her doom. Will love be strong enough to turn aside Leith’s lust for power and vengeance?

Thoughts: My main problem with this book is that it is not erotic, nor was it an adventure. On the front cover, it says erotic fantasy adventure and that is not the book I read. Also, it looked like there were going to be some wraiths or something in on the sexy times!

There is literally no sexual tension between either of the main characters in the book, and then they have sex around halfway through the novella without any build-up. It felt very abrupt and surprising. They have sex a few other times in the book, but all the times are not sexy situations and one or the other of the characters are either giving in, doing it against their better judgement or doing it right after the other person didn’t trust them (ie Leith). Plus as other reviewers noted, not mention of contraception (magical potion or otherwise).

Set aside the problematic nature that Kyler is unwittingly sent in as a honey pot in power skewed dynamic hoping she’ll “distract” this Master wizard from his evil plans with no magic at all to help protect herself, Kyler’s character wasn’t terrible. But just when she begins to see that she has much more power than she thought, she’s completely ineffective in the ending “adventure”, and literally gets captured and left behind.

Her friend and would-be paramour Rowan ends up being a whiney little B throughout the book. I was interested in the beginning when she is told by the seer boy not to placate him when he declares his feelings. This made me think they were going to resolve into a deep friendship. But not really, he ends up almost killing her Master bringing sellswords to the woods and causes more harm than good really.

So while the world-building in the book was interesting, the scope of the world felt too ambitious for a novella. There were too many world points brought up that didn’t have time to resolve, and the romance felt very forced and unnecessary. Which is a bummer, because I enjoyed the first 20 pages quite a bit, but never felt delivered on.

This was almost a DNF for me, which is pretty crazy considering its only 140 pages.

McDreamy to McSteamy: McDidn’tdoitforme

Classy to Nasty: Vanilla with Dubious consent

Hero rating: 🍆🍆 - I just never connected with him. I wish that the book was just him with the new apprentice and her challenging what he thought was right and him bringing her into her power, sans romance (the horror!). Didn’t believe his ending.

Heroine rating: 🍑🍑🍑 She got three peaches because I did really like her in the beginning. I thought her character wanting to fit in, unclear why she was being sent, etc worked well. I didn’t believe her just abandoning her principles, nor did the romance work for me. Also was upset she got left out of the adventure (if you can call it that).

Overall rating: ⭐⭐

Thank you to TCK Publishing for my review copy.

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May your books be your lover and your hand your best friend

On Romance at a Glance, Bridget and Shani review a different genre of romance novels each season and interview some of romance’s biggest authors. They crack each other up while getting into the nitty-gritty of real-life romance, relationships, and sex. Expect spontaneous singing, funny anecdotes, life lessons, naughty language, and 1000% honest reviews. We’ve been called savage and we’re not mad about it.

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