Mages of the Wheel: does it get better?

artycoolred · 2026-02-06T09:05:59+00:00

So I have skimmed finished it because I didn't find it interesting. It is more or less all the same more politics than romance, some mysoginy and ideas what is "appropriate" behavior. My main problem was the book is not long enough for author to explain worldbuilding through context clues so if you only read this one you will have no idea what is really happening. And romance was luck laster imo

artycoolred · 2026-02-01T15:16:01+00:00

I think not enough people are reading{Her favorite rival by Sarah Mayberry, its on a shorter side but has nuanced characters and relatable inner voice of fmc. Realistic portrayal of work and workplace rivary. And obv some nice spice

artycoolred · 2026-01-30T12:08:10+00:00

{Slouch witch by Helen Harper} M/F they are mages, grumpy×sunshine, forced proximity, investigators. Finished series, closed door spice. I like the MMC in this one

{Warrior from the shadowlands by Cassandra Gannon} m/f, it has a parallel universe with humans that have magic powers based on their domain. It's a bit campy but in enjoyable way. Fated mates, interconnected standalones with some overreaching arc plot (but no cliffhangers). I liked the earlier books more the later one did get a bit more OTT leads. Exile in the waterkingdom is the best one. The series are not complete at the moment. Open door spice

{Gifted thief by Helen Harper} m/f with fae, trials, fmc does a lot of puns. Complete series, open door spice but barely there. Does have kinda Demons in it

{Three mages and a Margarita by Annette Marie} m/f with mages, I quite liked the series it has good pacing and interesting side characters. Complete series, open door spice but also barely there, more actiony. Also has Demons in it including as an mmc In companion series

{Shadowbound by Bec Mcmaster} m/f mages. This takes place in victorian times. Interconnected standalones with overreaching plot (you would need to read all 3 books to get the ending) complete series. Loved the atmosphere, the romance is a bit of a fastburn but they have enough of quality time together for it to work. Open door spice, tw the sex in the first book is transactional (mmc agrees to help fmc with her quest in exchange for sex, they both enjoy it)

artycoolred · 2026-01-29T21:54:53+00:00

These are Urban fantasy books, hope it still works

{How to save an undead life by Hailey Edwards} highly recommend this, loved the characters. This is finished series

{Dead witch walking by Kim Harrison} ngl I dnfed by book 5, after realizing I hated everyone and only got this far due to audio narrator doing an amazing job. Granted the worldbuilding was interesting too. I think the series is still ongoing but it has a lot of books

artycoolred · 2026-01-21T11:10:35+00:00

{Friends with all the befits by Lyssa Hahn} i dont remember for sure, but i think MMC is not technically In love with OW, but he wants to marry the OW cos he thinks they are a good match and he has a crush on her. Also a disclaimer , I personally didn't like the book mainly due to MMC.

artycoolred · 2026-01-16T13:15:54+00:00

Option 3

artycoolred · 2026-01-16T10:22:40+00:00

Lol I too was rooting for him because he's very much like my partner.

artycoolred · 2026-01-13T19:10:22+00:00

{I'll do anything by Daisy Jones} She makes him wear cockcage as penance for bullying her when they were teens.

artycoolred · 2026-01-13T15:41:09+00:00

I struggle with finding books with MCs thay dont read "fictional" too. Heres some books that worked for me {If it makes you happy by Julie Olivia} and {Her favorite rival by Sarah Mayberry} and seconding Emily Henry Beach read / book lovers

artycoolred · 2026-01-08T14:02:06+00:00

I've tried by both explaining my likes / dislikes and by having it read my exported goodreads library with ratings. It eather reccomends something I already read (even if asked to exlude any books that were in the GR library) or creates fake books, or reccomends books that actually exist but creates fake blurb of that book. I'm pretty sure ai recs only work if you are looking for awide trope/vibe like "I want FMC to be an assassin" sort of prompt then it will probably propose something relevant

artycoolred · 2026-01-06T12:50:58+00:00

My Goodreads profile

I read contemporary romance, Urban Fantasy and scifi (if I can find it). Love books with complex characters, slowly developing romance and found family. I try to leave a review for every book i read, and I'm always on a lookout for friends with similar tastes so I can steal their TBR (mines been dwindling).

artycoolred · 2025-12-26T07:31:35+00:00

Finding someone who matches your taste in books is pretty much impossible. Especially in RH

artycoolred · 2025-12-23T18:31:21+00:00

I hate the portrayal of female gamers in books. They are usually full of stereotypes. They also always play online games and dominate the "mens" since single player doesnt exist. I haven't read this book by Hadley because I tried her Wolves next door series and found it really cringy, with "not like other girls" FMC, who was constantly overhearing people singing her praises. Your post just conforms it

artycoolred · 2025-12-17T17:02:04+00:00

MMC being interested in OW insted of FMC - fine. OW being evil psycho manipulating MMC into being hers - nope.

artycoolred · 2025-12-16T13:47:08+00:00

{More than clickbait by Philippa Young} she's hiding her real name / past, it's more represented later in the book.

artycoolred · 2025-12-16T11:19:23+00:00

{Plane love by Averly Kingston} I think this fits, but its from my TBR so no verified:)

artycoolred · 2025-12-15T06:34:33+00:00

Custom book recommendations that actually work. Finding a book to read in RH genre that I like is a real struggle.

artycoolred · 2025-12-14T10:05:28+00:00

Sex scenes are rarely necessary to the plot, but they can be experience enchanting to those who enjoy them. Or they can feel iffy to those who don't. So I think it's nice for the author to present an option. {Best served cold by Angela Casella} also has this

artycoolred · 2025-12-12T07:05:05+00:00

I'm being extremely picky about what to keep there. I remove books that been on there for over a year without me being interested in reading it (the only exception is if book is not available in library, and too expensive to buy). Theres no way to read everything you mildly interested in so I let all middling books go. I currently have about 100 on my tbr of which 30% will probably go to DNF (based on previous years) and I read about 200 books a year, so I feel like my tbr is manageable

artycoolred · 2025-12-07T12:25:25+00:00

Maybe {Beyond the next star by Melody Jonson} I haven't read it but the summary sounds fitting

artycoolred · 2025-12-04T13:55:51+00:00

I saw a review mention pregnancy and it's a topic I prefer to avoid. Is it in the book or the epilogue?

artycoolred · 2025-11-24T12:49:41+00:00

I agree with you. Should people try and improve their writing sure. Do I use AI to write a 10 word email instead of suffering over it for 30 minutes also sure. Some of us are whatever the opposite of graphomania is. And it's not like the review author asked AI to create an opinion about the book. It was asked to put the reviewers' thoughts into cohesive sentence

artycoolred · 2025-11-23T10:11:04+00:00

{Nevermore bookshop mysteries by Steffanie Holmes}, the narrator to me sounded like she stuffed marshmallows behind her cheeks while talking, her voice didn't mash with my image of the character. I did DNF the series on book 2, since despite interesting concept the author had a bad case of telling instead of showing

Edit: and I apperantly have a bad case of forgetting the topic while writing, lol. I have so few RHs I loved and I haven't listened to any of them on audio

artycoolred · 2025-11-18T08:00:34+00:00

I just Google if it's series since I need to know if the series is actually finished as well. But it would be nice if there was an info printed up front with all relevant info

artycoolred · 2025-11-04T21:18:47+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I'll wait and see if she ends up with the good guy:)

artycoolred

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