A Rival Most Vial

Potioneering for Love and Profit (The Side Quest Row Series, Book 1)

By: R.K. Ashwick

Narrated by: Brendan Robert Kane

Two potion shops, one heated rivalry…until hate bubbles over into something else.

Any adventurer worth their sword knows about Ambrose Beake. The proud, quiet half-elf sells the best, and only, potions in the city—until a handsome new shopkeeper named Eli opens another potion shop across the street, throwing Ambrose’s peace and ledgers far off balance.

Within weeks, they’re locked in a war of price tags and products—Ambrose’s expertise against Eli’s effortless charm. Toil leads to trouble, the safety gloves come off, and right as their rivalry reaches a boiling point…

The mayor commissions them to brew a potion together.

The task is as complex as it is lucrative, pushing both men to the limits of their abilities and patience. Yet as the fires burn and cauldrons bubble…they find a different sort of chemistry brewing.

©2023 R.K. Ashwick (P)2023 R.K. Ashwick

low-angst, rivals to lovers, found family

This was cute and cozy and so sweet. The characters were marvelous and engaging. The story was very fun and I really appreciated how the characters had time to develop their connection. Also the way cookies were used as a cure-all.

HORRIBLE NARRATOR DONT BUY THIS

I'm 9 min in and I cannot finish this book. The narrator is TERRIBLE. It's not human.The inflection is so difficult to understand that it is distracting. I cannot express to you enough my OUTRAGE and CONFUSION about this. JUST SPEAK LIKE A PERSON YOURE DOING TOO MUCH ITS SOO BAD.
I was so excited about this book based on TikTok recommendations, I'll have to find it in print.

Purple sparkly dragon wings

This book was so cozy! Er, I mean, things exploded but somehow the explosions were sweet and I was a little worried but not too bad? Plus there multiple scenes with gay men levitating while wearing magical purple sparkling wings. XD Delightful.
Ambrose himself, a nervous recluse who worried all the time, was an adorable main character that, while slightly neurotic, was extremely relatable and cute. Eli... Eli kinda annoyed me, but OK, he has everything and still doesn’t know what his calling is. That’s fine. Especially when Ambrose is so infatuated with him. ;)
If you liked “Legends and Lattes” this might be a book for you. :)

decent story but narration for audiobook was very

I read the audiobook, and overall I felt the story was good. Not great, but definitely a decent cozy romantasy story. However, the narrator had a way of speaking where he added pauses and stress in the weirdest places. His intonation was also quite strange. Usually when listening to an audiobook, even if the narrator is a bit off-putting to start, I acclimate as the book goes on and stop noticing it. In this case, it was distracting and off-putting until the very end and took away from my enjoyment of the book.

I have never listened to this narrator before, so I don't know if it was his personal style or just a result of the direction he was given. Perhaps they thought this style lent itself to cozy fantasy, but I can't agree. I can't imagine being happy with the end result.

It's possible, the story was actually great, but my unhappiness with the narration colored my assessment. If you're looking for a cozy romantasy story, go ahead and pick this up, but don't get the audiobook.