#r.k. ashwick

[ladyazulina]

I took a quiz just to have fun and because it was @ashen-crest the one who sent it to me in her latest newsletter, I thought "What if I do get ending up with Ambrose?"

Hmmm?! What if?!

Your Result:

Ambrose

You are… Ambrose Beake! Reserved, polite, brilliant, and utterly professional. Your ideal evening involves a good book, a cup of tea, and a hearty dollop of peace and quiet. You may come across as prickly to those who don’t know you, but under the surface, you are a passionate friend who would do anything for those you care about. Read A RIVAL MOST VIAL: POTIONEERING FOR LOVE AND PROFIT to learn more!

[geethr75]

January Wrap up

I had such plans for January, but alas! I did read a bit, but not all the books in my list were finished. Some I gave up on, because I just couldn’t get into them. Without much ado, let me quickly recap my January reads SPSFC Reads Tasmanian Gothic A fast paced and entertaining read, this one made the semi finals of the SPSFC The Mimameid Solution Perfect for fans of slow paced books with…

[the-novel-approach-reviews]

Review: A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit by R.K. Ashwick

Title: A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit Series: Side Quest Row: Book One Author: R.K. Ashwick Publisher: Self-Published Length: 342 Pages Category: Cozy Fantasy Rating: 4 Stars At a Glance: A Rival Most Vial is a soft little tale that was a simple joy to read. Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: Two potion shops, one heated rivalry…until hate bubbles over into something else. Any…

[azuisreading]

The peace of the workroom allowed Ambrose to better appreciate Sandon’s eyes and the way his hair fell across them. When presented like this, his offer was almost tempting.

But even Sandon’s charming half-smile couldn’t convince him to go to a crowded party at a tavern. Not after the day he had.

Welcome to Potion Con by R.K. Ashwick.

[betterbooksandthings]

"Opposites attract romance novels bring out the best in characters. By all accounts, these are characters who shouldn’t be friends, let alone romantically involved. But, because they are going to fall in love anyway, we might as well read about it.

Let me be completely honest. Opposites attract is one of my favorite tropes. I love it when unlikely people are falling in love. Sure, at first I gasp and say, “It will never work.” All the while, I secretly know it will, though. Somehow, these two silly beans are going to find out why their opposing attitudes, interests, and/or behaviors are fascinating. They are going to fall in love. It’s just up to the readers of opposites attract romance books to see how it’s all going to happen."

[ashen-crest]

[ID: an image of a book cover. The cover shows a golden lute in the center, surrounded by red flowers and vines, with shiny blue crystals tucked into the vines. The text on top of the lute reads "The Spirit Well," and under it reads "Lutesong Book Two, R.K. Ashwick." end ID]

The Spirit Well Cover Reveal!!

Here it is, in all its shiny glory! I want to eat the crystals so so bad. I want to put this whole cover in a blender and drink it. (It would be banana-strawberry flavored with a hint of blueberry.)

Anyhoo, if you enjoyed The Stray Spirit, check this out:

When a bard saved the day, he never expected an encore. After saving their home from a magical disaster, Emry, Cal, and forest spirit Aspen ascend to high society: Emry and Aspen to the illustrious musicians’ guild, and Cal to the cutting edge of spirit research. But their new roles send them far beyond the concerts and balls they expected…and deep into a city of dying spirits. In the neighboring city of Matlock, a strange blight has withered their gardens—and the spirits living within. The trio rushes to investigate, whirling into Matlock’s social season in search of allies and gossip. Here, Emry frantically navigates the dazzle and decorum to seek information, start his debut…and propose to Cal. But when the glittering chandeliers illuminate more enemies than friends, Emry, Cal, and Aspen must race to stop the blight before it spreads—and the spirits shrivel away for good. 

If you're going "hell yeah, lemme at it" -

a) I love you

b) I have cool stuff for you, as a sign of my love

[ID: a square image showing a vintage illustrated newspaper article titled "Peek of the Season," a Spirit Well bookmark with red flowers and blue swirls, and a sticker of a red flower against shiny blue crystals. The text above reads "The Spirit Well Pre-Order Goodies!" end ID]

If you want to be an ARC reader or pre-order and get these cool goodies above (along with a slightly unhinged handwritten note from me!) click here:

oh my god this was such a long post, thank you for sticking with me here

[ettawritesnstudies]

Happy publication to @ashen-crest! I had the honor of interviewing her about her new release, the cozy fantasy book A Rival Most Vial. If you're interested in hearing more about the process of creating these characters and their story, be sure to read our conversation by following the link above!

If you haven't read ARMV yet, you can check out my review from last week's post.

[the-forest-library]

February 2023 Reads

The Reunion - Kayla Olson

Behind the Scenes - Karelia Stetz-Waters

Sorry, Bro - Taleen Voskuni

Exes and O’s - Amy Lea

Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year - Rochelle Billow

Make a Wish - Helena Hunting

Knit One, Girl Two - Shira Glassman

You Should Smile More - Anastasia Ryan

A Rival Most Vial - R.K. Ashwick

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun - Elle Cosimano

Nine Liars - Maureen Johnson

Pretty Dead Queens - Alexa Donne

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute - Talia Hibbert

Margot Mertz for the Win - Carrie McCrossen

Winterkeep - Kristin Cashore

Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds - Sarah Rees Brennan

Charmed Life - Diana Wynne Jones

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables - Kathleen Gros

Evergreen - Matthew Cordell

I’ll Show Myself Out - Jessi Klein

Remainders of the Day - Shaun Bythell

B.F.F. - Christie Tate

The Good Life - Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz

The Brain Fog Fix - Mike Dow 

Stolen Focus - Johann Hari

The Chaos Machine - Max Fisher

Cook As You Are - Ruby Tandoh

Foodwise - Mia Rigden

Plant-Based on a Budget - Toni Okamoto

One: Simple One-Pan Wonders - Jamie Oliver

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts:

Another really good reading month. I hope there are 20 more Truly Devious books. Let Stevie solve all of the mysteries.

Goodreads Goal: 67/400

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads |

2022 Reads | 2023 Reads

[writeblrfantasy]

everyone go read a rival most vial by the incredible @ashen-crest!! it's adorable, creative, and my favorite read of the year so far.

(from goodreads:)

A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit by R.K. Ashwick My rating: 5 of 5 stars I intended to read only a few pages at first, but I ended up finishing the book in about six hours, almost all in one sitting! The worldbuilding is one of the book's strongest elements, with the feel good aspect of the Rosemond Street folks to the incredibly creative and detailed potions, brooms, transportation systems, food, clothing, history-everything you could ever want to know about a world, ARMV does flawlessly in a way that keeps you interested and engaged. The differences in voice between Eli and Ambrose's chapters is strong and extremely well done. I was smiling and fangirling for every sweet moment, and all the parodies to the real world like the 30 under 130 made me laugh. I cannot overstate the creativity of the book, and the emotion so beautifully conveyed from platonic to romantic to family relationships. Dawn is the best wingman! I couldn't put it down for anything. And don't even get me started on the mid book illustrations of recipes for each member of Rosemond Street, some of the most gorgeous and detailed book illustrations I've ever seen. From (stunning and even more beautiful in person) cover to end, five stars all the way, my favorite read of the year so far!! If you're not planning on reading it, what are you doing? a huge congratulations to becca for this incredible book's venture into the world! I wish you nothing but success, friend <3<3

[sharpteethreviews]

"A Rival Most Vial" by R.K. Ashwick

🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 (3.5/5) (🌶️ Spice level: 0)

“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.”

When you grow up with your only real chance for any sort of lgbt representation being fanfiction, you develop a fondness for its tropes and cliches. And “A Rival Most Vial” is like a full length novel of that nostalgia. I don’t know very much about R.K. Ashwick, but I don’t think it would surprise me too much if the trenches of fanfiction.net or AO3 were where she made her writing debut. The book is a love letter to everything safe and familiar, and even beloved about fanfiction. It’s a cute and very simple romantic fantasy read, and the world Ashwick sets it in feels very reminiscent of DND adventures- while I was reading it I actually couldn’t help but mentally compare the characters and world to “The Adventure Zone” (a dnd podcast hosted by the McElroy brothers). It’s cozy, the characters are easy to follow and the world is teeming with all sorts of people and creatures.

 I would honestly recommend it as a young adult or even teen fiction read. There’s things that adults can enjoy within the story, but overall it feels like a book meant to be enjoyed by younger audiences.

The biggest criticism I actually have for the book relates back to the comparison to fanfiction. Fanfiction is often shorter, a few thousand words with pre-established characters and often a simple plot or premise. “A Rival Most Vial” is about 340 pages depending on how/where you read it, but if you cleaned it up it could likely be about 200 pages of things that actually contribute something to the plot/characters, if not less. The writing feels unpolished and the plot feels jumbled and scattered, which short prose fiction often disguises better. When expanded into long form writing, those weaknesses are exposed

The book itself is rife with minor conflicts, snippets, and interactions that take up a lot of space, but add nothing to the plot. Actually, they tend to distract from it pretty heavily, constantly pulling attention from the problem at hand to explore a different conflict, usually between Ambrose, one of the co-protagonists, and one of the supporting cast. Unfortunately, few of these ‘side quests’ are actually finished in a satisfying way- most feel like empty filler that exist just to tick a trope off the list. At best, they feel confusing and distracting, and at worst they are actively disappointing side plots. Most could be completely erased and absolutely nothing about the story would change- and if 5/10/20 pages at a time can be deleted from your book with no consequence, then they either need to be rewritten or scrapped. It feels cluttered- and the primary plot is supposed to be a time sensitive quest that the characters are supposed to be anxious and flustered about, but somehow there’s always time for brunch. It diminishes any sense of urgency the reader is supposed to feel when even the characters feel distracted. In the end, it makes half the story forgettable.

The story also had a weird lack of focus on its own primary plot point, not just in how many sidequests happened, but in that very little of the actual problem was explained or solved. It felt a little like an afterthought, like they realized last minute that that was supposed to be the actual plot and they’d need to finish that to finish out the book. And even then, it was finished with something like, a quarter of the book to go.

The lack of polish extends beyond an inconsistent plot line, the character interactions are actually the weakest point of this book despite the vast potential it gives itself. Interactions between the characters tend to read as overly scripted- it’s as if they’re reciting something instead of talking, which leads to conversations feeling stilted. This is especially difficult during emotionally charged conversations, of which there are supposed to be dozens, being flat and ineffective. You don’t get any true sensation for how the characters feel about each other, and any idea of their relationship is told instead of shown… and even that isn’t spelled out until the end of the book. It’s supposed to be a world shattering realization at the end, but instead it’s just… words on a page. Which is a shame, the relationships that Ashwick was trying to write had amazing potential for an heart-wrenching story about found family and love, but it only reached about half of that potential.

Conflicts in this story were also very weak because of both the inconsistent plot and stilted character interactions. Nothing felt like it had high stakes as everything was solved by brushing it off and moving on.

A minor spoiler warning

The best example of this actually the most memorable moment from the book. The conflict arises with two characters getting into a heated argument, that winds up with one quite literally abandoning the other (who has a major fear of abandonment) in a particularly deadly situation- and the situation is solved with the abandoned character seeking forgiveness (for some reason), giving the abandoner a gift, and then they hug. 

The conflict had so much potential for character exploration and growth, for some truly gritty writing and a redemption arc. But in the end it’s brushed off like it was nothing, and neither character grew or actually learned anything. They just… go back to being friends.

Even the enemies to lovers aspect is handled like this. They simply hate each other until they don’t, and then despite a literal fist-fight they are in a codependent relationship with no build up. There’s not really any reason they should like each other. 

But, with all that said, the story was an enjoyable read and very cute! Ambrose and Eli have very sweet interactions with each other once they set their differences aside. Seeing Ambrose open up is rewarding, especially when the story is addressing its underlying message of found family. The older side characters were actually some of my favourites, as they try to help two young idiots figure out their shenanigans. I wanted to learn more about the characters as I read- because where Ashwick fell short in writing their interactions, she did an amazing job at writing the characters themselves. 

A particular favourite for me was Eli, who put into words that looming feeling of existential dread that comes with aging into an adult and realizing that you have to pick something to do for the rest of your life. He reads very ADHD-coded to Ambrose’s autism-coded. He’s tried half a dozen ventures and been moderately successful at all of them, but it’s his restlessness that ends up spoiling it for him and he has to move on. That’s a very recognizable feeling, I’ve left jobs because while I started off enjoying the novelty, the moment the newness wore off it became a chore that I’d be dragging myself through. To see Eli facing down that conflict, I think would make a lot of people feel seen. Especially since it isn’t given in a negative light, it isn’t his laziness or lack of motivation- it’s just how he is. A lovely contrast to Ambrose, who is content in his routine and has a deep distaste for change.

So, overall this book was still good! I did really enjoy reading it in all its cheesy glory. I definitely think it has a place with younger audiences, especially with its bounty of representation that many teens lack in their own stories. I’m excited to see more come out of Sidequest Row, and I hope to see the writing improve in subsequent books!

Cheers, friends!

[sleepyowlwrites]

my bookshelf themes

Contemporay/historical fiction fantasy kinda

Wizards and leather-bound books

Shelf of honor 1: writeblr books

Shelf of honor 2: some favorite series

Nice copies of books + first 3 witcher books + stardust

Robin hood and Arthurian lore retellings

Books about writing and Shakespeare

Graphic novels

Dragon shelf

Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare (I have 3 copies of city of bones now haHA)

Historical fiction

Rick Riordan + misc fantasy

Fantasy that set in African, Asian and middle-eastern settings

More of that and other fantasy

Star wars books + old book collection (oldest is from 1814) + Dracula, redracula, the princess bride

Tamora Pierce

Juvenile fiction?

Misc fantasy (including stardust)

Misc fantasy

Misc fantasy + tiny books collection

Redwall series

Misc fairytale retellings

Comics, graphic novels, fandom encyclopedias (including stardust)

Books I have more than one copy of:

Stardust by Neil Gaiman (accidentally got a hardcover with no dust jacket, then got the paperback, then got the graphic novel)

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (old and new covers + 10th anniversary edition)

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare (first edition and paperback)

A Rival Most Vial by R.K. Ashwick (paperback and special edition)

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (ordered #2 when I need #3)

First Test by Tamora Pierce (wanted the old cover to match the rest of the quartet)

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce (hardcover and paperback)

Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (pretty hardcover and old copy)

Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (first covers and new covers)

The temptation to get all the Redwall books in one edition is so strong, but they already take up a full shelf - where would I put them???

Dad and I are scheming about shifting my bookshelves down closer to the door (I will have to unload and reload all the shelves heep hoop) and putting another one on the adjacent wall at the foot of my bed, and then getting floating shelves for my shot glass collection (and my hot wheels and other model cars). But later. After I get more stuff out of my room.

I am, once again, getting rid of books, though not until my sister tells me if she wants any. And you know what that means.

[author-a-holmes]

Question of the Day...

"Books are always good company if you have the right sort. Let me pick out some for you." Jo March, Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Question of the Day:

What are some of your favourite books?

Feel free to answer for yourself, or your characters!

My personal favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, but I also have a soft spot, clearly, for Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

For a more modern choice, I really enjoy the snark on the pages of The Dresden Files, and R.K Ashwick's books (@ashen-crest) are just pure comfort.

[foxys-fantasy-tales]

A Rival Most Vial - Book Review

Oh gosh, where do I start? I loved it. Let's make that clear. Ok, I'll begin with my one gripe before my overwhelming praise takes over because I cannot wait for more in this series.

R.K. Ashwick's second trilogy begins with this book, as The Stray Spirit began their first trilogy and was their debut novel as an indie author last year. Two books in so little time! I could never be that fast! Both are highly recommended by me so I wanted to mention the other book, now, let's pop open this juicy dumpling of fantasy fiction, shall we?

The one gripe is Ambrose and Eli are at odds for a good third of the book or so, and I mean heavily. As spoiler light as possible, events go from a boiling point that breaks the rules of the street their shops are on, then in the same day a character begins to look at the other with a wholly different kinda boiling point. -tugs collar- Ahem. As I said, the quick change left a bit of whiplash for me personally, but it's my only complaint for this wonderful novel that also captured my heart and made me tear up once or twice.

Ambrose is by far my favorite. I relate to his closed off nature, and boy does he also have good reasons for it. He's intelligent, gifted in his craft even, dedicated, and all mushy inside if you can get past that icy blue exterior of his. Eli, on the other hand, took me a minute to get on board with, though I have to admit the cutest automaton ever, Tom, and her wonderfully depicted stabby feet, mug body, fork arms, and broom head helped warm me to him. Eli has severe wanderlust and gets bored of things easily, though he is also incredibly gifted. He's reckless, but he's charming and bears good intentions.

All the characters are wonderful, really, but I won't name them all here and let you discover them yourself. They make themselves very much known in the first chapter after all. Big personalities and bigger hearts, these shopkeeps all stick together through thick and thin, even though some may make some really rash calls at times. In a magical world with exploding moss, dragons, and venomous moths that shoot deadly spikes the length of your arm, any rash choice could be deadly.

The romance is golden and the details on the kisses and awkwardness being described from both sides of the blooming relationship between Ambrose and Eli is just -mwah-. Ambrose is uncertain of a first relationship and so concerned with timing and averages like any A type personality would be, while Eli is tender with him and doesn't wish to push too far, all the while not knowing Ambrose may want just that. There is a short sex scene, but it's very blurry in depictions of physicality and hones in more on the back and forth and emotions between the two. I thought this was a good choice for this type of story, and it blended well to the emotional beats at the time.

The world-building, just like The Stray Spirit, is so carefully thought out, planned, drawn up in wonderful in book art, and exudes so much of Ashwick's character that you could tell it was an R.K. Ashwick book even without the name on the cover if you read their debut. Each of these worlds is mesmerizing and brings me back to when I would eat through fantasy books by the dozen. It's whimsical, but dangerous enough you have to root for the characters and fear for them at times genuinely. As Ambrose goes over his potion instructions and shortcuts to his partner on the commission, each detail feels like it just came from an actual text on the subject. I can't wait to discover more of this world.

Can we also state how gorgeous that cover is while I still have your attention? The colors pop so well! The details are stunning and I love the little silhouettes of our main duo with those tiny hearts above their heads.

All in all, this is my long-winded approach to saying GO BUY THIS BOOK! I assure you it is worth the time and money spent to travel through this world with these loveable fools.

This is an arc read and I’m leaving a review voluntarily. This review is honest all the same and I jumped at the chance to be an arc reader after reading The Stray Spirit shortly after it's launch. I've followed this project's growth even longer than that, and I am so happy to say I am so satisfied with how this turned out.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

hello elias book recs now please and thank you

Hello there iridescent I'm glad you asked

I will always recommend Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White - transmasc protagonist who turns into a monster, armageddon, autistic central character that's actually accurate, amazing representation, a neopronoun user, dangerous cult that's basically just Christianity - it's got it all

I also love A Rival Most Vial by R.K Ashwick (aka @ashen-crest) loads - it's a queer fantasy romance that's just a really good cosy read, it's such a good book

Wonderland by Juno Dawson is also amazing - it's a retelling of Alice in Wonderland (so you already know it's going to be good) but Alice is also a trans woman, the book has themes of finding yourself while searching for other people, it's got love, danger and wild rich-people parties - i love it so much, the style is amazing (also i have a signed copy which is one of my most treasured possessions)

Also there's Dracula by Bram Stoker - dont knock the classics, it's genuinely a really good book, and the way that the horror plays out in real time is amazing as well (if you like audio then @re-dracula is an amazing audio adaptation that releases the episodes on the day's that they happen in the book, and the voice acting and sound design is amazing - its a good choice if you don't want to buy the book or read it all in one go) - i know this is the dracula website but i still have to include it

All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes - I haven't finished it but I'm really enjoying it. The concept is a trans guy stows away on am expedition to the antarctic and I think somethings about to go wrong and its very suspenseful and incredibly well written

Those are all the ones that I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll probably update this if any more occur to me

Thanks for the ask dude :)

[azuisreading]

“Did Pearce give you money for lunch?” she asked Ambrose. It was odd seeing her and Banneker without their usual shop attire. No gloves, no aprons, no goggles or welding masks. Simply tunics and vests, like what Ambrose wore.

“Ah, no, he didn’t,” he said, looking through his coin purse. “But I should have enough.”

Banneker rolled his eyes. “I got this one.”

Before Ambrose could protest, the artificer dropped a handful of coins into his purse. Ambrose stiffened and pawed through them, trying to count the new coins. If Master Pearce noticed the extra money…

“I’ll give you half-off on your next vial,” he said quickly. “That should settle the debt—“

“It’s not a debt, it’s a gift,” Sherry sighed. “Now, if you get lost, we’ll be in Vendor’s Alley for most of the day. You need anything, we’ll be right there.” She squeezed his shoulder.

Welcome to Potion Con by R. K. Ashwick.

[emptymanuscript]

The Stray Spirit by R.K. Ashwick

Just finished The Stray Spirit by R.K. Ashwick ( @ashen-crest here on tumblr) and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. To the point that while staying up to read it my wife kind of pointedly mentioned it was late and that I had been reading for about five hours straight and could I be done now.

Pretty much once the character of Aspen was introduced, I was hooked. And what started as a very light, breezy read carried seamlessly into a tense, save the world adventure that kept me hooked until the end.

This is a very nice comfortable read, the sort of thing you could comfortably consume in a bubble bath while keeping the mood if you're willing to risk books in such an activity. Though you would probably have to refresh the heat.

On the downside, I don't feel that I ever particularly connected with the original supporting characters of Marko and Stef. But once the story got going, the major characters and the situation kept my interest well enough that I didn't particularly mind. It ended up seeming a natural consequence of the deft lightness of touch that made the book such a joy to read.

On the matter of how the fantasy works, this is a soft magic book. The magic feels like magic, not pseudoscience. But the precedent of each magical effect makes it easy to conclude what magic is possible.

On the plus side Emry, Cal, and Aspen make a lovely triad, their dialogue and interaction sing, and they're a joy to follow along. The writing carried me along beautifully without ever getting in the way. I both enjoyed the plot and found the character motivations entirely plausible. I think Emry was painted beautifully as someone with some self esteem issues without ever being too blunt about it. Cal was very believable as hurt and still believable when she relented on being hurt. And Aspen's childish wonder made the world a joy to explore.

It feels like this book has barely teased the surface of this world and there is a lot more worth uncovering. So, I'm looking forward to following along with more of Emry, Cal, and Aspen's adventures whenever Lutesong 2 comes out.

5/5