FORMAT/INFO: The Entanglement of Rival Wizards was published on August 26th, 2025 by Bramble Romance. It is 336 pages long and available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats. 

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Sebastian and Elethior absolutely can't stand each other. Grad students working for the rival departments of Evocation and Conjuration, their rivalry comes to a head when they both submit proposals to win a prestigious research grant. But then the university does something unexpected: it declares there's enough overlap between Sebastian and Elethior's proposals that it's been decided that the grant will go to both of them. The catch? It has to be a joint project. Now this human and half-elf will have to figure out how to set their differences aside if they're to find any way of merging their research together. But as complicated family relationships push old wounds to the surface, Sebastian and Elethior realize they may have more in common than they realized.

The Entanglement of Rival Wizards is a rivals-to-lovers fantasy romcom that completely melted my heart. Take some STEM academia, add a splash of D&D flavor, and mix in two men who bicker incessantly but who slowly become closer as they let their barriers down, and you have this book. The setting essentially takes our world and mashes it with D&D elements. So while our two lovers attend university on the East Coast of the U.S., their commute might be diverted because an adventuring party is fighting a troll on the bridge, football has been replaced with a competitive magic based game, and elves and orcs are a normal part of society. Overall I really enjoyed the setting, though occasionally references to things like ZOOTOPIA jarred against the sense of this story taking place in a vague Anywhere urban city.

But the real stars here are our two rival grad students/wizards: Sebastian, a constant prankster human who hides a traumatic past and Elethior, the taciturn half-elf who wants to escape the machinations of his elven family. Over the course of the story, circumstances cause both Sebastian and Elethior to reveal hidden parts of their lives. As they each become vulnerable and help each other work through their traumas, they grow closer to each other. It's a true falling in love story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

And a note about these darker elements: there is a subplot about one character's past that references abuse, and both characters are dealing with complicated relationships with their parents. This is, however, a queernorm world and absolutely zero conflict comes from homophobia or disapproval of Sebastian and Elethior's sexuality.

The Entanglement of Rival Wizards hit all the right notes for me and left me grinning like an idiot. I was so happy to watch these two bloom into a full on romantic couple, with a pitch-perfect happily ever after. I am thrilled that there will be more books set in this world and will absolutely be back for more.