A Rival Most Vial

This was utterly delightful. If you ever wondered about the lives of the shopkeepers in the high fantasy adventuring games, wonder no more. Ashwick creates a wonderful world featuring the shopkeepers of Rosemond Street, who cater to the adventuring parties trying their luck deep in the caves where their town is built, or farther afield. Ambrose runs the potion shop, and Eli opens up another potion shop directly across the street.

This is a cozy queer romance, enemies to friends to lovers, found family, high fantasy tale that I absolutely fell into. I loved the characters, who were very flawed, the absurd circumstances that have them forced to work together, and the sweet family of Rosemond Street who all look out for each other. I highly enjoyed this.

A Rival Most Vial by R K. Ashwick is a fun enemies-to-lovers story set in an intriguing fantasy world filled with elves, orcs, and others living ordinary lives. In addition to all the paranormal beings included, they also represent a good portion of the LGBTQA+ rainbow. Ultimately the book celebrates found family, something I share as central to my life. The main characters, Ambrose and Eli, have different backgrounds that often make for misunderstandings on their road from enemies to lovers. It was interesting to see all the potions the two cook up, along with the magic of wands created by their friend Dawn. I enjoyed her and all the supporting characters and would read more books in this setting with its excellent worldbuilding. I received a free ARC of A Rival Most Vial by R.K. Ashwick from LibraryThing and am leaving a review voluntarily.

Cozy and fantastical and lovely! I’m a sucker for maps so I was very excited to see some world building right from the beginning. The scar is an original and exciting setting with lots of details and character. Immediately my heart belonged to Ambrose. He is a loner who is a little awkward and antisocial, but you can tell deep down that he doesn’t have the social experience as others. That is why the first half of the book was so hard for me to get past. I understand that Eli has a lot riding on his new store, but his words and actions were horrible. But perhaps even worse than that, Ambrose’s best friend Dawn has absolutely no care for his feelings. There is a difference between being friendly with a new neighbor and abandoning your friend and acting like a witch. Gut wrenching. I was so mad. The good news is that everyone finally starts treating Ambrose like a person and working harder to understand him instead of bully him. After that tipping point the book becomes amazingly epic. The potion work is fun and the adventure is exciting. The chemistry and protectiveness between Ambrose and Eli is adorable. Overall I really enjoyed the story and would love to read more from this world. I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

An absolutely wonderful cozy fantasy with a grumpy/sunshine achillean romance that I was totally rooting for. The DnD-style world is brilliantly realised, with the action all taking place on a street full of artificer shops, including the two rival potion makers. The collection of store owners functions as a wonderful queer found family with great diverse representation.  This is a lovely heartwarming book, 4 stars. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 was because of some sad character backstory that hit a little too close to home for me, but that’s a personal thing. Highly recommend this to everyone.

This cozy fantasy queer romance was a delight!

(I received a digital advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)

Great cast of characters, great friendships. The plot is low stakes, but still eventful and exciting. The main characters are just lovely, and I really appreciated the dual POV.

I’m not much of a romance reader, so I don’t know all the tropes, but I felt like this enemies-to-lovers relationship felt natural and sweet. It isn’t a spicy book by any means. It feels like we’re given just enough to feel the passion and heat, while still respecting their privacy.

All my cozy fantasy needs were met. There’s tea, there’s cookies, there’s reading and book shopping, all in a magical world with adventurers, wands, potions, and dragons. I grew to really love this city carved into a chasm, and I want to know more. Very excited for the rest of the series!

I don't usually like enemies-to-lovers romances, but this book was actually really lovely. Eli is new in town and sets up a potion shop right across the street from Ambrose's The Griffin's Claw and so the rivalry and animosity begins. Unexpectedly they land a commission brewing a potion for mayor's daughter's birthday, on which they need to work together as well as spend time together. I enjoyed the world building and the motley crew of lovable characters, especially Tom the automaton. Ambrose and Eli were soooo cute together. This was such a delightful read. Oh, and the illustrations were really good too.
I received a free copy of this book from the author through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

I got this book through the Early Reviewer program here on Librarything

This book was such a surprise! I picked it up because I loved the cover. I was not expecting the PERFECT cozy fantasy that I'd been waiting for. I loved how Eli made Ambrose smile. R.K. Ashwick now has a new constant reader. The worst thing about reading books early is having to wait longer for the next one! I'm thrilled to see this is a series and I can't wait to come back to Side Quest Row soon.

Grumpy x Sunshine
Found Family
Cozy Fantasy
Low stakes
High reward

This book was ok at best. I liked the main characters, especially once the story moved past the kind of silly and pointless rivalry and on to the collaboration part of the story. But a lot of plot points were not integrated especially well into the story. I also felt like the book could have ended better.

The worst thing was when Ambrose and his friend Dawn were searching dangerous caves for potion ingredients. They had an argument and in response she used their return-home portal and abandoned him in a dangerous cave, alone. I honestly hardly have words for how much that horrified me (I admit I may be relating a bit too much to Ambrose in this particular situation), and the resolution of it is even worse. Ambrose made it back fine, but he soon decided that he needed to apologize to her, which I simply find breathtakingly awful. He did literally nothing wrong. Their argument was even because she wanted them to do something unsafe!

I loved this book. The cast of characters is fun and well developed, you really feel like you are a part of a family by the end of the book. Everything from the characters to the imagery to the world building everything is so well written, I will be thinking about this book for a while. I usually don't like slow burns and this one is quite a slow burn, but I really enjoyed it. If you like found family, lighthearted fantasy reads then I highly recommend this book. My only complaint is that it didn't last longer. I received an ARC and am voluntarily writing this review.

Fun, fantasy rivals to lovers romp. I received an ARC via LibraryThing and I’m glad I got to experience this world.
The community formed by the neighboring shopkeepers, the cute little automaton (Miss Tomato), the challenge to collaboratively brew a potion to turn a spoiled orc princess into a hovering purple dragon, are just a few of the charming details that bring this story to life.
Fans of Lattes and Legends should check out Ambrose and Eli in all their caustic and occasionally explosive glory.

What a fun read! Fantasy is not a top genre for me, but this book was a delight. It is a fun, fresh take on familiar ideas which makes it engaging and comforting all at once. If you like a sweet romance? This is for you. A fun fantasy world? Yes. A warm, loving, supportive friends group? Check. Mild danger and adventure? Also that. While there are some hurts and pains along the way, the story lacks ugliness. This makes it the perfect escape for a time when you can sit down and read from start to finish because once you start, you won't want to stop.

I read this book so incredibly fast! It was an easy, fun read. This is a fun rival-to-lovers story that doesn't drag on anything. The rival part is well explored and then the lovers part is also equally well developed. I love the relatability of the characters, especially Ambrose and how everyone loved him on his terms. Truly a beautiful tale of not just love but friendships and connections as well. I highly recommend!

This book was so ridiculously adorable! The friendships and romance were very sweet. The descriptions of the Scar made me desperate to visit and wander through all of the shops. I think I had a smile on my face the entire time I read this book! This was my first cozy fantasy book, and I can't wait to read more in the genre!

I received a free ARC of this book, and I chose to review it because I enjoyed it so very much.

I couldn't put this book down and did not want it to end!