Title: Wielder’s Prize (Lady Witch Series #1)
Author: Melissa Mitchell
Genre: Fantasy, fantasy romance
Publisher: BooksGoSocial
Publication Date: August 23, 2023
Format: Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) via Net Galley
Length: 268 pages

Read if you like: Witches, bonded pairs, spicy romantasy, one-bed tropes, magical quests and creatures, broody MMCs

Rating: 

I received a complimentary copy of Wielder’s Prize via Net Galley and Melissa Mitchell in exchange for an honest review, which I am so happy to give because I loved this book. 

Wielder’s Prize is peak romantasy. It has an interesting and unique premise full of magic and fantasy elements, balanced with a heavy load of romance and spice. I felt like the world-building was seamless, the characters and their stories were compelling, and there was enough action that I had trouble putting the book down. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and devoured it in under 48 hours. If you’re looking for a spicy, exciting series full of magic and romance, I can’t recommend this one enough. And as a bonus, the first three books in the series are already available on Kindle Unlimited! 

The Book: Wielder’s Prize by Melissa Mitchell

Wielder’s Prize follows Aramina, a newly minted Witch setting out from a witch school called the Citadel, and her bonded Wielder, Rixon. Aramina travelled to the Citadel many years prior when her witch abilities came to fruition after an extremely traumatic event. She has since been training for her trials, which determine the hierarchy of witch society based on how strong each witch demonstrates themselves to be. 

Rixon, on the other hand, is a full decade older than Aramina, and recently returned to the Citadel after his bonded witch died. Once bonded, a witch and a wielder can only be parted by death. As the wielder’s primary responsibility, beyond slaying demons, is to protect his witch, Rixon has returned to the Citadel to whispers of fury and suspicion after evidently failing to fulfill his task of keeping his bonded witch safe.

Despite this, Rixon proves himself to be the most powerful wielder at the Citadel, and Aramina follows as the strongest witch. Aramina cares little for the thoughts of others and when she comes in first during her trials, she chooses Rixon as her bonded Wielder, knowing that he can keep her safe, even if he doesn’t seem to like her.

As the most powerful witch and wielder pair that the Citadel has ever seen, they’re immediately sent to the farthest reaches of the realm, where reports of demons overrunning the area are rampant. On their journey, they’ll encounter a great deal of danger as they learn what their new bond means to each of them and as Aramina determines whether it’s worth it to open up her heart once more. 

The Review

Wielder’s Prize felt a little like a spicier version of The Witcher, and I say that as high praise. I loved the world that Mitchell built, where women have this significant magical power that they use to work alongside male Wielder’s to destroy demons from hell. It was an interesting approach to have the two magical aspects so intricately tied in such a way that while each is powerful, neither can truly succeed without the other. 

It was a clever choice to accomplish much of the world-building and history about how witches and wielders operated through Aramina’s flashbacks. World-building is usually the most daunting aspect of a new fantasy series for me, but using the rotating perspective through time ensured that the setting was established quickly and understandably while simultaneously building out the relationship between Aramina and Rixon. 

For me, it’s important that a romantasy balances fantasy, action, and romance, and I felt like Mitchell executed that balance well. While the romantic scenes were not infrequent (and very explicit at times), it wasn’t the entirety of the book. There were a lot of fantastic fight scenes and a good amount of detail and events surrounding Aramina’s training and the present day that that had me as invested in the plot surrounding the witches, their wielders, and the realm as I was in the relationship between Aramina and Rixon. The pacing was also on point. Mitchell jumped into the thick of the characters and narrative immediately and the momentum only built from there. 

The characters themselves were fascinating, and their conflicts kept me hooked and wanting to understand what it was that drove them and what contributed to the traumas they regularly faced. Aramina was particularly compelling to me. As the book went on, she became more layered and multidimensional as different pieces of her past unfolded to tell a better story of how she became who was, and how the events of her past impacted the relationships around her. I’m very interested in learning more about Rixon and what makes him tick as well, given that I felt he was set up to have a lot of untapped potential.

This book had me compulsively reading right from the start. It was concise, action-packed, and had a gorgeous romance that was drawn out in a perfect slow burn. I’m so excited to learn that the other books in this series are already available as I’ll definitely be moving onto the second book shortly.